The news of the week from Somaliland has not been
favour- able. The garrison of Bohotle has been stricken with rnalarions fever, and the Somali levies have shown such signs of indiscipline, and, according to the messages, of "cowardice "—more probably of unwillingness—that they have been disbanded. The work will now have to be done by Indian troops and the African Regulars, and as more preparation will be needed, the campaign may be delayed till mid-January. We have not quite caught the secret of managing negro levies. Individual officers succeed with them admirably, and the tribes differ greatly, but in all there is an element of savage levity, and if we may use the word, whim, which it is hard to work out. This is apparent now and then even in the Soudanese regiments of Egypt, who are on most occasions excellent soldiers. We shall hit the right method by and by, but mean. while everything depends upon a most difficult operation,— picking the organising officers. Out of numerous qualified officers who apply for employment in Africa, perhaps one in three possesses the something which charms black soldiers ; and unfortunately neither the General who selects him nor the aspirant himself can tell beforehand whether he possesses it or not. It is so in some degree even with Indian Irregulars, though an experience long enough to constitute a tradition has made selection easier.
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