RECREA TION. 



3°5 



good many things said of him that are not 

 complimentary. The camp which fol- 

 lows a rain, if it happens to be a bright 

 sunshiny day, reminds one of a man-of- 

 war on wash day, except that the classes 

 of garments displayed are apt to be some- 

 what varied. 



Our starting hour is about 6.30 a m., 

 two hours after reveille, by which time 

 most of the men and wagons are on the 

 road. We trot along gaily, passing the 

 wagons, until we reach the head of the 

 column, when we go along more slowly 

 and usually reach camp about n or 12, 

 after a march of some 15 or 18 miles. 

 The country passed through on Friday 

 and Saturday was not quite so thickly 

 settled as before, and many of the farms 

 in place of fences have a furrow run 

 around them as a warning to outsiders 

 not to intrude. One man had stuck up 

 a sign where an old road had crossed 

 his field, with "FENCED in," printed 

 with pen and ink, the small letters at 

 the end being rendered necessary by 

 the board on which the sign was 

 painted, not being long enough to carry 

 all in large letters. 



A little further on a sign on a tall 

 pole informed us that the road to Pike's 

 Peak and Fort Carney turned sharp 

 round to the right, where some man 

 had set up a grog shop, and adopted this 

 method of getting the travel to pass by 

 his house. Although we cared nothing 

 about Pike's Peak, we concluded the 

 other name must refer to Fort Kearney, 

 for which we are bound ; and so, turn- 

 ing to the right, we patronized the estab- 

 lishment, so far as to water our mules 

 at the well and buy a tin cup at the 

 store. Friday night it rained most of 

 the time, but not hard, and we had some 



difficulty in getting dry into the ambu- 

 lances in the morning. The rain ren- 

 dered the roads somewhat heavy, but as 

 it was cool and there was no dust, we 

 came along in good time and reached, 

 about 12, a good camp, with tolerable 

 water, six miles beyond Walnut creek, 

 where we lie by to rest to-morrow. 



Big Nemehaw, Tuesday, 12th, 7.30 a.m. 



We had a rest, such as it was, all 

 day Sunday. It rained and stormed 

 heavily all the afternoon, as well as all 

 last night. We got off yesterday morn- 

 ing feeling as if we had lain out all 

 night, but the sky cleared up before we 

 had been long on the road. We arrived 

 at a camp in the open prairie, with no 

 wood within half a mile and no good 

 water nearer than a mile and a half. 

 Both had to be hauled to us. I managed 

 to get some birds along the road to-day, 

 so that we had fresh meat for dinner, 

 and this with soup, made of dessicated 

 vegetables, and fresh biscuits, furnished 

 us a good dinner. 



13th. — We made an earlier start 

 than usual, and have just reached the 

 city (I suppose it would be called by the 

 inhabitants) of Seneca. It consists of 

 some dozen cabins and something which 

 looks like a saw mill. Here we are 

 promised ice, which wonderfully im- 

 proves bad water. F. is just about get- 

 ting on horseback, to vary the trip a lit- 

 tle, and has so far outraged public 

 opinion, as to actually remove her hoops. 

 We are now about one-third of the way 

 to Kearney. The travelling is delight- 

 ful, and the roads the best natural ones 

 I ever saw — hard and smooth, and of 

 any width we choose. 



( TO BE CONTINUED.) 



