k final leave, as he then supposed, of the
regiment which had stood with him in the "thin red line" of Balaklava
against the terrible Cossacks. On the first of June three companies, of
which mine formed one, embarked in a coasting steamer for Plymouth,
where we joined the _Belleisle_, an old 84-gun two-decker, which had
been converted into a transport for the China expedition. This
detachment of the Ninety-Third was under the command of Colonel the
Honourable Adrian Hope, and the captains of the three companies were
Cornwall, Dawson, and Williams--my company being that of Captain E. S.
F. G. Dawson, an officer of great experience, who had served in another
regiment (I forget which) throughout the Kaffir war in the Cape, and was
adjutant of the Ninety-Third at the Alma, where he had his horse shot
under him. The remaining seven companies, forming headquarters under
Colonel A. S. Leith-Hay, sailed from Portsmouth in the steam transport
_Mauritius_ about ten days after us.

Although an old wooden ship, the _Belleisle_ was a very comfortable
transport and a good sailer, and we sighted land at the Cape on the
morning of the 9th of August, having called and posted mails at both
Madeira and the Cape de Verde Islands on our way. We were at anchor in
Simon's Bay by the afternoon of the 9th of August, where we heard the
first news of the Indian Mutiny, and that our destination was changed
from China to Calcutta; and during the 10th and 11th all was bustle,
tightening up rigging, taking in fuel for cooking, and refilling our
empty water-tanks. On the evening of the 11th, just as it was becoming
dark, a steamer came up the bay, and anchored quite close to the
_Belleisle_; and on our bugler's sounding the regimental call, it turned
out to be the _Mauritius_ with headquarters on board. Most of our
officers immediately went on board, and many of the men in the three
companies were gratified by receiving letters from parents, sweethearts,
and friends, which had reached Portsmouth after our detachment had left.
On the forenoon of the 12th of August the _Belleisle_ left Simon's Bay,
making all sail day and night for Calcutta. The ship's crew numbered
nine hundred men, being made up of drafts for the ships of the China
squadron. Every yard of canvas that the masts or spars could carry was
crowded on day and night; and we reached the pilot station at the
Sandheads on the 19th of September, thirty-eight days from the Cape,
where we learned