A party termed the "General Fatigue" swept the entire parade ground--unless there were enough prisoners in the guard house to perform this unpleasant duty. A police guard furnished sentinels to watch over the prisoners, the colors, the quarters of the commanding officer, and the arms of the regiment. Other soldiers were posted at the front and the rear of the fort. Certain detachments were formed for reconnoitering and foraging--the nature of the tasks depending on the season of the year and the needs of the garrison. At three o'clock in the afternoon the third roll-call was followed by dinner; and thirty minutes before sunset the music called out the regiment for dress parade, where various maneuvers were gone through and orders were read. After the parade, when the regiment was again in its quarters, the arms were placed in the arm-racks, the horses attended to, a fifth roll-call endured, and tattoo sounded. Then the lights were extinguished and all were expected to be quiet for the night. This monotony of the daily program was equalled only by the monotony of the meals. The regulation diet prescribed by Congress in 1802 consisted of a pound and a quarter of beef, or three-quarters of a pound of pork; eighteen ounces of bread or flour; one gill of rum, whiskey, or brandy; and for every hundred rations were supplied two quarts of salt, four quarts of vinegar, four pounds of soap, and one pound and a half of candles. In 1832 coffee and sugar were substituted for the liquor.[227] During the early years of Fort Snelling these supplies were brought from St. Louis in flatboats. With the development of steamboat traffic, the steamboat was utilized, but it did not entirely displace the earlier method. Difficulties often hindered the transportation of supplies. The summer of 1829 was extremely dry. The average monthly rainfall was less than an inch, and steamboat navigation was impossible. Even keelboats found difficulty in ascending the river; sixty days were spent by Lieutenant Reynolds in bringing up a load of supplies. A sand bar at Pine Bend was impassable, so half of the load was taken off and the rest hurried up the river. When the crew arrived the garrison was upon its last barrel of flour.[228]