On three occasions this Aveek my horses Vv-ere turned loose, and on two they were deprived of their blankets and clothing: a spade and a hatchet wei'e stolen from the outside of the hut, and last night the thieves entered the stables of the Land Transport Corps of the Division close at hand, turned some horses loose, and stole their blankets. Geese arrived at a fair state of obesity, turkeys, and fowl are not safe for a moment, and it is almost impossible to identify the robbers. However, the Provost-Sergeants are on the look-out, and it is their opinion that some of the canteenmen, or rather the sutlers' followers, are the guilty people. I regret to say that a, very shocking murder was committed near Kasatch on Sunday night, or early on Monday morning.
Tlio body of an English sailoi', covered witli stabs to the number of eighteen, many of them in the belly, and some apparently inilicted by a bayonet, was found as I was down at Kasatch j-esterday, not very far from a French guard. The soldiers knew nothing about the affair, and as the body has not yd been identified, no one can tell whether the murder was committed for the sake of plunder. A short time previously I was disgusted and horrified by stjeing one of the Maltese boats towing the body of a sailor out ffom Ealaklava hai-bour, as if it was the carcass of a dog. A rope had been tied round the waist, and a stone was fastened to the other end, which lay in the boat, in order to sink the remains at sea.
I was told there were marks of violence on the throat, but no one could tell anything about the man, except that his body had started from the bottom and was floating about till disposed of in this disgraceful and revolting manner. They might, at all events, have put the corpse into a sack. Mr. Stafford is going, it is understood, to move for an inquiiy into the grievances of the medical department on the meeting of Parliament. Some of the very best medical officers in this or any service are so disgusted, that they say they will retire, and the}- certainly would do so but from their sense of duty. They receive no honours or promotions, no matter what their zeal, abilities, endurance, or services may be.
No mention was made of their department by General Simpson in his orders, and when Sir Richard Airey was applied to by some of the medical officers, he assured them that the omission would be corrected. Week after week has, however, passed away, and not a word has been said of their sei-vices, while the Frencli surgeons are loaded with honours, and this, too, at the very time that they are visiting our hospitals in order to study the wonderful cases of consei-vative surgery which may be witnessed there. The Sardinian officers, who have visited our ambulances, declare that they are superior to the French, and have taken much interest in the cases referred to, which exhibit great skill and professional knowledge. In some instances the elbow-joint having been injm'ed, the sm'geon has made clean surfaces on the bones of the lower and upper arms, cut away the fractured pieces, and then brought the surfaces together, and the bones have joined by a false joint, or by a sort of ligamentous union, making a stiff short arm indeed, but with a serviceable hand attached to it.
The prmciple is extended to other injuries of limbs, and has never, perhaps, been adopted to such an extent in the field as it now is by our Eiiglisli army surgeons. jMiss Kightingalo has contributed to the comforts of the Sardinian sick, as well as to the amelioration of the condition of our own poor fellows. A Sardinian surgeon, who received some arrowroot, or "fecule," as he called it, from her, said the men did not like it. On inquiry it turned out that they merely poured cold water on the arrowroot and served it out without milk, sugar, or wine. No wonder the men thought it a very unpalatable mess. CHAPTER XXXVIII. The explosion in the French camp — Curious phenomena — Perseverance and courage of the surgeons — A conflagration — A regular panic — A series of explosions — Supposed cause of the disaster — Shock to the nervous system — Fatal accident in the Kedan — An imprompttt rifle-pit — The gun-boats — Admiral Stewart's squadron — Sir Edmund Lyons — Strength of the British army — Awkward squads — Expedients for getting a light — Libraries and lectures — Triumphs of Fi-ench military skill — The head-quarters' staff.