The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-02 00:00:00

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together, and much more on some days. As a proof
that sickness has been rife ,in the camp, I may Men-
tion. that four out of General O'Donnell's nine Labs-
qe-cathp were "(and I believe still):are off duty from
that cause. One of them, it is true (a nephew of
the general's), was disabled by a wound received !in
action, but the others were:laid up by sickness; and
one of them, at least, by a. bad attack of cholera.
MIDNIGHT.
As, sleep is out of the question, I may as well
write and tell you of the evening's disasters. The
day,: as I told yon above, was wet, but it was also
calm; a lazy mist over sea and shore limited oni
view, and' seemed a guarantee agalinst wind ;- bit
there are no sure omens in this unfriendly land of
Mauritania. -We had but a short time discussed
our indifferent stew, and were tranquilly smoking
tobacce and arranging what wo would do. when we
got to Tetuan, when an *unpleasant howling was-
heard around the tent; followed: by a blaSt that
staggered the poles and Made every thread of can-

..„..
. vas quiver. ".It is coining l" was the cry, and our
messmates hurried out to see to the safety of their
linen houses. Gust succeeded gust; for a moment
we hoped 'that the vi)lence of the wind would drive
away the _rain, and at least leave us only one enemy
to contend with. Vain hope ! fond delusionsl the
two chimed in like brothers. The soaked ground
no longer retained the losoned pegs—too short by
half; 'oh 1-itigington ; tut-perhapa. you Intended
them for no harder work than a cricket match or
archery meeting. In fall the sides, through which
heavy wet is rapidly pouring. Stand fast, good
poles, or we are buried beneath your awning. With-
out, sounds of diSmay—tents going on' all sides. A
perfect hurricane in the streets, - and ,rain far sur-
passing all the douches of all the hydropathisitt.
With a puff and slap like that of a ship's Sail blow{ _
out of the ropes, one side of the tent flops in, extin-
guishing • lights, . breaking bottles, and upsettin '
' proprietors. But the poles are stanch, and as th -
worst-seems over, as far as we are concerned; W
step out to look after our neighbours. ' Their
in a great quandary. Here is . a general, Witli ,
' mud up to the ancles, tugging at a tent rope, in a
vrain attempt to restore his demolished resiclencei.
By the light of ." lanterns dimly . burning" th
1 actfve governor of. head-quarters, attended by hi
escort .of Civil Guards (aild'very civil fellews. the
certajvly are) is flitting to and fro, lending a han
to the roomy in. distress, " Where's my tent ?" shouts
a voice. " Blowanver the hill," is the reply ; " yoti
had better' send a telegram to inquire , after it.'!
Come, there is good humour still abroad, in spite o
the almost universal disasters. A slight lull in th
storm ; things looking rather better ; we yet may
not be reduced to a bivouac. Two or three tent
are re•pitched and re-established; people's mindi
seem getting more tranquil. But no, the hope W
vain. Wind worse than ever—rain, and to complete
the banquet, lightning end thunder upon a grand
scale. The new cafe and restaurant just established
i
' a large square marquee, has utterly disappeared)
i
and a host of smaller edifices are nowhere. Back)
—back into your tents, if tent there still be. The
poles and two flaps of drenched canvas stand there
to represent it. Everything beneath it is soaked)
beds, clothes, saddle-bags, everything in short, ex..
cept fragils. things, which are all broken. By des-,
perate exertions we prop up a sort of nook, into
which we creep, enveloped in waterproofs and ac-
companied by a lantern, and whence I now indite
this sketch of our disaster, much impeded by the,
rain drops, which contemptuously pass through the
canvas as freely as if it was not there and render
my writing: nearly illegible. Wind and rain still
continue their riot, and do not seem at all tired of
the fun or disposed to leave off. They are making
35,000 individuals horribly__uncomfortable ; but
what do they, hard-hearted, care? -The diana will
for once be -welcome, when it sounds, five hours hence
during whfsch we shall have plenty of time to reflect
on our faults and follies, and on the rashness of be-i
ginning a campaign in Morocco towards the end Oil
November. I wonder how Morito fares, yonder ini
his gloomy mountains. If he be half as poorly off asi
we are, he will probably be wishing, as I suspect
many in c:Emp are at this moment doing, that the
Ceutan cruys ade.was past and gone.
MONDAY MORNING, DEC. 19.

I have dame but imperfect justice in the preceding
description. to the furious storm of last night and to
its ravages in camp: In head-quarters camp alone
(a very small one) several large tents and two or
three of lese size are down. Onen-air kitchens have
disappearea„ officers are seeking their property,
scattered in. the night tempest, disconsolate servants
are strugglE:ng against adversity and to get up some-
thing in the shape of breakfast. There two or three
old Crimears s here, and they protest that since the
storm of No, 14, 1854, they have witnessed nothing
to equal that of Dee. 18, 1859. The wind has now
abated (10 a...m.) and the rain has ceased, but the
sky is extreT aely wild and the weather evidently fur
from settled— Thirty hours—from midnight on the
17th to 6 on the 19th—of the heaviest rail',
with rare in:tcrvals of a few minutes; nine hours of
a perfect hu ericane ; a thunderstorm to complete the
festival—su ell are the amenities of winter at the
foot of the SSerra Bullones. How is campaigning
possible in a country and-season where such bursts
may at any a ioment occur—almost without warn-
ing ? Suppo: t we had been overtaken by this wea-
ther in a bivcraac halfway between here and Tetuan,
should we have been fresh for marching and fighting
after such a 3( ) hours as we have just passed ? I pro-
mise you that 'even last evening there were some long
faces and droolping crests in France, and some who
lately were sa a guine of triumph spoke with more dif-
fidence, admitting doubts, and seemed to cast wistful
glances back te. Spain. The worst was still to come.
Tho rain was mnpleasant, but the wind was seriously
damaging. 71,ne poor fellows in the advance must
have suffered g rievously last night, and it is to be
feared the hos.p itals will receive no small accession
of inmates as one consequence of the deluge and
hurricane.

There are a few shots to the front. It seems that
all the rain hays not sufficed to damp Morito's mar-
tial ardour or render his powder unserviceable. The
wind is rising:; gain, and threatens another gale.