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LIFE ON THE GOLD COAST.

Some time back Sir William MacGregor, the Governor of the Gold Coast Colony, of Lagos, made application to Queensland for surveyors for that territory. Several

gentlemen accepted appointments, and among?t these was Mr. Stiles, a Queensland surveyo/, who,, with his wife, left Brisbane* in August, last year, for Adelaide, whence they proceeded to England by the Oroya, and three days after landing In England they sailed for the Gold Coast, arriving there on 18th October. A private letter re ceived from Mrs. Stiles by friends in Bris bane gives the following first impressions of life on the Gold Coast : —Cape Coast Castle, 3rd November, 1902.—1 am afraid it will be some time before this reaches you, as everything has to go to England first of all. On Saturday, 18tb October, we landed at Sekondl, quite a new town. It was simply awful landing in a surf boat. I was slung over the side of the ship in a chair ; it was a horrible feeling, swinging in the air. There were about twelve natives in the surf boat, and one caught me by the foot, and steadied me down. We had about a mile and a-half of Burf to go through to the shore. It is really wonderful to see how they manage the boat. They use short little three-pronged paddles, five on each side, and one at the etern for steering. One native stands up and watches the roll ers. They generally let two pass, and then paddle furiously, and get on the ijrest o! the third (which is generally the highest). I had on a waterproof, so did not get wot, but all the others were soaked. Major Watherston met us on landing. He is the head of (he Gold Coast survey ; a very nice man. They worked all Sunday and Mon day fixing things up, and left on Tuesday morning early for Tarkiva, the headquar ters of the Royal Engineers. I was left till Thursday at the hotel in Sekondl.

There was one man in bed with fever, and the manager (a German) ; all the rest are native men. They never allow the women to go Into a house. I got on all right. The only other white woman in Sekondl came to see me. She is a nurse in the hospital. On Thursday I went up to Tarklva, through the thickest Jungle I have ever seen. It is so dense and airless that there are no birds even living in it. Tarkiva is not bad, but it poured with rain the whole time. Everything got mildewed. If you take off your boots, they are green with mould in a couple of hours. Altogether it is not a country that aiiy one would choose to live in ; the worst parta r,f Queensland are a paradise in com- Darison. The natives carry you In ham mocks, four to each. I soon had to get out of mine, as 1 got quite stasick. I walked : but John liked it. and went to sleeD. We reached Arama, and slept ttoe.e that night. On Wednesday we got to Kamenda. and on Thu: sday to Elmina. It is a wonderful castK-. built in 1655 by the Portuguese. There are 500 rooms in it, and it is simply beyond description. We had a suite of rooms that used to tiv occupied by the first British Governor. Of course, they were dusty and unused, but enormous, and oeautifully turnished. We were taken by the British soldiers, who have charge of the place, to see the prisoners in the dungeons, right under ground. It was awful to see them be hind the bars. They had been there ever since the siege of Coomasarie, and they had only seen Lady Hodgson before seeing me. She was with her husband all through the siege. King Prempeh (who was taken prisoner with these chiefs that I saw) was sent to Seychelles. You could easily get the book. " The Siege of Kumassi." by Lady Hodgson, in your School of Arts,

and it Is worth reading;. From Elmlna we came to Cape Coast Castle. It used to be the capital of the Gold Coast Colony, but owing to its unhealthy position it has been almost deserted by Europeans, and the capital is now Acra. On Friday we not here (Cape Coast Ca?tle). and here we have been erer since. . . . We have rery nice auarters. in what was once the hospital. To-night I am alone, as John and his two assistants (Mesrs. Boyd and Townsend) have gone out to the camp, about three miles from here. I have a negro man servant, who is very proud of working for a white " mammie." There is another white woman here, but she is married to a nigger. The camp is a very large one—fifty car riers, thirty-three hammock men (fifteen for M itsrs. Boyd and Towns nd, and eigh teen for John and self), and three men who are sort of head men and interpreters for the others. It seems funny to be in a country where there are no horses or cattle. The only way I can tell the differ ence between the sheep and the goat a is that the sheep have their tails turned down, and the goats' tails are turned up ; both have long hair, and are exactly the same eise. The mutton is fairly good, but we have to pay Is. per Ib. for it. We get any quantity of bananas, oranges, paw-paws, yams, &c. but they are all a fair price, so I am afraid we won't be able to save much money. There is a steamer in from England to-day, but the •urf was so high that no one could land. The Post Office boat tried to get out for the malls, but was upset. We are both very well, and don't l'eel the heat at all. The English people growl a lot. but it is not really hot. People here are quite in terested to meet Australian*, and while In London we got extra attention because we were Australians ♦ . . A writer in the " Outlook" gives an old Boer's simple but telling account of how the British infantry stormed the Boer po sition. "Ah ! they were bra>e,'' he says. " those stupid khakis, as no other men were brave in this war for if the soldier fell on either side, the other would aot look to the right or to the left, but com* on slowly, slowly, but always on. 1 have been through the war from Talana Hill to the peace; and, believe me, your Infantry have won the Transvaal and Free State for England." A curlou? comment this on th« celebrated message " unmounted m^n pre ferred."

AMONG THE SBAGUULfi.—SNAPSHOTS ON THE BARRIBR REBF. The sandbanks of the Barrier Reef are the resort of hundreds of thousands of seagulls for the purpose of breeding. The Upolu Bank, about 20 miles from Cairns, is one of these breeding grounds, and* these photographs give an idea of the immense number of birds. The mound in the background of one of the pictures is quite hidden by gulls (Photos, by A. Ij. Taylor.

BRIGADIER KNIGHT, Who aaoceeds Brigadier Bruntnell as Head of the Salvation Army In Brisbane.

QUBEN6LANDERS BOUND FOR THE QOL-D COAST. Recently several surveyors have left Queensland for the West Coast of South Africa to fill appointments under Sir William MacGregor, Governor of Lagos. Among them was Mr. Stiles, who was accompanied by his wife, who relates some of their ex periences in a letter published in this issue. This group, taken on board the Oroya at Marseilles en route to Lagos, includes Mr. and Mrs. Stiles add two otter Queensland surveyors.

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