place of one of the _valets_,
_porteurs de la chambre_, in the royal household; which appointment he
held for about a year, when the love for the unconstrained life he had
led and for the charms of the country returned, and he left the court,
and betook himself again to the greenwood shade; that he continued
this mode of life we know not exactly how long; and that at last he
resorted to the prioress of Kirklees, his own relative, for surgical
assistance, and in that priory he died and was buried.'
These conclusions must of course be looked upon at present merely as a
series of probable suppositions. Mr Hunter does not pretend to have
placed them within the domain of authentic history. But it is by no
means unlikely, that future researches will produce evidence of the
indubitable truth of some of them. To Mr Hunter is due the credit of
having first pointed out the direction in which this evidence must be
sought, and of having, at the same time, indicated by his example the
true value of such researches in the light which they cast on the
politics and social life of the period to which they refer.
SNOW-STORM IN THE SAHARA.
NOTES FROM THE JOURNAL OF A MILITARY SURGEON.
When it was determined by the French government in the spring of 1847,
to undertake several military expeditions simultaneously into the
deserts to the south of Algeria, it was my lot to accompany the column
of General Cavaignac, both in a medical and scientific capacity. The
western route, being the most difficult and dangerous, was that
assigned to him. He was to penetrate the hitherto unexplored regions
traversed by the Hamian-garabas--a powerful tribe, who could bring
2000 horsemen into the field, and among whom the various tribes that
had at different times sworn allegiance to the French government
always found willing allies whenever they chose to break their
treaties and throw off the yoke. He was to destroy every village
throughout this region that refused submission; and thus it was hoped
that the retreats of Abd-el-Kader might be cut off, and that by a
speedy termination of the war, the country might become settled, and
its commerce be restored.
We were a motley and grotesque-enough-looking caravan; for our six
battalions of infantry and four squadrons of cavalry were accompanied
by 3000 camels laden with provisions and attended by Arab drivers,
besides 500 mules carrying water-barrels, and cacolets--jointed
arm-chairs--for the s
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