last.

Had we possessed any real knowledge of the country, we should at once
have seen that, of those who joined us, none were men of any influence
or station. If, now and then, a man of any name strayed into the camp,
he was sure to be one whose misconduct or bad character had driven
him from associating with his equals; and, even of the peasantry, our
followers were of the very lowest order. Whether General Humbert was
the first to notice the fact, I know not; but Charost, I am certain,
remarked it, and even thus early predicted the utter failure of the
expedition.

I must confess the volunteers were the least imposing of allies. I think
I have the whole scene before my eyes this moment, as I saw it each
morning in the palace garden.

The inclosure, which, more orchard than garden, occupied a space of a
couple of acres, was the headquarters of Colonel Charost; and here, in
a pavilion formerly dedicated to hoes, rakes, rolling-stones, and
garden-tools, we were now established to the number of fourteen. As the
space beneath the roof was barely sufficient for the colonel's personal
use, the officers of his staff occupied convenient spots in the
vicinity. My station was under a large damson-tree, the fruit of which
afforded me, more than once, the only meal I tasted from early morning
till late at night; not, I must say, from any lack of provisions, for
the palace abounded with every requisite of the table, but that, such
was the pressure of business, we were not able to leave off work even
for half an hour during the day.

A subaltern's guard of grenadiers, divided into small parties, did duty
in the garden; and it was striking to mark the contrast between these
bronzed and war-worn figures, and the reckless tatterdemalion host
around us. Never was seen such a scarecrow set! Wild-looking, ragged
wretches, their long lank hair hanging down their necks and shoulders,
usually barefooted, and with every sign of starvation in their features;
they stood in groups and knots, gesticulating, screaming, hurrahing, and
singing, in all the exuberance of a joy that caught some, at least, of
its inspiration from whisky.

It was utterly vain to attempt to keep order amongst them; even the
effort to make them defile singly through the gate into the garden was
soon found impracticable, without the employment of a degree of force
that our adviser, Kerrigan, pronounced would be injudicious. Not only
the men made their way in, but gre