Thus, in November the ration ot' biscuit and that of rice were altogether stopped, "so that within one week the troops were, in most cases, deprived of nearly half a pound of the vegetable and farinaceous food so much required to counteract the salt meat diet, and this, too, when scurvy had made its The want of fresh bread and vegetables was a great and serious privation, particularly felt by the sick, and those whose gums were tender from scurvy. Preserved vegetables, even when procurable, as they were not till late in the war, are at best but bad substitutes for escni! lime-juice did not form part of the distributions till the scurvy poison had fairly impregnated systems of the men.f It is useless now to inquire why that store of lime-juice which is proved to have lain at Ualaklava durinthe two months when scurvy most prevailed, was not distributed to the n now only be deplored, but the fault Menil to have been one of the commissariat, not lieal deportment See Appendix C. t ' towards the end of the war, established gardens within their position, particularly along the Tchernaya, where they cultivated These would have been of the greatest importance if the campaign had or Tin: CUI.MKAN WAR.
The fivsli meat, which was no less acceptable than rare, was not by any means invariably good. The miserable cattle arrived in the Crimea, after the transit over a stormy sea, in no very favourable condition for the butcher. Baudens tells us the French soldiers characterised them as Pharaoh's lean kino, and that the use of their flesh gave rise to intestinal flux of greater or less severity. From a consideration of all these circumstances combined, in regard to diet and cooking, we derive the explanation, in a great measure, of the prevalence of certain diseases afterwards to be specified, and the fatal virulence of others.* The sick, as well as the healthy, were exposed to the evils arising from the defective rationing which I have been reviewing, but the praiseworthy and urgent efforts of the medical officers were frequently rewarded by obtaining medical comforts of various descriptions for the Even after they got food for their patients, the difficulty of preparing it suitably was a great and trying one.
It was one, however, which their humanity and energy surmounted to a considerable extent. In all these remarks, I beg to repeat that I allude only to the early period of the war, as, latterly, every luxury prevailed in our hospitals, and our army lived as It is much to be regretted that the difficulties of transport make it almost impossible to vary the food of the soldier in the field. The constant repetition of the same rations, the absolute uniformity in every item of food, is but too apt to occasion aversion, especially with those in whom disease is beginning to show itself. I can speak from personal experience as to the strong predisposition of this one cause in giving rise to the fever designated " Crimean," and I know of few things which had a more undoubted effect on the health of the troops. suppose no army has ever before tared in the annals of warfare.
Tin- change which took place in this respect, has occasional the handsome compliment from the li medical i: view of the campaign " Quand on cmpare l-s conditions oil se troiiverent les Anglnis an debut de la guerrepourvu et eelles oh ils sVtaitent plac6 on est nnaitre la grandeur de la nation l>ritanniqt For fuel the army was chiefly dependent, early in the siege, on the underwood which covered part of the plateau, and aft.-rwards <>n the roots of these bushes. They had to dig for this " underground forest " often beneath snow, always among wet mud, after the more fatiguing duties of the day were over, and so it was that much time was thus lost before they could procure, and still more before they could ignite these wet roots, which were their only resource.
A cheerful fire eame to be almost unknown: and I have heard many of the survivors say, that lew objects appeared so frequently to tantalise them in their dreams. It was always diilieult to obtain even as much firing as served the bx J of the camp. This deficiency was severely felt during the inelemeney of winter, and enhanced greatly the other hardships) lor it i tme remark, that "a sufficient supply of lirewood duriiiir a campaign is one-half of a soldier'.- existe* r l'he driiej.-ney of '.'h was so much complained of d,,.-arly part of the war. was one of the m.,<t prolilie sources of sulise.jtient disease am B. The soldiers' kits having been left on boanl ship when the landing was effected at Old Fort, and WAli. being delivered to them till long afterwards, compelled the men to perform much of the trench-work in tatters during the severity of a Crimean winter.