lacings for fastening them. Under the guidance of two natives, the troop
made their first six stages without the slightest adventure. The country
was flat, and the villages sparsely scattered. The barking of the dogs
brought a few villagers to their doors, but in those troubled times the
advantages of non-interference were obvious and the peasant population in
general asked nothing better than to be let alone.

The troop always marched by night, and rested by day at villages at a
short distance from the main road. Upon a long march like that before
them, it would have been impossible to maintain secrecy by resting in
woods. Food for men and horses was requisite, and this could only be
obtained in villages. So far no difficulty had been met with. The head men
of the villages willingly provided provender for the horses, while flour,
milk, eggs, and fowls were forthcoming in sufficient quantities for the
men, everything being strictly paid for.

The last night march was as successful as the preceding, and crossing the
river by a bridge at Banat, they halted some five miles from the fortified
house, or castle, which was the immediate object of their expedition. They
were now in Oude, and had, since crossing the river, avoided the villages
as much as possible, for in this province these are little fortresses.
Each is strongly walled and guarded, and petty wars and feuds are common
occurrences. The people are warlike, and used to arms, and without
artillery even a small village could not be carried without considerable
loss. The troops therefore had made circuits round the villages, and
bivouacked at the end of their march in a wood, having brought with them a
supply of food and grain from the village where they had halted on the
previous day. They had not slept many hours when one of the vedettes came
in to say that there was a sound of beating of drums in a large village
not far away, and that bodies of peasantry had arrived from other