Good-sized streams run between each of the higher ranges, and we crossed
four or five of them yesterday.
General Staveley, who I am glad to hear is better, is only one day in our
rear. An officer has gone back this morning to direct him to halt to-night
at the stream three and a half miles behind. The weather has been warmer
for the last two days, and this has of course increased the labour of the
soldiers. Had it not been for the frequent occurrence of water, I do not
think that one quarter of the troops would have got in last night.
Yesterday’s camp was admirably chosen for defensive purposes, being
surrounded on all sides by a deep nullah. To-day’s camp is convenient, and
is also defended on one side by a nullah, but has the disadvantage that
the nullah is two hundred feet deep, and is extremely precipitous, the
water being only accessible even on foot at two places, and consequently
the difficulty of watering the animals is very great. The water, however,
and indeed all that we have met with for the last day or two, is
delicious. This is indeed a treat. Hitherto the water has been singularly
nasty—thick and full of insects when stagnant, earthy and bad-tasting when
running. Here it is fresh, clear, and pure. Rum is quite at a discount.
The ravine through which the stream runs is very picturesque. The slope is
steep, but well-wooded down to the bottom of the nullah; but the stream
itself has cut a way from twenty to thirty feet wide through the solid
rock at the bottom. The sides are as perpendicular as walls, and are in
some places thirty feet deep. It is only, as I have said, at two points
that we can get down to the water. This narrow gorge is overhung with
trees, and in every cranny and on every tiny ledge grow lovely patches of
green ferns. It requires no stretch of fancy to imagine oneself by the
side of a pretty mountain-stream in Wales or Ireland. The vegetation is
too bright and varied for a Highland stream. Nearly every officer in camp,
and a good number of the men, have been down this morning for a bathe,
which is doubly refreshing after the fatigue of yesterday and the paucity
of our present washing appliances. The camp yesterday morning presented
quite an unusual appearance. The head-quarter camp had shrivelled in
dimensions from twenty tents down to four; and outside of them, soon after
daybreak, the whole staff might be seen engaged in the various processes
of washing and dressing. Twelve men may manage to sleep in a tent, but it
is quite impossible that they can simultaneously dress there. Not, indeed,
that any of the tents contained their full complement. Some had slung
their blankets like hammocks upon the trees; others were content to roll
themselves in their rugs, and sleep upon a waterproof-sheet under a bush;
and besides this there was a hospital-tent, and as there are no sick, some
of the officers were drafted off into this. Indeed, all might have been
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