he men. The horses were watered at a large lagoon, bordered with
tall reeds, considerably nearer the sea, which lagoon I shall remember.
There were no troughs, and we had to ride the horses some yards into the
water to clear the reeds before they could drink. The bed was covered to
the depth of nearly a yard with black sticky mud, and my horse, plunging
forward to get at the water, stepped into a steep hole where the mud was of
Stygian blackness and incomparable stickiness, and we investigated these
qualities together. As I was leading another horse as well, my position was
exceedingly uncomfortable, for in the confusion a trace slipped over my
head and was caught by the back of my helmet, pinning me under the water.
Nor were the most desperate efforts to free myself of any avail, for the
horse was struggling like a mad thing to get his--or rather, her--head
above the surface.

I had reached the stage where one's hectic past is supposed to pass in
mournful panorama across the mental vision, when the chin-strap of my
helmet broke and the trace was released, jerking my head above the surface
of the water with a force that nearly dislocated my neck. The pent-up
wrath--and mud--inside me came out in a yell which almost drowned the
shouts of laughter from the bank, and covered with black slime from head to
foot I scrambled out.

This personal reminiscence is here obtruded because the incident made the
rest of the day a blank.

Orders to harness up and go out again came almost immediately the watering
was finished. We went somewhere and came back again towards nightfall, but
what happened in the interim I know not. At every halt I was engaged in
scraping the mud off myself with a jack-knife, an indifferently successful
implement for the purpose. An officer gave me half a pailful of water
wherewith to wash myself, but as my entire wardrobe was at the moment
modestly hiding under a thick layer of mud, his kindly act did not help
very much. However, as the troops bellowed with joy every time they looked
at my piebald countenance, somebody was pleased, which was all to the good.

That lagoon loomed very large on our horizon for some days. We camped near
it on our return and, hoping to make up some arrears of sleep, settled down
very early. The plan went awry, however. We had neighbours so anxious to
make our acquaintance that they called--nay, thrust themselves upon us--at
sundown. Mosquitoes! They came in clouds and very nearl