Indian memories; recollections of soldiering, sport, etc

Foreword

PERHAPS the only redeeming point about these " Memories " is that they are largely extracted from diaries and letters which were not written with the idea of anyone ever seeing them except my mother. To some extent they tell directly against me, since they show me to have been just the ordinary silly young ass who enjoyed senseless ragging, was fond of dogs and horses, and thought very little as he went through the ordinary every-day experiences of a subaltern in India. There is nothing very romantic or very exciting about them, and there is much that is silly, but at the same time such things have, I think, seldom been set down in writing just as they occurred to one at the time. They may at any rate serve to remind other old officers besides myself that they themselves once felt and did as subalterns now think and do. As we get into our crabbed old age, we are apt to forget that we were once youngsters, as I had almost forgotten that I once enjoyed having " all my face except a small patch on the left side scraped bare in a glorious rough and tumble."

viii FOREWORD

With very few exceptions the illustrations are reproductions of sketches which I sent home to show what India was like, and they have the virtue of being done on the spot.

These Reminiscences were in print in July 1914, but their publication was deferred owing to the outbreak of war. The results of the campaign to date in no way modify the opinions therein expressed on the character and training of the British officer and

soldier of to-day.

Robert Baden-Powell.

Ewhurst, East Sussex.

Contents

PAGE

FOREWORD - vii

Chapter I

My First Lesson in Tactics — Dr. Haig-Brown and the Flank Attack — Oxford Declines Me — My Surprise Pass — I Embark for India — " Pandemonium " — A Bay of Biscay Storm — An Embarrassing Episode — The Missing Lieutenant — A Sea Tragedy — Port Said — A Wonderful Telescope — " Man Overboard " — A Confused i Sentry

Chapter II

The Odour of India — The Heat Overcomes Our Vanity — Jubbulpore and the Bees — Lucknow — Signs of Tragedy — Engaging Servants — Kicking Out the Overplus — A Subaltern on Natives — Inmates of My Garden — Crib Fights a Jackal — A Confidential Document — A Disaster — The General and My Caricatures — A Cure for Fever — Sir Baker Russell — Riding Down a Delinquent — A Mishap — An Unorthodox Colonel — Then and Now — Cultivating Intelligence ----------13

Chapter III The Sport Of Kings And The King Of Sports

The Shaping of the Subaltern — Polo Fever — The Keenness of the Ponies — A Savage Contestant — A Filial Subaltern — A Polo Banquet — Mr. Winston Churchill's Remarkable Speech — Winston a Prisoner for the First Time — " I am India-rubber " — The Pursuit of the Pig — The Attractions of India — A Born Sportsman — A Splendid Sport — A Brutal Father — A Boar Puts a Gun out of Acton — Tiger and Boar — Sir Samuel Baker's Experience — Tommy Atkins After Pig ---.---30

Chapter IV

The Boar's Quickness — His Tushes — A Remarkable Courage — The Duke of Connaught's Adventure — An Enthusiastic Ally — My First Adventure with Pig — A Humiliating Discovery — A Typical Run — The Kadir Cup Won for Me — The Pinner Pinned — A Lucky Misadventure — Pigsticking on Foot 52 x CONTENTS

Chapter V

A Soldier's Holiday — The Tragedy of My Lunch — Summary Vengeance — The Forgotten Sentry — The Death of Jock — An Unlucky Day — The Land of Practical Jokes — Milk for Rosie — The Call of Christmas — Sir Baker Russell and the Mules — The Duke of Connaught in India — His First Pigsticking Adventure — Swimming Rivers — A Dodge to Obtain Prestige — The German Emperor Amused — No Rations in Eternity — Our Methods in India — The Joys of the Cavalry Brigadier — A Lost Station — I Disturb the Colonel — Snipe and Gin — Lemon Pudding and Mustard — A Stolen Bicycle — Wunhi's Tea-House — Regimental Friendships ---------- 70

Chapter VI

The Scourge of India — A Sergeant Orders His Own Funeral — The Tragedy of the Ball — A Brave Doctor — An Erratic Visitant — The Tragic Drama — The Adjutant's First Question — Scene- Painting Extraordinary — The Simla Theatre — Strenuous Rehearsals — Pantomime at 100 Degrees — On Tour — Overlooking the Viceroy — " Do Your Blacks Run ? " — The Criterion at Quetta — A Laughing Dialogue — Asleep on the Stage — An Embarrassing Greeting — The Question of Health — Some Bacteriological Observations — Sir Baker and the Doctor — An Explosion — A Solomon in Judgment — The Regimental Doctor 90

Chapter VII How India Develops Character

Killing Ennui — Tommy Atkins as a Sportsman — Spies in Disguise — A Sham Fight — The Perfect Soldier — Learning to Observe — Night Operations — The Man who Made Grimaces — The Modern Training — Interesting the Men — Sir Bindon Blood's Views on Cavalry — An Irate General — The Woman Abroad — The Scout Mistress — The Rani's Answer — A Fearless Rani — Colonel Alexander Gardner — His Romance — A Tragedy - - - - 106

Chapter VIII When The Tribes Are Out

The Afghan War — The Great March — Ordered up to Kandahar — A Warlike Atmosphere — The Expedition of 1842 — The Camel and His Ways — Kandahar — A Dangerous City — Theatricals under Difficulties — A Serious Mistake — Afghan Nerve — Attacked by Ghazis — The Crack of Doom — The Field of Maiwand — A Broken Square — A Heroic Chaplain — A Narrow Escape - - - 123

Chapter IX The Aftermath Of War

The Image of War — Patrols and Picnics — A Curious Superstition — Jock Fights a Wild Cat — Afghan Depredations — Relics of

CONTENTS xi

Alexander the Great — Camp Rumours — Abdurrahman Waits — The Horses Stampede — A Subaltern's Opinion of the Government — A Study in Contrasts — Rifle Stealing — An Ingenious Plan — Further Losses — I Shoot Myself — I Hear my Death Announced — Digging for the Bullet — Convalescence — Stalked by a Leopard — A Rough and Tumble __,._---- 139

Chapter X

Civilisation v. Vagabondage — My First Meeting with Lord Roberts — His Advice — Sir George White's Unconventionality — Disguised as War Correspondents — We are Sumptuously Entertained — We are Discovered — A Hasty Trip to Simla — Ragging — An Enthusiastic Fire Brigade — My Death is Announced — " The Bounding Brothers of the Bosphorus " — A Mess-Room as Sheepfold — " Ding " McDougal, Practical Joker — I Flee from Society — And Do Not Regret It — A Novel Umbrella — The Drawbacks of Education — My Post Bag - - - - - - -161

Chapter XI " Tiger, Tiger, Burning Bright "

A Possible Interrogation — I Go in Pursuit of Tigers — Smith- Dorrien at Work — The Party Meets — The Old Hands — A Native Weakness — How to Beat for Tigers — A Dead Enemy — A Native Village — Nearly a Fatality — Camp Literature — I Become Doctor — I Get a Bear — Camp Life — A Panther's Wings — The Mahout — The Tables Turned — Table Delicacies — Jungle Yachts — The End of the Ghost --. 181

Chapter XII

The Value of the North- West Frontier — Village Warfare — Readiness and Efficiency — How an Irishman Got a Dog and a Breakfast for Nothing — Trouble in the Buner Country — The Subaltern in War-time — The Pessimistic Afridi — A Terrified Jehu — Sniping — The Morning of the Fight — Sir Bindon's Dispositions — The Artillery Triumphs — Touching the Button — Rock-rolling — An Exciting Race — The Bravest Man I ever Saw — The Enemy in Retreat — An Exhausting Climb — The Tribute of a Foe — The Trophies of War — Our Casualties ------ 205

Chapter XIII The Jungle People And Some Others

Curious Playmates — The Tragic Story of Algernon — Snakes and Their Ways — An Unpleasant Bedfellow — An Ungrateful Patient — Some Good Friends — The Clown's Mishap — A Murderer — A Curious Trait — Bucephalus — A New Use For a Melon Bed — A Horse for a Lady — The Soul of the Camel — The Bullock's Quest — Buckhunting with Cheetahs — Black Buck Shooting — The Panther's Ruse — The Moses of the Jungle — A Sprightly Companion — A Panther in Search of His Tail — The Trial that Failed 224 xii CONTENTS

Chapter XIV "the Elephant's A Gentleman"

My Sentiment About the Elephant — His Mathematical Mind- Dandelion's Idiosyncrasies — Her Courage in the Face of an Enemy — The Elephant who Died — A Problem in Sanitation — The Jungle Ship — Sea Legs — The Genius of the Elephant — His Timidity — Jock's Victory — The Duchess of Connaught's Adventure — The Elephant's Caution — He Utilises Human Material — A Malefactor Flogged by Elephants — The Elephant in War — An Elephant Fight --------- 245

Chapter XV

The Interest of the Native — Animal Fights — A Game Country — A Puzzled Sportsman — An Up-to-Date Rajah — Impressing the Shopkeeper — The Indian Nautch Dance — A Dreary Performance — Thomas Atkins, Linguist — An Interrupted Picnic — The Lord of the Land Objects — His Sportsmanship — A Shooting Competition — Alexander the Great — The Tradition Concerning His Invasion — His Dying Requests — Swordsmanship — The Native During Manoeuvres — Too Eager — The Ghoorka's Anger — Unofficial Weapons — An Antiquated Transport — The Sporting Beluchis — Regimental Feuds — An Unexpected Cavalry Charge — Clever Jackal-Calling — Pirates — Native Servants — The Detection of Crime - - - - - - - - -257

Chapter XVI

A Strange Disease and Its Cure — Roughing It in Luxury — My Outfit — My Views on the Tonga — The Blasted Way — Crazy Bridges — Prince Louis' Double — The Great Unwashed — My Fleet Weighs Anchor — Spearing Fish — Srinagar — Something about Kashmir — Kashapa and the Devil — Itinerant Tradesmen — A Clever Dealer — I Fall — The Ruins at Pandritan — A People Without a Conscience — The Boatwomen — An Interrupted Sermon — The Ubiquitous Tourist — My Entourage — Essential Qualities in a Wife — How the Day Begins — Jack's Way with Natives — A Chance of Bears - - - - - • - - 288

Chapter XVII A Hunter As Panel Doctor

The Lunghi Valley — Omar by the Camp Fire — Philosophic Carriers — The Efficacy of Castor Oil — A Good Camping Rule — A Bear at Last — A Mud Slide — An Excellent Fellow — A Test of Eyesight — The Man with the Funny Face — I Indiscreetly Heal the Sick — I Become Famous — A Jungle Doctor — My Practice Increases — A Question of Date — How I got the News of Omdurman — My Appetite — A New Use for Oil Tins — A Courteous Governor —The End of the Trip— The Balance Sheet - - - - 316

APOLOGIA 352

INDEX - - 353

COLOURED PLATES

TO FACE PAGE

The end of the night-watch — for Bears . . . . Frontispiece

Some types . 18

How I ate my Christmas dinner with my regiment, and the conveyances that took me there and back —

i. Departing in style ii. Travelling modestly |

iii. Arriving in humility L .... 76 iv. Sleeping under difficulties l

v. Returning like a zoological specimen '

A Hindu Temple 120

A sunset impression, Kashmir 162

Gateway of the Fort, Patiala 206

Buck-hunting with a cheetah 236

The genius of the elephant in overcoming difficulties . * . 248

Our prehistoric transport 278

My tent, looking from the breakfast table towards the Liddar.

James going to get more stewed peaches . . . .294

My Doonga 294

Fort Hari Parbat, Srinagar 296

Dais Village 296

The Ruins of Pandritan (the little temple in the yellow tank). Date

The entrance to the Liddar Valley, looking north. The red line

shows my track 308

The Liddar Valley, my outfit passing some gipsy drovers . . 311

Sir Henry Irving in disguise looking for throats to cut . . 312

The post office and club at Achibal 334

My beaters at lunch 334

BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

Title-page iii.

Kashmir girl viii.

A perilous descent .......... xvii.

Tailpiece ........... xix.

Dr. Haig-Brown, strategist ........ 2

The night of the storm . . . . . . . . . 7

The bewildered sentry . . . . . . . . . n

An undignified entry 14

The retirement of the unsuccessful , . . . . . 16

Crib's victory ' . . . . . 19

Riding down a delinquent . . . . •■ ' . . . 24

Joseph Chamberlain and the policeman . . . . . 29

A race for first spear ......... 37

It took half an hour to kill him ....... 47

The man seized the boar's lower jaw with both hands ... 53

I looked a funny object ........ 64

I lay on my back, still clutching the spear . . . . 68

Swimming horses . . ~ . . . . . . . 79

My tea-house sign 87

Tosser and Pitcher in The Area Belle . ■ . . . . - . 97

The disregarded cue . . . . . - , . . . g8

" Hullo, Private Willis !"....". . . 99

Comrades

Our plan of attack ... ..... 112

Sketch map of the Afghanistan campaign 125

Plan of the Battle of Maiwand . . . . • . - 135

" You've broke my toe, you b iron-gutted beggar " . . 138

" If anybody ever talks to me again about the honour and glory of

soldiering, I'll be b y rude to him." .... 141

xv xvi BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS

One of our sentries

An Afghan sentry

Jack thinks it's dinner time

Sheep-stealing by officers

My walking-kit

The local umbrella

The metamorphosis of the wanderer

Tailpiece ....

Bala Khan directing operations

A bird's-eye view of a tiger beat

Bagging a panther

Dandelion was as firm as a rock

The spoil ....

Smelling out a tiger's wing-bone

Me!

My Mahout, Kumala Din

Hunting the hunter

With a whisk of his tail he disappeared

A Buner standard-bearer

The bravest man I ever saw

The 5th Bengal cavalry

Mare baiting : Algernon's fun

" A fizzer under a saddle "

The cheetah's approach

In full cry ....

An unrehearsed effect

The panther who reasoned

The triumph of mind over matter

The elephant fight

Tailpiece ....

The officers who met us

Our host the Maharajah

A good sportsman

A realistic sham fight

A Ghoorka out for blood

The excitement of manoeuvres

A regiment of inveterate sportsmen

Native officers in plain clothes

Native football

Kashmir carriers

The Kashmir girl does her hair in plaits

Baramoola

My doonga

Spearing fish .

Kashmir children

BLACK AND WHITE ILLUSTRATIONS xvii

One way of travelling in Kashmir

A Kashmir spade ........

My household goods on the move .....

The natives have eyes in their knees when Jack is about Samud Khan, my shikari ......

A tonga . . . . .

How they frighten birds in Kashmir ....

Beaters going home, as their chaplis render them useless on slippery

country .

Going up is simple enough, but the real difficulty lies in coming down The making of a calf .....

A difference of opinion as to a right of way

The work of a " stop " in a bear-drive in four acts

Unintentional tobogganning

Sabhana, our guide

The bear charges the beaters

Got him at last

Our pack of bear-hounds !

Went away smiling

Spearing a fish

The chief imports of Kashmir

PAGE 303

3°5 309 312 314 315

320 322 325

327 328

331 332 338 341

INDIAN MEMORIES

RECOLLECTIONS OF SOLDIERING SPORT, ETC.

Chapter I

My First Lesson in Tactics— Dr. Haig-Brown and the Flank Attack— Oxford Declines Me— My Surprise Pass — I Embark for India — " Pandemonium " — A Bay of Biscay Storm— An Embarrassing Episode— The Missing Lieutenant— A Sea Tragedy— Port Said— A Wonderful Telescope— " Man Overboard "—A Confused Sentry

MY first lesson in tactics was learned under the direction of that famous old trainer of boys, Dr. Haig-Brown, at the old Charterhouse in London. The fight between the butcher boys of the neighbouring Smithfield Market and the boys of Charterhouse had become a standing institution, and very often these battles raged for days together. On this particular occasion the Smithfield boys had taken possession of a waste piece of ground, " Over Hoardings," adjoining our football ground, from which they attacked us with showers of stones and brickbats whenever we attempted to play. This was responded to from our side in like manner, with occasional sorties by strong bodies of us over the wall. With four or five other boys too small to take part in the actual fray, I was looking on at the battle when we suddenly found the headmaster alongside us, anxiously watching the progress of the fight. He remarked to us :

" I think if you boys went through that door in the side wall you might attack the cads in flank."

" Yes, sir," one of us replied, " but the door is locked."

The worthy Doctor fumbled in his gown and said : " That is so, but here is the key " : and he sent us on our way rejoicing, and our attack was a complete success.

It was thirty years later that I referred to this incident at a dinner given me by my old schoolfellows after the South African War, at which the Doctor

Dr. Haig-Brown, strategist.

himself was present. He then corroborated my story and went further by reminding us of the names of the other boys who formed the flank attacking party.

It was on the occasion of this battle that the Doctor gave one of his characteristic replies. An enraged citizen came to him and complained that when he was harmlessly riding past the scene of the encounter on the top of an omnibus, one of his eyes had been nearly knocked out by a stone. The Doctor expressed his regret for the untoward incident, but assured the man that he was very lucky not to have

AN ASTONISHING RESULT 3

lost both his eyes if he was so regardless of his safety as to ride on an omnibus when a battle was going on between the boys of the Charterhouse and the butcher lads of Smithfield.

From Charterhouse I went up to Oxford, but my learning was apparently not considered of sufficient merit to admit me to Balliol or Christchurch, where I desired to go. The author of Alice in Wonderland was my examiner in mathematics, and he found out what I could already have told him, but what I hoped he would not discover for himself, that it was a subject about which I knew little or nothing. I had a vague hope that my father's reputation as Savilian professor of geometry might carry me through that gate to the University. But my hopes were vain and I had for the time to take up my position as an unattached member.

Within a few days of my joining I went up for the Army examination to test my possibilities in that line, but without any special hope of passing in my first attempt. A few weeks later I happened to be on Dr. Acland's yacht in the Solent, on which also was Dean Liddell of Christchurch. On reading his morning paper he remarked to me that in the list of those who had passed for the Army he noticed one of my name, and to my astonishment I found that I had passed, and not only passed but that I was very near the top of the list. I had gone in for both examinations, for cavalry and for infantry, and I had come out unaccountably high up in each. I did not know then, and I have not been able since to imagine how this came about. I can only suppose that the examiners must have misread my examination index-number, and that some other clever young fellow is now eking out a precarious existence as an author or a play-actor, who ought really to have been in the position occupied by myself. But such is life, and I do not regret it.

Successful candidates were all drafted to Sandhurst for a two years' course of instruction before actually joining the Army, but by some strange luck the first six were excused this preliminary and were at once gazetted to regiments. Thus, although I left Charterhouse only in June, I had my commission in September and was in India, a full-blown officer of the 13th Hussars, in November. That was where my luck in promotion began, and it never deserted me in any single step in rank during the rest of my service.

During the South African campaign a well-known General gave it as his opinion, in terms more forcible than polite, that the rising generation ought to be provided by Nature with velvet cushions to sit upon. He had gone through rougher times as a subaltern than falls to the lot of many young officers nowadays. The incidents of my first voyage to India, even though it seems but a year or two ago, remind me that times have indeed changed. The old Serapis, which we considered a magnificent ship in her day, was under 5,000 tons in size and fitted with masts and sails to help her little engines push her along, her speed averaging about nine knots.

We left Queenstown on November 3, 1876. My quarters were in a kind of den below the water-line along the keel of the ship and close to the rudder and screw ; it was called " Pandemonium " because it was a deep, dark, underground place, and from want of ventilation almost as stuffy and hot as its

PANDEMONIUM 5

namesake. Here we were jammed together in small compartments holding three or four apiece ; but so unpleasant was it that the merciful authorities allowed us to sleep on the stairs or in the passages, wherever we liked, in fact. Often during the night we would be roused by the ship's officers and masterat-arms, etc., going their rounds, to enquire why we were sleeping there. If the answer was " Pandemonium," the reason was considered sufficient and nothing further was said, otherwise such sleepers-out would be ordered back to their cabins.

We did not, however, make ourselves miserable about our surroundings and, using " Pandemonium " merely as a store-room and place of refuge in the event of an attack by stronger forces, we would raid the happier mortals who lived on the decks above in comparative comfort in the "horse-boxes," as the cabins were called.

The Serapis had hardly entered the Bay of Biscay when we came in for a tremendous westerly gale. Having always heard of the terrors of the Bay we expected it as a necessary evil in crossing that well-known part of the ocean, and treated it as part of the day's work. Having crossed it over twenty times since then, I now realise that it was quite an exceptional storm. In those days it was a three or four days' steaming to cross the Bay, and on this occasion it was prolonged by heavy labouring of the vessel, which finally resulted in our having to heave to for half a day owing to the heavy seas. These had stove in two boats on the davits and carried away the ladders leading from the upper deck into the waist.

The crew of a troopship was then a very small one, because each blue- jacket was backed by half a dozen soldiers to help him in his various duties ; but, as might have been expected, on this occasion, when their help was most needed, all the soldiers were more or less helpless with sea-sickness, and consequently the sailors were considerably overworked. At one period of the gale our bowsprit was ducked under and snapped off, but hung there by its shrouds banging against the stem of the vessel. A number of men went out into the netting to get in the wreckage, when another sea came up and lifted them all from their perch and hurled them back on to the fo'c's'le, where they were all more or less damaged but fortunately not carried away into the sea.

From early training and knocking about in small boats at sea I was a pretty good sailor, so I took matters easily and wedged myself in between the mast and a table in the saloon in a comfortable armchair, and did myself well with a good novel, undisturbed by the creaking of the ship and the groanings in the cabins around me. In the ladies' cabin, where a number of the officers' wives had their sleeping places, the chaplain of the ship was endeavouring to comfort some of the more nervous passengers. In the midst of his ministrations an extra lurch of the ship flung open the doors of the sideboard in the dining saloon and a regular avalanche of metal dish covers and side dishes came crashing and clattering into the saloon. Part of the same sea struck the skylight on deck and smashed in some of the glass, producing a downpour of water which somewhat flooded the place. The ladies took the whole contretemps as a sign that the end was come and, bursting out of their cabins in all states of deshabille, they came crying out for help and comfort. One of

AN EMBARRASSING SITUATION 7

them rushed to me, asking if there was any danger, and I said, " Certainly not, if you sit in this chair and read this excellent book," handing her my novel. It certainly comforted her, but I regretted my self-sacrifice afterwards, as I was not able to find an

The night of the storm.

equally comfortable place nor another book, and the lady rather cut me for the rest of the voyage out, through shame for her exhibition of weakness. So I failed to score all round !

We were glad to get out of that gale into the calmer Mediterranean, and when we arrived at Malta we had to leave some twenty blue-jackets behind, to recover from their various injuries, fractures, and contusions, and to ship others in their places.

Like details of a dream the incidents of an ordinary voyage are of very little interest to outsiders, but that they were important to oneself is shown by the fact that I recorded them carefully in my diary or letters home, and though they hardly redound to my credit, they at any rate shed a light on the irresponsible nature of the human beast at the age of eighteen. For instance : " I spent last night in attending on officers who slept in hammocks, swinging them until they were sea-sick."

When we were ready to weigh anchor at Suez, where we called for letters, one of the naval lieutenants was missing and it was found that he had gone ashore with a lot of other officers but had not returned with them. Some people got anxious, because, not so very long before, an officer of the 12th Lancers was murdered here by the natives on the quay. However, by looking through telescopes we presently saw him in a sailing boat with two natives, and he was rowing ; so we waited for about an hour until he got alongside. The boatmen had started from the shore in good time to catch the ship, but having come a quarter of the journey they refused to go any further without extra pay, and kept stopping and demanding more money. However, at last we got him on board, and while he was down in his cabin getting money to pay the men the ship started and left them without anything.

Port Said struck me as a most wretched, stinking, filthy, picturesque, sandy place. All the people looked just like those in pictures of Egypt — Europeans, Turks, Nubians, and Egyptian officials being all jumbled up together. There was nothing to do on shore except to go and look at the roulette

AN OCEAN TRAGEDY 9

tables, of which there are two or three in the town. I found the way to win money was to back the colour which was going to lose the smallest sum for the bank. By some wonderful coincidence the wheel always stopped in favour of the bank and in that way one picked up a few francs, but it was not very exciting. I enjoyed watching the people outside more than the play inside the shanties.

In the Red Sea we had it awfully warm for three days, the thermometer registering 96 at dinner ; this in damp air is equal to ten degrees higher in a dry climate. Four or five children died and several ladies were ill, continually fainting. Worst of all, all the cooks got so ill that they had to go into hospital ; one of them went mad, jumped overboard and was never seen again. The soldiers then took charge of the cooking under the direction of a steward, and the feeding was not exactly luxurious in consequence. " Pandemonium " was unbearable at night, but a lot of us made our sleeping places in the stern-windows of the main deck. The iron ports of these windows were let down until they hung out horizontally from the ship's side with chains to support them. The windows were all close together, with only six or eight inches between, so that some fellows put their mattresses out across the ports and lay in the cool outside the ship. There was some little risk , for, if you were a restless sleeper, you might roll off your bed and overboard, and this actually happened to an officer of the 109th Regiment, whose mattress was found in the morning doubled down in the centre and empty, and the regiment had lost the number of its mess.