THE FLANK MARCH 23 



With what curiosity our men looked at it, and what a- shudder 

 seemed to run through them at the sight ; but then came another, 

 and another, and others with horrid wounds, groaning and crying 

 for help, help which no one could give them. At length we 

 came to the river ; we were half-dying with thirst, but for a long 

 time no one ventured to taste the water which flowed through 

 this scene of death ; but this feeling once overcome, they rushed 

 eagerly to the stream, and very refreshing it was. We passed 

 over a bridge the Russians had partly destroyed, but by this time 

 repaired by our engineers, and reached our destined resting-place 

 on the field where the battle had been raging during the day. 

 Here we soon dropped down to sleep, not, however, before those 

 lines of Campbell's came most forcibly to my mind — 



When thousands had sunk on the ground overpowered, 

 The weary to sleep and the wounded to die — 



though we had not even the comfort of a pallet of straw. 



" Moved our camp from the battle-field to join 

 the 4th Division," " Marched to the Kutchka." 

 " Marched to the Balbec." " Travelling slowly 

 all night through the wood." And so on till the 

 30th September, when, owing to inflammation of 

 the eyes, brought on by exposure to the cold by 

 night and to the sun by day,^ Flower was ordered 

 to the hospital ships Hydaspes and Gertrude, where 

 he remained till the 13th October, when he re- 

 turned for duty to his regiment, which was now 

 engaged in the siege of Sebastopol, the bombard- 

 ment of which commenced four days later. 



Balaclava, October ii, 1854. — . . . Things are going on 



very quietly. We have not yet fired a shot, but are silently and 



(apparently) slowly making our preparations for opening a 



tremendous and simultaneous fire on the devoted city; they 



1 Flower never fully recovered the sight of his right eye. 



