On the afternoon of the 14th the head quarter staff, accompanied by the Duke of Connaught and Prince Teck, with a part of the Brigade of Guards, left the field of battle by rail for Zagazig; but the line was a single one and in disorder, so that we were constantly delayed, and did not arrive till 9 o'clock P.M. Our baggage animals were wandering about somewhere in the desert, and none of us had even a change of clothes; and, with the exception of a tin of meat, a few biscuits, and bottle of claret--fortunately brought by the Duke of Connaught, who kindly shared his scanty supplies with us--we had no food. Our troops of all arms were marching along the line of railway, and once, when we were detained, a weary gunner passed the carriage, and on being asked where he was going replied, 'To Zig-zag.' Two other gunners had captured a dromedary, and were riding along in high spirits. The inhabitants of the villages as we passed through the cultivated country came out and salaamed, and seemed quite happy. They had stuck poles with white rags flying on the tops of their houses in token of surrender. Altogether it was an interesting and amusing scene. I slept that night on the railway platform at Zagazig, surrounded by myriads of flies. However, these were the last of our hardships, if such they can be called; and on the following morning we arrived by train at Cairo, and were cordially received; in fact, the whole population had turned out in the streets to give us welcome. Every English soldier walking about was followed by an admiring crowd. The Khedive, telegraphing from Alexandria, placed the Abdin Palace at the disposal of the staff and begged us to consider ourselves as his guests. From a small tent in the desert to a royal palace in two days--with a battle in the interval--was certainly an unusual but welcome change of scene. There was, however, one drawback. Although the Abdin Palace contained suites of handsome state apartments, gorgeous in satin and gold, there were no bed-rooms! Whether rulers in Egypt never sleep, or whatever the explanation, we had to make the best of it, and I took possession of one large state room; but my little camp-bed looked very shabby and insignificant amidst such splendid surroundings. There were upwards of 100 wax candles in glass chandeliers hanging from the ceiling.