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ENGLISH UNIFORMS.

uries and requisites, but they have frequently. great trouble in getting bottles and bulky articles up to the more distant parts of the camp.

There is a great falling off in the smart appearance of our soldiers. The gay lancer and bold dragoon no longer present the same dashing aspect they had, when they arrived from England. The clothes which were the most showy there, are the worst here. All are more or less dingy, and in rags; and the tawdry, useless, and expensive lace on the coatees of regiments of the line, makes them look much worse than they otherwise. would. A regiment now presents anything but a uniform appearance. Some of the men have shakos, some have only forage caps, and some have neither. These last have had recourse to the flat cloth forage caps taken from the Russians. Some have black trowsers, and some have blue ones; and both are. mended with patches of a colour which show at once where the rent has been. Coats and trowsers alike have buttons taken from the Russian uniforms. Our present army-dress is

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not adapted for service; but the new pattern appears to be a great improvement.

The French exhibit a great contrast to us. Of course, their clothing shows wear and tear, but they look nearly as well, and quite as smart as when they first landed in Turkey. Even the Turks are better clothed for rough work, than our men. Their great coats are thick, warm, and serviceable; while ours are thin, made of most rotten materials, and quite inadequate for keeping men warm in snow or winter weather.

CHAPTER VI.

INKERMAN.

November 4th.-A COLD, wet day. No one had an idea of what to-morrow would bring forth. In the evening, General Pennefather directed the field-officer commanding the pickets of the Second Division, to send an intelligent officer out to reconnoitre. The officer went, and returned with the information that all was quiet, and that there was nothing unusual to report.

After nightfall, the picket, usually stationed on the Shell Hill, was retired full two hundred yards, by order of the field-officer. The officer

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in command of it, who was only relieved the next morning, about half-an-hour before the Russians made their first attack, subsequently told me that he is confident he should have detected the advance of the Russian guns, if he had been left in his old position; but, being brought below the hill, he had no chance of hearing them, and seeing was out of the question; for the drizzling rain made it so dark, that even large objects were invisible at a few yards' distance. It is said that some of the pickets heard the rumbling of wheels during the night, but thought little of it, as it was a usual occurrence. For, up to this time, and for long after, owing to the insufficiency of our force, the south side of Sebastopol was not completely invested; and the Russians used to bring troops and provisions into the town along the line of the aqueduct. There was also a good road, along which any artillery might travel, leading from Careening Bay to the heights, somewhere near Shell Hill.

The existence of these roads, as I heard afterwards, was doubted at head-quarters, because they were not marked on the map;

although Colonel Herbert, Quarter-MasterGeneral of the Second Division, declared that he had ridden along them.

Great blame was afterwards laid upon the pickets, for having been remiss in their duty, in not keeping a sufficiently good watch, and in allowing the Russians to surprise them. I think the pickets on Cossack Hill, which is to the left of Shell Hill, ought not to have been surprised; but much is to be said for them, on account of the badness of the weather, the dark background from which the Russians advanced, and the soft state of the soil, which 'muffled the wheels of the guns. The hard work to which our men were subjected, of course, made them drowsy; and I have often heard officers say, that they could not keep their men awake; they would sleep, in spite of all they could do to prevent them. When I said, above, that our position was undefended by field-works, I forgot to mention a low wall and breastwork, on the top of the ridge, on both sides of the road, but which hardly deserved the name of a work.

5th-Sunday.-About four a.m., there was