BEFORE DELHI. 247 



been playing at William the Conqueror and the 

 battle of Hastino's,' — and then he told me of the 

 whole fight, now a brilliant page of English 

 history." 



On the 24th Hodson arrived in camp, " looking," 

 says Greathed, " as fresh as possible." In this 

 case, however, appearances were deceitful, as the 

 following letter to his wife will show : — 



" I returned here this morning very tired and 

 unwell, and not able to write much, for I have been 

 obliged to have recourse to the doctor. I am to 

 have a surgeon attached to my regiment at once, 

 as I represented how cruel it was to send us out 

 on an expedition without a doctor or a grain of 

 medicine. We had eight wounded men, and two 

 officers had fever on the road, and nothing but the 

 most primitive means of relieving them. . . . 



" Nicholson has just gone out to look after a 

 party of the enemy with twelve guns, who had 

 moved out yesterday towards Najafgarh, threaten- 

 ing to get into our rear. I wanted to have gone 

 with him ; but I was laughingly told to stay at 

 home and nurse myself, and let some one else have 

 a chance of doino; g-ood service. This was too bad, 

 especially as Nicholson wished me to go." 



Hodson's services on this occasion were warmly 

 acknowledged by General Wilson : — 



" Lieutenant Hodson most fully carried out my 

 instructions to my entire satisfaction, and his re- 

 port will show that the whole of his detachment, 

 both officers and men, behaved throughout in the 

 most gallant and effectual manner. 



" It must have been most gratifying to Lieuten- 

 ant Hodson to find his new regiment so steady 



