The Press.
London, England, 1854-06-10 00:00:00

p..

THE.. PRES,S..

the evening they illuminated it with some hundreds of
glass lamps. On that day the Guards were ordered
to parade for the first time" without stocks," a boon
which was welcomed by the men with indescribable
pleasure.
THE CAMP AT SCUTARI.

The daily scenes in the British camp at Scutari
are graphically described by a German officer, in a
letter published by the Morning Chronicle. We give
some extracts :

" The infantry of the British military expedition to the
East has spread its tents on the heights bordering the
town of Scutari to the west, at the entrance of the Sea of
Marmora. The spot is well chosen." The troops have no
fatiguing ma 4 before them : when they land they are in
a few minute used in their new home. The air is pure
and refreshin Large plains, suited for military evolu-
tioits, surroudd the encampment, and a most magnifi-
cent view enlivens the dolee far aienle of military life.
As the soldier reclines before his tent, Mount Olympus
and the Princes Islands are before him, whilst to the right
Constantinople rises in all its grandeur.
" The camp is beautifully disposed; indeed, it is laid
out in a kind of ordre de &luta., with the Guards to the
rear. They especially distinguish themselves. The road
left between the tents of each company is from twenty to
twenty-five feet broad and very roomy. The muskets are
in some regiments piled together in a pyramidical form ;
in others they are on rests. The officers tents are placed
at the wings of their respective companies. A little to the
left are stables for the officers' horses, and the three mules
belonging to each company. They are built in a manner
totally new to me. Whilst we on the Continent generally
build these stables of dried leaves and the roots of trees,
which it is often difficult to procure, they have excavated
the ground, and built up walls of this earth, intermixed
with stones, the whole of which is thatched with dry leaves
and the branches of trees. Thus the animals are kept
warm, and there are no currents of air ; whereas in the
other extemporised stables they are exposed to continual
draughts, as much nearly as in the open air. • • The kitchen
of each company is situated some yards from these stables.
The order of the camp is kept by sentries in as strict a
manner towards the soldiers themselves as to strangers,
but with that politeness which distinguishes all police
measures' in England from those of other countries. The
supplies,,of tile British soldier are, both as regards rations
and pay', the most munificent of any army. Whilst, for
instance, the Prussian soldier has only lialfa-pound of
meat a day, the English soldier receives one pound. The
pay of the officers cannot be compared to that of other'
armies. An English ensign, in time of war, is as well
paid as a Prussian or Austrian captain ; and their duties,
when compared to those of foreign officers, are much less
harassing. The short serving-time of the Prussian soldier
(two years) entails the continual drilling of recruits; and.
I have seen a lieutenant continually performing a daily
duty of eight hours, whilst my experience in England and
the British colonies has shown me that the British officer
is never on duty more than three hours per diem. This
strict disciplinary life stamps the German officer, and he
is to be known under any covering ; whilst the English
officer never has a peculiar or exclusive appearance, but
when in plain clothes is in manners and bearing like any
other English gentleman, and on service appears simply a
gentleman in uniform.
.. _.

" The dress and weighting of the British infantry have
many defects in my opinion. Complaints have been made
about this matter for many years, both by officers and men
themselves. The more comfortable frock-coat has, in
almost all armies, been substituted for the ugly tail-coat.
The shako and leather stock have never been praised by
any soldier. As regards the national dress of the High-
landers, I must declare myself incompetent to form an
opinion of its practical advantages. They are the most
picturesque troops in the world.
. .

"In my opinion the British infantry soldier is too
heavily weighted. With his musket and ammunition he
has to carry a weight of 801 b., whilst under the same cir-
cumstances the Austrian and Prussian infantry only carry
651 b. This will be felt on a march. In action the men
would be overburdened ; and all to whom I spoke at the
Scutari encampment expressed the hope that they should
not have to go into action with their knapsacks on.
" The arms of the infantry are excellent. The muskets
are finished most accurately, and superior to those of any
army. Those which I have inspected were superb, and
beautifully kept, showing that great attention is paid to
this point by the superiors, and that the soldier loves his
arm. As regards the rifles, the superiority of the Minis
is too well known to need any comment. The British
Rifles are a very imposing body, and recal a memento mori
by the manner in which they handle their superb arm, and
by their general appearance. But they are also too much
weighted : 781 b. encumbers the ' gazelle ' of the army.
" Here, as elsewhere, camp life is lively, and full of
changes. A part of the day is spent at drill and manoeuvres;
afterwards the soldiers amuse themselves at their original
games, which, to foreigners, are a complete novelty. They
strengthen the body and spare the soldier's purse, who
otherwise would get rid of many a shilling from sheer
ennui. The bands play British airs, and are much better
than they are generally reported to be. Armenians and
Greeks are there in plenty, selling sweetmeats, endeavour-
ing to speak in every lingo.
"All the troops encamped at Scutari prefer the tent to
the barracks, in which three regiments are quartered.
Fresh air is certainly preferable to a small space filled by
from seventy to seventy-five men, and inhabited by mem-
bers of the smaller enemies of man."

The commissariat will have a hard task to per-
form at Varna in provisioning so large an army in a
country which is cut off from the feeding-ground of
the Dobrudscha by the Russians on the one hand,

SATURDAY,

and drained by the masses of Turks concentrated
near Sehumla on the other. There has been no beef
to be had even at Scutari, but the supply of mutton
and lamb fortunately continued sufficient, and about
eight hundred head of sheep and lamb were slaugh-
tered every day at the shambles at Scutari for the
army. It is said they eat as much meat as ten times
their number of Turks; but the latter have very
liberal rations in the way of butter and rice for pilaff.
The consumption of lamb is so great that fears are
expressed lest tho very breed of sheep be eaten up
out of the district around Scutari.