378 RECOLLECTIONS OF FORTY YEARS. 



which, by the light of a dozen torches, a troop of some 

 five-arid-twenty or thirty cooks and scullery lads were 

 getting ready. I went to have a look at this open- 

 air laboratory. Three rows of saucepans, placed in a 

 row over some trenches which had been dug in the 

 ground, were being heated by faggots placed in the 

 hollow of the ground. This is not an economical 

 mode of cooking, but it is a very expeditious way. 

 After dinner our tent is converted into a drawing- 

 room, for it is gradually becoming the rendezvous of 

 the staff, who come to hear the news, while Zulfikar 

 carries on his correspondence, opens the Viceroy's 

 letters, receives and despatches the messengers, and 

 gives the orders in the Prince's name." 



" November 17, 1854. 



"At seven the Prince was up and out of his tent, 

 and upon my going out to him he tells me that he 

 has been disturbed by the trumpeters of the cavalry, 

 who are quite close to his tent, which he has placed 

 about 350 feet farther off, the intervening space being 

 intended for the erection of targets at which he means 

 his artillerymen and chasseurs to practise. The day 

 is spent by the troops in bathing and washing their 

 clothes in the canal ; and, after a ride on my horse, I 

 come to where the Viceroy is making his sharp- 

 shooters aim at a target about 550 yards off. None 

 of them had as yet hit it, so, taking the carbine from 

 one of them, I showed them how to shoulder it and 



