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RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS' SERVICE

BECOLLECTIONS

OP

FORTY YEARS' SERVICE

BY
MAJOE- GENERAL
SIR ALEXANDER BRUCE TULLOCH
K.C.B., C.M.G.

WILLIAM BLACKWOOD AND SONS
EDINBURGH AND LONDON
MCMIII

All Rights reserved

2,^ «W.Wo

DEDICATED TO
THE BACKBONE OF THE BRITISH ARMY,
THE COMPANY OFFICERS.

PREFACE.

My relations often suggested that I might write an
amusing, and possibly interesting, little book about
my early days in the Service. I therefore put
together a small work, ' A Subaltern in the Royals,'
and had intended publishing it. But last winter
one of the most renowned commanders of modern
days, who has done more towards making the
British Army what it ought to be than any one
who has administered its affairs for many genera
tions, suggested that I might give some useful pro
fessional information by publishing the whole of
my experiences during the many years I had the
honour to belong to the British Army.
As it was owing to the assistance and encourage
ment which that commander — viz., Viscount Wolseley
— always gave me to lecture or do anything which
might be useful to the Service, I considered I ought
to try what I could do as an author. ' Recollections
of Forty Years' Service ' is the result.
I now venture to present the book to the public,
and trust that its imperfections may be lightly criti-

Vlll PREFACE.
cised ; for, with the exception of some notes and
reports on the Carlist war, the Egyptian campaign
of 1882, and an old letter written from Pekin in 1860,
I have had to rely almost entirely on my memory,
which fortunately proves to be a good deal better
than I expected.
I hope my attempts at literary work may be of
some use to those who take an interest in army
matters, and instructive to young officers, who will
be able to see how very far they are advanced in
professional knowledge as compared with what we
were half a century ago, when a correct march past
in slow and quick time and the performance of curious
kaleidoscopic drill movements inside a barrack square
were about all that was considered necessary.
ALEX. B. TULLOCH.
Llanwysk, September 1902.

CONTENTS.

CHAP. I. EARLY DAYS AND SANDHURST
II. DEPOT AND CRIMEA
III. CENTRAL INDIA
IV. HONGKONG
V. CANTON
VI. PEIHO
VII. TAKU FORTS
VIII. PEKIN
IX. HOME SERVICE
X. STAFF COLLEGE
XI. CANADA .
XII. INSTRUCTIONAL WORK.
XIII. PYRENEES .
XIV. RELIEF OF BILBAO
XV. INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, BELGIUM, EGYPT, AND
XVI. INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, WAR OFFICE
XVII. QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL'S WORK, PORTSMOUTH
XVIII. INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, EGYPT
XIX. MEDITERRANEAN FLEET ....

HALIFAX AND GIBRALTAR

CRETE

PAGE 1
14
33 5165
7891
108126
144153 167
177191
208
220
232 244
260

CONTENTS.

XX. ALEXANDRIA FORTS
XXI. SUEZ CANAL
XXII. TEL-EL-KEBIR
XXIII. SOUTH AFRICA
XXIV. CAIRO
XXV. VICTORIA .
XXVI. AUSTRALASIA AND NEW CALEDONIA

272
291
309
324341
353367

INDEX

381

RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS'
SERVICE.

CHAPTER I.
EARLY DAYS AND SANDHURST.
My first recollections of soldiering were in the year
1844 or 1845, when I was taken to see the Queen's
birthday parade at Edinburgh Castle. I have a
particularly distinct remembrance of seeing, from
where I stood above the Half-moon battery, a soli
tary artilleryman walking from gun to gun and
firing them by means of a red-hot poker. Although
the Royal Artillery gunners in those days were few
and far between, infantry battalions still continued
to exist, the garrison of the Castle being, as I after
wards learnt, the Royal Regiment, to whom the
ancient title of Royal Scots, of which they are so
justly proud, has since been restored. As I com
menced my service in the Royal Regiment, its
ancient history became well known to me, and,
oddly enough, I found it was also known to several
officers in the French army, with whom Scott's
novels, and especially 'Quentin Durward,' were such
A

2 EARLY DAYS AND SANDHURST.
favourites. The Scotch Garde du Corps of the
French monarchs really dates farther back than the
time of Louis XL — viz., to John II. , 1360. The
Guard was 360 in number, of the best blood in
Scotland. It took precedence of all other corps,
even of the celebrated regiment of Picardy, who
were naturally rather jealous of the privilege.
There is a regimental tradition that on one occa
sion a Picardy officer wished to make out his regi
ment was the oldest, saying, " "We admit the Scots
are very ancient, and were Pontius Pilate's guards at
the crucifixion, but we were marines on board Noah's
Ark." To which the Scot replied, " That is really not
worth mentioning ; it was a subaltern's guard of the
Scots which turned Adam and Eve out of the Garden
of Eden." In the book kept in the orderly-room the
record giving the history of the regiment begins as
follows: "In the reign of Achaius of Scotland, in
the year 800." Some one considering that date not
sufficiently ancient added the letters B.C. To a
Celtic Scot a pedigree which cannot be traced back
to the Flood, and any trade but that of annexing
his neighbour's property, is unworthy of considera
tion, so perhaps I may be excused for stating that
I cannot, even in name, go farther back than Le
Moygne de Tulloch, whose son Walter is said— but
on doubtful authority — to have married one of the
many daughters of Robert II. Walter in 1363 was
Keeper of the Castle of Kildrummy, and subsequently
had a charter of Bonnington from Robert II. In
1399 Robert III. granted to John, son of William
Tulloche, the keepership of Montrewmouth Moor, and
this remained with his descendants, the Tullochs of
Hilcarnie, for nearly two centuries.

BISHOPS IN FORMER DAYS. 3
The most celebrated members of the family in
former days were the two statesman bishops,
Thomas de Tulloch, Bishop of Orkney, and his
cousin William, also Bishop of Orkney and after
wards of Moray. Thomas was in great favour with
Eric, King of Denmark, from whom he obtained the
administration of the Orkney Islands in 1422 and
1427. He was a younger son of Tulloch of Bon-
nington, in Forfar. He obtained from King Henry
VI. of England letters of safe-conduct for himself
and eight persons of his retinue for the space of a
whole year, dated at Westminster, 18 th November
1441. William Tulloch, cousin of the former, was
bishop of the same see in the reign of King James
III., and, with other "illustrious" persons, was sent
by him into Denmark in the year 1468 to negotiate a
marriage between the king and the Princess Margaret
of that nation, which they had the good fortune to
effect. In 1471 he was appointed one of the Adminis
trators of the Exchequer ; he was likewise made
Lord Privy Seal, March 26, 1473 ; he was one of
the ambassadors sent to England 1471-72. In 1477
he was translated from the see of Orkney to that
of Moray, and died at Spynie, 1482. A gold cup
with the Tulloch arms, three cross crosslets fitche,
presented to him by the King of Denmark, is still
in existence.
In the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries the name
often appears in official documents in Moray. In
1480 Alexander Tulloch is a witness to a deed of
arbitration with regard to the marches of the Thane
of Cawdor and the Baron of Kilravock. Sir Martin
Tulloch is also referred to in another. From those

4 EARLY DAYS AND SANDHURST.
times until the estate on the Findhorn of the last
laird of Tannachie, Alexander Tulloch, was sold in
1772, the family seem to have lived as others did
in those warlike days, but gradually dying out, the
'15 and '45 about finishing them, my own immediate
forebears being out on both those occasions. Of'
seven brothers who went into Culloden, my great-
great-grandfather was the only one who came out
of the action. The other six, slain on that fatal
day, now rest under the heather of Drummossie
Moor. The next generation had to lie low. Some
of the family escaped to Norway, where their descend
ants now are; others got away to America: their sons,
it is said, over twenty in number, joined Washington's
forces. Two of the family, who were captured after
Culloden and sent to Carlisle, had the honour, on
account of the prominent part they had taken in the
rising, of having their names specially mentioned as
excluded from the Act of Indemnity, which saved the
lives of many sentenced to death, but their kinsmen
enabled such as were left to get their heads above
water again as loyal subjects; and for the last four
generations soldiering has been our only trade, and
the Army List our territorial home. With the ex
ception of a few farmers in the far north and a
minister or two, the very name has almost left
Scotland. A family burial - place is now my only
connection with what for so many centuries had
been our " ain countrie."
All good Americans when they die are said to go
to Paris, but all Scots who prefer life and wish to get
on, if they are wise, go south. A school in southern
England was my destination when ten years of age.
Arriving in the autumn, the peaches and wonderful

A WEE HIGHLAND LADDIE. 5
fruits of the south of England were something for a
boy to remember ; but the sudden change from a wild
open-air Highland life to school captivity in flat, dull,
prosaic England was dreadful. For a friendless wee
laddie, with his strange accent and queer little Scotch
.expressions, so amusing to the other boys, to find
himself on a bright autumn afternoon, with the
swallows darting past the windows, shut up in a
dreary schoolroom, was too trying ; and when his
hereditary Highland instincts took his mind back
to the hills and the stream near the house with the
little burn-trout, and when he seemed almost to hear
his old friends, the shepherds' collies, barking to him
to come out for a run, it was no wonder it was more
than the poor little fellow could bear, and that he
dropped his head on his desk and sobbed as if his
heart would break.
In course of time I got used to school-life, but it
was not until I went to a small private school, Welton
Vicarage in Northamptonshire, that I came to the
conclusion England was not such a bad country to
live in after all. A near connection was the squire
of Welton, and his house became another home to
me, as my father had a staff appointment in Canada.
Fishing being born in me, it showed itself in the
Highlands as soon as I could hold a line, and I had a
good time in the Welton waters, and the pike and
perch a bad one. I also became the proud possessor
of a single-barrel gun of my own, and in the holidays,
with my good old friend the keeper as instructor,
rapidly became a terror to rabbits. Cleaning my gun
in those days was a very different operation from what
it is now, and meant a good half-hour's work, requiring
a bucket of hot water and the expenditure of much

6 EARLY DAYS AND SANDHURST.
tow on the jag of a cleaning-rod. My pony, whose
tail I must have at times almost ridden off, was well
known with the Pytchley. The proper get-up for
boys out with the hounds fifty years ago was a blue
jacket and white trousers ; and I have a lively recol
lection of the colonel of the Scots Greys, then staying
with a house party at Welton Place, being, as I
thought, ultra-particular about my turn-out, and also
that of my pony.
I may mention a recollection of 1851 or 1852 — viz.,
being present at the birthday parade on the Horse
Guards' square, when the Duke of Wellington was the
reviewing officer. I well remember his appearance, a
pale clean-shaven face with a prominent beaky nose :
being mounted on a good-sized horse, his figure seemed
small and thin. Having a place at the Horse Guards'
building, I had the good fortune to get a close view
of the "Iron Duke."
There can be but few boys who have not had a
fancy at some time or another for a sailor's life. I
imagine Marryat's novels had something to do with
it ; but in those days it was no easy matter to get a
nomination for a cadetship. My name, however, in
due time came to the top of the First Lord's list, and
I should have been appointed, and been a sailor in
stead of a soldier, had not the First Lord — Admiral
Dundas, I think — asked my uncle (afterwards Sir
Alexander Tulloch), who had put my name down, to
let me stand over till the next vacancy, which he
promised, as he was particularly anxious to appoint a
relative of his own. My aunt thought I was too
young, and might well wait a little longer, but before
my turn came again the Ministry then in went out of
office. I was put down again on the new First Lord's

SPARTAN LIFE OF A CADET. 7
list (Duke of Northumberland, I think), but before
getting to the top had passed the age for entry to the
navy. I recollect being taken on board the guardship
lying off Woolwich dockyard, an old 40-gun frigate,
the Fisguard. The flintlocks on the guns were the
only thing I particularly remember about the ship.
In February 1852 my uncle took me to Sandhurst,
where I had to pass a very mild examination, and
became a military cadet. At the end of a week the
uniforms for the new arrivals were ready, and funny
little objects these embryo soldiers, ranging from
thirteen to fifteen years of age, must have been in
their red swallow-tailed coatees and heavy shakos
with the great brass plate in front and scale-metal
chin-straps. The forage-cap for ordinary wear was
a stiff broad-topped article about half the height of
the shako : its internal capacity was very useful for
carrying small articles, the little pocket in the coatee
tails being of no use in that way. In those days the
same clothing was worn summer and winter ; and as
for greatcoats, they were considered quite unnecessary
for cadets, no matter what the weather might be.
The equipment for parade or guard was of the same
pattern as that worn in the Peninsular War — viz.,
two broad pipe-clayed belts, one over each shoulder,
crossing on the chest, where they were kept in place
by a large rectangular brass breastplate. One belt
was assigned to the big black cartridge-box, and the
other to carry the bayonet-scabbard by a stud attached
to the belt just over the hips. A short Brown Bess
percussion-musket and bayonet with blunted point
completed the equipment. Drill only lasted an hour
in the middle of the day, but it was of the most severe
barrack-square type, with curious ancient formations —

8 EARLY DAYS AND SANDHURST.
amongst others, that of sections of threes, doubtless a
survival of the old three-deep line. " Handle cart
ridge " and " bout " (to bring the musket to the
capping position) were words of command in the
platoon (firing) exercise. The term " firelock " was
in regular use. " Bout " was evidently a survival of
the ancient " cast about your firelock " (or matchlock)
when bringing it up to the hip from the loading
position with the butt on the ground. Biting the
cartridge, although flintlocks had been abolished
eight years before I went to Sandhurst, was con
tinued for several years after I joined the service.
The word of command — " Fire " — universally used, is
probably a survival of the old matchlock word of
command, "Give fire," the preceding ones being,
"Blow your match," "Cock your match."
There was no gymnasium, but in its place an
excellent riding -school. A diminutive cadet, how
ever, about 4 feet 8 inches, astride a broad-backed
dragoon horse, was rather an absurdity ; but the
general result was that Sandhurst cadets, with very
few exceptions, all became good riders and quite at
home in the saddle.
The board and lodging of the cadets some half a
century ago were of Spartan simplicity. Each room on
the upper storey of the college had five cadets assigned
to it, and was furnished, or rather unfurnished, very
much like a soldier's room in the present day, five
barrack bedsteads being placed along the wall. The
bedding was rolled up during the day : what would
have happened to a cadet who presumed to unstrap
his bedding and lie down, except at night, has been
forgotten, but he certainly would not have done it a
second time. A small compartment like a bird-cage

SPARTAN LIFE OF A CADET. 9
and a canvas bag was given to each boy to hold his
small articles and clothes. The rooms were not com
fortable, the floor being sanded and the door locked
wide open during the day. There were not even strips
of carpet by the sides of the beds, and such luxuries
as slippers were unknown. There were no dressing-
tables, chests of drawers, or washstands — the basins
were placed on the chairs, of which each cadet had
one, and also a small tin foot-bath. For breakfast a
cadet had a bowl of boiled milk, as much bread as he
wanted, and a pat of decidedly nasty butter, which
had to be macerated in some of the milk to make it
palatable. Dinner consisted of a leg or shoulder of
mutton for each table of ten cadets, with an unlimited
supply of waxy potatoes in their skins, and as much
bread and small beer as was wanted. The five seniors
at the top of the table generally managed to get a
good feed of mutton, but the mangled remains left by
the boy-carver which came to the juniors were not
particularly appetising. The second course on alter
nate days consisted of boiled rice-pudding, which was
very fair, or baked plum-duff, known as stick-jaw, so
badly cooked that few could eat it. Such necessary
articles of diet as green vegetables or fruit-tarts were
quite unknown. On Sundays the cadets had ribs of
beef instead of mutton. This was a great treat : so
much appreciated was it that the more voracious
juniors used to go round the tables on the chance of
finding some of the ribs not entirely cleared of meat.
The evening meal, tea and bread and butter of the
usual description, was taken in the cadets' rooms, the
tea and sugar being served out in bulk once a- week.
The feeding at the college was certainly not sufficient
or suitable for growing boys, and had to be supple-

10 EARLY DAYS AND SANDHURST.
mented by the tuck-shops in the village, usually on
tick. The high prices charged for jam and potted
meats would rather astonish schoolboys of the present
time. As regards the instruction given at the college, it
was a strange mixture of ordinary school and pro
fessional work — French, German, History, Geography,
Latin, Mathematics, Surveying, and Fortification. The
Peninsular War furnished the object-lessons in Forti
fication, the senior instructor in which had spoken so
often about Badajos that at last he believed he had
served at the siege. The antiquity of certain portions
of his teaching was amusing, such as exercising us in
throwing hand-grenades with blowing charges. Boy
like, we delighted in getting him into a wild state of
excitement by being very slow in throwing the grenade
after lighting the fuse. Mathematics, Fortification,
and Surveying were very well taught ; but as for
the rest, unless a cadet had a special gift for
languages, or had a good colloquial knowledge of
French or German, the instruction was probably
about equal to what it is and has been in ordinary
schools for many years. The same may be said of
the other school subjects.
Almost despotic power was given to the masters,
but only one, a very objectionable old Frenchman, who
had the junior class, really exercised it vindictively.
If an unfortunate boy ignorant of French had too many
mistakes in his exercises, he was simply reported to
the superintendent of studies for incorrigible idleness,
which meant every afternoon for a fortnight in the hole
writing impositions. The " hole" was a room contain
ing a table and a chair, with waved-glass windows
which admitted light but could not be seen out of.

SPARTAN LIFE OF A CADET. 11
Instead of the ordinary college dinner, the unfortunate
boy got only bread and water, except on every third
day, when he got a plate of meat. He was only re
leased each night in time to go to bed. No investi
gation or inquiry whatever as to the truth of the
instructor's report was made by the superintendent of
studies, whose billet, as far as work was concerned,
must have been a perfect sinecure. Instead of send
ing for the cadet to see what a little talking to would
do, or to hear what he had to say, as soon as the
irascible instructor's report came in, the unfortunate
boy, age about fourteen, was sentenced to a long spell
of the hole, to the detriment not only of his health but
of his progress in other subjects, in which he might be
giving the utmost satisfaction to his instructors.
Fifty years ago there were 180 cadets at Sand
hurst, formed into two companies, the juniors in A,
the seniors in B. These companies were kept quite
separate in different wings of the college, apparently
to prevent bullying by the older boys. Public-school
fagging was unknown, but there were some strange
customs. A " John " — that is, a first-half cadet — was
not allowed to wear his chin-strap down, and such
like ; but any cadet if insulted by another could
challenge him to fight, a regular ring being formed,
with the usual towels, a sponge, water, &c, — a
sergeant attending to see fair play, the fighting
place being under the fir-trees at the old gymnasium.
A cadet had to be thirteen years of age on entry,
and might remain up to eighteen, if he had not before
that time qualified in the requisite number of subjects
to get his commission ; but few had to remain beyond
seventeen. Considering the number of cadets, the
military and civilian staff employed was excessive.

12 EARLY DAYS AND SANDHURST.
There was a governor, usually a distinguished old
general, who was only seen twice a-year, May and
November, when the Horse Guards Commissioners
came down; the lieutenant-governor, another old
general, who was occasionally seen; and a super
intendent of studies, an elderly colonel, who made
a solemn procession round the class-rooms where the
cadets were at work perhaps once in two months.
There were two captains of companies, elderly men,
a sergeant-major with several drill-sergeants, and an
excellent band. Sullivan was the bandmaster : his
son, a little curly-haired boy, was the late Sir Arthur.
The instructional staff for the number of pupils was
decidedly large, possibly to keep in countenance the
excessive military establishment ; but in those days
easy billets had to be found for many old deserving
officers who had been in the Peninsula, and done
right good service for their country not only there,
but in other old wars, now almost forgotten. But
be that as it may, our family should have nothing
but good wishes for Sandhurst. My elder brother
went there in 1847 and got his commission in 1851.
I became a cadet in February 1852 and got my
commission in May 1855. My younger brother went
there in July 1855, and left in the summer of 1857,
having been presented with a cadetship in the East
India Company's service. He embarked for Calcutta
in June or July, and got out in time for the relief
and siege of Lucknow. The regiment to which he
had been nominated having disappeared before his
arrival, he was attached to the 38th, and subsequently
was gazetted to the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, in which
regiment he remained till his retirement from the
service, a second lieutenant-colonel of his battalion.

GAZETTED TO THE ROYAL REGIMENT. 13
The coming Crimean war caused a number of com
missions to be given in July 1854 to Sandhurst cadets
who would be coming out in December and the May
following. I was in that list, but being still under
sixteen was not eligible, and with five other un
fortunates had to remain the full time — viz., until
May 1855, when I passed out, and on the 23rd of
that month was gazetted to the Royals, now Royal
Scots. At that time, my father being employed in
Canada, I was under charge of my uncle, who, as
already mentioned, lived in London : but he was
abroad in the Crimea. He wrote to have me ap
pointed to the 92nd Highlanders, but by the time
the letter arrived I had been gazetted to the Royals,
and was well up the Ensigns' list ; so I got my outfit,
a very small one in those days, and in June joined
the depot of the 1st battalion Royals at Winchester,
where were also the depots of the 3rd Buffs, 7th and
23rd Fusiliers, 46th and 88th Regiments, whose head
quarters were all in the Crimea.

14

CHAPTER II.
DEPOT AND CRIMEA.
A depot battalion at the time of the Crimean war
was anything but a good place for a youngster to
commence his soldiering with some forty or fifty boys
who had just got their commissions, and no old hands
to take an interest in them. The officers commanding
each depot had been in nearly all cases invalided home
from the front, and were keenly anxious to be back again
the moment they were fit for service : it is therefore
no wonder a rather large percentage of the youngsters
came to grief. The ensigns who joined were not all
boys ; many extraordinary specimens got commissions
through the militia, men who had apparently tried
more than one way of getting a living before they
took to soldiering. Several were certainly over forty
years of age, one was actually said to have a son a
commander in the navy. The waist-girth of some of
these ancients was astonishing, and their capacity
for stowing whisky-and-water startling, one particu
larly bibulous individual being rated as high as
sixteen tumblers per diem. So accustomed were
we to elderly men joining as ensigns, that on the
arrival of a brevet-major from the Crimea to com
mand our depot, one of the youngsters, noticing the

A SUBALTERNS ALLOWANCE. 15
regimental badge on his new cap, took him for the
last joined subaltern, and confidentially suggested, on
first seeing him in the anteroom, it was a mistake to
report himself at once in the orderly-room, and that
he had better take a week's leave on his own account
and run up to town for a good time before commencing
his drill. There appeared to be no lack of recruits for
the ranks, many uncommonly fine and fairly drilled
men coming from the militia. All ranks were sup
plied with the old-fashioned percussion-musket for drill
purposes — a few Mime's or Enfield rifles being used by
the different squads in turn for firing at the targets
(musketry instruction it could hardly be designated).
The militia who were out at that time had only
smooth-bore muskets, and it was curious to see them
marching up to about 100 yards from the targets to
commence their firing.
There was not nearly sufficient room in barracks
for the number of young subalterns, a fortunate cir
cumstance for many, myself amongst the number.
With another sub. I got lodging -money and very
comfortable quarters in a quiet little house, and as
we both had very small allowances — I had only £50
a-year, the sum my father said he had from his
father, and found sufficient — we lived very economic
ally, porridge and milk for breakfast and bread and
cheese for lunch. The mess was a large one, and the
charge being 2s. 6d. for dinner, which was a wonder
fully good one, we did full justice to it. There being
no regimental subscriptions or entertainments, which
make such holes in the young officers' pay at the
present day, and having little time to spare from
three parades a-day, I managed to make my ensign's
pay and allowance cover all expenses ; and in the

16 DEPOT AND CRIMEA.
beginning of November, after being rather more than
four months at the depot, I had the good fortune to
be sent with several other officers to Horfield Barracks,
near Bristol, to take out to the Crimea a large number
of the Land Transport Corps, who had, we were in
formed, thrown stones at their officers, and were in
rather a bad way.
On arriving at Horfield Barracks a curious sight
presented itself : as the men streamed out of barracks
for the afternoon they threw coppers to the prisoners
in the guard -room. There were about a dozen of
us, and being billeted at that grand old inn, the
White Lion, we had a good time waiting till our
charges were ready to start. One decidedly old
officer joined us — an ancient captain from half-pay,
who had known my father in Burmah in the year
1827. It seemed to us youngsters a most cruel pro
ceeding forcing, or even allowing, this old party to
return to ordinary captain's work again, as in those
days we actually had a few fortunate captains in the
service under twenty years of age. Early in Decem
ber our charge of foot was ready, and we embarked
at Plymouth in the Urgent, a heavily-sparred screw
naval transport of a type long since got rid of. Each
officer had about 100 of the Land Transport men to
take care of, and unfortunately, also, a considerable
sum in gold, their advance pay, a matter of no small
anxiety to us. There may have been a safe on board
in which the coin might have been placed, but we
youngsters knew nothing of it, and had to hide or
secure the money in our cabins as best we could. At
our first inspection parade at sea it was noticed that
the men's clothes stuck out in a strange way. On
investigation it was found that they had on all their

FIRST VOYAGE IN A TROOP-SHIP. 17
spare underclothing. On being asked why they so
encumbered themselves, the answer was that if they
left their things below the men not on parade would
steal them. I well remember serving out the tobacco
to my charge, having to open the chest with a small
axe, which came in very handy when some of the
more rapacious tried to grab more than their share.
I had then to serve out the soap for the voyage : for
this there was no competition. The readiness of re
source developed in looking after and keeping in order
such a rough undisciplined lot of men was a capital
breaking-in for a youngster ; but my great anxiety
was the possibility of having my little bag of sove
reigns, the advance pay of the men, stolen. This
anxiety was increased when, owing to leaking decks,
I had to abandon my cabin and sling a hammock
outside, close to the engine-room hatch.
We arrived in Malta the day the captain of the
port, Graves, was assassinated by a Maltese boatman,
the streets being filled with very excited groups of
natives, all talking at a great rate. We left after
coaling, and soon I was fast asleep in my hammock.
Next morning on awaking I noticed the machinery
was motionless. On asking the reason, my hearers
were much amused, saying, " Do you mean to say you
did not hear the noise last night when the main shaft
broke and the engines were racing with the most
horrible crashing, and broken machinery flying about ?
Why, nearly all the men rushed on deck thinking the
ship had struck on a rock or the boilers had burst."
From sleeping so close to the engines I had become
accustomed to their noise, and being very tired after a
day in Malta, had slept through it all. That same day
I nearly ended my career. In the afternoon some of
B

18 DEPOT AND CRIMEA.
us were skylarking in the rigging, and being chased by
the sailors, I tried to escape by going from the mizzen
cross-trees into the main-top by the mizzen-top-mast
stay; it seemed to me to slope sufficiently into the
main-top to be able to get along it holding under
neath and working down hand over hand. When I
got about half-way I found the stay did not slope
enough to assist me, and the tar was awfully sticky.
Every one turned up when I stopped for breath. I
fully expected to have to let go, and have a dim
recollection of singing out, " Stand clear below." The
naval people shouted to me to hold on. I managed
gradually to get pretty near the main-top, when a
blue-jacket got out with a bowline, which helped me,
and at last I got into the main-top and dropped there
dead beat. When I looked up afterwards and saw
the distance between the masts which I had managed
to struggle over, I came to the conclusion that I had
had a narrow squeak for it.
Our helpless ship was eventually taken in tow and
brought back to Malta, when we were, after a week's
delay, transferred to another transport, a mercantile
steamer this time, where we were very comfortable.
With the exception of losing a sailor-boy, who was
jerked out of the heads by a heavy sea, and sank as
he drifted past us with three life-buoys quite near
him, our voyage was uneventful. Mbst of us landed
at Constantinople and did the bazaar. Scutari with
its cemetery, the last home of so many of our comrades
of Sandhurst, was a sad sight. The hospital there
was well known to some of our passengers, who after
treatment and invaliding to England, were again
returning to their regiments at the front. One, an
old Sandhurst acquaintance, still had a wound that

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 ship
ping. 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 wel
come 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

20 DEPOT AND CRIMEA.
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. Oc
casionally 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, T 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 juvenile-
looking boy, more like fourteen or fifteen than seventeen,
every one considered it a duty to make me comfort
able ; 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

UNDER FIRE. 21
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 sensa
tion, 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. Once
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

22 DEPOT AND CRIMEA.
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 novel
ist), 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 rig-
out, and my theatrical name in the first piece — viz. , Lucy
— stuck to me for many years. I often thought after
wards what a real good time that six months in the
Crimea was. Not only did we have no end of amuse
ment in the way of theatricals, visiting other regi
ments, 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 accept
able 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 evi
dently 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 compart
ment 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

24 DEPOT AND CRIMEA.
flag of truce was hoisted. Suddenly T. said, " Let's
ride up to the Russian battery," and we went along
the road at a canter, and then at speed. We were,
however, soon ridden after and brought back by the
better mounted Sardinian cavalry, who were on duty
at the bridge : they simply put us down as a couple of
eccentric young Englishmen. I remember thinking
at the time it was rather hazardous to ride through
the cavalry videttes and straight at a battery which
had fired at us only a few days before ; but being with
T., concluded it could not be altogether wrong, and
thought nothing more about it except as a rather
exciting lark.
Next day we heard the flag of truce was to be
rehoisted, so I decided to go again to Traktir. My
pony not being available — possibly it had to go to
Balaklava for its weekly forage ration — I had to walk
all the way. On returning I had to pass through
the Sardinian camp. Some one cantered up to me :
this proved to be T. Just then it commenced to rain
heavily, and seeing me look rather tired with my long
tramp, he insisted on my getting up behind him. As
we were cantering along, laughing at our appearance,
two on one horse, he suddenly said, " I am choking ! "
I was off in an instant, and just caught him in my
arms as he fell dead. Two days afterwards my first
special regimental friend was buried in the Highland
Division cemetery at Kamara, in the midst of one of
the worst snowstorms of the second winter. The shock
of so tragically losing my ever-cheery hut companion
quite broke me down for the time : even the men, sur
vivors of the first winter's trenches, whom T. had so
well looked after in hard times, were visibly affected.
Since those Crimean days I have more than once

VISIT TO OUR LATE ENEMY. 25
thought over the ride with him when he galloped
towards the Russian battery, and could not help being
of opinion that he was in hopes the Russians would
open fire and give him his longed-for wish and last
chance before hostilities ceased, of dying a soldier's
death, and that in the excitement of the moment he
absolutely forgot he was not alone.
After the peace, a small party of us, including
Hawley Smart, got a week's leave and went into
the Crimea as far as Simferopol. We took tents
for ourselves and servants, camping outside Bak-
chiserai, on the Alma, and at Simferopol. The
Russian officers were most hospitable, insisting on
treating us to champagne and bottled porter. We
were shocked on finding out afterwards that the
bottled porter, which had to come all across the
Continent, cost 16 s. a -bottle. One old officer we
met had as a youngster been present at the battle
of Borodino in 1812.
When at Simferopol it fell to my turn to do the
marketing for our little mess. Not knowing a word
of the language, it was not an easy matter, but
the inhabitants were quite interested in my work,
and did their best to assist me. By cackling like
a hen and crowing like a cock, I got eggs and fowls.
Mutton was a simple matter, a single "baa" being
enough. Fish was the difficulty : the motion of
swimming with my hands puzzled the natives, but
on my putting one hand behind and waving it from
side to side like a fish's tail, there was a dead silence
for a minute or two, and then with a shout of
laughter one intelligent individual said something
in Russian, and took me straight to the fish
market.

26 DEPOT AND CRIMEA.
On our return another party from the regiment
went on a similar trip : the party included a clever
but very quaint little Scotch assistant-surgeon. One
of his companions happened to notice the very
handsome little animal he had brought, and asked
him how he had managed to get such a particularly
fine beast. " Weel, I don't quite know where it
came from, but it's just a wild Tartar pony I hap
pened to find behind my hut." It was the Arab
charger of one of the field officers of the^ 72nd
Highlanders, the next regiment in our brigade!
This same amusing little doctor nearly suffered
sudden death at the hands of his hut companion,
who had saved up his week's ration of rum for
the entertainment of some friends. On going to his
rum-jar he was horrified to find it full of dead
snakes. Shouting to his companion the doctor to
know what the horror meant, the quiet explanation
was as follows : "Weel, I thought as ye didna drink
yer rum, it ought not to be wasted, so I just used
it for keeping my specimens." One party from the
regiment made an excursion along the coast road
as far as Yalta, visiting the summer palace of
Prince Voronsoff, where everything was in perfect
order. The mountain country round the Baidar
Valley which we knew so well was very fine, but
was nothing in comparison with the Russian Riviera,
the south coast of the Crimea.
A few Russian officers returned our visits, and one
to whom a pressing invitation had been sent astonished
his host by bringing his family with him. Just before
our leaving the Crimea the Russian generals had an
opportunity of inspecting the infantry of the Allies
on the Sebastopol plateau, and a magnificent sight

CRITICISM ON ARMY. 27
it was, the French showing some 80,000, ourselves
about 40,000, and the Sardinians 20,000. Although
so many old soldiers, and the boy recruits sent to
replace them, had died in the first winter, our losses
had been made good to a considerable extent by
fine well-drilled men from the embodied militia. Our
army was fit for anything, and we were all keenly
looking forward to a campaign in Asia Minor, when,
to our utter disgust, it was announced that the French
had had enough of it and peace was to be arranged.
Soldiering in those Crimean days was a much more
simple matter for the regimental officer than now,
an occasional sealed pattern division day on the plain
of Balaklava being about our hardest work. One
division (Eyre's) had a good deal of instruction
towards the spring, but we had a decidedly quiet
time of it. There were some energetic commanding
officers who made what they could of their oppor
tunities ; but they were the exception, a precise
barrack-square drill, when the weather and ground
permitted, being as a rule all the regimental prepara
tion considered necessary for the expected campaign.
An enormous amount of ammunition had been
blazed away from the advanced trenches during
the siege, but systematic target practice in fine days
during the winter, when the men might have been
taught how to get the best value out of their
new rifled firearms, was apparently not thought of.
Certainly just before we left the Crimea some
subalterns were nominated as musketry instructors,
but that was rather late in the day.
One department of the army learnt, however, to do
its duty — viz., the commissariat. Starved to death
as thousands had been during the first winter, no

28 DEPOT AND CRIMEA.
force could have been better fed, clothed, or housed
than the British army during the second winter m
the Crimea; and when the fine weather came in the
spring, so healthy were the men that our hospitals
at Varnutka Pass were quite empty : there were no
sick, and doubtless the rest of the army was much
the same. The rations were very good. The bread
we got was at times badly baked and about as solid
as a round-shot, but the meat was excellent; one
particular ration— pemmican, if I remember correctly
—was perfection. The hearts, tails, and shanks of
the commissariat-bullocks not being regulation meat,
were procurable for a trifle, and with a decent cook
they were valuable additions. It was said that at
first those parts not being regulation were buried
with the offal. One day in the spring Soyer, with
a staff officer or two in attendance, cantered up to
our camp to instruct our cooks ; but the end of it was
that Soyer's manner so got the cooks' backs up that
two of them were marched off to the guard-tent. A
French chef may have been a useful addition at
headquarters, but such a spasmodic attempt to teach
a British army on active service how to make the
most of its rations was very amusing to us. The
public at home, however, evidently thought it a
wonderful piece of administrative ability.
The amount of military crime, as it is called, was
wonderfully small, more especially when it is re
membered how little work or occupation the men
had, that liquor was easily procurable, and that all
the reinforcements who joined were really taught to
like drink by the very liberal daily ration of rum.
Corporal punishment could be administered regiment-
ally in those days, and probably that had something

LOOTING. 29
to do with keeping things straight : unnecessary as
such a punishment is in peace-time when prisons are
available, it is most desirable to have the power of
inflicting it on active service. The provost -marshal
unquestionably ought to have this power for the
purpose of keeping camp-followers in order. Even
with our best soldiers occasional — almost unaccount
able — outbreaks of insubordination take place ; it is
then surely better for divisional or brigadier generals
to be able to quickly authorise corporal punishment
than to have to shoot men. Looting, as it is politely
designated, is a terrible source of demoralisation for
an army : after the Indian Mutiny days it seemed
to be almost considered a military privilege. The
provost-marshal and his men ought on active service
to have the fullest power to deal at once with this
most pernicious of all offences. Some almost amus
ing accounts of blunted conscience as regards other
people's property in the Crimea were often forth
coming. One I specially remember. A relation talk
ing to an old friend in the Naval Brigade happened
to mention that he was in want of another saddle for
his bat-pony (every officer had his bat-baggage-pony,
for which he was allowed forage). The naval officer
had not one to spare, and my relation thought no
more of his talk with him, but next day a blue-jacket
who happened to hear what had been said came to
my relation with a beautiful new saddle, for which
he only asked £1. This rather startled my relation,
who declined to purchase, whereupon the blue-jacket
said, as an additional recommendation, "You can have
the horse also, sir, for another sovereign " !
Nothing strikes an old officer now so much as the
change in the way of living from what it was in

30 DEPOT AND CRIMEA.
former days. Festive evenings, or big nights, as they
were designated, were very frequent forty years ago,
and the liquor account corresponded. The empty
bottles were, however, occasionally useful. One old
comrade, now with the majority, a temperate man
himself, made use of the discarded bottles instead of
bricks to make one side of the hut he built himself
on the hillside : it is said the Russians keep up the
building to this day for the benefit of the globe
trotter, to show what a thirsty race the English were
during the Crimean war. Had they preserved some
of the so-called uniforms worn by British officers, they
would certainly by their variety have been interesting.
In the winter grey jackets lined with rabbit-skin fur
were mostly in fashion ; in summer an easy-fitting red
shell-jacket with a multitude of kangaroo-like pouch
pockets in front was the infantry officer's dress. In
wet weather long boots with breeches or trousers
tucked into them were usual. In cold weather fur
caps with ear-laps were worn ; in fine weather one
very like the new regulation soft flat -topped cap
with sloping peak. Full-dress parades showed many
varieties of dress — !old- and new-fashioned shakos,
coatees with epaulettes or wings, and the new tunic,
usually double-breasted, but sometimes single.
Every regiment had its grenadier and light com
pany. Some grenadier-company officers still had the
huge bearskin, but as a rule a white ball to their
shako was their only distinctive mark, as the green
ball in the shako and the silver bugle on the forage
cap were those of the light company. The custom of
the light-company captain picking the smartest men
periodically out of the battalion companies to fill
vacancies amongst the light bobs was very hard on

SCHEME OF ATTACK. 31
the other companies' officers. The men af the light
company of course always considered themselves the
smartest and most active men of the battalion, and
tried to live up to it.
During the winter there were often rumours that
we were to attack the Russians on the Mackenzie
Heights ; but if such a proceeding had ever been con
templated, the crossing of the broad Tchernaya Valley
before arriving at the Russian position would have
entailed immense loss, as the Russians found when
they attacked the French and Sardinians at Traktir
in the preceding August. It struck me on visiting
the Russians opposite the Inkerman Cliffs, that by
massing our artillery on the heights we could, under
cover of their fire, have rapidly crossed the narrow
valley and pierced the Russian position, thereby re
versing, so to say, the battle of Inkerman, of which
action there were still some grim memorials to be seen
in the shape of remains of bodies just under the cliffs.
When cantering through the long grass in the Tcher
naya Valley after the peace, skeletons of men killed in
the previous battle in August were not at all un
common : one friend actually found a pair of gold
pince-nez beside the skull of one of them, which he
kept as a curiosity. Oddly enough I met this same
officer many years afterwards, when his sight required
glasses, using the pince-nez he had found on the
skeleton. In June we left the Crimea, but before our depart
ure all medals issued to those who had arrived after
the 9th September 1855 were recalled. Now, as
hostilities had existed for some months after that
date, and most of us had been under fire, although
not always exactly on duty, we thought the order

32 DEPOT AND CRIMEA.
rather hard. The Turkish Crimean medal continued
to be issued to English officers serving with the Turk
ish contingent up to the termination of hostilities, but
not to English officers serving with their regiments :
they only got the Turkish medal if they also had the
English one. The rules governing the issue of medals
and clasps in the Crimea caused at times a good deal
of amusement, some officers who had put in a quiet
time at Balaklava or its vicinity being well supplied
with decorations. One cautious old gentleman, who
could not be persuaded to pay even a private visit to
the trenches whilst the siege was going on, came home
in possession of clasps for Alma, Inkerman, Balaklava,
and Sebastopol, and yet it was well known regiment-
ally that he had never actually been under fire at all.
After the peace he paid a visit to the Redan, and
amongst the many rusty shot he saw an ordinary
spherical shell on the ground. "God bless me!"
exclaimed the innocent old party, " there is a round-
shot with a hole in it ! Wonder how on earth that
came there ! "
Since those days the system of medal-issuing has
been considerably extended. Now it is unnecessary
even to land in an enemy's country to obtain a decora
tion, no matter how many hundred miles the enemy
may be from the coast : even the mercantile marine
employed on ordinary transport work are considered
as warriors and worthy of medals. Fortunately for
the Government, the price of silver has of late years
been much reduced.
The Royals embarked at Balaklava in the Queen
Adelaide for Portsmouth in June, just twelve months
from the day I had commenced my soldiering at the
Winchester depot.

33

CHAPTER III.

CENTRAL INDIA.

With many other troop-ships and men-of-war home
ward bound we had a fine but uneventful passage of
about a month to the English Channel. We were
too late to go into harbour the day of our arrival, so
our transport anchored at Spithead during the night,
which was perfectly calm, and I well remember that
most delightful of scents, new-mown hay, coming off
the Isle of Wight. Next morning we steamed into
Portsmouth Harbour, the people coining down to the
entrance and about the Old Quebec Hotel, waving
handkerchiefs and any other drapery handy, and
cheering in grand style as the ship moved past. On
landing the regiment was sent up to Aldershot to be
reviewed with many others by the Queen. A miser
able place that same Aldershot was in those days,
and having no mess, the difficulty was to get any
thing at all to eat. The one regular regiment there
— the Queen's, I think— could not possibly feed every
one, and the foreign legions quartered at the camp
did not apparently understand the manners and
customs of the English army. Certainly there was
no love lost between them and the rest of the force.
I remember my servant got some bread and cheese
c

34 CENTRAL INDIA.
for me from one of the canteens near, but I had
eventually to go to London for a square meal. The
review over, the regiment was sent down to Ports
mouth and quartered on board the Britannia, an old
three-decker, till barracks were ready. At that time
convicts worked in the dockyard, and one of then-
hulks lay at almost speaking distance from the
Britannia. Later on orders came for us to go to the
Curragh. I got permission to go overland, thereby
managing to get two or three days' leave to see my
relatives, then at Welton.
A more dreary quarter for a lot of young fellows
than the Curragh in those days could hardly be
imagined, the only excitement being the races.
Those who could afford it went to Dublin, but those
who could not had no amusement but country walks
and occasional games at cricket with the other regi
ments. We sometimes had a divisional or brigade
drill, and of course the usual daily parade, with the
march past in slow and quick time. The new institu
tion, musketry instruction, was now regularly carried
out. In the dreary wet winter our regimental
theatrical company was decidedly useful in giving
occupation, but I for one wished the regiment was
back in the Crimea again, and I fancy many others
did also. The long leave came at last, and I got over
to my friends in London. I cannot now remember
the names of the celebrities I met at my uncle's
house ; but the pale, thoroughbred, earnest face of
Miss Nightingale and the great body of Jacob
Omnium— Mr H. — cannot easily be forgotten. All
too soon my leave was over, and then back again
to the objectionable Curragh. By this time our
theatrical company had quite made a name for

EMBARK FOR INDIA. 35
itself. On one occasion Hawley Smart was playing
" Cool as a Cucumber " before the Lord Lieutenant
in one of the Dublin theatres taken for the night,
whilst Charles Mathews played the same piece in the
other. On the last day of the year we had some
special piece on at our Curragh theatre, and as the
dock struck twelve all the actors appeared with a
sash inscribed 1857. Little did they know what
that year meant for the British army, and that for
so many of the audience then present that was their
last New Year's Day.
To the best of my recollection the first news of the
Indian Mutiny arrived early in June. At once all
available regiments were got ready and embarked as
rapidly as possible. Men from the depot and volun
teers from other regiments soon brought the Royals
up to war strength ; and in July the headquarters,
including the light company, to which I had been
promoted, embarked in the Caledonia, a square-rigged
auxiliary screw ship of about 1000 tons, for the voyage
round the Cape to Calcutta. There was the usual
¦excitement amongst the population on our march
ing through Dublin. Doubtless better arrangements
might have been made by the staff authorities re
sponsible for the embarkation, but we were stowed
away at last, though rather like herrings in a barrel
as regards numbers. One incident on leaving I par
ticularly remember. The regimental agent had to get
our signatures that we had been paid up to a certain
date — three months in advance, I think — before being
struck off the English pay-list. He could not give us
coin, but said we could draw cheques for it, payable in
Dublin. As I could not go there, a well-known trades
man, who had come down to collect debts, offered to

36 CENTRAL INDIA.
get the money for me, as he was going to the city and
would be back at once. Evening came and no trades
man. Under the circumstances the commanding
officer kindly gave me leave to run up to Dublin.
Arrived there, I found the tradesman's shop shut.
The bank had long been closed, but by great good
luck I suddenly came across the man and made him
return the cheque, which he no doubt intended to cash
next day, after the ship had gone.
We took the usual sailing-ship route, touching at
Teneriffe, where our band went on shore for the
benefit of the natives ; then stretching across the
Atlantic till we almost saw the South American
coast, we got the trade - winds and bore away for
the rocky islands of Martinvas and Trinidada, and
then down round the Cape in the " roaring forties."
There being little to do on board ship, and being
full of youthful energy, I decided to learn as much
as possible of sailor's work, and got the captain's
permission to go through a regular course of sea
manship. Except in getting through the calm belts
about the Line, and afterwards in the Bay of Bengal,
steam was rarely necessary, the Caledonia being a
fast ship under sail. The screw-well, a rectangular
shaft from the upper deck down behind the stern
post, was a curious but useful contrivance, the screw
being detached from the shaft and hauled up or let
down and made fast, converting the Caledonia into
a sailing ship or steamer as required. There were
several men in the regiment who had been sailors
before they enlisted. This I found out one bitter even
ing in the "roaring forties," when lying out on the yard
taking a reef in the main-sail, which had to be carried
as long as possible to prevent the ship being pooped

GO THROUGH COURSE OF SEAMANSHIP. 37
by the great following seas. It was a heavy job getting
the sail in, and happening to look along the yard as
we handled the 'flapping canvas, with the hail numbing
our fingers, I noticed at least six red-jackets who had
followed me aloft. We had a few good men amongst
the ship's company, one had been in the Naval Brigade
in the Crimea, but they were decidedly a scratch pack :
our assistant steward's previous sea experience, as he
afterwards confessed, was the voyage from Dublin to
Liverpool. During the hired sailing transport days,
it was expected that the soldiers, who with the sub
alterns were regularly divided into watches, would do
all heavy work in the rope-hauling way, as far as such
could be done without leaving the deck ; but as a rule
before a long voyage was over, some of the men went
regularly aloft.
After a heavy blow south of the Cape, we wanted,
for some reason which I have forgotten, to get a few
rockets handy. These, it turned out, had been put
into the troop magazine, which was filled with an
immense amount of ammunition for the anticipated
active service in India. There was some difficulty in
opening the door of the magazine, the whole of the
ammunition cases, &c, having broken adrift in the
heavy weather. We found what remained of the
rockets, also a tin box of percussion signal lights,
smashed in like an accordion. Had but one of the
lights exploded, as they ought to have done, nothing
more would ever have been heard of the Caledonia
and the 500 soldiers. Being, with the exception of
the commanding officer and one or two others, all
young and full of life, we had the usual rough-and-
tumble amusements, from the mild cock-fighting to
the more energetic " sling the monkey," and managed

38 CENTRAL INDIA.
to get through the day : at night, our regular watches
made us appreciate sleep when we went below. Some
how it seemed to me that I got an undue share of that
most detestable time, the middle watch. In October
we got to Point de Galle, the then port of call for mail
steamers in Ceylon. The delight of getting on land
and on such an apparent paradise of an island, with
fresh fruit, prawn curries, and such shore luxuries, was
something worth remembering. In the harbour we
found the Golden Fleece with the 42nd on board,
and other steam transports, all coaling up as hard
as possible.
The news we got at Galle of the horrors of the
Mutiny produced a savage determination that such
a thing as mercy should be unknown : every one was
rabid to get on at once. After leaving Galle the
crew, for some reason, struck work, and several of
them had to be put in irons till they came to their
senses, the soldiers doing the work of the ship. One
evening, after much anxious looking for it, we made
the light at the Sand Heads, and I was allowed to row
on board the light-ship, and got news that Delhi had
fallen, but Lucknow was still besieged, and there was
plenty of work in front of us. That night, or next
morning, we got a consequential individual and his
boy leadsman from a pilot brig, and steamed up to
Diamond Harbour, where we were directed to anchor :
here the first death from climate took place. One of
the stewards, an excellent man, got sunstroke. In
stead of continually applying water as cold as pos
sible to his head, putting him in the shade, and doing
everything possible to get his temperature down, so
little did our medicals know about sunstroke that the
unfortunate fellow was put into his stifling bunk,

SEAMANSHIP COMES IN HANDY. 39
where he had not a chance, and died in the evening.
The pilot also suffered, as it is politely expressed, from
" exposure to the sun," and at length became so very
objectionable that he had to be brought up with a
round turn for impertinence to the colonel.
Next morning, after some unaccountable delay, we
steamed up for the passage round the end of the James
and Mary Shoal, which lay across the river, and as
we approached saw the remains of ships which had
touched on the shoal and then been at once turned
over by the strength of the current. On the bank
of the river were two more which had run aground
and been turned over, every one being lost. As we
steamed for the passage with a rapid tide running up,
the pilot, whose intellect still appeared to be suffering
from the effects of the sun, instead of turning the
ship's head up stream in time as we got near the open,
allowed her to go too far before shifting the helm, and
she went stem on to the bank, up which she lifted.
The screw was immediately put full speed astern, but
the bows still held fast in the muddy bank. The
captain, with a blanched face, turned to the pilot,
shook his fist, and said, "Damn you! what do you
mean by losing my ship ? " As we neared the shore, I
saw what would happen, and rushed to the wheel to
help get it over a few spokes more, but it was useless :
then, apparently from nautical instinct more than
anything else, I instantly decided that as the wind
was blowing strong up stream, by setting the spanker,
it might with the screw help to tear the ship's nose out
of the mud. To scramble like a monkey on to the top
of the poop awning, overhaul the spanker outhaul and
hook it on to the cringle, shouting to the men near to
let go the brails and haul away, seemed the work of a

40 CENTRAL INDIA.
very few seconds : the result, however, was the ship s
head gradually came out of the bank, and we drifted
up stern first past the shoal. When the danger was
over, I came to the conclusion that the little seaman
ship I had learnt had come in handy.
When we got to Calcutta the hateful information
was given us that we were not to form part of the
force for the relief of Lucknow, but were to be sent
down the coast to Masulipatam, and march to Secun-
derabad, six miles from Hyderabad. There had been
an outbreak from the great native city of Hyderabad,
and another was feared ; if this had any success, the
whole of the Deccan would be gone, so we remained
but a short time at Calcutta. Our arrival there, the
first headquarters of the reinforcements coming direct
from England, was warmly welcomed as we passed up
the river, with red-jackets crowding the decks : the
people at the different bungalows excitedly waved
handkerchiefs, towels, &c, just as the Portsmouth
people had done when we returned from the Crimea
the year before. There was a rumour of a rising to
take place that night at Barrackpore, near Calcutta,
but it proved to be merely bazaar " gup." The sepoy
sentries on duty in Calcutta were furnished with ram
rods only, their arms having been removed. We were
uncommonly glad to get away from the Hoogly. In
those days the natives were allowed to throw their
dead into the river, and the sight of carcasses drifting
up and down with the tide, often with a hideous bird
feeding on them, was very unpleasant, as was also the
smell when a body fouled the moorings. At night the
howling 'of the jackals feeding on the carcasses which
had drifted ashore was diabolical.
We steamed down the coast, and then finding we

SNAKES AND ALLIGATORS. 41
had passed the low-lying entrance of the Masulipatam
river, had to turn round and steam back, losing a
whole day. A catamaran with its solitary native
put us in communication with the shore, and next
day some of us landed ; but the brigadier commanding
at Masulipatam said he had no instructions as to our
coming, and declined to make the necessary arrange
ments for our disembarking the troops. That in
November 1857, when every moment was of such
consequence ! In the mean time a gale got up which
made our return over the bar impossible. The wind
rapidly increased in strength, and the authorities on
shore began to be alarmed about the safety of the
ship. Its steam power was insufficient to get out
in the teeth of the gale, and could only ease the
strain on the cables. At one time the situation
was critical. The idiotic brigadier had a bad time
of it, more especially when he found out by wire
that he ought to have landed the troops at once.
When the gale moderated we tried to get back to
the ship, but had to turn back ; the bar was reported
still impassable. The current of the river was so
strong in returning that the native boatmen had
at last to tow the boat ; two of us had to get out
and help, we taking the inner (shore) end of the tow-
rope. Suddenly the current took the boat, which
could not be brought back ; the natives near it
managed to scramble on board, but my friend and
I were left on the bank with a mangrove swamp of
about half a mile between us and dry land. There
was nothing for it but to scramble and swim through
this, the objectionable part being that some very big
water snakes showed themselves as we splashed or
swam past them ; there were doubtless alligators also,

42 CENTRAL INDIA.
but we did not know about them. There was a large
village on the hard ground we at last got to. On
arrival there the sun came out, and to keep our heads
from suffering there was nothing for it but to take off
our only garment, a shirt each, soak it in water, place
it on top of our heads, and in this undress uniform
walk through the village. We found a path leading
to the fort ; arrived at the gate there, we put on our
shirts again.
As soon as the weather permitted, we returned
on board, and the regiment disembarked. This was
early in November, and transport was got ready
for our march to Secunderabad, 200 miles up country.
Regulation helmets were not then in use ; instead,
white covers with a little curtain behind were worn
over the shako. The march in the early morning,
commencing before daybreak, was very pleasant ; and
as for camping out, the men having very lately had
many months of very different life in the Crimea,
where there were no natives to assist, thoroughly
enjoyed it. On the way up we met a native regiment
which it was thought expedient to send to the coast :
we were very much interested, not to say amused,
with their appearance. Instead of a shako or turban,
a high wicker-work sort of a chimney-pot covered
with bright black oilskin was worn : this was as good
as a knapsack to the sepoy. A funny little old
coatee, with ancient belts, and a perfect portmanteau
of an ammunition-pouch, black trousers, and bare feet,
with sandals occasionally, completed their uniform.
Every sepoy appeared to be married, and to have
a covered bullock - cart containing his family : we
thought their baggage-train would never end. The
idea of such troops with such organisation ever being

A REBEL RAJAH. 43
fit for service seemed an impossibility. At Secunder
abad the officers lived in bungalows, two or three in
each : having gardens round them and usually some
fine trees, they were very pleasant quarters. The
men's barracks, after the huts at the Curragh, seemed
spacious enough.
Our arrival released one of the East India Com
pany's European regiments, and also allowed the
43rd, long in India, to come up from the south to
join Whitelock's column. The passing of these troops
through Secunderabad, where we were to remain, was
crushing luck for us : with a younger commanding
officer we thought it might have been different. Sud
denly the Rajah of Sholapore broke out, and we
thought our chance had come, but he was quickly
snuffed out by the force which happened to be near.
Three of our companies were sent down one evening
to the Residency, close to Hyderabad, to take him
over as a prisoner. A rescue by the "budmashes"
from the city, which was filled with armed men, —
Rohillas and suchlike, — was thought probable, and we
looked for a fight, but it did not come off. We got
back to Secunderabad in the middle of the night, and
found there had been a false alarm there, as our firing
was said to have been distinctly heard ! A mare
frightened and scared - looking individual than the
miserable-looking rajah I never saw, as he looked^ out
from his palanquin when we surrounded him, fixed
bayonets, and marched him off. He was tried in our
messroom afterwards, found guilty, and would have
been blown from a gun, but his prosecutor pleaded so
strongly for him, and was able to show how he had
been led away, that he got off with transportation for
life. He managed to get hold of a revolver on his

44 CENTRAL INDIA.
way to the coast and shot himself. Europeans could
not enter Hyderabad in those days without a guard,
as it swarmed with thousands of the most reckless
adventurers and rascals in India, who kept up its
native court. A second attack on the Residency, and
possible extension of the movement to Secunderabad,
was considered by no means impossible : an intrench-
ment round the gun-park was therefore constructed,
and various preparations in case of our having to
stand a siege were made ; but nothing came of it.
Two of our companies eventually, with a native force,
were sent to head off Tantia Topee from taking refuge
in the Deccan ; but the officer commanding, from the
Madras Native Infantry, was one who from his weight
had to be helped on to his horse every morning :
he was hardly the man to come up with Tantia, and
did not.
There was some fair black buck- shooting at no great
distance from the cantonment, but we were not able
to get far enough away for sport. Salar Jung, the
Nizam's Prime Minister, kept a tight hand on the
Rohillas and swashbucklers swarming in Hyderabad,
but it was not safe to calculate at any time on a quiet
twenty-four hours. The Rohillas, armed to the teeth,
and with their round shields slung over their shoulders,
could be seen at Secunderabad ; and fine fellows they
were, for whom one could not help having a certain
admiration. We ought not to have done it ; but
occasionally after mess a couple of us would pass the
native infantry outposts and go to the outskirts of the
city, where some big nautch given by a friendly native
was going on, and where we could see the Rohilla
chiefs in all their warlike glory.
By living a particularly abstemious life, and being

ARMY SANITATION IN FORMER DAYS. 45
out in the open air so much, after black buck or any
thing, even in the hot season, but with an immense
sola topee on, I kept myself in perfect health while so
many were down with fever or liver complaint ; and
when the rains came on dysentery and very fatal fever
commenced amongst the men in the barracks. When
on guard there I drank some of the water from the
barrack well, and also got dysentery, but not very
badly. Every rainy season there was an outbreak of
dysentery and fever in the Secunderabad European
infantry barracks. In 1858 so many men died that
a special committee of investigation was appointed.
The value of their report may be judged of when I
mention that one of the members, a medical officer of
high standing, suggested that the sickness was occa
sioned by the men not having their dinners quite hot
in the rains, and recommended a covered way from the
cook-houses ! The cause of all the sickness was self-
evident to any one who would have taken the trouble
to find out where the water came from which filtered
into the great open well in the barracks. At no great
distance outside the barracks, and on a higher level,
was an old disused cemetery, where many hundreds of
European soldiers, their wives and children, who had
died at Secunderabad, were buried. In the wet season
there was unquestionable drainage from the cemetery
to the barrack well, and consequently with the com
mencement of the rains every year there was great
sickness. These old barracks have long since been
abandoned, but it was strange that for many years the
cause of the mortality — viz., bad water combined with
a low situation — should have remained undiscovered.
We lost such a number of men that at last it was
decided to send the regiment away on a health march :

46 CENTRAL INDIA.
this was just after I left the country, which was in
October 1858.
The other battalion of the Royals having been sent
from Gibraltar to Hongkong, was short of subalterns,
and four were ordered to be transferred. The four
junior lieutenants had to go, of which I was one. A
senior who was hard up offered to exchange, and
another at once offered to lend me the money ; but the
vexation of having missed all the active service then
just finishing in Bengal, and the prospect of seeing
service in China, where hostilities were still going on,
decided me to take what fate offered and go. We
were told we should get passages per P. & O. to Hong
kong from Madras, but the Indian Pay Office depart
ment at the same time informed us that as we were
now transferred to a regiment out of India we ceased
from that date to draw Indian pay and allowances,
and would only be credited with English pay, 6s. 6d.
They declined to give us a passage by palki dawk at
the public cost to Madras, 400 miles away ; there were
no railways in those days, and we could not afford to
pay this ourselves, but such gave no trouble to the red-
tape finance department officials of the Madras Presi
dency, to whom the fate of four subalterns not on their
pay-list was a matter of supreme indifference. Their
conduct was reported to the home authorities, with the
result that officers transferred afterwards to English
regiments out of India were kept on Indian pay till
embarkation. Fortunately I found that some bullock-
waggons were returning to Masulipatam, and that if
we got there by a certain date we should get a steamer
to Madras. The rains being still on, the roads were
in some places almost impassable, and the two rivers,
which in the dry season we had crossed in our upward

AN ALARMED MONKEY. 47
march almost dry-footed, were now coming down in
flood, and there were no bridges.
Leaving the regiment was a great wrench : fortu
nately the officers of the other battalion, which had
been alongside of us in the Crimea, were no strangers
to us. I may mention that the Royals, 60th, and
Rifle Brigade were the only regiments in those days
which had two battalions. To sell our few things and
put mattresses and some provisions into our respective
bullock-waggons did not take long. Being only on
English pay we could not afford to take our native
servants with us, and consequently had rather a rough
time of it, more especially when, our provisions being
pretty well exhausted, we could only get eggs and
milk with an occasional fowl in the villages we passed
through. The rivers were our principal difficulty. At
one of them we had to stop for the night until an
elephant could be got to take our things in turn across
dry. The bullock-drivers would not stay with the
waggons, as they said a man-eating tiger was in the
habit of coming along there at night. The beast did
not trouble us, but my waggon was next day upset in
the stream, and I had rapidly to strip and go in to
assist the natives to recover it. On landing on the
opposite bank in a state of nature I met a huge
monkey, which fortunately took alarm and bolted.
The next river I swam across by the side of the ferry
boat till, happening to ask the ferryman if there were
any alligators in the river, his answer — viz., "Ho,
sahib, bohut burra mugger "—(" Yes, sir, very big
alligators") — made me scramble on board without
delay. The four of us at last arrived at Masulipatam
in a state of semi-starvation and with fever commenc
ing. Fortunately we just managed to get the steamer

48 CENTRAL INDIA.
to Madras, where we got an advance of English pay,
and after a few days at a small hotel embarked in a
P. & 0. steamer, the Alma, for Hongkong vid Ceylon.
The sea voyage stopped the fever from which we were
all suffering, and on arrival at Hongkong I made up
an account by charging what we should have been
entitled to in England — viz., 10s. per day each,
marching-money, and all our expenses for waggons,
elephants, &a, which altogether came up to Indian
pay. The War Office at home were quite satisfied
with the charges.
Madras in those Company days was known as
the benighted Presidency, and certainly deserved its
name, as far as its military organisation was con
cerned. The appearance of a native infantry regiment
has already been described ; and as for service value,
the sepoys of Clive's time must certainly have been
of a different race. The young officers were just the
same as our own, and many of the older ones had
plenty of energy, but there was unquestionably a
large leaven of drones. One of these used to be
rather a startling sight— a very fat man, who came
to the band in the evening in a bullock - waggon,
accompanied by his dark - complexioned wife and
children. Even that crack corps, the Madras Horse
Artillery, was behind the age. As a specimen I may
mention that flint pistols formed part of their equip
ment ; their discipline also might have been better.
Our own army system was not perfection in 1858 ;
for instance, use might have been made of our almost
unlimited space for training the men for active ser
vice. A regular musketry course, such as it was, had
now been instituted, but the daily march past in slow
and quick time, with some curiously intricate and

THE BENIGHTED PRESIDENCY. 49
useless parade - ground manoeuvres, was our only
training for battle. Better ground for attack and
defence of positions, outpost work, and suchlike,
could not have been found ; but special instruction in
such subjects did not in those days form part of the
usual commanding officer's duty. Putting the matter
of bad water on one side, I for one used to believe the
men would have been kept in better health had they
(with proper clothing and sola topees such as we wore
shooting) been kept at some interesting work or in
struction, even out in the sun for the greater part
of the day, instead of being confined to barracks, as
they rigidly were till the evening, where they had
nothing to do except to sleep and drink their allow
ance of arrack or heavy beer. They had not even
to cook their own meals, clean their accoutrements,
or even black their boots — that was all done for
them. Occasionally a reforming adjutant would get
the native servant boys hunted out of the barracks,
but it was not long before they somehow got into the
old Indian army style again, which apparently con
sisted of never doing anything they could make a
native do for them. So little did the English officers
of a native regiment understand our system, that at
our first camp after leaving Masulipatam some of them
seeing our men dressing the tent-poles from flank as
well as front, so as to have each tent in proper
position and line before commencing to put them up,
were much amused at our men's extraordinary energy
and apparent ignorance of tent - pitching in going
through to them such an unknown performance.
Leaving everything possible to the natives at Secun
derabad cost nine of the Madras Horse Artillery their
lives. A slow match belonging to the battery had,
D

50 CENTRAL INDIA.
after a morning's drill, been put into the battery
magazine, and in a short time the magazine building
and everything near it was in the air. We at first
thought the report of the burst was the first of the
two warning guns to repair to the intrenchment, but
as no second followed, we soon put it down to the
right cause — an accidental explosion.
Before leaving India it may be useful to know of
what a Queen's regiment consisted in that country
forty years ago. We had no less than forty- seven
members in mess. There were two lieutenant-colonels
and three surgeons. There were ten companies in
the battalion, most of them having a supernumerary
subaltern. There were only some six married officers,
all told, which, from a regimental point of view, was
a great advantage. On landing in India the total
strength of the regiment was 1360, the average height
of the men in these long-service days being far above
what it is now in the British army. In the grenadier
company there were no men under 5 feet 10 inches,
and in the light company none under 5 feet 7 inches
or over 5 feet 9 inches, all specially picked for activity
and smartness.

51

CHAPTER IV
HONGKONG.
At Ceylon we had to stop a few days until the arrival
of the Hongkong steamer, a fine old paddler — the
Pekin. Except that we came across the outer whirl
of a typhoon, when our tiller-ropes were carried away,
and for a time we were in a bad way, the voyage was
devoid of incident. We arrived at Hongkong the
beginning of November and joined the 2nd battalion,
then quartered on board an old three-decker, the
Princess Charlotte, until the shore barracks were
vacated by the 59th, which had been nine years at
Hongkong, and in that time had buried the regiment
three times over. The mortality there in those days
was appalling, as we were soon to find out. The
Royals landed in November 1858, and by the same
time the next year they had lost from fever and
dysentery out of 800 men, no less than 235. Certainly
some of these were invalided, but most of them died
before reaching England. There also died in the same
time half the women and all the children.
Happening to look over the side the evening of the
day we arrived, I saw a man-of-war dinghy with a
coffin in it passing under the stern of the Princess
Charlotte, and was informed it was intended for a

52 HONGKONG.
marine of the Cambrian, who was to be hanged at the
yard-arm in the morning for shooting his sergeant.
Early next morning when bathing, we could not help
seeing the execution, which took place from the fore-
yard of the Hesperus. As the gun fired the wretched
man seemed almost to fly out from the platform, so
rapidly was he run up. About eighteen months after
wards there was another yard-arm execution from a
gunboat in Talienwhan Bay which lay close to our
transport. In that case the man was swung up with
less rapidity. Human life in China, certainly in those
days, seemed to have a smaller value than elsewhere.
The year before we arrived the Chinese authorities on
the other side of the harbour having had some diffi
culty with the British officials at Hongkong, tried to
settle accounts by poisoning all the Europeans in the
island, or as many as possible, by putting arsenic in
the bread sent round one morning. Some did die, but
excess of poison is said to have saved many by making
them sick at once. Oddly enough the poisoning baker
was named Alum : he escaped to the mainland.
Hongkong harbour is in point of scenery extremely
beautiful. The rocky, almost mountainous, island
itself is, or was, quite bare of trees, and is scored
with ravines, each of which in the rainy season has a
fine sparkling stream, and we anxiously looked for
ward to getting into our new quarters on shore, fine-
looking stone barracks. Fortunately our commanding
officer had been out in China in the expedition of
1844, and knew well that too many precautions could
not be taken as regards health. Thick sola topees
covering head and neck were at once ordered, and
instead of red uniform, loose easy-fitting sailors' white
frocks were taken into wear ; but it was not long before

THE FLEET IN CHINESE WATERS. 53
the usual fever and dysentery began, and slowly but
steadily increased. The theory of the then unhealthi-
ness of the island was that whenever the soil, decayed
granite, was disturbed for new buildings, it produced
an outbreak of fever ; but I believe that after we left
the island it was discovered that the usual delinquent
— viz., impure drinking water — was the cause of
nearly all the trouble. The mortality amongst the
fleet on the China station was also very great, until
some one suggested that shore water should be pro
hibited and distilled water only used. Now Hong
kong, instead of being one of our most deadly stations,
is, as far as Europeans are concerned, one of the most
healthy, the secret of it being simply pure water and
proper sanitation ; but it cost the British military
and naval forces in China some thousands of lives
before the responsible authorities discovered it.
In 1858 there was a large number of men-of-war on
the China station, the flagship being the Calcutta, an
84-gun sailing line of battleship : her armament was,
I remember, rather ancient — viz., 56-cwt. 32-pounders
on the lower deck, with the date 1797 on the trunnions.
Some of them possibly had done good service at the
Nile or Trafalgar. On the quarter-deck and forecastle
she actually had 32-pounder carronades. The Calcutta
was a good ship under sail, as was also the 40-gun
frigate the Cambrian. The Camilla, a 16-gun brig,
which had a mainmast apparently as tall as the
Calcutta's mizzen, was a perfect beauty. She was
lost with all hands in a typhoon off Japan. There
were many heavily armed ship-rigged paddlers, such
as the Retribution and Furious, and quite a fleet
of screw gunboats, each with a 10-inch shell gun
amidships.

54 HONGKONG.
As regards the military, the headquarters of the
expeditionary force under Sir Charles Straubenzee was
at Canton, and then consisted of two magnificent
battalions of marines, two Bengal native infantry
regiments, marine and garrison artillery, engineers,
&c. There were no cavalry, the country about Canton
being unsuited for that arm, but there was a smart
little force known as mounted military police. As
soon as we landed, an officer and party of our men
were sent to Canton to join this useful little force,
which was really that which in the present day is
known as mounted infantry. It was not long before
the detachment at the fight at Sheksing showed the
value of the musketry training the regiment had had
at Gibraltar under that much beloved and splendid
soldier, Colonel Haythorne. At Hongkong, rifle in
struction, owing to the steepness of the hillside, was
carried on under considerable difficulty, which was
much added to by the increasing sickness of the
regiment ; but with such a keen commanding officer
the annual course was got through successfully. One
trouble was the judging-distance practice. We could
not measure across the ravines in the regulation
Hythe manner, but the musketry instructor got over
the difficulty by a very clever and simple system of
triangulation. It will hardly be credited that the
authorities at Hythe disallowed the whole of the
regulation good shooting pay and prizes which the
men had earned, because the judging-distance practice
was not carried out strictly according to what was
done on the level ground at the School of Musketry
in England! We were under the impression that
Hythe had been established for the purpose of
producing good shooting in the British army, but

PIRATES. 55
eventually, with others, came to the conclusion that
the authorities of the School of Musketry were adepts
in showing how not to do it. The colonel paid the
men out of his own pocket. In the 2nd battalion of
the Royals we had regular school once a-week for
the subalterns under the senior major. The rugged
nature of the ground and climate prevented any out
door tactical work worth mentioning, — even barrack-
square drill had to be reduced to a minimum ; but
with an expeditionary field -force at Canton, and
continual " excursion alarms " in connection with
naval attacks on piratical strongholds, there was no
want of practical training.
A very large and valuable coasting and long sea
trade is carried on in the native Chinese vessels,
usually known as junks, some of which are of great
size : this trade has existed for ages, and so have the
pirates, who, emboldened by a miserably weak system
of government, have at times formed great fleets and
regular pirate committees on shore. With the fear
of marauders ever before them, all native craft of
any size carried guns, and it is said did not scruple
to do a little piratical work on their own account if
a particularly favourable chance presented itself. The
guns were of all shapes and sizes, but the favourites
were European long 18- and short 32-pounders. On
examining some of them one day, I found, on lifting
the lead apron covering the vent, that the guns were
not only loaded but primed and ready for immediate
use. The so-called snake-boats employed for quick
traffic seemed the perfection of craft for coast piratical
work, — long, with fine lines, and pulling ten to fifteen
great oars of a side. Three or four such craft would
in calm weather have the largest junk at their mercy.

56 HONGKONG.
The snake-boats were also very fast under sail : stiff
ened as the great mat fore and aft sails were with
split bamboos, the boats could go very close to the,
wind and carry on to the last, owing to the rapidity
with which the sails could be lowered and run up
again. The pirates were at times a daring lot — on one
occasion cutting out a junk at the entrance to the
harbour in sight of our flagship. On another a pirate
junk actually attacked a gunboat, which at the time
was under sail. After a stiff fight the junk was
carried by a boarding party, as in the grand old
naval battles. The pirate doubtless mistook the gun
boat for one of the valuably laden and also well-armed
opium schooners which in those days did a good
business in the smuggling line. The pirates not only
captured junks at sea, but also raided even large
coast towns. Just before our arrival at Hongkong,
it was considered advisable to send two 18 -pounders
and a small detachment to one of the villages at
the back of the island for its protection : the officer
in charge, being somewhat eccentric, used to keep
his men exercised in a curious way by firing shotted
salutes over the mastheads of those who ventured to
pay him a visit in one of Jardine's schooners. During
the cold weather Hongkong was quite a lively place.
The annual races, for which those most hospitable
firms, Jardine and Dent, expended large sums and
imported good horses, were a great excitement, not
only during the race - week, but also all the time
the animals were under training, the horsey light
weights in the garrison being usually requisitioned as
jockeys. It was not long before the Royals theatrical company

THEATRICALS. 57
were under weigh, a really very fine theatre of bamboo
matting on a strong bamboo framework to hold 600 to
700 people being run up in a short time. As in the
Crimea, there were no ladies available, so assisted by
the naval cadets of the flagship who had a turn for
acting, I found myself on the boards again ; but with
such young assistants I now usually took the part of
an elderly lady, the cadets often being my daughters.
One Rawson (now Sir Harry) for years afterwards
wrote to me as " Dearest Mamma." When he was
married, with a family of growing daughters of his
own, I happened to meet him in Southsea with his
children, who were much amused when I informed
them that I was their grandmother. A year or two
afterwards, when in command of troops on a transport
going to the Mediterranean in which these children
and their mother were passengers, they scored off me
on coming on deck in the morning : it was not
" Good morning, colonel," but " Good morning,
granny." Having a very large stage, we often had
really grand shows in our theatre, and also some very
amusing incidents. In one Shakespearean burlesque,
the ghost, being very nervous, had taken too much
brandy-and- water ; and Ariel, a cadet, now an admiral,
should have come down from the sky in a graceful
curved flight, but descended straight, turning round
like a leg of mutton in front of a kitchen fire. But
the climax of that evening was a fairy who also should
have come lightly from the clouds to place a laurel
wreath on Shakespeare's head : instead of doing so,
the fairy came down and sat on Shakespeare's head.
One night a piece of drapery on the stage caught
fire, and had not one of our actors, Palliser, seized it
with extraordinary rapidity, tearing it down and

58 HONGKONG.
stamping it out, in doing which he was badly burnt,
the whole mat-shed theatre would have been in flames
in a few seconds. This experience has never by me
been forgotten : even in the smallest private theatricals
in which I have been concerned, I have since then
taken care that, where lights and drapery might come
in contact, buckets of water and soaking blankets
should be ready, and exits carefully considered.
When we first landed in Hongkong, and before the
great sickness began, our men and the blue-jackets
had some good games at football : it was amusing to
see the barefooted sailors kicking the ball just as com
fortably as if they had boots on. Somehow the blue
jacket of the present day does not seem the same as
the happy-go-lucky reckless sailor of bygone times.
As an instance, one of our officers going round the
naval sentries at Canton with a blue -jacket petty
officer was informed by a sentry that his orders were,
" Challenge three times and then shoot the  ." On
going round afterwards during the night, the sentry
did carry out the orders as he understood them, sing
ing out, " Who goes there ? Once, twice, thrice," and
then fired ; to which the petty officer at once replied,
" Oh, that is your  — game, is it ? Take that," and
let drive at the sentry. Happily neither shot took
effect, and sentry and visiting rounds had more precise
and clearly defined instructions given to them.
We had many amusing scenes with our naval pals,
with whom we worked, not only in regular service
business but also in conjunction, at the frequent fires
which took place in Hongkong, at one of which I was
nearly expended. With my company I was hard at
work rolling casks of spirits down to the water from
the lower back storey of a burning house : we had got

NAVAL FRIENDS. 59
them nearly all out when the fire began to come
through the ceiling over our heads, and we had to
run for it. On getting to the level of the street in
front, I saw two field guns, and asking why they were
there, was informed that they had been brought as a
last resource to stop the fire spreading by knocking
the house down, but had not fired, as a ship was in
the harbour too close on the other side. The fact that
my company was working in the spirit - store cellar
under the house had in the excitement of the moment
been quite forgotten. To my naval friends, who were
always ready to carry their lives in their hands on the
slightest excuse, the affair was merely amusing, but I
took good care, when working out of sight at fires
afterwards, to " bar guns." More perfect camaraderie
than that between the navy and the Royals could not
have existed : continually together, we were like one
service. It was the same with the men and the blue
jackets : these, when unable to get off to their ships at
night, knew a soft plank and blanket could always be
found in the barracks. We had many friends also
amongst the officers of the French squadron, several
of whom belonged to the best families in France.
Possibly the fact of our being a Scotch regiment had
something to do with it. The French officers were
well up in Scott's navels, and recognised that the
forebears of the Royals had in ancient days been
in the French service.
We also had some very pleasant amusing friends in
the American squadron : among others Semmes, after
wards of Alabama fame, dined with us one night.
I am under the impression that he then belonged
to that grand old paddler the Mississippi, which
gloriously ended her days in fire and smoke at Vicks-

60 HONGKONG.
burg. The Hartford, Farragut's future flagship,
when he showed how to force a passage through the
obstructions and pass the forts at Mobile, — "Damn
the torpedoes, full speed ahead," — was also in those
days on the China station.
In the cold season there was some good pheasant
and snipe shooting to be got on the mainland. A
party of four of us with two civilian friends hired a
native craft of some 20 or 30 tons, having a high
covered-in deck extending nearly its whole length :
in this we lived very comfortably. We met our craft
at Wampoa on the river about twenty miles below
Canton, taking a passage to that place in an American
river-boat, with its great walking beam, which had
been sent across from 'Frisco. Naturally the steamer
had to be specially prepared for the ocean transit, and
required considerable alteration before it was fit for
passengers. One of the people at Hongkong remarked
to the captain, " You seem to be really building your
boat here." " Yes, stranger," replied the captain,
" you are about right ; we only put the keel on the
day before we started " ! More than once the enter
prising Chinese passengers of the river-boats had on
the way to Canton attacked the Europeans and crew,
killed most of them, run the steamer aground, and
looted the cargo. To prevent a recurrence of such
carefully planned piracy, the Chinese passengers were
separated from the rest by a strong iron grating, and
loaded rifles were always placed handy for the Euro
peans and crew in case of an attempt to break
through. We commenced our shooting in the paddy fields
by the entrance to the Fatshan Creek, where Com
modore Keppel had the year before, with the boats'

A RISKY SNIPE-SHOOT. 61
crews of the fleet, destroyed a large number of
armed war junks. That was a stiff piece of work :
we lost a considerable number in killed and wounded.
Amongst the former was a captain of the 59th Regi
ment, the military staff officer : he was with his chief,
the Commodore, and was cut in two by a round-shot
when the Commodore's barge was sunk. Fatshan
Creek had a decidedly piratical reputation, and our
Chinese skipper always insisted on the English flag
being hoisted during the day, and shifting berth a
few miles during the night ; but it was a grand place
for snipe, and we had several excellent days' sport,
which was disturbed one morning by a heavy can
nonade not many miles away, in the direction of
Canton. There had been rumours about a possible
difficulty with some hostile Chinese in those parts,
but we did not think it worth attending to. How
ever, when we heard the heavy firing we decided to
do our shooting within sight of our junk, and to have
the boat always ready ; but the peasants working in
the fields took no notice of us, and at lunch the
children of a village came up to us in a very friendly
way. The danger was that the notice of a reward for
heads, which the Chinese in those days always issued
when they began hostilities, might have got down to
Fatshan. The amount to be paid for a white man's
was usually 200 dollars. We decided that if we
should be suddenly captured we would offer, through
an interpreter, double that amount to let our heads
remain where they were. It is not at all improbable
our offer would have been accepted. The Chinese
there had no personal animosity against us. The
matter in their eyes would have been a purely
commercial transaction ; and with that perfect faith

62 HONGKONG.
which existed in those days all over the East that
an Englishman's word was as good as his bond, I
think it quite possible cheques for our own heads
would have been accepted. We came to the con
clusion, however, after our day's shooting was over,
that it would be advisable to run up to Canton in
the night, which we did, and then ascertained that
the whole of the Canton field-force had had a very
pretty fight at Sheksing, about six miles from the
city, whilst we were amongst the enemy shooting
snipe. As the troops were all on their way back to Canton,
and our leave was nearly over, there was nothing but
a little sight-seeing for us, and then back again to
Hongkong. One individual was anxious for us to
remain another day to see eighteen men beheaded
in the little lane where, under Yeh the late governor
of the province, so many thousands of men, women,
and children, so - called rebels, had been executed.
The eighteen men, if really the culprits, were rightly
to suffer, having assisted those unutterable rascals
who were kidnapping Chinese "emigrants" to send
to the guano islands on the coast of Peru. At Macao
there were then said to be regular slave-barracoons
where the unfortunates were secured till the ships
were ready. One of these slave-ships was lying just
below Wampoa. I told our friend that we did not
wish to see the execution, but if a party happened
to be made up to seize the ship at Wampoa, release
the Chinese, and then burn the vessel, I would not
object to being handy on the occasion. Chinese
executions as described to us were very simple affairs :
all those to be beheaded knelt in a row one behind

A FORTUNATE LETTER. 63
the other in the lane, the executioner, with a heavy
knife which was shown to us, lopping off each head
with a single blow as he walked slowly along, be
ginning with those in the rear of the line. On one
occasion, as described by our acquaintance, over whom
such horrible sights exercised a strange fascination,
an unfortunate in the front part of the line looked
back, and seeing the headless bodies of his friends
tumbling over, gave a shriek, whereupon the execu
tioner came up to him, patted him on the shoulder,
kindly saying, " Don't be afraid, you won't feel it,"
and then returned to his work.
When we returned to Hongkong the pleasant time
of the year was nearly over, and the regiment was
beginning to know what Hongkong fever meant,
when our spirits were further depressed by an in
timation from the War Office that the special colonial
allowance granted in that expensive and unhealthy
station was to cease, and that for the future Is. 6d.
per day additional and free rations would only be
granted. This meant that owing to the cost of
passage the only chance some of us would have of
getting to England for many years (our predecessors
the 59th had been nine years in Hongkong) would
be as broken-down invalids, when we would be sent
home at Government expense. Fortunately I hap
pened to mention the new regulation in a letter to
a relation then at headquarters in London, and to
say that we thought it particularly hard, because part
of the garrison of Hongkong was composed of Indian
troops — viz., a Madras native infantry regiment — all
of whom were drawing Indian pay. The circumstance
had been overlooked by the finance department,

64 HONGKONG.
because on my relation pointing out what had
happened in India several years previously by reason
of similar unjust differences of pay, an order was at
once sent out cancelling the previous reduction men
tioned, and substituting a much more agreeable one —
viz., placing the whole force in China on Indian pay
and allowances.

65

CHAPTER V

CANTON.

During the hot weather in India, when there was
no early morning parades, I had occupied the time
when not after black buck by making a survey of
the cantonment as a specimen of part of the qualifica
tion required for some Indian staff appointment, and
thereby kept my hand in as regards the work I had
learnt as a cadet, and so regimentally got a reputation
as a military draughtsman. When at Hongkong,
the colonel requested me to do a small survey,
and make some plans for a report he was engaged
on. This I gladly did, and forgot all about it, when
one day I was agreeably surprised by the command
ing officer saying, " An expedition consisting of a
battalion of marines and some half-dozen gunboats
is going up a hitherto unexplored river on the west
of Macao, to show an obstreperous Chinese governor
who has been giving trouble that he is not beyond our
reaeh ; there are some forts near the entrance of the
river, and there may be a very pretty fight ; we are
short of European officers, and the C. R. E. wishes to
take you as assistant to help him in making a rapid
survey of the river," &c. My chance had at last
come, and next day I embarked in H.M.S. Assistance
E

66 CANTON.
with the marines. We steamed across to Macao, and
then were transferred to the gunboats : I went with
my special naval friend Lieut. -Commander Blane in his
gunboat the Drake. On approaching the forts at the
entrance of the river, our 10-inch shell-gun was got
ready, but we were not fired at, and entered the
river, across which a very strong stockade had been
built, with a narrow entrance, through which we
just managed to pass, and steamed thirty miles up
stream to a large walled town. The mandarin in
command came to the conclusion that in face of such
a force discretion was the better part of valour, and
was most civil, sending presents of live sheep and
immense quantities of fruit to our commodore, M'Cle-
verty, who passed them on to the different gunboats,
where they were most acceptable. Next day, with
a small guard of marines in attendance, I made a
rapid survey of certain high ground commanding the
town, the C. R. E. doing the other side. On return
ing to Hongkong, I was immensely delighted to find
that my flying survey of the river as we steamed up
agreed literally to a compass point with that made
by the C. R. E. on his gunboat. I was very satisfied
with the result, as this naval survey work was the
first of the sort I had done.
A few days afterwards the colonel informed me that
Mackenna, one of our captains on the quartermaster-
general's staff, was to go as military staff officer with
the naval commander-in-chief, Sir James Hope, who
with most of the men-of-war was to start in a few
days for the mouth of the Peiho, and that as Mac
kenna would be away some time, and possibly get
some other appointment, I had been selected to fill
the vacancy on Sir Charles Straubenzee's staff at

ON THE HEADQUARTERS STAFF. 67
Canton as D.A.Q.M.G. This was indeed a lift for
a subaltern twenty years of age ; the pay also, Indian
with allowances, was something worth having — viz.,
£60 a-month. The following day I was on my way
to Canton, which I may simply describe as a regular
sealed -pattern Chinese city, surrounded by the usual
crenelated massive stone wall some 40 feet in height,
with great half-moon-shaped bastions of wall enclosing
the gates, which are to be found about every half
mile ; above each gate in the continuation of the wall
is a three- or a four-storied quaint-looking rectangular
barrack for the guard. Wheeled vehicles being un
known, the streets inside the city are very narrow,
giving fire or plague every opportunity of extend
ing. The smells, or rather stenches, are in many
places horrible, and yet the mortality, except when
plague' and cholera came round, did not appear to
be particularly large. The city contains several fine
Buddhist temples, which with their grounds occupy
many acres : the mandarins' yamuns (residences) also
are very extensive.
Previous to the capture of Canton a heavy fire
had to be directed on the south wall from the ships,
and many of the unfortunate inhabitants had been
killed. Consequently there was, on our first occupa
tion of the place, a strong native feeling against us,
causing an amount of assassination which had to be
sternly suppressed ; but in a wonderfully short time
the Chinese who had fled to the country returned to
their houses, and everything went on as usual. The
native authorities were allowed to carry on their own
government under the sanction of the allied com
missioners, who lived in a large yamun in the centre
of the city. The extent of this Chinese official resi-

68 CANTON.
dence may be estimated when I mention that it gave
spacious barrack accommodation to a whole battalion
of marines, besides the French guard and many officials.
The enclosing wall was loopholed, and the yamun
generally placed in a state of defence.
On the north and north-east side of the city there
is a range of hilly ground some 200 feet in height :
part of this is enclosed by the city wall, and gives a
fine site for a large temple. The undulating high
ground outside the wall is the great cemetery of
Canton, and contains many fine tombs. The head
quarters of the allied forces occupied the temple on
the heights and buildings adjacent, giving excellent
quarters for all the staff, a battalion of marines, the
artillery, engineers, and the French force, — a mere
handful in comparison with ours, but nevertheless
an uncommonly smart one, under Admiral Regault
de Genouilly. His flag -lieutenant was Brown de
Coulston, now the well-known French admiral. Being
about the same age, and having many service ideas
in common, Brown de Coulston and I became great
friends. The allied position on the heights was strongly in
trenched, and the ground cleared of all buildings for a
considerable distance in front. From the heights a
road was made along the inner side of the east wall
down to the well-protected landing-place on the river,
the gate guard-houses of the city wall being made into
fortified connecting posts. My work on the quarter
master-general's staff of a stationary field force was
not particularly exciting, but it necessitated my being
up every morning at daybreak ; and the early ride
through the city to the commissioners' yamun, which
I had frequently to take, was a very interesting one,

CHINESE FRIENDS. 69
in seeing the Chinese citizens gradually appear and
start off on their various industries. Occasionally I
had work to do outside the city, riding out often a
long way by myself. No one took any notice of the
Fanqui (foreign devil), an example which, I was glad
to say, was followed one morning by an immense snake,
evidently a python, which I suddenly came on when
surveying on the cemetery hills. Office work con
tinued from breakfast till lunch -time, the afternoon
being usually free. We had a very pleasant little
headquarter mess, and the usual whist after dinner ;
but to me, who had been at work since daybreak when
the others were comfortably in bed, the nightly whist
was more than I could manage ; till at last, after many
revokes, they came to the conclusion I was a duffer at
the national game for elderly people, and I was allowed
to escape to bed.
In such a large force there were of course many with
very interesting service experiences ; and one came
across some eccentric characters, who were quite a
source of amusement. One elderly colonel of the
Indian army, with many years' service, was never
tired of vaunting the excellences of port wine and
Holloway's pills. From his own account he must
have consumed an immense quantity of both : possibly
the one neutralised the effect of the other.
I made some acquaintances amongst the better class
of the Chinese. One, a well-known jeweller and curio-
maker, who spoke English, was always well pleased
when I came down to his place for a talk and to give
him some ideas as to new patterns. From this ac
quaintance I got much information as to Chinese life
and ideas. I was less than a year in Canton, but
before I left had come quite to like the Chinese, who

70 CANTON.
are very different from the vulgar but generally ac
cepted notions concerning them. Difficult as it is for
Europeans to believe it, they are in family life most
affectionate and kind-hearted, and will give up and do
anything for each other. It is a well-known fact that
a man will sell even his life for the benefit of his family,
taking the place of some wealthy man who has been
sentenced to death. This by "Chinese custom is allow
able : the price is usually about £50 of our money.
More industrious workmen than the Chinese simply
do not exist, or more honourable merchants, as our
own bankers and traders well know : they can be
thoroughly trusted to almost any amount.
In the many fights we have had with Chinese forces,
their defeat seemed a foregone conclusion ; but when
properly trained and disciplined . very few races make
better soldiers, as Gordon so often proved with his
Ever-victorious Army. In company with our men,
even the ordinary Canton coolie is steady under fire.
At Taku in 1860 they were employed bringing the
scaling-ladders down to the advanced post, and not
only willingly did this, but actually carried the ladders
to the wall of the fort and held them in position whilst
our men mounted.
The governing class in China is, from our point of
view, corruption itself; and as for ignorance, conceit,
and general unfitness for a responsible position, few
human beings can come up to the ordinary Chinese
mandarin : exceptions there are, but they are few and
far between. Why the Chinese official from the high
est to the lowest grade should as a rule be so unreliable,
corrupt, and conceited is at first rather a puzzle. The
conclusion I ultimately arrived at, however, was that
these objectionable qualities were brought about by

BHUDDIST RELIGION. 71
the absence of any moral training, religious or other
wise, and the educational system with its absurdities
of competitive examinations, when men even in ex
treme old age are locked up in the examination cells
to make sure that they do not crib when writing out
some high-flown rubbish on the sayings of Confucius.
An acquaintance with the philosophical twaddle of
that ancient sage is held in high esteem by the
upper classes, and is by them considered quite enough
as regards moral, and possibly religious, instruction.
Of the great Buddhist religion, which in its inception
doubtless contained some valuable ideas, nothing really
is left but the ritual. This is very curious and inter
esting from a psychological point of view. Shutting
one's eyes when in a Buddhist temple, the smell of
incense, tinkling of bells, and the chanting of the
monks softly vibrating amongst the timbers of the
high roof, gives the impression that one is standing
in some great Continental cathedral. Opening them,
the similarity to certain forms of Christian worship
or belief is still more startling. There in large gilt
images is the representation of the Trinity in the
triad deity, and the mother of Heaven with the
infant in her arms ; there also are the twelve special
followers of Buddha ; and on the altar in front of
Buddha are the candlesticks and brass vases with
artificial flowers, the latter absolutely identical with
those which of late years have been adopted in so
many Protestant churches, to the great delight of
young ladies, who cannot know they are filling with
the best flowers from the hothouse what are really
pagan vases. The shaven monks with their long
yellow robes and rosaries seem almost a travesty
of one great branch of the Christian religion, and

72 CANTON.
did we not know that Buddhism and its rites existed
long before Christianity, we should be tempted to
believe that Buddhist ritual had been copied from it.
There are vases on the Buddhist altar whiph
do not yet appear even in our most advanced
ritualistic buildings — viz., those containing the stick*
of fate. A Chinaman desirous of knowing beforehand
the result of some undertaking, commercial or others
wise, pays a small sum to the bonze (monk) in charge,
shakes the vase till one of the sticks with a number
on it falls out, when the priest refers to a book, and
reads whatever oracular statement may be opposite
the number. The spirit of gambling exists in every
Chinaman, and in any important undertaking he is
naturally anxious to get a straight tip from Joss —
that is his name for the deity in general. Of religion
of any description in a really concrete form of belief
the Chinese have none, although the nominal followers
of Budda number many millions. The ordinary China
man has drifted back to what was, according to high
authority, the religion of the human race at a very
early period — viz., ancestor -worship and the pro
pitiation of evil spirits. The dragon appears to be
the usual form in which the most powerful of these
demons impresses the Chinese imagination. On the
fifth day of the fifth month — June, I think it was
— I happened to be on the Canton River when the
festival of the dragon took place. An immensely
long boat, propelled by many oars, rushed past,
regardless of any boats or sampans which might be
in the way. Over them or through them it went :
on the front were men waving flags, and in the
centre was a huge drum on which three or four men
hammered with frantic energy. Whether it was to

ANCESTOR-WORSHIP. 73
propitiate or frighten the dragon away till next year,
I was unable to ascertain. All the Chinamen knew
about it was that it was Joss pigeon — the word pigeon
being the Chinese rendering of the word business.
One day a small specimen of a tornado did some
damage near the landing-place, becoming a water
spout as it crossed the river. A Chinese acquaint
ance, on being asked what he thought about it, said,
"Me thinkee devil walkee" — doubtless in his im
agination some relation of the much-feared dragon.
At sunset the sailors on board the junks made a
horrible din with gongs. The only explanation I
could ever get was that they were chin-chinning
Joss, perhaps appeasing thereby some nautical demon.
It seemed to me that ancestor -worship rather bor
dered on propitiation of ghosts who might become
malicious, but the ghosts must have been of a kindly
disposition, as the burning of paper representations
of food of different sorts before their tablets was
considered sufficient : doubtless the ghosts remem
bered what a struggle existence was to so many
in China, and were well pleased that no real food
was wasted.
Every scrap of anything which will help to
support life is turned to account by a Chinaman :
even dried rats can be seen exposed for sale in
the poor neighbourhoods. One day when pulling
down some old brick buildings to improve the de
fences, an enormous rat bolted. A boy went for
it at once,— the rat bit him, but he killed it and
carried it off in triumph. On my asking why he
took it away, he said, with a look of astonishment
at my having asked the question, " Makee chow-
chow." Not a single foot of ground in which any-

74 CANTON.
thing eatable will grow is allowed to remain idle :
the care with which each little plant is watered and
manured would be an excellent object-lesson for our
agriculturists. Not only is the most made of dry
land, but water also is turned to account, small fields
after the crop is off being dammed up and fish turned
in to fatten. On one occasion when after snipe, • I
happened to see a big fish show itself in a flooded
field and shot it, also two or three more before it
struck me why they were there. I paid the owner
their value and also left him the fish (some kind
of carp), so he at least was well satisfied. Manure
(town and village sewage) is a valuable article in
China, and most carefully preserved ; but so fond
are the Chinese of practical jokes, — a middy who
can quietly tie the ends of the tails of two swell
Chinamen together when they are engaged talking,
instantly has the whole sympathies of a crowd on
his side, who simply roar with laughter when the
heads are jerked backwards, — that when one of our
men-of-war was lying just below Wampoa some
Chinamen, for the sake of a startling practical joke,
did not scruple to expend the very valuable cargoes
of two large manure -boats. The men were all on
deck at divisions, and it being unfortunately Sunday,
they had their best clothes on. Two boats a little
apart came down on the tide towards the  (even
now it does not do to mention names), a rope con
necting them fouled the moorings, and the boats
swung on to the ship, one on each side. There
was a double explosion from well-arranged powder-
charges concealed in the boats, and then a perfect
shower of the most horrible filth descended on the
ship. Not only had the clothing of the officers and

CHINESE INGENUITY. 75
men all to be destroyed, but it was a long time before
the ship could be thoroughly cleansed from smell, and
still longer before it was safe even to innocently use
a pocket handkerchief in the presence of any one
belonging to the  .
As ingenious workmen, more particularly in carv
ing and carpentry, where fine detail is required, the
Chinese can have few equals. Even an itinerant
carver with a barrow-stall in the street, if given
a dry peach-stone, will, while you wait, carve it
beautifully. Another special curiosity was to break
a wine-glass into several pieces, and then give it to
a glass- and china- mender to rivet : the work was
simply perfect. The Chinese can apply this careful
attention to details in everything. On becoming a
staff officer I required a staff cap with gold-lace of
a particular pattern. A Chinese tailor looked at
the pattern I gave him, then said, " Ten day, ten
dollar, can do." In ten days a perfect staff cap
arrived, and wore extremely well, descending to
another officer, a brigadier - general, after I left.
The colonel commanding the artillery was not so
fortunate. He ordered a supply of coal — a rare
commodity in Southern China : when tried some
time afterwards, the whole turned out to be care
fully painted stones !
The struggle for existence being so hard, it is not
to be wondered at that infanticide is in time of
famine rather too frequent. In consequence of this,
some benevolent Chinese had in former days en
dowed a foundling asylum at Canton, and doubtless
similar institutes exist in other Chinese towns ; but,
as far as I could gather, most of the funds intended
to save infant life had gone into the pockets of those

76 CANTON.
whose special duty it was to look after the place,
much in the same way as some of the educational
and other charities in the United Kingdom have
gone off the rails, as mentioned in the records of
the Charity Commissioners. The general idea in
this country is that the Chinese have no more affec
tion for each other than ants or bees, and that
when an individual can no longer work, they allow
him or her to die. No greater mistake could
possibly be made, and it is curious how it could
have originated. Some forms of their punishments
are brutal, but when one comes to think of it, they
are not really so horrible as our own judicial exe
cutions only some 150 years ago. The most severe
execution in China, slicing to death, dreadful as it
sounds, is rapidly done with twelve regulation cuts.
Compare this with the execution of the unfortunate
Jacobites in 1746 at Carlisle and on Kennington
Common, when after being suspended for a minute
on the gallows, they were lowered down, their
stomachs cut open, and their entrails torn out and
burnt before their faces whilst the sufferers were
still alive. Even as late as 1727 a woman was
burnt alive in London, surrounded by a brutal
crowd enjoying the spectacle. Fortunately the
shrieks of the woman happened in this case to be
heard by royal ears, and death by roasting alive
ceased to be a form of legal execution in England ;
but the hanging, not only of men, but of women
and children, for offences which would now be con
sidered sufficiently punished by a few weeks' im
prisonment or a birching, continued well into the
nineteenth century. We can therefore hardly be
surprised at what still exists in China. Such specu-

GOOD QUALITIES OF THE CHINESE. 77
lations, however, hardly come within service recol
lections, but from my personal observations, living
as I did amongst the Chinese for nearly a year, I
consider it my simple duty to state my own experi
ences, and to say that I believe that Europeans who
behaved themselves properly and did not offensively
push their own religions or interfere in political
matters, could live in China, and would be wel
comed by the ordinary traders and peasants. The
officials whose peculations and robberies are inter
fered with, naturally do not like Europeans, and
when they can, make the country too hot for them.
At Canton, where the allied commissioners kept the
Chinese city mandarins in order with an iron hand
inside a velvet glove, trade and business went on
perfectly in a marvellously short time after we
occupied Canton. The departure of the garrison
doubtless well pleased the mandarins, but many
thousands of citizens unquestionably would have
preferred our remaining.

78

CHAPTER VI.
PEIHO.
But to return to my own particular line. News
arrived one day which caused the garrison to stand
to its arms, and consider whether we had a sufficient
supply of ammunition and food for a siege. A terrible
disaster had occurred to our arms in the north. In
1858, when the Chinese opposed our going up the
Peiho to Tientsin to make the final arrangements
about the treaty which had been agreed on, our gun
boats forced a passage past the Taku Forts, and getting
above them so enfiladed the works that the expedition
got up the river with but little loss. The following
year the treaty was to be ratified at a grand meeting
of politicians at Pekin. As a matter of precaution, a
battalion of marines and a company of Royal Engineers
went to the north with the fleet escorting the Ministers ;
but on arrival at the mouth of the Peiho it was found
that the Chinese had immensely strengthened the Taku
Forts since the previous year, and placed in the river
huge iron stakes on tripod legs, and a strong boom
composed of heavy spars arranged parallel to the
banks a few feet apart, and connected by three
rows of sunken chains. There was also a great raft
of timber above the boom. When requested to
remove these so as to allow the diplomatic represen-

THE DISASTER AT THE PEIHO. 79
tatives of England and France to proceed by the
usual public road to Tientsin, the Chinese refused
to do so, and told the Ministers they must go to
Pekin vid Pehtang, being as much as to say, "You
inferior races are not worthy to come in at the front
door, but must approach us by a back entrance."
This being a matter of great political importance
which could not be ignored, it was decided by the
allied Ministers and naval commander-in-chief that a
passage must be forced past the forts and the Ministers
escorted with proper respect to Tientsin. The forts on
both sides of the river were low massive earthworks
with high cavalier bastions at intervals ; the guns —
very heavy brass pieces — being in casemates with rope
mantlets in front of the embrasures. Broad ditches
and mud flats made the forts safe from frontal attack
by escalade.
All the large ships of the allied squadrons had,
owing to the shallow water, to lie some miles out at
sea ; but the gunboats, averaging 60 horse-power, and
the gun-vessels could easily pass the bar. The gun
boats each carried one big 85-cwt. shell-gun and a
32-pounder lent from the flagship. There were some
nine or ten gunboats and two large gun-vessels. A
company of Royal Engineers was distributed amongst
the gunboats as riflemen, and the marines, about 500
in number, were placed inside the bar in some junks
which had been requisitioned, in case a landing party
was required. The French squadixm was very much
smaller. The American commodore, the ever-to-be-
remembered gallant old Tatnall, had only one small
steamer. The British commander-in-chief, Admiral
Hope, hoisted his flag on the Plover gunboat, which
was to lead the way.

80 PEIHO.
The night before the attack an attempt was made to
blow up the boom, but judging from what took place
next day, it must have failed : be that as it may,
at about 2 p.m. with the first of the ebb the gunboat
flotilla in echelon moved up to the attack. One of the
gunboats hooked on to the great iron stakes, and re
versing her screw, drew out two and then buoyed the
passage. No sign of life was to be seen at the forts.
The Plover, leading, then drove hard at the boom,
hoping to break through as in the previous year.
The boom moved very slightly, but the Plover almost
bounded back from the shock, and at the same instant
all the rope mantlets in front of the embrasures were
rolled up, and such a storm of heavy shot struck the
Plover that almost half her crew were at once killed
or wounded. The commander, Rason, then dropped
his -anchor, and a regular, so to say, broadside-to-
broadside fight began, and never in our naval annals
was there a more gallant engagement ; but the flush-
decked gunboats, heavily armed, it is true, were no
match for the powerful guns secure in their massive
casemates. Rason was soon killed, his head taken
off by a round-shot ; then Captain Mackenna of the
Royals, the admiral's staff officer, fell with a gingal-
bullet through him, only living long enough to send
an affectionate message to his old regiment. George
Douglas, the flag-lieutenant, an old friend of mine,
took command. More men were signalled for, and
came up from the junks. Then the admiral was
struck down, but still the fight went on, no less than
three crews being killed or wounded before the little
Plover sank. So crowded was the deck with dead
that they had to be thrown overboard to give room to
work the guns. One grand reinforcement came up 

BLOOD IS THICKER THAN WATER. 81
the gallant old Tatnall, who rowed alongside the
Plover, saying, " Blood is thicker than water," could he
be of any use ? Just then the stern of his barge was
knocked out by a round-shot, and his men were in the
place they wanted to be — viz., alongside ours working
the guns.
Attempts were made to stop the huge splintered
holes in the sides of the little gunboats with shot-
plugs, the carpenters being lowered in bow-lines over
the sides, where they worked away as if in a dry
dock at Portsmouth ; but such attempts to keep the
gunboats afloat to continue the action were hope
less. Four gunboats and a gun-vessel were sunk, and
the action between gunboats and the forts came to an
end ; but we were not to be beaten thereby. It was
decided to land marines and blue-jackets and storm
the great southern fort. Had it been possible to
bring even 500 men with scaling-ladders and arms in
order up to the walls of the fort, it would have been
taken ; but between the edge of the water where the
boats landed the men, some distance below the boom,
was a great expanse of soft mud, some 500 yards
broad, covered at high tide, with many specially con
structed water-holes scattered over it. Beyond this,
near the fort, were two broad ditches, and then
bamboo spikes up to the wall. The landing-party,
heavily fired on all the time, struggled across the
mud, some falling into the water-holes, never to be
seen again. Several, however, managed to get some
how, swimming and wading, across the ditches ; but
by that time there were not a hundred men left, and
not twenty serviceable rifles. To attempt to storm
would have been worse than folly, so the ridge of
earth on the far side of the ditch was held until the
F

82 PEIHO.
wounded could as far as possible be passed down to
the boats, and then all retreated. A curious incident
took place as the covering-party — the rearguard, so to
say — left the ditch. Some reckless individual struck
up what in those days was a popular street ditty,
" Sing song, Polly, won't you try me, oh ? " and all
who had any breath left joined in the chorus. Our
total loss that day was, as nearly as possible, 500
killed and wounded.
Three days after the fight a strange-looking wreck
was seen drifting out of the river : it was one of the
gunboats, the Kestrel, which was at once taken
possession of and made serviceable again. Another
gruesome relic of the fight floated out about the same
time, the incident being lately related to me by
Admiral Brine, then a lieutenant. The marine officer
of the Highflyer was one of the first killed at the
landing, and must, when shot, have fallen unperceived
into a water-hole, as he was never noticed again.
Lieutenant Brine was talking with his friends on
the subject on the quarterdeck of the Highflyer,
and was just going off in his own boat when he
saw something in the water close to the boat-boom.
On rowing up to the object, it proved to be the
body of the marine officer, which had so strangely
floated off to his own ship anchored some six miles
outside the Peiho.
Judging by previous experiences, the attempt to
force the passage with the gunboats was quite justi
fiable, and had the boom been broken the night before,
as was anticipated, the attack would have succeeded ;
but the attempt to carry by escalade a fort which had
sunk four of our vessels, and to do so by a rush over
500 yards of thick mud, with the tide beginning to

DANGEROUS TO ATTACK A RAT IN A HOLE. 83
cover it, and under a heavy fire, was a daring but
hopeless undertaking.
All needful preparations were rapidly and quietly
made by us in our intrenchments on the heights in
case the Government at Pekin should send orders to
recommence hostilities in the south. The mandarins
did consider the question, but came to the conclusion
they had better remain quiet. As they naively ex
pressed it, "It is dangerous to attack a rat in a hole."
Besides, hostilities would have destroyed trade and
business of every description in Canton, where things
were going on as smoothly as if we had been for years
in permanent occupation of the city. Our mounted
military police on their hardy little ponies patrolled
every quarter of the city and its widely -extending
suburbs, and the allied commissioners kept the local
Chinese authorities well up to their work. Unquestion
ably the traders and inhabitants of Canton generally
enjoyed a security of life, property, and justice previ
ously unknown to them, and thoroughly appreciated it.
Our defeat at the Peiho meant another Chinese
war, in which it would be necessary to dictate our
terms of peace at Pekin. As there was not time to
get the necessary force together before the severe
northern winter set in, all that could be done was to
reinforce the garrison at Canton at once from India,
and make preparations for a campaign in the spring.
Two regiments, the Buffs and 67th, were sent from
Calcutta. I had to go to Hongkong in connection
with the arrangements for bringing them up to
Canton, where I had found magnificent quarters for
them in the great Buddhist temples. My first in
structions, as soon as we heard reinforcements were
coming, was to find room for 10,000 men. This could

84 PEIHO.
not be done by taking over the large temples only, so
I had to inspect and rapidly measure the accommo
dation of some of the large official yamuns where the
mandarins were living with their families. The allied
commissioners and Chinese authorities decided on the
yamuns to be taken if required ; and in order to dis
turb the inhabitants as little as possible, I did my
work very quickly, and was rather astonished to find
how easy it was to estimate the troop accommodation
of large buildings. One working day, with a few
assistants for measuring rooms, was sufficient to find
quarters for the 10,000 men.
The arrival of the additional troops at Canton, to
gether with a little international work with our allies
and arrangements with the naval authorities, gave
the quartermaster-general's department a fair amount
of work ; and when my chief went on a week's leave
or duty to Hongkong, I thoroughly enjoyed having
the whole of the department in my hands, a chance
which does not come often to a subaltern of twenty
years of age. The variety of the work was par
ticularly interesting. I certainly had one very un
expected job — viz., to act as an amateur pilot to a
troop-ship. By some oversight no pilot was put on
board a sailing troop-ship which had to go up the river
as far as Wampoa, and on which I for some reason
had taken a passage. Fortunately I had studied the
navigation of the Canton River and estuary, and was
able to be of considerable use to the skipper of the
troop-ship. With the approach of the cold wet weather those
who had had fever began to suffer again, one of the
first being the clerk in the quartermaster -general's
office. In his case the attack came on very suddenly

FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND CHAMPAGNE. 85
and with great severity, necessitating his immediate
removal to hospital. Amongst others I also went
down, but a change of air to Hongkong as soon as
I was fit to travel had a wonderful effect : doubtless
the sea-breeze there at that time of year had some
thing to do with putting me on my legs again, but,
with the nervous system rather upset, when the troops
for the coming expedition began to arrive, I got so un
easy and anxious about my regiment probably going
on service, whilst I might be left on the staff at
Canton, — the vexation of having missed all the work
in India in '57 and '58, with my regiment actually in
the country, was also still vividly before me, — that
I requested permission to give up my appointment
and return to my regiment. This I did, and had the
consolation of being told afterwards by the general
that had I held on for only ten days more, I would
have had the same appointment under the new com
mander-in-chief. However, I was back again at my
regimental home, which was some compensation. We
had rather a lively time of it, the old Royals being
given to much hospitality. Amongst others the
French headquarter staff were often our guests. At
one big dinner some of us noticed the extraordinary
volubility and ease with which one of our young fel
lows, an Irishman, whose knowledge of French was
extremely limited, carried on a conversation with one
of the French staff. His explanation was to the point,
" With the second bottle of champagne all languages
are the same " ; but another sub. who happened to be
acting A.D.C. to the governor rather astonished the
French commander-in-chief by saying to him, " Mon
ge"n^ral, voulez-vous porter madame R. a diner ? " the
lady in question being not only the handsomest but

86 PEIHO.
also the tallest in Hongkong, and of corresponding
weight. Having, when at Canton, had to copy the plans
and sketches sent down from the north by Major
Fisher, R.E., who had made a wonderful coast sur
vey, which also gave the position of the different
forts, I was able to see at once, what was also ap
parent to any one studying the matter, that there
were two lines of advance to Pekin — one by a direct
road from a town some distance north of the Peiho,
the other by the ordinary road and the Peiho via
Tientsin, after having captured the forts guarding the
river-mouth. To do this it would be necessary to land
a force to take the forts in rear, and the only place
available for a disembarkation was at the mouth of
the Pehtang, some ten miles north of the Peiho. From
there an attack might be made on the northern forts,
the most westerly one of which was the key of the
whole position, as it enfiladed the entire line of forts
on the south side. The Peiho being a very narrow
river with low banks, the construction of a bridge,
after the capture of the forts, to pass the army across
to the road on the south side and the main road to
Tientsin, would be an easy matter. So clear was all
this to any one seeing the plans that I sent an account
of what we were going to do to my relatives at home.
It was therefore with considerable astonishment that
I heard, after we had taken the forts in the way named,
that the French general had had a great difference
with Sir Hope Grant. General Montauban's scheme
was to leave the north fort alone, cross the river, and
then commence operations. Fortunately for the allied
forces, Sir Hope insisted on having his own way. But
even more startling than this was the original French

ARMY FOR THE NORTH. 87
scheme for the invasion of China — viz., that the Eng
lish force should land at Pehtang, ten miles north of
the Peiho, and the French by themselves at a place
twenty miles south of it. Such was their ignorance
or contempt for the Chinese that they were of opinion
that some 7000 French troops, without cavalry and
but little transport, could land by themselves, defeat
the whole Chinese army, and march twenty miles
across a difficult country before joining the English.
Fortunately for themselves, the French found their
proposed landing - place impracticable, and at the
eleventh hour agreed to land at Pehtang with the
English. Although the attempts of our gunboats to force a
passage past the Taku Forts in 1859 had ended in
disaster, the military power of the Chinese empire
at that time was so poor that an allied expedition
of some 20,000 was considered sufficient to capture
the obstructing forts and dictate terms of peace at
Pekin. The number at first proposed was to be
10,000 British, under Sir Hope Grant, and 7000
French, under General Montauban. Eventually these
numbers were increased to 13,000 and 7600 actually
brought to China ; but the numbers landed at Pehtang
on the 1st August, when the campaign commenced,
were 11,000 British and 6500 French.
The composition of the allied armies was as follows :
British — one regiment cavalry, two regiments Indian
cavalry, five batteries Royal Artillery, two companies
Royal Engineers, one company Madras Sappers, eight
battalions infantry, four battalions Indian (Sikh) in
fantry. The cavalry and artillery were splendidly
horsed, and fit to go anywhere. The transport was
our only weak point. The now defunct Military Train

PEIHO.

from England was intended to have been its back
bone : unfortunately some of that corps having in a
case of great emergency during the Indian Mutiny
been employed as cavalry, the Train considered trans
port work quite beneath them, and were perfectly
useless in looking after and directing the native drivers
of the crowd of ponies, mules, &c., collected from India,
Manilla, and Japan. The backbone of our transport
really consisted of the Canton coolie corps, several
hundred strong, under Major Temple, assisted by the
hard-working British subaltern and N.C.O.'s from the
infantry regiments. The loads these coolies carried
were astonishing, and their readiness at all times for
work was particularly satisfactory ; but not so pleas
ant was their quickness and ability to plunder their
own countrymen whenever a chance presented itself.
During the advance on Pekin one had to be hanged
for some special outrage : his reckless indifference as
regards life was a strange sight. When taken to the
gallows, he simply looked up at the apparatus with a
grin, said " Ah, yah," and apparently assisted the
executioner to put the rope round his neck.
The French force consisted of four batteries of
artillery, two companies of engineers, and seven bat
talions of infantry ; no cavalry or transport.
Before the allied armies could be ready to start for
the Gulf of Pechili it was necessary to have some
places of assembly in the south for the different forces
coming from England, France, and India. Chusan
was at first selected, and two of our infantry bat
talions and a battery of artillery from Canton, to
gether with a small French contingent, were therefore
sent to take possession of the island; but for some
reason the idea of making Chusan a place of con-

KOWLOON. 89
centration was given up, and the remainder of the
British force was assembled on the peninsula of Kow
loon, on the north side of Hongkong harbour. The
French assembled at Shanghai ; but little room, how
ever, was required for our allies. Cavalry they had
none, and not even horses for their field batteries of
light guns ; their only transport was a small corps of
coolies. Seeing their utterly unprepared state, Sir
Hope Grant offered some of our surplus stock of
ponies, but the French general objected to the price.
It will hardly be credited that on the 1st of July,
when the whole of the British army had arrived at
Talienwhan Bay and was ready to start on the cam
paign, the French, at Chefoo, had only 114 unbroken
Japanese ponies collected for their field artillery, for
which some 600 were necessary. The consequence
was that the expedition had to be delayed a whole
month simply waiting for the French to get their
transport ready.
But to return to Hongkong. The arrival there of
the British portion of the expedition in May made
quite a lively time. Previous to their coming the
difficulty was to find suitable camping - ground, as
there was none on the island of Hongkong. Curiously
enough, while the matter was under consideration, I
chanced to be in a boat with Colonel Haythorne, chief
of the staff, and Major D. We just then passed the
end of the Kowloon promontory on the opposite side of
the harbour, when I happened to say, " Why not take
possession of the Kowloon peninsula ? the ground there
is made for a large camp." Whether my suggestion
was the cause of it I know not, but Kowloon was taken
over and the camp made there.
From a professional point of view the great attrac-

90 PEIHO.
tion at the camp was the two batteries of Armstrong
field-guns. This being the first occasion in which
English breechloading rifled field-guns were to be used
on active service, a few rounds were fired from the
camp at a target out at sea for the benefit of the naval
and military authorities. The range and accuracy was
wonderful, but the ancient warriors shook their heads
over the complications of the breech mechanism. In
shrapnel, and even in fuses, we seem to have always
been ahead of our Continental neighbours ; but the
lead-coated Armstrong segment shell and its rather
too delicate fuse did not come up to expectation, as
we subsequently found at Taku, where some of our
men, lying down in front of the guns, were killed
by the lead-coating stripping off the shells.

91

CHAPTER VII.

TAKU FORTS.

A more suitable place for a camp than the Kowloon
peninsula could hardly have been found anywhere.
The camping -ground was excellent, there were no
inhabitants on it, and it was on the north shore of
the great harbour of Hongkong. With all the re
sources of that place at its service, it greatly facili
tated the work of concentration before starting for
the final British base of operations in the north — viz.,
Talienwhan Bay. The French selected Chefoo, on
the south side of the Gulf of Pechili, just opposite
Talienwhan. Now steam transport is always available for an
expedition, but in 1860 sailing ships had to be em
ployed and plenty of time allowed. The date fixed
for everything being ready at Talienwhan to move
across to Pehtang was the 1st July, and to permit
of this the British portion of the force had all to
be ready to leave Hongkong by the 1st June, which
it did. The transport which was to take the Royals
to the north was an Aberdeen clipper of 1000 tons,
a small ship to take a whole regiment ; but deaths
and invaliding had, notwithstanding the addition of a
fine draft from England, brought down the strength

92 TAKU FORTS.
of the battalion to 500 rank and file. Even then
it was a tight fit, but as we were going on active
service our little discomforts were not worth troubling
about. When the first division of transports, all
sailing ships, was ready, the wind was against us,
so we had to beat out, tack and tack, and, as in
the days of the old war, we had two men-of-war
as convoy. They were powerful paddle-wheel frigates,
and went with us not as a protection against any
possible enemy we might meet, but to assist any
ship which might come to grief. The transports
kept pretty well together until we got through the
Formosa channel, and then, a gale coming on, we
lost sight of the rest of the fleet and made our way
straight for the rendezvous — viz., Talienwhan Bay.
To a regiment which eighteen months before had
come to China in a sailing ship from Gibraltar, life
at sea was no novelty : as for myself, it seemed
to me that the middle watch and I were again
inseparable. In going north we managed to get within a couple
of days' sail of Japan, and much wished we could
have touched at some port in that wonderful country,
which had only been opened to the world two years
before. The officers of the Calcutta flagship, the
first man-of-war allowed to come into a Japanese
harbour, gave us some very interesting accounts of
their experiences with the then unsophisticated Japs,
in whose eyes everything European, especially naval
buttons, was of wonderful value.
Our voyage was uneventful : the only special in
cident I remember was the appearance, when in the
Yellow Sea, of an enormous octopus, or something
of that nature. The mass of pulp seemed about as

TALIENWHAN. 93
big as the floor of a large room. It floated past close
to the ship, going down just as it cleared the stern.
We were the first transport to arrive in the mag
nificent harbour of Talienwhan, but were soon joined
by many others. The country round the bay, open
undulating ground, was a first - rate place for the
concentration of a large force, the only drawback
being a rather limited supply of water. My company
happened to be sent on shore a day or two before
the others for landing camp stores, &c. The second
night I was in a bad way with an attack very like
cholera — originated, I thought, very possibly by
Talienwhan oysters. When at its worst, a violent
squall with a heavy sea set in, which brought my
tent down. I had just strength left to place some
stones on the canvas to prevent its being blown or
washed away, and crawled up the beach to a small
hut, where I had rather a bad time until daylight
brought our surgeon ashore. We lost two men from
similar attacks, and then the complaint, whatever it
was, ceased.
The British force at Talienwhan, in consequence of
the water difficulty, had to be spread out on both
sides of the bay ; but as the Chinese forces were a
long way off at Taku, we could safely make our own
arrangements. The few natives, a particularly fine
race, very different in appearance from the well-
known Chinese type farther south, were rather
alarmed at our arrival, but did not desert their
small villages and farms, and were ready enough to
sell us what they had in the way of provisions. I
have an amusing recollection of going with another
sub. to cater for our mess, and buying at a farm a
nice little black pig, which would not be driven, so

94 TAKU FORTS.
we had to lash it to a pole, and then carried it,
squealing, shoulder high in triumph back to our
camp. A foraging party of another regiment, headed by
(it is said) its colonel, happened to hear fowls cackling
in a small junk, and there being no one on board,
the birds were considered lawful prize and carried
off. Next day there was a great row, the fowls
being the private property — doubtless annexed a few
days before — of a well-known naval officer with a
very suggestive name. To settle matters quietly,
the soldier sent a blank cheque to the sailor, which
was filled in to his satisfaction : report said it was
not so with the soldier.
With our ships close in, with all the stores we
required and a certain amount of fresh meat pur
chased from the natives, our stay at Talienwhan was
very pleasant. The weather was hot, — 105° at times
in a bell-tent, — but the heat was dry, and we did not
feel it much.
As usual I had to do some surveying, and, when so
employed, made some interesting mineralogical dis
coveries. To get an object to take angles on at one
point, I piled up a lot of quartz rock in which there
was a large amount of visible gold. I afterwards
heard that some small nuggets had been found in the
ravines. When going along the beach towards the
south I noticed great vertical reefs of quartz, several
feet thick, in the cliffs, which were of chlorite slate.
In the farms I also saw coal, which indicated an out
crop at no great distance.
The departure of the expedition from Talienwhan
Bay, in glorious weather at the end of July, was a
magnificent sight, with close on ninety sailing mer-

OFF THE PEIHO. 95
chant transports in two lines, and steamers placed on
the flanks at intervals as repeating ships, to signal
orders and see that the skippers of the merchant
vessels kept proper interval. Our line was led by the
Cambrian, a fast sailing 40-gun frigate. Occasionally
a warning gun would be fired, and a transport's
number hoisted to keep station. As the cost of the
powder was charged against the delinquent skipper,
none offended a second time. When well out at sea
we met the much smaller French transport fleet, and
together we swept along to that part of the coast
beyond where the Peiho comes out, and anchored.
We could see nothing of the low coast-line, but the
high cavalier bastions in the centre of each fort stood
out clear against the sky-line. The precision with
which each sailing transport shortened sail, rounded-to
by the station man-of-war, and dropped its anchor in
its assigned position, showed that the skippers knew
how to handle their ships. As a nautical spectacle it
was grand, and made one almost feel as if we were
about to take part in a fleet action against forts such
as one sometimes reads of in naval history.
Having, as already stated, when in the quarter
master-general's department at Canton, had to copy
the plans and charts of the coast north and south of
the Peiho, which Colonel Fisher, R.E., made after the
disastrous attack on the forts in the previous year, I
knew pretty well where we should effect a landing
— viz., at the mouth of the Pehtang, about ten
miles north of the Peiho. In discussing plans for a
march on Pekin, I ventured to mention that there was
a hard road direct to Pekin from a town well to the
north of the Pehtang, which would have enabled us
to turn the Peiho forts without firing a shot there ;

96 TAKU FORTS.
but the chief of the staff pointed out to me that our
land transport was not sufficient for such a march, and
that we must get possession of the forts, if only for the
sake of the river transport which the Peiho would give
us to Tientsin ; and that the moral effect of capturing
the forts from which we had been repulsed had also to
be taken into consideration.
The landing at the mouth of the Pehtang and
occupation of that muddy little town was effected
without any opposition worth mentioning. The gun
boats went in, and the Chinese retired from the two
small forts guarding the entrance to the river. An
infantry brigade landed in the mud and scrambled
through it to the hard causeway connecting Pehtang
with the Peiho. The gallant brigadier who led the
way is said to have done so sans culottes. Like Henry
of Navarre, the panache blanche was well to the front ;
but the plume on this occasion was composed, not of
ostrich feathers, but of homely shirt-tails.
The only defence which the enemy's commandant of
the place made was of a passive nature, and decidedly
Chinese in conception — viz. , ground torpedoes of large
spherical shells, four in each box, one of which was
buried in the mud inside the forts at the foot of the
ramps leading to the high cavalier bastions. The
shells, by an ingenious arrangement, were to have been
exploded by the first inquisitive man who might walk
up the ramps of the deserted forts. Fortunately,
friendly natives at once informed us where the traps
were before any accident occurred.
Storing a number of men and animals in such a
small town was not an easy matter, but we managed
it somehow, the inhabitants who remained turning
out of their rooms and squatting on the flat roofs, a

PEHTANG. 97
somewhat scared but passive lot. The want of fresh
drinkable water was a difficulty, and as the weather
was very hot, the short supply allowed per head was
rather irksome. The individual who suffered most
from the heat soon after our arrival was our colonel,
who suddenly rushed gasping from the little house,
on a raised mud bed -like platform of which he had
placed his blanket. The cause was in course of time
ascertained — viz., that the officers occupying the next
room, lighting a fire to cook their rations, did not
know that the chimney or smoke-escape was used as
a hot-air conductor, and led under the raised mud
bed-platform to keep the natives warm when sleeping
on it during the winter. Immediately after this we
were startled by an excited individual, one of our
senior captains, dashing into the street, sword in
hand, and with nothing on but his shirt and an eye
glass, in pursuit of a little black pig. He had not
yet been on active service, but had before landing
been told that one should always have something in
one's haversack. Needless to say piggy escaped, but
it was a long time before the ancient one heard the
last of his failure to have roast pork for dinner.
The morning after our arrival the regiment went
out in support of a reconnaissance. The wounded
brought in passed us on the causeway as we marched
out, one very cheery individual on a stretcher being
Macgregor, afterwards so well known as Sir Charles.
The next time I was near him — twenty -six years
afterwards — he was again being carried, but it was
to his grave : I was one of his pall-bearers.
The causeway was so thick in mud that most of
us had to pull our trousers up as far as they would
go. Bare white legs, in some cases assisted by long
G

98 TAKU FORTS.
sticks, caused much amusement, which was increased
when our staid but kind-hearted surgeon floundered
into a mud-hole. However, he scored when a rude
and stupidly inquisitive sub. chaffed him about a
mahogany box he was taking such care of. " Don't
be so cheeky, my boy ; I may require that box for
you before the day is finished — it contains my
amputating-knives. "
The enemy thought it better to retire, so we
returned to Pehtang, where we remained a few
days, getting ready for the final advance. What
struck me more than anything was the workmanlike
way in which the blue-jackets landed the horses of
the Indian cavalry brought in by the gunboats,
with whips and slings on their little foreyards. A
horse fully accoutred was hoisted up, swung over
the jetty, and dropped ashore on its legs before it
knew what was being done to it.
The inhabitants left in the town soon saw that
they had nothing to fear from us. There was but
one known case of the disgraceful treatment of a
family : the delinquents were not British. This
good treatment had its effect. We heard that our
kindness to them was passed on to Tientsin, and
as soon as we arrived at that city crowds of
natives at once came to our camp to sell poultry,
fruit, and vegetables. There was some annexation of
articles left in the deserted houses of the principal
inhabitants of Pehtang, and the Chinese coolie corps
were great adepts at looting what they could ; but
whenever caught they made the acquaintance of
the provost-marshal's cat. Living in the same house
as the provost -marshal himself, I was present when
three of the coolie corps were brought in and

IRISH STEW. 99
flogged : they had been caught red - handed by
Norman, or Bowlby, the ' Times ' correspondent. I
particularly remember the leather coat he wore.
Poor fellow ! that coat was the only means by which
his body was recognised after his treacherous cap
ture and death under horrible treatment in the
Chinese prison in Pekin.
Although living with the provost - marshal I did
not think it wrong to make use of some flour
which my servant had found. He was not a pro
fessed cook, but he assured me he could make Irish
stew. Hungrily I waited for the looked-for dinner,
but when it came my disappointment was painful.
The flour had been made into a sticky mass, such
as bill - stickers use, and in it, cut up into small
dice -like pieces, was my two days' ration of salt
pork. Hungry as I was, I could not manage it,
and for that day and the next had to do as best
I could with my ration of biscuits, a tight waist-
belt, and many pipes.
On the 12th August, grouse - shooting day, the
allied army moved out from Pehtang — our division
and the French along the causeway and on the
marshy ground on each side of it, the other division
and the cavalry being away on the right, more in
land, where the ground was rather better. In front
of us, at a considerable distance from Pehtang,
were two earthworks, one on each side of the
causeway. As we got near, my company, which
was leading on the right, was extended in skirmish
ing order ; and it was interesting, as we marched
forward in silence, to observe the enemy's rammers
and sponges tossing about against the sky-line, and
as soon as we got within range the shot splashed

100 TAKU FORTS.
up the mud in grand style. The shot came pretty
thick at first, but our artillery soon silenced the
enemy. The skirmishers being well forward, our
gunners fired over us, but somehow the guns behind
made one feel more uncomfortable than those in
front. We used rocket - tubes also : fortunately
those erratic missiles were well on the flank. On
the right there was a grand spectacle. A large
force of Tartar cavalry, certainly some 2000 or
3000, rode with wild cheers straight at the first
division. The infantry brigadier in front, instead
of receiving them in line, actually formed regimental
squares. This sight of our men running into masses
greatly impressed the Tartars, who came on most
pluckily almost up to the guns, which with the
rocket battery were firing hard into them. Fortu
nately the Sikh cavalry were behind the guns, and
then got their chance. Riding into the dense mass,
they punished them heavily, and quickly cleared the
whole of them off the field.
Some distance beyond the earthworks was a line
of intrenchments with a ditch in front. We soon
drove the defenders off, crossed the ditch somehow,
pushed on through the village beyond, named Sinho,
and took possession of the abandoned Tartar camps,
where we bivouacked for the night. What our
casualties were I do not remember, but they could
not have been heavy. Plucky as the Tartars were,
it was a case of all Lombard Street to a China orange.
This was the first occasion on which rifled field artillery
(Armstrong guns) was used by us in action. We had
a battery with each division. Oddly enough, the first
wounded man I came upon, a Tartar whom I assisted
as well as I could for the moment, had been badly

FIGHT OF SINHO. 101
wounded by the segments from an Armstrong shell.
One of these I noticed sticking in him, and I thought
at the time that a shrapnel from a smooth-bore would
have done a good deal more damage. When we got
to our halting-place a couple of Sikh troopers came
along, rounding up a small flock of sheep. They
gave us a few, but just then the headquarter staff
came in view and the sheep were let go, all except
one, which had taken a fancy to my company. A
short piece of string attached to my wrist and a prod
from a supernumerary made the animal close up well
to the rear rank : it was not noticed as we moved
along in quarter-column. That night my company
were of opinion that no rations at Hongkong had
ever been so excellent as North China mutton.
We heard that the French general, with Gallic-like
impetuosity, wanted to push on at once and capture the
next place to be taken — viz., Tongku — which covered
the lower forts ; but Sir Hope Grant understood the
business better, and decided to continue the work so
well begun according to the arrangements made before
leaving Pehtang. Next morning the other bank of
the river flanking our advance had to be cleared ; so
blue-jackets and some of the French were passed over,
and, assisted by a battery on our side, drove in the
Chinese forces there and burnt a couple of war-junks.
Either that afternoon or next day my company had
to do some fatigue work farther down the river, when
another battery opened on us. We had to lie low
until our Armstrong guns came up, but somehow they
did not produce the required effect. A smooth-bore
battery was sent for, and the combined fire silenced
the enemy's guns.
The advance of the allied forces next day to attack

102 TAKU FORTS.
the Tongku intrenchment was a very pretty sight,
our division on the right and the French on the
left. To prevent trouble from the low-lying battery
on the other side of the river, two of our com
panies were told off to stop its fire whilst we
advanced, all the field artillery being required to
batter the Tongku intrenchment previous to our
storming it. The fire of the two companies, with
the men lying down taking steady pot-shots, was
most effective. The gunners were very plucky, but
such an accurate fire was maintained on the em
brasures that after losing many, who were seen to
drop at the muzzles of the guns when loading, the
garrison cleared out.
Forty field-guns and several rocket -tubes opened
on Tongku, and in due time my regiment advanced
in line to take its share in capturing the intrench
ment, the Royal Engineers during the night having
quietly prepared a rough trench for the skirmishers
to take post in, 500 yards from the wall. By some
curious arrangement of the roster it fell to my for
tunate lot to carry the Queen's colours. As we were
advancing in line, I did not think the colours showed
to proper advantage in their cases, and requested per
mission to display them properly. Floating out in
the breeze in front of us as we advanced, they looked
uncommonly well, and so thought a gun's crew in
front of us, who within a minute afterwards sent a
round-shot so close that the earth thrown up just
brushed the colour party. Fortunately there hap
pened to be a small gap in the line near to us, and
the shot went through without doing any damage.
As we got close up to the work I noticed a strip of
firm ground between the ditch and the river -bank,

STORM TONGKU FORT. 103
and across this we went, and up on to the ramparts,
displaying of course the colours to the best advantage
on the top. The regiment poured in and formed an
irregular line, or rather obtuse angle, the colonel —
whose horse had been shot — and the colours at the
apex. Nothing was left of the enemy at the corner
but the dead and dying gunners. The Chinese, who
were farther along the wall, still steadily firing at
the French, soon saw the game was up, and rushed
in a great crowd across the fort and over the rear
parapet. They went at such a pace that we could
not get in with the bayonet, but we rapidly manned
the rear parapet of the fort and opened a tremendous
fire on the fugitives. As usual when men are excited
and begin fiddling with their sights in the old correct
Hythe fashion, the fire was all too high, and the
killed could be numbered on one's fingers.
As soon as the enemy on the other side saw we had
captured the fort they opened with the heavy guns
of the lower fort, but a line of men is an extremely
difficult target for a battery to hit when using solid
shot. The practice was wonderfully good, considering
the range, the shot at times splashing the mud over
us, but there were no casualties. By custom of war
the contents of a position carried by storm are the
property of the captors, but as we left the fort on
return to our old camp we noticed that as usual the
non-combatants took possession of it. On this occa
sion they were led by a parson and a purveyor of the
medical department, whom we saw rapidly overhaul
ing the huts as we marched away. At this time I
was rather disposed to agree with the French that
we ought, with the large force of men and guns all
well in hand, to have pushed on at once after the

104 TAKU FORTS.
fugitives and attacked the north fort whilst the
enemy were still in a state of demoralisation; but
Sir Hope now knew that he had the foe, so to say,
in a cleft stick, and decided to wait until he got up
the light siege-train, which included some mortars|.
But this delay gave the enemy time to recoter
themselves and add to the strength of the north fort,
which they evidently knew was the key of the posi
tion. The result was that when it was stormed the
allied casualties amounted to between 400 and 500.
What the British losses were at Tongku I do not
remember, but they must have been very small, as
we advanced in line, lightly covered by skirmishers.
The French had skirmishers also, but they were
followed by columns, which at times lost many, the
round-shot, as an old friend in the French service
told me, ripping them up from front to rear. A very
amusing incident took place just before we reached
the intrenchments. An excited recruit would not cease
firing, although his captain roared at him, whereupon
the captain, a very tall lame officer, who carried a
bullet in his thigh from the Redan at Sebastopol, took
two or three paces to the rear, and then rapidly
stumped up to the recruit and gave him a tremendous
kick on the stern. The recruit, rifle and all, went on
his nose, his captain with the shock tumbling over on
his back.
On returning to camp I was fortunate enough to
find my little package of personal baggage, which a
brother officer attached to the coolie corps had found
with that of other officers lying on the Pehtang cause
way. Not only the regiment, but the army, would
have been in a bad way had it not been for that most
valuable transport force, the Canton coolie corps. The

BRIDGE ACROSS THE PEIHO. 105
battalion of Military Train which came to China were
much disgusted when they were told off to do the
duty for which they had been created : the conse
quence was that the pack animals and native drivers,
which the Military Train ought to have looked after,
were utterly neglected ; and a more disgraceful sight
than the road from Pehtang, strewn with baggage,
could not well be imagined.
Whilst heavy guns and mortars were being got up
for an attack on the north fort, my regiment was
passed across the river — some 250 yards broad at
Sinho — to protect the formation of the bridge and
supply such fatigue-parties as the Royal Engineers
required for its construction. The bridge trestle and
boat-raft combined — in the formation of which, of
course, the ever -ready sailor worked hard — was an
excellent one. Colonel Fisher, Royal Engineers, was,
I believe, the presiding genius. We had the south
side, the French the north. Just about the time the
bridge was finished, the north fort, after a heavy
bombardment, was taken by storm, so, unfortunately,
we had no share in that matter. The casualties were
heavy, a large proportion being caused by an attempt
to carry a light pontoon bridge up to the edge of the
ditch : as a matter of course, the first round-shot
wrecked the whole concern. The Royal Engineers
and others stuck to their charge, and did their utmost
to get the absurd lumbering structure along ; but it
had eventually, after being the cause of a great loss of
life, to be abandoned, and the ditch was crossed with
out its assistance.
The north fort, the key of the position, being taken,
the others on both sides of the river surrendered. The
navy soon cleared away the great boom -raft across

106 TAKU FORTS.
the river, and the gunboats passed up. We, 500
in number, were placed on board one of them, the
Bustard : there was only standing-room, and away we
went up the river to have a go at the river forts guard
ing Tientsin. Unfortunately, just as it got dusk, we
grounded, and notwithstanding the employment of
every nautical device, we had to remain hard and fast
until the tide rose. Standing up all night was not
pleasant, but there was not even room for the senior
officers to ease their legs. It was not long after day
break when we got within sight of the forts, massively
constructed, like those at Taku, and with heavy guns
in them. The disgust of the regiment may be imagined
when we found we should not have a chance of dis
tinguishing ourselves. The Chinese for the time being
had had enough of it, and on our approach abandoned
the forts. There was nothing for it but to make the
best of a bad job and render ourselves comfortable on
the plain outside Tientsin, where we were in due time
joined by the rest of the army, which had marched up
from Taku. One of the wounded Chinese soldiers who
had fought so well at the forts, and had been looked
after by our surgeons, on being asked through an in
terpreter why they had at last surrendered, answered,
as translated by the interpreter, " Your shooting too
muchee curious."
When we left the Bustard one of our officers, Pal
liser, was found to have had a sunstroke, and was left,
with an assistant surgeon and a few men who had
broken down, in a building near one of the forts. I
managed to get ice for his head from a Chinaman who
was selling it, but it was too late : the poor fellow was
quite insensible ; but I think he recognised me in his
last moments, as the following morning, when I hurried

TIENTSIN. 107
down from our camp, just before the end, he raised
his hand to hold mine. He was the first of our officers
slain by the climate ; two soon afterwards followed
him. We were some time at Tientsin whilst the political
chiefs were trying to arrange matters. The natives
were very friendly, and never from the first — such
good reports of us had come up from Pehtang — showed
the slightest alarm.

108

CHAPTER VIII.

PEKIN.

Crowds came to the camp to sell poultry and vege
tables, but, alas ! the little money we had was soon
gone, and the pay department had none at hand to
give us. At last, owing to our pressing necessities,
they succeeded in getting up enough coin to give each
officer an advance of two dollars. These we made go
as far as possible by cutting them up with an axe into
small pieces, which the Chinamen were glad to accept
by weight for fowls and vegetables.
Eventually the pay department was more liberal,
and for some of us it was about time. Our thin
summer clothing was getting pretty well worn out
when we fortunately found that good cloth, not only
blue but also scarlet, of Russian manufacture, I heard,
was to be bought in Tientsin, and our master tailor
and his men were soon at work. Unfortunately,
before I had a respectable pair of trousers I was told
off for the commander-in-chief and Ministers' guard in
the town. I did not much mind my war-worn kit
until Sir Hope's A.D.C. came out and asked me to
dine with the commander-in-chief. My French col
league was standing by when the invitation was
given : I saw him smile and look at my trousers. As

A GOOD DINNER. 109
I accepted the kind invitation, I think I rather puzzled
him when I said, " I shall dine with Sir Hope, but not
in these clothes." I had a sudden inspiration. A
good dinner then was worth risking a row for. As
soon as it was dark I handed over my guard to the
sergeant, as I had to dress for dinner ! I then at a
trot went down the bank of the river to a despatch
gun-vessel, one of the lieutenants of which was an old
friend. I got him to lend me his uniform, and as a
naval officer I had an excellent dinner and some first-
rate champagne. The A.D.C., an old friend, took in
the situation at once as soon as I appeared, sat next
me, and so prevented awkward conversation, and
possibly even a court-martial. After dinner I ran
down the river again, and returned in my rags to my
guard. As the first thing to be done after occupying a new
position is to make oneself acquainted with the country
in the vicinity, I went, as soon as I had overhauled
the line of intrenchment on our side of the river,
known as Sangolinsin's Wall, down the bank of the
river, and crossed in a Chinaman's ferry-boat. Not
having any copper cash, a smiling, well-dressed native
paid my fare. The large fort I had come to inspect
was close to the water, and one of the first things
which attracted my attention was a low curious-
looking building in the centre. Just before I came
up to it I happened to throw away the end of a
Manilla cigar which I had finished. This was lucky
for me, because as I entered the building I stumbled
in the obscurity over what seemed heavy sand. When
my eyes got used to the dim light I found myself
over my ankles in loose powder, with leather-covered
baskets of it piled on both sides. I did not light the

110 PEKIN.
'next Manilla until I was well clear of that magazine.
The down-river face of the fort was strongly made,
with gun-carriages before each embrasure, but the
guns were absent. I noticed some freshly moved
earth beside the carriages, and from curiosity, not
having any idea of what was underneath, commenced
poking it up with a short stick, when I struck metal,
and soon saw it was the chase of a huge brass gun.
Having no time to remove the guns, as our gunboats
pressed up, the Chinese simply capsized their guns
out of the carriages and buried them. This they
must have done the night we were aground in the
Bustard. I reported the find, and also similar smaller
buried guns by Sangolinsin's Wall. The Royal Artil
lery came out and carted off the small guns ; what
became of the big ones in the fort I do not know.
As the nights were now beginning to get chilly, the
colonel suggested that, as I had no special work on
hand, I might as well go to our transport, which was
anchored a few miles out at sea, off the Taku bar,
and bring up the regimental blankets which had been
left on board — a roving commission which just suited
me. With a few things in a hand-bag, and my light
greatcoat for night work, I walked into Tientsin and
hunted about until I found a small steamer going
down the river to the fleet. A good-natured skipper
gave me a passage, and with a bundle of Chinese bread
for food in my haversack, I made myself comfortable on
the stern-sheets of the little cabin, having first placed
my haversack in a tin where rats could not get at it ;
and lucky it was for me I did so, for the ship must
have been swarming with them. So many ran about
and jumped on me that, until I got used to them,
sleep was out of the question. On the evening

EXPEDITION FOR BLANKETS. Ill
of the next day I got to the ship, and found the
blankets had been sent on shore to the forts. The
senior officer then in the roads, about whom there
were so many amusing yarns, could not get me a
passage back to the shore ; but my boat at last
managed to cut off a steamer going in, and in due
time I found myself at the great Taku fort, and, what
was more to the purpose, the blankets were there, also
a friend, who put me up for the night. Next day I
got a kind-hearted commander of a gunboat to take
me and my blankets up the river, much to the satis
faction of the regiment. Had I gone to work officially,
it would have taken at least a week to get even the
necessary passes and shipping orders. The only diffi
culty I had was with the naval officer, who did not see
how he could find me a passage to the shore ; but he
was at times a little absent-minded, the service yarn
being that when he for the first time commanded a
steamship, fully rigged in those days, he shortened
sail and made the usual preparations for anchoring,
but the ship still went ahead full speed. Suddenly
the captain was heard to say, " Oh dear, oh dear, I
forgot she was a steamer " !
When at Taku I was able to make an inspection of
the works which we had attempted to capture the
year before with such disastrous results to us. The
ramparts facing the sea were very solid, being also
strengthened with massive beams of timber. The
guns were in regular casemates, with heavy rope
mantlets in front of the embrasures. The whole
appearance of the solid work and the rope mantlets at
once recalled what I had specially noticed in the
Redan at Sebastopol. Russians were rumoured to
have assisted the Chinese at Taku, but the work, I

112 PEKIN.
am sure, was native only. The heavy brass guns,
6 or 7 tons, on the high cavaliers were mounted on
ponderous non-recoil wooden carriages, pivoting on a
huge wooden bolt in the centre. To prevent the
brass running with the great heat of the large powder-
charges, the bores of the guns were regularly lined
with iron tubing, thus anticipating Major Palliser's
invention by many years. The brass time-fuses were
a coarse imitation of ours, and I very much doubt if
they were of any use. The cylinders of grape made
by the Chinese for the 10 -inch shell-guns captured
from our gunboats were just three times as long as
ours, and very possibly would have burst the guns
had these grape cylinders been used.
The ground outside the fort beyond the ditch was
thickly covered with stout bamboo splinters about
3 feet long, 1 foot of that being tightly wedged into
the mud. I found on testing the ground that so close
were these splinter stakes that I could not get along
without wrenching them out to make room for my
foot. In the open ground on the land side of the forts I
found on the ground a huge naval shell which had
been fired a short time before from the rifle muzzle-
loading guns the French had on their gunboats. I
stuck it up on end to see what the fuse was like,
and then walked back to my gunboat, and had
been only there a few minutes when there was a
tremendous explosion on shore, and a huge mass of
something came flying through the air and fell with a
heavy splash close to a boat full of men. It appears
that just after I left the shell an Indian coolie had
shaken the ashes of his pipe into the fuse-hole, and
then squatted down to watch the thing fizzing. The

MULE "WITH THREE GOOD LEGS. 113
shell must have broken into only two or three large
pieces, for, except being sent head over heels, the
coolie was not hurt.
The allied forces remained some time at Tientsin
whilst the politicians were at work, and arrange
ments made for ratifying the treaties at Pekin,
so the Ministers, with most of the forces, moved
up the river in that direction. We, as we were
to return to England as soon as the war was over,
remained at Tientsin. With Scottish caution it
occurred to me that, just in case we had to move
again before going homewards, it would be as well to
have some transport of my own, instead of waiting
until the Military Train had learnt their work ; so I
set off to Tientsin with a sketch-book, and the one
Chinese word in my vocabulary — viz., ma, a horse.
I could not get a horse, but managed to find a fine
mule with three good legs, and one about two inches
shorter than the others ; but on that he had a high
strong shoe, which I saw was in good order, and as
the beast moved quite as well as if he had all his legs
of the same length, I purchased him, harness and
cart all complete, and a right serviceable purchase it
proved to be. I also required a small tombstone for
my poor comrade's grave : that I got and brought
back in the cart. A stone-cutting sapper was soon
found, but he had no cutting tools ; however, I
managed to buy some pieces of iron rod and a bag
of coals, with which he softened the iron rods and got
cutting points on them. I then printed the required
inscription on thin paper and pasted it on the stone,
and in a very short time all the letters were cut and
the stone put at the head of the grave.
In the month of September we were living comfort-
H

114 PEKIN.
ably in our camp at Tientsin when we were aroused
by the news that a treacherous attack had been made
on the political officials near Tungchow, and the small
allied force had had as much as they could do to beat
off a large Chinese army under Sangolinsin. Who
took our place I do not remember, but we were
ordered up at once. As usual, many men's boots gave
way, but, barefooted or otherwise, every one pressed
on, some men, and at times officers also, carrying a
rifle over each shoulder to help a weakly comrade.
The 200 miles were covered in a time which made the
march a record and got the regiment much kudos.
The last day we had to leave the road, or rather track
by the side of the river, and strike across the park
like country for the army, which was said to be some
where between Tungchow and Pekin. Guides we had
none, and it began to look awkward when, near dusk,
we came to a large canal with a broken bridge. This,
however, we repaired somehow, and got the little
transport we had safely over. Being by this time act
ing adjutant, — the real one was left ill at Tientsin, —
I had as charger a Tartar pony (which, by. the way,
was most useful during the march to some footsore
elderly officers). By means of my pony I got hold of
some stray natives, and by their help we found the
army, and marched in by moonlight. How we did
enjoy a sleep that night !
The next day we were at rest, and everything was
got ready for a general advance of the allied armies to
Pekin. Sangolinsin was in front with a large Chinese
force, intending to try the fortune of battle, and
possibly save our capturing the capital of China.
The following day, with three days' salt meat in our
haversacks, the allied armies advanced across the

SANGOLINSIN DECLINES BATTLE. 115
open country in regular line of battle. Some shots
were exchanged with Sangolinsin, who, to our great
disgust, fell back to the south-west of the city.
Marching in quarter column in very hot weather,
with the ponderous old-fashioned knapsack on the
men's shoulders, across a country covered with the
sharp-pointed remains of the millet-cane, which tore
the men's trousers and cut their ankles, was exhaust
ing work ; so in the middle of the day, when Sango
linsin's army disappeared, our men took off their
knapsacks, which were deposited for the time being
in an old limekiln. It is difficult now to remember if
we bivouacked that night or not, but I am under the
impression we did so, and advanced on Pekin the
next day ; but I know that as we were passing
through some park-like country our skirmishers drove
in a small enemy's picket. The remainder of the
regiment pressed on in support, and on climbing a
huge dike, there was Pekin in front of us. We made
ourselves comfortable in a large Chinese farm and its
outbuildings. At daybreak a field battery close to us began
firing, and, like a hive of bees suddenly disturbed,
we were out and ready for work in a few seconds ;
but it was not an enemy the artillery were firing at.
They were making a noise simply to let our cavalry
know where the rest of the army was ; for in
the previous afternoon our cavalry, followed by the
French force, had somehow crossed away to our
right flank, and we had lost touch with them.
I may here mention that next day I happened
to walk a little way in front of our bivouac towards
Pekin when I met a European riding towards me.
As he came close I saw by the drawn and almost

116 PEKIN.
parchment colour of his face that he must have
had some terrible suffering, and it was not until he
spoke that I recognised Mr (afterwards Sir Harry)
Parkes, whom I had known so well at Canton. He
and Loch (afterwards Lord Loch) had only a few
minutes before been released by the Chinese. After
being treacherously seized at Tungchow the previous
month, put in prison, and continually threatened with
death, they were released on our appearing before
Pekin. The Chinese officials mistook the sound of
the guns the previous morning for the commencement
of an attack, and decided on the execution of Parkes
and Loch. By extraordinary good fortune they had
been released, and were on their way to our camp
when the order for their execution arrived at the
prison — it was said just fifteen minutes after they
had left it.
We now learnt about the horrible brutality with
which our treacherously seized prisoners had been
treated, and how so many of them had died under
their tortures. The savage feeling produced by the
personal narratives of the survivors can only be
imagined by those who have been in a similar posi
tion to that of the soldiers of both armies then in
front of Pekin and its brutal mandarins. It was not
against the unfortunate soldiers or civilian inhabitants
they were so bitter. The survivors of that terrible
time told us that the only kindness they received was
from the poor Chinese who happened to be in the
same prison, who, if I remember correctly, even
shared their little food with our unfortunate prisoners.
Some of our poor fellows' wrists were so tightly lashed
that the cords cut into the flesh, which was crawling
with maggots, before death released them from their

PLUNDERING THE SUMMER PALACE. 117
sufferings. Could we have had our way every man
darin in Pekin would have been strung up.
Soon after the guns were fired news came that the
cavalry and the French army were at the Summer
Palace, some few miles north-west of Pekin, and that
the French were revelling in loot. It seemed a bit
hard we should be out of it, so I went to our
divisional headquarters and asked if some of us might
be allowed to visit the palace. Our divisional general,
whom I knew, said one-third of the officers might go,
— " But remember," he said, " there must be no loot
ing"; but as his A.D.C. just then happened to be
examining a piece of magnificent embroidery which
some one had sent as a specimen, I considered I might
put just a few grains of salt with the general's orders.
In a few minutes we all drew lots who were to go-
I was one of the lucky ones, and at once was away
on my Tartar pony, riding hard towards a column of
smoke in the far distance, having heard part of the
palace was on fire. I got eventually to the outer
gates, and taking my pony as far as possible, hitched
it up and entered the first hall, where I noticed some
men, quite off their heads with the excitement of loot
ing a palace, and for no apparent reason tearing down
grand embroideries. I saw one man send the butt
of his rifle through a huge mirror, possibly because
the reflection of his own unwashed and ugly mug
did not please him. Leaving this wild scene, I
pushed in to other parts until I came to a great hall
with grand-looking vases, apparently gold, and some
splendid bits of jade-carving. With the feelings of
a boy suddenly told to take what he likes in a
pastry-cook's shop, I was puzzled where to begin.
I was all alone, and had in my hurry forgotten my

118 PEKIN.
revolver, when it suddenly occurred to me that I
ought to be ready in case any of the people be
longing to the palace appeared, so I decided on
letting them have it hot with a handy gold vase,
and then clearing. However, nobody appeared, and
I, knowing the great value of jade, made a collection
that probably has rarely been seen. After I gave
it up to the prize committee, my splendid collection
was presented by the army to Sir Robert (afterwards
Lord) Napier of Magdala. I soon had my prize on
the pony, and with both arms round the pieces, put
one inside the other, I started to return to camp,
but lost my way, and eventually found myself on
the highroad to Pekin, with an occasional Chinaman
looking curiously at my bundle. By great luck I
managed to get in the right direction at last, and
seeing the adjutant-general and his assistant in the
distance, trotted up to them and so got home. In
a narrow way I met some Sikh cavalry : they opened
their ranks to let me pass, their eyes glittering at
the sight of my load. As I passed them I sung out,
" Jeldi jow sub jata howinga " (" Be quick or it will
all be gone "). With a shout they put spurs to their
horses, and I trust got all they expected.
That evening a hateful order came out. " The
commander-in-chief expects that all officers who may
have got anything out of the Summer Palace will
give up what they may have taken to the prize
committee, to be sold at auction for the benefit of
the army." Considering the value of my collection
— quite enough to purchase my company — the order
was crushing; but in every atom of it went. The
prize committee, seeing how much I had given up,
gave me afterwards a few small pieces back. Not-

PALACE BURNT AS A PUNISHMENT. 119
withstanding the order, a friend from the north of
the Tweed came to me the following morning with
a good-sized parcel of pearls to exchange for a small
piece of my jade which he had seen. On my inform
ing him that I had given it all in to the prize
committee, there came from the very bottom of his
heart, " Eh, ye big fule ! "
Our regiment took up its quarters in the great
open ground of the walled-in Temple of the Earth,
just outside Pekin, whilst the heavy guns were being
got up to breach the city walls before we stormed
the defences. As soon as the particulars of the
death of the prisoners became known, the commander-
in-chief and political authorities decided that some
exemplary punishment which would affect the highest
authorities in the Chinese empire should be inflicted.
It was therefore decided to burn the Summer Palace.
Certain humanitarians at home afterwards protested
against our barbarous methods ; but could they have
been with us at the time we committed to their
graves in the Russian cemetery the remains of our
poor comrades who had been so brutally done to
death, I am of opinion that they would have felt
as we did — viz., a regret that the emperor and all
his crew were not in the palace when we destroyed it.
Our division — the 1st — was kept ready in case of a
sortie by the Chinese when the other division was
burning the place. What we of the 1st division felt
as a great grievance was that the curios the 2nd
division got were not required to be given up, as mine
and others had been when we visited the palace.
Some very valuable hauls were made, — one officer
who had transport getting a lot of solid gold worth
£30,000, which others had passed over as brass. The

120 PEKIN.
French also did well. One of these latter some days
afterwards offered to sell me a bracelet with (appar
ently) emeralds the size of my thumb - nail for ten
dollars. Unfortunately before I could get a file to
test them he had disappeared. A French naval officer,
an old friend, had been requested by another friend of
mine on our staff to get him some black pearls. This
real brick of a Frenchman got a beautiful necklace and
handed it over to my friend for what he had paid —
viz., 120 dollars : the value of the necklace could not
have been less than £1200. I heard afterwards that
such confidence had the French soldiers in us that
they took cheques on ordinary writing-paper from our
officers who had not hard dollars with them. An
enterprising French canteen-keeper did a good busi
ness in such supplies as he managed to get up. I
paid £6 a-dozen for bottled beer for our little mess of
three ; and glad we were to get such a real tonic even
at that price.
Just before the heavy guns came, an auction was
held of the loot given up. I was buying some jade,
of which I knew the value, when the general com
manding the division called me over, saying he was
going to save me wasting my money, — he little knew
what he was depriving me of, — and told me that the
regiment was to be got together at once to dig trenches
and prepare the wall enclosing our camp for bringing
a rifle-fire on the city wall. The guns were parked
close to us, and then placed in battery behind the
wall, through which embrasures covered by mantlets
were cut. The regiment worked all night, and in the
morning, being adjutant, I went into the trench to
see how it was getting on. We were only 200 yards
from the wall when a desire came on me to examine it

SURRENDER OF PEKIN. 121
more closely, so I walked out of the trench across the
open right up to the wall. As soon as I got there a
perfect shower of heavy stones came all round me :
how it was I escaped I do not know. Our men in the
trench shouted to me to come back, but I thought it
undignified to return at a greater pace than I went.
Before returning I shook my fist at the enemy, which,
as a Chinaman can enjoy a joke more than most
people, doubtless amused my friends on the wall 60
feet above my head. The Chinese were informed that
if the city was not surrendered by twelve o'clock fire
would be opened by our battery and the city taken by
storm. At a quarter to twelve there was no sign of
surrender : the guns were loaded and the mantlets
cleared away, the regiment manning the prepared
position along the top of our wall. The chiefs with
watches in their hands were waiting for the eventful
moment, which had almost arrived, when the Chinese
surrendered, and threw open the huge gate. Our
men and the French rushed in, secured the great
bastion-like masonry works which enclosed the double
gates, and Pekin was ours. This was about the middle
of October. After some preliminary arrangements the
political chiefs were given a residence inside the city ;
and my regiment being the senior, was detailed as
ambassadors' guard, and the Prince of I's palace inside
the city was assigned to us, the officers' quarters being
the harem, and very comfortable they were. Our
service rations, however, were not as good as they
might have been, but how to improve them ? Our little
mess, after spending so much on beer, had no money
left. Happy thought ! I had several rolls of thick
silk, which I had purchased for very little from some
one who had been at the burning of the palace. My

122 PEKIN.
servant carried the rolls to a big Chinese silk-shop,
who weighed out so much silver in small lumps for
each roll. With this silver I then went to the
butchers' stores, and during the time we were in Pekin
our little mess lived well. Some one when returning
on the gunboat down the river annexed the remaining
rolls of silk. I did not discover the loss until we were
on board ship, but by that time it did not very much
matter, although the silk was worth about £5 a-roll.
The inhabitants of Pekin, a much taller and finer
race in every way than those in the south, were very
civil. They never showed the slightest ill-feeling, and
were always delighted when we went into their great
shops or stores. Everything seemed to go on in the
city just as if we were not there at all. Some time in
the beginning of November the diplomatical people
had settled their business, and we got orders to march
down to Tientsin and embark, and full time it was
that we moved off. The cold was becoming extreme,
and the broad, dirty, ill-kept streets of the city, with
an icy wind sweeping along them, were anything but
pleasant. On the march down we put the knapsacks
in the boats, and each man carried two blankets. We
had enough meat, but the men by this time had become
very tired of biscuit. By great good luck we came on
a large store of excellent flour at one village on the
way down, but there was nothing in which our bakers
could mix the dough, until I found a brand-new
Chinese coffin in a carpenter's shop. The bakers
were up all night, and next morning the regiment
had enough bread to last them to Tientsin. The
tired bakers I put in the boats with the knapsacks.
On arrival at Tientsin the gunboats were waiting for
us, but no arrangements had been made to take over

THE MAJORS PILLOW. 123
our private and other transport animals. I sent a
message to my naval friends on the guard-vessel that
my mule, cart and harness, and another we had, were
at their service ; but we were hurried off, and whether
they got them or not I never knew. It was bitterly
cold going down the river that night : we afterwards
heard a boat's crew had been frozen to death at the
mouth of the river, which was soon filled with floating
ice. We got away just in time, and right glad were
we to find ourselves again on our transport. Besides
the loss of my rolls of silk, I also missed a couple of
live ducks, the last of our little mess stores, which as
a reserve of food I had put in a bag and taken on
board the gunboat, but I got them again. An eccen
tric old major had used them as a pillow to keep his
head warm. Being well-brought-up Chinese birds,
they soon, he said, became quite quiet, the major and
the ducks mutually keeping each other warm.
We had a rough passage to Hongkong, being very
light : we once rolled so much that with our slack
rigging I fully expected the masts would go over the
side ; but the proverbial cherub evidently thought
Tommy deserved consideration as well as poor Jack,
and so we got safely to our destination, and arrange
ments were made for sending the regiment home — the
headquarters and five companies in our ship, and three
in a barque of some 700 tons. Hongkong at this time,
from the reckless way pay and prize-money was got
rid of, must have had some resemblance to Portsmouth
in ancient days. A large amount of sycee silver taken
at the palace was declared prize of war. This, to the
great satisfaction of the men, instead of going through
the hands of agents, was, thanks to Sir Hope Grant,
divided, so to say, on the capstan-head at Pekin, each

124 PEKIN.
man and officer also getting his regulation amount by
weight. One of our captains on the staff got a huge
block and showed it to me. I pointed out that for
silver it was uncommonly dull in colour. On taking
it to the bank it proved to be lead ! Unfortunately it
was too late to get it changed.
Before leaving, I went up to Canton to make
some purchases and see my Chinese friends again,
particularly the jeweller, with whom I used to have
many afternoon talks : we were mutually sorry to
say good-bye. During my residence in Canton I
had made the acquaintance of some of the leading
native merchants, and learnt to appreciate their good
and thoroughly reliable qualities. The mandarins as
a rule, and, speaking generally, the Chinese Gov
ernment officials everywhere, were about as objec
tionable and untrustworthy as they well could be ;
but for the Chinese merchant and the Chinese
peasant I had then, and always shall have, a great
regard. In the cities there are, as with us, a large
criminal population ready for any iniquity, but con
sidering how atrociously corrupt the ruling classes are,
it is a wonder such a proportion of the inhabitants
are so quiet and law-abiding. The departure of the
allied garrison from Canton was a sad day for a city
which until then had never enjoyed the blessing of
really good government. Chinese officials, pirates,
and robbers excepted, all the rest of the population of
Canton would have been only too pleased had our
garrison been a permanent one. Although it might
have been risky to enlist Chinamen for soldiers' work
in Canton, it often occurred to me that they would
make excellent soldiers in other parts of the empire,

CHINESE AS BRITISH SOLDIERS. 125
such as India, more especially in one Presidency,
where the supply of suitable fighting material had
apparently come to an end. The Canton coolie corps
were very plucky, even holding the scaling-ladders for
our men storming the large Taku fort. The Tartars,
who were also a fine fighting lot, would have made
good cavalrymen.

126

CHAPTER IX.

HOME SERVICE.

We sailed for England some time in November via
Singapore, Anger, and the Cape. Just before arriving
at Singapore smallpox broke out amongst the sailors,
so, although there was plenty of it on shore, we were
left on board ship in quarantine for seven days. The
sick were landed and the forecastle fumigated, but
beyond that nothing was done. The military and
medical authorities on shore deliberately allowed the
ship to go on its long voyage with every chance of our
transport being a plague-ship before we got to the Cape.
Before we left I had a couple of days on shore, and saw
what a prosperous place Singapore was. The climate,
moist and muggy, must have been very enervating, but
the rate of mortality was low. The pine-apples and
mangosteens were something to remember. When in
quarantine a friend sent off a canoe -load of fruit,
which was most acceptable until we came to the
durian, about the size of a cocoanut, which is con
sidered a great delicacy by residents at Singapore.
As soon as we took the husk off we had all to bolt out
of the saloon : rotten eggs were not in it compared
with the durian.
The fort on the hill at Singapore in those days was

THE SPICE ISLANDS. 127
about the most perfect specimen of a shell-trap that
could have been devised, but all the works have been
altered since that time. The passage down amongst
the islands to Anger in beautiful weather was a
wonderful sight, — islands covered to the summit with
luxuriant tropical vegetation, with broad shore-lines of
glittering white coral. Smoke was coming from the
summit of one great hill : this may have been the
island of Krakatoa, which some twenty years after
wards almost disappeared in one of the most terrific of
volcanic explosions of modern days. There was noth
ing to be seen at the low-lying small fort of Anger
Head. The inhabitants of that unfortunate place,
and many thousands along the adjacent coast, were
drowned by an immense wave, said to be 70 feet high,
which swept over that part of the ocean when the
Krakatoa explosion took place.
The voyage to the Cape was uneventful. All I
happen to remember about it was, that when laying
off the course the day before we should have sighted
land — I still went on with my nautical hobby — I
asked the first mate to check my work, because by
my reckoning we should be high and dry on shore
about midnight. My work turned out to be correct ;
so the ship's course was altered several points, and in
the morning there was the coast of Africa broad on
our beam. Off Point Agulhas, for some reason, the
captain, who must have been quite ignorant of the
force of the Agulhas current, shortened sail until
warned off by the lighthouse signalling, "It is dan
gerous to be becalmed off this point." Having a
first-rate telescope, I had managed to read the flags
just in time, as the daylight began to fail. Before
this our captain would have it that Struys Bay was

128 HOME SERVICE.
Simon's Bay, for which we were bound ; and it was not
until from the cross-trees with my glass I could defin
itely declare it was not, and that the only sign of
shipping was a large wreck, that he stood on his
proper course. The wreck was the Miles Barton, a
sailing ship with the Buffs on board, the captain of
which had made the same mistake as ours and gone on
shore. In due course we arrived at Simon's Bay, and a
party of us drove to Cape Town, where we had a good
time. Fortunately at Simon's Town our captain was
able to get the correct time for his chronometers : he
naively informed me that by some forgetfulness he had
let them run down.
The next place we touched at was St Helena, but
when about midway between the Cape and that place
we got a scare. When getting some coals up for the
galley -fire they were found to be wet ; so the car
penter was directed to sound the well, — a hitherto
quite neglected duty, — when 6 feet of water was
found to be in the ship. The pumps were set to
work at once, but made little or no impression on the
leak, which, on the contrary, seemed to gain ; so an
internal examination of the ship was made, when a
lead pipe, supplying the forecastle pump, was found to
have been cut in two by nails which had been used for
some of the troop fittings carelessly put in : these had
worked in a gale until the pipe was cut through. Of
course when the leak was found it was easily stopped.
In addition to this incident, some one hunting about
in the sail-room with a naked light managed to set
things on fire : fortunately this was rapidly put out
before it spread. Towards the middle of April we got
near the chops of the Channel, when we were baffled
by a strong east wind, and being very light we could

HAPPY-GO-LUCKY NAVIGATION. 129
not beat against it, and the food question — we had
been nearly five months at sea — became a serious one ;
but at last, to our great delight, the wind shifted, and
we stood on our course. This so pleased our skipper
that by the evening he tried to go to bed in a book
case ; so we stowed him away in his cabin, and the
first mate carried on until we saw two lights where we
ought to have seen only one. As the Bristol Channel,
by the last sailing directions we had, was the nearest
place where there should be two lights such as those
we saw, matters for the moment looked rather as if
our navigation was a bit out ; so I suggested backing
the top-sail and trying a cast of the deep-sea lead.
This was done, when the depth and hakes' teeth on
the grease at once gave us a very fair indication of
where we were ; so we continued our course, and with
daylight sighted old England, and then carried on
with all the sail we could crowd on the ship, and
in due time arrived at Spithead. All who could went
on shore that night, and never since then have beef
steaks and porter tasted so delicious as they did on
the termination of that five months' voyage in a very
indifferently found hired sailing ship, with nothing but
salt provisions for the last few weeks. We landed on
the 21st April 1861, after three years and ten months'
foreign service, and went by night train to Manchester,
where we arrived next morning. With great beards
and faces tanned — in some cases almost to blackness
— it was no wonder the mill -girls who crowded the
streets to see the new arrivals were heard to say,
" Did you ever see such an ugly-looking lot of men ? "
It was some time before our faces got their proper
colour. One day about a month after landing, and
when coming from some fete very correctly got up,
I

130 HOME SERVICE.
I received rather a shock by a dirty little girl pull
ing a smaller, and if possible dirtier, little companion
along, looking up at me and shouting, "Lor, Sairey,
come and look at this 'ere blackamore ! "
Hospitality was no name for the good time the
regiment had in Machester — balls and dinners every
where, and invitations to country houses. In the win
ter it came to our turn to furnish the Weedon detach
ment, and those who kept horses made their arrange
ments accordingly. A hussar regiment with whom
we were very friendly was quartered in Manchester
with us. I happen to remember one festive night,
at the termination of which, before the guests de
parted, there were cab-races round the barrack square.
Going to London the next day with the colonel, he
said he was astonished that he had heard nothing
about the sergeants having had a ball, as he could
not sleep in the early morning for the number of
carriages driving away from the direction of the
sergeants' mess. All I could say was that "I had
not heard about the dance, and fortunately my room
did not look out on the square." It was perhaps
just as well that the remains of two cabs had been
removed before the colonel came down to breakfast.
Sad was the day for both officers and men when we
got the route for Aldershot; but we had had the
good time we were entitled to after our foreign service,
and our stores of pay and prize-money were also be
ginning to run low ; so after a year's fun it was per
haps as well we went to a camp of instruction, where
we should doubtless be taught the latest things in
soldiering. We arrived at Farnborough in the early morning
and marched to Aldershot, which to us all seemed

DREARY ALDERSHOT. 131
about the most dismal and God -forsaken place we
had seen for many a day. On our return from the
Crimea, when we were at Aldershot for two or three
days to be reviewed by the Queen, the huts were new,
and there was plenty of fresh heather or heath about
the place. Now the black and patched-up huts were
unpleasant to look at and worse to inhabit, and the
heath of the long valley having been burnt, the
ground where we paraded was covered with a soot
like dust which made us all look like chimney-sweeps
after every field-day. To those officers whose bank
account was still a good one, or whose relations lived
in town, Aldershot was bearable : one could always
get away from after Friday's parade until Sunday
night. Fortunately my relatives had a house in town
and everything I could wish for, but for the men
Aldershot was simply detestable. The town — then
a mere collection of indifferent inns, beerhouses, and
the usual barrack -square parasites — was to them a
most unpleasant change from Manchester, and with
the military police to restrict their going beyond a
certain distance along the country roads, and without
recreation- or reading-rooms, it was no wonder they
wished themselves abroad, so when a chance of
volunteering foreign again occurred they eagerly
took it. India was the favourite, and no wonder.
There the soldier was treated with due consideration
even in the smallest matters, and had something more
than the miserable 3d. per day, which was all that
the soldier then got after stoppages had been taken
out of his nominal shilling. Marching home covered
with long -valley soot after one birthday parade, I
heard one of my men say, " In India we get on this
day 3 annas to celebrate it ; here we get three rounds

132 HOME SERVICE.
of blank." As for learning anything which would be
useful to him on active service, the little sketch in
' Punch ' was about right : —
Civilian friend (to Tommy, on returning from a
long field-day). " Well, what did you do to-day ? "
Tommy. "Oh, just' the usual thing. Right turn,
left turn, and take the beggars' names down."
For brigadiers and mounted officers Aldershot was
a useful place even in those days, being, with the
exception of the Curragh, the only quarter where
there was room for brigade drill, either cavalry or
infantry ; and when the division paraded with massed
bands, and the whole force marched past, John Bull
and his lady friends, who came down from town on
special days, arrived at the conclusion that the British
taxpayer was getting something for his money. But
as regards real training for the raison d'etre of an
army — viz., the day of battle — -there was but little.
There was plenty of room and opportunity for any
colonel to give that special instruction to his officers
and men, in such things as outpost duty, attack and
defence of positions, camp expedients, field-cooking,
and so on, and there may have been some who did
so, but they were very, very few. All that a colonel
was expected to do was to have his regiment in such
order that it might pass a creditable general's half-
yearly barrack - square inspection. In those days
colonels often retained command of their regiment
for ten or a dozen years, — gallant old veterans many
of them, but, as a rule, too much inclined to take the
world easy and not do more than was required of
them. When I got my commission the colonel of
our first battalion had served in the Peninsular war.
Doubtless it was on account of these old warriors that

CRITICISMS ON OUR ARMY. 133
the articles "of war then in use actually referred to
the " army in Spain and Portugal." Possibly it was
also on account of the strong language used by com
manding officers in those days that there was a special
article directing punishment — I think a fine of £5 —
for any officer or soldier " who should speak against
any known article of the Christian faith."
The Solferino campaign in 1859, in which rifled
field-guns were used, and the increasing power of the
infantry small-arms made some of the younger officers
think that the days of close formations under fire were
about over; but at Aldershot we found the same
brigade and division drills we had had on the plain of
Balaklava in the Highland division some seven years
before. My particular theory in 1863 was that the
skirmishing line should be gradually reinforced until
it became the fighting line, and that the men should
be trained to advance firing in line as they always
eventually did when pushing home an attack. Knap
sacks and regulation tents I thought might also be
abolished in favour of some system which would allow
on special occasions more rapid movement. In my
own case I had managed before the China campaign
to get out from England a light waterproofed woollen
greatcoat of regulation shape and colour, which I car
ried en banderole, and found it quite sufficient until
the winter began ; and during the forced march to
Pekin I used a little French tent d'abri : it was
sufficient for three of us. This tent idea, at about
the time we were at Aldershot, I improved, making
it of waterproof stuff, and so arranged and divided
that four men could each carry their share and have
room enough. Ten years afterwards I used it in the
woods in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, when I

134 HOME SERVICE.
had to take a share with my two Indians in carrying
our things from one camping-ground to another. The
tent, used in all weathers, answered perfectly. The
circular tin pot I carried in China was very similar to
the marmite of the French soldier, about 5 inches high
and 6 across. It had a tin-plate for cover, and inside
this tin was another entirely closed one, except a
bung-hole stopped with a cork : this was my water-
bottle. The whole arrangement was in a buttoned
canvas cover, with a broad strap round it. When
hung over the left shoulder, it rested flat and quite
comfortably in the hollow of my right hip. When on
outpost work, I often blessed my little pot : some hot
water from the embers of the picket fire and a couple
of spoonfuls of Moore's cocoa and milk-paste — a tin of
which I always had in my haversack — gave, with a
regulation biscuit, enough sustenance for a heavy
morning's work. I presented an account of my tent
to the United Service Institution for the magazine,
but the only people who took notice of it were men
who were going West. I often thought how very
much more handy my round tin pot was for field-
cooking than the oval mess-tin, originally devised in
very ancient times to fasten neatly on the knapsack.
Owing to our utterly neglecting field-cooking in what
are known as mess-tins, our men are often on the verge
of starvation when French soldiers are in excellent
condition. At times I went out to see if I could pick up any
special information by watching the cavalry brigade
at work. They were rather beyond an infantry
subaltern, but, as far as I could judge, were in
splendid condition for solid charges knee to knee, and
would have ridden in grand order to another Bala-

THE DILATORY TRAIN. 135
klava ; but although I knew well every road within ten
miles of Aldershot, I never in those days met any
cavalry doing reconnaissance or working as flank-
guards. For those duties our cavalry were not in it
compared with Indian troopers like those of Fane's or
Probyn's Horse.
The Military Train, especially to those who had seen
what a failure it was in China, was a source of amuse
ment, going through its waggon drill as if it were a
field battery. No wonder, when a lady asked one of
the officers what his corps was, she got the answer,
"Same as horse artillery without the guns." The
corps was a soft billet for officers who wished to remain
at home and have a horse kept at the public expense.
Instead of cantering about with empty waggons, the
Train ought to have had a lot of half-trained ponies
and stubborn mules with which to learn how to make
use of pack-animals. One day the commanding officer
of the Train was wildly indignant when the band
master of a cavalry regiment gave him the very
appropriate tune to trot past, " Wait for the
Waggon." I forgot ; we did have a certain amount of regimental
instruction for officers — viz., setting-up drill. At the
termination of the winter leave season all the officers
except the two majors had to fall in as privates, and
were put through a regular course of squad drill by a
corporal with his space - stick as if they were raw
recruits. Aldershot in those days, from its proximity to
London, was an expensive quarter. Dinner enter
tainments were decidedly too many, more especially
when they came so close together that we had to take
it in turns to see the evening through with our guests.

136 HOME SERVICE.
On one occasion I remember the last of them did not
move until the mess waiter came into the anteroom to
inform us that the colonel had just sent in to order
his breakfast.
In the autumn the brigade was put in orders for
manoeuvres, which I much looked forward to ; but to
my vexation it came to my turn for a course at the
Hythe School of Musketry — a place we not only had
a great dislike to, but also contempt for. That smart
corporals should be able to drill recruits, showing them
exactly where to place the little finger or thumb on
the rifle, and that they should know how to make
out musketry returns and target registers, hardly
required that a vast school should be kept up by
regiments being obliged to keep it filled with subalterns
to learn such work, and to get by heart an amusingly
pedantic little red book. Having a good memory, this
did not trouble me, and I had plenty of time to work
at a hobby — geologising under the Folkestone cliffs.
A school of musketry up to date, such as doubtless
there is at the present day, would have been most
useful, but with the organisation of the Hythe of
those times very little could be expected. For in
stance, the idea of any rifle but a muzzle-loader being
used by soldiers was treated as an absurdity, one of
the stock objections being that breechloaders could
not be loaded with loose powder ! and this when the
Prussians were armed with the needle-gun, which
showed its terrible power but three years afterwards.
Being a particularly good rifle-shot before I went to
Hythe, I had no difficulty in making the biggest score
up to 600 yards, and getting the £5 wing cup. Un
fortunately the evening before the 900 yards shooting
came off there was a big ball at a country house near

HYTHE SCHOOL OF MUSKETRY. 137
Canterbury, to which with a friend I was anxious to
go. We drove eighteen miles there, danced all night,
and drove eighteen miles back to Hythe, just in time
to change and go on the shingle. I lost the long-
range cup, but the dance was worth more. At the
skirmishing targets I had rather an escape. I put
all my shots on the single target assigned to myself
and to my rear-rank man, a volunteer. I thought he
looked a little queer, and could not make out where
his shots were going to, as none hit our joint target.
On returning to barracks he was found to be in a
very bad way with delirium tremens.
One curious effect of a course of musketry at
Hythe was that for some time it quite spoilt my
game -shooting, on which I prided myself: it took
me several days at the partridges before I could
stop myself taking aim.
I did not return to Aldershot after I had finished
at Hythe. The officers' mess-room happened to be
burnt, and the regiment was, in consequence of the
loss, sent to Portsmouth in place of another detailed
for that station. That was a great disappointment
for the regiment in question, which would gladly
have seen their mess-room and all their huts be
sides burnt, provided such took them away from
Aldershot. We all came to the conclusion that Portsmouth,
especially after Aldershot, was an Al quarter. There
was little doing in the soldiering line there, but I
managed to pick up some wrinkles in naval gunnery,
which came in useful many years afterwards. .
Portsmouth in the early 'Sixties was a very different
place from what it is now. Southsea was then little
more than a large village outside the fortifications,

138 HOME SERVICE.
which enclosed Portsmouth on the land side with
a regular line of works — bastions, ravelins, covered
ways, glacis, &c. — and the usual broad ditches with
drawbridges and sally-ports, with guns in the
ramparts facing what are now square miles of
houses. The old slums, in which many a gallant
blue-jacket must have been done away with in old
times, still existed, and in many respects Portsmouth
was still the place it had been in the rollicking war
days of half a century before. Having friends in the
country, the other side of Portsdown Hill, and also in
the Isle of Wight, I thoroughly enjoyed our new
quarters, until early in the year I was offered a
company by purchase in another regiment. It was
a great wrench leaving my own regiment, which was
really my home ; but as I still had thirteen subalterns
over me in the Royals, it would have been worse than
folly to decline it. So in March 1864 I became a
captain, and my never-to-be-forgotten, happy-go-lucky
days as a subaltern were at an end.
The regiment, the 96th, in which I had obtained
my promotion was abroad, its two depot companies
with those of three other regiments being at Belfast,
at which place I had to report myself. Although
now the great manufacturing capital of the north of
Ireland, its appearance to a new arrival in those days
was not inviting, and to a recruit from some village
or country town in England, the grimy factory-like
barrack, with nothing in the way of recreation but
the pot-house canteen of former days, and without
attractions in a town where soldiers were not ap
preciated, it was most dreary ; and no wonder de
sertions were frequent, and that the young soldier
longed for the day to arrive when he would leave

FISHING IN LOUGH NEAGH. 139
a depot battalion and join his own regiment, no matter
where it might be stationed.
The men being nearly all recruits, there was no
work worth mentioning, except for the drill corporals.
There was an excellent club at Belfast, of which we
were kindly made temporary members ; but to an
other officer and myself there was a much more
attractive place — viz., Lough Neagh and the river
Bann, where there was then grand fishing. We
managed to get the usual three days' leave, and on
the evening of our arrival at Toom Bridge a magnif
icent 18 -lb. trout taken in a net was brought in.
Happy thought ! send it to the colonel with our
compliments. We heard that the fish arrived at the
orderly-room at the same time as the prisoners : it
was said that they got the benefit of that fish, and
we also. Week-ends usually found us at our fishing
quarters : we never got an 18 -pounder, but often
caught lake -trout up to 6 and 7 lb., and grilse.
Naturally we had some curious experiences, but it
is never safe to relate fishers' yarns, even when sup
ported by official documents, as the following will
show. A friend at the Admiralty, in looking over
ships' logs, noticed that after pistol practice at a
target suspended from the foreyard of a certain ship
when in the tropics, a dolphin was caught with nine
pistol bullets in its stomach (being on the look-out
for flying- fish, it had evidently caught the bullets
soon after striking the water just before they sank).
My friend wrote to the captain on the subject, who
was very indignant that anything entered in the
log of a Queen's ship should be doubted, so my friend
sent the account to Buckland, to put in the ' Field.'
Buckland's answer was, "We always publish any

140 HOME SERVICE.
interesting letters on the subject rof fishes, but we
must draw the line somewhere."
The anniversary of the battle of the Boyne at the
beginning of July put an end to our trips to Lough
Neagh. Men who have been peacefully working
together all the year discover at that season that
they belong to different branches of the Christian
religion, and therefore are deadly enemies. In 1864
the disturbances between the Orangemen and Roman
Catholics became serious. Both sides began to use
firearms. More constabulary were brought in, but
they were not sufficient to prevent some streets
being wrecked. I remember being suddenly sent
with about 100 men from the barracks to garrison
a schoolhouse, and be ready to go out and open fire
if absolutely necessary to save property and life.
Fortunately the mob in the vicinity of my post simply
amused themselves by firing blank cartridge, and
made no objection to reinforcements in the shape of
bread, cheese, and beer being brought in to my
garrison. They had no feeling of enmity against
the soldiers, although the Orangemen did not like
the green colour of the cuffs and collars of one of the
depots. "It's not your faces, it's your facings we
object to," as one facetious Orangeman expressed it.
However, I was not sorry when the 84th Regiment
from Dublin relieved me about midnight. The riots
lasted six weeks, and before they were ended we
had a battery of field artillery and 3000 soldiers,
cavalry and infantry, in the town. Only on one
occasion had a section of soldiers to fire, and it is
said no one was hurt ; but the unfortunate inhabitants
had in the fights between themselves no less than
195 killed and wounded.

BALLOON TRIP. 141
Going round the hospital to inquire if anything
could be done for the unfortunate wounded, one of
our officers saw a man who had lost his hand. " How
did you lose it?" my friend inquired. The answer
was, " My gun burst." " But how did that happen ? "
" Well, you see, sir, I put nine bullets into her and
fired her off down Dover Street, and she and my hand
went off together."
Soon after the town had quieted down Coxwell
came to give a balloon ascent. I thought I might
pick up some ideas with reference to reconnaissance
work, so for a consideration was allowed to go with
Coxwell. Although the ascent was a very quiet and
simple affair, the earth seeming to drop away from
us as we calmly stood in the car, I found that a
free balloon was useless for the purpose I had in view.
The highest hills became, so to say, flat almost im
mediately, and it was most puzzling to find out where
we were, although we never exceeded 7000 feet alti
tude, and the breeze was gentle. The trip was other
wise so interesting that some of us arranged that
Coxwell was to return, and, if the wind was suitable,
cross to England : unfortunately the balloon was
destroyed by a mob at Leicester.
The wealthy people of Belfast were not much
given to dinner-parties and suchlike, but those in
the country made up for it — more hospitable they
could not be. At one ever-to-be-remembered place,
not only had we to do justice to good liquor at dinner,
but every man had to finish his bottle of port before
being allowed to go into the drawing-room, where
a dance usually finished the evening. That was
pleasant enough until opposite the large mirror at
the end of the room ; then I noticed that most men

142 HOME SERVICE.
shut their eyes and trusted to their partners till past
the danger. Going down to that house, the train
went at such a pace that I thought it a trifle
dangerous, but our host reassured us. "You know
I am a director of this railway, and as I did not want
you to wait for your dinner, I just told the engine-
driver that I had made a bet we would arrive at the
station up to time to-night ! "
In 1865 the annual riots did not give much trouble,
and being then married I did not go ballooning when
Coxwell again came over. It was just as well I did
not. When the valve -line was pulled to descend it
broke ; there was a scare, but the balloon came down
eventually, and all scrambled out except two. The
balloon with these unfortunates then shot up, and, as
the telegram put it, " has gone God knows where."
Fortunately on the coast-line it came down again, the
grapnel caught, and the two men, badly hurt, got out
somehow, and the balloon again disappeared, to be
afterwards found on the island of Islay.
In 1866, having decided to try for the Staff College,
I came to the conclusion that a regiment at home
would suit me better than one abroad, so exchanged
into the 69th, lately arrived from India, and then at
Aldershot under orders for the Channel Islands. The
headquarters, which included my company, went to
Jersey almost immediately after I joined the regiment.
The Channel Islands station is not one where much,
or rather anything, can be done as regards soldiering ;
but, Alderney excepted, the men were delighted with
their quarters, and so also were the young officers,
with dances, picnics, and moonlight sand-eeling parties.
When at Jersey we had an instance of the time the
germs of a virulent disease retain vitality. In 1866

WORKING UP FOR STAFF COLLEGE. 143
part of an old cemetery, where those who died of
cholera in 1848 had been buried, was slightly disturbed
in widening a road ; cholera at once broke out in the
houses on the other side of the road, and rapidly
spread into the town. In 1867 the regiment was
sent to Dublin, where the jail guards over Fenian
prisoners were pretty stiff. Even as captain I was on
guard every third day ; and once I was told there was
no relief, and that I must continue for another twenty-
four hours. To any one else these guards would not
have been pleasant, but as I was working up for the
Staff College, the inside of a jail, where one was not
disturbed by visitors, was rather an advantage.

144

CHAPTER X.

STAFF COLLEGE.

From Ireland the regiment went to Canada ; but as
I had passed for the Staff College, I was left at
home, and went to the college in February 1868.
The old Staff School at Marlow must have supplied
some good men to Wellington in the Peninsula,
otherwise the French Government would not have
subsequently sent over a special commission to in
quire into its organisation. After Waterloo the
Staff School, with many other military institutions,
gradually died out. Nominally under the name of
the Senior Department at Sandhurst, it just kept
its head above water ; but it was not until the
Crimean mismanagement and disasters showed the
necessity for a properly trained staff that a scheme
for a staff school was brought forward, and the
present Staff College built. Entrance to it by
officers of a certain length of service, and with
special recommendations from their colonels, was to
be by competitive examination in mathematics, lan
guages, and certain military subjects. To induce
officers to compete, all staff appointments were for
the future to be given only to men who had suc
cessfully passed through the college.

INSTRUCTION AT STAFF COLLEGE. 145
The scheme was received, as such reforms usu
ally are, with a great flourish of trumpets, and
the public at once jumped to the conclusion that
every officer who got through the Staff College
must consequently be a perfect staff officer. In
due time it was discovered that the days of
miracles were over, and that a staff college course,
although it might improve a good officer, could
not put an active energetic brain into the head of
a man who did not possess it, no matter how good
he might be at competitive paper-work examinations.
For the failures of the Staff College careless com
manding officers have been almost entirely to blame.
Consignment to permanent half-pay would not have
been too severe a punishment for some colonels who
recommended officers for the Staff College, apparently
because they were useless in their regiments, and they
were glad to get rid of them.
The subjects given for the entrance examination at
the time the college was opened were not altogether
what they should have been, and the course of study,
as well as the selection of instructors, required reform.
In time considerable alterations were made, and al
though still capable of improvement, the college is
worked on very different lines from what it was
when I joined it.
Instruction in military administration and law, as
also that in fortification, artillery, and schemes for the
attack and defence of positions, was excellent. Mili
tary history lectures were interesting, but could hardly
be considered as particularly instructive; but what
some of us thought fully made up for defects in this
branch of the work was the mental exercise as regards
original thought which the writing of memoirs on cer-
K

146 STAFF COLLEGE.
tain portions of a campaign gave us. As for military
surveying and sketching in those days, although there
was an instructor, there was no instruction given worth
mentioning. Old cadets who had been through Sand
hurst and Woolwich really taught those who came to
the college ignorant of those subjects.
There were instructors for French, German, and
Hindustani, and a passing-out examination had to be
gone through in one or other / of these languages. No
matter how well an officer might know a language,
he had to put in a certain amount of attendances in
one of them.
Mineralogy and geology were also taught. These
were both hobbies with which I was already well
acquainted, from attending lectures at the School of
Mines in Jermyn Street, and always investigating
quarries and mines whenever I got a chance ; and I
took them up as they counted in the final examination,
while the fact of their being more an amusement to
me than a study gave me time for other work. There
was an excellent laboratory at the college, and as I
had only a theoretical acquaintance with chemistry
and electricity, I took full advantage of it, putting in
all my spare time in what used to be known as the
abode of bad smells. The information I acquired in it,
more especially in food and water analysis, was most
useful. Only one officer besides myself of my batch
went through a complete course of chemistry and
physics. I worked steadily for about eighteen months
at the first-named, but even then felt I was only on
the fringe of a most fascinating science. As regards
its utility for a staff officer, that certainly may be
questioned, but as I should never have such a chance
of working in a laboratory again, I did not think I

LIBERAL-MINDED GREEK PRIEST. 147
was wrong in giving such time to it as I could con
veniently spare. A very childish system of competi
tion for place on leaving the college was in operation
when I was there, thereby putting a premium on what
paid best in marks and not on what was most useful.
We had an amusing incident with reference to marks.
Only certain languages were allowed to score for
place at the final examination, but there were several
languages in which an officer might pass, and those who
successfully got through were mentioned in the annual
report. One of my batch applied to be examined in
modern Greek, and a magnificent specimen of a Greek
priest one day appeared in the anteroom : he was a
fine-looking man with a great beard and a long black
robe reaching almost to the ground, whilst on his head
was a tall black hat with the brim on top. The sub
ject of marks rather puzzled him, but when the can
didate for examination informed him that 1200 were
full marks, and that if he was good enough in the
language to get 800 he would be perfectly satisfied,
" Eight hundred marks ! " exclaimed the priest. " You
shall not have less than two thousand. I do love the
English ! "
Although part of the time at the Staff College
might have been employed to better advantage, the
two years there — exchanging ideas with men who had
served in various capacities in different parts of the
world — was in itself a professional education of no
small value. The habit of steady work also for an
average of some eight hours a-day had somehow a
permanent effect on the mind, making one feel ever
afterwards that one was neglecting one's duty if
not working at something professional. I had a
curious instance of this even before leaving the

148 STAFF COLLEGE.
college. Gunnery at all times had a great fascina
tion for me, and when there was a good deal of news
paper discussion about the effect of shell - splinters
in a ship's battery, I came to the conclusion that
heavy rope mantlets, similar to those at the Peiho,
might be suspended from the beams and placed
between the guns on the new ironclads, thereby
placing each gun in a species of splinter proof
casemate. I found on measurement that the guns
were quite far enough apart to admit of this ; so I
had a model made to scale, photographed it, and sent
a paper on the subject to one of the Lords of the
Admiralty whose acquaintance I had made when he
commanded the Excellent. I was much flattered
when he wrote informing me that he approved of my
idea, and would have it inserted in the Gunnery
Regulations. After leaving the college in 1869, and before being
attached to cavalry and artillery, I interested myself
with another hobby, if I may so term it — viz., coast
defence. In the course of the college work we had to
make a reconnaissance sketch and report with refer
ence to a supposititious landing on the south coast.
Open beaches extensive enough for disembarkation of
all arms were there, but the absence of suitable har
bours for bases, and the defensive positions between
the coast and London, gave one an idea of the diffi
culties an invader would have ; but on looking at the
map of Southern England, it struck me that an enemy
would find a much easier road to London from the
east coast than he would from the south. Just north
of the Thames are two estuaries — viz., that of the
Crouch and the Blackwater. The former is small, but
that of the Blackwater is very extensive. The Ad-

NAPOLEONS INTENDED MARCH ON LONDON. 149
miralty chart gives full details of its great depth,
3f to 9 fathoms, and the sheltered anchorage inside
the Gunfleet Sands at its mouth. An examination of
the estuary showed that although it has a muddy
foreshore at low water, it nevertheless presents an
opening for a disembarkation to which the Pehtang
was a trifle in comparison. The country between the
Blackwater and Crouch estuaries and London is very
flat, and the distance to the metropolis but thirty
miles. The only defensive position being one on the
southern flank of the line of advance to London — viz.,
that on the range of hills enclosing Tilbury Fort
and the Thames defences — an intrenched position on
these heights in connection with the forces south of
the Thames by a boat bridge or railway tunnel would
probably be about as effective a position for the pro
tection of the capital against a landing on any part of
the east coast between Yarmouth and the Thames as
a line of intrenchment directly across an invader's
path. At any rate, thinking the subject worth dis
cussing, I gave a lecture on it at the United Service
Institution early in 1870, but before doing so thought
it advisable to ascertain if the head of the Fortifica
tion Department, Sir William Jervois, had any objec
tion. On reading the lecture he at once volunteered
to be my chairman, and gave me his full support. In
summing up at the end of the lecture, he mentioned
that when at Elba, Napoleon had spoken to Sir Neil
Campbell about his intended invasion of England, and
told Sir Neil that, if the wind admitted of it, his in
tention had been to turn all Pitt's defences by a
landing in or near the Thames rather than on the
coast of Kent. (Marmont's corps in the Netherlands
was doubtless intended to co-operate by a landing

150 STAFF COLLEGE.
north of the Thames, even if Napoleon had with the
army at Boulogne gone straight across the Channel.)
East Tilbury is now stated to have been the place
where the land force was assembled at the time of
the Armada, when Parma's army was waiting ready
in the Netherlands. Reference is also made in the
records of those days to a bridge of boats or something
of that nature across the Thames at Tilbury. Further
discussion brought out the fact that the Danes made
use of the Blackwater estuary when invading England.
After the lecture a committee was sent to report on
the subject, and I was told by one of the members
that they quite agreed with me. Still more interest-.
ing was the circumstance that a year or two after
wards I heard, on quite reliable authority, that the
lecture had been given to the Staff School at Berlin to
be investigated as part of their regular work.
Having a good horse assigned to me when attached
to a cavalry regiment at Aldershot, and permission to
do pretty well what I thought best in order to pick up
information, I had a pleasant time, except on one
occasion, when on a duke's day all the horses had to
be in the ranks, except one left for me, a fine hand
some animal ; but on leaving the regiment to join the
headquarter staff, as directed, my horse, an iron-
mouthed, bucking, squealing rig, gave me just about
all I could do to keep him in hand. I heard after
wards that no riding certificate would be necessary in
my case. Fortunately I was in excellent condition at
the time, but had I been otherwise, and my muscles
slack, my career as a staff officer fit for field service
might have been jeopardised.
For artillery work I was attached to a battery
of horse artillery at Woolwich : the officer command-

EXPERIMENTS AT WOOLWICH AND SHOEBURYNESS. 151
ing it did everything in his power to assist me in
getting all the instruction the very limited training-
ground that Woolwich Common and Shooters' Hill
permitted of. Aldershot would have been a better
place, but for some reason several of us were sent
to batteries at Woolwich instead. This was to a
certain extent fortunate for me, because I was thereby
able to make myself acquainted with all the latest
artillery inventions. The fuse question was then a
burning one in all senses of the word, and in looking
over the different varieties, it struck me that I might,
by a very simple contrivance, make the ordinary time
fuse also act as a concussion one, and so get rid of the
then existing trouble connected with the employment
of a detonating composition and a separate percussion
fuse. This I did by simply boring up the powder-
channel of the time fuse, and so connecting it at the
upper end with the fuse composition, but separated
from it by a copper cup with a hole in its bottom. In
this cup was a copper plug, kept in its place by a
copper wire through it. This did not in any way
prevent the time arrangement being bored and acting
in the usual way ; but on the shell striking the ground,
the shock sent the copper plug forward, breaking the
wire, and so at once opening a communication between
the burning fuse composition and the powder-channel,
and instantly exploding the shell. To keep the plug
in security, a safety-pin went through it : the head of
the pin being in the end of the tape which encircled
the head of the time fuse, when the fuse was placed in
the shell and uncapped in the usual way by the tape
being torn off, it took the pin with it, and so left the
concussion arrangement free to act.
My principal difficulty was to ascertain what thick-

152 STAFF COLLEGE.
ness the wire should have, that the plug might break
it on the shell touching the ground. It required
many experimental rounds before I found that the
graze was in dynamical effect only equal to a vertical
drop of the fuse on its head of 3 feet.
I had to employ a special mechanic, and also ran up
a good-sized bill for powder and shell used in experi
mental work at Shoeburyness, but had the satisfaction,
at a competitive trial of fuses with several other in
ventors, of beating them all. I was in hopes of further
special trials of my fuse and its being adopted into
the service : for some reason, however, the Ordnance
committee thought it better not to interfere with the
regulation time fuse, but in consequence of what I
had brought forward in artillery matters my large bill
for powder and shell was cancelled.
During my different visits to Shoeburyness I
thought I saw my way to some improvements in
connection with gunnery, and also armour - plate
backing, which would doubtless have involved me
in considerable expenditure with a very doubtful
return ; so it was perhaps just as well that I received
orders to embark for Halifax, Nova Scotia, where I
was to be garrison instructor — a new appointment
at large stations — for the purpose of teaching young
officers field fortification, military sketching, adminis
tration, and tactics.

153

CHAPTER XL

CANADA.

All the world being at peace, a staff appointment,
even on the other side of the Atlantic, was worth
having. Little did we know what was so soon to
happen in Europe. Within six weeks of leaving
England the Franco -Prussian war began. It was a
bitter disappointment losing all chance of being at
tached to one of the armies ; but as I could not speak
German, I should have done all I could to join the
French, and it was perhaps fortunate for me that
I did not do so, seeing the disasters which came upon
our old allies, amongst whom I had several friends.
The voyage to America was uneventful, but I again
had an instance of the carelessness with which ships
are navigated. In a dense fog off the banks, when
going slow, we suddenly saw right in front of us, high
in the air, the royals of a sailing ship. We just
managed to clear her as she shaved past us. Our
captain asked why they had not sounded the fog-horn.
" Can't — it's broken," was the answer as the fog again
shut her in.
In clear weather Halifax harbour is easy of entrance,
but on a dirty night, or when there is a fog-bank close
inshore, the broken rocky coast of Nova Scotia requires

154 CANADA.
to be approached with extreme caution. From want
of care many a fine ship has been shattered to pieces
close to its port, a notable instance being the White
Star liner Atlantic, when some 500 people were
drowned. A friend asked me to drive down with
him to the wreck. Fortunately I was unable to do
so : he saw 150 bodies laid out on the rocks.
Once inside the heads, the great harbour is per
fection, completely sheltered, and with deep water
right up to the shore. The construction of wooden
wharves and jetties — masonry is unnecessary — is a
simple matter, and huge ships may be alongside them
with their bowsprits almost projecting into the main
street. Timber being very plentiful, the houses were all
built of wood, but the city suffered so much whenever
a fire broke out that all new houses were required to
be of masonry. Thirty years ago, however, Halifax
might shortly be described as a picturesque old-
fashioned Canadian town, with little trade except to
the West Indies and South America, whose negro and
Roman Catholic population bought the fish which
came in from the banks. The smell from the great
warehouses of salt cod near the wharves extended at
times over the city, — a pleasant bouquet, doubtless, to
the owners of the fish, but not to other people, especi
ally strangers. The western side of Nova Scotia,
looking towards the United States, is very fertile, but
the east is rock and pine forest. This may account
for the fact that although Halifax has one of the finest
harbours in the world, it has as a commercial port
remained almost stationary, and although one of the
oldest cities in America, has not even now more than
50,000 inhabitants. The winter in Nova Scotia is

REMARKS ON HALIFAX. 155
tedious : commencing in November, the first part of
it, when the great lakes are frozen, and give miles of
splendid skating, is pleasant enough, but in December
the snow comes down. Sleighs and snow-shoes then
come into use; but without some special object in view
the latter mode of progression soon becomes irksome,
and sleighing in Nova Scotia with a cutting wind,
which is so often the case, is very different from the
pleasure of driving in the still, bright atmosphere of
Toronto or Montreal. Toboganning and rink-skating
are amusing, but five months of them and nothing else
are rather monotonous. The cold is at times intense.
I shall not easily forget one morning going down to
my office with the thermometer 18° below zero, in half
a gale of wind. On that day the ink-bottles in the
class-room had to be kept on the stove ; even then the
ink froze in the pens. The wooden houses were com
fortable ; but even with stoves going all night, I have
noticed, on walking from my bathroom after using
warm water, that the mark of my footsteps became ice
before I had reached the fire in my bedroom. The
rivers break up in April, the ice going out to sea
in great masses, and from then until the beginning of
October the climate is perfect, and the fishing and
shooting one gets between those dates almost make
up for the discomforts of winter.
Halifax has, or had thirty years ago, one advantage
— extremely cheap provisions. As an example I may
mention my servant returning from market one day
in winter with a turkey, two geese, two chickens, two
brace of partridge, and three dozen eggs, at an ex
penditure of 15s. Fish was good and plentiful, as
were also oysters and lobsters, the latter being only
Is. per dozen; but not even the most magnificent

156 CANADA.
lobsters at one penny each could make up for the
isolation of Halifax from the world on the other side
of the Atlantic. We had only a fortnightly mail from
England, and that was usually late during the winter :
on one occasion the steamer did not arrive with our
letters for ten days after they were due.
Although the preparation of a lecture may require
the expenditure of much time and trouble, its delivery
requires no great mental effort ; but teaching, when
one has almost to transfer one's power of thought,
if not actually one's brains, into the heads of those
who have never been trained to think for themselves,
is most exhausting. After a long spell of it I found
perfect rest absolutely necessary ; and my most easy
way of getting it was, when the work admitted of
it, to disappear for a few days with the two Indians
I usually employed, and live the life of a savage in
the woods, carrying the few things we required, and
living on salt pork and biscuits and the trout and
tree-partridges we got.
Sea-fishing in the harbour in the afternoon and
evening in fine weather was a great relaxation. I
often loaded my boat with a hand-line, and got great
hauls on set lines : on one occasion I caught more
than I bargained for. Getting in the line, a mass
of seaweed, with something else enclosed in it, came
up, the hook being fast in blue cloth. As there
was a German emigrant ship in quarantine with
cholera on board, I was not long in cutting the mass
adrift, and letting it sink into deep water again.
Lobster-spearing in the shallows in the warm summer
nights by the aid of a birch-bark torch was a new
but very amusing sport. The so-called spear was
composed of a pair of stiff wooden clips, which went

SALMON-FISHING ON THE RESTIGOUCHE. 157
over the body of the lobster without breaking the
shell. I kept my long leave — -viz., six weeks — for the
salmon-fishing in the summer ; then life was worth
living. It will now hardly be credited that four
of us had the whole of the Restigouche for £40 per
year. To get there from Halifax before the inter
colonial railway was built required a week's journey,
and then three days' poling up the river in a birch -
bark canoe to the fishing-ground. What the country
may be like now I know not, but thirty years ago
the forest primeval for hundreds of miles on each
side enclosed the river. There were a few settlers'
houses about forty miles apart on the banks : of
traffic, except when the logs were coming down,
there was none. Each of us had a canoe and two
Indians, and on arriving at our destination we separ
ated, each taking so many pools. We were often
twenty and thirty miles apart, and only saw each
other on changing stations. Living alone with two
Indians, who only knew a few words of English, and
with nothing but salt pork, flour, tea and sugar, and
trout for food, — as for salmon, in three days or so
one's gorge rose at even the smell of it when cooking,
— and with no shelter but a lean-to of canvas and
birch bark, and exposed to black flies and mosquitoes,
the life was a rough one ; but the sport was splendid,
the average weight of my fish being 23 lb. I only
once got near that again — viz. 22 lb.— many years
afterwards in Norway; but I killed some of those
Norwegian salmon on a spoon, not then being strong
enough to swing a rod all day. As usual the Jock
Scott, as in all other parts of the world, was the
favourite fly on the Restigouche. The use of such

158 CANADA.
an article as a spoon or artificial minnow on that
river would have been considered most unsportsman
like ; indeed I never heard of either being used in
the clear waters of the Restigouche, where single
gut was necessary. One strange thing about our
fishing was the ease with which one could balance
oneself on one's feet and swing an 18 -foot rod in a
birch bark. At first it seemed hardly possible to
look at a canoe without upsetting it. As an ex
periment I tried one day — and successfully — playing
a big fish and at the same time lighting my pipe
with a common lucifer-match.
My Indians had never seen a fish killed on a rod
before ; but when I gave one the gaff, and explained
as well as I could what I wanted done, no Highland
gillie could have used it better, and never afterwards
did either of them miss his stroke. On one occasion
a huge brute of a fish 4 feet in length nearly tired
me out : it became dark soon after I hooked it, and
it took me five hours to bring it to the gaff. The
Indians who lived on the lower part of the river,
and whom we allowed to spear as far up as the
lowest pool, declared they had seen a salmon as long
as a man, and that they were afraid in their canoes
to touch it ; perhaps it was just as well it never
took a fancy to a Jock Scott.
Returning to the settler's house from which I had
started up the river on my first expedition, I was
so black from the glare of the river and unkempt
from the wild life I had been leading, that on going
up to the front of the house the settler did not
recognise me and said, " Indians must go in by the
back door." I sent a small barrel of Restigouche
salmon home to England. The size of the fish

MOOSE-CALLING. 159
astonished my friends, but they said they were too
salt to be of much use.
Nets and saw-mills had pretty well destroyed the
salmon anywhere near Halifax, but with information
laid on when there was a run, we could get a fish
or two occasionally in Indian or Gold Rivers : one
day I succeeded in sending one back in the evening
by the same coach which had brought me out in
the morning. Away from settlements trout were
plentiful, averaging about f lb. ; but as they would
take almost anything, there was not much sport
in catching them.
As for shooting, the so-called partridge, really tree-
grouse, were plentiful enough : they were excellent
eating, and were shot for the pot, as, sitting quietly
in the fir-trees, they gave no sport. Moose-calling
during the rutting season in September was curiously
fascinating ; of course it was only possible in wild
districts, where the animals had not been much dis
turbed. On a perfectly still clear night the Indian,
with a moose-call, a large conical roll of birch bark,
would imitate the far-reaching cry of the cow moose.
If well done, a bull moose would in time come within
shot ; if shy, the note was altered to that of a bull,
which then often brought up the enraged rival. On
two occasions a bear came up, for what purpose we
could not imagine, for at that season they are quite
fat on the blue-berries they eat, and I never heard of
a bear attacking a moose. The first time the bear did
not come out sufficiently from the bush to give me a
chance of a shot, and on the second occasion, getting
no answer from moose, we had given up calling and
gone to sleep where we were, I with my head on a
log. I was awakened by hearing in the wood of the

160 CANADA.
log the vibration of some heavy animal rapidly making
off. In a second I was ready with my rifle, but the
moon having gone down, I could see nothing. My
two Indians remained fast asleep, but in the morning
they saw the track of a bear, which must — there
being no wind to carry scent — have blundered right
on to us.
Calling was in some districts an easy way of getting
a shot at a moose. Very different was it with moose-
hunting — not the hunting as in Canada, where the
unfortunate beast, breaking through the thin frozen
upper crust, flounders along in the deep snow until
run down by men on snow-shoes, — but moose-stalking,
to which Highland deer - shooting is child's play.
Moose- and cariboo-hunting in Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick takes place at the beginning of the cold
weather, when there is just a slight powdering of
snow. In case of bad luck in not getting moose-
meat, everything in the way of food and also camp-
kit has to be carried ; but the latter is not much, —
a frying-pan, a couple of tin pots, and an axe, with
canvas for a lean-to, and a blanket-bag and mug each,
about covers it. A second flannel shirt and a spare
pair of socks may be taken ; but I have been out for a
fortnight without changing anything except taking
off the two pair of damp socks when drying one's
half-frozen moose-shank moccasins. Boots cannot be
used on these occasions, when the crack of a broken
stick might spoil a whole day's work. It is wonderful
how easily one drops to the life of a savage, but still
more interesting is it to notice how the hunting in
stinct, which must be hereditary in the British race,
comes out in men in a very short time. An apparently
insignificant mark on a piece of damp soil, a half-

MOOSE STILL HUNTING. 161
chewed leaf or a broken twig, tells him not only that
a moose or cariboo has been there so many hours be
fore, and was feeding quietly or had been alarmed, but
he can in time almost understand what the animal
is thinking about and where it intends resting or
yarding for the night. Tree-grouse cannot be shot
to add to one's rations, which have to be economised,
— the report might scare the moose for miles. But the
Indians are good at trapping, and once I remember
their getting a porcupine : it was not bad, but some
how my companion had a nightmare afterwards and
made a horrible noise, although with most people the
thick comfortable bed of spruce-branch tips, to which
the best spring bed cannot be compared for comfort,
usually has a most soporific effect. A good supply of
tobacco and matches is essential, as also plenty of tea
and sugar, as well as salt pork and flour. Spirits I
never took, except a soda-water bottle of brandy in
case of an accident. As for plates and dishes, the
Indians with their crooked knives found perfect sub
stitutes from birch bark, with which they also made
excellent cups.
There was good cock-shooting to be got on the east
side of Nova Scotia, but I never tried it, thinking it
better to reserve such leave as I could spare myself
from work for bigger game.
During my last summer I found that I could have
eight weeks' annual long leave instead of six, so came
to the conclusion that by taking a few days off my
salmon-fishing I should have time for a trip to New
York and Niagara. So with wife, sister, and brother-
in-law I went by steamer to Portland. On landing
in that temperance state, oddly enough the first thing
which attracted our attention was an exceedingly
L

162 CANADA.
drunken man in the middle of the main street. He
may have been specially retained by the town as a
horrid example ; but at the time I should much have
liked to know where he got his liquor, because when I
asked at one hotel for a small quantity of brandy for
a lady who came with us and was ill, I was told that
in the State of Maine no alcoholic drink of any de
scription could be supplied without a doctor's order.
Next day I happened to mention this to an American
I had met on the boat. He was very much amused,
informing me that in a room on the top storey of the
hotel, which every one knew about, I could have got
any liquor I wanted. From Portland we went on to
Boston. I must say I did enjoy a glass of beer at the
first station out of Maine, and so apparently did many
others. Boston is the only English -looking town I
saw in the States. I regretted not having time to go
to the top of Bunker Hill, of which both British and
Americans may well be proud. No others would have
held it so long, and no others but steady invincible
English soldiers would have captured it after such
tremendous loss. 1775 seems a long time ago, but
Lord Albemarle, who was at Waterloo, told me that
in his younger days he knew an officer who had been
A.D.C. to the general at Bunker Hill. From Boston
we went by train and then by the Fall River steamer
to New York. More magnificently got-up boats than
those on the Fall River I have never seen : what in
other steamers would be a saloon was a huge dining-
room, with little tables, and waiters faultlessly got up.
As for the bill of fare, it was a menu with every
possible luxury mentioned in it. From the dining-
room a fine stairway led up to the cabins ; and on one
of the boats there were grand portraits of two cele-

NEW YORK. 163
brated millionaires, F. and J. G, the principal owners
of the line, one in the uniform of an admiral, the other
of a general. When they were put up the two million
aires asked another well-known man in New York to
admire them. On being asked his opinion, his only
remark was, " Well, if you will put a crucifix between
the two you will be about right."
In the States passengers "express" their baggage,
and in the towns travel by trams or street railways.
We, being strangers, engaged a pair-horse cab — hacks
they are called. We took half an hour getting to our
hotel : the fare was just 6d. a-minute. The Fifth
Avenue, where we stayed, was very comfortable, and
the cost per head, paid in greenbacks, came to 15s.
English money : this included everything. The only
custom I did not like was that of serving one's dinner
in little dishes all placed on the table at the same
time. Now it may be different. New York, with its
avenues and streets in the principal district all at
right angles to each other, is not a picturesque city.
We did the usual sights, including the Brooklyn ceme
tery and a lunch at Delmonico's. What interested me
immensely was the Stock Exchange, my first experience
of the visible worship of the almighty dollar ; the hoarse-
voiced bookies of a racecourse were not in it in com
parison. Looking down from the gallery, the great
floor below was covered with what to the uninitiated
was a seething, shrieking mass of lunatics yelling to
obtain the contents of other people's pockets.
Much has been written about the brusqueness of
American waiters and public servants. All I can say
is that from hotel waiters, and even policemen, we
always met with the greatest civility and attention,
they many times going out of their way to oblige and

164 CANADA.
help us. In the train from Albany I was much
pleased with the conductor, who, as soon as he saw we
were strangers, requested us to come into a special
saloon, and then pointed out objects of interest as we
went along. At Niagara, going into a curio-store on
the American side, I had spent all I intended, and told
the proprietor I could not buy more, having only
enough money left for our return journey home. His
answer was, "Take anything you like ; when you get
to Halifax you can send me a cheque."
We went north from New York by boat to Albany,
and then by night-cars on to Niagara. How any one
having business in the capital, and who can do so,
does not live on the banks, or rather shores, of the
Hudson, and go by train or boat to his daily work,
I cannot imagine. The scenery all along the great
river is grand, and as for associations, historic or
legendary, there is not a prominent point without
them, commencing with the ancient Dutch days and
going on to the stirring times of the revolutionary
war. Half-way up the river are the Catskill Moun
tains, vividly recalling Rip Van Winkle and his
demoniacal hard-drinking friends. West Point with
its military college had special interest for me ; un
fortunately a whole day at least, if not more, would
have been necessary to have gone into all the par
ticulars of the system of education there, and we could
not afford the time.
At Niagara we put up at the Cataract Hotel on the
American side, an excellent establishment in those
days. The black servants, thoroughly well trained,
were in themselves a recommendation, to say nothing
of the good cooking. I ventured to try a cataract
bath in the morning ; it was in a sort of large

NIAGARA AND QUEBEC. 165
cellar. I got into the bath, and must have pulled
too vigorously or pulled the wrong string, for out
of the square-mouthed wooden shoot rushed a solid
block of Niagara. Fortunately I was stooping down
at the time ; it struck my back, and from there
ricoched into the room. None went into the bath.
Next day I begged to be allowed to use the simple
tin of ordinary life.
Niagara has been so often described that I will do
no more than say I quite agreed with the young lady
who, when requested to write something in the visitors'
book, was so overcome by the magnitude of the Falls
and thunder of the water rushing over a precipice that
all she could put on paper was, " Niagara, Niagara,
you are indeed a staggerer ! "
Going on, we went through the thousand islands — -
very pretty, but not to be compared to the tropical
island scenery between Singapore and Anger. Toronto
and Montreal had in our eyes nothing very special to
recommend them except their great prosperity. The
hotel at Montreal was in those days very indifferent,
as were all the Canadian hotels. Shooting the rapids
in a steamer was interesting, but it was not until we
arrived at Quebec that we were enraptured with any
city in Canada. That picturesque old capital, standing
high above the river, with its dominating citadel and
its quaint crooked streets and tin-roofed houses, with
its old-world French population and speech, is in itself
worth coming to Canada to explore. As for associa
tions of former days and deeds of valour, in no other
place in North America are they so numerous ; every
name, every mile almost, in the vicinity of Quebec is
grandly historic. It might be as well that special
guides should be appointed by the authorities to

166 CANADA.
take visitors round the old battlefields near Quebec.
A party from the States were rather startled when
asking the soldier who was conducting them to show
them where Montgomery fell (the American general
who was killed at the attack on Quebec). The man
looked rather startled that a regimental occurrence of
the previous week should already be known outside
the barracks. " It was here, sir, just outside the
mess-room. Poor young gentleman, it was the first
time he had dined at mess, it was guest night, and
his head wasn't strong." We stayed as long as we
could at Quebec, but my leave was running out, and I
mentally saw far away my birch bark canoe waiting for
me. We returned to Halifax vid St John and the Bay
of Fundy, and then I dashed away north, rod in hand
and alone, to enjoy that greatest of all human felicity
— a strand of single gut, oneself at one end and a
30 pound salmon at the other.

167

CHAPTER XII.
INSTRUCTIONAL WORK, HALIFAX AND GIBRALTAR.
My instructional work at Halifax was almost too
technical for "recollections." I went fully into the
subject in a lecture on Education and Professional
Instruction of Officers, at the U.S. Institute, June
1873. An extract from it may, however, be of
sufficient general interest to permit of its being
given : —
I commenced my first course with a class composed of four
officers, who must have made a favourable report of what
happened to them, for afterwards I rarely had less than a
quarter of the captains and subalterns in the garrison under
instruction at a time, and with two exceptions only, more
willing pupils it was impossible to wish for. The only
obstacle I had to contend with was the imperfect education
which many of the officers had received when boys at school.
You will be rather startled to hear that I never yet had a
class in which I was not obliged to teach some of the
officers composing it vulgar and decimal fractions, and on
one occasion a very simple rule-of-three sum was too difficult
a problem for any one in the room. Equations were things
which many had apparently never heard of, and the officer
who could write a concise report, especially in a legible hand,
was in some classes rather a rara avis. As regards subjects
of general information, I also found in two or three instances

168 INSTRUCTIONAL WORK, HALIFAX AND GIBRALTAR.
an astonishing deficiency of education. There passed through
my hands representative pupils of many English schools, and
I came to the conclusion that several of them had had their
time entirely wasted at school, and that their only acquire
ment had been a smattering of Greek and Latin.
I by no means wish it to be understood that all
the officers who attended the classes were badly
educated, far from it, some having taken their B.A.
degree at college ; but this I do mean to say, that
fully one -fourth of them had received a very de
fective education indeed. How the schoolmasters
that professed to have taught them could have been
satisfied with their work I cannot understand. With
two or three exceptions, there was no want of natural
ability shown by those officers who had been so badly
educated, but unfortunately it took a considerable
portion of the four months during which the course
lasted to get some of them into the habit of using
their brains at all. At times their intellects seemed
suddenly to awaken, as if startled from sleep ; occa
sionally the process was more gradual, but as soon
as this change had taken place, and they began to
think for themselves, the great difficulty of in
struction was overcome, and some of those who
appeared very dense at the beginning of the course
turned out remarkably well afterwards. Some few
— fortunately I never had more than two in any
class — were naturally so defective in intellectual
power, or had received so little attention when at
school (I am strongly inclined to believe that the
latter was the true state of the case), that the
labour of imparting instruction to them became al
most a physical one. I have often, after only three
hours with the class, been quite as much exhausted

DEFECTIVE SCHOOL EDUCATION OF OFFICERS. 169
as if I had been pulling a heavy oar all the time.
Had it not been for the willingness — in fact I may
say the intense desire — on the part of the officers
referred to to obtain professional information, it would
hardly have been possible to have continued the up
hill work of instructing them.
With reference to the support given to the system
by commanding officers, all I can say is that, from
the general commanding downwards, every one took
the greatest interest in its success. As soon as the
nature of the course was understood, the colonels of
the different regiments offered to change their parade
and orderly-room hours, or do anything that I could
suggest, for the purpose of enabling as many officers
as possible to attend, they themselves being present
when any outdoor work was going on.
Captains and subalterns had sometimes hard work
to be in time for lecture after being present at
orderly-room with their prisoners, &c. A conveyance
of some kind was usually kept waiting just outside
the orderly-room, and as soon as their work was
done they came down at full speed to the class
room. Sometimes much valuable time was lost from
interruptions such as I have mentioned, which made
me almost decide that unless officers would consent
to be struck off all duty, so that their attendance
with the class might not be interfered with, I would
not undertake to put them through a course of
instruction ; but on considering that the command
ing officers had done everything that was in their
power to enable as many officers as possible to
attend, I decided it was my duty and the better
policy to leave matters as they were, and do the
best I could under existing circumstances. The

170 INSTRUCTIONAL WORK, HALIFAX AND GIBRALTAR.
willingness on the part of the officers to attend
in spite of all obstacles was indeed in itself a
sufficient reason for overlooking such irregularities.
Many a time have I admired their determination
not to be a minute late for lecture, although the
weather in winter was at times hardly faceable,
with the thermometer 10° below zero and a breeze
blowing that sent the poudre snow into the inner
most recesses of one's wraps. Schoolmasters at home
would not expect their pupils to make their way
to school on snow-shoes, but at Halifax it was no
uncommon thing for officers to get frost-bitten on
their way from barracks to class-room.
At the request of a commanding officer, who justly
considered that instructed non-commissioned officers
would be invaluable assistants to an officer who had
to put an outpost or position into a state of defence, I
obtained authority for establishing a class for sergeants,
none but the most intelligent being sent. The result
was very satisfactory. I was quite astonished at the
aptitude many of them had for using a pencil. To
enable them to attend regularly they were excused
guards and parades, but nothing else. Amongst others
a sergeant-major of one of the smartest regiments in
the service went through a complete course. He
passed an excellent examination : his road, river, and
outpost reports were certainly among the best I had
read ; they were clear, concise, and written in a very
legible hand, a matter of considerable importance.
He afterwards got a commission.
From my experience at Halifax I came to the con
clusion that garrison instruction of four monthly
courses ought to be carried out in special schools,
say at Aldershot, the Curragh, and two or three in

COMMISSION FROM THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL. 171
India, with one or more instructors for each subject :
it is killing work for one man to do it properly.
Being so much occupied with my regular work, I
did little with professional hobbies, except to make a
rough model of a depression range-finder for the
battery on York redoubt heights, and draft a scheme
for a protected spar torpedo-launch, to be started and
directed from the shore by means of a light insulated
wire which would be run off a roller in the launch as
she moved on ; but I was told by an electrician whom
I consulted that the idea was unworkable. I was
more successful with a little book, ' Elementary Lec
tures on Military Law,' which went through two
editions at once, and for two years was a text-book
at the Staff College. I had, however, some special
professional occupation in working out a scheme for the
torpedo and obstruction defence of Halifax harbour, in
structions to that effect having been sent, much to my
surprise, from the War Office to the general command
ing the forces in Canada and Nova Scotia, the Royal
Engineers being directed to give me any assistance I
might require. My naval friends as usual were my
great allies in this matter, and from the deep-sea and
net fishers I got some useful information as to the
value of nets and floating ropes for entangling screws.
In 1873 I began outdoor work as soon as the
winter commenced to break — viz., about the middle
of March — and must somehow have got a chill with
out noticing it. I went on with work as long as I
could manage it, but was at last obliged to call in a
doctor, who found my lungs so seriously affected that
a medical board was assembled, and as my only chance
was a more temperate climate at once, I was invalided
to England by the next mail steamer. Fortunately I

172 INSTRUCTIONAL WORK, HALIFAX AND GIBRALTAR.
was able to get a particularly energetic officer, whom
I had instructed, to take up my work. I could not be
otherwise than anxious as to how he would get on, but
as I was now perfectly useless myself, nothing more
could be done. The voyage home was a rough one :
we had even in the mail steamer to lie to for three
days. One of my boys, two years old, was thrown
out of his berth, and a leg so seriously injured that
one surgeon at home was keen on amputation : fortu
nately another very eminent specialist entirely dis
agreed with him. Eleven years on crutches and a
good constitution eventually put the damaged limb
right, and the boy grew up into a powerful young
athlete. Good nursing and a summer in my native
climate also put me right, but it was useless my think
ing of returning to Nova Scotia, so I had to resign my
appointment there. In the autumn I was passed fit
for service again, and the authorities most thought
fully offered me another particularly good educational
appointment at home ; but I could not teach as I
considered teaching should be done without its taking
too much out of me, so I declined the kind offer. I
well remember the exclamation of an old Staff College
friend who saw me soon after my return from Halifax,
— " Why, your hair was perfectly black when you left
the college ; now you are as grey as a badger ! "
As my regiment was stationed at Gibraltar I could
not have had a better climate for damaged lungs, and
quite looked forward to a pleasant winter there. At
Pembroke Dock I picked up a draft and embarked
with all my belongings in the Tamar, arriving at
Gibraltar in October 1873. One of the first officers
to come on board was the assistant adjutant-general,
who handed me a telegram from the War Office that

SOLDIER AS WELL AS SCHOOLMASTER. 173
I was to do the duty of garrison instructor whilst the
real one was at Ashantee. This I positively and
absolutely declined, and stated my reasons ; but he
told me that they were most anxious for special
reasons that I would consent to do the work, and
he trusted I would reconsider my decision and do so :
he further added that there was only one man in the
class, and he was usually on the sick-list. As it was
a question of officers qualifying to pass for promotion,
and there was really no one else to help them, I event
ually gave way. In a short time my solitary pupil
became a roomful, and I had plenty of work ; but I
only took one class on hand during the day : this gave
me the early morning free, and by permission of the
colonel of my regiment I had the battalion to work
with for the before-breakfast parade, and as I had
also to do brigade major to the temporary second
brigade on the north front once a-week, I soon began
to feel myself a soldier again and not a schoolmaster.
The north front gave me enough ground for in
structing my class in field fortification, the only
objector being the town major, who was much
alarmed for the safety of the fortress whenever I
made bridges across the narrow part of the inunda
tion. But to teach military sketching on the rock
was a decided difficulty : hitherto that branch of
the work at Gibraltar had been confined to taking
angles with a theodolite. There was nothing for it
but to take my class out in the open country be
yond the Spanish lines, cautioning them to be as
careful as possible with their work, so as not to
excite the attention of the Guarda Civile. The
Spanish authorities were most civil and obliging to
the garrison, making no objection to our hunting all

174 INSTRUCTIONAL WORK, HALIFAX AND GIBRALTAR.
over the country, and it would not therefore have
done to let them get it into their heads we were
making military surveys. Only on one occasion did
a guarda come up to one careless young officer
taking an angle with his prismatic, but a good
cigar and a few polite words in Spanish put the
matter right. As there were two rivers, both ex
cellent for teaching survey work, we could not have
had better ground : the field officer, however, de
tailed as a president of a board of examination for
the class, declined to go into Spain without a written
authority from the Spanish general. This of course
could not even be asked for, but it occurred to
me that there could be no objection to asking the
authorities in Morocco for the requisite permission.
The governor, Sir Fenwick Williams, wrote to Sir
John Hay, our consul-general at Tangier, who at
once got authority from the Moorish governor at
Tangier, who gave me permission to take my class
wherever I thought it necessary ; but if possible we
were to avoid going near villages, as the inhabitants
might think our measurements had something to do
with taxing the land.
On arrival at Tangier we paid our respects to Sir
John Hay, who decided that before we commenced
work we ought to have some amusement in the shape
of a boar-hunt or rather shoot. I happened to be
given the place of honour on some rocks near Cape
Spartel : the view away across to Trafalgar Bay was
very fine, and what with admiration of the view
and thoughts of the work I intended for my class,
I quite forgot about the boars until, turning my eyes
inland, I saw in the bush close to me a very nervous-
looking little pig. I tried to remember if we had

AN INTERESTING TIME IN MOROCCO. 175
lately passed any village where pigs were kept, as
I could not imagine how the little beast had got so
far away from a sty, when it flashed upon me that
we were amongst Mohammedans, who did not keep pigs,
and this must consequently be one of the monsters
whose gigantic dimensions existed only in Arab imagina
tions. I made a clutch at my gun lying on the rock ; in
an instant piggie was into the bush like a rabbit.
My snap-shot was useless, and apparently also the
rolling fire from Europeans and Arabs, as the poor
bewildered animal raced past and got away. It
was some time before my "tame pig" was forgotten.
Two pigs were shot, one being by an officer of my
class, and we found properly cooked wild boar by
no means bad eating : it had a curious gamey flav
our. I finished up the surveying course with a
mounted road sketch — very well done by most of
the class — to Tetuan. When there I heard there
was a trout -stream in the hills at the back of the
town : an Arab guided me to it, but being in heavy
flood I got nothing, even when trying with a worm ;
but three beautiful trout, about ^ lb. each, were
subsequently sent to me. They were put in spirit
and sent home to Buckland, who was much pleased
at the trout-line being brought so far south : he had
no idea there were any trout in Morocco.
I may here mention one special recommendation
of Tangier, — it is an excellent place for keeping
servants in order. Our cook was much too fond of
liquor — so much so that, as a last resource, I said
he must go to prison. They sent down to me to
know what punishment was to be administered.
My answer must have been misinterpreted. A short
time afterwards a woman came shrieking into the

176 INSTRUCTIONAL WORK, HALIFAX AND GIBRALTAR.
garden, and our interpreter explained it was the
cook's wife, and that her husband was about to
have his head cut off. I immediately pointed out
there must be some mistake. The man was brought
back with his head still on his shoulders, and he
kept sober during the rest of the time we were at
Tangier.

177

CHAPTER XIII.
PYRENEES.
In 1874 unfortunate Spain was still undergoing the
miseries of civil war, the Carlists besieging Bilbao,
which was holding out for the Government, whose
forces attempted its relief on the 26th March, but
were defeated with a loss of some 2000 at Somor-
rostro, a position held by the Carlists across the main
north coast road about twelve miles west from Bilbao.
The capture of Bilbao would have been of such im
mense political importance to the Carlists that the
Spanish Government decided to do its utmost to raise
the siege, and for this purpose organised a fresh Corps
d'Arm_e under General Concha to assist the Spanish
commander-in-chief, the Due de la Torre, then in
front of Somorrostro. When a foreign army is on
active service it is usual to have an officer of our serv
ice with it as military attache to report on the
operations. I heard there was no English officer with
the Spanish army, and as I was then entitled to some
leave, thought I could not spend it to better ad
vantage than by being present with the Spanish
army which was about to undertake the relief of
Bilbao. Not only would I be able to send a report
to our Intelligence Department, but I should per-
M

178

PYRENEES.

sonally be in a position to pick up useful information
in mountain warfare in the Pyrenees. At this time,
early in April, Mr Layard, our Minister at Madrid,
was on a visit to the governor : both concurred with
my ideas on the subject. A companion who could
speak Spanish was necessary, and fortunately my
great friend, Captain Gilbard, now gone to his rest,
was as keen on the adventure as I was ; so having
got the necessary leave and letters of introduction
from Mr Layard to the Spanish commander-in-chief
and other officers, Gilbard and I packed our small kits
in two hand bags, and next morning started for
Malaga in the gunboat which was returning with our
Minister. We had to remain at Malaga for the night, but next
morning, the 7th April, at 7 a.m., got the Madrid
express, and arrived at the capital in exactly twenty-
four hours. One special curiosity we noticed, who
put in an appearance at the dining refreshment-room
at Cordova, and another place during the night — viz.,
an individual with a belt full of long Spanish knives,
which he was most anxious for us to purchase, his
special recommendation being that they were good
for sticking as well as cutting. Doubtless he had
been informed we were going north on some desperate
enterprise for the good of Spain.
Madrid, where we had to remain twelve hours wait
ing for the through train to Santander, seemed to us
an uninteresting modern city, with no special attrac
tions but the armoury and picture gallery. The
armoury was not open, but we were able to visit the
national picture-gallery ; and it was indeed well worth
the two hours, which was all we could spare for it.
The Murillos will long live in memory ; would that

HORRORS OF A BULL-FIGHT. 179
the remembrance of them could have blotted out the
recollection of what we were soon to see. There was
to be a bull-fight at four o'clock, and as I had never
seen one we decided to go. A more horrible exhibi
tion of cruelty to that most useful servant of man,
the horse, could not be imagined. The picadores,
padded and armoured spearmen who receive and turn
the bull's charges, are mounted on worn-out, helpless
screws ; these are killed by the bull, which often rips
them open, so that their entrails fall down. One poor
brute we saw actually trod on them, tearing them out
as it staggered forward, brutally spurred by its rider.
A chulo being also killed, the scene was too much for
us : what happened afterwards we knew not, as we
elbowed our way out of the place, to the astonishment
of the people at the door, who told us we could not
return without paying, and no doubt did not under
stand how we could leave at the very commencement
of the performance.
We left Madrid in the evening with an amusing
farewell from a friend — " Well, if you ever get back to
Gibraltar, remember me to so - and - so." Until we
reached, in the forenoon of the next day, the moun
tains of the north coast, the scenery was of the usual
dreary Spanish plain and olive-tree type, but once in
the mountain-ranges, it was like being at home again ;
even our own Highlands could hardly show grander
scenery. The blue - eyed, fair - haired inhabitants of
that part of Spain are quite a distinct race from those
farther south.
The hotel at Santander was not to be named in the
same week as that where we had dined at Madrid,
but after two successive nights in an ordinary and
very full railway carriage, any hotel with a decent

180 PYRENEES.
bed in it was not to be despised. Fortunately we
were not too late after our arrival at Santander to call
on the commandant, who gave us a letter to the cap
tain of the port, which got us a passage in a small
tug starting the following morning for Castro-Urdi-
ales, a small town, the sea base of the army, eight
miles farther on, at Somorrostro. With these two
officers commenced our acquaintance with Spanish
officials, the pleasant remembrance of which can never
be forgotten, so marked was it, on the part of every
one with whom we were brought in contact, by the
greatest courtesy, kindness, and assistance. The tug
was small and slow, but we arrived at Castro in the
evening. The voyage was interesting, in that we got
many particulars of the campaign and the last fight
from some officers returning to their regiments. We
also found on board an old friend of Red Cross fame
in the Franco-Prussian war, where he had well earned
his spurs, so we dubbed him our Knight ; but if all
Red Cross officials require on a campaign the same
amount of baggage as our old friend, their transport
waggons must be a serious consideration. Castro was
crammed with troops and stores, and getting quarters
anywhere was a difficult matter until one of the
acquaintances we met on the boat in the kindest
possible manner hunted about until he found a room
at a small but clean posada, which was run by an
active old lady and an energetic maid-of-all-work, who
must have been some relation to the strong-necked
bulls we saw at Madrid, — at least we so judged by the
ease with which she placed upon her head, and walked
upstairs with, one of the Knight's huge cases. We
had some difficulty about getting that warrior's
luggage up from the boat, when a bright idea

COMMENCEMENT OF THE BILBAO CAMPAIGN. 181
struck us. Get the army to do it — and so they
did ; but it gave us just a little shock to see a
long train of soldiers with the Knight's baggage,
his largest portmanteau on the back of the smallest
soldier. We could scarcely get them to accept any
return for what they had done to assist us. Three of
us and a Spaniard occupied the same room. The
Spaniard was a quiet old gentleman who used to be
very much amused at our Knight's proceedings, as
when looking for anything he could not immediately
find in his baggage, he capsized the whole contents of
his portmanteau or carpet-bag on to the floor.
As a base for a campaign which must be commenced
by a big fight within a few miles of Castro, our little
inn was well placed. The food at first, with its usual
garlic and oil, was not to our liking ; but our dear old
landlady, whom we soon universally addressed as
Madre, gave us a little dining-room to ourselves and
food cooked as we wished. The care and interest the
old lady showed for us was quite touching. One day
after the fighting began I had gone off alone to have
a look at a particular battery in action, and did not
return with my companions. Madre asked for me, and
Gilbard in fun said, "The Carlists have done for him."
The poor old lady dropped into a chair and quite broke
down. The morning after our arrival at Castro we drove
out to the army headquarters to report ourselves to
the commander-in-chief, Marshal Serrano, Due de la
Torre, and present our letters of introduction. The
road to Somorrostro was beautiful : it reminded one
very strongly of the Western Highlands, but with far
richer vegetation in the glens, with their red-roofed
houses and little trout-streams. If the Government

182 PYRENEES.
were only what it might be, there would be many
worse places to live in than the north coast of Spain.
Mr Layard informed me that the Bidassoa was full of
salmon. There was also a good river near Santander
where a friend had got a 25 - lb. fish : he told me
the Spaniards tried fly-fishing, but did not understand
wading, and that their tackle was very coarse. I had
on chance brought a few trout- casts and a Jock Scott
or two. The lower part of the Somorrostro looked likely
for sea-trout, but, unfortunately, an old savage of a
Carlist chief fired at every one going near the bank ; so
I came to the conclusion that even a day's fishing
might be too dearly purchased. The Basques are an
entirely different race from the dark southerners ; the
fair-haired energetic peasant women, with their bright-
coloured petticoats, and hair tied up with a handker
chief and their fish-creels of the regular old Scottish
pattern, made one almost expect to hear the cry of
" Caller herrin'." The men also, in their blue bonnets
and plaids, were in many cases so like Highlanders
that more than once I was on the point of trying a
word or two of Gaelic on them. The Biscay ans and
our Highlanders must surely be kindred races.
Marshal Serrano received us most kindly, as also
did the chief of the staff, General Lopez Domingues,
who was next on the roster as regards letters of intro
duction. He gave us passes to go where we pleased,
and at the same time placed horses at our disposal
whenever we wished for them.
A short description of the positions of the contending
forces is here necessary. The Somorrostro stream, run
ning about north and south, divided the opposing armies
until the 27th of the previous month, when the Carlists
were driven back about a mile and a half to the top of

TEMPORARY CESSATION OF HOSTILITIES. 183
the slope on the opposite side of the stream, where two
churches about 400 yards apart, one on each side of
the main road from Castro via Somorrostro to Bilbao,
formed such strong citadels that the national troops
could not force their way past them, and had, after a
loss of 2000, to be satisfied with the mile and a half of
ground they had gained beyond the Somorrostro River.
Both sides were well intrenched, the Carlists holding a
position on the spurs of the hills and mountains, which
almost formed a semicircle round the advanced posts
of the national troops, which were only some 700
yards from the two churches. These now, with
nassive intrenchments, had been made stronger than
ever. The remains of a small hamlet, our farthest
advanced post, was only 300 yards from the most
northern church, named San Pedro Abanto, and so
close to a Carlist trench on the hill on its left that
when we went, by special permission of the officer
commanding the outposts, to inspect this advanced
post, there was a tacit cessation of hostilities, and we
were allowed to walk beyond it. The Carlists called
to me from their trench, "Arribo, senor ! " ("Come up,
sir ! "), and although I should much have liked to do
so, it would not, as we were guests of the National
Army, have been right ; so taking off my cap with a
polite bow, I fired off the only Spanish sentence I
knew well, in the most correct Castilian, " No puedo
habler Espanol" ("I cannot speak Spanish"), which
very much amused our friends the enemy, who shouted
-Si, si" ("Yes, yes").
At first we were asked for our passes, but after a
day or two we must have been pretty well known, as
we were allowed to wander about at will. On the
first and subsequent days we visited every battery

184 PYRENEES.
and advanced post, with the exception of the lower
part of the Somorrostro stream where the objection
able old Carlist was, and which I wished to see with
reference to trout almost as much as I did for the,
batteries. The new Plasencia mountain gun was a
particular object of interest to me. The colonel com-i
manding was kind enough to take it to pieces for us|
explaining everything connected with it. I may her£
mention that the kindness of the artillery colonel wafc
by no means singular : the courtesy and attention <)f
every one, from the field-marshal commanding dowti
to the private soldier, can never be forgotten.
On one of our visits, hearing that the troops he]d
one end of a tunnel on the Galdames railway on tie
right of our position and the Carlists the other, vvle
determined to investigate the matter. We reachejl
the tunnel, which was about 200 yards in length, anil
found both entrance and exit were in the hands of ths
troops, but the farther end was barricaded and the
Carlists immediately outside : both troops and Carlists
were fortunately just then on the best of terms. On
walking a little way farther down the cutting a rather
amusing sight was a Carlist woman washing clothes i
on the bank above us, doubtless an old campaigner
quite accustomed to war's alarms.
In my report to the Intelligence Department, which
I am glad to say met with the approval of H.R.H.,
who directed that I should be so informed, I went
very fully into everything connected with the organi
sation and professional value of the Spanish army, and
was also able, on reliable authority, and on what we
ourselves saw, to make a short report on the Carlist
forces. These reports would be too professional for
mere "recollections." It will therefore be more ac-

ORGANISATION OF SPANISH ARMY. 185
ceptable if I give a condensed account of the force
with which we had the satisfaction of going through
a short but very interesting campaign. The National,
or, as it was sometimes designated, the Republican
Army in the north consisted of three army corps, the
third, as already mentioned, having just been formed
under General Concha, the troops composing it being
principally Carabineros and Guarda Civile, these latter
a particularly fine body of men. In their three-
cornered cocked hats and peculiar uniform they bore
a striking resemblance to the pictures of Napoleon's
Old Guard before they wore the bearskin. The
Marines and Cazadores were also very fit - looking
troops ; the line battalions, although the men were
small and rather narrow-chested, were not so bur
dened as French soldiers (whose dress, by the way,
the Spanish army has apparently copied), nevertheless
they carried wonderful weights, and as for marching,
never seemed to tire.
The only powerfully built men with the line regi
ments were the stretcher-bearers, four to a company :
each carried one pole and a part of the stretcher,
a light iron frame with canvas, which doubled up
conveniently to pack on a man's back. These men
wore a broad white band with red cross on the
arm ; they seemed to keep rather too close to the
firing line. I saw two shot almost together at the
battle of Otanez, where they were very active in
carrying the wounded out of fire to the dressing-
stations. One mule with two chests of bandages and
other medical requirements for the dressers was
attached to each regiment of two battalions. The
Spanish medical authorities, with whom we went over
the different hospitals where the badly wounded from

186 PYRENEES.
the fight at Somorrostro and others too ill to be moved
were, struck us as being rather behind the age ; but
compared to what our medical organisation was in the
early part of the Crimean War, the Spaniards were
angels of light and intelligence. They, and also the
Carlists, were largely assisted by the English branch
of the Red Cross Society, and also by the Spanish
Cruz Roja. All Spain was very liberal in doing what
it could, even the little town of Castro having fitted
up its big church with 160 beds. The fine linen and
lace pillows of many of the beds showed how well the
upper classes had come forward. The one special de
fect we noticed was that of making the large churches
into hospitals, as, owing to the height of the windows
and thickness of the walls, it was impossible to ven
tilate them properly, and hospital gangrene soon made
its appearance. Open sheds would have been better.
Whenever the wounded or sick were able to be moved
they were at once sent off by boat to Santander and
by train to good hospitals farther south. There was a
dearth of ambulance waggons, and it was most painful
to see many of the wounded after Otanez being taken
along the roads in bullock-carts with wooden wheels.
The commissariat transport was well done ; the light
carts (galeras), drawn by four mules each, were ex
cellent. These two-wheeled carts are nothing but a
pair of shafts and a frame on which upright rails are
inserted, with a cross-piece at top. A tilt of matting
and waterproof makes the roof ; the bottom of the cart
is formed by hanging strong matting loosely, which
almost touches the ground, so there is immense room
for stowage below the centre of gravity. Four of these
carts were attached to each brigade for the transport

ORGANISATION OF SPANISH ARMY. 187
of all its supplies from the commissariat depot, the
depots being kept full by country ox-waggons, doubt
less impressed. We noticed the yokes were on the
horns, not the shoulders, so the animals were able to
exercise the whole of their great weight and massive
shoulders to push the cart as it were. The commis
sariat depots were often in churches, which answered
well. We at first took off our caps on entering : this
surprised our friends, who explained that that was
unnecessary, as the host was not on the altar, which
had been turned to account as a place on which to
deposit some special sacks of grain.
The field artillery was that of the well-known
Krupp pattern, with mules instead of horses for
draught. The Plasencia mountain B. L. batteries
were very well turned out with a magnificent mule
each to the gun, the carriage, and the wheels. These
guns came into action quickly and made splendid
practice. There were a few old heavy brass muzzle-
loading guns which had been made into rifles. They
answered well enough to destroy the Carlist works
above Somorrostro, for which special purpose they had
apparently been sent. They gave out a most astonish
ing ringing noise when fired.
As the campaign was amongst mountains, cavalry
were not required, except for orderly and police duty
on the roads. There was an engineer corps with a
small pontoon and trestle - bridge equipment. The
men of both armies had had so much experience in
field fortification, and more particularly trench con
struction, that they did not require assistance from
engineers in that respect. The trenches, with their
covered passages and protection against enfilade fire,

188 PYRENEES.
were models of what trenches in such a country ought
to be, — very different from the amusing little play
things in our service, at that time known as half-
hour and one-hour shelter-trenches.
Sanitation was but little attended to. We noticed
a dead mule which must have been some time in a
watercourse which supplied drinking-water to the
troops. On our return to Madrid we despatched a
short memo on this very important sanitation ques
tion, which Mr Layard forwarded to Marshal Serrano,
who wrote requesting his special thanks might be con
veyed to us, and that he would do his best to carry
out our suggestions.
As regards the behaviour of the men of the army,
it may give some idea of their good conduct that we
never saw a drunken man — although the soldiers had
plenty of money — or a quarrel, or heard an uncivil
word the whole time we were among them.
The Carlist position at Somorrostro was so strong
that a direct attack on it would in all probability
have failed : it was, therefore, necessary to turn it by
a flank movement. On the north or sea side, owing
to the nature of the country and want of roads,
nothing could be done ; but on the south, and only
some three or four miles over the mountains, was the
fairly open valley of Otanez, through which passed an
excellent road from Castro by the village of Otanez,
then through the Pass of Munecas, which was only
three miles from the village, into the Castro-Somor-
rostro-Bilbao road. It was by this route that General
Concha's corps, coming up from the south, would in
all probability roll up the Carlist left and raise the
siege of Bilbao. Serrano's two corps at Somorrostro
and Concha's numbered something like 50,000, whilst

A HOT CORNER. 189
the Carlists, with probably not more than half that
number, had not only to carry on the siege of Bilbao,
but also to prevent the advance of the relieving
force. On the 27th April General Concha's advance-guard
arrived at the valley of Otanez. As soon as we heard
of this we pushed on to the village, and got there just
as the Carlists opened fire : this soon extended to the
surrounding hills, but seemed to cease on the road, so
we walked on past the village. Fortunately I noticed
a side -path winding up the hill on the right, and
suggested our going up there to get a good look for
ward before going farther. We had hardly gone a
couple of hundred yards up the path before we saw a
company taking shelter under the left bank. We
asked why they were there : the answer was, " The
Carlists are only fifty yards off in the woods ; there
are the marks of their bullets in the opposite bank.
You had better get under cover at once," which we
did. We were hardly down when a volley came over
our heads, to which our friends replied, and had a
very pretty little advance-guard fight, of which, by
taking shelter behind trees, we had a good view. In
time the Carlists retired from the wood, but continued
firing from the high ground as we returned to the
village — not at us, although occasionally it felt like it,
but at the supports coming up. As it was getting
dusk we walked back to Castro, noticing the pictur
esque firefly -like sparkle of the Carlist musketry
on the surrounding hills. That night we discussed
where we had better go next day to see what would
evidently be a big fight, and from the hints we got,
and our own observations, came to the conclusion that
one of Serrano's divisions would hold the Carlists to

190 PYRENEES.
the Somorrostro position, whilst the other would
extend its right across the mountain to the valley of
Otanez, only some three miles distant, and clear the
high ground on the left flank of Concha's advance,
whose objective was the Pass of Munecas. Once that
were gained, the strong position of Somorrostro would
be turned, and the road to Bilbao open.

191

CHAPTER XIV.

RELIEF OF BILBAO.

We were advised to get to the top of the Salta
Caballos ridge, about 1200 feet above the Otanez
road, and then walk along it for a mile until we
were above the village. This we did, and then
descending on to a lower spur, got a magnificent
position, where we had an uninterrupted view of the
whole valley and the Carlist intrenchments on each
side of it. About 800 yards directly in front of us,
and on our level, was another flat-topped detached
hill named Serrantes, which was only about 700
yards from another steep detached hill, Talledo, to
our left front, on which was an extensive line of
Carlist trench. We were, so to say, at the apex
of a right-angled triangle, of which Serrantes and
Talledo were the base points : as the attack on
Talledo was to be from Serrantes, the fire would be
along the base line, and we at the apex would be
safe enough and have a close view of the fight.
Beyond Talledo were more Carlist trenches at in
tervals, extending from the hills down to the road.
There were also other trenches on the spurs of the
heights of the Munecas Pass, whilst on the opposite
side of the Otanez valley, on the high ground,

192 RELIEF OF BILBAO.
was a formidable-looking redoubt, also supported by
trenches. Stated briefly, General Concha's corps of two
divisions was to attack as follows : one brigade of
his first division was to capture the Talledo hill.
This being done, the brigade which did so was
to continue along the high ground on the left of
the road, on which with the field battery was the
other brigade. Concha's second division, with the
Plasencia mountain battery, was to capture the
great redoubt and trenches on the other side of
the valley. General Concha's headquarters were at
Otanez, Serrano's at the church of Somorrostro, the
two generals communicating across the mountain-
ridge which was between the two places. Martinez
Campos, who commanded the brigade which was to
attack Talledo, moved from the village of Otanez
at ten o'clock and massed his force behind the crest
of Serrantes, the second division getting at the same
time into position to move on the great redoubt.
At twelve o'clock the attacks began almost simul
taneously. A heavy musketry -fire was opened on
Talledo from the top of Serrantes, and under its
cover one battalion of marines which had been ex
tended behind the Serrantes ridge dashed over it
and down into the intervening valley. The enemy
being only 700 yards off, and knowing the range
exactly, punished them severely, many men falling
the moment they were over the ridge. The battalion
found cover in a sort of hollow road which ran along
the bottom, and in a few minutes they again ap
peared, and advancing up the slope towards the
trench, attacked directly in front. The enemy re
inforced the defenders of the trench, who continued

BATTLE OF OTANEZ. 193
a heavy fire ; but the troops were not to be denied,
and pressed resolutely on, when the enemy broke and
retreated hastily to a wall behind and above the
trench. The marines, headed by their colonel, Lara,
who sprang on the parapet of the trench and waved
on his men with his sword, scarcely dwelt a moment,
but rushed on to the attack on the wall, which they
also carried in a few minutes. The Carlists being
strongly reinforced from an adjacent wood, and led
on by one of their best chiefs, Don Castor Andechaga,
after an obstinate fight overpowered the marines, who
had to abandon the wall and the trench : some of them
seemed to be pitched right over the parapet, possibly
bayoneted. The Carlists again occupied the position,
but the Valencia regiment coming up strongly in
support, the Carlists were again driven back and
Talledo finally captured, the struggle being hand-to-
hand with bayonet and butt. Colonel Lara and
Castor were at one time only separated by a few
yards : we could plainly make out the old chief
Castor, who was mounted and always in the very
forefront of the fight.
General Martinez Campos having now made his
left flank secure, marched his brigade along the
lower ground parallel with the road, and being
reinforced by fresh troops from the other brigade
in the centre and a field battery, advanced his
whole force to the attack of the other trenches,
which were at right angles to the road.
As soon as Talledo was taken we joined the party
still left on Serrantes, and were able with our flasks
to be of some use to the worst of the wounded.
From Serrantes we had again a close view of the
action, and particularly noted the excellent service
N

194 RELIEF OF BILBAO.
of the artillery, shell after shell bursting perfectly
in and about the trenches, thereby immensely assist
ing the infantry. At one place we could not help
admiring the intrepid conduct of a Carlist officer who
was on the parapet of the trench giving directions
to his men, who with greatcoats thrown off and in
their shirt -sleeves were firing steady volleys. He
seemed to bear a charmed life, standing quietly with
the rifle-bullets pitting the earth all about him. A
cloud of dust knocked up by a bursting shell hid
him at last from our view ; when it cleared away he
had disappeared. We could only hope that so gallant
a soldier had not then received his deathblow, but
that, seeing further resistance of no use, he had
retired with his men.
Just before this occurred the death of Castor
Andechaga, the fearless leader of the Biscayans, an
incalculable loss to the Carlist cause. We happened
to notice a mounted officer ride up to a trench be
tween the hill and the road, as if to order his men
to retire : he suddenly reeled in his saddle and fell,
his horse galloping away. There was a running of
men to the spot, and at that moment a shell burst
amongst them, killing, as we afterwards heard, Cura
Sestao, Castor's right-hand man. Another shell in
the same place caused a rapid retreat of the Carlists
from the trench ; the troops quickly followed, and
being now in touch with the division from the Somor
rostro side, turned and captured in succession the"
trenches guarding the left side of the Pass of Munecas.
As the fight rolled away from us towards the pass,
it became less interesting than that on the opposite
side of the valley to capture the great redoubt on
the height above. On the slope below the redoubt

BATTLE OF OTANEZ. 195
were two lines of trenches, but so well defended
were they that it was not until two o'clock that
the first of them was taken ; the second was more
rapidly carried. We could hear distinctly the bugles
af the division playing a march or charge as they
advanced, but from this point the continuation of
the attack through the heather up the steep slope
to the redoubt was a severe trial for even such
excellent soldiers as the Guarda Civile and Cara-
bineros. One of the latter, who had been with us
in the advance-guard affair, and whom we after
wards met wounded in hospital, told us that had
they not come across water they were so exhausted
they could not have gone on : as it was, the capture
of the redoubt and its trenches cost them about 600
killed and wounded. It was during the long contest
for the possession of the redoubt that we were able
to observe and admire a firm stand made by a body
of Carabineros or Guardas Civiles which most prob
ably turned the fortunes of the day on that side.
The troops could not make headway against the
terrible fire from the redoubt, and had to lie down ;
but a small body of men, seemingly not more than
about a hundred, worked round the right flank of
the redoubt to a commanding hill. At that moment
a body of several hundred Carlists, who were hurrying
up as reinforcements, — for their leaders well knew the
value of the position, — appeared over the brow of a
lower crest not 200 yards off. Had the Guardas
and Carabineros retired, the Carlists would have
caught the line in front of the redoubt in flank,
and probably rolled it up ; but the gallant fellows
held their ground, and the Carlists, no doubt being
deceived as to their numbers, after a few volleys

196 RELIEF OF BILBAO.
retired, and the redoubt was captured, though it
was not until dusk that the victorious division was
in full possession of the right of the pass, and in
touch with Martinez Campos' division on the other
side. The capture of the pass practically decided
the campaign in favour of the national troops.
At one time when the fight for the redoubt was
going on I thought we might go up the hill and
help the wounded ; but we came to the conclusion
that we could not really be of much use, and if
hit, — we had seen some of the stretcher-men fall
in the attack on Talledo, — - we, as civilians, would
in all probability be left unnoticed in the heather,
which, by the way, caught fire towards the end of
the action, many of the wounded being burnt to
death. That night I made myself comfortable under
cover on a stretcher which was not required, and
next morning, as the guns were still at work at
Somorrostro, I managed to find a short cut to that
village. Two days had made a wonderful change.
The road between the stream and the national
battery, so lately thronged with soldiers and sutlers,
was quite bare, not a single person in it. I walked
along alone, keeping an eye on the Carlist trenches,
more particularly on that where my friends had asked
me to come up a few days before, as it was only
some 800 yards on the left front, but I was not
interfered with, and got into the large battery, which
was smashing up the two churches and their surround
ing defences. Krupp field-guns and either two or
four heavy brass muzzle-loaders were hard at work,
and as the churches were but 700 yards off, every
shell was placed exactly where wanted. I was asked
to look over the sights ; they were in all cases well

A MESSAGE FROM THE CARLISTS. 197
directed, but had they been otherwise, I could not
as a neutral have suggested any alteration. I did
not at all like the strange custom of allowing the
gunners to smoke cigarettes, and as soon as I had
made all the mental notes required for my Intelligence
Department report, left the battery. In the after
noon the magazine exploded, killing and wounding a
great number. It was said it was caused by one
of the small shells of the enemy, but my own idea
was that the cigarettes were to blame. The service of
the battery was thoroughly well protected from rifle-
fire from the surrounding hills. That night the
Carlists managed to get a message conveyed to us
at Castro — " That we were helping the enemy. The
naval one [I wore a pilot-jacket] had been in the
big battery laying the guns, which made their shoot
ing so good, and that if captured we would be shot."
In the succeeding campaign a German officer, Schmidt,
apparently employed as we had been, was taken and
shot at once.
Concha's corps had got too forward to follow with
out a special conveyance, so next day we went to the
church at Somorrostro, and then on foot struck across
the mountains to the right, following some mules with
ammunition, until we arrived at the headquarters of
the second corps, which was connecting Marshal Ser
rano with General Concha. We found the corps
facing the Goldamnes heights. Marshal Serrano with
his staff was at the window of a farmhouse, and seeing
us in the courtyard asked us to come up, when he
most kindly explained his movements. As we were
talking, a large force of Carlists, about 2000 strong,
moved out of the valley and up the slope of the
opposite hill, disappearing over the ridge; Marshal

198 RELIEF OF BILBAO.
Concha's net was almost round them. As nothing
more was apparently to be done that day, we returned
to Castro and next morning hired a two -horse con
veyance, which would enable us to follow Conchas
corps, now sweeping round beyond the Munecas Pass.
We drove through Otanez and the pass, but at the
first village beyond it — viz., Sopuerta — heard from
an officer that during the night Serrano had taken
possession of the Goldamnes heights after a short
resistance, and the Carlists, finding that a few hours
longer in the Somorrostro position would entail the
capture of all their forces there, had not only re
treated from that place, but had also abandoned all
their positions on the Nervion River below Bilbao,
and were making preparations to raise the siege and
retreat across the river. We decided at once to
take the cross - road from Sopuerta to the Carlist
position at Somorrostro, and then along the direct
Bilbao road to the mouth of the Nervion River.
Although there had been some skirmishing on the
Sopuerta road the day before, and the Carlists had
taken thirteen mules laden with ammunition as late
as seven o'clock the previous evening, we came to the
conclusion it must now be safe, and rattled along it
to Somorrostro, where the national troops were, and
found the first corps marching along the road to
Portugalete and Bilbao. We stopped a short time
to have a look at the ruins of the two churches,
particularly that of San Pedro Abanto, which had
received such particular attention from the battery
I had visited two days before. The intrenchments
round the churches had only been vacated by the
Carlists just before daybreak. Their construction,
particularly interesting from a professional point of

CARLISTS RAISE THE SIEGE OF BILBAO. 199
view, would be out of place in "recollections," but
I may say we could not help regretting that it had
been necessary to destroy so much beautiful church
masonry and wood -carving. Huge saints and most
elaborately gilded angels, fallen amongst the shattered
stones, had assumed very grotesque attitudes. Even
the dead in the churchyard had not been left to rest,
bursting shells having thrown up skulls and bones.
Three miles beyond the churches we suddenly came
in sight of the sea and the river Nervion, a glorious
view. It was a lovely day, the sky was without a
cloud, and the sea emulated its beautiful azure blue,
the river with the white cliffs marking its broad
opening full in sight, and on either side large villages
of dazzling whiteness bordered the shore. On our
left was Santurce, a summer marine residence of the
wealthy Bilbainos. The red -cross flag was flying
over five different buildings, which were found to be
hospitals full of wounded the Carlists had abandoned.
In front of us was the town of Portugalete, where the
river narrows, and with about the same breadth con
tinues to Bilbao, seven miles higher up. The Carlists
had placed a chain across the river at Portugalete,
but it had been broken that morning by the Spanish
squadron which was now anchored in the river.
The road was so blocked as we neared Por
tugalete that we left our carriage, and taking a
short cut across the fields, reached the town, which
with its fine houses and large church had been sadly
knocked about. The new part, inhabited by the
rich merchants of Bilbao in summer, and containing
the remains of some splendidly built houses and an
immense hotel, was almost totally destroyed. One
terrace of houses on the sea-wall with a grand

200 RELIEF OF BILBAO.
promenade must have been really magnificent, but
it now presented a very sorry appearance. The Car-
lists had spared one block on which the English flag
had been hoisted, but had removed all the partitions
inside for the convenience of defence after they took
the place. Consequently we walked through the
whole block from end to end, and were able to make
some service notes on the effect of modern artillery
on house masonry, particularly as regards the spread
of the cone of splinters when a shell bursts in a
wall. The soldiers were already seeking their billets
as we gained the street in which were Marshal Ser
rano and his staff. The Carlists were evidently on
the move to the distant old Carlist strongholds of
Castejana and Lucena, and the siege of Bilbao was
over. They evacuated their positions round it during
the night : this, however, we did not know until the
following morning. After we had seen all we wanted
to see at Portugalete, we decided that as we had no
forage for our carriage - horses, and could get none
amongst the ruins, we would return to Castro, coming
back early next morning if the Carlists by any chance
should still be near Bilbao. But when we heard that
they had quite abandoned their position round Bilbao,
and were in full retreat, and the campaign for which
we had come was at an end, we thought it better
to return to our Lares and Penates at Gibraltar.
With our usual good luck, a small steamer arrived
at Castro from Portugalete in the forenoon, which
enabled us to get to Santander in time for the even
ing train to Madrid, where we arrived next after
noon, and had a long interview with Mr Layard, after
which we got the night-train for Cadiz, expecting as
a matter of course that our luck would continue,

START GIBRALTAR P.C.A. SOCIETY. 201
and that we should find a steamer waiting to take
us to Gibraltar ; but our good fortune did not follow
us from the north — there was no steamer, and there
would be none for several days. But such trivialities
as no steamers or railways did not stop us. We got
places on a diligence as far as Tarifa, where we slept,
and then hired horses to Algeciras, whence a sailing
boat ran us across the bay, and we were on the old
Rock again, from which we had been absent exactly
three weeks. It was just as well we decided to
return to our belongings when we did. A rumour
had got about in the garrison that we had joined
the Spanish army, and my career had been ended
by a Carlist bayonet at Otanez. The rumour became
so circumstantial that the governor telegraphed to
Mr Layard, who passed the inquiry on to Marshal
Serrano, who very kindly wired back that he had seen
me the day after the action, both Gilbard and myself
well. The professional information furnished by the Bilbao
campaign, more especially as regards mountain war
fare, required a good deal of consideration before
writing out my report for the Intelligence Depart
ment at the War Office, but even that work could
not eliminate the recollection of the horrible bull-ring
at Madrid. The cruel way in which the natives of the
south of Spain, including those of Gibraltar, so often
treated animals, seemed now to stand out more vividly
than ever, until at last I came to the conclusion that
it had become my duty to do what I could to stop, or
at least lessen, the suffering of beasts of burden in an
English garrison. My dear friend Gilbard happened
to be editor of the ' Gibraltar Chronicle,' and together
we started an agitation in favour of humanity. In

202 RELIEF OF BILBAO.
time we got many supporters, and eventually the
clergy of every denomination, and I felt very trium
phant when they all met in the official residence pf
the Roman Catholic bishop, Scandella, who took the
chair. Having the Roman Catholic Church on our
side in a place like Gibraltar was of immense help to
us, and we consequently got a very fair number of
members when, after the meeting, we started our local
society for the prevention of cruelty to animals, under
the patronage of the governor, Sir Fenwick Williams,
who gave me permission to put up in conspicuous
places copies of Martin's Act and the penalties for
cruelty to animals, in English and Spanish. This
caused a good deal of excitement : it was said pro
visions would not be brought into market, &c, as so
many of the mules coming in from Spain had such
horrible saddle-raws and girth-galls ; and it was freely
prophesied I would end my days with a stiletto between
the ribs, but I never really had any trouble worth
mentioning. By begging the magistrate to cancel or
mitigate the fines of unintentional offenders, I began
to be regarded rather as a friend of all except those
who had deliberately committed acts of cruelty. The
society has continued its work steadily since 1874.
Few prosecutions are now required, and instead of
punishments, the society is more concerned with
rewards given to poor men whose living depends on
their animals, for those kept in the best condition.
To expect that the inhabitants of Gibraltar should
cease attending the bull-fights at San Roque and
Algeciras would be too much to hope for : it is only
natural that people who have been accustomed all
their lives to bull-fights should see nothing wrong in
them. But surely the experience of one attendance

AN AFFAIR OF HONOUR. 203
ought for ever to prevent not only every Englishman
with right feeling from going a second time, but most
certainly no lady, no matter what her curiosity might
be, ought to go at all. Not only, however, do a large
number of the softer sex of Gibraltar attend the Plaza
de Toros at Algeciras and San Roque, but also a few
English ladies. One of these got a shock she well
deserved. When the horses are dead, it is customary
to take their hides off, as these have a certain commer
cial value : the lady, looking at one of these skinned
horses, was talking to a friend when the horse raised
its head. Its hide had been taken off whilst it was
still alive. It was supposed the horse had once been
owned by the lady, and that it recognised her voice.
Not very many years ago a governor of Gibraltar,
who desired to make his tenure of office popular with
the Spaniards as well as the native inhabitants of
Gibraltar, attended at the bull-ring at Algeciras in
company with the Spanish governor of the district.
Private individuals can do as they please, but that the
Sovereign's representative should be present at such
an exhibition was a proceeding which, it is to be hoped,
will never again be repeated.
Before leaving Gibraltar I happened to be in tem
porary command of my regiment when an incident
took place which fortunately had a very amusing
termination. One evening a subaltern of the regi
ment got into trouble with a foreigner on the line
wall, a lady of course being the cause of it. The
foreigner proved to be an Austrian officer, who sent
a challenge. As the matter came before me officially,
I had to take it in hand, and finding our young sub.
was in the wrong, directed him to make a suitable
apology, which he did, although quite ready to go out

204 RELIEF OF BILBAO.
if the matter could not be settled honourably. It
turned out that the Austrian was a naval officer of
the Kaiser Max, and that he and another had been
left behind ill when their ship sailed. I expressed my
regret we had not known about it, more especially as
the officers of the Kaiser Max had entertained the
garrison right royally. As the unpleasantness of the
previous evening had now been honourably adjusted,
I hoped both the Austrian officers would do me the
honour of dining at our mess that evening, which was
our guest night. They proved themselves to be first-
rate young fellows, and we all finished the evening, or
rather morning, with some wonderful gymnastic feats.
We made both of them honorary members of our mess
until they left, and we became the very best of friends.
And so ended the only " affair of honour" in which I
had to take a prominent part.
One day early in 1875 the adjutant-general gave
me a telegram from the War Office, offering me an
instructorship in surveying at the Military College,
Sandhurst, which I at once said I must decline. I
had had quite enough of teacher's work, and wished
to break with it once and for all and desired to remain
with my regiment. Colonel N., however, saw matters
in a different light from what I did. " Accept," was
his advice ; "if you don't like the billet you will be
close to headquarters in London, where you will be
able to get something better. Regimental work will
not satisfy you for long." On consideration I decided
to follow his advice, and in less than a fortnight after
wards found myself with my family in England again.
I could not but be sorry to say good-bye to my regi
ment and Gibraltar, certainly in those days one of the
best stations of the British army. For nine months

CRITICISMS ON OUR ARMY. 205
of the year the climate is perfect, and at the worst
time a few weeks' leave could always be got for a stay
at places like Ronda or Granada. In winter there
was Morocco, where there was everything from a lion
to a jack-snipe. I may mention that one day soon
after we had been out on the memorable boar-hunt, a
lion put in an appearance close to the place we had
been at. At Casa Veja, on the road to Cadiz, there
was first-rate snipe- and wildfowl-shooting. Nearer
the Rock was any amount of amusement, of which the
Calpe hunt was not the least. But pleasant as it was,
and may still be, Gibraltar is not a place a regiment
ought to remain at more than two years. Garrison
battalions or marines should take care of that fortress,
as well as that much-disliked place Malta. Barrack-
square drill and musketry excepted, real professional
work was out of the question on the Rock. Had it
not been for the absurd number of guards, the men
would not have disliked the place. Every one, except
possibly the town major, saw that quite half the
guards might have been abolished ; and every one of
us who had been on active service knew well that
no worse system than that of the ordinary garrison
guard, with its idiotic " All's well," could possibly
have been devised for making a man useless for
sentry -work in presence of an enemy. The whole
system of guard duty in our service, certainly then,
and possibly now, is one of all others the best cal
culated to eliminate a man's power of self-reliance,
observation, and fertility of resource. In these days
of invention it is odd a sealed pattern mechanical
garrison sentry has not been devised and kept in
store for issue to nervous commandants. As for
patrol- work to take charge of stores or to prevent

206 RELIEF OF BILBAO.
people going where they have no business, a sharp
military policeman is worth a dozen ordinary sentries.
Just before leaving Gibraltar there was a curious
but decidedly eccentric example of that innate spirit
of adventure and enterprise which is common to our
race, and which in civil life does so much to counteract
the defective education of pedantic schoolmasters, and
in the army the pernicious influence of barrack-square
colonels. A subaltern of the 69th, who had passed one
of my instruction classes, fired by the account of the
Bilbao campaign, determined to make a record, and
ride alone from Gibraltar through Spain and the
contending armies in the Pyrenees to Calais. Don
Quixote, for so we christened our adventure-seeking
sub., did bear a certain resemblance to the pictures
of Cervantes' hero ; but he was a thoroughbred copy
— tall, thin, with a long, pale, handsome face, a con
siderable portion of which was occupied by a huge
pince-nez. Our Don was very short-sighted. One
day when out with the hunt he gallantly charged
what he thought was a fence with a fine piece of
greensward on the other side : it was a large pond
thickly covered with weed, and into this he and his
horse Caesar disappeared. Fortunately I had a flask
of brandy handy when we got him out. No faithful
Sancho Panza had our Don : his squire was a curious
mongrel terrier, and his horse, an ancient grey, was
the very image of that with which Quixote charged
the windmills. Not a word of Spanish did our hero
know, but he had useful sentences written out on
pieces of paper, such as, "I am armed ; let me
pass." " I am weak ; do not bleed me." " Which is
the way to the  ? " &c.
We could not but be anxious about our Don : he

A MODERN DON QUIXOTE. 207
had, however, this in his favour, that he was a Roman
Catholic, and if taken ill or in distress, would by means
of a friendly priest communicate with us.
One fine morning our adventurer, amid our cheers
and laughter, rode away into Spain. For several days
nothing was heard of him, and then came news that a
very mad Englishman was passing through Andalusia,
and had much alarmed the last village he entered, the
inhabitants all running into their houses. He was
stated to be leading a lame horse, followed by a limp
ing dog, his legs from the knees downwards were bare
to the shoes, he had one hat on his head and another
slung behind on his back, whilst in his right hand was
a huge upright knife. Hearing nothing more, I got
the Roman Catholic bishop to send messengers after
him, as we were getting anxious, when fortunately
we heard from himself. He had got as far as Madrid,
quite worn out. His adventures, afterwards related
in a magazine, were most interesting. On one occa
sion he fell amongst a party of brigands : even they
could not help being amused, roaring with laughter
at the wild Englishman, who evidently was not worth
a ransom.

208

CHAPTER XV.
INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, BELGIUM, EGYPT,
AND CRETE.
In 1875 I commenced my work at the Military
College, Sandhurst, as an instructor in surveying.
To an elderly officer who liked an easy life the ap
pointment would have been perfect, but as I wanted
to get on in my profession, something which would
give me twelve hours' work a-day instead of about
twelve hours' work a -week was what I required. I
had to wait until the summer holidays, and then by
a piece of extraordinary luck got a mission with which
I was delighted. In 1875, according to reliable in
formation, it was possible that another invasion of
France by the Germans would take place, and that
in order to carry out our treaty with Belgium, and to
prevent her territory being violated by either side, it
might be necessary to send an English army to assist
her. To work out the arrangements required for
such an undertaking, special information was required.
This I was directed to get as quickly as possible.
The mission being confidential, I can say little about
it; but I may mention that in 1875 the original
scheme for the defence of Belgium, which had been
based on the Antwerp forts, seemed to me, owing

CONFIDENTIAL WORK IN BELGIUM. 209
to the immense numbers which an enemy could bring
into the field, rather out of date. To prevent an
Anglo-Belgian force being shut up in the Antwerp
zone — possible inundations being considered — it was
evident, after making a rapid reconnaissance of the
country, in which the excellent Government survey
plans of Belgium were of immense assistance, that the
general line of defence would have to be advanced
several miles. Rapidly constructed earthworks might
have been sufficient, but that was doubtful. Per
manent forts have since been constructed on the line
referred to, and padlocks, in the shape of extensive
fortifications round Li^ge and Namur, have closed
the valley of the Meuse and Sambre to a possible in
vader. A reference to the condition of affairs in 1875
is therefore permissible, and I disclose nothing con
fidential in mentioning that the works — all part of the
great scheme for the defence of the country by that
most renowned military engineer of modern times,
General Brialmont (whose professional acquaintance
I had the honour of making at Brussels), which he
had long before 1875 been pressing on his Govern
ment — were eventually completed, although not to
the full extent he thought necessary. The Belgians
have now done what they can as far as their expendi
ture on permanent fortifications is possible, and an
Anglo-Belgian force should, if so required, be able to
give a good account of itself, provided the Belgian
army were what its chiefs desire it should be.
A rapid report of the general situation and require
ments north of the Meuse having been sent in, the
remainder of the work, which extended as far south
as Luxemburg, was not so pressing and could be done
more easily. An old and valued friend in the Royal

210 BELGIUM, EGYPT, AND CRETE.
Engineers, and a keen young soldier in my own
regiment, who ten years afterwards, to our intense
grief, was killed in the Soudan, made up a small
reconnaissance party, and as we should be in the land
of trout-streams, I took my little rod with me. Into
the details of our professional work it is unnecessary
to go. I wish I could have mentioned that we had
good sport with the fish, but it was not until almost
too late that I found the trout — doubtless owing to the
high temperature of the river Ourthe and the large
streams — had all worked up to the cold water of the
brooks in the hills. At no time can the fishing in the
Ardennes be much, but the scenery there is well worth
a trip from England : doubtless ere this the ubiquitous
British tourist has found out one delightful little
place — and possibly spoilt it — where we remained for
three days, viz., La Roche. The inn was primitive,
but comfortable ; the cost, every single thing included,
3 francs a-day. One of the days there happened to
be Sunday, and on that ever-to-be-remembered morn
ing I noticed a very old woman, who must have been
about ninety years of age, being supported out of the
little church. She was given a seat near, and after a
restorative, which I have an idea I supplied, I got into
conversation with her on the subject of her early recol
lections. No chapter of Erckmann-Chatrian's ' His-
toire d'un Conscrit ' or ' Madame Therese ' could have
been more interesting. The very idioms and peasants'
language of the heroes and heroines of those exciting
days were used by one who had gone through what
those wonderful writers so vividly picture. My great
grief was that I could not write shorthand and take
down what the old woman told me, as she pointed out
the roads over the hills by which she had seen the

1796, 1814, AND 1815. 211
troops of the first French Republic enter the valley.
Her accounts of the subsequent invasion of 1814 were
decidedly graphic. In speaking of the German and
Austrian troops she designated them as Erckmann-
Chatrian do, " Kaiserlichs." Their discipline, she said,
was wonderful : did any one of them take away any
thing, if only of the value " d'une simple epingle, il fut
passe- par les baguettes. Mais les Cosaques etaient
tres mauvais gens ; ils servient les jeunes filles malgre"
elles." From the compassionate way in which she
spoke of " les jeunes filles " she evidently wished me
to understand she had not come under that designa
tion at the time.
Before leaving Brussels on our way home, we paid a
visit to Waterloo. Compared with modern battle
fields, it seemed almost incredible that such numbers
could have been massed on so small a space. Stand
ing on the mound, one almost seemed to be within
shouting distance of Hougomont on the right and
La Haye Sainte on the left. One defect the Water
loo position certainly had if intended for occupation
beyond a few hours — viz., the very limited water-
supply, the wells being few in number and deep. The
heavy thunderstorm of the 17th was unquestionably
a blessing in disguise. One subject connected with
Waterloo is interesting to professionals visiting the
ground — viz., the strange fact that General Colville's
division at Hal, only nine miles away, did not hear
the firing, and knew nothing about the battle having
taken place until the following day. How it was that
the two forces were not in proper communication with
each other has never been satisfactorily explained,
more especially as the Duke on the 17th had given
orders on the subject, naming an officer for the duty.

212 BELGIUM, EGYPT, AND CRETE.
Had his orders been carried out, it is more than
probable Colville's division would have been brought
nearer to the Waterloo position on the morning of the
18th, when it was seen that the whole French army
was in front. It has been stated that Prince Frederick
of Orange was posted at Enghien and Colville at Hal,
should a retreat have to be made towards the sea base ;
but the reason for so placing them is clearly given in
two of the Duke's despatches written on the 17th —
viz. , in case of a move by Napoleon towards the Duke's
right. Leaving out the three days at La Roche, the Belgian
report took me just six weeks, working on an average
sixteen hours a-day. It was therefore satisfactory to
know, on returning to London, that the head of the
Intelligence Department was well satisfied with it,
and that it was exactly what they required ; but if
possible still more pleasing was a remark made years
afterwards by another head of the department, when
we happened to speak about certain Continental sub
jects, " We look on the report you sent in, in 1875, on
Belgium, as a sort of text-book."
During the autumn I employed my spare time in
compiling a hand-book on Ceylon for the Intelligence
Department, from the official library of which I ob
tained all the necessary books and reports. A splendid
plan of the island, prepared for me by the Surveyor-
General of Ceylon, in which the transport value of
every road was indicated, as suggested, by the thick
ness of the lines marking it, greatly added to the value
of the book.
In the winter holidays I had another piece of good
luck in foreign work. The cloud of the coming war
between Russia and Turkey was beginning to show

CAIRO AND ISMAIL PACHA. 213
itself above the political horizon. As it was not im
possible that England would eventually be drawn into
it, certain islands in the Levant might have to be
occupied as naval stations or army bases. Attention
was directed more particularly to two of them — viz.,
Cyprus and Crete. Colonel B., one of the best-known
officers in the British service, was directed to report
on Crete, and I had the good fortune to accompany
him. To get to Crete it was necessary to go via
Alexandria. At Marseilles we met General M., head
of the Intelligence Department, on his way to Egypt,
where he had been recommended on account of his
health to pass the winter. Little did we think on
steaming past the Alexandria forts that in less than
seven years' time a British fleet would be obliged to
destroy them. We had to wait a week for our
steamer, and decided to pass it at Cairo. Those
were the days of Ismail and lavish expenditure.
Cairo now and Cairo then might almost be compared
to a ballroom when the guests are gone and daylight
is coming in. Ismail certainly did know how to
entertain the world — with other people's money.
One opera, when we were at Cairo, cost just £10,000
to put on the stage ; and as for the French theatre,
it was perfect : better actors could not have been
found in Paris. Ten years afterwards, alas ! I found
myself sitting as president of a board of examination
for officers' promotion in that same theatre. With
the dreary-looking empty stage in front of us, the
recollections of what it had been were painful. The
morning after our arrival at Shepheard's, the only
hotel in those days, General M. and Colonel B. paid
their respects to the Khedive at the palace. General
M. happened to mention that he was head of the

214 BELGIUM, EGYPT, AND CRETE.
English Intelligence Department, but had come to
Egypt for the winter on account of his health.
Ismail with a smile turned to Colonel B., saying,
" You also, colonel, I conclude, have come for your
health." There was a considerable Egyptian force of all arms
at Abbasseyeh. I remember thinking that the men
were a very fine-looking lot, well drilled and armed,
but their white cotton uniforms would not do in any
climate but that of Egypt. Poor fellows, they felt its
defects when they soon afterwards went to Turkey,
where they did good service for the Sultan.
Although such a thing as our ever being in Egypt
as an enemy was not even dreamt of in those days, it
is part of one's duty to consider the military situation
in every country one happens to be in ; and in looking
over a map of Egypt showing the extensive fortifica
tions in the vicinity of Alexandria, and also knowing
how much had been expended on the fortress of the
Barrage at the fork of the Nile below Cairo, all with
the idea that if an enemy ever invaded Egypt he
would have to land at Alexandria and move up the
Nile as Napoleon did to Cairo, it suddenly flashed
upon me that the Suez Canal, lately constructed,
really turned all these elaborate defences, and that for
a European enemy the proper line of advance on Cairo
should be by the Canal to Lake Timseh, which would
then be the base of operations in place of Alexandria.
So impressed was I with this that I then wrote a de
tailed paper on the subject, little thinking how soon
that line of operations would be made use of by the
British army.
Those who knew Ismail well declared he had great
natural ability, and if he had been properly brought

THE ENGINEER AND THE BRIDGE. 215
up and trained for his position, he would have made a
good ruler of Egypt.
Ismail's rule was too despotic for a modern Egypt.
His method of getting rid of a Minister with whom he
did not get on was decidedly Eastern — viz., a passage
across the Styx. When the harem of one of these
unfortunates was dispersed, an English girl who had
been a barmaid was found amongst the others, and
she at once claimed protection of the consular author
ities. The accounts of her life were interesting : she
had been kindly treated by her late master. It seemed
to us at the time that sensational novel-writers missed
a grand field in not being in Cairo during the last few
years of Ismail's reign.
Although only in Cairo for a week, it was sufficient
to enable us to see behind the scenes, and to know
that an end must soon come to the reckless expendi
ture of borrowed money. The shifts the Khedive was
put to at last were, if true, rather amusing. Grant
ing concessions was one way of getting the needful.
An engineering firm, it is said, got a concession to
build a bridge, to be paid for out of public funds.
On their representative asking Ismail where the
river was over which the bridge was to be built,
the answer was, " How should I know ? That is
your affair."
But to return to our journey. In ancient days
the Isles of Greece when covered with forests must
have been grand, but now bare rocks, even when
associated with the heroic deeds of gods and men,
require a vivid imagination to look at them with
proper respect. Crete with its long range of snow-
tipped mountains is in itself, even without its myth
ological traditions, an island well worth a visit : un-

216 BELGIUM, EGYPT, AND CRETE.
fortunately our consul there, whose guests we were,
objected so strongly to our making explorations in
the wilder parts of the mountains that we were
obliged to confine ourselves to obtaining the profes
sional information we actually wanted. Our consul's
fear (and he was a man who knew what he was
about) was that if two English officers appeared in
the mountains, a rebellion in favour of the island
becoming part of the British Empire would be certain.
The special value Crete would have been to us
was its magnificent harbour of Suda Bay, the best
in the Mediterranean. The great drawbacks to our
occupation of the island were its proximity to Greece,
and the intrigues that the nationalist party in that
country would be constantly raising to have it
handed over like the Ionian Islands, — the inhabitants
of which, by the way, now never cease to bitterly
regret our leaving. With the great natural ad
vantages of Crete in the shape of soil, climate, and
water-power from the mountains, the island under
our Government would have done well. With the
fate of the Ionian Islands as an example, and the
keenness of all classes to belong to England, it
seemed a mistake that harbourless Cyprus should
have been preferred to such an island as Crete ;
but be that as it may, annexation in 1875 would
certainly have saved the muddled policy of a quarter
of a century later, which brought such misery and
suffering on the island. During the time we were
in the island we were able to make excursions to
the villages on the spurs of the mountains, and
then more than ever hoped that such fine specimens
of humanity as the Cretan Greeks would some day
be British subjects. St Paul's acquaintances must

CRETE. 217
surely have been the Levantines in the coast towns ;
they could hardly have been the forefathers of
those faultless Greek faces we so often saw. The
inaccessible mountain-ranges doubtless preserved the
purity of the ancient race, even when the whole
military strength of Turkey was against them. One
mistake we thought the Turks had made, and that
was in neglecting to form roads through all the
mountain - passes when the island was at peace.
Blockhouses were but little use without roads.
Supplies, camping -grounds, and defensive positions
were the principal points to be attended to by us.
There were apparently many excellent sites for
camps, but on inquiry several were found to be
unsuitable. On looking over our working map I
was startled at the number of places over which
it was necessary to write that dread word " fever."
Defective drainage and bad water-supply were the
causes. These could have been rectified, and in
time Crete, under our government, would have been
no mean jewel of the British Crown. Colonel B., who
had Greek at his fingers' ends, made a very interest
ing antiquarian discovery amongst some old ruins ;
and we had the good fortune to get some ancient
Greek relics from a tomb which was found when we
were there. One ring which I bought and paid 10s.
for, thinking the stone was glass, turned out on ex
amination at home to be an engraved ruby. It was
curious to note the Egyptian tone of some of these
finds, showing a very ancient connection between
Crete and the Nile. As for coins, both silver and
copper, they were quite a drug. One copper one I
still have has the Labyrinth on one side and a beauti
ful Greek head on the other. My friends now possess

218 BELGIUM, EGYPT, AND CRETE.
nearly all the others. I gave one ring to a great
ally who I thought would know its value. I
happened to mention I had found an engraving on
mine. " Oh, I suppose a verse from the Koran ! "
It was quite a shock, which I did not get over
for some time.
Our consul gave us some wonderful wine, called
Comandera. It was excellent, and I thought I
recognised its taste, which was that of good
Madeira. Working the matter out, it appeared
that the original Madeira vines had come from
Crete. From Crete our shortest road back to Marseilles
was via the Piraeus, and as neither of us had seen
Athens, we were not sorry to be obliged to go
that way. It may be different with other people,
but to me it has often seemed astonishing with
what very small print ancient history has been,
so to say, written. The Acropolis, the spot where
Paul preached,' — where, by the way, there was such
an excellent background to send his voice forward,
— the Stadium, and the other places so renowned
in history, were all so close together and occupied
such a small space of ground. We were fortunate
enough to be in Athens when the last portion of
an ancient open-air theatre below the Acropolis was
being cleared of rubbish. Some interesting dis
coveries were also made at the same time when
the ground was excavated for a railway station.
A cemetery was unearthed : the beautifully carved
figures and inscriptions on the marble monuments
were as clear as if they had been done the day
before. Some of the scenes depicted of parents
taking leave of a departing child or a wife, ready

ATHENS. 219
equipped for the unknown journey, were quite
touching in their earnestness and beauty of ex
pression. Contemplating these monuments, and with
one's mind full of the glories of Ancient Greece, it
was sad to look up and see close in front of one a
small commonplace modern town. However, we had
a good time during the few days we were at Athens,
but we did think the Opera House might be more
carefully attended to. When in the stalls Colonel
B. showed some little discomfort. " Cramp ? " I
suggested. " No, fleas ! " was the answer.
We had interesting discussions with the politicians,
and just before leaving it was proposed we should
go on to Constantinople ; but as my holidays from
Sandhurst, where I was under engagement as an
instructor, were just running out, I could not manage
it. Would that some arrangements permitting of it
had been then thought of. I heard afterwards that
my name had gone in to report on the Balkan passes,
work I should have been delighted with. As it was,
I returned to Sandhurst, and as soon as possible
resigned my appointment there and went to the
Intelligence Department, on temporary service in
connection with schemes for home defence.

220

CHAPTER XVI.
INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, WAR OFFICE.
My work was the inspection of the coast with refer
ence to possible landing-places suitable for an invading
force of all arms, and the selection of defensive posi
tions on the roads between the landing - places and
strategical points inland.
My first portion of coast-line was the south side of
the Bristol Channel from the mouth of the Avon to
Ilfracombe, the objective strategical point being a
certain part of the Thames valley. My headquarters
for the six or seven summer months I established at
Weston-super-Mare. Inspecting the coast in April
was rather cold, but it had the advantage that at that
time of year I had the shore all to myself. The nature
of the work required that it should be done on foot,
and I am afraid in walking along the cliffs and across
private grounds extending down to the beach, I must
often have been guilty of trespass ; but no one ever
interfered with me or questioned my right of way.
Before beginning my inspections I had been very much
puzzled by an official report, sent in by a public depart
ment, on harbours and landing-places on the south side
of the Bristol Channel, stated to be suitable for the dis
embarkation of cavalry and artillery, which was quite

LANDING-PLACES ON ENGLISH COAST. 221
at variance with the information given in the ' Bristol
Channel Pilot.' On visiting the places mentioned, I
found they were simply small tidal harbours, dry at
low water, and only used by fishing-boats and small
coasters ; and as for the adjacent beaches so favourably
reported on, they were often nothing but jagged rocks
which no boat dare approach even in a dead calm.
Local photos of these harbours and pretty beaches
could always be obtained, and they saved me a good
deal of writing : the photos with a short description
underneath — " Harbour and beach which, according to
 report, are suitable for the disembarkation of
cavalry and artillery "• — were a sufficient explanation.
One landing-place, and one only, suitable for the rapid
disembarkation of an army corps, is to be found on the
south side of the Bristol Channel, but that is a perfect
one : there can be no objection to my now referring to
it, for even in the time of Napoleon its capabilities
were thoroughly well known to the French War
Office. On my sending in my report on the place in
question, I was rather surprised at the head and
next senior officer of the Intelligence Department
coming down to see the bay. It appeared, from
records in the department, that Napoleon had at
one time arranged to send a diverting expedition
from Brest to the Bristol Channel, but the place
could not be identified until my report came in.
It is odd to think that until of late years we were
so ignorant of the weak points of our coast, whilst
the French, even a century ago, had such a know
ledge of everything required in connection with
schemes of invasion of this country. Other nations
have since then improved on the example set by

222 INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, WAR OFFICE.
the French. I have no hesitation in stating that
foreign War Offices must have every possible infor
mation that may be required for hostile expeditions
against us, all worked out by officers who have
stayed in the country and carefully gone over the
ground. I had hardly commenced my inland work in
the west when, on driving along the ridge of some
high ground, the coachman said he could not under
stand why gentlemen took such interest in that road :
only the previous year he had driven two gentlemen,
evidently foreigners, along exactly the same way. He
asked them why they took a drive on such an uninter
esting road, and they said they were employed making
a directory. I pointed out to the driver that to make
a directory of a desolate place where there was hardly
a building to be seen was rather a waste of time, but
that had not occurred to him. In the following year,
when doing the Yorkshire coast, I heard of a German
officer staying at a hotel at Scarborough, which he had
made his headquarters while doing work which on in
quiry turned out to be precisely that in which I also
was engaged, and my headquarters were close to — viz.,
at Bridlington Quay. My regret was that I did not
hear about my German colleague until my work was
just finished : we might have done it together.
Tramping along the Bristol Channel coast away from
roads, and carrying anything in the way of kit which
might be required for two or three days, was rather
solitary. A clean bed and food were always to be
found at some village near, and the quaint places and
people I often came across far more than compensated
for any little inconveniences. The coast scenery alone
in some places was worth a hard day's walk even
in the keenest of east winds. The inland work was

ANCIENT LINES OF MILITARY OPERATIONS. 223
quite luxurious, as I was permitted to hire a convey
ance whenever necessary, and so could take a bag with
me. Working forward from the coast, first of all with
the eyes and ideas of an invader, and afterwards as a
defender, was particularly fascinating from a profes
sional point of view. One very interesting discovery I
made, and it was this, that work as independently as
I might, I invariably found myself drawn on to lines
of operations which had not only been those of the
Civil Wars, but also those in use in the time of the
Danes. Without having the least idea of where my
line of advance on one occasion would lead to, I found
myself eventually standing on the spot where King
Alfred is said to have burnt his cakes, whilst almost
within sight was the field of Sedgemoor. Only those
who traverse the country as I did can have an idea of
the beautiful scenery in many of the out-of-the-way
parts of the west of England, and how full the country
is of interesting historical places. Whenever time
permitted I always inspected the village churches :
they are pretty sure finds for something of antiquarian
interest. The prehistoric camps on the high downs
were puzzles to me with reference to the important
question of water - supply, until I heard about the
never-failing dew-ponds : in ancient times also, when
the low country was covered with forests, the rainfall
must have been much much greater than now and
high-land springs more abundant.
At the end of the summer I found I had gone over
something like 300 square miles, examining not only
positions but also verifying roads and means of com
munication, which, strange to say, included inspection
of several railway stations, the extent of their sidings
and possibility of quickly extending them. It might

224 INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, WAR OFFICE.
have been supposed every information on this subject
could have been got from the Board of Trade or the
railway companies, but I found the quickest way was
to get what I required on the spot myself. From
constant practice I was astonished at the rapidity
with which I could sketch a rough workable plan of
almost any station and its capabilities.
There can be few more useful branches of professional
instruction for staff and senior officers than that of con
sidering the advantages and disadvantages of a posi
tion, first for defence and then for attack. When at
the Staff College I often thought our instruction in
such exercises was far too scanty : doubtless that has
been changed since my time, and staff officers are now
in all probability taught all that is necessary. But
the number of officers who get the benefit of a course
at the college is limited, and it has occurred to me that
it would be a move in the right direction if small select
committees of Staff College officers who were waiting
for staff appointments were to form classes in each
district of the senior regimental officers, and go over
again the lines of operations reported on a quarter of
a century ago, when the tactical requirements of the
muzzle-loader were very different from those of the
magazine-rifle and smokeless powder. Doubtless the
working details for positions immediately covering
London are kept up to date by the Royal Engineers,
but it is possible the reports on more distant positions,
such as I was employed on so many years ago, require
revision. When my summer work was over, a good deal of
detail had to be written out in my room at the In
telligence Department in London. My afternoons
were so often broken in on by old friends, who some-

ANCIENT LINES OF MILITARY OPERATIONS. 225
how imagined that one employed at Adair House
could furnish information on any professional subject
they were interested in, that I found the best plan
was to commence work as soon as the doors were
open — viz., at 9.30. This was hardly in accordance
with official routine, but I found it answered well.
On one occasion I reaped the advantage of having
time on hand. The adjutant - general desired me
to give him a paper on some special subject — com
mutation of officers' pensions, if I remember cor
rectly. He said if I could let him have it in a
week or ten days it would do. Fortunately it was
a subject I had already well considered : when he
arrived at his office the following morning the
paper was on his table.
In the spring I had to do the Yorkshire coast from
the Humber to the Tees, York being the objective
point. An April hailstorm on the Bristol Channel
was not pleasant, but it was a trifle compared with
what I now and then experienced when tramping
along the Yorkshire coast. Oddly enough, the only
place in which I ever suffered from the sun was in
Yorkshire. Being very interested in something special,
I had gone on working all day without attending to
food requirements. I managed to reach the highroad,
and was picked up by a costermonger's cart, and got
back to Bridlington. A few days' rest put me right
again. The scenery of East Yorkshire was very different
from that I had worked amongst the previous sum
mer ; but in Yorkshire, as in Somerset, I found myself
on lines of ancient military operation, one being towards
Stamford Bridge, the scene of Harold's victory in 1066.
It was some time before I realised that I had got to
P

226 INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, WAR OFFICE.
the site of the ancient battlefield, but my reveries
about antiquity were broken in on rather suddenly by
a huge fish rising in the pool above the bridge : a
salmon it certainly seemed, but as no one had ever
mentioned that there were salmon in the Yorkshire
Derwent, I thought I must be mistaken, until another
fish, about which there could be no doubt, made a
jump at the weir. A wire to London for my salmon-
rod, and a letter to York to know what the fishing
regulations were for Stamford Bridge, were at once
sent off. The Yorkshire Fishery Association knew
nothing about salmon at the bridge, so I tried a
Jock Scott and a few other flies, but got no rises,
although when standing on a plank above the weir I
could have touched the salmon with the butt of my rod
as they tried, but vainly, to jump over the fall. I
could not spare time for a second visit : doubtless a
flood soon enabled the fish to get out of the pool
and up the river.
On finishing my work in Yorkshire I was appointed
to the headquarter staff of the Southern District,
and as I was in the land of horses, bought a very
fine thoroughbred, a grandson of Orlando. A better
charger was never foaled. After serving me five years
in the south, where I was offered double what I gave
for him, my beautiful chestnut left his bones in Egypt.
Yorkshire must have been the land of good horses
and acquisitive horse-loving natives from very ancient
times. A friend who happened to return from a trip
to Denmark before I left Bridlington told me of a
curious old Danish proverb he heard. " Rattle a bit
over a Yorkshireman's grave, and he will get up to
steal the horse."
One day during the summer a telegram arrived at

WELLINGTON COLLEGE ENQUIRY. 227
Bridlington summoning me to headquarters in London.
On arrival there the military secretary asked me
what mischief I had been up to, as the Wellington
College people reported I had given a lecture in which
I had called in question the proceedings of the Wel
lington College governors, the Horse Guards author
ities, &c, and that H.R.H. the Commander-in-Chief
was in consequence much incensed against me. All
I could say was that the statement was not true,
and that I had given no such lecture. But during the
previous winter a sad case happened by chance to be
brought to my notice of two officers' orphans, who ought
to have been received into Wellington College, having
been rejected ; and on going into the matter I found
that the college, about which up to that time I really
knew next to nothing, instead of remaining an army
charity, for which the army and the country had so
largely subscribed, was rapidly getting off the rails
and becoming a second Eton. I stated I put my
notes together and had given them to a well-known
kind-hearted officer who had considerable influence
with high authorities, in hopes of his being able to
put matters right, but as I had been away from town
for several months I had been unable to do anything
more. I then said I should be only too pleased if
I might give the paper to him (the military secretary).
The answer was, "Yes, let me have it." I felt at
once that I had not only parried a thrust but put
my sword through the individuals, whoever they
might be, who had made the disgracefully malicious
statement against me. My paper was passed on to
another head of a department at headquarters, who
said plainly that it gave too mild a statement of
affairs, and that reform was very much required. It

228 INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, WAR OFFICE.
was then proposed I should read the paper at a
meeting of the governors of Wellington College.
With this proposal I was well pleased, and said I
should be delighted to read it and be cross-examined
on it. I attended accordingly, when to my vexation
an official came out and said I would not be required,
as a committee would be appointed to make the
necessary investigations. What the committee did
I never heard, but apparently their report was not
concurred in by the army authorities, as a corre
spondence extending over several months took place
between the college governors and the Horse Guards.
The subject was of course taken up by the news
papers ; and to the best of my recollection every one
of them but the "Thunderer" and a well-known weekly
took the army side of the question. The correspond
ence came to nothing : the military authorities were
unable to overcome the non possumus attitude taken
up by the governors. The adjutant-general told me
he could do nothing more. I thereupon asked if I
was free to act independently, and was told I could
do what I liked.
For an unknown captain to take up a subject in
which the military authorities had been unable to
move such a powerful body as the Wellington College
governors seemed rather a reckless undertaking, but,
as in the case of the animals at Gibraltar, I came to
the conclusion that, happen what might to myself, it
was a matter of duty that I should do what I could to
carry the matter through. The most influential news
paper in the world was in opposition, but with one
exception, all the other leading journals took what I
believed was a right view of the subject. I discussed
the matter with some friends, Conservative members

ROYAL COMMISSION ON WELLINGTON COLLEGE. 229
of Parliament, on whose judgment I could rely, and
it was decided to try for a Royal Commission if a
member of special ability would consent to take up
the subject. Mr Reginald York, on the case being
placed before him, agreed to do so ; and right well he
fought for those who so much needed it. My con
tribution was to print a pamphlet containing all the
most telling articles from the newspapers, and to send
a copy to each member of both Houses. Naturally
there were also a good many personal interviews with
my parliamentary friends and acquaintances to help
the good cause. A three -line whip was sent out
against Mr Reginald York's motion, and on the night
when it came on there hardly seemed to be a vacant
seat in the House. I had a place in the distinguished
strangers' gallery : being there early, I was at the
inner end of it. Several others afterwards came in
who, by their conversation, were evidently some of
the Wellington College people : not knowing who I
was, they began talking over the plan of counter
attack which had evidently been arranged by their
side. I had no wish to attend to what they were
saying, but as they talked so openly I deemed it
only right to make a note of their plan, which I got
passed to Reginald York, who was sitting on the
front Conservative bench : he met and demolished
the plan of attack in his speech. The only time I
heard Gladstone speak was that night. It was rather
a shock to me that that wonderful genius, who had
done so much for suffering humanity and justice,
should take the side against us. I could not help
being of opinion also that his family connection with
the college ought to have kept him silent, more
especially as it was the system of administration, not

230 INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, WAR OFFICE.
the working of the college, in which reform was
wanted. There was a long debate, and as the dinner-hour
approached the House began to thin. The Wellington
College side continued to talk until the number of
members was very much reduced, and then a division
was called for. I waited in the lobby whilst the doors
were closed, and then one member after another came
up to me, saying they did not expect a division so
soon and were vexed about it, as they had intended
to vote for me. Even then the division was a close
one, our side being beaten by only seven votes. As
soon as it was announced an official belonging to the
House said to me, " It was unfortunate a division was
not taken before. You had all the Conservatives and
half the Liberals on your side." With such a close
division the Government could not well avoid granting
the Royal Commission asked for. Lord Penzance was
chairman, with Robert Lowe and other eminent men
as members. My difficulty was in getting officers who
felt interested in the matter to come forward and give
evidence : they fancied their doing so would be a bad
thing for them professionally. There was some reason
for this, one vindictive Wellington College governor
going so far, when I first took the matter in hand, as
to suggest that I ought to be deprived of my staff
appointment and sent back to my regiment, which
was then abroad. Having the subject of the inquiry
at my fingers' ends in all its details, I quite enjoyed
my two hours' cross-examination before the Commis
sion. Sitting next a well-known bishop, I was amused
at his asking me where I got all my statistics from.
Pointing to a Blue Book, I said, "From the Public
Schools Inquiry Commission " ; and then, sotto voce,

POWERFUL ENEMIES. 231
" of which I think your lordship was a member." My
reverend neighbour could not help laughing.
The report of the Commission was that the college
had departed from the intention with which it had
been founded, and stringent reforms were suggested,
which I could not help thinking might have been
even stronger ; but be that as it may, Wellington
College was given a chance of becoming what the
country and the army intended it should be. Many
friends congratulated me on having succeeded in what
I had undertaken, but others of greater worldly ex
perience said, " You have made powerful enemies, who
will not forget to put a spoke in your wheel whenever
they get a chance." Unfortunately for me these
proved to be true prophets ; but I had this consola
tion, that, although I suffered for it, I had done my
duty.

232

CHAPTER XVII.
QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL'S WORK, PORTSMOUTH.
As already stated, I was in the autumn of 1877
appointed to the headquarter staff of the Southern
District. My principal work at Portsmouth, and
occasionally at Southampton, was the embarkation
and disembarkation of troops and their families, the
first - named place being used by the Imperial and
Indian troopships and hired transports. At South
ampton only hired transports were berthed. The
trooping season commenced in September and ended
in May, and during that time I was rarely away from
the dockyard or the office except to sleep. Occasion
ally I found it advisable to remain all night in the
yard, so as to have everything ready for commencing
work at daybreak, taking a rest rolled up in a blanket
on a couch in the nearest transport. My dockyard
staff consisted of two clerks and four old blue-jackets.
As soon as I had established a system, which was
afterwards embodied in the Queen's Regulations,
everything went as smoothly as well-oiled machinery.
My most interesting work was the rapid embarkation
of cavalry regiments at the outbreak of the Zulu war.
I thought I ought to have disembarked them also at
Durban and gone up country with them, but the

PORTSMOUTH DOCKYARD. 233
authorities did not see it in the same light. For this
special job, which was principally carried out at
Southampton, I asked the transport admiral in London
to let me have blue-jackets, as I knew by experience
that shipping horses was not a strong point with
cavalry officers, who, as a rule, disappeared below
deck as soon as their regiment arrived, doubtless
to look after the berthing of their men. I was only
too pleased to be left to work alone with my old
friends of the navy. Using two brows and two lifts
at the same time, it took just four hours to embark
over 300 horses : full details of the means employed
and the time were by request sent to the Staff
College. The animals were handed over to the blue
jackets on the jetty, who, although many of them
could never have handled a horse before, managed
somehow to be friends with them at once. It was
but rarely I had to use the breech-tackle we im
provised to run a restive horse into its box like a
gun into a broadside port. Once there, the most
obstreperous brute was down the hold and into its
stall before it knew what had happened.
The quickest infantry embarkation was a regiment
which went in a hired ship, the Russia, to the Cape.
It came in two trains with regimental horses and
baggage. In sixty minutes from the first train enter
ing the dockyard the whole of the men were sitting
at dinner round their mess-tables, with their packs
stowed overhead, their arms in the racks, and the
ship reported as ready to cast off. A company of the
regiment came the day before with the heavy baggage :
using these men as guides, and furnishing them with
tickets to show where to take each mess and what
to do, greatly simplified matters. I was particularly

234 QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL'S WORK, PORTSMOUTH.
pleased with that embarkation, as, owing to some
oversight in London, I had the day before to get some
forgotten troop fittings put in at once and a lot of ship
stowage done : for this the admiral superintendent of
the yard got me 200 blue-jackets from the flagship.
Somehow anything connected with ship work seemed
like second nature, and carrying on with my old friends
of the navy was to me simply delightful. By an
extraordinary piece of good luck for me, the Duke
with some of the Horse Guards staff and two Lords of
the Admiralty were in the yard at the time of the
Russia's embarkation, and came to the troop-jetty to
see how it was done.
At the end of the trooping season invalids and time-
expired men and families came home, with as many as
300 and 400 children with their mothers, in a single
ship. Many of the families were often in want of
money or warm clothes for the journey to their homes,
and helpless women with their children also drifted
down to Portsmouth days before they ought to have
come for embarkation ; so we started a Soldiers' Fami
lies Benevolent Fund, to be administered by our office,
the first lieutenants of the Indian troopships giving the
necessary funds, about £200 a-year, from the profits
of their canteens. Continuous work fortunately was
a useful antidote to prevent one's feelings being inter
fered with, but occasionally a lump would come in the
throat at some of the parting scenes on the jetty,
and more especially when relatives came to meet an
invalid, and were informed that the poor fellow had
been buried at sea. The lunatic invalids were often
sad examples of the effects of tropical service, but
they also at times caused some amusement. More
than once piercing shrieks from a train of invalids

TROOPING YARNS. 235
leaving the yard have caused it to be suddenly pulled
up, only to find a grinning invalid, who informed us he
was one of the lunatics. One day the man in charge
of the lunatics came to me in great alarm, saying he
had lost them all. Being in the same clothing as the
crowd of invalids, they had simply got mixed up with
them. The matter did not trouble me ; I felt sure
that even lunatics who had been so long under dis
cipline would answer the helm. I directed all the
invalids to fall in in two ranks. All being reported
present, I gave sharply the word of command,
"Lunatics, two paces to the front, march." They
all stepped out at once. " Lunatics, close on the right
file, right turn, quick march. There are your lunatics,
put them in their proper carriages."
Five years' trooping furnished many yarns. Their
narration would take up too many pages, but I may
mention one of them. Several ladies had come to the
jetty to meet a regiment returning from the Zulu war ;
there happened at the same time to be another trans
port, the Tamar, on the point of leaving for the West
Indies. A soldier's wife, whose husband was at
Barbadoes, came up to me with a letter showing that
she ought to have got a passage, but somehow had
made a mistake in her application. The ladies were
of course most sympathetic and anxious I should give
the woman a passage, but I had no authority to do so :
however, as on a few other similar occasions, I came to
the conclusion that as there was room I might risk it.
The woman's baby and box were at Gosport ; the ship
was to leave in less than an hour. She said she could
be back in time, and started off to fetch them. The
hour for departure came, but no woman. . I got a
delay of ten minutes more, but still no woman. The

236 QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL'S WORK, PORTSMOUTH.
pilot, an old naval one, and therefore a friend, said he
must start on account of the tide, but at my earnest
request he made the tide late for another five minutes
that morning ; still no woman. He again put the
tide back for three more minutes, still no woman, and
then said he could not safely remain any longer. The
warps were cast off and the screw about to turn, when
there was a shout of a boat coming round under the
bows with a woman in it. With blue-jacket alacrity
she and her belongings were in a few seconds got on
the jetty. " Shove her in through that port," I
shouted. " No," said Foley, our kind-hearted admiral,
who had arrived on the scene, " she will stick ; get
that light brow." Like lightning it was run in. One
of my old sailors picked up the woman and ran her on
board, another followed her immediately with the
baby, and a third with the box. They were all on the
deck and the brow hauled out just as the ship moved
away. I then shouted to the officer commanding the
troops, who was standing on the poop, " That woman is
to be entered in the returns as your servant." " I don't
want one," he answered. " Never mind," I replied, " it
is a mere matter of form ; please so put her down."
For a moment I had forgotten the baby, which was
not on the embarkation return : then a happy thought
struck me, so I roared out to the startled colonel,
" That baby does not now exist, but it is to be born
during the voyage ; that will then make your disem
barkation return correct." All this time I had quite
forgotten the ladies standing behind me, until their
presence was recalled by a shout of laughter. They
were good enough to congratulate me on my fertility
of resource and miraculous power over tides and also
human nature.

PROFESSIONAL TRAINING OF ARMY. 237
Fertility of resource is probably hereditary. One of
my boys, an energetic little chap with a will of his
own, could not get on with his governess, and at last
ended by making her stand in a corner. He was
warned that any further trouble by him would entail a
severe whipping. One evening, after a hard day's work
in the dockyard, the boy met me at the door with a note
from the governess. I said I was too tired to whip
him, so he must go to bed in disgrace. I could not
imagine why he was so disappointed, until I heard he
had prepared himself for the expected punishment by
a padding under his clothes of towels, copy-books, &c.,
and got the other children to test it with a cricket-bat :
that boy ever afterwards was known at Portsmouth as
the " Ironclad."
Situated as Portsmouth was, there was not much
opportunity for the troops getting any instruction
beyond regimental and brigade drill on the common :
it will be hardly credited in the present day how
generals and commanding officers were hampered by
the civil departments of the army. Seeing the traces
of our only field battery very slack when marching
past at Southsea, I made some inquiries, and was
privately informed by the officer commanding the
battery that the War Department had let their
drill-field at Hilsea Barracks to a farmer, and the
artillery were not allowed to use it until the farmer
had got his hay in. Fortunately our general had
sufficient influence to get the lease terminated. Our
only chance of making even a show was when the
Duke came down in October for his annual inspection ;
and my immediate chief, W. S., the best friend I have
ever known during my life, showed what might be
done with a very little expenditure in railway fares,

238 QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL'S WORK, PORTSMOUTH.
by taking the whole Portsmouth division out on to
the open down country by Petersfield. When my
chief was transferred to a more suitable field for his
energy at Aldershot, I was directed the following year
to work on the same lines and arrange something new
for the Duke's visit. I thought it a good opportunity
to show the weak points of the Portsmouth defences.
The Portsdown forts were all very well, but the
western continuation of the line of defence by the
chain of the Gosport forts was far too close in, even in
those short-range days. The Portsdown line ought to
have been continued beyond Fareham tunnel to the
Tichfield stream (I think that is its name) and down it
to the sea. The angle at Fareham tunnel was the
weak point, and I drew up a scheme for the field
operations so as to show how easily the line could be
broken through there. Having got leave from the
farmers to go over their land, the day was a great
success, and at its termination the Duke directed the
usual explanation of what had been done to be given
to all the mounted officers assembled. The general, a
well-known soldier, long since gone to his rest, not
being at the time strong enough for an open-air
lecture, I was called upon. It rather startled me,
but nerving myself for the occasion, with the Duke
in front of me and the Horse Guards' staff behind
him, I tried to imagine the assembly as one of my
garrison classes, and launched out. I could see
H.R.H. was much pleased ; and next day he did
me the honour of coming up to me, and said, re
ferring to the operations, " That was a very credit
able performance of yours yesterday." That gave
me confidence for the operations next year, in which
I showed the weakness of the east end of the Ports-

VALUE OF THE VOLUNTEERS. 239
mouth line, and how easy it would be to cut off the
water-supply of Portsmouth.
I had a more ambitious scheme, which passed the
Horse Guards, but the Admiralty did not see their
way to sanctioning it on account of the number of small
craft which would come and very probably cause an
accident. The Isle of Wight being within the dan
gerous zone for the dockyard, I wished to direct
attention to such an excellent landing-place for an
enemy as Sandown Bay, which was then very inade
quately protected. My scheme was for a naval
attack by the Channel and Reserve Squadrons on the
solitary fort there, and a disembarkation against such
troops as could be spared — a naval counter-attack to
come from Portsmouth. The surrounding hills would
have given a magnificent site for those looking on.
It would have been a grand spectacle, and I thought
a useful one.
The Easter volunteer reviews, usually at Brighton,
were really little more than military picnics as far as
instruction went. The entraining was useful to the
regiments. This was part of my work, and I then
became aware of the Volunteers being of themselves
in a better state of discipline than was generally
supposed. It would be out of place to go into details,
but I can state that even regular battalions could not
have worked more quietly, or been better in hand,
— not on account of their officers looking after them,
because few of the officers really knew their duty. It
was the natural intelligence of a superior class of men
which showed itself. The battalions I used to see
were, I believe, the best of the force : had they had
trained officers I would have been well pleased to
have gone on active service with those regiments-,

240 QUARTERMASTER-GENERAL'S WORK, PORTSMOUTH.
after, say, a month's proper instruction in camp. I
happened to be station staff officer at Slough for the
great Volunteer Review at Windsor in 1880, when
50,000 volunteers were assembled in the morning, and
sent away again in the evening. 13,000 of them
came to my station. Only one man was decidedly
under the influence of liquor. I disposed of him by
locking him up in a railway carriage of his train,
which was then shunted into a siding, where he
remained for the rest of the day. For the return
journey I had to entrain 10,000 after ten o'clock at
night, with the other traffic on the line going on at
the same time. At two o'clock I lay down to sleep as
I was, in a waggon filled with straw, more than ever
satisfied that with a proper system of organisation the
Volunteers might be made a reliable force for the
defence of the country; but as long as M.P.'s, who
are afraid of losing votes, are so obstructive when the
military authorities try to wheel useless regiments
into line, this is hopeless. One can understand
civilian M.P.'s, who think more of the security of their
seats than that of the country, taking the line they
do, but it is almost heart-breaking to read of M.P.'s
who have been in the service, and who unquestionably
must know they are doing wrong, throwing obstacles
in the way when the War Office tries to do its best to
make the force what it ought to be.
When at Portsmouth a circumstance came to my
knowledge showing how very careless our authorities
in London were in keeping as secret as possible the
plans of our defences. One day it was arranged that
there was to be a grand visit by some eminent per
sonages to the Spithead forts. The German naval
attache" requested permission to go also : this was

NEGLECT IN KEEPING DEFENCES SECRET. 241
referred to the War Office and refused. He told me
he regretted not being allowed to go. His visit
could have done no harm, as he already knew all
the details of the forts. I asked him how he
managed it. He told me that he happened to be
sailing out to Spithead one day when the forts were
being built. He went up alongside one of them, when
a man there, possibly a small canteen-keeper, asked if
he would like to buy some ginger-beer which he had
for sale ; so he went up and over everything. Doubt
less he was not the only foreign officer who had done
the same. It is to be hoped he was not invited to
buy ginger-beer in one of the great land batteries, or
his naval eye would at once have seen that the 18-ton
guns in it were mounted behind 12-ton shields, and
that in consequence they could not be used for any
thing but very short ranges, as the chase of the guns
came against the shields, which were too low for
them as soon as elevation was attempted. The
Royal Engineers supplied the shields, but the Royal
Artillery put in the guns. I noticed this on my first
visit to the battery in question, because, some four
years before, I saw the same thing in a battery, since
dismantled, on the Almeida at Gibraltar. A day or two
after I had noticed this I was talking the matter over
with some of my gunner friends who were inspecting
this Almeida battery, when I said I saw a way out
of the difficulty. " How ? " they asked. " Why, put
the sights underneath, and reverse them." " But how
on earth would you so use them ? " " Easy enough," I
replied. " Get a light-headed gunner who can work
with his heels in the air instead of his head. There are
some such men in the regiment." Fortunately there
were no loose rocks handy, or I might have suffered !
Q

242 QUARTERMASTER- GENERAL'S WORK, PORTSMOUTH.
I always look back on the five years at Portsmouth
as the most interesting and pleasantest time of my
life. All the staff worked together as one man, and
as for our general, Prince E., none could ever have
been more popular. We on his staff became devotedly
attached to him. The hospitality and kindness of
the general and Princess E. were unbounded. The
thoughtful care of our princess for the soldiers' wives
and children left behind on our hands, occasionally
for weeks at a time, was something to remember.
It was by her influence that the army obtained that
most useful institution at Portsmouth — viz., a woman's
hospital, for those invalids who were unable to stand
the journey to Netley or their homes. Wards for
invalid officers were also then established at Netley.
During the autumn of 1880 I managed to get away
for a fortnight to the French manoeuvres. I had no
letters of introduction as in Spain ; but on calling on
the French general, saying I should be glad to have
permission to be with his corps, for the purpose of
picking up all the professional information I could,
he at once very kindly gave me leave. I had as a
companion an old friend doing correspondent's work.
I, so to say, attached myself to the 8th Regiment of
infantry, going with them everywhere from daylight
until the evening, and soon made some pleasant ac
quaintances with reserve men — barristers and such
like. Some of their billeting experiences were most
amusing, but the one who capped all was a friend
who had been billeted on a sage-femme. The officers
did not seem so keen as ours are when out at
manoeuvres ; and the men used to talk a good deal
about getting back to their foyers, carefully calcu
lating how much longer they would have to serve :

FRENCH ARMY CORPS MANOEUVRES. 243
but that must naturally be the case in all conscript
armies. I afterwards found it was so with the
Germans also. The troops were worked uncommonly
hard, almost, if not quite, as much as if they had been
on active service. There were no dry canteens and
waggon-loads of beer following, as at our manoeuvres,
as if for the express purpose of making our men
helpless, and teaching them " how not to do it " on
active service. I could not help being struck with
the way my French acquaintances, taken from their
ordinary civil-life occupations, managed, heavily laden
as they were, to do the long marches and tiring
manoeuvres across country. Dead tired as they must
have been, it was grand to observe how rapidly the
shooting line was formed and the supports in the
right place as soon as the enemy opened on us. As
in the Crimea and China, it was worth seeing how
quickly fires were lighted and food got ready during
the middle-of-the-day halt. Public disclosures a few
years ago show something very wrong in the ad
ministration of the French army, but if France in
days to come produces a Cromwell or Napoleon, the
carefully organised Germans would find the French
army could not be disposed of as in 1870.

244

CHAPTER XVIII.
INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, EGYPT.
During my last year at Portsmouth — viz., 1881 —
when the Duke made his usual autumn inspection,
there was so much going on that I was unable to get
a chance of an interview with the quartermaster-
general, Sir G. W., which I much wished for ; but
as he left with the headquarter staff for town, I
requested him to read a little memo which I gave
him about Egypt, where matters were approaching
a crisis. It was an outline of the paper I had
written in 1875, with reference to an advance on
Cairo via the Canal and Ismailia. Towards the end
of the year the chances of our having to interfere
in Egypt became so evident that I thought it would
be a move in the right direction if I paid another
visit to that country for the purpose of making
myself acquainted with the military resources of a
possible enemy, so that in the event of hostilities I
might have a fair chance of being employed on active
service. With this view I went to town and saw
the quartermaster- general on the subject of getting
six weeks' leave : I had some two months due to
me, and I thought I might combine business with
pleasure, shooting snipe in the Delta. My leave

" SNIPE- SHOOTING IN EGYPT. 245
was arranged, and I was directed to call at Adair
House before leaving. My proposed trip met with
the approbation of the chief there, who exclaimed,
' ' Thank goodness you are going ! We wanted to
send out two officers some time ago, but it was
forbidden." I mentioned that as I was going out at
my own expense, snipe-shooting, no one could inter
fere with me, or even know where I had gone, and
I should be only too pleased to be of use to my old
department. An Indian troopship happened to have
a vacant cabin in pandemonium, — the lower deck, so
much depised by subalterns : this, a naval friend, a
retired admiral who had agreed to go with me, and I
occupied, and thought how luxurious it was compared
with what we had known in our younger days.
We landed at Port Said the end of January, and
as a good deal of special information with regard
to the capabilities of that place had to be recorded,
we remained there some days. I had several cases
of ammunition with me, all very legibly marked as
such ; we were consequently looked on as very keen
sportsmen. Snipe were not plentiful near the town,
but we had other business to occupy us ; amongst
that work, the possibility of the Canal being wil
fully blocked in places, and the means of clearing
it had to be considered. A naval friend, I found,
was similarly employed at the Suez end. I com
menced at Port Said, and when making my observ
ations on the Canal bank, I made a curious dis
covery. An easterly gale came up very rapidly, and
at last was so strong, driving the sand from the
dry far side into my face, that I had to cease work.
Next morning the wind having a good deal gone
down, I went on the Canal bank again, when, to

246 INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, EGYPT.
my astonishment, I noticed that Lake Menzaleh on
the west side of the Canal had disappeared beyond
the horizon in that direction, and that the Arabs
were walking on the mud where the day before large
boats had been floating. When thinking over this
extraordinary effect of wind on shallow water, it
suddenly flashed upon me that I was witnessing a
similar event to that which had taken place between
three and four thousand years ago, at the time of
the passage of the so-called Red Sea by the Israelites.
Subsequently, when I had time for it, I examined
the shores of the Bitter Lakes, and came to the un
questionable conclusion that the Red Sea of Pharaoh's
day extended to the head of the Bitter Lakes, and
it was there the passage took place, and that the
description of it in Exodus is literally correct, word
for word. I need hardly say the usually accepted
Sunday-school picture of a number of people running
through what looks like a deep railway cutting is not
what really happened. The crossing was evidently
by a broad shallow belt — cleared by the east wind —
which would permit of the immense crowd of people
and animals getting over in the time stated. I went
fully into the subject in a public lecture in London,
at which the savants declared I had proved my case,
and solved a problem which had puzzled the world
for many centuries. The lecture was widely dis
cussed, one post bringing me two newspapers, one
from Bengal, the other from New Orleans, both
concurring in the correctness of the idea brought
forward. Ismailia was the next place where I thought it
advisable to try for snipe. As that town might be
required for a base of operations, we were a few

"VOILA VOS BECASSINES ! " 247
days there : our bags were not great, but neverthe
less sufficient to impress the people with whom we
were brought in contact. In the following August
I happened to be again at our old lodgings in the
H6tel des Bains ; I was then in uniform. Our former
acquaintance, the Arab waiter, beckoned me to the
corner of the building, — " Ah ! monsieur etait ici en
hiver pour la chasse aux becassines " ; and then
pointing to the troop - boats landing the soldiers,
" Voila vos becassines ! " The next place visited
was Tel - el - Kebir, at that time without intrench
ments, with the exception of a line of an old shelter-
trench : we went simply for the shooting, which was
splendid. It was not until I had been to Cairo and
got behind the scenes that I discovered what the
intention of the Egyptian War Office was with regard
to the position at Tel-el-Kebir ; then I paid another
and much longer visit to the place.
Unfortunately my companion got a chill in the
marshes, which brought out a bad attack of malarial
fever, from which he had formerly suffered, so we had
to go to Cairo for medical advice : the end of it was
the admiral had to go home, and I was left to con
tinue my work alone. By great good luck I made
the acquaintance of Mr C. B. Alexander, who had
come over from the United States for the winter, and
who was also staying at Shepheard's. This acquaint
ance in due time became a firm friendship, which
has existed between us to this day. I happened in
course of conversation, when talking about Egyptian
soldiers, to say I had not yet seen how they lived
in barracks. Alexander mentioned this to General
Stone, a fellow-countryman, chief of the staff of the
Egyptian army, who very kindly arranged for our

248 INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, EGYPT.
visiting the Abdin barracks, and an inspection of
the infantry brigade stationed there. I came to
the conclusion that as I had no uniform, we ought
to make up for our being in plain clothes by the
magnificence of our equipage ; so I hired the smart
est turnout I could get in Cairo, and, with running
footmen covered with gold embroidery, we drove
up in state to review Arabi's troops, just three
months before hostilities began by the massacre of
Alexandria. After the review I had the officers
assembled and made them a grandiloquent speech
in French, in which I am afraid I rather embroidered
history, about our having in former days " combattu
l'ennemi c6te a c6te sous l'ombre des Pyramides," &c.
At the end of it one of the officers said certainly
soldiers were all brothers, but we were Christians,
and they were Mohammedans. " Oui, c'est vrai," I
answered ; " mais avec soldats il n'y a pas beaucoup
de difference entre les deux religions. La grande dif
ference est ceci : vous avez deux femmes, moi, je n'ai
qu'une. J'en ai, je crois, le dessus." This very much
amused the officers. I then said, " Peut-etre mes
sieurs les officiers se trouveront un jour en Angleterre ;
il me ferait grand plaisir de les recevoir chez moi."
A rather extensive order, considering the size of my
little house at Southsea, but in the East a trifling
exaggeration is permissible.
I afterwards went over the barracks, going every
where. No English quarters could have been cleaner
or in better order, but at that time the Egyptian
army had an energetic American officer as chief of
the staff. The state of filth of these same barracks
when the Egyptian officers were left to themselves
during the war was something indescribable. As I

REVIEW ARABI'S TROOPS. 249
was in the Abdin barracks, I thought it just as well
to make a mental calculation of the number of British
troops they could accommodate : five months after
wards my calculation proved to be correct. When
examining the men's rifles — my inspection was as
minute as if the regiment had been my own, — I
noticed that the inside of the barrels shone like glass.
On inquiry I was told that, being in a dry climate,
oil was unnecessary on any part exposed to the air :
oil would at once have made them unserviceable when
used in the sandy desert. This I specially reported,
but my caution was not attended to until after our
first fight at Kassassin, when I again brought the
matter to the notice of the commander-in-chief in
Egypt, and a general order was issued forbidding
the use of oil. That evening I dined with our
agent - general, Sir Edward Malet : he was much
amused at my cheek in getting Arabi to allow me
to inspect his troops.
Soon after arriving in Cairo I became aware, from
the exceedingly critical state of affairs, that before
long we should, if only for the purpose of protecting
the Suez Canal, be obliged to occupy the country :
it therefore became clearly my duty to obtain as
quickly as possible every information connected with
the Egyptian army and its powers of resistance.
Little did the 200 or 300 English visitors then in
Cairo know what volcanic soil they were on. The
decided language in which the Egyptian officer stated
we were Christians and they Mohammedans gave me
something to think about. What I considered not
improbable was a sudden rising as in India in 1857 ;
so I secretly worked out a plan for the concentration
of the English in Cairo, and selected a place where

250 INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, EGYPT.
I thought it possible we might hold out until relieved.
A fortnight afterwards, when at Alexandria, I sug
gested to the responsible official there a similar plan
for that town, and drew up a rough scheme for the
place selected. Unfortunately my precautions had
not been attended to when the massacre took place
in June.
The task I had now in front of me was no small one.
There are legitimate and, so to say, illegitimate ways
of obtaining information, and, as an English officer who
had been so kindly received by the chief staff officer of
the Egyptian army, I was determined to do nothing
which could be considered in any way derogatory to
my profession. Possibly it was this very line I took
which enabled me to get all the information I required.
On one occasion I thought the chief of the staff was
lifting the curtain rather too high, so I said to him
plainly, " You must not tell me too much. You and
I may be on opposite platforms before long." He
laughed, saying, " When I am abroad, I keep my eyes
open, and I guess you do the same." To sum up : I
was able in my report to give not only a full detailed
account of everything connected with the army — its
guns, arms, stores, magazines, factories, what was on
order in Europe, and what their scheme of defence
was : I was also able to examine and give an account
of the state of the forts at Alexandria, and along the
coast, with the nature and number of their guns, &c.
I managed to get an excellent French map of the
Delta, which was of great use to me in reporting on
the military value of the railways, the Cairo, Ismailia,
and Suez fresh-water canal, means of communication,
&c. The supplies of food, forage, transport, &c, had
also to be fully tabulated. Trout-fishing and snipe-

SCHEME FOR CAPTURING ALEXANDRIA. 251
shooting are useful accomplishments. At Cairo I
found geologising came in handy, particularly on the
Mokattan Heights, where I was able to locate there
the proper position for a breaching battery against the
Mokattan fort, which commanded the citadel, and also
a place where the wall of the citadel could have been
escaladed, had the storming of it been necessary ; but
the citadel was a trifle, as regards its importance, com
pared with the rapid capture of Alexandria at the
commencement of hostilities.
With that object in view, I first of all examined the
west coast in the vicinity of the place where Napoleon
landed, but the proximity of forts and other works
which had been constructed, rendered a landing there
impracticable ; so I tried the east at Aboukir Bay,
where Abercrombie disembarked. That was too far
off; but I saw that, although not a very good one,
the shore at Ramleh would do as a landing-place, par
ticularly in the morning, before the usual midday on
shore wind sprang up. The waterworks hill, which
was close to, gave a splendid position : once in posses
sion of that, the whole narrow peninsula below it,
bordering on the lake, on which were the road and
railway from Alexandria to Cairo, would be under our
fire, and every soldier in Alexandria in our power. I
worked out the necessary calculations, and came to the
very decided opinion that 3000 infantry, with half-a-
dozen ship's field-guns and Nordenfeldts, could hold
the position between Ramleh and the lake so strongly
that no force of Egyptian troops from Alexandria
could turn them out. Deprived of fresh water, and
the usual daily food-supplies from outside, the gar
rison of Alexandria, and all the Egyptian officials
there, must in a few days have surrendered.

252 INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, EGYPT.
The capture of the four colonels, who were simply
making use of Arabi as a figurehead, and who in
July were with him in Alexandria, would in every
probability have ended the " military operations."
In my report I stated the professional value of the
principal officers. Opposite Arabi's name I wrote,
" An ignorant fanatic, with some crude ideas about
liberty." One of the four colonels was believed to
have military ability, but he really had none. No
Egyptian officer, except one, Raschid Pasha, a Cir
cassian, who had served in the Turkish army during
the Servian war, Cretan rebellion, &c., — his sobriquet
was "White Moustache," — showed any real profes
sional knowledge. The selection of the position at
Tel-el-Kebir was a great mistake. A few miles farther
back there was a position which would have been a
difficult nut for us to crack. In my report I stated as
follows with reference to the Tel-el-Kebir line which
the Egyptian War Office had decided on : "If de
feated, they would certainly lose all their artillery, and
it is more than probable the fellaheen soldiers would
avail themselves of such a favourable opportunity for
disbanding and returning to their homes." That is
exactly what took place on the 13th September. In my
report I also mentioned that the black troops and the
long-service garrison artillery would prove themselves
to be good soldiers. This they certainly did. As for
the fellaheen under Egyptian officers, I stated what
Gordon told me about them in the Soudan — viz., that
they were trash, and that when difficulties arose, they
used to come to him beseeching to be sent back to
Khartoum. As the position at Tel-el-Kebir had been decided
on by the Egyptian War Office to resist any hostile

BEDOUIN FRIENDS. 253
force coming from the direction of the Canal, I went
down there again for more snipe. I managed to find
quarters at Zagazig, an important railway junction
that required examination. There I made the ac
quaintance of the local head of the Telegraph Depart
ment, Clarke (now, alas ! no more), who afterwards
was my right-hand man in my special work. For his
invaluable services I got him recommended at the end
of the campaign for a C.M.G., which he received. I
afterwards put up at the small house of a most hos
pitable and kind-hearted French lock-keeper on the
sweet-water canal near Tel-el-Kebir. Here I met a
young Bedouin sheik, a keen sportsman, who spoke
English. I also got on good terms with several of
his tribe, who were most useful to me after hostilities
commenced, when I was in charge of the Intelligence
Department. The quiet observing power of these sons
of the desert is wonderful. The young sheik told my
friend Clarke some time afterwards he could not quite
make me out. I was evidently thinking of something
else besides shooting : he noticed I did not always
fire at birds getting up within easy shot, and once
he noticed me walking with the step of a land-
measurer. I was keen about duck as well as snipe,
and got capital flight -shooting in the dusk of the
evening. This puzzled my native friends, who said
I was a curious man, shooting snipe by day, but
going out alone on the marshes at night to shoot
ducks by starlight. In a short time the Bedouins
became specially friendly. One who was going with
a lot of camels across the canal into Syria was anxious
that I should go also : he said that with him I should
be quite safe, and I could get grand shooting. On
finishing my work at Tel-el-Kebir I returned to Shep-

254 INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, EGYPT.
heard's, examining on the way up every canal -lock
and position between Tel-el-Kebir and Cairo. As
soon as I arrived there, an English official who knew
what I was about said, " Look out for yourself, and
be uncommonly careful with any letters you write
home, because an English officer, who, by the way,
had passed the Staff College, coming through Cairo,
tried to inspect some military store buildings in a way
he should not have done, and also made some very in
judicious inquiries at a hotel frequented by foreigners,
and finished up by posting a letter containing what
he thought was useful information, and directed it to
a friend at 'The Intelligence Department' in London."
This, my informant heard, was noticed in the post-
office and opened. I let him know that I was not
quite such a fool. I did not say how I sent my weekly
budgets to the quartermaster-general, W. They were
under cover to a clergyman, and I was particularly
careful never to post them myself: an acquaintance,
casually asked to do so, usually shoved them into the
hotel box, under my eye, with a handful of his own.
My letters to my wife I posted as conspicuously as
possible : they were full of details of my wonderful
shooting. There was one place I considered I ought to examine,
and that was Damietta, which might come within the
sphere of possible operations. As the details of my
trip there are possibly amusing, I venture to mention
them. There had been a fanatical outbreak at Dami
etta shortly before, and I knew that if I spoke to Sir
Edward Malet he would forbid my risking it ; but I
came to the conclusion that without an inspection of
that place my work would not be complete, so I
started off alone. On the way there I had to stop

REPRIMAND A STATIONMASTER. 255
at an important railway junction on the Damietta
line, and whilst totting up its sidings and making a
rough sketch of part of it, I saw the stationmaster
looking rather curiously at me. At once I beckoned
him to come to me. I then pointed to some broken
iron sleepers on the line and sharply asked him in
French why he had not had them repaired ; they
had evidently been broken some time. He nervously
made some excuse. I then sternly demanded to know
if he reported to P. at Cairo about the coupling break
ing on the train that morning. He had not done so,
but would. I then gave him to clearly understand
that if he wished to remain a stationmaster he would
have to do his duty better.
My special reason for going to Damietta was to see
what the black troops there were like, and to go down
the river to find if any works were being constructed
at the mouth. A bogus examination of the lighthouse
would have answered my purpose, but the consular
agent at Damietta, on whom I relied, was in such a
nervous state as to what might happen to himself
that he would do nothing to help me about a boat ;
but, thanks to my excellent glasses and the minaret
of a mosque, I managed to see all I wanted. The
difficulty was to get up that minaret with the
guardian of the mosque close to the bottom : he
was quite indignant when a man from the inn who
could speak English asked him to allow me to go up
to see the view. My friend from the inn gradually
got the guardian away from the minaret, when I
rapidly ran up the stairs, and with my glasses made
an inspection of the mouth of the river, and satisfied
myself no earth had been disturbed there. The irri
tation of the mosque-keeper was intense when I got

256 INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, EGYPT.
down : however, to appease his wrath, I offered him a
piastre (2^d.) This he scorned, but a second, after
some haggling, quieted him. Had I offered him a
dollar or two, his suspicions would probably have been
aroused. I managed to get all the information I re
quired about Damietta — trade, stores, water-supply,
garrison, &c. There were only two English amongst
the 30,000 inhabitants.
I got some good snipe-shooting in the marshes, but
during the three days I was there I felt myself
shadowed by rather a pleasant - looking individual ;
and when I remarked that " la chasse aux becassines
est magnifique ici," my friend, with a twinkle in his
eye, replied, "Mais, monsieur, je ne suis pas chasseur."
Possibly he fancied that to keep him quiet I might
have mistaken him for a snipe. In the East officials
do not stick at trifles, so I was careful at the table
d'hote of our little inn only to take some of those
dishes to which my shadow helped himself. I took
care to make my own cocoa ; coffee made by other
people is not always 'wholesome. By night as well as
by day my gun and cartridges were handy.
One morning I got a wire from M. saying he wished
to see me at once. He had found out where I was,
and I thought had become anxious and wished to re
call me. When I arrived in Cairo, he said he was
glad to see me safe back, but he had sent for me to
give me a telegram from Lord Granville, that I was to
do certain work in Egypt for the Intelligence Depart
ment. I asked M. to wire back from me, " Work
finished, will return on Thursday if not stopped." As
no wire came to stop me, I set off for Port Said to get
the Messageries boat to Marseilles. Before leaving
Cairo I confidentially settled with the head of the

ARRANGEMENTS FOR CIPHER LETTER. 257
English railways there, P., that if hostilities did
imminently threaten, he should have as much rolling-
stock at Suez as possible, and arrange with some re
liable person to have an accident which would prevent
the engines and carriages being easily got away. I
also devised a sporting -letter cipher with Clarke at
Zagazig, in which snipe, duck, sand-grouse, &c, meant
something very different. He was to report anything
doing at Tel-el-Kebir. When at Port Said I exam
ined the narrow strips of beach for ten miles or so east
and west of the mouth of the Canal. Any troop-
landing on the east was quite out of the question.
The mud-crust, when I walked on it, waved up and
down like thin ice : I easily pushed my stick through
it into liquid mud underneath. I was amused to find
that the ubiquitous German officer had been along the
strip of shore only the year before. On the west side
I got as far as the opening by Fort Gemil, a place
which had to be taken into consideration from its
proximity to Port Said, and the possibility of a coup
de main from there to capture Port Said and block
the Canal, for which I ascertained a number of small
torpedo dynamite mines were ready. Going on board
the Marseilles steamer I had an amusing adventure.
The commissaire was nervous and excited. I hap
pened to be followed along to where the commissaire
was by a French lady. On my asking the commis
saire for my cabin, he said, "Voila, la cabine pour le
major et sa femme." I remarked, " Cette dame n'est
pas ma femme. Ma femme est en Angleterre." " Cela
m'est egal," replied the commissaire. " Je n'ai pas une
vautre. C'est la cabine pour monsieur et madame."
The lady's startled look was amusing. Needless to
say, I had the cabin to myself. R

258 INTELLIGENCE DEPARTMENT, EGYPT.
My report met with the approbation of the authori
ties. I could not help being hugely delighted on
meeting in St James's Street, the day after my re
port went in, the new quartermaster-general, Sir A.
Herbert. His first words were, "That is a splendid
report of yours." H.R.H. directed an official letter
to be written expressing his satisfaction : —
"Horse Guards, War Office, June 1882.
" Sir, — His Royal Highness Commanding-in-Chief
has read with great interest the report on Egypt
prepared for the Intelligence Department by Major
Tulloch, Welsh Regiment, D.AQ.M.G. at Ports
mouth. " His Royal Highness is aware that, owing to the
state of affairs in Egypt, Major Tulloch must have
experienced many difficulties in obtaining the infor
mation contained in his report, and that had he not
acted with great tact and discretion it would have
been impossible for him to have collected the details
which have made it most valuable.
" I am directed to request that you will be so good
as to convey to Major Tulloch his Royal Highness's
high appreciation of the excellent work that officer
has done. A. Herbert,
Quartermaster- General.
" To Lieut.-General Prince Edward of Saxe- Weimar,
Commanding Southern District."
The report was printed by the War Office confiden
tial press in May, and in June, after the massacre at
Alexandria, copies were given to the Cabinet Min
isters, and also sent to the French and Indian Gov-

SATISFACTION. 259
ernments. I was repaid my actual expenses — a little
over £100 — from, I understood, the Consolidated
Fund. It was a great personal satisfaction to me
that I had done what was right in getting, on my
own initiative, information which ultimately proved
to be so useful.

260

CHAPTER XIX.
MEDITERRANEAN FLEET.
When the news of the massacre at Alexandria in June
arrived I happened to be in London, attending at the
Admiralty about that portion of my report referring
to the protection of the Canal and the necessity for
the gunboats patrolling it having their tops fitted for
machine-guns to fire over the banks. When there I
happened to say to Sir Cooper Key, the First Sea
Lord, " Should the admiral want a spare foretop man,
I am ready." Next day I again went to the Admiralty
to explain in every detail my scheme for the proposed
landing at Ramleh, taking over with me from the
U. S. Institute the account of Abercrombie's expedi
tion, which had an excellent plan of the Alexandria
peninsula. The first words Sir Cooper Key said were,
" You had better go down to the War Office at once ;
we have applied for you to be attached for duty with
the commander-in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet."
On going into the details of the proposed scheme
for capturing Alexandria, I pointed out that Arabi
would have a number of leading Europeans in his
power, and that he would have to be somehow in
formed that he had to answer for them with his own
life. " Ten for one, commencing with Arabi," was the

SERVICE UNDER THE PENNANT. 261
answer Sir Cooper Key gave. I could have given a
cheer, so delighted was I with the strong naval back
bone showing itself as usual. At the War Office I
first of all saw the adjutant - general, Sir Garnet
Wolseley, and went again with him very fully into
the details of my proposed scheme for the capture of
Alexandria. From the adjutant-general I went to Mr Childers'
room, who informed me what I was required for.
H.R.H. then came in and also told me that I was to
report myself to Sir Beauchamp Seymour, commander-
in-chief of the Mediterranean Fleet. I said I had
better at once take the first train to Portsmouth to
get my things. H.R.H. said, "You have not time;
it is now two o'clock ; your train for Brindisi leaves
at eight." So I wired to my wife that I was off that
night to join the Mediterranean Fleet, and to send up
my servant at once to meet me at Victoria Station,
with my blue patrol-jacket uniform, sword, revolver,
and some underclothing. I then went to Cox's for
money and to the Opera Arcade for sponge, tooth
brushes, shirts, collars, &c, in case my servant did not
arrive in time. Fortunately he got up just as the
train was starting and threw my little portmanteau
into the carriage. In forty - eight hours I was at
Brindisi, and three days afterwards reported myself
to the admiral in my Piccadilly suit, black hat, and
umbrella, just as I had left London. The world did
not contain a happier individual than I was at that
moment. No officer of my standing ever before could
have had a grander appointment, and that regularly
under the pennant I loved so well.
The massacre had produced a general stampede of
the Christians in Egypt. Greeks and Italians by the

262 MEDITERRANEAN FLEET.
thousand, with their wives and children, were pouring
into Alexandria, and being shipped off to Europe by
us, that energetic naval officer, Charlie B. of the
Condor, superintending the embarkation arrange
ments. After an interview with the admiral, I went
at once to the British Consulate to see if everything
in the way of defence was right. The consul had been
badly wounded, and barely escaped with his life on
the afternoon (massacre commenced about 3 or 3.30
p.m.) of the 11th June, which proved fatal to so many.
I found a marine officer in charge, and everything
ready. A telephone wire and cable connected the
Consulate with the flagship in the harbour, the
barracks and forts were full of troops, and it was
very evident that Arabi and his crew meant to make
the place too hot for us. Passing the low sea-battery
of Mex on our way into the harbour, I noticed that
it was in a different state from when I last saw it in
March : everything was ready for action there. I
was not long in getting, so to say, behind the scenes :
it was really war now, and I did not hesitate to use
all means in my power to get the information I
wanted. I had full authority to draw for any sum
I required for the special service I was on. Amongst
other matters, I found an agent for torpedo-mine
exploding material had just left for Europe after a
conference with Arabi & Co. I put salt on that
individual's tail by a wire that he bore a striking
resemblance to one of the Phoenix Park murderers,
for whose apprehension there was a reward of £1000.
The agent was not seen again in Egypt.
The morning after my arrival an amusing incident
occurred which put me at once en rapport with the
fleet. At daybreak, when the decks were being

FLAG-MAJOR. 263
washed, I was up as usual, with bare feet, and as
the weather was hot, had on only a thin flannel
singlet and a pair of loose white trousers. Suddenly
I saw the light just right for getting a good view of a
battery on Ras-el-Tin, which was very indistinct at
other times. I ran down to my cabin, slung my
glasses over my shoulder, and almost before I was
aware of it, found myself running up the main rigging
sailor fashion, as I had often done in my younger
days, and over the futtock shrouds into the main-top,
where I made my observations. Before coming down
I noticed the men washing decks were looking up
at me in amazement : this great military swell was
really only a sailor after all. When I got on deck
the first lieutenant said he would not have run up
the rigging barefoot, as I had just done, for a £5
note. I heard this little escapade of mine was sema
phored all over the fleet that morning, and had a very
good effect as far as I was concerned.
My quarters were on board the Invincible, my name
being — I was pleased to find — regularly entered on the
books as belonging to her. I had an excellent cabin,
and lived with Captain Molyneux. To the best of
my recollection, the Monarch and Penelope were not
in the inner harbour with us when I arrived. I think
they joined us afterwards, but we had three or four
gunboats, the Condor being one of them. The ad
miral lived for the time being on board the Helicon,
where there was a daily conference. The flag-captain,
H., I found signed himself chief of the staff. " Well,
Hotham," I said, "if you take a shore rank, I consider
I am fully entitled to take a sea one, and sign myself
flag-major," which I assumed as my proper status.
A kinder, more hospitable, or more delightful chief

264 MEDITERRANEAN FLEET.
to serve under could not possibly exist than my
admiral, Sir Beauchamp. We had another admiral
close to, Conrad, whose flagship was the French iron
clad, the Victorieuse, which was also in the inner
harbour : every one liked him immensely. He always
insisted on putting Mac in front of my name ; why,
I never could make out. To keep my chief well
posted up in the Egyptian preparations was my
principal duty : this necessitated a good deal of shore
work. I was cautioned by certain politicals to take
care of myself, and was in consequence always ready
for accidents. My growing naval beard and the
curious plain clothes I managed to procure were ap
parently sufficient. A little Arab boy did, however,
recognise me. Wanting backsheesh as usual, he said
with a grin, " I see you shooting Damietta." One
morning when at the Marina I happened to ask a
Gippy officer my way out : he took me for some
one else. I followed him, thinking he was guiding
me to the street, when he suddenly ushered me into
a room where Arabi and all his crew were assembled
in some sort of conference : to make a low bow and
clear did not take me long.
All this time our politicals and the admiral were
in constant telegraphic communication with the Gov
ernment at home, whose motto seemed to be, " Peace
at any price." We saw clearly enough what it would
all end in, but the Government were apparently of
the same mind as the proverbial ostrich. One morn
ing when I was engaged writing on board the In
vincible, a tall thin subaltern of engineers named
Kitchener came to see me : he had got a few days'
leave from his general at Cyprus, and as he could
speak Arabic, had come to see if he could be of any

A MUDDLED CIPHER MESSAGE. 265
use to me. " Certainly," I replied ; " I hope you will
be able to stay with me." The following day a
cipher message from the adjutant-general, Sir Garnet,
arrived. (I should mention that I had arranged a
cipher code of my own in case he wished to com
municate directly with me : I chose a very simple
number, so that in the event of the paper with it
being lost, it could be found in the Army List. The
number was that of my regiment and my age last
birthday.) I could make nothing of the message
although both K. and I worked it in every conceiv
able form. Evidently there had been some careless
ness on the part of the person who had undertaken
to forward it, so a query was sent via the Admiralty
in their cipher. The answer delivered to me next
morning at daybreak was to the effect that I must
not speak to newspaper correspondents about my
scheme for capturing Alexandria, as it was all in a
telegram from the ' Times ' correspondent, then on
board one of the P. and O. ships lying in the harbour.
My indignation at the idea of my speaking to any
one except my chief about my scheme was extreme ;
so I dashed off at once to the P. and 0. ship Tangore,
where I found Moberly Bell, the 'Times' correspon
dent, whom I had not before even seen. He was fast
asleep, and rather startled at being woke up at 5 a.m.
He told me that an officer on the American man-of-
war then in harbour had pointed out the grand results
of an attack exactly similar to the one I had worked
out, and he had wired it home. Nothing more was
said or suggested, and, as I expected, the matter was
forgotten, and Arabi & Co. made no preparations
whatever to meet an attack which would, if carried
out, have been their destruction. When I first

266 MEDITERRANEAN FLEET.
arrived I found the idea was that we might have
to fight where we were at anchor in the harbour :
the French were then to act with us, and I did not
at all like the situation. Opposite, on our starboard
broadside, the shore, with the Ras-el-Tin guns and
garrison, was much too close ; astern of us at 700
yards was the Marina with its garrison ; but what
I disliked most of all, on the port side was the high
quarantine fort, 1200 yards off, which could fire right
down on our decks. I ventured to suggest that if we
were to fight as a fort we ought to have greater
protection from a raking fire from the Marina than
cables piled across the deck would give ; so 10,000
sand-bags were at once got from Malta. Sub
sequently, when we left the harbour to fight outside
of it, I was certain the move was one in the right
direction. Arabi's preparations in mounting more guns and
adding to the parapets of his batteries could not be
allowed to go on, so he got a letter from the ad
miral that the preparations against us must cease.
To this he replied he was really not aware more guns
were being mounted, &c. , and would stop it at once ;
that he was not well acquainted with the armaments
of the forts, but if the admiral wished for information
about them, he should ask Major Tulloch, because
Major Tulloch really knew far more about the forts
than he, Arabi, did. I could not help being really
delighted at such a professional compliment.
The following day a letter arrived from the ad
jutant-general, Sir Garnet, about the possibility, or
rather impossibility, of an advance from Alexandria
via the Nile to Cairo, if a land campaign were neces
sary. Some one at headquarters still fancied that

RECONNAISSANCE IN DISGUISE. 267
route. By this time the Nile was so high that,
even if there had been no canal in Ismailia, an
advance by that way would have been very difficult :
Napoleon's march was in the dry season. To be
certain that the ground was unfit, I got the chief
engineer of the railways, Wright, to run up as far
as the bridge of Kaffir Zyat, eighty miles up the line,
on an express engine. From what he said it was
evident the country was now quite unfit for a march
by the suggested route ; but on thinking the matter
over, I came to the conclusion Sir Garnet would be
better pleased if I reported to him that I had satisfied
myself about the matter by a personal examination.
Therefore I decided to go up the line in disguise. The
admiral did not at all like the risk of my doing so, but
I said I considered it a matter of duty, so arranged to
slip into the Suez train with the mail passengers next
afternoon, got up as a Levantine official. I did not
like cutting off my naval beard, and rather amused
K. by saying, as I brushed it out before clipping it for
shaving : " Well, K, I wonder if this also" — pointing
to my throat — " will be cut to-day." In the morning I
had been with our politicals in their room in the town
in my usual dress : in the afternoon, before starting,
I walked into their room again. The first exclam
ation was, " What on earth does this confounded
Gippy want in here ? " It was some time before
I was recognised, so I thought my disguise would
do. As I had just had two special warnings they
were on the watch for me on shore, I had to be
careful. When a reconnaissance has to be made,
there should always be at least two, to give a chance
of one getting back with the required information ; so
K. went with me in the same train. He, like the

268 MEDITERRANEAN FLEET.
rest of the passengers, was safe enough, but I knew
that if recognised I should not get far. Arrived at
Kaffir Zyat, I made out that I was suddenly so
overcome with a painful complaint I must return for
special medical advice to Alexandria ; but when K.,
who remained to help the invalid, inquired about
the exact time our train would leave, it was decidedly
unpleasant to find that our expected return train had
been taken off, and that there was but one more train
to come that evening. It was the last run by the
European administration, and brought the few re
maining English from Cairo. I thought it advisable
to keep out of sight as much as possible until the
train arrived, and got a couch in a room in the
station-master's house. Having plenty of cigarettes,
I was comfortable enough, but I knew my chief
would be in a great state of anxiety at my not
returning at the expected time. How to commun
icate my situation to him over the Egyptian wires
was the difficulty, until a happy thought struck me ;
so I got the following message sent to the P. and 0.
agent, who had given me the through ticket, " In
form head of firm train taken off, but will send
cotton by the next." G, the agent, was very puzzled,
but the meaning of the message suddenly flashed on
him, and he was quietly able to relieve the admiral's
anxiety. When the train came in I saw one of
the Europeans recognised me, but a quick sign was
sufficient. The invalid and his companion had a
carriage to themselves.
Arabi's people soon heard about my little trip.
Seven days afterwards a fair-complexioned Syrian
was noticed in the train at Kaffir Zyat : he was
taken out of the train under the impression that

EGYPTIAN PREPARATIONS. 269
he was a European doing my work, and his throat
cut on the platform. I doubt if Sir G. ever knew
the risk I ran to get and wire him the information
he required.
Arabi now made little concealment of his work
on the batteries, the men in which were constantly
at drill, sighting their guns on the ships in the
harbour. We should, if this were allowed to go on,
very possibly have met with the fate of Admiral
Duckworth's squadron at Constantinople in the old
French war, which had to leave rapidly and fight
its way past the Dardanelles forts. The Mex fort
and battery, with its Armstrong 12- and 18 -ton guns
and huge smooth-bores, just opposite the passage
through the bar reef, would have been our Dar
danelles. There were in addition to this armament
no less than nine 12-ton Armstrong guns outside
the gate of the fort when I examined it in March,
the carriages and slides being inside the fort ; and
I knew there was a large store of torpedo mines there
which might add to the difficulty. I was also aware
of the scheme to sink boats laden with stones in the
passage through this reef barrier : large boats were
all ready for this at Mex. Arabi thought he would
be strong enough to overpower and capture the
inshore squadron. A gunboat was told off to creep
for wires at night off Mex and prevent the channel
being blocked, which was about all that could be
done. Owing to the absence of any high building,
I was unable to get a look with my glasses inside
that fort, but I managed it as regards the others,
although my having done so, I heard afterwards,
became known next day.
The tension of the situation was well known to

270 MEDITERRANEAN FLEET.
the authorities at home, with whom we were in direct
telegraphic communication, who seemed at last to
have made up their minds we should have to engage
the forts, apparently being under the extraordinary
delusion that the destruction of the forts would bring
Arabi and his friends on their knees. The scheme
for the capture of Alexandria, with which both the
Admiralty and War Office were thoroughly acquainted,
would, according to the revelations in the life of the
late Mr Childers, have been considered " an act of
war," whereas smashing a fort and its garrison was
merely a " military operation." The protection of
the Canal, for which a brigade of infantry at Cyprus
was ready, was certainly a matter of great conse
quence : unfortunately those who had the affairs of
the nation in their keeping could not bring themselves
to see that an act of war in the landing of 3000 men
at Ramleh to capture Alexandria and the Egyptian
chiefs, whilst the fleet engaged the forts, was of very
much more importance, and would have been the
most certain way of protecting the Canal. Had that
scheme been carried out, the destruction of Alexandria,
for which Egypt had to pay an indemnity of five
millions, would have been avoided, and also the loss
of life on both sides in the subsequent campaign, to
say nothing of the cost of it, which had to be borne
by England. The correspondence in Mr Childers'
memoirs indicates very clearly who was to blame for
the terrible mistake.
During the whole of this critical time there was
one individual for whose personal safety we could
not help being very anxious. That was the Khedive,
who was to all intents a prisoner in Arabi's hands at
Ras-el-Tin. It was confidentially suggested to him

ULTIMATUM SENT IN. 271
that I should land at night with a picked lot of men,
and bring him on board for his own safety : this he
at once rejected. It was an unpleasant feeling that
very possibly the first shot would mean his death :
however, that must now be risked, and the time for
action had arrived. Notwithstanding Arabi's promises
to the contrary, he continued to strengthen his works
and mount more guns. The first time the search
light was turned on the Egyptian working -parties,
who were as thick as bees on the parapets, there
was a great scare amongst them, the light probably
being considered as a new form of projectile, some
in their fright even cutting at it. Matters had now
come to such a head that the admiral was obliged
to send in an ultimatum demanding the surrender
of one of the forts in which guns had been mounted.
Arabi offered to dismount three guns ; he was in
formed the time was past for considering such a pro
posal. To atone for the construction and arming of
works which so seriously imperilled the safety of the
ships in harbour by dismounting three guns which could
be back in their carriages in less than an hour, was
rather too much. Arabi, or rather the colonels, were
evidently of opinion that they were strong enough to
beat off the fleet. An answer was therefore returned,
that if the fort in question was not surrendered by a
certain hour, the fleet would open fire and destroy
the forts.

272

CHAPTER XX.
ALEXANDRIA FORTS.
Before the ultimatum was sent in it was ascer
tained that all Europeans able and willing to do so
had come down to Alexandria and got on board
ship : a few still remained in Cairo, and some even in
Alexandria. Instructions for the fleet had also been
prepared, so that when the ultimatum was sent in
there was little left to do except to order all the mer
cantile steamers out of harbour to a position outside,
where they would be safe. To our great regret, our
friends of the French navy were instructed by their
Government to avoid taking any part in the coming
fight. We were quite strong enough to do without
them, but we could not help sympathising strongly
with our old allies in their vexation at being ordered
by their authorities in Paris to abstain from helping
us. The American man-of-war, whose crew were very
keen to join in, had also, as a neutral, to go ; but after
we had landed and were rather hard pressed, then, in
Egypt, as old Tatnall had done at the Peiho, the
American blue -jackets were ashore and alongside
ours. The inshore squadron, consisting of the Invincible
(flagship), Monarch, and Penelope, cleared for action.

READY FOR ACTION. 273
Being masted ships, the same precautions with regard
to securing spars up aloft had to be gone through as
in the old days of the naval fights in the previous
century. The gunboats, Condor, Bittern, Beacon,
Cygnet, and Decoy, had their chain-cables faked up
and down on their sides to protect them as much as
possible against the heavy projectiles. It was a grand
sight, as we lay in the harbour, to see the steamers all
file out past our broadside, leaving us alone, stripped
of our superfluous gear aloft and ready for business.
The rest of the fleet — viz., the Alexandra, Inflex
ible, Superb, Sultan, and Temeraire — were outside the
barrier-reef. The orders for the coming action, stated
shortly, were as follows : the outer squadron steaming
in line ahead were to engage the outer line of forts in
succession, the gunboats to connect between the outer
and inner squadrons and act as required.
That night as soon as it was dark we put out all
lights, and we — that is, the Invincible, the Monarch,
and Penelope — steamed quietly down past the shore
batteries and took up our prearranged positions
opposite Fort Mex. This was the enemy's strong
est fort : the thick sand parapet well covered the
heavy armament, consisting of, to the best of my
recollection, two Armstrong 18-ton guns, three 12-ton
Armstrongs, six heavy 9 -inch (100 lb.) smooth-bores,
and several smooth-bore 36-pounders ; there were also
three heavy mortars. The magazine of the fort was
well covered, and in rear, on a slight rise, was a massive
masonry citadel, with smaller (40-pounder) Armstrong
and smooth-bores (36-pounders). Along the front of
the fort was a rocky foreshore, and behind one flank a
small-boat harbour.
We in the Invincible had a spring on our cable, so
s

274 ALEXANDRIA FORTS.
as to keep our broadside on the fort. Our armament
consisted of 12 -ton guns in an iron-plated casemate,
with eight old-fashioned truck guns — converted rifled
64-pounders — on the quarter-deck and forward. The
Penelope, which also anchored ahead of us, was an
older ship with a lighter armament. The Monarch,
which kept under weigh, had four very heavy guns
in her two turrets and a small secondary armament.
The heavy guns of the turrets of the Temeraire,
anchored 4000 yards outside, were also to engage
Mex. Soon after daybreak a boat with three Egyptian
officers, who said they had been all night looking for
us, came alongside with another proposition from
Arabi, which was so absurd that they were politely
told to return. The inside of our battery, with the
blue-jackets stripped to the waist and ready for action,
was a fine sight. The bridge was barricaded with
hammocks, and here the admiral, captain, and flag-
lieutenant took up their position. There I could be of
no use, so suggested I should go into the main-top,
where I would be able to see over the smoke and give
the ranges. There was a 1-inch Nordenfeldt on the
top under a midshipman named Hardy : we had no
plates or hammocks to protect us, so had a clear un
interrupted view. I was amused to find two ex-naval
friends in the top, lying down comfortably behind the
mast : they had managed to get quietly on board. I
should mention that K.'s general at Cyprus telegraphed
more than once for me to send him back. I replied
that I could not spare him, but on the 9th or 10th, as
soon as I saw the screw of the passenger steamer
which should have taken him back, begin to turn, I
wired, " Finished with K. He has been very useful,

"WELL DONE, CONDOR ! " 275
but can now return." K. in plain clothes I could
not take officially, but it was arranged he should
get on board and keep out of sight. At 7 a.m. the
Alexandra was ordered to fire one gun at Ras-el-Tin
fort. After a short interval this was returned by
Gippies, and a general signal to commence the action
was then made from the flagship, the Invincible.
We also began with our starboard broadside, about
which I sung out to the bridge, "All short." The
Gippies at once gave us a well-aimed return ; they
had our range exactly. I turned to the Nordenfeldt,
and asked what the distance was which had been
given for sighting. "1350 yards" was the answer.
" That," I said, " I am certain is too little. Let the
whole machine off at once, and we shall then be able
to see where the bullets strike." They did so, show
ing that the distance was under - estimated ; 1500
proved to be the right range. The first discharge
from the Monarch's turrets also was short. This I
shouted down to the bridge, and she was so informed
by signal. Her next discharge was, I saw, 300 yards
over. This was again signalled. We now all had the
right range, and a very pretty fight went on. Mara
bout fort, away farther west, also joined in. This the
Penelope answered from her port broadside ; the star
board was engaging Mex. The gunboats, the Condor
leading, had Marabout almost to themselves : fortu
nately being under weigh, they were not hit. This
was uncommonly lucky for them, for a single well-
placed shell from the heavy rifled guns at Marabout
would (as with the gunboats at the Peiho) have sunk
any one of them.
The enemy's gunners, considering the tremendous
fire we poured into the Mex fort, made uncom-

276 ALEXANDRIA FORTS.
monly good shooting, our water-line being apparently
their special target. Placed as I was, I could see
their projectiles strike the water some yards off, and
then shoot along under the surface ; but by the
time they touched the ship their force was gone.
During the four hours we were under fire we were
only hulled about thirty times, and but one plate
was started. Having abnormally good sight, I often
noticed the enemy's shot coming towards us, just like
cricket-balls. My companion in the top, Hardy, —
now, alas ! with the majority, — not having been under
fire before, bobbed occasionally when the shot came
close. I began chaffing him, when a thing like a
railway train rushed past. He had then the laugh
on his side. I could not help staggering back : it
must have been a shell from one of the 18 -ton guns,
and very close to us, as it cut the signal-halliards.
Oddly enough, we did not feel the wind of it : per
haps rifled projectiles are different in this respect
from round-shot. Every now and then something
plunged into the sea on our outer side close to the
ship : it must have been a heavy shell from one
of the mortars. As seen from the battery, these
shells must have appeared to drop on our decks. At
last I became so interested, from a gunnery point of
view, that I almost wished one would drop as intended
on board, so that we might see the effect of such a
projectile on a ship's deck. None, however, hit us.
Suddenly a large spherical shell came through the
bulwarks, struck a bollard or staunchion, and spun
round on the deck. At once the men by the fore
most gun saw what it was, and called out to me,
" It's a shell." Without thinking what I was doing,
I craned over the rail to see if the beast was fizzing.

"well done, gippy!" 277
Fortunately the rap on the staunchion or bollard had
knocked the fuse out, but it was a nasty thing to have
on the deck, so I called to the gun's crew near it,
" Pitch the damned thing overboard ! " and one of the
blue-jackets picked it up and trundled it down the
ash-shoot into the sea. It was wonderful to see how
well the Gippies stuck to their guns : more than once
I saw one of our shells go square and fair into an em
brasure. " That gun is finished," I thought. Not a
bit of it ! back came an answer in due course. The
answer was so quick in one case that I could not help
jumping on to the top-rail and holding on with one
hand to a stay, giving a cheer, " Well done, Gippy ! "
much to the amusement of my friends on the deck
below. Towards eleven o'clock the fire from the forts
began to slacken, and as I could be of no further use
in the top, came down to the quarter-deck, where the
officer in charge of one of the quarter-deck old-fashioned
truck guns suggested I should try my hand at fighting
it. Being fairly well up in the old-fashioned naval
guns, I was delighted. Working a gun on board ship,
where the motion of the vessel takes the sights off the
object so quickly, is very different from firing from a
steady shore platform. The thick smoke from the
adjoining guns I found particularly troublesome, often
obscuring everything just as I was getting on to my
target. When it cleared, the gun would be quite off
the object ; but with one's eye on the sights and the
tube-lanyard in hand, the rapid words of command I
had to give, — " Muzzle right, muzzle left, elevate,
raise, lower," — and then the instant the sights were
on, the word " Well," with a sharp pull of the tube-
lanyard, was most fascinating. Snipe-shooting was
not in it. My target was the lightning-conductor of

278 ALEXANDRIA FORTS.
the low magazine, which I could distinctly see, even
at 1500 yards. I found afterwards several grooved
cuts on the cement roof, and concluded I had had
something to do with them.
We had only seven men wounded, all inside the
casemate. The Penelope had a curious experience :
a huge round-shot hit one of her guns on the muzzle,
putting it out of action. The round-shot broke into
fragments, knocking over eleven men. One of these,
lightly hit on the stern, was seen immediately after
wards under the would-be surgical hands of his com
rade, who was trying to pick the piece of iron out
with his knife. At one time the Penelope got it so
hot, the enemy having her correct range, that her
captain signalled for permission to shift berth, which
he did. The Monarch fought under weigh : her turret
armament gave her a special advantage over a broad
side ship like ourselves and the Penelope.
About eleven o'clock the fire rapidly slackened, and
then ceased entirely. Carefully examining the em
brasures with my glasses, I came to the conclusion,
from the position of the muzzles of the guns, that, as
far as I could judge, not a single one was dismounted.
Certainly, from the tremendous fire we had for four
hours poured into the low-lying open fort, and the
plucky way the garrison had fought their guns, an
immense number must have been killed and wounded ;
but the fort seemed so quiet that I believed it had
been evacuated. The reserves and what remained of
the gunners might have retreated to the citadel just
in rear, but I was under the impression the fort itself
was empty. I mentioned all this to the admiral and
Captain Molyneux, and pointed out that from the way
the garrison had behaved, it was not at all unlikely

BOARDING A BATTERY. 279
another lot of blacks and coast gunners would be sent
down from Alexandria during the night with more
ammunition. (There was a railway from the town to
Mex.) Ours was pretty well exhausted, and if the
wind got up during the night we should not be able
to make such good practice next day ; so I suggested
going ashore, under cover of the gunboats, and spiking
the guns. It was about one o'clock, whilst the rest of
the fleet were still engaged with the other batteries.
This the admiral concurred in, and volunteers were
called for. Twelve were selected, and then, with
Bradford, the gunnery lieutenant, in command, Lieut.
Poore, Hedworth Lambton, and myself, we went off
in the steam-cutter. The names of the twelve sea
men and the four who remained in the cutter were
all mentioned in Sir Beauchamp's despatch to the
Admiralty which gave an account of the action
with the forts. Kitchener, the tall engineer officer,
had slipped down quietly into the boat also ; but Brad
ford said he could not take a man in plain clothes,
even on the plea of being my interpreter : so K. had, to
his disgust, to return on board. Just as I was going
over the side the dear old admiral said, " Well, if you
come back, I will recommend you for  " Just then
a gun was fired, and I did not hear for certain what he
said ; but be that as it may, I could not help laughing
at the words of the farewell. The gunnery lieutenant
took several charges of gun-cotton, with exploders and
wire, my contribution being a hammer and a bag of
great nails. As I got into the boat the men in the
top called down to me, " They are all round the
place." The answer was, "All right ; drive them clear
with your Nordenfeldt."
The admiral had called in the gunboats, which

280 ALEXANDRIA FORTS.
went as close to the shore as possible to cover
our landing. As we got near the last of them, the
Bittern, they again told us they were all round the
place, so we steamed straight for the battery. I
suggested going round and in by the sboat harbour,
where there was a landing - place ; but Bradford
preferred going straight on, as the gunboats could
better protect us that way. When we got to some of
the outlying rocks we stopped steaming, and then, as
the day was very hot and the water looked inviting, I
thought a swim would be very pleasant, so, sword in
hand, slung myself overboard. I was rather out of
breath on getting ashore, but managed to scuttle up a
small breach made by our fire. When half-way up I
put my foot in a shell-hole and came on my nose : the
squadron, looking on, thought I was shot. I got to
the crest of the parapet, when, instead of black fellows,
whom I hoped to frighten into fits by a ferocious
display of the regulation sword exercise, I found the
fort was empty. If there were any men in the citadel,
they thought that with the gunboats so close in they
had better lie low. A gun-cotton charge was put into
the muzzle of one of the 18 -ton guns, a wire attached,
and we all scrambled over the parapet, lying down out
side. The gun-cotton did not injure the gun, so an
other method was tried. A charge was put between
the cheeks of the carriage ; then we took shelter as
before. The carriage was found to be destroyed, and
the gun dismounted. The commander of one of the
gunboats told me afterwards that bits of the gun-
carriage had gone out over our heads to sea and cut
his rigging. Whilst Bradford was attending to the
other big gun, Lambton, the gunner, and I raced off
with the hammer and bag of nails to spike the great

ANQTHER SWIM. 281
smooth-bores, which we did. I found one man had
taken shelter under the first great gun I went for, but
as he did not show signs of fight, we left him alone
where he was. All this work was rapidly done, and
then we decided that the sooner we were on board
our cutter again the better. The Bittern's dinghy
came in to help us, and as I was about done, I
waded and swam out, put my sword in her stern-
sheets, and got in. Just then she touched a rock : it
was not long before she was match-wood, and I was
swimming again. I managed to get rid of my patrol-
jacket before finding myself afloat, and well it was I
did so. I just succeeded in getting ashore ; in a very
few minutes more I should have gone under. Lambton
did not apparently see me as I staggered on land, but
he caught sight of part of my cast-off jacket. " Save
the major ! " the dear good fellow shouted, rushing to
the water, when he fortunately saw I was safe. When
we got back on board the Invincible the delight of the
admiral was extreme : he shook hands with every one
of us. I was so played out that I let my sword fall
on the quarter-deck and tumbled below, where I was
horribly sick. The surgeon said he could not have
believed a man could have swallowed so much salt
water. I did not know I had taken down a single
drop. Our work was finished about half- past one.
The outer squadron at first commenced the action
under weigh, line ahead ; but the distance they had
to be away from the shore they found too great for
effective fire, so they anchored and concentrated their
fire on each fort in succession, but were unable to
silence all the forts until about half-past three. Some
of the ships were a good deal hammered, particularly
the Alexandra, which was hulled over sixty times.

282 ALEXANDRIA FORTS.
Only two officers were killed. I cannot remember the
total casualties, but, considering the time the ships
were under fire, they were small.
Just before going in to dinner the captain's servant
informed me the admiral's coxswain wanted to speak
to me. " Hullo, Winsor," I said, " what's up now ? "
" I beg pardon, sir, but you can speak to the captain
and the admiral. Me and my crew — seven all told —
want you to go ashore with us to-night, and we will
spike all the blessed guns along the coast." To my
very great regret I was obliged to reply, " If I were
able I would be only too pleased to go with you, but,
Winsor, I am done. You know what a squeak of
being drowned I had to-day. I have not enough
strength left in me." A greater compliment from the
blue-jackets I could not have received.
I was told that the steam - cutter had all the
blades of her screw broken but one : she certainly was
well handled in getting in among the rocks sufficiently
close to shore to enable the men to land. Even then
they were up to their waists. Calm at daybreak,
there was a nasty wash of a sea on by one o'clock,
which made our scrambling back into the cutter rather
difficult. The massacre at Alexandria took place on
the 11th June, the destruction of the forts which
avenged it on the 11th July.
When the firing from the forts ceased, white flags
were hoisted in the Ras-el-Tin battery. Some out
buildings of the palace there, just behind the guns,
had been set on fire by shells going over the battery,
but the fire was slight and soon burnt itself out :
there was no smoke then coming from the town. Next
day a battery did again open fire on the outer squad
ron, but was soon silenced : possibly the same would

WHITE FLAG ABUSED. 283
have taken place at Mex had their guns been service
able. The outer squadron went on to the Aboukir
Forts, which remained silent, with — if I recollect
correctly — white flags over them, as at Alexandria.
Our flag-lieutenant, Lambton, was sent in about 11
a.m. in the Bittern with flags of truce, and had an inter
view with Toulba Pasha in the arsenal, and gave him
two hours to haul down colours and surrender, other
wise bombardment would recommence. At the end of
the two hours, on going to the Egyptian yacht, Marou-
sah, for his answer, he found Toulba had fled and the
town set fire to in several places : this under cover of
the flags of truce, which had evidently been made use
of simply to get time to evacuate the town and then set
fire to it. Until daybreak we could do nothing towards
saving Alexandria, but as soon as it was light enough
the inshore squadron steamed to its old anchorage in
the harbour, and the outer squadron was signalled to
send in landing parties : boats could not be used the
day before — viz., the 12th — owing to the heavy swell
which had set in during the afternoon. The streets
were still in the hands of fanatical natives, who opened
fire on the first landing party so strongly that a
Gatling had to be landed to clear the streets near the
Marina. The afternoon before we attacked the forts
I received secret information that, if defeated, the
Arabists intended destroying Alexandria, Damanhour,
and Cairo ; but as we moved out at once from the
harbour, I was unable to ascertain the truth of the
statement. I think it was the day we returned to the harbour
— viz., the 13th — that the Khedive, who had been
in the hands of the Arabists at Ramleh, managed
to persuade those in charge to allow him to escape

284 ALEXANDRIA FORTS.
into Alexandria. He came in with that splen
did fellow, Zorab Pasha, afterwards Sir Zorab. I
believe I was the first officer they met. I happened
to mention to the Khedive how vexed I was my
scheme for landing at Ramleh had not been sanctioned.
When I stated the number I had thought necessary
for the work, he exclaimed, "Three thousand ! One
thousand would have been enough." Soon after he
was installed in his old quarters at Ras-el-Tin, I went
there to write out orders for the different parties of
blue-jackets and marines guarding the gates of Alex
andria. My orders, given as the admiral's military
staff officer, were as follows : " The officer commanding
the different gate guards will make frequent patrols
in the vicinity of his post. Any man seen plundering
is to be made a prisoner, but any one seen setting fire
to a building is to be shot on the spot." The city was
still burning, and fatigue parties from the fleet were
working as only blue-jackets can to stop the fires
spreading. I was recommended to get my order vise
by a Minister of the Khedive, who had somehow turned
up. I sent for him : he was nervous about the order,
and said he must consult the Minister of the Interior.
I then gave it to him straight, when, in a great state
of alarm at my language, he said at once, " I consent,
I consent." This was sufficient for me, and my in
structions to the guards of the gates were carried out.
On my informing my chief what I had done, he at
once approved. Returning to the Marina, I came
suddenly on an Arnaut engaged in plundering : he
seemed to have his belt full of revolvers and knives.
Somehow it became a question of who was the better
man : before he could whip out a revolver, I had
shifted my sword to my left hand, and with my right

WEIGHT AGAINST HEIGHT. 285
let him have it straight under the chin, throwing my
whole weight into the blow. He was a very tall man,
but thin. He dropped at once — his revolver, which he
had just got hold of, being jerked out of his hand by
the fall. He made a clutch at another, but before he
could get it out, I had my foot on his wrist and the
point of my sword on his throat. " Kill him ! "
shouted an individual who suddenly appeared, " or
he will shoot you with the revolver." " No fear,"
I said ; " another move and my sword goes into his
throat." A couple of blue-jackets, hearing the noise,
ran up to my assistance, and we took the man a
prisoner on to a ship's boat. " What are you going
to do with me ? " the Arnaut asked through an inter
preter. " Take you on board ship and hang you," I
answered. " You tried to kill me." " Well," he
replied, "you tried to kill me." He then informed
me he was one of the Arnaut guards of a bank. He
had remained guarding the bank during the burning,
and had only come down for a little quiet plundering
when I caught him. "Well," I said, "you did your
duty by the bank, and you gave me a few minutes'
amusement just now, so you can go ashore again and
return to your bank." Next day I saw him with the
rest of his Arnaut guards at the door of his building.
He recognised me, grinning with delight, and evidently
explaining to his companions the little difference we
had had.
When doing my work I had other adventures with
plunderers, — one in which I made four natives heave
to by presenting, like a revolver, an old-fashioned
wooden gun-sight at them. Another was in coming
suddenly on six Levantine rascals, who afterwards
proved to be well armed : they were so scared by

286 ALEXANDRIA FORTS.
my wild, unwashed, unshaven, piratical appearance
in borrowed naval garments which did not fit, that
when I went for them sword in hand, they allowed
themselves to be run in by me to the nearest guard
without a show of resistance.
Soon after landing I went round the batteries
near Ras-el-Tin. Some of the sights were decidedly
gruesome. I heard afterwards on perfectly reliable
authority that the casualties amongst the blacks,
garrison gunners, and infantry reserves in rear, had
been over 800. Cartloads of dead were taken out
of the battery during the action, but there were at
last so many that a huge pit at Ras-el-Tin was dug,
and they were thrown into it and earth over them :
the top layer of bodies was visible in several places.
The parapet had fallen over some, which could not
in consequence be moved from where they had been
killed. Under one gun, which had been capsized by
a shell, lay the bodies of the Egyptian officer and
five or six of his gallant crew. Few men could
have tried to do their duty better than those wha
actually manned the batteries. We could not help
noticing with admiration how in one case, when a
gun had been dismounted, they had got shears up
and tried to remount it. In another they had tried
to get a gun into its place with screw-jacks, all this
under the tremendous fire from the ships. At Mex
there was a thick sand parapet to cover the gunners,
but along the eastern batteries in many cases there
were only the old stone parapets, the splinters from
which alone must have caused many casualties.
Our fuses did not do well, a great number of
shells not bursting. I found one of our large naval
shells inside the principal powder-magazine. Another

GUNNERY CRITICISMS. 287
interesting circumstance was noticed, and that was
the course taken by our big shells when striking the
superior slope of a sand parapet. After penetrating
a certain distance, the shell took a curve and went
out at the top. I suggested a committee being
formed to take service notes of the effect of our
fire on the different portions of the defences, guns,
&c, but every one was too busily employed. The
conclusion I arrived at was that, if properly con
structed shore batteries have to be attacked from the
sea, special vessels, carrying very heavy howitzers,
should be employed, and there should be a very
ample supply of ammunition. Battleships are built
to fight other battleships, and carry the proper
armament for so doing, and to use such armament
against shore batteries would be an unquestionable
mistake. Mex was a perfectly open battery with
no bomb-proof cover, and without traverses between
the guns ; yet with three battleships firing into it
at only 1500 yards, assisted from the turrets of a
ship outside, it took four hours to silence Mex, and
that was accomplished by the destruction of the
personnel, only one single gun being so damaged as
to be out of action. Had the garrison been properly
protected, we should have got through our ammuni
tion without silencing the battery.
It was a fortunate matter for us that Arabi had
no energetic genius like the French officer who put
Constantinople in a state of defence, and obliged
Admiral Duckworth to withdraw his squadron. There
were at Alexandria 5 18-ton, 15 12-ton, and 12 8-ton
Armstrongs, complete in every way with a large
supply of ammunition, nearly 100 immense smooth
bores, and about 30 heavy mortars, also with plenty

288 ALEXANDRIA FORTS.
of projectiles and powder. The blacks and garrison
gunners were, as they proved, excellent fighting
material. There was unlimited labour available,
but the brain power that might have made Alex
andria a difficult, if not impossible, nut for us to
crack was wanting.
Arabi's forces, after retreating from Alexandria
and setting fire to the town under cover of the white
flags over the batteries, pulled themselves together
at Kafr Dewar, a few miles from Alexandria, where
they commenced intrenching. With an enemy so
near, all the men who could be spared from ship
duty were landed. Even then we were hard pressed ;
but here, as in China nearly a quarter of a century
before, our true friends of the American navy came
ashore to help us.
With such a large force disembarked, I had to
become a shore staff officer again. K.'s general
insisted on his returning to Cyprus : could he have
remained, he would have been invaluable to us. He
himself did not, I am sure, know his own power :
he was very retiring and diffident. Had we been
aware what a genius was with us, not all the generals
in the Mediterranean would have prevented our keep
ing him. I had many things to attend to in the
way of organising our temporary departments — com
missariat, transport, hospitals, fresh -water supply,
and suchlike. There was a splendid man, Cornish,
in charge of the Alexandria water-works, and as I
anticipated Arabi would dam the Mahamoudia Canal,
from which our water came, I had the old Roman
tanks cleared out and filled. The Intelligence De
partment at Alexandria had to be kept going. I
had Arabic type and printers on board the Invincible

A FALSE ALARM. 289
for proclamations, &c, but the work of the department
required one man specially for it. I was therefore
well pleased when Sir F. Goldsmid, who had been
employed in connection with the Egyptian finance,
kindly consented to take it over. Phillips of the
Egyptian ' Gazette,' and Hasseltine a civilian friend,
who had been invaluable to me, and Gibson also,
assisted Sir Frederick.
With so much to do, I had but little time for sleep,
and had not been able to take my clothes off for
several days and nights ; but one night I thought I
might safely do so, and had just got to sleep when a
blue-jacket ran into my cabin saying the captain
wanted me at once on the bridge. I ran up as
I was, in that great luxury, a night-shirt. A man
had just come on board, the only survivor of his
guard, he said, which had been attacked at one of
the gates, and, after a sharp fight, nearly all de
stroyed. As firing had been heard, I at first believed
what the man said, but on cross-examining him, and
looking into his ammunition-pouch, I came to the
conclusion that what he said had to be taken with a
very large amount of salt. It eventually turned out
that the alarm and firing had been the result of a
scare produced by some refugees trying to get into
the town during the night. The admiral, however,
considered we ought to be reinforced, the strain of
the duties being excessive ; so a fast despatch-boat
was sent to Port Said to bring up General Alison's
brigade of infantry, which was still on board ship
there, the Iris being left at Port Said to look after
the Egyptian corvette and its Arabist commander,
anchored in the canal. The Iris's crew lay alongside
their guns, a message being sent to the Gippy com-
T

290 ALEXANDRIA FORTS.
mander that on the slightest move he would get a
broadside from the Iris.
The arrival of General A. with his staff relieved me
of my shore duties. The blue-jackets and marines all
returned to their ships, and I was then free for other
work. With an infantry brigade in Alexandria the place
was safe enough, and as it was of great importance to
draw Arabi's attention away from the canal, recon
naissances in force were made as if preparing for an
attack on his intrenchments. The concentration of
the European portion of the expeditionary force at
Alexandria helped to keep up the delusion until
everything was ready for the coup on the canal and
advance from Ismailia.

291

CHAPTER XXI.

SUEZ CANAL.

My work with the fleet and the shore forces at
Alexandria being now at an end, I was transferred
to the Penelope flagship at Port Said, the centre of
gravity, so to say, of the situation being now on the
canal. My chief was Admiral Sir Antony Hoskins.
His welcome as I rowed alongside was amusing.
" Hullo ! here's the ' Stormy Petrel.' What are we in
for now ? " The actual protection of the canal was,
thanks to Lesseps, not a difficult matter, more
especially as there was now Admiral Hewett's Indian
squadron at Suez, a battleship, the Orion, in Lake
Timsah, and two battleships at Port Said. What I
was specially required for was the formation of an
Intelligence Department at Port Said, which should
know everything about Arabi, and his military pre
parations to resist our getting to Cairo. By great
good fortune I found an Intelligence Department
almost ready made. The officials in charge of the
great telegraph stations throughout Egypt were
English or British subjects, who had lived years in
the country, and knew all the principal Egyptian
officials, and had native friends everywhere. All the
telegraph officials who were British subjects had to

292 SUEZ CANAL.
leave their posts when the rebellion broke out. The
three principal ones remained at Port Said, where
they were under the protection of our guns : by their
help I not only received daily reports of what was
being done everywhere in the Delta from Cairo down
wards, but also copies of many of the important tele
grams which passed between Arabi and his com
manders. I even got copies of some of their letters :
these were occasionally very amusing, showing the
difficulties they had got into by their hasty unpre
pared outbreak. One of the first troubles of the
Egyptian railway authorities was their want of coal,
cotton-seed being used as a partial substitute. Of
course attempts were made to get coal through
Port Said for use by other nationalities, sometimes
by concealing it under other cargo; but somehow
information always came in which enabled us to
stop it.
Arabi was very complimentary to me when he
informed the admiral I knew more about his forts and
batteries than he (Arabi) did. Had he been able to
read the reports in my day-book on the Penelope at
Port Said as they were written up, checked, and
valued, it is possible he might again have been
equally complimentary, or very much the reverse.
Had it not been for Lesseps, I was strongly of
opinion that Arabi would have tried to block the
canal, for which certain preparations had been made ;
but Lesseps, who was hand in glove with Arabi, was
so furious against the English and any idea that they
would dare to make use of the canal for military
operations, that Arabi believed what he said. I
think there can be no doubt Lesseps himself was
under the delusion that he, with the support of the

LESSEPS. 293
French Government, could prevent us taking posses
sion of the canal. I had to be present at all the
interviews with my admiral. Lesseps' moustache
used occasionally to bristle with suppressed indigna
tion, but he was a thorough gentleman, and, taken all
round, we got on with him as well as could be ex
pected under the circumstances. One day on leaving,
the old fellow was, I am sure, very much pleased with
a little remark I made about "le grand Francais,"
although I did lay the butter on a bit thick. We
were very good friends afterwards at Ismailia, where
I had lunch, or rather dejeuner, with him one day,
and he gave me some useful information.
What we had to do was to have all the necessary
preparations ready for taking possession of the whole
of the canal the night before the expedition arrived
at Port Said, and this without exciting the suspicions
of the Arabist Government. We were nearly having
our scheme spoilt by the injudicious action of a naval
officer, who landed and distributed proclamations at
Ismailia, which caused great excitement at Arabi's
headquarters. A happy thought struck me, which
put matters right. I was aware there was regular
communication, of all English news concerning Egypt,
sent to Cairo via Constantinople. I knew well the
correspondent of the ' Standard,' Cameron, a splendid
fellow, afterwards killed in action in the Soudan,
would be too patriotic to object to my taking his
name in vain when it was for the good of our work ;
so I wired the editor of the London ' Standard,' as
if from Cameron, to the effect that " the rumours of
a possible occupation of the canal by the English
are now disposed of. M. de Lesseps, who has the
French Government behind him, has settled that the

294 SUEZ CANAL.
neutrality of the canal shall be rigidly observed.
The guard-ships at Port Said and Ismailia are merely
for the protection of those towns, as some people fear
they might be burnt by the evil disposed. It is now
an open secret that whilst the British portion of the
force will move from Alexandria and attack Kafr
Dewar, the troops coming from India will move from
Suez direct on Cairo." The kind treatment of
certain refugees was also referred to. Arabi and his
colleagues swallowed the whole of the telegram. The
attack direct on Cairo from Suez was considered so
very possible that Arabi had all the spare sidings in
Egypt taken up, and had actually laid fifteen miles of
railway from Cairo towards Suez, and the construction
of the railway went on until we had possession of the
canal. The enemy tried communications with Europe
via Damietta, but a gunboat soon stopped that. I
proposed stopping communication with Constantinople
by cutting the cable in the canal, but the admiral did
not approve of my plan ; so instead one of my tele
graph officials, who had formerly had El Arish in his
charge, went to the coast near the place in a gunboat
with a liberal supply of that metallic argument so
useful in the East. He got to Jaffa and stopped all
communication between Cairo and Constantinople for
ten days, and when he had to leave he brought back
a number of interesting interrupted messages. I may
mention that not only did I regularly get copies of
Egyptian Government telegrams, but also many of
those between certain officials in Europe and Arabi.
There were small groups of Bedouins and detach
ments of soldiers at a few places on the banks : they
did not interfere with the working of the canal, which
was carried on as usual by the French administration.

A RACE TO THE CROSS-TREES. 295
I had an interview with Admiral Hewett, commanding
the squadron at Suez, and also went round the position
on shore with General Tanner, who had the Indian
contingent. Unfortunately, when the boats from the
squadron landed their men, they were just too late to
seize the rolling stock, which I had arranged with the
railway manager, P., should be at Suez : as the boats
touched the shore the last engine and trucks steamed
away. About three miles from Ismailia there is the im
portant railway and fresh - water canal junction of
Nefiche. The large fresh-water canal which extends
from the Nile at Cairo to the locks at Suez sends off a
branch at Nefiche to the locks at Ismailia, which there
connect with the Suez Maritime Canal. Port Said is
also supplied with fresh water from this branch. The
enemy knew full well the value of the Nefiche position,
which, so to say, commanded all rolling stock between
that place and Suez, and the fresh-water supply for
Ismailia. To prevent the locks at Ismailia being
opened, I suggested a gunboat should be handy
within case-range : this was done. Lesseps objected,
but it was better to be on the safe side as regards the
fresh-water supply. Nefiche was at first occupied by
a large force of the enemy ; but after Lesseps' assur
ances that he would guarantee the neutrality of the
canal, they considered it advisable eventually to reduce
the force to a few hundreds, with a detachment at
Ismailia, the main body retiring to Tel-el-Kebir and
the posts between that place and Nefiche.
I was now too well known to get ashore and person
ally inspect the Nefiche detachment and position ; but
I saw from the fore-cross-trees of H.M.S. Carysfort at
Ismailia all I considered necessary. When waiting in

296 SUEZ CANAL.
the captain's cabin one of the quartermasters came in
(the ship being one of the Indian Squadron, I was not
personally known to the blue-jackets) and said, " Your
chair is ready." " What do you mean ? " I asked ; " I
do not understand you." The quartermaster then
replied, " A chair is ready to hoist you to the cross-
trees, as the engineer officer was hoisted yesterday."
" Hoist me to the cross-trees ! Look here, young man ;
I will lay my bottom dollar I can get to the cross-trees
as soon as you do." " Done with you ! " cried Captain
S. (who afterwards commanded the Channel Squadron) ;
so the captain and I both went forward : he took the
port rigging, I the starboard, and we stood by. At
the words " Away aloft ! " up we went with the rapid
ity of two smart royal-yard men, all the ship's company
looking on. It was a dead- heat : our heads met at the
cross-trees. When I was on my beam-ends afterwards
in the field hospital at Kassassin some of the Carys-
fort's blue-jackets who were there had not forgotten
me, and very kindly came into the ward to see how I
fared. At Port Said, although the usual trade of the place
was going on after a fashion, there was a garrison of a
few hundreds of the enemy under the command of an
Arabist major. Being covered by the guns of our
ships, I could safely go ashore in plain clothes when
ever I wished, and arranged with my Intelligence
Department to square the native police (amongst
whom were several Turks and Albanians), so that
when we did land the police might at once go on with
their ordinary work and prevent any incendiary fires.
There was an unusually large amount of petroleum in
the town, and I feared that the Arabist major might
give us a repetition of what had happened at Alex-

SEIZE PORT SAID. 297
andria, in a small way, when he had to retire with his
men to Fort Ghemil.
On the 19th August everything was ready to seize
the canal from Port Said to Suez. The Arabist major
at Port Said gave me a little anxiety. I found out he
lived in the Arab village outside Port Said. I had a
good look at his house, so as to be easily able to
find it in the dark. I then suggested to my admiral
that I should take six picked blue-jackets, and in the
middle of the night, just before we landed, go round
by the marsh-land dyke, break into the house, and
rapidly carry off the major a prisoner. The men were
selected, and the necessary arrangements made to start
between one and two o'clock, when the captain of the
Monarch and the captain of the Penelope both went to
the admiral and would have it that the job was too
risky. The scuppering of the " Stormy Petrel " did not
seem to concern them much ; but the very possible
loss of six of their best blue-jackets evidently did : so
the admiral annulled my expedition. But I privately
decided that if the major was in his house at daylight
I would get hold of him somehow. The arrangements
for seizing Port Said on the night of the 19th-20th
were as follows : I was to go ashore with a small
selected party of marines and surprise the different
guards, the position of all of which I knew. A strong
force of marines and blue-jackets was then to be passed
quietly on shore, and the garrison captured in their
barracks. I got on shore with an interpreter before
the little party of marines, and found myself sud
denly in front of a body of the police. They were
rather startled at first; but on my letting them
know that I had now come to take possession of
the town, and would not hurt them, they took in

298 SUEZ CANAL.
the situation. My marines, as arranged, surprised
the guards. At one there was just a very little
noise, and I found one of the Gippy guard bleeding
rather badly from the effects of a crack on the head
with the butt of a marine's rifle; but that was the
only damage done that morning.
The landing-party slipped ashore from the Mon
arch by means of a raft, so silently that although
the French battleship astern was attached to the
same buoy as our stern moorings, our departure was
not even heard. Knowing the exact position of the
barracks, I took the head of the little column and
led the men so as to surround the barracks. Our
rifles were pointing through the windows before the
troops knew we were there : all surrendered at once.
The senior officer of marines thought my white
flannel trousers too conspicuous at the head of the
column ; but I pointed out that a guide must have
some distinguishing mark, and white trousers were
visible in the rear as well as in front.
By the time we had got the garrison safe it was
beginning to grow light, so I decided to beat up the
quarters of the major, and went off to the Arab village
with my interpreter. The major had bolted about an
hour before to Fort Ghemil ; but the Arabs turned out
with their heavy sticks (nabouts). The interpreter,
getting alarmed as the Arabs became rather excited,
said, "For goodness' sake let us get out of this!
They are going to kill us ! " My answer was,
"Skittles!" He then almost shrieked, "Yes; they
are going to nabout us now ! " So I walked up to
the most demonstrative Arab and shook my fist at
him, saying, " Get out of this, you ugly - looking
ruffian ! " as if the whole affair were an amusing

SENSIBLE GIPPIES. 299
joke. This seemed to quiet the crowd, some of whom
apparently knew a little English. By continuing this
method, and laughing at the ugly leader, we eventu
ally got on to the road leading from the village to
Port Said, when to my great relief I saw a picket of
blue-jackets at the end of it. So did the Arab crowd,
who followed us up nearly to the picket. On joining
it I pointed out three of the worst of the crowd, and
Hammil, commanding the blue-jackets, made a dash
at them and took them prisoners. I told Hammil I
would send a bastinadoer up directly, — "And then,"
I said, " let those three fellows have a full ration of
jam each ! "
Returning past the barrack-gate which our men
were guarding, I noticed the Egyptian troops inside
evidently alarmed as to what their fate would be ; so
by means of my interpreter I quieted them, assuring
them they would be well treated, and if any one
troubled them to let me know at once, as I was their
father, mother, and big brother. This evidently was
very satisfactory to them, so I said that in return for
my protection I expected they would work for me, to
which they agreed. I said we would begin at once by
putting their rifles on to two waggons which were in
the square : this they immediately did.
I reported to my admiral all that had been done
ashore ; but when I mentioned the little affair in the
Arab village, all he said was, "Are you tired of your
life ? " I had never really taken such a serious view
of the matter, and thought I was just a trifle hard in
having the three leaders bastinadoed.
Proclamations in Arabic and, I think, French were
posted up the morning we occupied Port Said, inform
ing such as required it what acts would be at once

300 SUEZ CANAL.
punished with death. I had been told off officially
with the captain of the Monarch to assist the
Egyptian governor in keeping order. Port Said
had the worst name of any place in the Levant for
serious crimes and the use of the knife, but not a
single act of violence was committed for long after we
held the place : the executions in the great square at
Alexandria were well known at Port Said. To cap
ture the whole of Arabi's garrison and have his police
on duty protecting the town in a couple of hours after
we landed, without the loss of a single life, was
decidedly satisfactory.
In broad daylight commenced the entry of the ships
with troops from Alexandria. The commander - in-
chief, Sir Garnet Wolseley, was amongst the first,
and sent for me, directing me to go at once up the
canal in a transport, which had a battalion of
Marine Artillery on board, to reinforce General
Gerald Graham, who was with a rather small force
at Ismailia. That place had been taken possession
of in the early morning by a landing-party from the
Orion, my head Intelligence officer, Clarke, being with
it, and having directions from me to get hold of the
wires, and by their aid to cause Arabi & Co. to believe
that a large force was already on shore at Ismailia :
this he did. Several train-loads of troops were on the
way from Tel-el-Kebir, when Clarke's telegrams made
them stop and consider the situation. I found General
Graham in the desert, a short distance out from Is
mailia, and delivered the commander-in-chiefs message
that he was to capture Nefiche the next morning. The
Orion fired steadily over our heads all through the
night at the position held by the enemy at Nefiche :
this made sleep rather difficult. Fortunately none of

A GRAND OLD FRENCHMAN. 301
the shells were premature, and in the morning General
Graham got his force in order and advanced towards
the station. There was some little delay at first, so I
walked on by myself, as it seemed, by what I could
judge by my glasses, that the troops had evacuated
the position. When I got near I saw I was correct,
but a number of Bedouins were plundering a train
which a shell from the Orion the day before had
disabled : my advent, and the troops coming on in
the distance, caused a stampede, and the Bedouins
rapidly left with what they could carry. I was not
quite certain that some might not be in the station
buildings, so cleared for action, and then burst in
with my right shoulder the door of a large room.
There were no Bedouins inside, but from a distant
corner of the dim apartment (all the shutters were
up) came a voice, " What would monsieur like to
take to drink ? " It was the refreshment - room of
the station ! The owner of the voice was the
refreshment-room keeper, a fine old Frenchman over
eighty years of age : although he had had the Orion's
shells passing close over him all night, the old fellow
was perfectly calm and ready for business ! After
a good laugh with him at the curious situation, I
purchased a most acceptable whisky-and-water.
Returning to Ismailia, I reported what had been
done to Sir Garnet Wolseley, who then requested me
to become the chief of an Intelligence Department for
the expeditionary force. I said I should be very
pleased to undertake the work. He instructed me to
report direct to him : this was on the 21st August.
Previous to this I had regularly sent information to
the headquarters at Alexandria, and gone there myself
to fully explain the situation. I got a hint from an

302 SUEZ CANAL.
old friend high up in the headquarter staff that the
chief of the staff, Sir J. A., did not understand my
position, and wished to know if I had authority to act
quite independently of him. On this hint I sent my
next report (on the morning of the 23rd) for Sir
Garnet Wolseley's information through the chief of
the staff. It was a long one, giving in full a statement
of everything connected with the enemy's forces and
what their intentions were.
Examining prisoners, checking the reports of spies,
and suchlike, was only a portion of my work. I found
I had to act as general agent and referee, not only
to the army and navy, but also to civilians, who used
to come to me when they got into difficulties or mis
understandings with the authorities.
Without going into the history of the campaign, a
short statement of the situation on the 23rd August
may be useful. The distance from Ismailia to Cairo
was about seventy-five miles, and practically along the
whole of it on the edge of the desert were the railway
and large fresh -water canal. Tel-el-Kebir, where I
had ascertained as early as February that the Egyp
tians intended constructing works to bar the passage
of a hostile force coming from the direction of the
Suez Canal, lay about midway — viz., some thirty miles
from Ismailia. My report, delivered at the War Office
in March, specially pointed out that about seven miles
on the Ismailia side of Tel-el-Kebir was the very im
portant canal-lock of Kassassin, and that farther east
— viz., close to Masamah, which was ten miles nearer
Ismailia than Kassassin — were prise d'eaux, by means
of which nearly the whole of the water below Kas
sassin could be run out, and that the possession of
these places was of very special importance to us.

LAND TRANSPORT MUDDLE. 303
The enemy also knew the importance of the prise
d'eaux near Masamah ; but they fortunately thought
it would be possible to stop us there : so, as soon as
we landed at Ismailia, they accumulated stores and
commenced intrenching at Tel-el-Masphutah, just in
front of Masamah, where they also rapidly built a
dam across the canal to prevent a flow of water
towards Ismailia, and another still nearer Ismailia,
at a place called Magfar.
On the enemy's side of Masamah the canal and rail
way were in good condition, being required for their
own use ; but both canal and railway were obstructed
below Masamah, and a certain quantity of rails re
moved. In my early report I had naturally calculated
that the Egyptians would not leave the canal or rail
way in a fit state for our transport purposes, and I
particularly pointed out that only transport vehicles
suitable for the desert should be sent. I specially
mentioned Maltese carts fitted for two mules, with
wheels not less than 5 feet in diameter and with extra
broad tyres. I stated very plainly that our regula
tion transport vehicles would be quite useless, and
would have to be abandoned on the first day's march.
The Indian Government, to whom my report was sent,
attended to it, and had no difficulty with their trans
port ; but the regulation service carts and waggons
came with the force from England, the consequence
being that the first ten or twelve miles of the route
from Ismailia were, on the 24th August and until the
canal and railway were repaired, a very painful sight
with abandoned and broken-down vehicles and horses
and scattered stores — to say nothing of men being
dead-beat owing to their exertions in the heat and
heavy sand to help the transport animals. It was not

304 SUEZ CANAL.
until that date — viz., the 24th — that we were able to
make our first advance, to send forward an advance-
guard of two battalions, two guns, and some mounted
infantry and cavalry for the purpose of securing at
once the prise d'eaux, the intention being to secure
also as soon afterwards as possible the lock at Kas
sassin. In my letter of the previous day, the 23rd,
I had pointed out that the enemy would probably
push forward a strong reconnaissance from Masamah ;
and on the morning of the 24th, before Sir Garnet
Wolseley left Ismailia, I personally told him that,
from information I had just received, Raschid Pasha
intended attacking us on the march, at which he was
much pleased, saying, " Tant mieux, tant mieux."
Raschid carried out his intention, and as soon as our
cavalry advance touched his outposts at Masphutah in
front of Masamah, he advanced to the attack. The
enemy, being much stronger, particularly in artillery,
gave us a good deal of trouble until late in the evening,
when reinforcements from Ismailia arrived, and the
enemy retired to their intrenchments. The head
quarter staff returned to Ismailia, but were back with
the advance-guard at daybreak the next morning. I
remember having the satisfaction of guiding some of
the cavalry out of Ismailia before dawn up to the force
in front of Masphutah. On our force advancing it was
discovered that the Masphutah intrenchment had been
abandoned ; but a large force of the enemy — cavalry,
guns, and infantry — still covered their camp and stores
at Masamah. Our cavalry and mounted infantry at
tacked and punished the enemy so severely that the
Egyptian cavalry never dared face ours again. The
enemy retreated in great confusion, leaving several
guns, and a large store of arms, ammunition, camp

MASSACRE OF CAPTAIN GILL AND MR PALMER. 305
equipment, and provisions ; also nearly a hundred
loaded railway waggons. So demoralised were they
that they did not stop until safe inside the lines of
Tel-el-Kebir. It was decided that night to push on and
secure Kassassin lock, and at daylight on the following
morning a small advance - guard of cavalry arrived
there, and was followed during the day by General
Gerald Graham's brigade — now three battalions of
infantry with two guns and a few cavalry and mounted
infantry. The cavalry and the rest of the advanced
force, owing to the difficulty of supply, were left at
Masamah, Sir Garnet Wolseley and the headquarter
staff returning to Ismailia, where the remainder of the
expeditionary force was still arriving.
On the morning of the 26th, at Ismailia, I received
a long letter from one of my department whom I had
sent to Jaffa to stop telegraphic communication be
tween Cairo and Constantinople. In that letter came
the first intimation of the massacre of Captain Gill,
Mr Palmer, and their party : there was also an offer
from a reliable official to deliver camels at Suez, on
receipt of wire to do so, at £16 per head, saddles and
all complete ; also forage at a reasonable named price.
It was rather late in the day ; but, hard up as we
were for transport, the camels would have been a
useful reserve. As the offer, however, was to sell
only, the chief of the staff would not entertain it : he
would only sanction hiring camels — then an utter
impossibility. It was my duty to point out anything that would
help to overcome the breakdown in our transport, and
seeing the assistance the navy might give us on the
fresh-water canal, I had, the day after we arrived at
Ismailia, got a fatigue-party to take a cutter of the
u

306 SUEZ CANAL.
Carysfort on rollers round the lock there, and others
soon followed. Possibly I was rather too outspoken
on the way the navy overcame difficulties at once,
without waiting for official letters to do so ; and I
also blessed the War Office authorities for sending
such absurd transport carriages. I did not then
reflect that the chief of the staff had just come
from the War Office himself, and might have had
something to do with what had been sent. I fear I
soon got into disfavour with him ! In the mean time
I was specially concerned to get the transport re
quired to enable my own little department to push
to the front, and by the morning of the 28th had
managed to buy three or four ponies and a few
camels — half-a-dozen old Egyptian soldiers who had
been taken prisoners being delighted to remain with
me and take charge of the animals. In the evening
we set off for the front, and had only got as far as
Nefiche when we heard heavy firing, and an alarming
telegram, which was shown to me, came through for
Sir Garnet Wolseley, that " it was feared General
Gerald Graham had been defeated at Kassassin " !
Leaving one of my department, Captain Watson of
the Royal Engineers, to intrench Nefiche, I pushed
forward with the West Kent, which had been ordered
to march at once from Nefiche to General Gerald
Graham. As soon as they were well on the road
I cantered on with my orderly and an A.D.C., who
was taking up a despatch from Sir Garnet Wolseley.
We had an amusing encounter in the dusk with
an alarmed chaplain returning from General Gerald
Graham's force : he records the meeting in his experi
ences, 'Through the Battle -Smoke.' Farther along
the canal -bank we were on the point of trying to

FIRST FIGHT AT KASSASSIN. 307
cut our way through what we took for a party of
Bedouins. Fortunately I heard just a faint challenge
which told me they were our own people — a dis
mounted cavalry picket — who, alarmed by the glitter
of our swords in the moonlight, were about to fire,
thinking we were Bedouins. At Masamah we met
the Guards returning from Kassassin, and the Duke
of Connaught explained the situation to me, adding
that all was now quiet. So I lay down on the sand,
with my pony's bridle twisted round my arm, for
such rest as the animal — fortunately a very quiet
one — would allow me. The next morning, soon after
daybreak, I arrived at Kassassin, and joined General
Gerald Graham's force.
On the Tel-el-Kebir side of Kassassin, at about
two miles' distance, is some high ground which quite
commands the low desert about the lock. The enemy,
seeing how small the force was, and knowing that
the nearest reinforcements were as far back as
Masamah, had decided to advance from Tel-el-Kebir
and attack General Gerald Graham. This they did
on the evening of the 28 th, and it was as much as
we could do to hold our own. Owing to the failure
of our transport and the heavy sand, our two (after
wards four) guns had only the ammunition they could
carry in their limbers : this was soon exhausted, and
the guns had to return to Masamah, the nearest
place where they could get a fresh supply. The
infantry had then to resist the whole weight of the
attack. Fortunately for them the Marine Artillery
battalion had with them a captured Krupp, which
they had mounted on a railway waggon : this gun
rendered most valuable service.
It was not until dark that the cavalry under Sir

308 SUEZ CANAL.
Baker Russell came up from Masamah. Their arrival
and a gallant charge finished the business. The lock-
keeper's house at Kassassin was turned into a field-
hospital and was soon filled. Our casualties were
between seventy and eighty : although ten officers
were wounded, only one, a surgeon, was killed. The
verandah was occupied by the wounded officers, most
of whom seemed to be comfortable enough, smoking
cigarettes.

309

CHAPTER XXII.

TEL-EL-KEBIR.

I was too tired to do much the day I arrived at
Kassassin ; but the next day (the 30th) I made a
reconnaissance over the desert towards Tel-el-Kebir,
and came across the ground where the cavalry had
charged. There were many dead, and, to my horror,
I found several wounded men, some in a state of
delirium, others very weak but still sensible. I never
shall forget the eager, almost wolf-like, clutch at my
seik's water-bag as soon as the unfortunate man he
was assisting knew what it was. I sent in at once
for dhoolies from the Indian cavalry ; and one poor
fellow I helped to carry had his abdomen sliced open
by a sword-cut. Fortunately the bowels had not
been touched ; but I had to put them back in their
place before I moved the man. Another was a
wounded officer — a huge fellow. As I lifted him,
his head, badly cut and festering, fell on my shoulder;
the broken bone of his left arm was protruding
through the cloth of his coat ; this I did not notice
until placing him flat in his dhooly. All this time the
enemy's cavalry pickets were watching me at some
few hundred yards' distance, but seeing what I was
doing they did not advance. Four or five of the

310 TEL-EL-KEBIR.
wounded I brought in recovered, amongst them the
tall officer. He informed my interpreter that on the
night after the fight the Bedouins had plundered
them, even killing some of the wounded who resisted.
Sheltering by the wounded officer I found a little
camel-boy : his only trouble was that his principal
worldly possession, a pocket-knife, had been taken;
but on my promising him an English knife he became
quite cheerful.
At Kassassin I was enabled to get into communica
tion with my old sporting acquaintances, the Bedouins
of the Ouady, by whose assistance I succeeded in
getting a considerable number of sheep brought into
camp. Unfortunately some of our parties sent out to
cut green forage got into hostile contact with my
acquaintances, and the supply ceased. My wild
friends then came in and asked me to send out a
surgeon to attend to their wounded. This request
I could not grant, but told them that if they would
bring their wounded in, I would guarantee their being
well looked after : they were afraid to do so. My
Bedouins gave me special information about ambus
cades laid for our foraging -parties, and when I was
ill in hospital they brought in milk for me, which,
being about the only thing I could take, was very
acceptable. I remember sharing it with an army
chaplain in the same ward; he was an elderly man
with a long white beard : I think he was a Roman
Catholic chaplain.
My Bedouins were also useful as messengers, taking
letters and proclamations from the commander-in-
chief to their head men. One of these messengers
was caught. The sheik to whom the letters were ad
dressed was at once made a prisoner, and Arabi de-

FRIENDLY BEDOUINS. 311
cided to have him blown from a gun. The sheik, how
ever, pointed out that he could not prevent letters
being sent to him by people of whom he knew
nothing. His influential friends pleaded for him, and
he got off. Clarke saw him afterwards, when he ex
pressed a hope that he would never again have to pass
such another quarter of an hour. Sufficient letters
and proclamations fortunately got through to the
right men. My friendly Bedouins and all concerned
understood the situation, and were in consequence
perfectly quiet and ready to help us immediately we
advanced after Tel-el-Kebir.
On the 31st, with a small party of cavalry, I made
a reconnaissance along the railway towards Tel-el-
Kebir. With two of my flankers I came across a
small picket of the enemy's cavalry on the Canal
bank. They opened fire, but my second shot with
a carbine got the range — 700 yards. The enemy at
once cantered off, and we continued on until within
range of an advanced work in front of the Tel-el-Kebir
lines, when, a squadron of the enemy's cavalry coming
out, I had to retire, but not before I had seen all I
wanted. My spies, and the information obtained from
prisoners, added to what I saw myself, enabled me to
give full particulars of the works at Tel-el-Kebir, its
guns and garrison, which were increasing, as the black
troops from Damietta and strong detachments from
Kafr Dewar were being brought up to the lines in
front of us. The official papers found after the
capture of the position showed that my statements
as to the number and nature of the enemy were
wonderfully accurate, as were also the plan and
sections of the works I sent in : the number of
guns was exact to a single piece. Some predatory

312 TEL-EL-KEBIR.
Bedouins gave trouble on our line of communication
with Ismailia ; but a punitive expedition put matters
right. The frightened villagers had taken refuge in a
high crop of millet, and this we drew like a pheasant-
cover at home, in case any Bedouins should be amongst
them. The villagers were well pleased to be rid of
the Bedouins, who had also plundered them. To
keep quiet and simply remain in touch with the enemy,
whilst we knew exactly what they were doing to
resist us, seemed the proper course, until all our force
was assembled ready for the attack. On the 5th
September I was exceedingly disgusted by the arrival
of Colonel Redvers Buller, who had come out from
England to be head of the Intelligence Department.
The commander-in-chief, Sir Garnet Wolseley, wrote
hoping that I would continue to serve under that
officer. My reply was that, for the good of the
service, I was ready to serve under any one, much
less such a well-known soldier as Buller, but trusted
I might be left in charge of the field section of the
department. Considering what I had done for months
past, I could not help feeling that I was hardly treated.
I had brought everything up to date, and the com
mander-in-chief knew exactly what was in front of
him. Every officer of any standing was aware that
another week would see the termination of the
campaign, and my supersession for that short time
caused some very strong remarks to be made by
the senior officers.
Instead of remaining quiet, a reconnaissance in force
was made on the 6th across the Ouady into the desert
beyond. There may have been some special reason for
this, but I was not aware of it, and in the end we had
to retreat, followed up by a crowd of Bedouins, who

SECOND FIGHT AT KASSASSIN. 313
opened a sharp fire on us. I could not help being
amused at my pony, which took the "ping" of the
bullets for some obnoxious insect, evidently of the
horse-fly nature ! When near the Ouady I gave 600
yards as the distance of a fixed object to a young
officer commanding some of the rearguard infantry,
and advised him to be ready to fire steady volleys as
soon as the advancing crowd of the enemy reached it.
But just before they got there they halted, having
come to the end of a telegraph cable, which the
Engineers in our retreat had to cut and abandon.
The thin cable was considered by the Bedouin to be
some devilish contrivance which would at once destroy
them if they advanced any farther ! This victory, as
the enemy considered it, was the reason for the more
serious attack made on our camp three days after
wards. I had been suffering from a threatening of
dysentery for some time : having had an attack of
that disease in 1858 in India, I feared what was
coming. By the 8th I was getting rather bad, so
decided to try the usual remedy, and lie quiet next
day ; but at daybreak on the 9 th I was roused by the
information that the enemy were advancing on our
camp in force. Our cavalry pickets, pushed well to
the front during the day, had been drawn too far
back at dusk. The result was that the enemy were
able to bring their artillery into action almost before
our battalions were in position. A perfect shower of
shells came down on us, but the range being great,
the shells in their curved flight, with few exceptions,
penetrated the sand so deeply that they burst without
doing any damage. The enemy's gunners did at last
get the range of our extended infantry, and caused
several casualties, so I rode up to the Naval Brigade,

314 TEL-EL-KEBIR.
who had the Penelope's 40-pounder Armstrong mounted
on a railway truck, and told the officer in charge —
Purvis — he must fire over our infantry and risk the
shells stripping. (At Taku in 1860, under similar
circumstances, we lost several men from the lead
coating coming off the shells.) The officer in charge
did not at first hear what I said, and I remember I
objected to coming any closer, as the shells were falling
on the sand between me and the truck, so exactly had
the enemy got the range. A few rounds from the 40-
pounder took the enemy's artillery off our infantry.
They then concentrated on the truck, badly wounding
my friend in charge — his right leg had to be ampu
tated that afternoon. Fortunately the heavy shells
of the 40-pounder proved too much for the enemy's
guns, which then retired to another position. Two
guns, part of the force which had come out from
Salahieh to take us in flank whilst the Tel-el-Kebir
force attacked us in front, came on very boldly. I
happened to be riding not far in advance of a small
party of the Indian cavalry when they opened on us at
about 1200 yards. One shell burst fair and square on
touching the sand about 40 yards from me, the frag
ments of it passing me on each side with a whirr like
a covey of partridges. My escape was extraordinary.
Captain Condor of the Engineers, riding not far off,
told me he distinctly saw one fragment pass close to
my right knee. The cavalry were wanted for some
thing else, so I slipped some mounted infantry at the
guns. The way these were silenced was worth seeing.
The blue-jacket is known as the " handy man " — cer
tainly the mounted infantry are the " handy men " of
the British army.
Everything going on well in front, General Gerald

SECOND FIGHT AT KASSASSIN. 315
Graham, his A.D.C., and I then rode to the right
flank. On our way there three shells, coming from
the original front, struck the ground a few yards from
us. I said, " I think, general, we had better shove on
a bit. They have evidently seen who we are, and we
shall have the other three shells of the battery here in
a minute." " No," replied G. ; " don't see why we
should hurry." He then gave me directions to look
after the right flank, and returned himself to the main
attack. Some few years afterwards, in London, when
talking over that day's work, I said, " You left me
in an uncommonly hot corner that morning." His
answer, with a quiet chuckle, was, " I know I did ! "
When the force from Salahieh, which had attacked
our right flank, had been driven back by our heavy
cavalry, I rode forward with my seik orderly to the
open space in front to see all was clear, when the
artillery opposite in the Tel-el-Kebir lines got our
range and opened on us. I then returned to the light
cavalry and battery of Horse Artillery, which was
rolling up the left flank of the enemy's main direct
attack. Happening to ride forward in the flank of
the guns, I found a splendid situation on rising ground
from which a great mass of the enemy's retiring in
fantry was in full view. I galloped to the battery
and brought it up to the position I had found, and
then a perfect rain of shrapnel was directed on the
infantry. As the shells burst over them I could not
help feeling unhappy at what I had done, but it was
business : the battle harvest had to be reaped when
the crop was ready. The light cavalry (Hussars and
Indian cavalry) then had their chance. The Hussars
being in line, trotting forward, I asked Colonel Cog-
hill's permission to ride alongside of him. This he

316 TEL-EL-KEBIR.
gave, and we increased our pace to a steady canter.
The enemy, being about 700 yards in front in a great
unwieldy square, now began firing. We quickened
our pace, and in another minute or two would have
charged, when a bugle or trumpet sounded in our rear,
and the colonel halted the regiment. On my inquiring
why on earth we halted, the colonel said it was his
general sounding the halt. I then rode back and
besought the general to let us go on. The charge
would have been a splendid one ; we felt certain we
should have broken the square, and that done, my
idea was to wheel to the left front and come down
on the flank of three or four batteries of the enemy's
artillery in front of our main attack. But the general
did not think our light cavalry force strong enough.
My entreaties had no effect, and the infantry were
allowed to retire, while we halted, as we were getting
too close to the lines in front to permit of any further
advance (the ' Times ' telegram had it that I wanted
to take Tel-el-Kebir with the cavalry !), so I rode off
to my left and rejoined the headquarter staff. Sir
Garnet Wolseley had by this time arrived with strong
reinforcements, and I informed him what had been
done— or rather what had not been done. That after
noon I found myself in the field-hospital at Kassassin
with my naval friend Purvis, who had shared our
little dinner the night before, on a stretcher opposite
me, the stump of his amputated leg being very con
spicuous. I believe I was in rather a bad way, but I
was revived by a hospital orderly coming up to me
with a bowl containing lime-juice in one hand and a
very solid-looking piece of bread in the other. He
said, " Here is your ration of lime-juice and bread.
Your meat ration has gone into the kitchen. You

A NIGHT MARCH. 317
will get it as soup to-morrow." To offer a piece of
concrete-like bread and lime-juice to a man in my
state was so utterly ridiculous that I could not help
being amused. The absurdity of the man's remarks
was so laughable that it was as beneficial at the
moment as a strong stimulant.
The hospital was cleared on the 12th, wounded
and sick being taken down the canal by the Naval
Brigade, so as to leave the hospital ready for the
wounded in the coming fight. I told the kind-hearted
surgeon in charge that it would break my heart if I
missed the big thing of the campaign ; so I was al
lowed to remain. A friend got me a bottle of cham
pagne, and with the help of that and the milk from
the Bedouins, I pulled myself together and rode off
in the dusk to where the army was halted for the
night. All were lying down on the sand, or pre
paring to do so, when I stumbled against Sir Garnet
Wolseley himself. He was delighted to see me.
Putting his hand on my shoulder, he said he thought
I had been sent down to the hospital ship. I said
I could not miss the coming business, and hoped we
should have a good go in in the morning. A sad
look, I noticed, came over his thoughtful features.
Doubtless it flashed on him that many around him
and in the enemy's lines were then taking their last
sleep in this world.
Stated shortly, the scheme of attack was that the
infantry in two lines of deployed brigades, the second
line as a support to the first, should make a night
march, arriving at the long line of the enemy's in
trenchment, which was at right angles to the canal,
at daybreak, and storm it with the bayonet without
firing a shot. Six batteries of field artillery were

318 TEL-EL-KEBIR.
in the centre of the attacking line, to be used if re
quired. The cavalry were to make a detour round
the outer flank of the enemy's intrenchment and com
plete their defeat. Night marches are very critical
undertakings, and although the most minute direc
tions were given in a lecture by Sir Garnet Wolseley
to commanding officers the day before on the very
ground we were to start from, and we had only four
miles to march over an open desert in a fairly clear
night, the force did not get to the intrenchment in the
order intended : instead of all arriving simultaneously,
the line was in echelon of artillery and brigades, the
brigade on the right being half a mile in rear of those
on the left when the first rush was made.
At the appointed time the whole force moved for
ward in the dark under the guidance of Lieutenant
Rawson of the navy, and Hart, General Gerald
Graham's staff officer. As we approached the enemy's
works a curious light in the east behind us showed
the enemy that something was coming on : it was
the light from a comet. A gun was fired from the
lines. Sir Garnet Wolseley seeing that the horses
of the staff had been noticed, halted us and rode
forward alone. Just then another shell almost hit
him, and, looking through my glasses, which, owing
to their large field and size, were almost as good
as night glasses, I saw in the dim light a mass of
the enemy's cavalry advancing. I called out to
Butler (now Sir William), " Sir Garnet will be cut
off ! " He galloped out to bring him in, while I rode
round to the Marine Artillery, whose colonel at once
had them ready to give the cavalry a volley; but
before they got close up our headquarter escort of
cavalry charged and drove them back. Daylight

BAYONET AND BUTT. 319
was now coming in strongly, and the infantry rushed
the lines. The enemy, who had been behind the
parapet waiting all night for us, opened such a tre
mendous fire that the sound was as continuous as
that of escaping steam, the note of course being
sharper. In about half an hour the business was
over, but the work had been severe, — the enemy's
loss being over 2000, whilst ours was between 400
and 500, 12 officers being killed. The headquarter
staff then rode forward. On our way the horse of
my previous commanding officer, Admiral H, began
kicking violently. A load of forage behind the saddle
had shifted, which caused the animal to stop and
lash out. As in duty bound, I stayed by my admiral
for a few minutes, praying him to cut his forage
adrift. The advanced work then on our left flank,
seeing such a fine target, gave us a shell or two. I
remained until the admiral's horse was quieter, and
then rode through a gap of the intrenchment into the
lines. So many dead and wounded Gippies were
lying about that I could hardly get my pony through
without treading on them. We met our own wounded
before we got to the enemy's position, some still
bleeding freely. Colonel Kitchener, shot in the
throat, was losing so much blood that I wonder he
lived. Sir Garnet Wolseley spoke to him, and he
was able to answer that he was all right.
Just as I got inside the lines my old friends, the
Hussars, came cantering along. I joined them, expect
ing to do business with some cavalry in the distance,
who we thought were the enemy; but we soon saw
they were our own. The heavy cavalry and Horse
Artillery after the fight were on the point of trying to
cross the Ouady, when I fortunately was able to stop

320 TEL-EL-KEBIR.
them, and induce them to stick to the firm ground
of the canal -bank, which went round the Ouady
at Abou Hamed, and then straight to Cairo. The
rising Nile had filtered so strongly into the low-lying
Ouady during the previous week that on the 13th
September it was as impassable for horses and wheels
as an Irish snipe-bog. Whilst the mounted portion
of the force pushed on to Cairo via Belbeis, another
part marched rapidly to the important railway junc
tion at Zagazig, the possession of which would cut
off the rest of the Egyptian army at Kafr Dewar
and Salahieh : all this was stated in my previous
reports of the field section. Clarke, who had formerly
been in charge of the Zagazig telegraph station,
dashed into his old office before any one, put his
revolver to the head of the Arabist clerk, and made
him give up his station number and wire to Salahieh,
" Accident on line ; delay departure of troop train ;
will be repaired in a short time." By this means
he prevented the force at Salahieh from coming in
before we had enough troops at Zagazig to hold it.
What was in the camp was, by custom of war,
the property of the troops which had stormed it ;
but that was no reason why the village of Tel-el-
Kebir, some distance from the camp, should have
been plundered. A stern provost - marshal, with
energetic assistants and a strong force of mounted
police, should be with every army. Looting, a legacy
of the Mutiny days, seems to be considered almost
allowable. Camp followers usually begin, and then, if
not severely punished, the pernicious work is continued
by the soldiers, until even horse- stealing is indulged
in. A subaltern of a certain regiment at Ismailia,
seeing a fine horse picketed not far from his quarters,

ARABI S COOKING-POT. 321
quietly walked off with it : it was actually the charger
of the general commanding his brigade ! An outrage
was committed at Tel-el-Kebir by two men. The
sheik found I was still with the army, and reported
the case to me. The culprits were discovered, tried
by court-martial, and each got seven years' penal
servitude. Had the sentence been death, Sir Garnet
would have confirmed it.
Arabi's tent was carefully overhauled by me the
moment I came to it, in the hope of finding important
papers. There were none ; but I put on one side some
copper cooking-dishes. I would not take them, how
ever, until I had Sir Garnet's personal permission to
do so. He desired me to come to his tent, when he
said I might take anything in the whole camp, and
then kindly gave me so much kudos for what I had
done for him and the navy (the admirals having
specially spoken to him on the subject, as well as
mentioned my name in the naval despatches), that
had I not been, from exposure to the sun, almost as
black as a native, I think I would have blushed !
However, I was then able to congratulate Sir Garnet
on the peerage which that day's work would certainly
bring, and he very kindly insisted on my going down
to rest in the hospital ship at Ismailia, which I agreed
to do ; but when the news came that the citadel at
Cairo was in our hands, and a railway train was made
up to push on the infantry at once, I could not help
getting into a carriage also. Whilst we were waiting
on the platform at Tel-el-Kebir I noticed men sitting
on suspicious-looking cases and smoking. I found the
cases were full of gun-cartridges, the lids being off
some of them. I stopped the smoking, and got the
cases all pitched into the canal as quickly as possible,

322 TEL-EL-KEBIR.
and warned every one that a train of waggons at the
station siding was full of ammunition. To my aston
ishment the chief of the staff came to me, saying that
the Royal Engineer officer in charge of the canal had
complained to him about what I was doing with his
canal !
Our train, owing to the line not being clear,
did not get farther than Zagazig the first night.
Next morning at daybreak we continued our journey.
On our way to Cairo we passed several bodies of
Egyptian troops, also tramping up the line — all de
lighted at the chance of getting to their homes.
When we got out of the train at Cairo I did not
like the look of some of the spectators who had
come inside the station ; so, with my revolver loose
in its case and my hand on the butt, I kept close
to the Duke of Connaught, ready to shoot in an
instant any native who showed the slightest hostile
intentions. The Duke never could have known how
anxious we were for his safety, and how carefully I
shadowed him that morning, the 15 th September.
Soon after arriving at Cairo I collapsed, and was
afterwards informed by an officer of my own regiment
that his cousin in the Guards had found me about
done at the hotel I had gone to, and brought me
round by getting me to swallow a quantity of
champagne. Two days later I was sent down to
Alexandria, and from thence to Malta, where I was
transferred to a hospital ship. At Malta I met
many kind friends, and was much congratulated ; but
I was so broken down that I remember looking more
than once at the water alongside, and wishing I might
drop quietly in. Once at home, however, with one's
belongings, I was very soon right, and fit for anything.

THE HEART OF THE NATIVE. 323
After getting home I heard afterwards from Cairo
that the prisoners whom I had taken on at Ismailia
as camel -drivers and camp -assistants had been in a
great state of mind at my leaving. I may mention in
reference to these men that, after I had taken them
on at Ismailia, I said I could do with less ; but they
plainly said they would not leave, even to go home,
— " Where you lie down we shall lie down ; where
you go to sleep we shall go to sleep." One named
Bolos, who acted as a personal servant to me, when
he was told I had gone, fairly broke down, and
although his hands were filled with silver to take
home to his family, the poor old fellow, on learning
that he would not see me again, let the money all fall
to the floor, and sobbed like a child. I remembered
what a state of mind he had been in, kissing my hand
when I rode away in the evening for the last fight.
The conclusion I arrived at, and that from a world
wide experience, was this : treat natives with justice,
firmness, and kindness, and they will give their lives
for you.

324

CHAPTER XXIII.

SOUTH AFRICA.

On arrival at Waterloo Station the first friend I met
was (Khartoum) Gordon. I then went to thank the
First Sea Lord at the Admiralty, Sir Cooper- Key, for
the good service he had done me in getting me
attached to the navy. He rather astonished me by
saying, " We have had two meetings here about your
getting the Victoria Cross. At the first it was
decided to send in your name ; but at the second we
came to the conclusion that we could not recommend
you without doing the same for those who landed
with you at Mex." I begged he would think nothing
more about the matter, as I did not consider that
what I had done was worthy of the Cross. I had had
a real good time with the navy, which was quite
enough, and Lord Northbrook had sent in my name
to the War Office for a brevet, as he did for the senior
officer of the Marines present with the fleet on the
11th July. I also subsequently received from the
Secretary of the United States Navy, sent through
Lord Granville at the Foreign Office, the report of the
American naval attache with our fleet on the opera
tions at Alexandria, in which was a pleasant little
paragraph about the Mex affair.

TWENTY-THREE NAVAL GUESTS. 325
Soon after arriving in England her late Majesty the
Queen did me the honour of commanding me to dine
at Windsor. After that came invitations to War
Office and Admiralty receptions, and then followed
City dinners. These were the most trying, as I had
to make speeches, to which I was not then accustomed
— all this for only a few months of most interesting
work in Egypt ! It was really too much, and I was
well pleased when the time came for me to return
(March 1883) to my battalion at Londonderry and
become a simple regimental officer again, with nothing
to think about except how to fully enjoy all the fun
offered to soldiers in that most hospitable of stations.
Derry almost made one wish to be a subaltern again,
that of all ranks being the best for having a good
time. However, I did not do badly, and, amongst
other delights, had some first-rate salmon-fishing from
the lessee of the Earn.
The Channel Squadron came into Lough Swilly in
the course of the summer, and I found that compara
tively few of the officers had accepted an invitation
to a city ball given in their honour, on account of
the difficulty of getting rooms at the hotel. I came
to the rescue with an offer to put them up somehow.
Whereupon one of my naval friends, having unlimited
confidence in me, wired up, " Twenty - three naval
officers will come and stay with you " ! Our house
being very diminutive, this rather startled my wife,
when — happy thought ! — we remembered there was a
girls' school at the end of the street, and the girls all
away for the holidays. Although the schoolmistress
was somewhat taken aback at first, she, with Irish
quickness and true hospitality, got beds for all the
officers. It was with difficulty that we induced her

326 SOUTH AFRICA.
afterwards to allow us to pay even for having the
linen, towels, &c, washed. We managed to provide
dinners and breakfasts for all my friends, and first-
rate partners at the ball.
The only professional work I did during that happy
time in Derry was to write out, at the request of the
quartermaster-general, Sir Arthur Herbert, a lecture
on soldiers' food, and deliver it at the United Service
Institute in London. The subject was one in which
General Herbert took special interest, and I, when
doing regimental duty, had tried various experiments
for getting the best nutritive value out of the rations
and messing money. I was well pleased to learn that
the information given by me was found to be useful.
One morning I saw in the papers that Gordon had
given up his work for the King of the Belgians in
Central Africa, and was on his way to Egypt, to go
to Khartoum. I at once rushed across to London,
saw the A.G., Lord Wolseley, obtained permission to
accompany Gordon if he would take me, and wired at
once to Port Said to meet him on his arrival. I was
ready to start by that night's mail if he said " Come."
When offering to pay for my wire, I was decidedly
pleased at the Eastern Company declining to charge
me anything. Gordon's answer was, " Will not take
another European." I afterwards had a post-card
from him from Khartoum, saying it was useless for
me to come, as he would have everything settled and
be out of the place by a certain date. Then followed
a text, which was almost prophetic as regards his
ultimate fate : that post-card I keep as one of my
greatest treasures.
My next expedition across the water was to Brussels,
the King of the Belgians sending for me to do Gordon's

KHARTOUM OR CONGO. 327
work in Central Africa whilst he was in Khartoum.
The king was most kind, asking me to a grand court
ball, and introducing me to the queen. He also
wished I could spare the time to go down to Lacken
and meet Brialmont ; but I thought it better to return
to London at once and see if the authorities would
sanction my accepting the grand offer made by the
king. At the War Office I was plainly given to
understand that if I went in for such a side line, my
soldiering would be at an end, — the authorities in
those days were not so broad-minded and far-seeing
as they are now ; so I returned to regimental work
again. The regiment was now at Mullingar : the
people in the big country houses were hospitality
itself, but somehow Mullingar was tame after ever-to-
be-remembered Derry. I happened to be summoned
over to town to give evidence before a Parliamentary
Committee about the breakdown of the transport in
Egypt, but I declined to say anything connected with
my confidential work in Egypt without full permission
from those concerned ; although, for certain reasons
which may be guessed at, nothing would have been
more satisfactory to myself than a full statement
about everything in my books. A member, doubtless
in fun, referred to the Clock Tower as suitable for
witnesses who would not speak. My answer was, " I
prefer the Clock Tower to Mullingar." The Com
mittee decided they would not require me to produce
my books.
When General Warren's expedition was being
organised for Bechuanaland, I was told at head
quarters that I was to be on his staff. Just then,
however, the colonel of the Welsh Regiment in Natal
died from a snake-bite, and I was nominated for the

328 SOUTH AFRICA.
command. This was considered a better appointment
than the one on the staff. Three days later I was on
my way to Natal in a hired transport, with a battery
of Mountain Artillery on board. We were to call at /
Suez to ship remounts for a regiment of dragoons in/
Natal. It was at that time considered quite possible
that Warren's expedition might bring on a Boer war,
and that there would be business in Natal.
On the arrival of the transport at Malta I was down
with rheumatism and unable to leave my cabin. O^d
friends and acquaintances commanded the men-of-v^ar
then in harbour, and I could not but feel much flattei/ed
on finding I was still remembered by them. Evpry
captain paid me the compliment of calling on m^.
At Suez we shipped 235 horses : they suffered con
siderably from the excessive heat. I hardly dare
mention what the thermometer rose to, especially
when we were in the latitude of Zanzibar. Inclined
planes were arranged along which to bring the horses
on deck in batches at a time : this had an excellent
effect, and is now mentioned for possible future imita
tion. The young officers of the battery had to go
through very different " stables " from what they had
been accustomed to at home. The heat below was so
great, notwithstanding our efforts at ventilation by
means of sails, that officers as well as men had to strip
off every article of clothing when the stalls were being
cleaned and washed. Although anthrax broke out, we
lost only thirteen horses : all the rest were landed in
such good condition that the officer commanding the
cavalry regiment to which they went despatched a
special report to the War Office, and I received in con
sequence a very complimentary letter. I at once wrote
back that, except as commanding officer, I had nothing

REGIMENTAL INTERIOR ECONOMY. 329
to do with the condition of the horses, the credit for
which should be given to our excellent veterinary
surgeon. We arrived at Port Durban on Christmas Day 1884.
I received a wire that, being a holiday, the disembark
ation of the horses would not take place ; but I knew
the danger of delay on a coast where a gale might be
fatal to many of the animals, so sent for the contractor
and had the horses taken on shore at once. Lucky it
was that I did so. A gale began as the last lighter-
load got away.
A finer body of officers and men did not exist than
the regiment I had come out to command. A few
trifling reforms were, I considered, necessary : possibly
my ideas were rather advanced, but the changes I
ventured on answered well. I did away with many
petty restrictions, and treated every soldier, until he
proved himself unworthy of it, as if his feelings re
garding his honour and self-respect were the same as
my own.
One special object of my attention was the feeding
of the men. I managed to get the quality of the
ration much improved, and established a comfortable
regimental restaurant where extra meals and food of
different sorts could be had at a very cheap rate. The
almost immediate effect was that such a thing as a
man disgracing himself by getting drunk in the town
was, during my command at Maritzburg, practically
unknown. When the good of the service required it
I had no hesitation in breaking through regulations,
and many times I put this to the test. If, for instance,
a man with a good-conduct badge gave me his " word
of honour as a soldier " for the bona fides of leave of
absence for something he wished to do, no matter how

330 SOUTH AFRICA.
irregular, I never hesitated to let him have what he
wanted, and never was the given promise broken.
After the general inspection I allowed the men to go
in batches, under their own self-appointed gangers,
with fortnight passes, to work on the railway, ballast
ing the line. They were given tents, but were not
allowed to take any part of their uniform except their
boots, and they made their own arrangements about
food. The only condition I made was that during the
time they were away they should be members of the
regimental teetotal society, and put at least half the
money they made into the savings bank or send it
home. There was no " goody-goody " work connected
with our teetotal society. A crooked sixpence at
tached to a watch-chain was its badge, and a man
could leave it at any time by simply going to the
sergeant with the book and striking his own name
out. The men on the railway made from £2 to £3
a- week, and the contractor was delighted with them.
Each of them, he told me, did the work of at least
four Kaffirs, and there was never the slightest trouble
or disturbance of any kind.
Amongst other changes I re-established what were
anciently known as barrack-room courts-martial, there
by placing the good name of the regiment in the hands
of the men themselves. I had one very practical
instance of how this worked. Occasionally I chanced
to hear men using very objectionable language in ordi
nary conversation, so I spoke on the subject at one of
my parades, and said I left the matter in the hands of
the old soldiers of every room — "You know what I
mean." The change was instantaneous : the self-
respect of the men wonderfully increased. An officer,
who had been with his company on detachment with

REGIMENTAL INTERIOR ECONOMY. 331
that of another regiment, told me that some objection
able language was used by one of the other regiment
to one of my men, who at once knocked the offender
down, telling him the Welsh were gentlemen, and he
must not use such language to them. When two of
my men had personal differences, they settled them as
we did at Sandhurst in ancient days, the fight being
rigidly conducted according to the rules of the ring.
Amongst other matters, I had a scale of punishments
published in orders, so that every man got exactly
what was due to him, instead of feeling that his case
depended very much on the state of the colonel's liver.
The result of letting the men govern themselves, and
treating them like gentlemen, was that they behaved
like gentlemen. It even went so far that, on the
committal of some offence, such as hammering a
native, when I could not discover the guilty one I
mentioned the matter on parade, adding that the man
or men who had done it must give themselves up for
punishment : this was done at once. There was seldom
a man in the guard-room ; but when one of them did
so far forget himself as to disgrace the uniform by
being drunk in town, he got something more than the
regulation punishment. I heard it said several times
after I left the regiment, " Yes ; Colonel Tulloch was
the hardest commanding officer in the British service,
but the most just, and most careful of our comfort."
The regiment had been in Natal for three years be
fore I took over the command, and nearly the whole of
that time it had been quartered in tents, building forts
and suchlike ; but — with the exception of our splendid
Mounted Infantry company — no special preparation
had been made for the possible Boer war which
Warren's expedition might bring about. Everything

332 SOUTH AFRICA.
was going on as if the force at Maritzburg was in
barracks in England. To improve the rifle-shooting
of the regiment was my first care. The Mounted In
fantry company had a special South African allowance
of ten rounds a- week ; I got the same extended to the
other companies. A very large amount of spare am
munition had also somehow accumulated, and this I
annexed. The men were good enough at the regula
tion targets on fixed ranges ; but that, in my opinion,
being only the first rung in the ladder of musketry
efficiency, I commenced a system of instruction in
firing at unknown distances, small cotton targets
stretched on two stout pieces of wire being used. A
mounted man could pick up a dozen of them and ride
off to a new position whenever necessary. No one was
allowed to fire at long ranges until he proved himself
good at short distances. I found that I could teach
every man in the regiment, except about five per
cent, to become a good shot, and I felt certain it was
simply defective eyesight which was the drawback in
these cases. All men who did well at these targets
obtained special privileges. There was consequently a
good deal of private practice at the regular ranges,
which were always available within certain hours, the
men purchasing their own ammunition. The shooting
eventually became something wonderful. Judging
distance whenever away from barracks was also par
ticularly encouraged in both officers and men.
As target practice at fixed ranges was only the
first rung in the ladder of musketry efficiency, so I
considered precise barrack -square drill to be the first
step only towards battle-training. As the regiment
could go through parade drill with the precision of
machinery, I did not further trouble about that part

BATTLE TRAINING. 333
of their training : my work began outside the barrack
railings, on the open veldt and over the kopjes. As
the men would be out for many hours at a time, I dis
carded the uniform of red serge, making them wear
instead a second grey flannel shirt as a loose blouse,
with the collar open, chest exposed, and shirt-sleeves
rolled up. The soldiers were thus as free to move as
my old blue-jacket comrades : a waist-belt to carry
knapsack and pouches only was worn. The chain
and brass ornaments were taken off the helmet, which
then became of some use. To cure the men of that
pernicious habit of always drinking water when they
felt thirsty, I made it an offence to touch the water-
bottles before a given hour ; and any one drinking from
a stream by the roadside was severely punished, the
water-cart with reliable water only being used. Ad
vance- and rear-guard actions, attack and defence of
positions (the Mounted Infantry company represent
ing Boers), were practised on a regular system. Not
only was the regiment frequently out for hours to
gether, working over the veldt under a hot sun, but,
to train them for attacks at dawn, the parade was
often ordered for one hour before daybreak. The
special work for each day was given out a day or
two before. Officers and men became, as the saying
is, keen as mustard over what they knew was real
training for battle, and used to delight in what are
known as field-days against other regiments, walking
round them, as my blue-jackets would have said, "like
a cooper round a cask." To help every one as much as
possible I printed a pamphlet, ' How to beat the
Boers,' for the general use of the regiment, in which
I went into details about shooting and advancing to
attack. After any special day I had all the N.GO.'s

334 SOUTH AFRICA.
assembled in the schoolroom, and with the aid of a
black-board showed what mistakes had been made.
I then encouraged my hearers to ask questions.
The shooting and battle training being well under
weigh, I made an excursion to Colenso (the then rail
head), round by Ladysmith and Dundee, Helpmakaar,
Rorke's Drift, and back by the thorn country, with the
idea of making the Tugela our line of defence, if the
colony were invaded by the Boers : this I did on my
own account, and secretly. I was supposed to be pros
pecting for coal, as to the abundance of which, from
my knowledge of geology and mineralogy, I felt
certain. A senior officer of the regiment accompanied
and assisted me in examining coal outcrops ; but he
was in ignorance of the real object of my trip. I then
gave the governor a confidential memo, but he did not
see the danger to our different detachments from a
sudden Boer invasion. So I sent my memo to the
general, Sir Leister Smyth, at the Cape, who at once
wired to the governor ; a secret Intelligence and
Colonial Mobilisation Committee, composed of Colonel
Dartnell, commanding the Natal Mounted Police, the
governor, and myself, was then formed, and everything
got ready, as far as it was in our power. Warren's
expedition was successful, and the possible Boer war
in 1885 did not break out. Had it done so, I was of
opinion that we should have made a good fight of
it in Natal.
When Warren's expedition was peacefully ended I
went to stay with the general at Cape Town for a few
days. There was just a chance of a Russian war, and
as the submarine cable from England ceased to work,
certain preparations were necessary. As marines, or
rather acting marines, might be necessary on two mer-

THE OLD AGAMEMNONS. 335
cantile cruisers about to be commissioned, I paid a
visit to my old friend Admiral Church at Simon's
Town, to let him know the Welsh were ready to serve
under the pennant, as their 2nd battalion, formerly
the 69th, had so served under Nelson, and were with
him so long that he affectionately used to refer to them
as his Agamemnons. It was a 69th man who was
first boarder on to the San Joseph at the battle of St
Vincent, a name the Welsh regiment now proudly
bears on its colours. I was amused at the chuckle of
recognition when some of my old blue-jacket acquaint
ances, who had been at Alexandria, and who were
then serving in the Boadicea flagship, recognised the
"Stormy Petrel" coming alongside.
Shooting expeditions in a wild country after big
game being excellent practice for campaigning, and
especially for outpost and reconnaissance work, I en
couraged the officers, as soon as the general inspection
was over and everything quiet, to get right away at
once. Tents and commissariat waggons were lent to
them, as the farthest distant parts could have been
reached by a runner in twenty - four hours : one
officer per company only was left behind for regi
mental work.
With Colonel Dartnell, two of his men, and three or
four magnificent, lightly clad Zulus, I rode into John
Dunn's country, where a party of some of my officers
was. So plentiful was the game that before breakfast
the first morning I stalked and brought in a couple of
huge pau (bustards) hanging in front of my saddle.
In the afternoon I got a right and left, killing
two bucks.
Returning, we crossed the Tugela at Kranskop,
where I caught some fish very like the Indian

336 SOUTH AFRICA.
mahseer. I was holding my trout-rod rather lightly-
when it was jerked out of my hand and carried away
down the river by a large fish : I could just see the
top above water, and as it was a borrowed one I
felt bound to recover it. The swim was fortunately
a short one, for inshore lay a long stretch of very
alligator-looking water. I was soon on a rock, and
landed my fish (6 lb.), which was still on.
Dartnell knew the chiefs of several kraals, so I
saw something of the life of the raw Zulus, nature's
gentlemen and ladies — very different from the Kaffir
and the degenerated Zulu brought up in a town,
where contact with a low class of white men seems
to alter their nature. Travellers and officials who
have had to deal with natives in many parts of the
world all agree in stating that the Zulu is the finest
specimen of the black man to be found anywhere.
Settlers who have employed him for years, soldiers
who have fought against him, — all are equally en
thusiastic as to his good qualities. Every one who
has had anything to do with the raw (kraal) Zulus
declares them to be brave, truthful, and moral to
a degree unknown amongst civilised nations. Sub
sequently, after my return from the other side of
the Tugela, I saw a good deal of the kraal Zulu, and
this only served to increase my appreciation of that
fine race. When at Eshowe, after inspecting Mansell's
Native Police, I signalled with my stick (knowing
nothing of the language) how they were to extend,
then gradually close in, firing, to capture an old fort :
they did it perfectly at the second attempt. One
of these men was called " Big Beard." I asked the
reason, as he had no beard, and Mansell said it was
because at the battle of Isandhlwana he had killed

ZULUS' ACCOUNT OF ISANDHLWANA. 337
an English soldier with a big beard. The Zulus who
took part in that fight spoke enthusiastically about
the grand way in which the two last small squares
on the slope of the hill met death. With their
ammunition all expended, and nothing but the bayonet
left, the Zulus say the British made fun of them,
chaffing and calling them to " come on." In the final
mSle'e the Zulus said our men fought so desperately
that each English soldier killed at least ten Zulus.
Of one man who had taken refuge in a deep crevice
in the rock they spoke with unbounded admiration.
This man, all alone, kept up the fight, firing steadily,
killing with every shot, until his last cartridge was
gone, when he coolly fixed his bayonet and dashed
out amongst them, stabbing right and left till over
powered by assegai-thrusts.
The Zulus interested me so much that I wrote a
paper about them, which was afterwards printed for
private circulation. In that I went into the question
of missionaries, and am afraid I came to the conclusion
that, taken all round, the mission to the heathen, in
which old ladies at home so delight, does far more
harm than good to such a race as the Zulus. Were
the missionaries all carefully selected men, fit for the
work, it would probably be different ; but when such
numbers of them are men taken from a low social
station, who have been unable to make a living in
other ways, failure, except in the grandiloquent re
ports for Exeter Hall, is practically a certainty. The
following will show the difference between the Christ
ianised town Zulu and his pagan brother in Zululand.
An officer's wife proposed riding from Maritzburg
across the Tugela to Eshowe, where her husband's
regiment was stationed. She happened to mention

338 SOUTH AFRICA.
this to Sir Theophilus Shepstone, who at once said,
" No lady can ride by herself through Natal ; but the
moment she crosses the Tugela, she can ride in perfect
safety from one end of Zululand to the other." There
were some shocking cases of the effects of civilisation
on natives at Maritzburg, one girl being pulled off her
pony when riding to school. It was proposed, and is
now probable, that, as in certain other colonies, such
offences in Natal entail capital punishment.
In the pamphlet previously referred to I gave an
account of the great mineral wealth of Natal in the
shape of coal: our men had in their expeditions used
the outcrops in several places for cooking purposes.
There were then only three small mines in operation,
one at Newcastle and two at Dundee. Owing to the
almost prohibitive cost of transport, 10 tons per day
was the usual output. A discharged soldier of the
Welsh Regiment superintending, and four Zulus as
hewers, comprised the working staff of the mine I
inspected at Dundee, some 24 feet below the surface.
The coal was being hauled up by two bullocks with
the aid of a rope and block attached to an old
tree-stump. Although Mr North had stated four years pre
viously in an official report in a Blue Book that Natal
contained no less than 1350 square miles of workable
coal, all close to the surface, practically nothing was
done towards developing the immense mineral wealth
of the colony. I sent my pamphlet to several friends,
and was so keen on the coal question and the apathy
of the Government and the colony generally, that I
was considered to be rather toque on the subject.
Coal is not the only mineral wealth of Natal.
Close to Isandhlwana I found a grand outcrop of

A NARROW ESCAPE. 339
iron-ore ; and along the Tugela came across quartz
specimens showing gold so plainly that it must have
been present in the proportion of many ounces to
the ton. Just before the regiment left Natal some
enterprising men suggested that I should take a
hand in starting a company to develop the Dundee
mines, and lay a tramway from the intended railway
to Elandslaagte, where the men of the regiment
(Welsh miners) had found a splendid outcrop. I was
rather taken with the idea, and the matter was under
consideration, when a sudden order came for the
regiment to go to Egypt. This at once put an end
to my commercial aspirations ; but I was, neverthe
less, very nearly becoming a permanent colonist of
Natal, by reason of an accident when embarking my
regiment. The huge troop -lighter which took the
regiment over the Durban harbour bar to the trans
port, H.M.S. Jumna, out in the roads, had nearly
got rid of its cargo : the sea being calm, the men
were rapidly passed in to the ship by the baggage-
port, but a heavy swell began to make itself felt as
the last were going in. I ought to have gone in with
them, but being, as I considered myself, an old sailor,
I did not care to go in at the lower-deck port, and
called to the blue-jackets by the quarter-deck gang
way to give me a hand when the great lighter rose
on the swell, and I would come aboard in that way.
I must have proved heavier than they thought, for
I slipped through their hands and fell between the
lighter and the ship. Those looking on feared that
I was cut in two, but as I rose to the surface I took
in the situation in a fraction of a second, and with
a few rapid strokes was under the quarter of the
lighter before she closed on the ship again. A grass

340 SOUTH AFRICA.
line was thrown to me, and by the assistance of three
blue-jackets, who oddly enough had been with me
on the Invincible, I was lifted on to the lighter.
I did not then know how badly I was damaged, and
insisted on boarding the Jumna in the way I had
intended, but with the precaution of a bowline over
my shoulders in case I should slip again. For about
a quarter of an hour I managed to go on with my
work, but then I had to throw up the sponge and
send for a surgeon. Not only was it found that
several of my ribs were broken, but I had also got
a nasty internal squeeze. The result was that when
the regiment arrived at Cairo I had to be invalided
home, and did not rejoin until the autumn of 1886.

341

CHAPTER XXIV
CAIRO.
In the middle of October 1886, on a Thursday, I
embarked in the Tyne for Alexandria. Hitherto my
family had been at home whilst I was abroad with
my regiment, but this time I took my wife and two
of the children with me for the winter in Cairo.
We ought to have been at Plymouth the same night,
or very early next morning ; but a perfect hurricane
suddenly came on, the force of the wind being as
great as in the typhoon I once experienced in Chinese
waters. So powerful was it that the engine-room
hatches could not be got down, and before the gale
was over there was a dangerous amount of water
in the stoke-hole. Under the influence of a very
nasty wall-sided sea the rudder-head began to move
in a decidedly unpleasant manner, and we did not
get into Plymouth Sound until the afternoon of
Saturday. On Sunday the ship was put in dock,
when it was found that we had just made the port
in time, the pintles of the rudder-post being all but
worn through. There had been great alarm about
us, and we had been reported lost in the Friday
evening newspapers, two men-of-war being under
orders to look for the ship. My naval friends in

342 CAIRO.
the Tyne during the gale took consolation from the
thought that as I was on board we should get into
port all right : they evidently thought I was destined
for a more elevated fate than drowning !
There were plenty of dances and dinner-parties
going on at Cairo, and many excursions to be made,
so my family had a good time of it until the end
of the winter, when smallpox and diphtheria broke
out in the house we were staying at. We escaped
the former, but my youngest boy nearly died from
the latter. When he was convalescent the family
went home, and I then returned to barracks.
I was able when at Cairo to improve my system
of battle- training for' the officers by giving out a
scheme for the attack or defence of a bridge or posi
tion. A week before it took place each officer sent me
in a sketch and written description of how he would
do the work : these I went over, writing my remarks
on them. The attack or defence was then carried
out by the regiment (without blank cartridge), any
mistakes rectified, and a short lecture given. A day
or two afterwards the work was all done over again,
this time with blank cartridge. The interest officers
and men took in this systematic method of training
was really wonderful. I may mention that for
lectures on outposts I found the billiard-table and
chalk marks very handy ; for larger schemes the
raised war - game model, the invention of Colonel
Shaw, was excellent. All this, however, I gave in
detail in a lecture at the United Service Institute in
June 1889, entitled "Battle Training of Regimental
Officers." One subject I did not mention in that
lecture — viz., field -cooking. The young officers got
instructions in that branch from the sergeant cook.

NAVAL SYSTEM APPLIED REGIMENTALLY. 343
Cairo was a more expensive place than Maritzburg,
where our mess catering — three meals a-day — was
only 3s. 6d. At Cairo we had a mess - man, an
excellent cook, who did us very well for 4s. To
prevent extravagance I adopted the system in use
in the navy : I would not allow any subaltern to
have a larger mess-bill than £12 a-month, — this to
include regimental subscriptions of every description.
To show what can be done if things are looked after,
I may mention that every Sunday all the smart
people in Cairo used to come to our barracks to
hear the band (50 strong) — which I believe was the
best in the service — play sacred music. Tea, coffee,
biscuits, cigarettes, and similar refreshments were
liberally provided ; a subaltern's share was Is. 7d.
Entertainments of every description I had charged
pro rata for rank, so as to make their contributions
as light as possible to the young officers, all of whom
I took care to introduce to the best of the society
who visited us on Sundays. Many of these were
high political officials, foreign as well as English ;
so my Welsh boys made many friends and had a
real good time of it. With the French and Austrians
we got on particularly well. I was much interested
on discovering from one of the former, la Comtesse
d'Aubigny, that the Bretons and Welsh are really
from the same stock. Some of the bandsmen stand
ing near her were speaking Welsh, when, to my
astonishment, she said, "I am a Bre tonne, and can
understand what your men are saying." The French
newspapers very kindly advertised our Sunday pro
grammes, and one day they made a slight mistake,
printing, instead of " The Heavens are Telling," " The
Heavens are Yelling " !

344 CAIRO.
The Welsh being a very musical race, I thought it
a good opportunity to start proper regimental singing
on the march, so had each company regularly trained
under the bandmaster. When the whole regiment
marched past in quarter column, singing, the effect
was splendid. It seems a pity that our army does not
in this respect take an example from what is done
on the Continent with such advantage. Anything by
which a colonel can turn to useful account the national
feelings of particular regiments should be encouraged.
Our regimental goat had hitherto been a private gift.
The last had joined its ancestors, so I wrote to her
late Majesty's private secretary. The Queen there
upon sent me a fine white goat from Windsor, which
was always immensely admired when marching past
at the head of the regiment. St David's Day was
made a grand regimental holiday ; national Welsh
songs were specially encouraged, &c. We had no
harper ; but I found that one of the band, an Irish
man, Patrick Kelly, could play that instrument fairly
well, so he was given regular lessons. He played on
guest nights after the band, and his name, when
foreigners dined with us, was " Cadwallader." Fur
ther, to give my foreign guests a proper impression,
he wore a bard's green robe, and also a flowing white
wig and beard to correspond. They were greatly
struck with the majestic appearance of our Druid
like bard, who " always accompanied the regiment."
We did take about with us one ancient soldier's widow
who had been through all the Sutlej campaigns with
the regiment, and been so often attacked by cholera
that at last that disease gave up trying to kill her.
She was quite a privileged old lady, and always
entitled to the colonel's washing — which arrangement

" CYMRU AM BYTH ! " 345
was not entirely satisfactory to that individual, her
efforts at repairing damaged linen being at times a
caution !
When we first arrived in Cairo an expedition up
the Nile against the Dervishes was thought very
possible. Our colours would then, by the regulations,
have to be left behind, but a drapeau of some sort
was, I considered, necessary ; and as our old goat
was getting very frail, I decided that, as he could
no longer march at the head of the regiment, his
spirit at least should still lead the way in action :
so I had him beheaded, and his head, or rather
horns, beautifully mounted on a spear-head.
I also made another alteration. The Welsh regi
mental motto on the plate was long and difficult to
pronounce ; so I gave the regiment another which
was easy for every one, — " Cymru am Byth ! " (" Wales
for ever ! "). This caught on, and the men were
regularly drilled to use it when charging, which they
did in grand style. My orders also were that when
ever any man got into difficulties he was to shout
" Cymru am Byth ! " and any one hearing him was at
once to go to his assistance.
For six months of the latter portion of my regi
mental time I had command of the Cairo Brigade. I
heard afterwards that I was to have kept it perma
nently, had not the force then in Egypt been reduced
and the brigade command abolished. I much enjoyed
the work, though I am afraid some of the other
regiments did not, especially when they did not get
back to barracks until 2 A.M. I always considered
night attacks very risky operations, and tried various
experiments, which only confirmed me in my belief
that without very special precautions, and unless the

346 CAIRO.
leaders know the ground thoroughly, and the enemy
is a careless one, they ought not to be attempted.
The last high Nile during my stay at Cairo rose to
an almost unprecedented extent, and was the cause of
much sickness : we lost many from enteric. A very
severe type of bilious fever also broke out, which more
particularly attacked elderly people. I was one of
them, and very nearly ended my days in the general
hospital, but was sufficiently recovered after a fort
night to be allowed out, and back to my brigade.
I was very shaky on my legs for a while, and the
day after getting out of hospital staggered against
a table at the club, when I heard a member say to
another, " Poor old fellow ! he is done at last ! "
Both those members joined the majority long ago.
It was some time before I was able to do much,
but during that time I can never forget the kindness
of warm - hearted American friends, Judge and Mrs
Keeley. When at Cairo I was able to do a special piece of
good work for the soldiers. A very large number of
them were in hospital with that disease which has
such terrible after-effects. I spoke plainly to my men
on parade on that point, and told them they must do
what they could towards helping me to stamp out the
disease in Cairo. So when any man's name appeared
in the sick report suffering from that disease, he was
marched by the provost-sergeant to the house where
he had contracted it, and the delinquent was handed
over to the Egyptian Hospital authorities. On tak
ing over command of the brigade I adopted the same
system as with my regiment, with the result that
when I left Cairo there were but 35 cases in hospital
— all slight. Considering that the garrison was be-

THE LAST REGIMENTAL PARADE. 347
tween three and four thousand strong, this was very
satisfactory. There was nothing which could be ob
jected to in the working of the system I introduced,
and it was very effective. Surely a similar boon
might be conferred on the British Army at all our
foreign stations, and possibly some of the home ones.
The sad, very sad day came at last, on which I was
to have my last parade. The four years' tenure of
command is unquestionably an excellent one for the
service in general, but for the colonel, when the time
comes to go, it is a horrible wrench. The day before
I intended to leave, my servant let out that the whole
regiment was going to turn out next day and drag my
carriage to the station ; so I at once saw the general
and told him that although such a proceeding was
very flattering, especially to a commanding officer who
had been such a hard taskmaster, it was not according
to my ideas of discipline that a colonel should go in
that manner through the main street, and that I
purposed going off at once by that night's train,
which I did.
My duty in taking over command of the regiment
was to make it, if possible, a perfect fighting machine.
I also tried to make soldiering pleasant to all : appar
ently I had succeeded in both.
I omitted to mention that when I was invalided
from Cairo, after the accident in the Durban Roads,
I reported myself as soon as I was able at head
quarters, where I was asked if I had yet seen
H.R.H. the commander-in-chief. My answer was,
"No. After the very independent way in which I
have been trying to train my regiment I was afraid
my reception would not be agreeable." The reply
to this was, "You are wrong. H.R.H. is so pleased

348 CAIRO.
with what you have done that he has directed your
name to be placed on the special list, and you will
get a letter of approbation written by his express
orders." This I duly received: it was particularly
satisfactory to know that if an officer took special
responsibility on himself for the good of the service,
and succeeded in his work, he need have no fear
about his conduct not being approved of.
The rest, even on half pay, after continuous work,
is at first pleasant, though it does not take long
for one who is physically fit to tire of a quiet life.
However, as I had not altogether shaken off the
effects of the fever attacks I had in Maritzburg
and Cairo, I decided to put in a summer amongst
the pine - trees of the Black Forest in South Ger
many, where there was good trout-fishing and com
fortable living at a very moderate cost. I should
then also be able to arrange for my elder boys to
live in German families in order to learn the lan
guage thoroughly, as they had already done with
French, similarly acquired. Freiburg in Baden was
the place I selected as my headquarters, and there
I made the acquaintance of some of the officers of the
garrison. I could not speak German, but they knew
either French or English. Belonging to the same
social class as our own officers (which is not the
case in other armies), I thoroughly enjoyed their
society. They were all keen about their profession,
and very kindly gave me any information I required.
Whenever anything new was tried on the Exercier-
platz — a fine grass plain — they let me know about
it, and explained anything special. The system for
training their men to shoot at unknown distances,
and at moving or unexpected targets, was excellent,

THE BLACK FOREST. 349
the different methods of moving the targets being
simple and effective. Why our people at Hythe
did not take a hint from the German system was at
the time a puzzle. We certainly are a conservative
nation in all military matters except dress : perhaps
the constant changes in that respect are supposed
to make up for stagnation in the others ! Some of
the wrinkles I got on the Exercierplatz I was after
wards able to turn to account during my next com
mand in Australia. The interior economy of the
German regiments was also explained to me when
going over their barrack-rooms and cook-houses.
There were some very interesting bits of military
history to be worked out along the Rhine Valley
near Freiburg. In a short paper I was able to turn
professional light on to the much -vaunted march of
Moreau through "the Valley of Hell" and the ter
rible Black Forest. The Valley of Hell — Hollenthal
— is a beautiful gorge, seven miles in length, connect
ing the Valley of the Rhine with the broad open
country on the east. The forest-covered, undulating
hills on each side of it could easily have been cleared,
had they been occupied, which was not the case.
In military geographies the Black Forest is, or
was, represented as an almost impassable country : it
may have been so two or three hundred years ago,
but now it is seamed with excellent roads. The
well-kept open forest is practicable everywhere for
infantry, and in many places for wheels ; the slopes
almost everywhere are easy. If France and Ger
many are ever at war again, and the French at all
successful, I believe the Belfort trouee will be made
use of for an advance across the Rhine, more espe
cially if Switzerland were friendly.

350 CAIRO.
There are innumerable beautiful walks about the
bend of the Rhine which I thoroughly enjoyed, not
only on account of the scenery, but also by reason of
their military interest to me. I was told that when
Von Moltke was in the same district, examining the
frontier, a policeman arrested him for trespassing.
Von Moltke went quietly with the policeman, when
some of the general staff came up and congratulated
the man on making a capture which all the armies
of France had been unable to effect !
I did not do much in trout -fishing until I heard
of Bad Bol on the Wutach, at no great distance from
Donaueschingen, where there was a most comfortable
little hotel, the charge for board and lodging being
only 4 marks per day : the cost of a trout ticket was
10 marks a-week, and well worth the money. Now
that the Bad Bol fishing has become a commercial
concern, both hotel and fishing charges are possibly
different from what they were when I was there.
During my sojourn in the State of Baden I was
particularly struck by the pleasant, well-bred, courteous
manners of the country - people. The officials also,
although bureaucratic to a degree, and apparently
living on red-tape, were always polite, and did their
best for the foreigner. Since then, while travelling
in other countries, I have met with what is now so
common, viz., the German tourist, and should say
that few of them come from South Germany.
On the weather beginning to get cold we went
south to Cimiez, near Nice, for the winter. When
there I could not help noticing the difference between
the German and French military training. In the
north every one was in grim earnest, as if war were
almost in sight. It was not so in France. It was

BECOME A MAJOR-GENERAL. 351
almost painful to me one day — France being our old
ally — to see a company, which was supposed to be
receiving instructions out in the country in outpost
work : the two officers were walking about on the
road, well away from their men, who were sky
larking !
My only chance of forming an opinion on the Italian
army was from those perfect soldiers — the Sardinians
in the Crimea ; but by permission from Rome, I went
over the dockyard at Spezzia. From what I saw and
heard there, I gathered that the Northern Italian
makes a good sailor, which is not the case with the
Southern Italian : they are evidently two distinct and
different races.
The system I had tried for the battle-training of
regimental officers having been approved of, I thought
it my duty, on returning to London, to deliver a
lecture at the United Service Institution, giving full
details of the work : the majority of the headquarter
staff did me the honour of attending. The next day
I got a note from the military secretary saying he
wished to see me. I thought it might be to point
out that I was rather too advanced in my ideas, but
that was not the case. It was to inform me that,
owing to the Indian regulations, I could not hold
the appointment which he wished me to have in that
country, but he could offer me the post of commandant
of the Australian forces in Victoria, with the local
rank of major-general. I was under the impression
that in such a position I should be expected to do
a good deal of entertaining in a very expensive part
of the world, and therefore was afraid I could not
accept his very kind offer ; but on the military sec
retary informing me that if an Australian Contingent

352 CAIRO.
were sent on active service to the north-west frontier
of India, I should have the command of it, I replied,
" On these terms I shall be delighted to go without
any pay at all ! " I may mention that the pay and
allowances of a general officer given me by the Vic
torian Government proved to be sufficient. Although
I found the cost of living in Australia to be greater
than in England, the amount of entertaining was
much less than a district command would have re
quired at home.

353

CHAPTER XXV.

VICTORIA.

In October 1889 I embarked with my wife and the
eldest and youngest of the family for Australia. The
first, our only girl, then saw her native land for the
last time. She died very suddenly in Melbourne, and
life to us ever since seems somehow different from
what it was before, — light went out of it which can
never return.
The first place we arrived at in Australia was Albany,
a magnificent harbour, but at that time without even
protection against a gunboat. As this was a coaling-
port of great importance, one of my first cares was to
write a memo showing the absolute necessity for at once
protecting Albany. Correspondence connected with
the defence of Albany and the coaling-port of Thurs
day Island, on the north-east coast of Australia, had
been going on between the Australian colonies and
the Colonial Office for ten years, but nothing had
come of it. Fortunately there was a strong Minister
of Defence at Melbourne, Sir Frederick Sargood, who
took the matter up, and finally got all the colonies to
agree to furnish the money for building the necessary
forts and barracks. The Home Government was to
supply the guns, the colonies providing everything

354 VICTORIA.
else, including garrisons. All this took some time,
but the final result was my appointment as president
of a joint Naval and Military Committee, which visited
Albany and Thursday Island to select sites for the
batteries and barracks. The guns ordered, or rather
their hydro-pneumatic elevating carriages, which the
colonies had asked for ten years previously, were not
the proper ones for the high sites we had chosen, and
were therefore objected to. On this the colonies were
told that they must take what had been ordered ; but
when it was quietly represented that, if the proper
guns and carriages were not sent, the colonies might
stop the supply required for the construction of the
batteries, we got the guns with the right carriages,
and long before I left Australia the guns were in the
forts and the garrisons in the barracks of both Thurs
day Island and Albany.
Melbourne, with its broad streets at right angles
to each other, had a look of New York about it ;
which city it also resembled, particularly in Collins
Street, with its banks, insurance offices, and other fine
mercantile buildings. The crowd of busy energetic
pedestrians hurrying from office or store showed very
plainly that, although Melbourne is at times decidedly
hot, it is a very long way from the take-it-easy life of
the tropics. At one season of the year, however, not
only Melbourne people, but also all who can leave their
stations up-country and come south, take a week's
holiday. Business of every sort is suspended during
the Cup Week. To most English men and women a
racecourse, with its attendant objectionable sights and
sounds, is not particularly attractive ; but in Victoria
things are very differently managed. We arrived at
the commencement of the Cup Week, and not knowing

AUSTRALIAN RACE MEETING. 355
what the Melbourne races really were, we declined at
first to attend ; but on being told how very different
they were from meetings at home, we went. The
governor drove down to the course — a few miles from
the city — in a well-turned-out four-in-hand : there
were some other carriages, but the rest of the world
went by train, the railway service being very well
arranged. Arrived at Flemington, we found, instead
of the usual rough racecourse scene, a magnificent
lawn on which a great crowd of ladies and gentlemen
were promenading. Had it not been for the course
and the mass of people on the other side of the rails,
we might have supposed ourselves at a large garden-
party. The stands and refreshment-rooms behind the
lawn were such as can be seen only at Melbourne ; and
there were other excellent refreshment-buildings for
those who could not afford grand-stand prices. The
dirty refreshment - tents and booths of the English
racecourse were entirely absent, as was also the yelling
bookie — that is, as far as the grand stand and lawn
were concerned. That necessary fraternity for people
who wish to get rid of their money were kept in a
separate enclosure, quite out of sight and hearing of
the stand and lawn. The well-behaved crowd on the
other side of the enclosure and rails was estimated at
over 50,000. I purposely walked about amongst it, and
not one single foul expression did I hear. Could the
same be said of any public race meeting in England ?
It must be an unpleasant shock to an Australian who,
on visiting England, ventures to the saturnalia of the
Derby. Our first introduction to Australian life was
decidedly pleasant, as was also the following small
but, nevertheless, telling incident. Soon after my

356 VICTORIA.
arrival I received a note from an officer in one of the
Militia regiments to the effect that a horse-dealer who
did a considerable amount of business would in all
probability try to sell me a very showy-looking animal
for a charger. The officer informed me that the horse
was his, and his recommendation to me was to decline
buying it, as he was sure it would not suit me. I
afterwards heard that the officer in question was a
particularly smart and energetic captain, a well-to-do
member of a mercantile firm, — one of those patriotic
individuals who, although with plenty of work on his
hands, considered it his duty to give his spare time to
do his share at least in the defence of the colony. I
had another pleasant experience. Until our house
was ready we hired one for a month from Mr Byron
Moore, who, when we left it, could not be induced to
take any rent at all, because he had some relations
who unexpectedly wanted the house some two days
before our time was up.
Having settled down for five years in Australia, a
short description of the organisation and professional
value of the forces I had come out to command will be
advisable. Fortunately for Victoria, and also for the other
colonies, there was, at the time of the war in the
Soudan, as I have already said, a strong Minister of
Defence, Sargood (now Sir Frederick), in office at Mel
bourne. He saw the defects of the Volunteer system
on which the colony relied, and decided to have the
necessary reforms carried out. The first to be done
was to get some specially selected officers sent out by
the War Office to organise and command the force to
be raised under the new system. Colonel Disney was
the first commandant sent, and the adjutant-general

MY LITTLE ARMY. 357
he brought with him, Brownrig, succeeded him : there
were other artillery and engineer officers, also a num
ber of drill-sergeants. Right well did they all do
their work. I was fairly startled at the fine well-
drilled battalions and batteries which I saw turned
out for my inspection.
Permanent Force : 3 batteries Garrison Artillery ;
1 section Submarine Miners.
Militia : 1 troop Cavalry ; 1 battery Horse
Artillery ; 3 batteries Field Artillery ; 8 batteries
Garrison Artillery ; 1 company Submarine Miners ;
1 company Field Engineers ; 4 battalions Infantry ; 1
Ambulance company ; 1 Commissariat and Transport
Corps. Volunteers : Mounted Rifles, 1 regiment ; Infantry,
about 12 companies ; and rifle clubs. There were
also 1 battalion senior cadets (youths over seventeen),
and several battalions of school cadets.
Every battery of artillery and company of infantry
had its own large drill-hall, with storerooms, offices,
&c. The regulations for the organisation of the force
were excellent. The officers of the Militia on appoint
ment had to be specially recommended, and were also
required to pass a fairly stiff professional examination
before their commissions were confirmed : other more
severe examinations were necessary before promotion.
Their pay was small, but considered sufficient. The
men were paid by attendances, — if I remember cor
rectly, Is. 6d. for a night-drill of an hour and a half,
double that for a half day of three hours, and double
again for a whole day of eight hours. There was a
minimum and also a maximum of attendances allow
able. After passing the recruit course the amount of
time given to drills annually was 175 hours. In this

358 VICTORIA.
was included seven whole days in camp. The total
annual cost of a militia private was about £20, which
included everything. A volunteer similarly cost £5,
and a man of the permanent forces £100. The forts
at the "Heads" (the entrance to Port Philip) were
armed with the newest 6-inch and 9 '2 breechloading
guns, and the Submarine mining plant and everything
connected with it was thoroughly up to date.
It may be here mentioned that the naval forces
of the colony, under an imperial commandant, con
sisted of an iron-plated turretship, two gunboats, and
several torpedo craft.
I found the schools of instruction for the different
arms so good that the only addition I made was to
get a garrison instructor from- England and a large
raised model war-game, to be kept in the lecture-room
of a United Service Institution which I had got under
weigh. Battle-training, as soon as I commenced it,
was rapidly appreciated, as was also the system of
battle-firing at unknown distances with small, shift-
able targets : this was at once taken up all over
Australia. Better or more extensive rifle-ranges could
not be wished for than those close to Melbourne, to
which any member of the force, with a rifle in his
hand, was entitled by law to be taken free of charge
by the railway. There being plenty of room, I was
able to extend the system of battle -firing to the
Field Artillery, which had hitherto practised on fixed
ranges. It would rather surprise people at home
to see three batteries of artillery and a couple of
battalions of infantry suddenly detrained at a wayside
station, and then marched, as if in action, straight
across some open country till the gunners perceived
in the far distance a small trench, on which they

ADMINISTRATION. 359
opened with shrapnel. This system of training I had
no difficulty in carrying out from Melbourne : all that
was necessary was to get some squatter friend to send
his boundary-riders to clear the stock off the land in
good time.
I made some changes in the forts at the Heads,
organising each as if it had been a ship, the magazines
being filled up to 200 rounds per gun ; and each
fort had also a supply of tinned provisions. When
mobilised for the week's training at Easter, the Militia
garrison gunners went at once to the gun and quarters
they were accustomed to.
The submarine mining establishment at the Heads,
under an Imperial Royal Engineer officer, was perfect
— everything ready for instant work.
On my arrival I was just in time to stop the pur
chase of a dynamite gun, which would have cost a
large amount and been very expensive to keep up.
7000 magazine-rifles had also been all but purchased
before the authorities at home had satisfied them
selves that the pattern was a good one : these also
I was able to stop. The system by which military
stores, from 26-ton guns downwards, were supplied
from England was not satisfactory ; but it required
two years' pressure after I came before the other
colonies could be induced to agree to have their
military stores inspected and passed by a thoroughly
competent officer on the active list, who was to be
selected by the Director- General of Artillery at the
War Office. To get a first-rate man unconnected
with any manufacturing establishment a good pay
was necessary — viz., £1000 a-year. After I left
Australia the imperial officer, who had done excellent
work, died. Another was named by the War Office ;

360 VICTORIA.
but the colonial authorities in Australia preferred a
very pleasant local officer who had social and political
interest. On its being represented that for such an
important position a specially trained officer ought to
be employed, the answer was, We pay for the appoint
ment and will nominate any one we like.
During my second year some alterations were made"
in the composition of the force : the troop of cavalry,
the number of which was too small for proper training,
was abolished. The horse Artillery, with its old-pat
tern battery of breechloading guns, ought to have
gone also, and its gunners and drivers been distributed
amongst the three field batteries ; but it was splen
didly horsed by two very patriotic millionaires, and,
as a battery, was in excellent order. On the death
of its principal patron, after I left, it was not kept
up. The Armstrong 40-pounder breechloading guns
were collected from outlying forts and formed into
a very serviceable Volunteer position battery. Two
more infantry battalions were given to the Militia :
the Mounted Rifles were increased and formed into
two regiments of 600 each, and the Volunteers or
ganised in three battalions, the rifle clubs being as
signed to the Volunteers as their reserves. Specially
retained reserves were unnecessary for the Militia
battalions : the average time a militiaman served
being five years, his training would never be for
gotten, and no possible retaining fee or reserve pay
would be worth accepting by men making from 5s.
to 15s. a-day, which were the average earnings of
many in the Militia. On the first intimation of their
services being required, the men who had formerly
been in the Militia would unquestionably have
crowded into the ranks again, and raised the peace

THE VICTORIAN CADET. 361
strength of the battalions from 500 to 1000 in a
few days. The peace strength of the Victorian
Militia forces was over 7000, all men of grand
physique. Counting the senior cadet battalion and
the 2000 rifle club men, the total military armed
force of Victoria was at the end of my second year
over 10,000. The school cadet battalions also, each
500 strong, were ten in number. They wore a very
smart khaki uniform, and were armed with small
rifles, sighted to 300 yards, with which they were
put through an annual course of musketry. The
cadet battalions went into camp once a-year, like the
other forces of the colony. I may here mention
that between 3000 and 4000 men went from Victoria
to South Africa : of these upwards of 2000 had been
cadets. The New South Wales contingent sent to the
Soudan in 1885 was very hurriedly got together,
and sent off, in spite of the protests of its com
mandant, before it was properly organised, and with
but a handful of officers who knew their work. It
was no wonder that a force composed of all sorts
and conditions of men was not what it might have
been, and so got colonials an indifferent reputation.
Some of the force sent from Australia to South Africa
would also have been the better for a stronger leaven
of instructed officers and non-commissioned officers ;
but, taken all round, they did splendidly. The en
thusiastic terms in which our officers speak of the
mounted men — the real men from the Bush — who
came from Australasia is worth listening to. All
I can say is, that men easier to command than all
those under me in Victoria I never met. The petty
restraints and automatic -like discipline to which we

362 VICTORIA.
are accustomed, and which to a certain extent is
necessary with regular troops, are out of place with
men who have lived in the back blocks, where master
and man together lend a hand when work presses.
The owner of tens of thousands of acres, who can put
a buck-jumper into shape, or help in rounding up a
mob of cattle, does not lose, but, on the contrary,
gains, the respect of his fellow -labourers, his own
men, by showing he can do their work when neces
sary. Accustomed to such free contact with their
masters, the rigid line between the officers in the
regular service and the men they command is not
at once understood by colonials, and our young
officers are at first apt to take offence at a freedom
of manner and speech by which not the very slightest
disrespect is meant. The first time I put on uniform
in Victoria was at the great annual rifle meeting.
Two of the men came up to me, — " General, we have
had a dispute as to whether you are a Scotsman or
an Englishman. Would you mind telling us ? " My
answer was, " Well, I was born in Scotland, but now
I am an Australian." I had some difficulty in per
suading them that I was too much occupied with my
work to go to the refreshment-tent !
It soon struck me, when mistakes were made at
manoeuvres, that similar ones had not been sufficiently
and forcibly pointed out at previous camps. This I
endeavoured to rectify. At my first Easter training
I tried what the infantry brigade could do in attacking
a hill on the top of which I stood. When it was over
I had the battalions formed up close by, and told
them that " the marching past the day before in front
of the governor was simply perfect ; but a worse exhi
bition of an attack I never saw. The talking was so

BATTLE TRAINING. 363
loud 500 yards off, as you came through the swamp,
that I heard it distinctly : doubtless you came across
some snakes, but that was no reason for chattering.
All I can now tell you is, that on Monday I intend
attacking an intrenched position on a hill with ball-
cartridge. If you then move as you did to-day, you
will shoot each other by the dozen. Colonel, march
back to camp and dismiss ! " That was on a Friday.
So incessantly did the battalions practise the attack
that when I did carry one out, as I told them I should
do, it was perfectly done, and without a single casualty.
There was some little alarm about my rough-and-ready
way of battle-training ; but when it was seen to be
successful, the papers said in approbation, " This is not
mere reform — it is revolution." The spirit of the men
was excellent, and no matter how forcibly I had occa
sionally to speak, the stronger my expressions the
more satisfied all hands seemed to feel at my being so
much in earnest ! Some idea of the behaviour of the
colonial troops when out for duty may be formed by
my mentioning that during the great strike, which
lasted six weeks, 600 men were on duty in barracks
ready in case their services should be required, the
different detachments being changed once a fortnight :
not far off 2000 men stood the test of irksome confine
ment to barracks, and yet during all that time but two
offences were committed. One (an old soldier) broke
out of barracks ; the other was a case of a man going
to sleep on sentry : by some mistake he had been put
on guard two nights running.
The only serious trouble I had was in the case of
a battalion the sergeant-major of which was not a
favourite with the recruits. After dark some fifty of
them, all in their ordinary plain clothes, marched

364 VICTORIA.
through the streets singing, " We will hang the ser
geant-major to a sour apple-tree," &c. No amount of
investigation could bring out who the culprits were,
so at last I was obliged to state plainly at our Council
of Defence that the regiment that was guilty of such
conduct must be disbanded. This rather startled my
hearers ; but upon my pointing out that without
proper discipline a regiment was not only useless but
dangerous, and that if I was not allowed to enforce
discipline I should prefer resigning my command, the
Minister of Defence- — the same Sir Frederick Sar-
good to whom all Australia owes so much — gave me
the requisite authority to disband the regiment if
absolutely necessary. The colonel of another regiment
who was present begged me to speak to the guilty
men myself, and try what could be done to avoid
what would be such a slur on the colony. So I
ordered a parade of the battalion and spoke to the
men, telling them what would happen if the offenders,
who must have been at least fifty in number, did not
surrender for such punishment as I thought necessary.
I would then and there disband the regiment. I
gave them ten minutes to decide, whilst I waited in
the orderly-room. At the end of the time the colonel,
in great distress, said the men had not surrendered ;
but he begged for another five minutes to again speak
to his battalion, after which, to my great relief, he
announced, " The guilty men have stepped out of the
ranks." I congratulated them on having saved their
regiment by so doing, but informed them that they
must be severely punished. I fined each man £5 ;
which fine, on account of the subsequent good be
haviour of the regiment, I afterwards reduced by one-
half. Previously to this I had stopped all parades

THE LIGHT OF BATTLE. 365
and drills, which was equivalent to a fine of £120 per
company : officers as well as men suffered. Would it
be possible to give a better example of the grand spirit
of the Victorian Militia, which could take such severe
punishment without showing the very slightest dis
content ? Ever afterwards a smarter or more well-
behaved battalion than this could not be found.
Better stuff, or men more amenable to discipline by
those who know how to deal with them, do not exist.
The well-to-do, comfortable existence which all men
worth anything enjoy in Australia seems to resuscitate
the old yeoman spirit and self-consciousness of power
which made the English of the middle ages so for
midable. The same effect is, if possible, more strongly
developed in men of Scottish or Irish descent, even if
two or three generations have been town-bred before
arrival in the country. Better circumstances bring
out the old fighting strain in the blood, and make the
man instinctively turn towards soldiering. After any
big day I used to form up the force and speak on
the subject of very possible active service before long
on the north-west frontier of India, naming special
tunes the bands ought to practise — viz., "Blue Bonnets
over the Border " for the crossing of the Helmund, and
" The Hundred Pipers " for entering Herat. Soon I
could see a glitter, a veritable light of battle, in the
men's eyes. I could not help feeling amused when
some of the principal political authorities at last spoke
to me about exciting the men too much. They truly
said, "Whole companies now volunteer for active
service, even for little native wars in Africa : if you
do not stop, the Victorian forces will want to attack
a neighbouring colony ! " Be that as it might, I took
good care that everything was ready, as far as it was

366 VICTORIA.
possible to make it so, for the active-service employ
ment of the Victorian forces. Mobilisation instruc
tions and tables took some months of very detailed
work, as all the resources of the colony had to be care
fully gone into. As soon as they were ready a printed
copy of the Mobilisation Instructions was given to
every officer of and above the rank of captain. My
general scheme was that the Volunteer battalions,
reinforced by the rifle clubs, should form the guards
of the forts and batteries, — where the Garrison Artil
lery and Submarine Miners were, — and that the whole
of the remainder should be formed into a field force at
the camp. This would be composed of two regiments
of Mounted Rifles, four batteries of Artillery, a field
company of Engineers, and six battalions of Infantry —
all at war strength, with staff and departments com
plete. In the different lectures I gave at our United
Service Institution I supplied full explanations of my
general scheme for all Australia, and trusted New
South Wales would have a similar field force of two
brigades, and Queensland and South Australia one
brigade each. West Australia and New Zealand,
being at a week's distance by sea from the rest of
Australia, would require to rely on their own resources,
as would also Tasmania. But until federation was
accomplished it would, I saw, be almost impossible to
get all the colonies to work together and furnish their
proper shares of money and men.

367

CHAPTER XXVI.
AUSTRALASIA AND NEW CALEDONIA.
In 1892 the New South Wales Government, seeing
that Sir Frederick Sargood had got the Victorian
military organisation satisfactorily settled, requested
that I might be allowed to be President of a Royal
Commission to inquire into the organisation of their
military and naval forces.
As in all small communities where the principal
officials remain many years in office, crystallisation
sets in, and the officials themselves at last come under
social and political influences which prevent their being
free agents, even when they see that the public service
is suffering : such was the case in New South Wales.
The examination of the witnesses was not a pleasant
process, and the cross-examination necessary at times
was simply painful ; but the duty undertaken had to
be done. The ultimate result was that the Commis
sion was able to make recommendations by which the
colony could save a very large annual amount — running
well into five figures — and have at the same time larger
and much more efficient defence forces. One of the
newspapers was very bitter because reporters were not
allowed to be present. Their exclusion, until the whole
of the evidence was published, was really greatly to

368 AUSTRALASIA AND NEW CALEDONIA.
the benefit of several witnesses ; but I was fiercely
attacked for my severity. An opposition paper sent
its representative to me on the subject, whom I in
formed that the abusive articles which came out every
evening rather amused me than otherwise, and that
as the editor must now have increased the sale of his
paper and made quite a pile out of me, I expected he
would hand some of it over to my United Service
Home in Victoria. The following evening the hostile
paper said, " Formerly we attacked this man on public
grounds ; now it shall be on private ones also — it shall
be war to the knife ! "
The Commission occupied forty-five days, and at its
conclusion I was presented with 200 guineas, the same
as the other members. This I had no scruples in
accepting, as I had often worked from twelve to four
teen hours a-day, and had to go to Melbourne —
eighteen hours by train — at the end of each week to
attend to my command there. I was also obliged to
go to South Australia to investigate another matter,
as required by their House of Assembly ; but that was
soon arranged by working up to 10 P.M. I was rather
taken aback, when about to leave on the following
morning, by a messenger from the Treasury bringing
me 20 guineas, which I at once returned, when the
Prime Minister himself came down to insist upon my
accepting it, saying all such work was paid for in
Australia. I told him that I was really very much
obliged, but could not think of receiving anything
for a few hours' work for a neighbouring colony. The
Premier said I had settled a very difficult matter, and
must allow him to send me a cheque.
I made several professional visits to the other
colonies ; but the most interesting of such work was

TROPICAL AUSTRALIA. 369
when I acted as President of the Joint Naval and
Military Committee to fix the sites for batteries at
Thursday Island and Albany. Tasmanian defences
had by special request to be reported on, as also Port
Darwin on the north coast of Australia. This last
place we proceeded to after our visit to Thursday
Island, one of the China mail-steamers being placed at
our disposal. Extra pay was proposed by the authori
ties ; but as we were not charged for our living, we all
agreed that if we received 2s. 6d. per day beverage-
money — being in the tropics — it would be sufficient.
The voyage up between the coast of Australia and the
Great Barrier Reef was very interesting. Owing to
the intricate navigation required through the coral-
reefs we had to anchor at night, and as soon as the
anchor went down my hand-line was over the side ;
but I did not get any of the strangely-curious fishes I
expected. On one occasion I saw in the distance a
queer, great moving coil which looked uncommonly
like an enormous snake ; but an examination through
my glasses reduced the phenomenon to a large collec
tion of fish jumping after each other. That strange
creatures of great size exist in those little-frequented
tropical seas is undoubted : unfortunately what I saw
was not one of them.
Thursday Island we found hot and moist; but it
is said to be not unhealthy. From its situation
it ought to become a small edition of Singapore.
After completing our work at Thursday Island we
crossed the great Gulf of Carpentaria, and then
kept along the unoccupied coast of North Australia
to Port Darwin, the terminus of the submarine tele
graph line. A more unpleasant place to live in
could not well be imagined. Although the tempera-
2 A

370 AUSTRALASIA AND NEW CALEDONIA.
ture was only 85°, the air was so saturated with
moisture that even a thin singlet was an oppressive
garment. A few small houses occupied by the tele
graph staff, and a collection of tin shanties used by
Chinese, Japanese, and some white men, composed
the town of Port Darwin at the time of our visit ;
but the place returns one or two members to the
Parliament of South Australia, with which it has
no connection whatever, except the telegraph wire
crossing the great Australian continent in a direct
line. The representative of Port Darwin was very
indignant because we declined to recommend exten
sive fortifications and a garrison there.
With federation the relation of the different colonies
has been altered. Had that not been accomplished,
the whole of the northern portion of Australia ought
to have been formed into one or more colonies where
coloured labour should be allowed, as it is simply im
possible for white men to undergo manual labour in
such a moist tropical climate. Those portions of the
globe where a white man can make a living out of
the ground are rapidly filling up, and for the sake
of the increasing white races, no black man ought
to be allowed to occupy them. But until coloured
labour is sanctioned for tropical Australia, those vast
regions, out of which a dozen Ceylons might be
carved, must remain desolate and unproductive. In
the Botanical Garden at Port Darwin the curator
showed us what immense vegetable wealth might be
drawn from North Australia. All that is necessary
is that the Government of Australia should sanction
the employment of coolies from India on terms of
three to five years — all to return to India on com
pletion of the term of the indentures ; but rather

TROPICAL AUSTRALIA. 371
than permit such a scheme, which would give em
ployment to thousands of white overseers, the Labour
party of Australia are determined that the north of
the continent shall remain completely unoccupied.
As there were said to be a number of buffaloes on
Melville Island, opposite Port Darwin, we intended
going over, but were warned not to do so on account
of a cantankerous tribe, who might not only attack
but digest us afterwards — a process yet possible in
certain parts of Northern Australia for any ambitious
missionary desirous of testing it ! We had a corrobery
(war-dance) of the natives, a degraded-looking race,
— so much so, that I heard One of the few ladies
who have visited Port Darwin say, "Do you think
those creatures have souls ? "
We were most hospitably entertained by the
Resident at Port Darwin, who was an instance of
the way in which men get accustomed to their sur
roundings. He thought I might prefer a bath in
the sea before breakfast, but mentioned incidentally
that the repairs to the palisade round the bathing-
place for keeping out alligators and sharks had not
been finished. The Resident himself did not mind
risking it, although he knew that an alligator from
the neighbouring mangroves sometimes came that
way ! I preferred a quiet, uninterrupted tub in my
room. We were not sorry to say good-bye to Port
Darwin, which did not forget us : we all managed
to get fever there, one of our number nearly dying
on the way back. We put into Brisbane, and saw
something of the Queensland ports and defences.
I ought to have mentioned that we visited Albany
before going to Tasmania. After completing our work
at Albany our naval member suggested that, in con-

372 AUSTRALASIA AND NEW CALEDONIA.
nection with the defences as well as for navigation
purposes, there ought to be a lighthouse on the Lewin.
The hydrographer at the Admiralty objected, be
lieving it would do more harm than good ; but as
the representatives of the great steamship companies
were anxious for it, it was afterwards built, and I
understand has been particularly useful to vessels
making the Australian coast.
During the five years I was in Australia I had so
much to do, not only in Victoria but also in the other
colonies, that I had but little time for regular leave.
Twenty-one days was what I allowed myself annually,
the same as the other public servants, except when I
went to New Zealand, when I got six weeks. An odd
day for duck-shooting could be managed when going
round the out-stations on inspections. Duck-shooting
in Australia is a very simple sport, and great bags can
be made. Snipe can be got occasionally ; but as they
all leave the northern hemisphere in the winter, and
consequently arrive in Australia in the hot weather,
those killed in the morning are often found to have
gone bad before the evening. Snakes are also un
pleasantly numerous in the snipe-marshes, where they
come for the frogs. My bag one day was three snipe
and five snakes ! I did succeed in getting one trout
on a fly in a stream near Melbourne, and up-country
once rose a platypus when trying for trout with an
artificial minnow ; but in Tasmania and New Zealand
there is first-rate trout-fishing, more especially in the
latter. The Blue Mountains near Sydney, and certain
portions of the north-east coast excepted, Australia
cannot be said to possess any really grand scenery ;
but it is very different in Tasmania and New Zealand.

TASMANIA AND NEW ZEALAND. 373
The latter island, with its clear streams and glacier-
topped mountains, may be shortly described as a cross
between Switzerland and the Scottish Highlands.
Although heavily handicapped by an immense public
debt, the island, by reason of its geographical position
and its mountains, is free from the droughts which too
often destroy sheep and cattle in Australia by the
million, and is at present doing well. Tasmania has
a splendid climate, and sends large cargoes of apples
to England ; but somehow, except in the northern tin
and copper mines, there seems to be a deficiency of
energy in the island : districts which were formerly
covered with small farms are now converted into
sheep-runs. Mutton pays better than men ; but it is
sad to see — as in the Scottish Highlands — a formerly
populous valley, or strath, with nothing now but a few
shepherds' houses, or rather mere shelters against the
weather. To those who wish to see what Australasia is, and
may become, the cities of Melbourne and Sydney and
the mining centres will be particularly interesting.
But for scenery : after doing the Blue Mountains and
Sydney Harbour, a week in Tasmania is sufficient —
all the rest of the time available should be devoted to
New Zealand. A man fond of trout-fishing will get it
there in perfection. Shepherds have taken lately to
dynamiting the pools near their work, but there are
many streams free from such poaching methods of
fishing. In the Great Lakes the trout run up to over
30 lb., but those are rarely taken except in nets. I
did get hold of one of the monsters when harling from
a boat on the Great Wiho River, but he broke the
abominable gut I unfortunately had to buy in Inver-
cargill. Having a sprained ankle, I lost my chance of

374 AUSTRALASIA AND NEW CALEDONIA.
doing much, although I did try it on crutches. An
acquaintance living in the same shanty rarely brought
in less than half-a-dozen beauties, averaging 6 lb. each :
he usually caught them with live grasshoppers.
Except in the cities and some holiday resorts, the
hotel, or rather inn, accommodation in Australia is
decidedly indifferent. For men that does not much
matter, but when ladies are in the party, the rough,
happy-go-lucky style of conducting a hotel is not
pleasant. At one, not fifty miles from Melbourne,
which had a considerable reputation, my small boy
who came with us was rather startled by the servant
who showed him his room saying, " You will take your
boots off, sonnie, won't you, before you go to bed ? "
During my last year in Australia it was considered
expedient that I should pay a visit to the French
penal settlement in New Caledonia, where the 10,000
convicts and liberes (ticket-of-leave men) caused some
nervousness to our colonies. The French authorities
in New Caledonia, as I have found them in all other
parts of the world, were kindness itself, and showed
me and my three companions everything, even the
innermost prison of Isle Nou. The system of years of
solitary confinement and the dark cell, it is to be
hoped, will be abolished : it is simply horrible. To
try what the dark cell was like, I got the warders
to shut me up in one. It was darkness that might
almost be felt, and as for ventilation — I was all but
suffocated. This I mentioned when I came out.
" Yes," they said, " some prisoners were suffocated ;
that is why those holes were bored in the bottom of
the door to let air in." The guillotine, which is occa
sionally used, was also shown, and the way it worked,
a fagot being employed to illustrate the great shearing

NEW CALEDONIA. 375
power of the triangular blade. The reckless minds of
some of the convicts may be judged from what we were
told of one about to be decapitated. He noticed that
there was straw in the box into which his head would
fall, and asked for his execution to be delayed until the
straw was exchanged for sawdust, to which he said he
was entitled by regulation ! The hospital was like
any other ; but the lunatic wards, and the antiquated
system for dealing with the insane, made one shudder.
All those who are sentenced to more than eight years'
transportation remain in New Caledonia for life, as do
also the re'cidivistes — viz., habitual offenders, sent from
France as such : for these there is no hope. On a
comparatively small, damp, tropical island, with very
few opportunities for improving their condition, it is a
wonder that so few commit suicide.
It has lately been decided to improve the defences
of the island, which had been allowed to get into a
very ruinous condition, and to make New Caledonia
a French naval coaling-port. The wisdom of this step
seems very doubtful when it is remembered that the
island is dependent on Australia for meat and flour,
and that the reef openings would not be difficult to
blockade. Shut up with 10,000 reckless and starving
convicts and several thousand disaffected natives, the
garrison would be in an awkward position. The in
dustries of the island, principally nickel-mining, are
really in British hands ; even the construction of
water-works for the supply of the town of Noumea
was being carried out by an English contractor, who
brought his own navvies from Australia. The horrors
of a penal settlement half a century ago are forcibly
shown in Marcus Clarke's novel, ' For the Term of his
Natural Life.' New Caledonia is now very much — or

376 AUSTRALASIA AND NEW CALEDONIA.
possibly worse than — what Van Diemen's Land was
half a century ago. So impressed was I with what
I saw and heard of it, that I gave a copy of my paper
on the subject to my friend, the French consul-general
in Melbourne, hoping for the sake of humanity that it
might in some small way help those in Paris who are
trying to get transportation beyond the seas abolished.
I had the good fortune when in New Caledonia to
make the acquaintance of a broad - minded high
official, who afterwards stayed on a visit with me in
Melbourne. Having a special sympathy with our
ancient Scottish allies, the French, and as my wife
was La Presidente de 1' Alliance Frangaise, we made
several French friends in Australia : the officers of
the French men-of-war were always our very welcome
visitors. Going to and returning from New Caledonia
by the long-voyage Messagerie boats, our party was
so struck by the comfort and the desire to please on
the part of every one that we decided always to go
when possible by the Messagerie line, instead of
patronising the great English companies, where
passengers at times seem to be looked on as neces
sary evils, permitted to exist for the benefit of the
company. I had almost forgotten an institution which I was
able to set going in Victoria, and which I think might
be found useful in other colonies — viz., a home for
worn-out old soldiers of good character, who have seen
much active service and done their share of work as
colonial workmen and labourers. There is no Poor
Law in Victoria, or, I believe, in any of the Australian
colonies, and if the Benevolent Asylum, or the wards
for casuals known as the Immigrants' Home, are full,

UNITED SERVICE HOME. 377
— which is nearly always the case in Melbourne, —
any man or woman unable to work and without
friends has to be committed to prison to prevent their
dying in the streets from starvation. The old-age
pension scheme has doubtless now corrected this ; but
it was not in operation when I was in Australia, and
I found several most worthy old soldiers over seventy
years of age unable to work and in great destitution.
One man I specially remember, who after being
through several campaigns was discharged with a
good - conduct medal and an exemplary character.
Rheumatism rendered him unable to work, and having
no friends he had to be committed to prison. I got
all the necessary facts together, and wrote very
strongly to the papers on the subject of the friendless
old soldier, the result being a public meeting in the
Town Hall, with the governor in the chair. Some
£2000 was subscribed, a beautiful piece of land was
given by the colony not far from Geelong, and a
United Service home was built for specially deserving
old soldiers and sailors of exemplary character who
were unable to make a living for themselves, and who
had been good colonists in Victoria for not less than
five years. A splendid fellow, Major Purchas, formerly
in the Victorian forces, gave his services as an architect
free of charge : he greatly assisted me with the organ
isation, and has acted as honorary secretary ever since
the home was started. There are now twelve old
soldiers and two old blue-jackets in the home, which
is maintained principally by the members, officers and
men, of the Defence Forces of Victoria. There are no
charges for management : the home, under a commit
tee and Major Purchas, being, so to say, self-contained,
the actual cost, including everything, is Is. per head

378 AUSTRALASIA AND NEW CALEDONIA.
per day, and extremely well done. The house and
grounds are kept in order by the inmates, and have
developed into quite a show place. On Sunday the
old fellows march to the village church : in their three-
cornered cocked hats and quaint old Chelsea and
Greenwich uniforms, and with their white beards and
medals, they make a grand show. It was with diffi
culty I finished my little speech when, on leaving
Australia, I had to say good-bye to them. Of those
fourteen, all but one now rest in the old soldiers' corner
of the village cemetery.
When the great financial crash came in Australia,
Victoria suffered heavily, and reductions of expendi
ture had to be made. The Defence Forces were the
first to suffer, and my beautiful little army began
rapidly to diminish. With every one suffering by a
reduction of income, I considered it right to tender
my resignation. I said plainly that I could not
afford to live in Australia on less than the pay I was
drawing, but if the Government wished to get a
commandant at a lower salary I was quite ready to
cancel my agreement with them. The Premier very
kindly hoped I would remain until the end of my
time, which the Government afterwards wanted to
extend for six months because of some special meet
ing. This, owing to urgent business at home, I was
unable to agree to : indeed it was full time I left. I
had commenced to see things too much through Aus
tralian spectacles, and found myself taking too great
an interest in political matters. In fact, I was rapidly
becoming an Australian, and when I had to say good
bye I discovered that I had insensibly put out roots,
the severing of which was decidedly painful. In
November 1894 I embarked at Melbourne, receiving

"PRO DEO ET PATRIA." 379
my last salute from a field battery on the shore, the
32-pounders of the old Nelson and the heavy guns at
the Heads. The following year, although on the
special list, I was retired under the age clause at
fifty-seven, and ceased to belong to the army.
On the breaking-out of the South African war I
sent in an official application for employment in any
capacity, but was privately informed that it could not
be managed owing to my rank and retirement. I
then offered to go as a subaltern again, but even that
failed. Although not so active as I was sixteen years
before, I certainly thought I might have been able to
hold my own with the boys again, as I could then
swing a salmon-rod on the Ness all day, gaff my own
fish, and walk four miles home in the evening, with
sometimes a couple of salmon on my back ; but it was
not to be — my service days were over. I suppose
(although I now lead the quiet uneventful life of a
farmer, and almost dread the sound of even a volun
teer's bugle or drum, which brings a lump in the
throat, reminding me that I am no longer a soldier) I
ought to be satisfied, as two of my sons went through
harder work in South Africa than I ever had, and my
old regiment did so splendidly, remembering " Cymru
am Byth," when they got in with the bayonet at
Driefontein. My Australian boys also carried the
little silver badge of the Southern Cross well to the
front, and will, I am certain, ever bear in mind the
motto of the Victorian Defence Forces which I gave
them for their star — " Pro Deo et Patria."

1
_.
ha i\

INDEX.

Aldershot at conclusion of Crimean
war, 33 — dreariness of, 131.
Allies, infantry of, inspected by
Russian generals, 26.
Alma, holiday on the, 25.
Arabi Pasha. See Egypt.
Army, criticisms on the, 27, 132, 205
— professional training of the, 237.
Athens, visit to, 218.
Australia, appointment to command
of forces in Victoria, 351 — embark
for, 353 — defence of Albany and
Thursday Island, ib., 369 — ap
pointed president of Naval and
Military Committee, 354 — descrip
tion of Melbourne, ib. — Australian
race-meeting, 355 — first introduc
tion to life in, ib. — description of
command, 357 — military adminis
tration, 358 — battle-training, 362
— punishment for breach of dis
cipline, 364 — estimate of troops,
365 — president of a Royal Com
mission for New South Wales
Government on Military and Naval
afiairs, 367 — description of colonies
, in, 369 et seq. — visit to New
Caledonia, 374 — United Service
Home in Victoria, 377.
Balaklava Harbour, arrival at, for
Crimea, 19.
Belfast, depot of 96th Regiment at,
138 — hospitality in, 141.
Belgium, on confidential mission in,
208 — report of, satisfactory, 212.
Bilbao, siege of, 177.

Black Forest, visit to, 350.
Boston, estimate of, 162.
Boyne, battle of the, disturbances at
anniversary of, 140.
Brighton, Easter Volunteer reviews
at, value of, 229.
Buller, Colonel Redvers, arrival of, in
Egypt, 312.
Cairo, advance on, by Suez Canal to
Lake Timseh, instead of Alex
andria, paper on, 214.
Cairo, embark for, 341 — battle-train
ing at, 342 — musical entertainments
at, 343 — sickness among the troops
at, 346.
Canada, appointment to, 150 — sport
in, 157 et seq. — resignation of ap
pointment in, 172.
Canton, precautions on river - boats
running to, 60 — description of, 67
— French force at, 68 — trade at, 77
— quarters for reinforcements at,
83 — coolie corps of, 88, 104 — re
visit friends at, 124.
Ceylon, hand-book on, prepared for
Intelligence Department, 212.
Channel Islands, pleasant military
stations at, 142.
China, value of human life in, 52 — the
fleet in, in 1858, 53 — coasting and
long-sea trade in waters of, 55 —
execution in, 62 — family life in, 70
— influence of Buddhist religion in,
70-72 — ancestor -worship in, 72 —
infanticide in, 75 — punishment in,
compared with that of England, 76.

382

INDEX.

Chinese, estimate of, 124 — as British
soldiers, 125.
Church, Admiral, visit to, at Simon's
Town, 335.
Connaught, Duke of, at Cairo, 322.
Constantinople, visit to, on way to
Crimea, 18.
Crete, mission to, 215 — impressions
of, 216 — relics found at, 217.
Crimean war, depot battalions during,
14 — no lack of recruits at time of,
15 — contingent of Land Transport
Corps set out for, 16 — breakdown
of transport to, 17 — arrival at scene
of, 19 — join regiment, ib. — Bala
klava, 20 — Gallery battery, 21 —
regimental mess, 22 — amusements
and sport during, ib. — trip to Sim
feropol after peace, 25 — holiday on
the Alma, ib. — English and Russian
officers, ib. et seq. — hospitals at Var-
nutka Pass, 28 — looting, 29 — dis
tribution of medals for, 31.
Curragh, military life at, 34.
Don Quixote, a modern, 206.
Edinburgh Castle, early recollections
of, 1.
Egypt, snipe -shooting in, 245 et seq.
— at Port Said, ib. — observations
on Suez Canal, ib. — problem of the
passage of Israelites across Red Sea
solved, 246 — Ismailia, ib. — Tel-el-
Kebir, ib. — state of Abdin barracks,
248 — scheme for capturing Alex
andria, 251 — examination of Dami
etta, 255 — arrangements for cipher
letter from, 257 — report on, meets
with approbation of authorities,
258. Alexandria, massacre at, 260 et
seq. — British fleet at, 262 et seq. —
Arabi Pasha's preparations at forts
of, 266 — advance from, to Cairo in
a land campaign, ib. — work on
batteries at, 269 — despatch of ulti
matum, 271 — commencement of
bombardment, 275 — boarding a
battery, 279 — white flag abused,
283 — landing-parties at, ib. — ad
ventures with plunderers, 284 —
effects of shelling on, 286 — -assist
ance from American navy at, 288.

Suez Canal, protection of, 291 et
seq. — scheme for possession of, near
ly spoilt, 293 — success of attack on
Port Said, 300 — in possession of
Ismailia, ib. — capture of Nefiche, ib.
— land transport muddle, 303 — first
fight at Kassassin, 307 — at battle
field, 309 — friendly Bedouins, 310
—battle of Tel-el-Kebir, 317 et seq.
— looting, 320 — advance to Cairo,
322.
Fall River, description of magnificent
boats on, 162.
Fane's Indian Horse compared with
British cavalry, 135.
Gibraltar, musketry training at, under
Colonel Haythorne, 54 — instruc
tional work at, 173 — difficulties of
survey work at, ib. — society for
prevention of cruelty to animals
started at, 201 — sport at, 205.
Gilbard, Captain, with Spanish army
at siege of Bilbao, 177.
Goldsmid, Sir F., in charge of Intel
ligence Department at Alexandria,
289.
Gordon (Khartoum), meeting with, in
London, 324 — offer to, of services
for Khartoum, 326.
Graham, General Gerald, at Ismailia,
300 — at Kassassin, 30i et seq.
Halifax, Nova Scotia, appointment to,
as garrison instructor, 152 — danger
of coast at, 153 — harbour of, 154 —
general remarks on, 154-156 — work
at, 156 — sport, 157 et seq. — instruc
tional work at, 167 et seq. — com
mission from Inspector-General for
scheme for defence of harbour, 171
— departure from, ib.
Haythorne, Colonel, value of musketry
training by, shown at Sheksing, 54.
Hongkong, battalion of Royals sent
from Gibraltar to, 46 — passage to,
48 — mortality of troops at, 51 —
execution from man-of-war at, 52
— beauty of harbour at, ib. — rifle
instruction at, 54 — military work
at, 55 — race-week in, 56.
Hoogly, unpleasant sights on the,
40.

INDEX.

383

Hope, Admiral, attacks Taku Forts, 79.
Hoskins, Admiral Sir Antony, wel
come by, at Port Said, 291.
Hyderabad, fear of outbreak at, 40 —
condition of, during Mutiny, 44.
Hythe School of Musketry, criticism
on, 136.
Indian Mutiny, first news of, 35 —
embarkation of troops at Dublin
for, ib. — adventure on board trans
port conveying troops to, 37 et seq.
— horrors of, heard at Galle, 38 —
welcome of troops for, at Calcutta,
40 — rumour of rising at Barrack-
pore,^. — precaution against Sepoys,
ib. — description of native regiments,
42 — a rebel rajah, 43.
Indian Pay Office and allowances, 46.
Inkerman, view of battle of, 31.
Intelligence Department, report to, on
confidential mission to Belgium, 212
— hand- book on Ceylon prepared for,
ib.- — at Crete for, 218 — employment
by, for inspection of landing-places
on English coast, 219 et seq. — report
to, on Egypt, 250.
Ismail Pacha, 213 — natural ability of,
214.
Keppel, Commodore, scene of fight of,
and the armed war-junks, 61.
Kitchener, service of, during opera
tions at Alexandria, 264 et seq. —
at Tel-el-Kebir, 319.
Lesseps, M. de, and Arabi Pasha, 262
— and the Suez Canal, 292.
Loch, Lord, imprisonment of, by
Chinese, 116.
Lough Neagh, fishing in, 139.
Madrid, impressions of, 178 — horrors
of a bull-fight in, 179.
Malta, arrival at, on road to Crimea,
17.
Masamah, fight at, with Egyptian
cavalry, 304.
Morocco, permission from authorities
to teach surveying in, 174.
Musketry School, rules of the, 54.
Napoleon, scheme of, to invade Eng
land, 149.

Natal, appointed to the Welsh Regi
ment at, 527 — work in, by the sol
diers, 330 — battle-training in, 333
— memo, on survey of, 334 — sport
in, 335 — mineral wealth of, 338 —
departure from, for Egypt, 339.
Nefiche, capture of, 300.
New Brunswick, moose- and cariboo-
hunting in, 160.
New Caledonia, French penal settle
ment in, 374.
New York, experience in, 163 — civil
ity of public servants in, ib.
Niagara, journey to, from New York,
164 — cataract bath at, ib.
Nightingale, Miss, memory of, 34.
Nova Scotia, sport in, 160, 161.
Orangemen and Roman Catholics, dis
turbances between, at anniversary
of battle of the Boyne, 140.
Otanez, battle of, 192.
Parkes, Sir Henry, imprisonment of,
by Chinese, 116.
Peiho, the, 78 et seq. — disaster at
mouth of, to allied squadrons, 78
— bridge across, 105.
Pekin, advance on, 114 — sufferings
of prisoners in, 116 — plunder and
burning of the Summer Palace at,
117-120— surrender of, 121— trade
with inhabitants of, 122.
Portland and alcoholic drink, 161.
Port Said, capture of, 298.
Portsmouth, preference of, to Aider-
shot, 137.
Probyn's Indian Horse compared with
British cavalry, 135.
Restigouche, salmon-fishing on the,
157.
Riviera, the Russian, 26.
Russell, Sir Baker, at battle of Kas
sassin, 308.
Russian and English officers, friendli
ness of, 25, 26.
Sandhurst, description of clothing and
equipment of cadets at, 7 — drill at,
ib. — board and lodging at, 8 — in
struction at, 10 — punishment at,
for mistakes in exercises, ib. —
strange customs at, 11.

384

INDEX.

Sandhurst Military College, appoint
ment to, as instructor in surveying,
204 — resigns appointment, 219.
Sargood, Sir Frederick, Minister of
Defence at Melbourne, 353.
Scotch Garde du Corps, early history
of the, 2.
Scutari, cemetery of, 18.
Secunderabad, experiences at, during
Mutiny, 42-44 — sanitation in, 45.
Semmes, of Alabama fame, dines with
British officers at Hongkong, 59.
Seymour, Sir Beauchamp, commander
of Mediterranean fleet, 261 — at
Alexandria, 262.
Sheksing, musketry training at Gib
raltar shown at, 54 — Canton field-
force at, 62.
Sholapore, Rajah of, outbreak of, 43.
Smart, Hawley (the novelist), as actor,
24, 35— at the Crimea, 25.
Southampton, embarking of cavalry
at, 232.
Spain, civil war in, 177 — siege of
Bilbao, ib. — letters of introduction
to commander-in-chief, the Due de
la Torre, 178 — journey to Somor
rostro, 178-181 — position of forces
at Bilbao, 182 — organisation of
Spanish army, 184 et seq. — plan of
attack, 191 — battle of Otanez, 192
—relief of Bilbao, 200.
Spithead forts, defences in, 241.
Staff College, instruction at, 144 et
seq. — examination for entrance to,
144 — blame of commanding officers
for failures at, 145 — excellent
laboratory at, 146.
Straubenzee, Sir Charles, expedition
ary force under, at Canton, 54.
Sullivan, bandmaster at Sandhurst,
12.
Taku Forts, Chinese coolies at, 70 —
gunboats force passage past, 78 —
further trouble at, ib. — bombard
ment of, 80 et seq. — storming of,
a hopeless undertaking, 83 — inspec
tion of, 111.
Talienwhan Bay, execution from gun
boat at, 52 — water difficulty at, 93.
Tangier, survey work in, 174.
Tchernaya Valley, scenes in, after
peace restored, 31.

' Through the Battle-Smoke ' referred
to, 306.
Tientsin, forts at, 106 — trading with
natives at, 107 — discovery of buried
guns at, 110.
Topee, Tantia, pursuit of, 44.
Torre, Due de la, commander-in-chief
of Spanish forces, letters of intro
duction to, 178.
Train corps, Military, criticism on,
135.
Tulloch, Sir Alexander Bruce, first
recollections of soldiering of, 1 —
ancestors of, 2 et seq. — school-life
in England, 4 — recollection of Duke
of Wellington, 6 — nominated for
cadetship in navy, ib. — passes for
a military cadet at Sandhurst, 7 et
seq. — gazetted to th,e Royal Regi
ment, 13 — joins depot at Winches
ter, ib. — lodging-money and allow
ance, ib. — takes company of Land
Transport Corps out to Crimea, 16
— first voyage in a troop-ship, ib. —
arrives at Malta, 17 — at Constanti
nople, 18 — in the Crimea, 19 et
seq. — under fire, 21 — leaves Crimea
for Portsmouth, 31 — arrival at
Aldershot, 33 — ordered to Curragh,
34 — on leave in London, ib. — em
barks for service in India, 35 —
goes through course of seamanship,
36 et seq. — utility of nautical
lessons, 40 — arrival at Calcutta,
ib. — disappointment in not forming
part of relief force for Lucknow, ib.
— adventure on Masulipatam river,
41 — arrival at Secunderabad, 42 —
army sanitation in former days, 45
— transferred to 2nd battalion of
Royals, 46 — leaves ' India for
China, in hopes of active service,
ib. — Indian Pay Office department
and allowances, ib. — criticism on
army in India, 48 et seq. — arrival
at Hongkong, 51 — theatricals, 57
— naval friends, 59 — a risky snipe-
shot, 61 — the fortunate letter, 63
— joins expedition up unexplored
Chinese river, 65 — first survey
work, 66 — appointment to head
quarters' staff at Canton, 67 —
work on, 68 — Chinese friends, 69 —
Chinese as soldiers, 70 — fish-shoot-

INDEX.

385

ing, 74 — Chinese ingenuity, 75 —
bombardment of the Taku Forts,
80, 97 et seq. — another Chinese
war, 83 — quarters for 10,000 men,
ib. — amateur pilot, 84 — resigns
appointment and returns to regi
ment, 85 — foreign languages and
champagne, ib. — plans of advance
to Pekin, 86 — allied armies, 87 et
seq. — camping-grounds of allies, 91
—at Talienwhan, 93, 94 — off the
Peiho, 95 — capture of Pehtang, 96
et seq. — Irish stew, 99 — fight of
Sinho, 100 — Tongku Fort stormed,
101 et seq. — at Tientsin, 106 — dines
with Sir Hope Grant, 108 — expe
dition for blankets, 111 — purchases
mule with three good legs, 113 —
acting adjutant in advance on
Pekin, 114 — plunder of the Sum
mer Palace, 117 — surrender of
Pekin, 121— back to Tientsin, 122
— revisits friends at Canton, 124 —
estimate of Chinese, ib. — embarks
for home, 126 — in quarantine at
Singapore, ib. — at the Cape, 127
— happy-go-lucky navigation, 129
— arrival at Spithead, ib. — at Man
chester, ib. — dreary Aldershot,
131 — regiment volunteers for India,
ib. — Hythe School of Musketry,
136 — at Portsmouth, 137 — promo
tion to captain in 96th Regiment,
138 — at depot in Belfast, ib. —
fishing in Lough Neagh and Bann
river, 139 — anniversary of the
battle of the Boyne, 140 — a balloon
trip, 141— working for entrance to
Staff College, 142 — exchanged to
69th Regiment, ib. — stationed at
Channel Islands, ib. — Dublin, 143
— instruction at Staff College, 144
et seq. — fascination for gunnery,
148 — coast defence, ib. — experi
ments at Woolwich and Shoebury
ness, 151 — ordered to Canada, 152
— remarks on Halifax, 154 — sport,
157 et seq. — trip to New York
and Niagara, 161 etseq. — at Toronto,
Montreal, and Quebec, 165 — returns
to Halifax, 166 — instructional work
at Halifax, 167 et seq. — success of
' Elementary Lectures on Military
Law' by, 171 — commission from 2

Inspector -General for scheme for
defence of Halifax harbour, ib. —
invalided home, ib. — resignation of
appointment at Nova Scotia, 1 72 —
joins regiment at Gibraltar, ib. —
soldier and schoolmaster, 173 —
in Morocco, 174 — military attache'
to Spanish army for relief of
Bilbao, 177 et seq. — approval of
H.R.H. on report of operations
at Bilbao, 184 et seq. — battle of
Otanez, 192 — message from the
Carlists, 197— relief of Bilbao, 200
— return to Gibraltar, 201 — founds
society for prevention of cruelty to
animals, ib. — an "affair of honour,"
203 — appointment to Sandhurst
Military College, 204 — sent on
secret mission to Belgium, 208 —
at Waterloo, 211 — compiles hand
book on Ceylon for Intelligence
Department, 212 — at Cairo, 213
—at Crete, 215— at Athens, 218
— resigns Sandhurst appointment,
and goes to Intelligence Depart
ment, 219 — inspection of landing-
places on English coast, 220 et seq.
— appointment to headquarter staff
of the Southern District, 226—
Wellington College inquiry, 227
— quartermaster - general's work,
232 et seq. — trooping yarns, 235 —
estimate of volunteers, 239, 240 —
at French manoeuvres, 242 — in
Egypt, 244 et seq. — reviews Arabi
Pasha's troops, 248 — Bedouin
friends, 253 — telegram from Intel
ligence Department, 256 — official
appreciation of service, 258 —
massacre at Alexandria, 260 et seq.
— attached for duty with Mediter
ranean fleet, 260 — reconnaissance
in disguise, 267 — bombardment of
forts at Alexandria, 275 et seq. —
gunnery criticisms, 286 — trans
ferred to flagship at Port Said, 291
— Suez Canal, ib. et seq. — seizure of
Port Said, 297— at Ismailia, 300
— chief of Intelligence Department
for expeditionary force, 301 —
review of campaign, 302 — land
transport muddle, 303 — massacre
of Captain Gill and Mr Palmer,
305 — at Kassassin, 307 et seq. —

B

386

INDEX.

in hospital, 314— battle of Tel-
el-Kebir, 317 et seq. — approval
of Sir Garnet Wolseley for ser
vices, 321 — at Cairo, 322 — home
again, ib. — estimate of natives, 323
— dines with Queen Victoria, 325
— rejoins regiment at Londonderry,
ib. — offer by King of the Belgians,
326— at Mullingar, 327— before a
Parliamentary Committee, ib. — ap
pointed colonel of the Welsh Regi
ment at Natal, 327 — pamphlet by,
' How to beat the Boers, ' 333 — in
Zululand, 336 — ordered to Egypt,
339 — invalided home, 340 — returns
to Cairo, 341 et seq. — commands
Cairo Brigade, 345 — last regimental
parade, 347 — view of duty, ib. —
approval of commander-in-chief, ib.
— the Black Forest, 348 — at
Cimiez, 350 — comparison of French
and German military training, 350
— at Spezzia, 351 — becomes a
major-general, ib. — in Australia,
353 et seq. — president of a Royal
Commission for New South Wales
Government to inquire into organi
sation of military and naval forces,
367 et seq. — retiral under age
clause, 379 — volunteers for service
in South African war, ib.
Tungchow, treaty officials attacked
near, 114.
United Service Institution, lecture
to, on defensive positions between

coast and London, 149 — approval
of, by committee appointed to
report on, 150 — extract from
lecture to, on Educational and
Professional Instruction of Officers,
167 — lecture to, on soldiers' food,
326 — lecture to, on battle-training
of regimental officers, 342, 351.
United States navy, assistance ren
dered by, in China, 81 — at Alex
andria, 288 — report by attache of,
on Mex affair, 324.
Wampoa, practical joke played on
man-of-war lying at, 74.
Waterloo, visit to, 211.
Wellington College, inquiry as to lec
ture delivered on, 227 — Royal Com
mission on, 229 — Mr Gladstone
and, ib.
Windsor, great volunteer review at,
240.
Wolseley, Sir Garnet, at Port Said,
300— at Tel-el-Kebir, 316.
Woolwich and Shoeburyness, experi
ments at, in. gunnery fuses, 151,
152.
Yalta, summer palace of Prince Vor-
onsoff at, 26.
York, Mr Reginald, and Royal Com
mission on Wellington College, 229.
Zulus, the, description of, 336 et seq.
— account of the battle of Isand
hlwana by, ib.

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