SECOND 



RIFLE 



BATTALIOIsT. 



469 



not in such bitter terms as their less expe- 

 rienced comrades; for in one fortnight after 

 leaving the luxuries of a well-found trans- 

 port, they were in the midst of almost 

 boundless plains, amongst a set of people 

 who looked more like savages (having no- 

 thing in common with themselves but the 

 human form, neither manners, customs, lan- 

 guage, nor even colour,) than a disciplined 

 army, such as they had been accustomed to 

 see, and which they had, whilst on board, 

 so often described to their younger compa- 

 nions. This extraordinary group were en- 

 camped, but there were no white tents to be 

 seen in long regular lines of streets, — theirs 

 was the bivouac of savages ; the arms were 

 piled in the front of a wood, and bushed to 

 prevent the sun's intense heat from cracking 

 their butts ; the officers were lounging or 

 sleeping in their hammocks slung between 

 two trees, whilst the almost naked sol- 

 diers were lying sleeping, singing, gam- 



