SWABEY DIARY. 535 
6th March.—Major Frazer and some other wiseacres have recom- 
mended the disuse of covers for gun carriages; we find, however, much 
of our ammunition damaged by the exposure of the boxes to the rain 
during the wet season on “the retreat”? and at San Payo. N.B.—Do 
not set everything down to be an improvement, because the author of 
it igs esteemed a witch, but draw your own conclusions. 
7th March.—Dedicated the day to the sports without much success, 
however, we do indeed pass our time most stupidly: get up with the 
sun, inspect a parade, and see no more of the troop, which immediately 
goes to grass, till 4 o’clock. We then see the horses cleaned, dine at 
6, and go to bed immediately afterwards, any reasonable conversation 
being out of fashion. Indeed, it is one of the evils of an Englishman’s 
life in Portugal, that he is obliged in the winter to go to bed as soon 
as ib is dark, because he has no fire and it is too cold to sit up, and it is 
useless to attempt to read with any satisfaction by the nasty dim lamps. 
(To be Continued). 
