aving been
compelled to intrust my constitution to their hands; but, judging from
the fact that, on leaving college, they dispense with books, I felt
inclined to attribute the singularly small amount of sickness in camp
more to fortuitous circumstances than to the _ars medendi_, as practised
by these ingenuous young men.

The sanitary state of the army at that time contrasted very favourably
with its condition some two months later in the year. At the first
period to which I allude there were only seventy men actually in
hospital, the whole force at Bieliki amounting to 8,047 regulars and
2,900 Bashi Bazouks. Of the twelve battalions of regular infantry which
composed the force five were armed with rifles, and were termed
chasseurs in consequence. At the same time, it is fair to add that
special attention has been paid to this arm, and the naturally keen eye
of the Turkish soldiers renders their education a matter of comparative
facility.

The night which followed our arrival at Bieliki was, I think, the most
sleepless I have ever experienced. So thoroughly tired was I, that the
deafening crashes of thunder, the forked lightning, and the deluge of
rain, which poured in torrents through the tent, might have passed
unheeded, but for the mass of minute life, which defied sleep. With
early dawn I wandered off, too glad to escape from my tormentors, and
went through the hospitals, surgery, and other buildings connected with
the permanent encampment. The irregular lines of tents gave a
picturesque appearance to the camp, which was heightened by the
configuration of the surrounding hills. Far off to the SE. rise the
rugged mountains of Montenegro, at the foot of which lies the plain of
Grahovo, a spot fraught with disastrous reminiscences to the Turks.
Important as that affair was, since Grahovo was ceded to the
Montenegrins in consequence, its details have been grossly exaggerated.
It is currently accepted that 7,000 Turks were cut to pieces by 4,500
mountaineers, the real truth being that the latter were probably nearly
as numerous as their opponents. The Turkish force consisted of two
entire battalions and a portion of a third, and, from the impracticable
nature of the country, it would have been strange had the result been
otherwise than it was. Hemmed in and mowed down from all sides by an
unseen foe, the Turkish soldiers lost all self-reliance, it is true, and
the panic which ensued must have tended considerably to inc