By noon of the 8th we had reached the banks of Woody Bayou and halted there for dinner. That night we had arrived at the plantation of Confederate General Fiske and appropriated some of his fresh beef for supper. We made 19 miles that day. The 9th we pursued our march along Roundaway Bayou through a beautiful fertile country covered with vast fields of corn and other crops, and splendidly built up. We crossed some streams upon pontoon bridges, and saw our first alligators in that bayou. We also saw scattered along the roadside many dead horses and mules, and passed the smoking ruins of many plantation buildings. We ate our dinner on the grounds of Confederate Judge Perkins. We passed through magnolia groves in full bloom, and along miles of blossoming rose hedge; beautiful and fragrant beyond description. At night we arrived at Lake St. Joseph and camped on its shores. All along our route the houses were deserted by all whites and able bodied colored people, only the sick, the aged and decrepit remained. On the 10th we continued our march along the shores of Lake St. Joseph. Out on the surface of the lake numerous old gray-backed alligators lay sleeping, and ever and anon a musket would crack and one of those old gators would clap his hand on his side and go out of sight with a splash. A number of dead gators with bullet holes in their bodies had floated ashore. Today we passed immense fields of grain, one corn field comprising 1,400 acres; and also passed the smoking ruins of plantation houses more frequently. At 4 o'clock we got to Hard Times Landing, on the Mississippi river, opposite Grand Gulf and encamped for the night. The 11th until 4 o'clock we laid off waiting for ferryage across the river and while some went fishing, others spent the time in any amusement or recreation they chose, but at that hour a gunboat arrived and we fell in and went on board of gunboat Louisville and were ferried across to Grand Gulf, where we went into camp with our brigade at the foot of the high bluff. The camp was full of happy contrabands who patted juba and danced nearly all night to the music of a cane instrument unlike any other musical instrument I ever saw. At an early hour on the 12th we marched away over the hills for Rocky Springs. This country was rough and sterile and not nearly as productive as Louisiana. At the end of 18 miles we went into camp for the night in a beautiful grove on a hill close to a spring of pure, cold water. We killed some sheep and chickens for supper, but where they came from only the Lord and some of our boys knew. The 13th we continued our march through Rocky Springs, across Big and Little Sandy creeks, and through a vastly finer country than yesterday. We arrived at the town of Cayuga that night and made our quarters in a church, and when the church bell rang furiously about midnight, we were told No. 10 wanted the Corporal of the guard.