of the question, as General Willshire hurried us off at a slapping pace;
luckily, the march was only eight miles, so it did not fatigue me much:
I marched on foot the whole of it, as I could not get my pony in the
hurry of starting. We got nothing to eat till two o'clock, when part of
our mess things arrived, and we pitched into whatever we could get. This
march; though, was by far the most pleasant, as we had a good firm tract
of country to pass over, and no sand. The "rouse" sounded at five, and
we marched again at half-past six. This night I was on in-lying picket,
and was obliged to pass it in harness, and ready to turn out at a
moment's notice, although awfully tired. We had a very unpleasant march,
as the north winds got up soon after we started, and blew the dust and
sand right into our eyes; we had, however, being on the advance guard,
comparatively easy work, as there were only two sections with each
officer: the poor column suffered severely. This day, however, was
paradise compared to the next, which was eighteen miles, through an
uninhabited sandy desert, with a few tamarisk shrubs and no water,
except a few stagnant pools, which was the cause of the march being so
long, there being no place for encampment. General Willshire, however,
made the best of a bad matter, and sent on the night before to a place
about half way, and the least unchristian-like spot he could find, half
the men's rations for the next day, together with the bheesties (or
water carriers) and the men's grog, &c., with orders for the cooks to
have these rations cooked and ready for the men as soon as they marched
in; so that on arriving at the ground we piled arms and formed a curious
sort of pic-nic in the middle of the desert. We halted here about an
hour, and lucky it was that the men got the means of recruiting their
strength in this manner, as the latter part of the march was a terrible
teaser. We marched off from this place about twelve. Although we had
found the morning pleasant enough, with a fine bracing breeze, yet in
the afternoon, about half an hour after starting, the wind went down,