In the Ranks of the C.I.V. | Page 3

pathetic ball all day,
among the hay, in our forage recess. My only view of the outer world is
from a big port in this recess, which frames a square of heaving blue
sea; but now and then one can get breathing-spaces on deck. In the
afternoon--the ship rolling heavily--I went, by an order of the day
before, to be vaccinated. Found the doctor on the saloon deck, in a long
chair, very still. Thought he was dead, but saluted, and said what I had

come for. With marvellous presence of mind, he collected himself, and
said: 'I ordered six to come; it is waste of lymph to do one only: get the
other five.' After a short absence, I was back, reporting the other five
not in a condition to do anything, even to be vaccinated. The ghost of a
weary smile lit up the wan face. I saluted and left."
Our busy days passed quickly, and on the ninth of the month a lovely,
still blue day, I ran up to look at the Grand Canary in sight on the
starboard bow, and far to the westward the Peak of Teneriffe, its snowy
cone flushed pink in the morning sun, above a bank of cloud. All was
blotted out in two hours of stable squalors, but at midday we were
anchored off Las Palmas (white houses backed by arid hills), the
ill-fated Denton Grange lying stranded on the rocks, coal barges
alongside, donkey engines chattering on deck, and a swarm of
bum-boats round our sides, filled with tempting heaps of fruit, cigars,
and tobacco. Baskets were slung up on deck, and they drove a roaring
trade. A little vague news filtered down to the troop-deck; Ladysmith
unrelieved, but Buller across the Tugela, and some foggy rumour about
120,000 more men being wanted. The Battery also received a
four-footed recruit in the shape of a little grey monkey, the gift of the
Oxfordshire Yeomanry. He was at once invested with the rank of
Bombardier, and followed all our fortunes in camp and march and
action till our return home. That day was a pleasant break in the
monotony, and also signalized my release from the office of stableman.
We were off again at six; an exquisite night it was, a big moon in the
zenith, the evening star burning steadily over the dim, receding island.
We finished with a sing-song on deck, a crooning, desultory
performance, with sleepy choruses, and a homely beer-bottle passing
from mouth to mouth.
Then came the tropics and the heat, and the steamy doldrums, when the
stable-deck was an "Inferno," and exercising the horses like a tread-mill
in a Turkish bath, and stall-cleaning an unspeakable business. Yet the
hard work kept us in fit condition, and gave zest to the intervals of rest.
At this time many of us used to sling our hammocks on deck, for down
in the teeming troop-deck it was suffocating. It was delicious to lie in

the cool night air, with only the stars above, and your feet almost
overhanging the heaving sea, where it rustled away from the vessel's
sides. At dawn you would see through sleepy eyes an exquisite sky,
colouring for sunrise, and just at reveillé the golden rim would rise out
of a still sea swimming and shimmering in pink and opal.
Here is the diary of a Sunday:--
"February 11.--Reveillé at six. Delicious bathe in the sail-bath. Church
parade at ten; great cleaning and brushing up for it. Short service, read
by the Major, and two hymns. Then a long lazy lie on deck with
Williams, learning Dutch from a distracting grammar by a pompous old
pedant. Pronunciation maddening, and the explanations made it worse.
Long afternoon, too, doing the same. No exercising; just water, feed,
and a little grooming at 4.30, then work over for the day. Kept the ship
lively combing my roan's mane; thought he would jump into the
engine-room. By the way, yesterday, when waiting for his hay coming
down the line, his impatience caused him to jump half over the
breast-bar, bursting one head rope; an extraordinary feat in view of the
narrowness and lowness of his stall. He hung in a nasty position for a
minute, and then we got him to struggle back. Another horse died in the
night, and another very sick.
"Inoculation for enteric began to-day with a dozen fellows. Results
rather alarming, as they all are collapsed already in hammocks, and one
fainted on deck. It certainly is no trifle, and I shall watch their progress
carefully. I can't be done myself for some days, as I was vaccinated two
days ago (after the first unsuccessful attempt), in company with
Williams. We went to the doctor's cabin on the upper deck, and
afterwards sat on the