ng us through. When we arrived
at a station some forty miles from Richmond we found, as we feared would
be the case, our further progress by rail impracticable, but we got hold
of a couple of waggons drawn by mules, into which we managed to stow
ourselves and baggage the latter, by the way, being of considerable
importance, as it contained several cases of drinkables, not to be
obtained for love or money where we were going to. We travelled through
all sorts of by-lanes, bumped almost to pieces for four miles, steering
in the direction of the headquarters of the cavalry outposts, which were
commanded by a celebrated raiding officer, also a nephew of the
commander-in-chief. At last we found ourselves in a beautiful green
valley surrounded by thick woods, where the general and his staff were
quartered. He had with him two or three thousand cavalry, who, in spite
of their bad clothing and somewhat hungry appearance, were as
fine-looking a body of men as one would wish to see.

The general and his staff gave us a hearty welcome. Poor fellows, it was
all they had to offer! We on our part produced sundry cases of sardines,
Bologna sausages, and other tempting condiments wherewith to make a
feast.

The drink we mixed in two horse buckets cleaned up for the occasion; a
dozen or so of claret, a couple of bottles of brandy, and half a dozen
of soda water, the whole cooled with two or three lumps of ice (of which
article, as if in mockery, the Southerners had heaps). All these good
things were duly appreciated, not only by our new friends, who for
months past had tasted nothing but coarse rye-bread and pork washed down
with water, but also by well-shaken travellers like ourselves. Lying on
the grass in that lovely spot, it seemed as if the war and all its
horrors were for the moment forgotten. There were several Englishmen
among the officers composing the staff, who had (they said) come out
here to see active service, which they unquestionably had found to their
hearts' content. They seemed the sort of men who would do credit to
their country. I often wonder what has become of them; in one of them I
was particularly interested. He said his name was Cavendish, but it may
have been a _nom de guerre_.

While we were in the camp a picket came in, whose officer reported
having had a skirmish with the enemy, in which the Northerners had been
whipped. The way the cavalry outposts engaged with each other was
curious enough. The ground