The Sun.
London, England, 1854-10-17 00:00:00

A REGIMENTAL COOK.

Some adventures encountered in the course of impro-
vised service as regimental cook are detailed in an
amusing letter from a private in the 7th Hussars, dated
from Varna on the 31st ult., and published in the
Bristol Mirror :
" About a fortnight ago there was an order from Lord
Lucan that ten men out of every troop of 70 men were
to be cooks, and relieve one another weekly. I was
one of those sent to cook, and when we marched from
I.7nah Buzzar, the cooking was no easy task, for after
marching with the rest all day under a burning sun,
and having cared for and watered my horse, I, with a
subordinate, had to cook and scour the country fir
wood wherewith to light and keep up a fire. Many and
many were the adventures I encountered in this strange
place in search of fuel. I generally used to make for
some village, and always took my haversack over my
shoulder, in case I met with any bread, or eggs, or cheese ;
and my calabash as well, in easel met with that great
luxury milk, and, whether I could get that or not, it
was an excellent weapon in the hands of an active man,
for it has 3 strong leather thong attached to a wooden
barrel, bound round with iron hoops, capable of con-
taining three pints. Any man, therefore, that got a
blow from it must ,go down if he got it on the
head. I went to one village, and, after looking
about for the most comfortable hone or cabin, went
to one that had been recently whitewashed, and
feund a venerable Turk outside, smoking, of course
I asked him for some scmeck (bread), at the same
time showing him three piastres ; he told me to
go to the door, and called to his wives to serve me. I
saluted them very politely, and as one of his wives had
got about four or five words in English, and I had about
a dozen of Turkish, we got on very well. I bought some
bread, and filled my calabash with milk for two piastres ;
as for eggs, they were, according to our money, four a
penny. I was coming away congratulating myself upon
my good fortune, when, is passing the old Turk, and
giving him a nod, with the usual salute, 'Bono Turdo,'
I was stopped by him, saluted with a tap on the shoulder,
and Bone Johnny,' and signs were made to me to go
into the house. I went ; the Turk motioned to me to
sit down, which I did cross-legged like himself. He
then spoke to his wives, who brought out a leg of lamb,
with some vegetable marrows, cheese, cucumbers, and
vinegar. I fell to with no little gusto, for we had had
a long march, with nothing before it but cold coffee
(without sugar) and biscuit. After I had done he gave
me a chibouque, and as the tobacco was mild I smoked
with the Turk. But what surprised me most of all was
his bringing out a bottle of English porter. I began to
question him as to where he got it from as well as I
could, but there was no difficulty—the word Varna
settled the question. The Turk's kindness did not end
here, for, telling him that I wanted some wood, he put
four or five logs upon his araba, or bullock-waggon, and
sent a boy with me to bring it back. I must here men-
tion a circumstance that occurred while I was dining
and smoking. A girl, about 18 or 19 years of age,
came into the room for some domestic purpose, and
stared very hard at me. No wonder ; she had probably
never seen an English soldier in full uniform, with the
exception of the shake, sitting dining and smoking on
the best terms with her grave father. Well, when they
all went out to put the wood upon the araba, I went for
my haversack, &c., and found her intently and curiously
gazing upon the number and name inscribed upon it.
She was so absorbed in this task that she did not at first
notice rue, nor, indeed, till I was close upon her. She
started up, for she was kneeling, and burst into tears,
perhaps, as a Turkish girl, thinking herself guilty of
some forwardness or impropriety, for they have odd no-
tions on such points. At this moment her father en-
tered, and, seeing his daughter in tears, no doubt ima-
gining that I had in some way offended, perhaps in-
sulted, her, he directly drew his knife. I started at him
and seized his arm, while his daughter spoke to him,
and, I imagined, assured him I was not to blame. He,
however, ordered her out of the room ; but it was all
right, and I was Bono Johnny and he was Bone Turco,
as before. I thanked him for his kindness as well as I
could, and went back- to the camp, thinking over the
fortunes of war."