officers camp-life was by no means an
unpleasant existence. There is no regimental
mess amongst the officers as with us; each
individual being left to feed himself as best
suits his inclination or his pocket. Different
ranks never mix together at the dinner-table;
and, in camp, the general rule seemed to be
for half-a-dozen subalterns or as many
captains to form a mess. The superior officers
kept to themselves, and those of the same
regiment in most instances took their meals
together. To me, these small re-unions
were particularly pleasant and the simple
inexpensive manner in which all the
officers lived— while everything they had
was particularly good of its kind—was much
more agreeable than the military messes of
our own service. The dinner hour was
shortly after dusk. Between the two meals
some few officers generally left the camp in
search of sport! but the majority appeared
to have their time fully taken up in study.
They all kept official journals of the country
we marched through, and they planned or
drew out maps and routes as they went along.
These pursuits are somehow connected with
their future advancement in the service;
although I cannot remember in what way.
I know that any officer who wants to get on
in the French army, must furnish his superiors
with proof that his eyes are not always
shut.

And I know that his profession is his
pride and his business on this earth—not a
bore, to be escaped from, and given the go-by
to.

About three weeks after starting upon our
expedition, I had an opportunity of seeing a
skirmish between French troops and the
Arabs, or Bedouins. The general having
received information that a hostile tribe had
attacked the tents of a chief whose followers
were tributary to the French government
and had driven off their flocks,
detached two squadrons of Chasseurs
d'Afrique in pursuit. I asked permission to
accompany the party, and leave was freely
granted. The enemy was said to be thirty
leagues, or ninety miles, ahead of us, and to
be rapidly making their way to the far-off
desert. Within an hour from the time the
order had been given, the detachment was
ready. It started from the camp without
tents of any kind, with no baggage animals
beyond what were absolutely necessary to
carry food for the men, and which were all
so lightly laden as to be able to keep up with
the cavalry. The latter numbered two
hundred, all of whom were Frenchmen. Hitherto,
I had always considered the irregular horsemen
of Hindustan the finest light cavalry in
the world for such expeditions, but I was
soon convinced that the Chasseurs d'Afrique
were much superior in all the best qualifications
for light troops to any I had yet
seen.

Never in my life did I see such soldiers as
these to endure fatigue, heat, hunger, thirst;
while taking the greatest possible care of
their horses, and keeping themselves merry,
and in good health. We started at sunset;
and, by sunrise the next morning, had
got over eighty miles of ground. Here we
halted at some wells, watered and fed the
horses, let the men cook and eat a meal, and
started again so as to overtake the Arabs
when they halted for their mid-day rest. On
approaching their tents, we found the whole
tribe ready to give battle, rather than relinquish
their ill-gotten wealth of goats, sheep,
mares and horses. The skirmishers of our
party were fired upon; and the enemy,
numbering rather more than double
our number, came forward with shouts of
defiance. There was no help for it but
to shed blood. As the robbers kept in
small parties of threes and fours, and were
greatly scattered over the plain, a charge en
masse of our two squadrons would have been
absurd. The Chasseurs d'Afrique are armed
with swords, pistols, and long light carbines,
which they carry slung behind their backs.
It was with the last weapon that the
advanced half squadron—detached as
skirmishers—commenced the fight, and the
execution they did with their fire-arms from
horseback surprised me. It was, at first,
a battle of mounted sharpshooters against
the same description of troops. The
bravado and daring of the enemy reminded
me forcibly of the Affghans. In a very
short time the Arabs began to diminish
considerably, and we could see many making
off slowly to the rear badly wounded.
Gradually they began to draw more together,
and at last nearly a hundred and fifty horsemen
were assembled in a body. The officer
commanding our party seized the proper
moment, and with his reserve squadron
charged at the enemy. A hand to hand
fight ensued, but was over in ten minutes;
the Arabs taking flight in all directions. The
chasseurs pursued them for some distance,
until recalled by repeated sounds of the
trumpet; when the whole force was
mustered, and it was found that we had lost
six troopers killed, besides about a
dozen wounded; the Arabs having left
twenty dead, and some fifty prisoners in our
hands.

These prisoners were bold, daring fellows.
The sheep, camels, and horses which they had
carried off, were recovered very near the
spot where the fight had taken place, and
were made over to a party of their rightful
owners who had accompanied us in our hasty
march from the main column. The
plunderers had neither women nor children
with their party; having left them at a
place of safety many miles off. The wounded
were well looked after by the medical officers;
and, after a halt of four-and-twenty hours,
the troops were once more ready to take the
road. Upon leaving the head-quarters of the