146 MEMOIR OF FLEEMING JENKIN 



so I sent on board and got old sails, and fairly 

 wrapped the hut up in them ; and then we were 

 as snug as could be, and I left the hut in glorious 

 condition with a nice little stove in it. The tent 

 which should have been forthcoming from the cure's 

 for the guards, had gone to Cagliari ; but I found 

 another, [a] green, Turkish tent, in the Elba and 

 soon had him up. The square tent left on the last 

 occasion was standing all right and tight in spite 

 of wind and rain. We landed provisions, two beds, 

 plates, knives, forks, candles, cooking utensils, and 

 were ready for a start at 6 p.m. ; but the wind 

 meanwhile had come on to blow at such a rate that 



I thought better of it, and we stopped. T and 



S slept ashore however, to see how they liked 



it ; at least they tried to sleep, for S the ancient 



sergeant-major had a toothache, and T thought 



the tent was coming down every minute. Next 

 morning they could only complain of sand and a 

 leaky coffee-pot, so I leave them with a good 

 conscience. The little encampment looked quite 

 picturesque : the green round tent, the square 

 white tent and the hut all wrapped up in sails, on 

 a sand hill, looking on the sea and masking those 

 confounded marshes at the back. One would 

 have thought the Cagliaritans were in a conspiracy 

 to frighten the two poor fellows, who (I believe) 

 will be safe enough if they do not go into the 

 marshes after nightfall. S brought a little 



