this place. But in passing, it may be noticed as somewhat flattering to the B.Y.C. that, in welcoming the reinforcement, the Brigadier openly declared to the gallant new arrivals his belief that, but for the cavalry, his force would probably have been overwhelmed by the sheer numerical weight of the rebels. And the truth of this remark requires no confirmation, because the insurgents well knew that in action they were always within arm’s length, so to say, of mounted men with drawn swords, who never did things by halves, and from whom they could not easily escape in flight. At the same time, too, they dreaded nothing more than the thundering clatter of our horses’ hoofs at their heels, and our hard-hearted warwhoop of “devil-take-the-hindmost” resounding in their ears.
The reader will remember that when we passed through Buste, half-dead from the effects of hardships, and privations sustained in the early part of the year, its inhabitants, instead of showing some sympathy in behalf of our deplorable condition, received us with scowls and growls; but the tide having now turned in our favour, a reciprocal change also came over the spirit of their insolence, and they at once became like brothers in their kindness to us all; so that Orientals, too, (though less civilised than Europeans in general) evidently understand the art of exemplifying the insincerity of this hypocritical world. When we were struggling with adversity, they stroked their black moustaches and scoffed at us; now in “prosperity” — if I may use the word to express our im-
