GROUSE SOUP. 187 



ill, nor did I fail in appetite, nor in sleep rude, hard, 

 and rough as my bed within the ambulance was. Some 

 of my men, however, as well as George, began to com 

 plain ; and, as far as that useless appendage to my camp, 

 Mr Canterall, went, he was retching, chattering in his 

 teeth, and ill more or less all day. He had by this time 

 donned a sort of leather dress, covered with fringe of the 

 same material, which he informed me was his " Indian 

 dress," but over this he put a sky-blue coat, of the oldest 

 English cut, with a cape to it, in which he looked exces 

 sively like a worn-out French soldier. As I proceeded 

 through the plains I found that this garment (no doubt 

 filched by volunteers from the Government stores, for I 

 found it was the greatcoat served out to that class of 

 warriors) was in fact the coverlet of all settlers. 



If I remember rightly, it was on this day that I had 

 for dinner grouse-soup, thickened slightly with flour, 

 and flavoured a little with slips of bacon ; and never in 

 all my life had I tasted of a more delicious decoction, 

 sent up boiling hot. It was so good that I called to Mr 

 Canterall to express my unqualified approbation, and to 

 tell him to compliment Wallace, who acted as cook ; but 

 he told me he had made the soup himself, and that it 

 was nothing to what he could do when we got among 

 buffalo, antelope, or deer. Whether this was false or not 

 I am uncertain ; but as I afterwards found that he could 

 not even stumble on the truth by accident, very likely 

 he assumed to himself the virtues of another. Here, with 

 this excellent soup, my present stock of potatoes having 

 vanished, a little bottle of milk, made to keep better by 

 having some brandy put to it, also became exhausted, 

 and the bit of fresh butter was all gone. With a caution 

 to Mr Canterall but which caution, if it entailed on 



