in any long engagement at close quarters, where magazine fire was much resorted to. The bayonet is a long triangular one, which was nearly always kept fixed, and it was a very noticeable fact that not more than five men in each company had scabbards, and these, where they existed, were of the flimsiest leather, and without any steel cap to prevent the point from coming through. Only about ten per cent. of the men were provided with water-bottles of a uniform pattern. The rest carried flasks, beer bottles, lemonade bottles, in fact anything that would hold water, suspended from their belts with a piece of string. From this it may be gathered that their equipment was very easily visible, of a very rough description, and certainly neither the most formidable nor the most comfortable of those amongst the Allies. The men themselves are brave and stolid soldiers, excelling at defence rather than attack, in which latter they are extremely slow, losing many men from gun fire while still out of effective rifle range, and yet not appearing anxious to close. A defect in their organisation appeared to be that the regiments were under officered, and that the “non-coms” had not that command over their men which they ought to have, when their commissioned rank is placed _hors de combat_. The Russian bluejackets were dressed in a somewhat similar style to ours, and their arms and accoutrements were identical with those used by the army. To sum them up, it was remarked in Tientsin, with great truth, that the Russian soldier in battle was a splendid man, but afterwards a licentious brute. This, though a very comprehensive accusation, was only too true on many occasions in North China.