e recovered; hold on bravely." The man seemed to
grow calmer; again, however, there came over him a fearful paroxysm of
pain. "Don't leave me, sir, don't leave me!" he exclaimed, as soon as
he could speak. Alick, who was about to go on to another man, again
held his hands, pouring some cordial down his mouth, which the doctor
handed him. He was soon quiet, but it was the quiet of death; and the
commander passed on to others who required his aid.

Thus he and the other officers went from hammock to hammock,
endeavouring to soothe the pain of those to whom their services could be
of any avail. The dead man was lifted out and quickly sewn up in his
blanket, with a shot at his feet, to be launched overboard. Three were
committed to the deep at the same time.

Such were the scenes going forward on board most of the ships in the
squadron; the _Britannia_ alone was destined to lose upwards of a
hundred men. On board other ships the officers devoted themselves in
the same way, and in many cases succeeded, where the medical men might
have failed, in arresting the malady. It was now known that a descent
on the Crimea was to be made; as, however, in the suffering state of the
ships' crews, it would be impossible to embark the troops, the admirals
put to sea, in the hopes of arresting the progress of the cholera. It
appeared not to have the desired effect, and many more lost the number
of their mess; and fears began to be entertained that the enterprise
must be abandoned, when suddenly the disease stopped; not a man more was
attacked.

The ships sailed back into Cavarna Bay, and soon the operation of
embarking the army commenced. The duty was under the charge of Sir
Edmund Lyons. By the aid of the rafts he had constructed, which
consisted of two boats lashed together with a platform on the top, he
got on board the ships destined to carry them sixty pieces of field
artillery and the complement of horses belonging to every gun. He then
commenced embarking the cavalry, to the number of a thousand horses, and
twenty-two thousand infantry, on board the numerous large transports
waiting for their conveyance.

The officers of the fleet were engaged under him in superintending the
operation. During some days a heavy swell set in, which put a stop to
the business of embarking the cavalry. The weather again changing,
however, the whole of the force was got on board without the loss of a
man. Never before had so large a fle