om us to surprises, and not without reason,
as we found to our cost at Inkerman. The Rifles seemed to think it good
fun, and laughed at the trouble they had given us, making us turn out so
often in the middle of the night. We were employed also in making
gabions and fascines [Note 1] out of the brush-wood which grew near, and
practised in throwing up trenches and fortifications.

Work we did not mind, fighting we were eager for, but we had an enemy
against which it was hard to contend; that was the cholera. Officers
and men were quickly struck down by it. The Guards alone lost nearly a
hundred men. It was sad to hear the poor fellows' cries as the terrible
cramp seized them. All the troops suffered more or less from sickness--
the French more than all. We were thankful when the order came for us
to embark once more for the spot where we hoped to meet the enemy. Yet
many a strong man was so weakened by illness that he could scarcely
march to the shore. We got on board our transport on the 1st of
September and remained thirteen days, hoping to get rid of the dreadful
plague which had attacked us. We lost, however, three and sometimes
four men each day. Fastened up in their blankets they were sunk
overboard. Some, however, floated to the surface, and it was no easy
matter to get them down again. It was sad work, and damped the spirits
of many. That big fleet, with more than 60,000 men on board, was a fine
sight, though, as on the 14th of September we anchored off Old Fort on
the coast of the Crimea. The order was joyfully received to land
immediately. On all sides were the big transports, the largest East
Indiamen, and the men-of-war, and numbers of steamers, all in regular
order, each with their proper flags. We of the light division had ours
blue and white chequered.

Number One company of the 23rd Welsh Fusiliers were the first on shore
on a sandy beach. We landed soon after. Sentinels were marched off at
once by companies and thrown out in a direct line from the sea far into
the country. Parties with rifles loaded, and eager for the honour, as
we called it, of firing the first shot at the Russians, were despatched
in search of wood and water. Towards the evening it came on to rain
very hard, and we had no tents or covering of any sort. We of the light
division were pushed on inland, to give space for the other troops to
form as they landed. Our orders, issued by Sir Colin Campbell, were to
remai