The Standard's correspondent at Sierra Leone relates at great length
and with full detail a shocking story. It had become necessary for the authorities in Sierra Leone to punish a chief named Gbow, for constant and cruel raids upon protected natives in the Sherbro territory. He was accordingly attacked on May 25th, in his principal stockade, by part of the 2nd West India Regiment, 200 of the constabulary, aud 500 native allies- Gbow, who commanded 2,000 men, fought with desperate courage, but his negroes could not stand up against a rain of shells from the howitzers, and either broke or surrendered. Those who fled were followed by the Kossus —a friendly tribe, we • presume— and slaughtered ; while those who surrendered were taken to the captured town of Hahoon, and there murdered "in cold blood" by "our allies." Gbow's town, Jalliab, was set fire to after its capture, and razed to the ground, and it is believed the expedi- tion will "have a most beneficial effect upon his mind." If this story is true, the business was infamous, and the commanding officer should be at once ordered to explain why he could not stop a hideous and senseless massacre. Even if the allies broke loose, he had force enough with him to quell a mutiny. No wonder Gbow's men fought bravely, if they were aware that after surrender they would be murdered in cold blood, and then mutilated.
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