The Arab of the Desert is proud of leading
such a life, which, although exempt from the
monotonous labour to which the inhabitant
of the Tell submits, is not the less active and
agitated, full of variety and unexpected
turns. If the beard bleaches quickly in the
Desert, it is not from the heat, the fatigue,
the journeyings, and the combats of the
Desert; but through the effects of its anxieties,
its cares, and its sorrows. He only whose
beard does not bleach, "has a large heart,"
knows how to practise resignation, and says,
"It is the will of Allah!" What a lesson to
the worldling who is careful overmuch—who
seems to act as if he thought he could take
everything out of the world with him! And
what an enemy to encounter, endowed with
such moral as well as physical means of
defence—a passive resistance which nothing can
touch, after active hostilities have been tried
in vain!

Against such an enemy Monsieur Hugonnet
was called to serve, in the brigade of Tlemcen,
as sub-lieutenant of rifle-infantry. The
expeditionary troops of this brigade usually
consisted of two battalions of these riflemen—
an excellent troop just formed at Saint Omer
out of the flower of the French infantry; of
a battalion of Zouaves, Algerian veterans,
whose name requires no commentary; of one
or two squadrons of mounted African riflemen,
and two mountain howitzers. The
general—one of those who has acquired the
most brilliant reputation on African ground—
before he undertook any march which he
expected would turn out extraordinarily
rough, sometimes passed these battalions in
review, man by man. He inspected every
individual minutely, inquired how long he had
been in Algeria, how often he had been ill,
and then decided whether the soldier under
examination, should join the expedition or
remain where he was. By choosing in this
way the best men out of even a select corps,
a troop was formed capable of prodigious
efforts.

A march towards the south is projected;
and here follows the complement of the
soldier's impedimenta, or the luggage he has
to carry besides his arms and his knapsack:

A housewife containing thread, needles,
buttons, and various little bits of linen and
cloth fit for mending and patching his clothes;
forty cartridges in his knapsack, twenty in
his cartridge-box; the little tools and greasy
matters needful to keep his arms in order;
the piece of canvas which, joined to two or
three other similar pieces borne by his
comrades, will form a tent-shelter for three
or four men; a blanket, or a half-blanket,
according to the season; a little tin can,
covered with cloth, holding about a quart,
slung across his shoulders; a sort of tin cup,
formerly containing only half-a-pint, but whose
dimensions have since greatly increased,
attached to the handle of the sabre-bayonette.
At his departure from Tlemcen, the soldier
usually carried eight days' regulation provisions,
consisting of biscuit, rice, salt, sugar,
and coffee, and eight days' ordinary provisions,
that is to say, that proceeding from the pay
received by the troop for the purchase of
articles in addition to those allowed by the
government; these articles were rice, sugar,
and coffee, white bread for soup, and fresh
vegetables. Finally, for every escouade, or
party of from seven to ten men who eat
together, there are three kitchen utensils to
be carried in turn—the bidon, or can used
also for water, the marmite or tin boiler, and
the gamelle, which serves as the tureen or
dish. One man takes charge of one of these
utensils, which he fastens to his knapsack,
so that every other day, or every two days,
he has this to carry in addition to his regular
burden. Fortunately, the meat carries itself;
a drove of bullocks accompanies the column;
the required quantity being butchered every
day.

Besides this, the military administration
caused to be transported, by the mules
belonging to the equipage trains, or by beasts of
burden hired from Arab tribes, provisions
for ten or fifteen days at most. Hence it is
clear, that a march towards an object far
distant from the base of operations, could not,
and even now cannot, be prolonged for any
considerable time, without the brigade's being
followed by a suite always difficult to drag
after it. At the end of a few days, it would
be necessary to return to seek provisions at
the starting-point, or, at least, to keep close
to a conquered region, in order to obtain
supplies from it. Les harnoys de gueule
(mouth-harness), as it was called of old, is of
great importance in the practice of African
warfare, and is a consideration not to be
neglected in accounting for the retreats and
other movements of active columns.

The order is given. The little expeditionary
column, composed as we have described,
is to start to-morrow. The soldier knows
that the march is to the south, and he makes
a wry face, because it is the month of August,
the heat is excessive, and the fatigue will be
exhausting. Expeditions in the mountains,
or to the south, are the two descriptions by
which the trooper who does pique himself on
geographical knowledge, classes the operations
in which he takes part. The first day's
march offers few incidents worthy of remark:
they were off at the earliest break of day;
every hour there is a five minutes' halt;
about ten o'clock they halt an hour to
breakfast. This is the grand halt, called
by the brigade of Tlemcen, the coffee;
because that was the only preparation which
the soldiers have time to make with the aid
of fire.

After the coffee, the march continues till
four or five in the afternoon; the bivouac is
fixed close to a stream of good water, near a
wood; the men have travelled a dozen
leagues. As yet, the troop wants for nothing;