A kind of ill-fortnne pursues the Army of France. An
ex- pedition, composed of five officers, twenty Spahis, and about a thousand followers, six hundred of them armed, was recently dispatched to explore the territory, chiefly Touareg, between the Niger and Lake Tchad. Reports reached Paris that the two officers in command, Captain Voulet and Lieutenant Chanoine, had been guilty of atrocities, and at last on some statements from a Lieutenant Peteau who had left the ex- pedition, the Colonial Office ordered another exploring party, commanded by Colonel Klobb, to arrest Captain Voulet and his subordinate, and bring them before a Court. Colonel Klobb obeyed, but on approaching the accused party he was informed in writing that they intended to resist. He per- sisted, however, and when again warned refused to order his men to load, and advanced upon the first expedition unarmed. The menaced officers consulted, and received their pursuer with two volleys under which Colonel Klobb fell dead and his second-in-command, Lieutenant Meunier, was severely wounded. Their followers fled, and the mutineers "took to the bush." A third expedition, under Colonel Lamy, has been ordered to arrest them, and has started in pursuit; but the mutineers are in the wildest country in the world, and will, it is believed, resist. They may join Rabah, the slave. raiding King, on Lake Tchad—which when full is larger than Ireland—but Captain Voulet is known to have a project of founding a black empire for himself. If he can secure a Touareg following, train and arm them, he may succeed, and become the most dangerous enemy of France in all that region. It is to be noted, however, that no buccaneer or pirate has ever succeeded in founding anything.
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