The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1870-08-09 00:00:00

airmen were served out, and they had thought it best
that a serpent, and two men from each company,
should go into the dinner tent fires and cut the meat
for the won. (Serst..Major Armor?: It waa a com-
plaint without pan.) The Colonel proceeded to say
he wished them a very happy encampment ; be believed
everything
had West prepared for them. Capt. Brakes
had everything ready for the evening's ammusemeet,
and what with drilling in the day and amusements In
the evening, be (the Colonel) was sure they would not
want an extremely good night. In aieclusion be hoped
thin encampment would bees sucoesaful as any before.
—(hear, hear, and applause.)
The men then departed to their respective tents, and
were soon engaged in having • refre•hing wash before
dinner. The ground underneath the tents wan found
generally pretty dry, in spite of the torrents that came
down on Sunday, and the rain that had fallen since, the
canvass baying kept moat of the water on the outside.
Here and there were exaeptions, and is some uses the
bedding was slightly wet; but water proof sheeting had
been served out, and the men were thus relieved from
the fear of damp. The visitor' were as yet few ; but
this was rather an advantage, as the riflemen bad enough.
to do In settling down in their homes for the wok.
The arrangement of the camp was somewhat in this
wise: on entering the ground you perceived twelve long
lines of tents, corresponding to the numbers of tit-
corps, and about 14 tents in • line, each line indicated
by the s,ay bennerets bearing the arms of the town to
which each corps b-longed. Past the mein assembly of
tents, to the southward, were tents for the staff officsrs,
the staff sergeants, the guard, polio., and magazine to
the left, and the °Moen mess tent to the right, and
further oath, hospital, officer.' raiding toot, place for
the camp fire, and the men's mess tent nearest to the
sea. Here, when the "town clock" (which was erected
near the staff-offleers' tent) pointed to five, the men
Socked for dinner, which they much needed after their
long journeys. Sergeant Drw catered an usual, and the
men, pouring in with pannikin and plate in hand, did
not fail to do justice to hi. excellent viands At least
there was • very large consumption of barn and breoi
at our table. What fun there is in • ',imp dinner !
One never valued so much those ordinary gifts of cirilisa-
Hon, the knife, fork, and spoon. If any one happened
to corn. unprovided, gay • visitor dropping in, bow
hard he was put to it to get big meat in pieces and
convey it to his mouth by the first-Mee:lied five-pronged
forks! That was capital coffee too ; but why was it so
screamingly hot that one was almost obliged to drop
the pannikin? Fortgood sized cops of gaffes commend
us to the volunteers, who rejoin In tin needs, without
handles, as big as • sugar basin. But where are the
spare spoons? Shall we, retie companion, essay to stir
in the alabaster knob. of sweetness with our fingers,
or shall we borrow of those arousil ? Well, sugar, and
milk arid things of that sort, might not be expected at
all at camp, so we are well off to get them. But, look
out here'. a feature of civilisation ! Lobsters ! hot
lobsters! fresh and red, in monatrous basket., hawked
round for those who wiabed to indulge. Was there •
migration of lobsterstto Lul worth for the purpose of the
camp? How else did these immense numbers come?
What a lark when those who purchased had to
twist them apart in most onscientille manner, such as
would horrify their gentle sisters st home! And to
crack the claws, what thumping on the tables I what
deneingof cups—no, pannikins—and saucers—no! there
are no saucers here ; bat plates and bottles, and every-
thing loos., performed sundry dances as the resounding
blows thundered on the obstinate crustaceans. Send
as along • loaf and some butter, and here comes the
former without tray or pieta passed along a:too:nothing
to be got rid of without ceremony, and colt quickly was,
as assailed by numerous knives, it dissolved into
ungainly but subatential wedges. But the butter, oh
that butter! Never have we eaten better butter than
at camp! No, not in the fertile district around Brid-
port, the lovely vale of Stour. or the kilialaden
marshes of Bleckmoor, net in the Neither South Devon,
famous for clotted cream, have we ever come &ernes such
butter, as the "prime Dorset" furnished to our Tokio.
teers. Sergeant Drew ought to publish his recipe for
netting good butter in these seams times. But by and
bye, every fortunate owner of knife, fork, and spoon
seeks his cloth to wrap them for service on another
ceseuion, and soon they depart, for the delights of camp.
The rain has held up, and once or twice the sun has
made his appearance. So, some go to bathe, at • safe
depth ; others to the refreshment tent." on
hill side; but these men are few, while others
again shake down to a pipe, and calmly eontem-
plate the veil of mist that thickens every moment.
The orderly sergeants give in their returns to Sergeant-
Major Abbott, and SerpentOreen, two gentlemen. who
with our old Wailer friend, Batellion Qiiarter-Master
Newman, seem determined t, emulate, and if possible
surpass the courtesy shown by the commissioned officers,
on every hand. Ea ry one has • bearty greeting for
Ids fellows, and it is evident that the weariness of the
march has worn off, and that a kindly, jolly feeling,
permeates the camp. The following is the