272 TEAVEL, AD VENTURE, AND SPORT. 



days. Fine weather always cheers men up when in 

 the field; and as the embarkation took place on a 

 lovely day, this fact, added to the novelty of the 

 operation, raised our animal spirits. Even the few 

 of a desponding temperament, who for some time 

 before had never ceased repeating that a start was 

 out of the question "for a long time " even these 

 men were seen to smile with gratification as the boats 

 pushed off from shore, the men cheering for " Fort 

 Garry." 



No men ever began an undertaking, notwith- 

 standing the evil forebodings of croakers, with 

 lighter hearts ; every man seemed as if he was 

 embarking at Richmond for a pleasure-trip on the 

 river; and all, the private just as much as the 

 officer, appeared to take a real earnest interest in 

 their work. They were pictures of good health and 

 soldier-like condition. Whilst stationed at Prince 

 Arthur's Landing, and the other larger camps, the 

 men had fresh meat, bread, and potatoes every day. 

 No spirits were allowed throughout the journey to 

 Fort Garry, but all ranks had daily a large ration 

 ef tea. This was one of the very few military ex- 

 peditions ever undertaken by English troops where 

 intoxicating liquor formed no part of the daily ration. 

 It was an experiment based upon the practice common 

 in Canada, Avhere the lumbermen, who spend the 

 whole winter in the backwoods, employed upon the 

 hardest labour, and exposed to a freezing temperature, 



