Now, good public, do you know what one ration consists of? It is just two-thirds of an ounce of sperm candle or two ounces of tallow candle — that is, of a bit very like what economic housewives are ^miliar with under the name of " save-alls." No one need ever say, " Put out the light" in a British camp, for the candle is not lit very long before it dies of its own accord. An officer receives the same ration as is given to twelve men, but he can afford to buy candles, and if he is a field-officer his rations are increased, on the principle, I suppose, that there is more necessity for his keeping wide awake than exists in the case of a subaltern.
The libraries are well filled with books, but there is little time to use them by day, and it falls dark before six o'clock; twelve men are not likely to make much progress in a novel, a tract, or an entertaining miscellany by the aid of two-thirds of an ounce of candle. They club their little pieces of candle together, and resort to many ingenious devices for keeping the lights in. Some of them, like the Russian or Dutch sailors at Spitzbergen, of whose very uncomfortable residence we all have read, use the extra fat of mutton in lamps, but in general they are obliged to purchase what extra candles they require. And all this time there are the canteens alight till an hour or more after " retreat." We have had " balls" at Kamiesch lately, which were, I hear, distinguished by remarkably good conduct on the part of all present.
Of the progress of the libraries and of the lectures you will hear from other persons. There are hotels established at Kamiesch, and restaurants, at which excellent fare is to be had at high but not extravagant prices. The lines at Kamiesch are nearly completed. Eight heavy redoubts and a splendid profile of parapet and trench enclosing the place will remain as lasting monuments of French military 3o6 RELAXATION, skill, and will enable tlicm to retain the ports of Kaniiesch and Kasatch when the bulk of the army has retired. Colonel Wetherall will, it is understood, succeed Colonel ]\I'I\Iurdo, till the latter can return to his command. The Head-quarters' Staff is now as follows: — Commander-in-Chief —Fir W. J. Cotlrington, K.C.B. Aides-de-Camp to the Commander-in-Chief — Captain the Hon.
H. W. Campbell, Eifle Brigade; and Captain Ponsonby, Grenadier Guards. Chief of the Staff— Major-General C. A. AVindham, C.B. Aides-de-Camp to the Chief of the Staff. — Major Lewis and Captain Erie. t^>uartermaster-General. — Colonel the Hon. Percy Herbert. Assistant Quartermaster-(.Teneral. — Colonel the Hon. A. Hardinge. Deputy-Assistant Quartermasters-General. — Captain Willes, 77th; Captain Torrens, 23rd; Captain Yacher, 33rd; and Captain Hammersley, 14th. Military Secretary. — Lieutenant-Colonel Blane. Assistant Military Secretary. — Major Boyle, 89th. Surgeon to Commander-in-Chief. — Dr. Fowler Smith. Adjutant-General. — Colonel Pakenham, C.B. Deputy Adjutant-General, and Deputy-Assistant AdjutantsGeneral. — Lieutenant-Colonel Kennedy, 18th; Captain Thompson, 4th; Captain Luard, 77th; Major Dowbiggin. Principal IMedical Officer.— Dr. Hall. The escort consists of a troop of the 11th Hussars, under Captain Yansittart, and of two companies of the Rihe Brigade, under Major Fyers.