swords; the men who were out for wood or water came scampering up; the mule-drivers rapidly drove in the animals which were grazing on the plains; the dhoolie-bearers mustered round the palkees; the grasscutters buckled on swords of various descriptions; and I observed my servant busily engaged in loading a great double-barrelled pistol. The result showed that an enemy must manage to creep up very close before being observed, to catch us unawares. In two minutes and a half from the first bugle, the 4th were drawn up in close order in front of their lines, and being joined by the Beloochees, marched off, throwing out skirmishers before them. In another five minutes the Mountain Artillery were in motion, and the 3d Native Cavalry, who had, when the alarm sounded, been in their native undress, had dressed, saddled, and were dashing across the plain. A little in rear of the infantry the dhoolie-bearers were staggering along with their palkees, and an apothecary was in full chase with an armful of splints and bandages. It is evident that we shall not be caught asleep. Alarms of this sort do good occasionally, but should not be too often repeated, or the men get so accustomed to the cry of “Wolf!” that they will not believe it when the real animal makes his appearance. But I am leaving myself and my mules an unconscionable time upon the hill; scarcely, however, so long as I was there in reality, for it was getting dusk when I reached the foot, just three hours after my arrival at the top. There was no camp in sight, and, although we knew it was still six miles distant, we were ignorant of the direction in which it lay. Fortunately, none of the loads had shifted, and we were thus enabled to push past great numbers of animals who were standing with their loads upon the ground beside them. It was a very weary and unpleasant six-miles’ march. There was no moon, and it soon became extremely dark; and as the way was a mere track, we were quite ignorant whether we were going in the right direction or not. Of course we followed mules in front of us, but there was no knowing whether they were going right—for a mule stopping for a minute, for a readjustment of the load, would lose sight of the one in advance, and would be just as likely as not to go in the wrong direction, and inevitably be followed by all in his rear. The way was across an undulating plain, with many deep nullahs covered with trees, and so dark that we could not see our horses’ ears. There was very little shouting now; everyone rode or walked along in a sort of sulky silence; the pace was of the slowest, the mules being scarcely able to crawl along. We could not pick our way, for we could not see the ground. Some got off and led their horses, others trusted to their horses’ eyes, and it was astonishing how well the animals picked their way; still there were some awkward falls. Even if one escaped these greater dangers, it was not pleasant to