The French Commandant de Place posted a tariff of all articles which the men were likely to want on the walls of the town, and regulated the exchanges like a local Rothschild. A Zouave wanted a fowl; he saw one in the hand of an itinerant poultry merchant, and he at once seized the bird, and giving the proprietor a franc — the tariff price — walked off with the prize. The Englishman, on the contrary, more considerate and less protected, was left to make hard bargains, and generally paid twenty or twenty-five per cent. more than his ally. These Zouaves were first-rate foragers. They might be seen in all directions, laden with eggs, meat, fish, vegetables (onions), and other good things, while our fellows could get nothing. Sometimes a servant was sent out to cater for breakfast, or dinner: he returned with the usual " Me and the Colonel's servant has been all o\ er the town, and can get nothing but eggs and onions, Sir;" and lo! round the corner appeared a red-breeched. Zouave or Chasseur, a bottle of wine under his left arm, half a lambunder the other, and poultry, fish, and other luxuries danglinground him. " I'm sure I don't know how these French manages it, Sir," said the crestfallen Mercury, retiring to cook the eggs.
The French established a restaurant for their officers, and at the: " Auberge de l'Armee Expeditionnaire," close to General Bosquet's quarters, one could get a dinner which, after the black bread and eggs of the domestic hearth, appeared worthy of Philippe.
There seemed to be a general impression among the French* soldiers that it would be some time ere they left Gallipoli or the Chersonese. They were in military occupation of the place. The.tricolor floated from the old tower of Gallipoli. The cafe had been turned into an office — Direction du Port et Commissariat de la Marine. French soldiers patrolled the town at night, and kept the soldiery of both armies in order; of course, we sent out a patrol also, but the regulations of the place were directly organized at the French head-quarters, and even the miser*
CRIMEA.
able house which served as our Trots Freres, or London Tavern, and where one could get a morsel of meat and a draught of countrywine for dinner, was under their control. A notice on the walls of this Restaurant de VArmee Auxiliaire informed the public that, par ordre de la police Frangaise, no person would be admitted after seven o'clock in the evening. In spite of their strict regulations there was a good deal of drunkenness among the French soldiery, though perhaps it was not in excess of our proportion, considering the numbers of both armies. They had fourgons for the commissariat, and all through their quarter of the town one might see the best houses occupied by their officers. On one door was inscribed Magasin des Liquides, on another Magasin des Distributions. M.l'Aumonier del'Armee Francaise resides on one side of the street; l'lntendant General, &c, on the other. Opposite the commissariat stores a score or two of sturdy Turks worked away at neat little handmills marked Moulin de Cafe — Subsistence Militaire. No. A., Comfarjuie _Z?., &c, and roasting the beans in large rotatory ovens; the place selected for the operation being a burial-ground, the turbaned tombstones of which seemed to frown severely on the degenerate posterity of the Osmanli. In fact, the French appear to have acted uniformly on the sentiment conveyed in the phrase of one of their officers, in reply to a remark about the veneration in which the Turks hold the remains of the dead — " Mais il faut rectifier tous ces prejuges et barbarismes /"
The greatest cordiality existed between the chiefs of the armies. Sir George Brown and some of his staff dined one day with General Canrobert; another day with General Martimprey; another day the drowsy shores of the Dardanelles were awakened by the thunders of the French cannon saluting him as he went on board Admiral Bruat's flagship to accept the hospitalities of the naval commander; and then on alternate days the dull old alleys of Gallipoli were brightened up by an apparition of these officers and their staffs in full uniform, clanking their spurs and jingling their sabres over the excruciating rocks which form the pavement as they proceeded on their way to the humble quarters of " Sir Brown," to sit at return banquets.