Step by step they won their way through
the camp and up the hill. Everywhere the dead Ashantis lay in
heaps, attesting the terrible effect of the Snider fire and the
determination with which they had fought.
Beyond the camp, upon the hills the bush was thicker than ever, and
here, where it was impossible for the white soldiers to skirmish
through the bush, the Ashantis made a last desperate stand. The
narrow lane up which alone the troops could pass was torn as if
by hail with the shower of slugs, while a large tree which stood
nearly in the center of the path and caused it slightly to swerve,
afforded some shelter to them from the storm of bullets which the
42d sent back in return. Here Rait brought his gun up again to
the front and cleared the lane. The bush was too thick even for
the Ashantis. The gun stopped firing and with a rush the regiment
went up the narrow path and out into the open clearing beyond. For
a short time the Ashantis kept up a fire from the houses, but the
42d soon drove them out, and a single shot from the gun down the
wide street which divided the town into two portions, bursting in
the midst of a group at the further end, killed eight and drove
all further idea of resistance in that direction from their minds.
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