CHAPTER II. Drainage of the Camp Water Supply Latrines Food Cooking Fuel fecta of all these combined on the Health and Diseases of the.stribution of the Sick Nursing, Male and Female Transport. I endeavoured, in the previous chapter, to describe tin- physical conformation of the Crimean peninsula, and the leading features of the plateau on which were establ the cantonments of the allied army. When this plateau was first occupied, a thick brushwood covered a considerable part of its surface towards Inkennan. Most. of this underwood consisted of low bushes growing cut of the " stools" of former trees, and was seldom of any considerable size. It is a t'aet, that ground so covered, or which has been but lately cleared. forms a most objectionable position for a camp, chietly on account of the which is so apt to be retained soil shaded from the sun; but in the present instance the evils which miirht have followed the enforcement of strategic expediency in preference to the dictates of medical, providentially counterbalanced by the elevation, height, and opennesfl of the ground, and the absence of trees of any magnitude. low ridges and rounded knolls which occurred in frequent repetition over the plateau, afforded eelli-nt sites for tents and huts. ly -Harding them with ench on the uphill ride, the surface water was diverted, and the ground which they covered kept dry.
Advantage was taken of the elevations to increase the accommodation and comfort of the tents by digging a hole into their sides, over which the tent was pitched. During heavy rains these holes were, however, sometimes filled with water by the overflow of a deficient drain, and fatal consequences have followed the use of charcoal fires in them, from the weight of the gas generated keeping the pit full of a dangerous atmosphere.* The chalky subsoil of the plateau was very conducive to the health of the camp, both from the rapidity with which the surface dried, and also from the springs which it afforded. As, however, the water flowed along the surface of the deeper non-permeable strata, and welled out at those points where the ground sank below their level, the valleys and deeper depressions were usually boggy, especially at their heads.
The dip of the plateau and the run of the numerous ravines being towards the coast, the drainage of the camp was everything which could be desired. The hollow below the guards' camp, the piece of ground situated near the head-quarters of General Bosquet, and behind the suttlers' village, known in camp parlance as " Donnybrook, " and a plot of land under Cathcart's hill, were the most objectionable parts of the encampment. These spots were soon avoided, as their perni* The Russians, Sardinians, and Turks constructed underground huts for winter use; but the difficulty of ventilating, lighting, and keeping them dry, more than counterbalanced their advantages as to heat. Malignant fever has been said to increase much in its virulence among troops so housed.