22 



HORSE, FOOT, AND DRAGOONS. 



great -coats were folded back from their legs, clad in the regu- 

 lation scarlet trousers and leather gaiters. Their knapsacks, 

 some with short -handled pick and shovel, others with cooking 

 utensils blackened by recent contact with fire, others again with 

 huge loaves of bread fastened to them, 

 were strapped tightly on their backs, 

 their canvas haversacks, filled with 

 the day's rations, swung at their 

 sides, and their rifles hung loose- 

 ly over their shoulders. It 

 was heavy marching order, 

 indeed, the bao^oraore of the 



■n 





ftr0¥ 



French infantryman weighing twenty-eight kilogrammes (about 

 fifty -six pounds English), exclusive of their ammunition, of 

 which each man carries ninety cartridges. 



The rain was falling in torrents as we passed out of the town 

 and struck the " Route de Paris " — the broad national highway 

 running from the coast towns to the capital — and the order to 

 march at ease was passed down the column. The ranks opened 



