SIERRA LEONE.

Colonist, Volume II, Issue 193, 26 August 1859, Page 4

SIERRA LEONE.

■'.*,'* ■'(.Fromthe Times.) :■■''** '.< We hear from Sierra Leone, west cdast pi Africa, that the tribe of Loosoos have been again enerpaching on pur frontier, and have had the temerity to burn the next largest town to Sierra Leone, on the very riyer oh which' that colony stands. It was absolately necessaryto- check the daring of this warlike tribe, as property was no longer safe on the river, and mercantile confidence was shaken. The mild administration of British rule is imputed by those savages tb weakness, they considering themselves safe in their muddy rivers, where the pestilential fevers of Africa protect them more surely from the white man than all the guns they couW bring into the field against us. An expedition was fitted out at Sierria Leone to attack the Loosoo stronghold up the great Scareies river," where they arrived on the 21st of March. The force consisted of Her Majesty's steamers Vesuvius, Trident, and Spitfire, having on board His Excellency Colonel Hill, Governor of Sierra Leone, with the Ist West India Regiment, and Commodore 0. Wise, aide-de-camp. The following account of the expedition is given by a correspondent:— •* The steamers not being able to enter the river, the ascent was made in boats, as follows:—24 troop boats, in four divisions, under the charge of—first division, Commodore C. Wise, with boats of Her Majesty's ship Vesuvius; second, Commander F. A. Close, with boats of Her Majesty's ship Trident j third, Commander Truscott, with boats of the Heron; fourth, Lieutenant Chapman, with boats of Her Majesty's ship Spitfire. Grand total, 52 boats, including six boats carrying guns, and seven rocket boats. The ascent of the river was most difficult, and required the energy of every naval officer to keep the troop boats off the rocks and in their places. On the third day we found ourselves only a few miles from our destination, viz., the stockades and mud forts of KambiaTown; but the most difficult part had now to be passed. Before us lay the river, rushing through a bed of rocks, the points of which were so numerous and so near together that it seemed impossible to pass. Never shall Pforget the scene that ensued as the cloud of boats, freighted with their living cargoes, were swept into the rapid; the noise of the waters nearly drowned the shouts of the officers. Pilots were useless; before they could speak you were driven past or on the danger. It reminded me very much of a large hunting field charging a dangerous and difficult leap; some are pounded, some are still flying along, taking warning from those in difficulties; some are trying to stop, not liking the look of the leap. How they all get through is a mystery, but at last it is accomplished ; the danger is past, the stockades are in sight, and the boats anchor to re-form the broken line of battle, while Commodore Wise goes ahead to reconnoitre the enemy. Once more the bugles sound the advance. In ten minutes we open fire, and under a storm of shell and rockets the Ist West India Regiment and Marines land with a battery of mountain howitzers; the boats now turn jtheir fire upon the main stockade, and the troops advance; the second division of boats; pass higher up the river and pound away at a stockade on the extreme left while a storming party under Commodore dose makesarrush for the wall; but the Loosoos ,now ;think that they have had enough, and run so fast that nothing but fa rifle ball can catch them. The day was nearly a bloodless one, but like the work in India, the sun is far more to be feared than gun shot wounds in latitude nine degrees north.. The heat was frightful, and after the last skirmish we had in chase of the Loosoos, I saw his Excellency Colonel Hill, who commanded the troops, being brought to life again by means of bottles of water poured over his head. The attack had been made at the top of high.tide, ancl it was impossible to perform tho service in one tide thoroughly, the boats had of necessity grounded in the mud under a cliff on which the stockades and mud fort were built. Our fleet of boats had certainly a helpless appearance, but as the troops occupied the mud forts they were safe; nevertheless, the enemy were not blind to. their advantage, for alter dark they peppered the boats with musketry from the opposite bank. On the 24th the troops were re-em-barked, and in course of time got back to the steamers. Kambia was left in the hands of our neighbours and allies, the Timr.ees, from whom the ever oppressing Loosoos had arrested the town by treachery. The expedition has had the happiest effect on the country, for which Government deserves every credit, and I am glad to say that as yet the troops have not suffered from fever, wbich might have been expected WB Iheir exposure' to the sun and malaria in open boats.