OF FARRIERY. 



439 



distress, you are not left long to sympathise 

 with misfortune ; something so grotesque, so 

 ta^^-ras: and bob-tailish, meets the eve at 

 every turn ; something in the shape of a bit of 

 blanket, an old tin saucepan, an old washing- 

 tub, the bottom of which, in its turn, serves 

 the laundress for her ironing-board. The un- 

 skilled in bivouacking would see with surprise 

 so much care taken with so much rubbish. 



Then we have sometimes a more pleasing 

 occupation in beholding the happy counte- 

 nances of children, pleased with the bustle 

 surrounding the baggage-waggon. We have 

 witnessed some little children placed over a 

 donkey's back, slung in a sort of box, with 

 their happy little faces peeping out, the box 

 being turned as the wind might shift, to pro- 

 tect them from the weather. 



The following is a correct and humour- 

 ous description of a baggage-march in the 

 Peninsula : — 



" Devil another yard he'll stir, your Ho- 

 nour," said Pat Rooney over the prostrate 

 body of a jaded worn-out bourra ; " that 

 march yesterday did his business!" 



We had marched the day previous from 

 Campo Maior, bivouacking at the foot of the 

 glacis of Badajos, and were then preparing 

 for a march to the little town of Puebla, dis- 

 tant about seven leagues. The batman 

 (Rooney) was thus addressing his master, the 

 miserable donkey lying at full length, its 

 owner contemplating with dejected looks the 

 too probable wreck of all his comforts. 



" It is useless talking, Rooney ! the poor 

 devil is certainly nearly done up : still on he 

 must go to-day : therefore he must be put on 

 his legs in some way ; the division is already 

 formed, and it is quite impossible to procure 

 another animal this morning." 



Vos-me-say (the donkey's name) was an old 

 acquaintance : he had long oeen an attache to 

 the corps, and had followed our fortunes from 

 the gloomy period of Torres Vedras lines to 

 the brighter days of Rodrigo and Badajos : 

 his master was an old friend and brother 

 sportsman, so with the assistance of tMo or 

 three other batmen, the poor old fellow was 

 placed on all fours. 



The march from Puebla to Badajos is 

 through a deep, flat, sandy country, and seven 

 long leagues : very faint hopes were enter- 

 tained of Vos-me-say seeing the little town 

 that day ; however, an effort must be made, 

 and he was shortly loaded. 



All the old Peninsular men remember the 

 pleasures of a baggage-guard ! Some tried to 

 evade it, others to exchange it for a more 

 agreeable duty ; all were rejoiced at its ter- 

 mination. The whole scene till the baggage 

 was formed was confusion confounded ; from 

 the groom of the General's led horses to the 

 chere amie mounted en cavalier, all were in a 

 jabber; donkeys, horses, and mules were 

 thrashed and thumped, with accompaniments 

 in all the languages of Europe; hallooing, 

 arreeing, and pounding; once witnessed, it 

 could never be forgotten. 



I have stated before my friend was a sports- 

 man, and certainly his baggage shewed pretty 

 clearly it could belong to none other : across 

 Vos-me-say were slung a pair of panniers, 

 covered with a bullock's hide, one of which 

 contained provender for the human system, 

 and the few requisites of a soldier's batterie de 

 cuisine ; its fellow, linen, &c. On one of these 

 was placed a gun-case, fishing-rod, and 

 basket ; on the other a small tent, iron camp- 

 kettle, and at its side hung a dead hare ; in 

 the centre a sack, surmounted by a round 



