know how much we can do or bear till we have done or borne it. All of us knew that every man in the Corps carried his life in his hand, that he was under the shadow of death, and that his safety, for some time at least, must depend upon his own vigilance and exertions; and the vigilance and exertions of patrols, pickets, sentries, and even of the camp followers never flagged for a moment. In fact, every man in the camp, whether sick or sorry, was permanently on “sentry go” day after day, and night after night.
This prominent allusion to so critical a state of affairs is, I assure you, reader, unalloyed with braggadocio, and the Government record (that is to say, the date of the Gazette), relating to the dangerous isolation of the Corps at this period, is inserted elsewhere in this narrative, and that document will show the forlorn and perilous position into which we had helplessly drifted — a position infested with mutineers, and where every native (the unfortunate peasantry having fled from their homes) was an enemy, or prepared to become such on the first symptoms of wavering on our part. In truth, the surrounding country was surging with revolt; treachery and death lurked on every side; and if we had shown any signs of retreat, or suffered ourselves to be forced from Amorah, the rebels would have been free to overrun the district once more, and carry fire and sword whithersoever they pleased.
Looking back over the whole course of our difficul-
