26 SPORTING AND 



suits, for, in ten minutes I had them all at 

 work taking the tent down and carefully 

 packing it up. This took the best part of 

 an hour ; I need not say I was a happy man 

 when I saw it, at last, safely packed, and 

 in the hackery with my other belongings, 

 and the bullocks moving off with the creak- 

 ing and screaming vehicle; the driver 

 screwing at the poor animals tails as if he 

 were moving the ponderous machine 

 entirely by his own labours. 



I now began to feel hungry, and, re- 

 collecting I had not taken anything to eat 

 since my dinner at our mess on the pre- 

 vious evening, I directed my steps towards 

 my old hotel, after I had seen my tattu 

 carefully attended to. The poor pony had 

 done some hard work already. All officers' 

 horses and ponies are led in the rear of 

 the regiment on the line of march, and 



