2 



JOIN THE BASH I BUZUKS. 



have closed over their dead during those short 

 ten years — that epitome of the past ! 



* And when the lesson strikes the head, 

 The wear j heart grows cold.' 

 ***** 



The result of a skirmish with the Somal of 

 Berberah (April 19, 1855) was, in my case, a visit 

 c on sick leave ' to England. Arrived there, I 

 lost no time in recovering health, and in volun- 

 teering for active Crimean service. The cam- 

 paign, however, was but too advanced; all 

 6 appointments 1 at head-quarters had been filled 

 up ; and new comers, such as I was, could look 

 only to the € Bashi Buzuks,' or to the 1 Turkish 

 Contingent.' 



My choice was readily made. There was, 

 indeed, no comparison between serving under 

 Major- General W. E. Beatson, an experienced 

 Light -Cavalry man who had seen rough work in 

 the saddle from Spain to Eastern Hindustan ; and 

 under an individual, half -civilian, half -reformed 

 Adjutant-General, whose specialty was, and ever 

 had been, foolscap — literally and metaphorically. 



In due time I found myself at the Dar- 

 danelles, Chief of Staff in that thoroughly well- 

 abused corps, the Bashi Buzuks. It were * ac- 

 tum agere ' to inflict upon the reader a rechauffe 



