I do not know for certain that tlie gallant Surgeon-General ever expressed that opinion, nor would I invoke teetotal wrath and water on his head by saying so; and I beg to disclaim, also, the smallest intention of theorizing, for I think of the Hindoos and rice, of Yankee whalers and hot coffee, and I tremble and am silent. There is this very morning a very pretty little rebellion among the native drivers of the Land Transport Corps of the Fourth Division. They wont stir, in spite of eloquent exhortations in the best Hindostanee addressed to them by Captain Dick, who is standing knee deep in snow and mud, and haranguing them as they lie inside their tents. They " sahib" away and shrug their shoulders, and plaintively express a decided desire to be flogged, accompanied by suggestions also that they should be at once executed; but they one and all declare that work they will not on such a raw and gusty day as this.
Many of these Hindostanees will be sent away forthwith. The more one sees of home management the deeper becomes the conviction that it is extremely injudicious even in the most vigorous hands, and under the most experienced heads. There is not a naval officer in Balaklava who could not give numerous examples of the waste of money which takes place eveiy day in harbour, and of the absurdities and contradictions involved in plans and orders which appear perfectly wise and prudent at home. Take a little case in camp: — In the Fourth Division a contract was entered into by the Commissariat with a French baker to provide the troops with bread. The man set up ovens, hired workmen, and very soon began to furnish supplies of bread of excellent quality.
Suddenly orders were received to close the contract; English bakers were coming out from England, and they were to malce bread much more cheaply than it could be done under the contract. Accordingly the Frenchman was dismissed, but not before a commission or a board had sat to award him compensation for the bakehouse and ovens, and he had received a very decent little lump of money on that score. Well, the English dozen of bakei's — thii'teen of them — arrived in the front, and the first consequence of their arrival is that we have no bread, and that the troops receive biscuit. The bakers demand yeast; they can't work in the French bakehouse; the French ovens wont do; the house must be altered; they are, in fact, unable to make bread.
Expense will be incurred in altering the bakehouse and ovens; materials for doing so are procured at Balaklava and carried np to the Iron stores, but that is some distance from the bakery. Application is made to the Divisional Land Transport for carts to convey these materials to the bakery, but the officer in command is bound to refuse it by rigid orders, and so the bakers sit idle, and the troops cat biscuit, instead of bread; but the bakers, nevertheless, are paid just as much as if they made bread. I should be unwilUng to say how many little things of this kind are constantly occui'ring. Would any one take the trouble to investigate the exact state of things in Balaklava harbour at this moment, he would be astonished to find so much money and money's worth going to waste, which to all appearances might be avoided.
Everj^ allowance must be made for the natural desire of the authorities at home to obviate the smallest discomfort, and to prevent the recurrence of the miseries of last year; and therefore I, for one, shall not imdertake to become the censor of acts which spring from such feelings. Admiral Fremantle is assiduous in his administration of the affairs of the port, and takes a higher position than poor Admiral Boxer, who with rare energy and personal vigour, tried to combine the duties of port-admiral and harbour-master, and obtained a portion of success, which, if not by any means large, was very praiseworthy under the circumstances. Admiral Fremantle is aided by an excellent officer, whose abilities have been zealously exercised for a long time for the public service in this war — his secretary, Mr.