We were among the last to leave the Crimea. Before going I borrowed a
horse, easy enough now, and rode up the old well-known road--how
unfamiliar in its loneliness and quiet--to Cathcart's Hill. I wished
once more to impress the scene upon my mind. It was a beautifully
clear evening, and we could see miles away across the darkening sea. I
spent some time there with my companions, pointing out to each other
the sites of scenes we all remembered so well. There were the
trenches, already becoming indistinguishable, out of which, on the 8th
of September, we had seen the storming parties tumble in confused and
scattered bodies, before they ran up the broken height of the Redan.
There the Malakhoff, into which we had also seen the luckier French
pour in one unbroken stream; below lay the crumbling city and the
quiet harbour, with scarce a ripple on its surface, while around
stretched away the deserted huts for miles. It was with something like
regret that we said to one another that the play was fairly over, that
peace had rung the curtain down, and that we, humble actors in some of
its most stirring scenes, must seek engagements elsewhere.

I lingered behind, and stooping down, once more gathered little tufts
of grass, and some simple blossoms from above the graves of some who
in life had been very kind to me, and I left behind, in exchange, a
few tears which were sincere.

A few days latter, and I stood on board a crowded steamer, taking my
last look of the shores of the Crimea.

CONCLUSION.

I did not return to England by the most direct route, but took the
opportunity of seeing more of men and manners in yet other lands.
Arrived in England at last, we set to work bravely at Aldershott to
retrieve our fallen fortunes, and stem off the ruin originated in the
Crimea, but all in vain; and at last defeated by fortune, but not I
think disgraced, we were obliged to capitulate on very honourable
conditions. In plain truth, the old Crimean firm of Seacole and Day
was dissolved finally, and its partners had to recommence the world
anew. And so ended _our_ campaign. One of us started only the other
day for the Antipodes, while the other is ready to take any journey to
any place where a stout heart and two experienced hands may be of use.

Perhaps it would be right if I were to express more shame and
annoyance than I really feel at the pecuniarily disastrous issue of my
Crimean adventures, but I cannot--I really cannot.