ARRIVE IN THE CRIMEA.

19

had to be daily attended to, but he had managed to persuade a medical board that he was again fit for service.

The run across the Black Sea took but a short time, and soon we were inside the narrow entrance of Balaklava Harbour, which was crammed with shipping. Just before entering we heard more than once the heavy thud of the Russian guns on the north side firing on our working parties or their guards at the docks in Sebastopol. Even at that distance we could distinguish the peculiar noise which a heavy projectile makes in passing through the air. To hand over the Land Transport to their own people, and get a receipt from their paymaster for the anxiously guarded sovereigns, did not take long; and the welcome beaming face of my brother in the 21st Fusiliers appearing, I felt happy indeed at the thought that next morning I should land in the enemy's country and join my regiment, then in the 2nd brigade of the Highland Division.

The next day, 14th January, was not particularly fine; but as my belongings, a bullock trunk and bed valise, were to be carried in a mule-cart, I concluded I should have no difficulty in walking the eight or nine miles to my regiment, then at Varnutka Pass, on the extreme right of the British position, the Baidar Valley being just in front. But by the time I got to Kamara, where the 1st brigade of the Highland Division was, the rain was coming down straight, and the road being uncommonly heavy, I was glad to hold on to the tail-board of the cart, to which a decidedly screwed Highlander also attached himself till I hunted him. The Royals' two battalions were in huts in a most picturesque place in the scrub and

tree-covered hills, high above the sea, which could be seen far away below, and distant about a mile or so. A few of the officers had built warm huts of their own on the hillside, the others were doubled up, two in each of the wooden compartments of the general service huts. Some had dug-outs, with a double tent over the hole and a barrel of earth to support the pole; these, with the earth well packed up and a little fireplace in the side of the bank, were very snug. Occasionally three spars, forming a tripod, were used instead of a pole in the centre. All messed together in one room, formed of about four other compartments knocked into one; this, although a large fireplace had been built in it, was not particularly warm, every one coming to dinner in a fur coat. The morning after I arrived I was detailed for a road-making party, and bitterly cold it was, 7° below zero, the wind having changed to north in the night. I well remember on returning having to take my boots off to try and get my feet warm by continuous rubbing. Being the only ensign present with the battalion, and a very juvenilelooking boy, more like fourteen or fifteen than seventeen, every one considered it a duty to make me comfortable; and when on a march out through the snow to the Baidar Valley or to a field-day with the whole division out on the plain of Balaklava, one of the officers usually insisted on relieving me in carrying the colours, a mounted officer giving me his horse to ride.

My brother in the 21st Fusiliers was with the main body of the army on the Sebastopol plateau. As soon as I could get away for twenty-four hours, I rode over and paid him a visit. We went into the town, a tenantless ruin, and were in it the day the

Once

docks were blown up. We had some difficulty in getting about, sentries being posted to prevent any one going into those streets which lay straight open to the fire of the forts on the north side, but by a little dodging we got where we wanted. The sensation, however, of riding down a long street without a soul in it but ourselves, and the guns of the fort just across the water looking straight up at us, was peculiar. Fortunately the Russians did not think us worth wasting ammunition on, and we were able to make a long inspection of the place. Our good friends the enemy were not always so forbearing. When the French relieved their guards in the vicinity of Traktir Bridge over the Tchernaya, the battery on the other side used to open, sometimes pretty heavily. As the relief took place at well-known hours we occasionally rode down when we wanted a little excitement. we were nearly getting more than we bargained for. Some half-dozen of us riding into a small advanced work of the French evidently attracted particular attention. We dismounted behind the parapet, when a mortar-shell fell unpleasantly near; instantly we were all on the ground till it burst. As soon as we were down, I recollected my pony, and jumped up, pulling frantically at its forelegs to make it fall down also. I had just bought it. A shout from every one, "Lie down!" brought me to my senses. Luckily no damage was done, but my anxiety for my pony was afterwards a great source of amusement to every one. A battery known as the Gallery, directly opposite Traktir Bridge, used to send a shot at us even when only two or three of us came within range. After the peace we met the Russian officer in command there, and asked him why he fired when he must

have seen we were only having a quiet afternoon ride. His answer was, "Pour s'amuser; pour passer le temps."

Our camp being connected by the coast road with Balaklava, our mess, a rather expensive one, was always well supplied, and was well known to other regiments as a place where there was always a good dinner and plenty of first-rate Edinburgh ale on tap, the strength of which occasionally rather surprised our guests. The Royals somehow always have had a good theatrical company. Hawley Smart (the novelist), one of our captains, was a splendid actor. Being very juvenile in appearance, I was at once told off to take the part of a young lady in our plays. The difficulty of course was dress; but as we had several soldiers' wives with the regiment, part of the married establishment having been embarked, because such was the custom in the days of the Peninsular War half a century before, I managed to get a very fair rigout, and my theatrical name in the first piece-viz., Lucy -stuck to me for many years. I often thought afterwards what a real good time that six months in the Crimea was. Not only did we have no end of amusement in the way of theatricals, visiting other regiments, and seeing how our allies, the French and Sardinians, got on, but there was also some very fair shooting. None of us managed to get a shot at the bear we saw and tracked above the Baidar Valley; and no wolves turned up when I lay out at night for them near the cattle slaughtering-place, an unfortunate dog being my only victim, but we got a very acceptable supply of game, bustards, woodcock, and an occasional hare in the bush which sloped away down to the sea.

DEATH OF FIRST FRIEND.

23

It may be asked, Where were the enemy all the time? They were before us certainly on the coast road, and we had a picquet in the pass facing the camp; but as the French outposts were well forward on our left front, by the Baidar Valley, no fear of a surprise was entertained. Sometimes a shooting party got rather too close to the Cossack outposts, but a British subaltern once on his pony is hard to catch. Now and then a French officer or two joined in these advanced sporting expeditions, and when the Cossack picquets went for them, the hunters became the hunted. The French officers enjoyed the fun quite as much as ours, calling the gallop back across country a steeplechasse." The Cossacks also evidently liked the little excitement, but their lances might have been awkward had any of the allied sportsmen got a spill. Some months afterwards, when peace had been arranged, we came across some of these Cossacks, and a grin of recognition on their part showed we had not been forgotten.

Altogether the second winter and following spring in the Crimea was a pleasant time: to me it has but one sad remembrance. One of our officers, Captain T., had exerted himself so much in the hard times of the previous winter looking after his men, that it brought on what was a fatal heart complaint he got home on leave, where he was informed he had not probably more than six months to live, so he at once decided to return to the Crimea to die, if possible, a soldier's death in action. When he returned he shared my compartment of our hut, and we were great friends. In March, when the preliminaries of peace were under discussion, we rode down to Traktir Bridge, where a