customary on a bright summer day's picnic,
when one is in the vein for amusement
and enjoyment. All the time the band of
the regiment, disposed under the trees at
a convenient distance, discoursed sweet
music.

TO THE "BIG BLACK" AND BACK.

THE battle of Baker's Creek having
proved unfortunate to the Confederate
troops under General Pemberton, Vicksburg
found itself completely surrounded
by the Federal army. The force that had
been interposed between the stronghold of
Mississippi and the invader was scattered
over the state, and but a fraction had been
able to join the garrison, now sorely diminished
in numbers. It was necessary that
immediate steps should be taken to relieve
the invested fortress, and to General Joseph
E. Johnston had been delegated the task of
collecting and reorganising the shattered
battalions that had been cut off from
Pemberton's army. To strengthen him, orders
were given that such troops as could be
spared from Charleston were to report at
Jackson, Mississippi. General Evans, who
commanded one of the brigades appointed
for the defence of the city by the sea,
received instructions, now he was no longer
needed, to move rapidly with his men to
the south-west, and he very kindly offered
to take me on his staff.

In the neighbourhood of Meridian, Mississippi,
a mishap befel us. One of the trucks,
on which was lashed a field-piece and
limber, ran off the line through the jumping
caused by the uneven rails. It leaped
and bounded from side to side to the imminent
danger of the entire convoy, and
considering that each car was crowded with a
closely-packed mass of humanity, the loss
of life might have been very serious had it
not been that the engine-driver, warned by
the ringing of the signal-bell, was enabled
through the heavy weight of the train to stop
his engine within the distance of a couple of
hundred yards. At the time this accident
took place we were traversing a raised
embankment some sixty feet in height, passing
through a swamp forest, and nearly level
with the tops of the trees. The men on the
roofs of the cars, anticipating, from the wild
career of the truck, that they must all be
precipitated into the depths below, began
jumping off, rolling down the slopes of the
embankment like so many india-rubber
balls. A few broken heads resulted, but
fortunately the surgeons were well supplied
with diachylon, the injured were repaired,
and as soon as the truck had been
restored to its place on the lines, by the
leverage of a multitude of shoulders, we
started afresh.

But we had not yet seen the ending of
the perils of this iron way — a mere
impromptu line, constructed for military
purposes, with logs thrown down for sleepers,
and the rails clinched roughly to them.
As we proceeded, my attention was
frequently directed by the conductor to certain
rudely-turned mounds of earth, his observation
usually being, "You see them
heaps, and them broken bits of cars and
twisted iron. Twelve days ago there was
an awful smash here, and that's where they
buried 'em. I reckon if you've got any
more in that bottle of yours, we'll take a
drink."

The first accident had been long since
forgotten and condoned in the orderly
manner in which the journey had since
been pursued, when, dozing lazily, I was
awakened by a violent bump, quickly
followed by a succession of leaps, which,
though I clutched fast to the arm of my
seat, jerked me almost to the roof. Now
the car would run along on its side
wheels, to recover its position by a frantic
bound, and then stand on end. It was
like being between decks in a small boat
in the trough of a heavy sea. "What
evolutions I performed I have not the least idea.
All I know is, that one violent wrench
loosened my hands from their holding, and
I suddenly found myself hurled forwards
as from a catapult, and all was darkness.
After this last jerk the fractious carriage
became passive, owing to the merciful fact
that the coupling-pins had broken, and being
near the door, I was among the first to
jump to earth. In assisting to unfasten
the lock, however, I found my right arm
powerless, and had to give up the attempt;
indeed, for some days, I carried it in a sling.
Fortunately we completed our journey with
no more serious disaster, and that night I
slept at the bivouac of the Hampton Legion,
on the banks of the Pearl River.

After reporting himself to General Johnston,
General Evans took up his quarters,
prior to going under canvas, at a huge
six-storied, red-brick caravansary, the chief
hotel in Jackson. In this barrack were
located what is termed in America "a hard
crowd," mostly composed of officers, who,
separated by the late engagements from
their commands, were awaiting reappointments