Overworked as the linesmen were, the regiments possessed facilities for carrying out domestic minutiæ which wore off the rougher asperities of a trying campaign. To most of them washermen were appointed who attended to the concerns of the regimental laundry and ensured to the men the comfort of wearing clean linen. Such was not the good fortune of the sappers. Every man was wanted for some absolutely pressing duty, and it was only when the caprices of chance threw in their way a vagrant interval that they could seek to afford themselves the companionship of a well-washed shirt. From this cause it can occasion no wonder that the men were often foul and distressed by vermin. In this condition there were not a few who would steal at times into some cave to relieve themselves in silence of the loathsome brood. No perseverance, however, was sufficient to free them from the creeping things which swarmed in every seam and around every fretted hole of their threadbare clothes. So extreme was this discomfort felt by many poor fellows, that a general officer of the corps, who took great interest in the feeble and attenuated invalids as they landed at Portsmouth from the Crimea, was constrained officially to represent the pitiable state in which he found them. Comparatively of all the troops they were the most miserable and sympathising with their misfortunes, the general and his benevolent lady generously supplied the sufferers with clean linen and apparel. Then, again, though sufficient food was afforded them, it was not of that description and variety to give the pioneer adequate strength and cheerfulness to bear up against his depressing toils. Hard biscuit, salt beef and pork formed the staff of the military regimen. Now and then they enjoyed the luxury of tasting fresh meat. None of the sappers at this time could command sufficient relief from front duty to master the mysteries of the _cuisine_ so as to manufacture anything like a relishable meal. This was left as an achievement for after times when the inimitable Soyer superintended the military kitchens. Many hardy men at last broke up; and one hale fellow—the type of many more—in alluding to his trials on account of the rations, observed, “My teeth are the only parts that are failing me!” Hardship was unequal to make an inroad upon that strong man’s frame, but flinty biscuit and tough beef spoiled the efficiency of an apparatus which, under other circumstances, might have stood his need for half a century. He then added, “all the money I can get goes for soft bread to ease my teeth and mitigate the aching of my jaws. The French come round with it almost every day, and we give 2_s._ 6_d._ and sometimes 3_s._ for a three-pound loaf!” Those indeed were hard times and the prices such as would be excessive in a famine.