thermometer marked ninety-five degrees in
the shade; and when I exclaimed that devil
a bit of shade had I met with up to that
time, and requested to be informed what
his thermometer would mark in the sun,
at the same time exhibiting some marks
the blistering luminary had made on my
face and hands (for I had lost my gauntlets),
he replied, "According to your appearance
I should say it marked a good
frying heat." Whenever we reached a
somewhat sheltered spot, which seemed
inviting for a temporary halt, the entire army
fought and struggled to secure the patches
of shade which guaranteed the possessor a
short reprieve from the sun's rays. A
dwarf sapling, with a leafy head not larger
than an umbrella, was a prize for which
strong men contested, or a tree against
which one could sit and rest the back,
moving as the shadow travelled, to keep
within its coolness, was an inestimable
advantage. For my part, I was so irritated
by the heat that I forgot all that was due
to friendship, and became extremely selfish
and gluttonous for shade, refusing to allow
any one to come near me when I had
installed myself in my patch of sombre colour.
Panting and overcome, and with my arms
flopping listlessly on the ground, I hissed
at my messmates, if any dared to intrude
on my limited domain.

After a toilsome march we reached the
Big Black River, and were bivouacked in
the neighbourhood, with our skirmishers
engaging the enemy, whose scouts showed
in some force on the opposite bank. After
some desultory firing, our men managed to
drive back the Federals from the immediate
vicinity of the stream, and preparations
were made for throwing our pontoon
bridge across under the cover of the
coming night. Orders were received at
the head-quarters of each brigade to be in
readiness to move at two o'clock on the
following morning, and wrapping ourselves
in our blankets to shield us from the heavy
night dews, we laid down to rest in good
time, each man booted, and spurred, and
pillowed on the saddle. It was long after
the camps had become silent before I could
compose myself to sleep, for the
mosquitoes hovered in myriads around every
prostrate form, and, worse than all, the
huge spiders with hair-covered bodies, as
big as walnuts, and long straggling silky
legs, crept out of the mouldy deposits of
leaf and rotting wood, and dragged their
foul shapes across the face of both sleeping
and waking. I had been warned that it
was much better to let these insects "gang
their gate," for if interfered with they
would turn savage and bite venomously
Therefore I lay perfectly still, in a
comparative condition of collapse, with a faintly
palpitating heart and clammy brow,
horror-stricken at the idea that my features should
be the chosen exercising ground of these
monsters. To assist in composing my
nerves, I had scarcely closed my eyes,
when a dismal yell close by aroused the
entire staff, and on rushing to the fire
whence the alarm had come, and around
which the negro servants — always fond of
warmth— were sleeping, we found a nigger
capering about, with horror pictured in his
face, whilst he shook his blanket violently,
holding it at arm's length, and by the
extreme corner. "Snakes! snakes! snakes!
Lor' a mussy, I'se a gone coon," shrieked
the man, leaping among the curled-up forms
of his slumbering companions. We were
just in time to see jerked from the blanket,
and flying like a whip-lash through the
air, a small moccassin— a most poisonous
snake— which, falling on the leafy ground,
rustled through the undergrowth, pursued
by the burning embers of the fire thrown
after it in its flight.

Despite this excitement I did at length
succeed in growing torpid, and indulging
in something that was like sleep, but it
was only to be again aroused, and this
time by the lunging of a horse pulled up
short, right in the midst of our circle. It
was an aide-de-camp from the commander-
in-chief, who in abrupt tones called out,
"Are these General Evans's head-quarters?"
and, dismounting, advanced towards
the general, who was already sitting up
on his blanket to receive him. The aide
stooped down, and in under tone muttered
a few words, the sense of which we, of
course, could not detect, neither was it
becoming to show any signs of curiosity.
When the messenger had remounted and
disappeared in the gloom of the forest, the
general rising to his feet, and yawning off
the remnants of his broken slumber, said:

"Gentlemen, we must move at once."

"Why, general," cried a sleepy aide,
"it's two hours at least before the time!"

"Yes," replied the general; "but instead
of crossing the Big Black, we are
going back to Jackson, and that without
delay."

Then he told us the saddening news that
a scout had come in to General Johnston
with the intelligence that Vicksburg had
surrendered four days before, on the fourth