For instance, the infantry is dressed in French fashion, with leather gaiters under tlie trousers, the long coat reaching to the knees; the only tjxception being the shako, which more resembles the Austrian shako than the French kepi. The cavalry and the artillery, on the contrary, wear the short tunic of the Austrian cavalry and artillery. For the movements of infantrj' as well as of cavalry the French manual has been exclusivol_y adopted, and at some distance one could scarcely distinguish French cavalry manoeuvring fi-om Piedmontese, were it not for the difference in the seat of the riders. The maneije is decidedly Austrian. The spirit of the Piedmontese army — I mean the relations existing between soldiers and officers, and of the intercourse of tlie latter with one another — is, however, more analogous to that of the English than to that of either the French or Austrian armies.
It is neither the easy familiai'ity which exists between the French officer and soldier, nor that " beggar on torseback" like tyranny of the officer and the miwilling slavishness of the soldier which characterize the Austrian army. The officers in the Piedmontese, like those in tlie English army, belong almost exclusively to the higher classes, and only rarely does an officer rise from the ranks; so that the distance between officer and soldier is not one of mere discipline, but a social one; and, however the spirit of Republicanism and the longing for equality may be developed in other states of Italy, Piedmont does not seem to be impregnated with it, and the system adopted of choosing for officers men from the higher classes answers very well.
On the other hand, the otHcers themselves associate much in the same manner as in the English army. Wlien official business is over and social intercourse ■begins, the diffi?rence between the higher and lower officer entirely ceases, and they associate as gentlemen arc wont to do. The Turks are still mooning about, and waiting Omar Pa.sha's arriva], which is postponed from day to day. One battalion has Ijeen ordered down into the valley of Baidar to cut grass. In order to prevent confusion a line of demarcation has been drawn, ■which separates the French from the Turkish forai^ers. Baidar seems to furnish inexhaustible supplies of hay. Notwithstanding the systematic collection of the French, and the continual drain on its resources by private forag-ing expeditions from all armies, a considerable quantity remains on the hill sides, which, owing to their neighbom-hood of the Russians, are less frequented than the more open parts of the valley.
It is likewise an inexhaustible store of wood. The Turks have cut a good deal for zeraliks (huts), but in their continual moving about they seem to be uncertain where to take it, so there it remains for the present. c. CHAPTER V. More wet — Discoumging aspect of the camp — Habitations of the army — Descriptiou of a hut — Necessity of making better preparations for tlie winter — An Egyptian plague of flies — Daring of tlie Crimean fly — State of many of tlie tran?ports — TheCunard steamer, the " Cambria " — Kecal of General Canrobert — Reappearance of the cholera — Sanitary condition of the French army — Preparations for an attack upon the Malakliofl" — A sortie — Discouraging nature of the trench work — A Russian attack repulsed by the Englisli advanced picket — A medical board on Sir R.
England — Return of Captain Montague from captivity at Simpheropol. Before Sebastopol, August 1. Eain, rain, and nothing but rain, in this most damp and dreary of camps. I closed my letter of yesterday in a storm, and this one I commence in a deluge. The soil here has the solitary good quality of drying rapidly, at least in the more elevated parts of the camp, and before sunset yesterday there were scarcely any traces left of the morning's tempest. A few tents that had been blown or washed down had been re-erected, leaks and other defects revealed by the rain had been remedied, the temperature was agreeable, the ground tolerably dry, the usual occupations and amusements of the camp had been resumed, and a numerous party of officers played at cricket on the heights.