res listlessly
lounging. The hillside was bare, and the slope so steep that there was
no standing on it, save where it had been flattened by the spade; and
here in this extraordinary place were 400 young Englishmen of the common
type of which soldiers are made, with nothing to do and nothing to
enjoy--remaining, unless they desert or die of ennui, for one, two, or
three years, as their chance may be. Every other day they can see
nothing, save each other's forms and faces in the fog; for, fine and
bright as the air may be below, the moisture in the air is condensed
into cloud by the chill rock and soil of the high ranges. The officers
come down now and then on furlough or on duty; the men rarely and hardly
at all, and soldiers, in spite of General ----, cannot always be made
happy by the picturesque. They are not educated enough to find
employment for their minds, and of amusement there is none.

We continued our way up, the track if anything growing steeper, till we
reached the highest point of the camp, and found ourselves before a
pretty cottage with creepers climbing about it belonging to the major in
command. A few yards off was the officers' mess room. They expected us.
They knew my companion, and visitors from the under-world were naturally
welcome. The major was an active clever man, with a bright laughing
Irish wife, whose relations in the old country were friends of my own.
The American consul and his lady happened to have ridden up also the
same day; so, in spite of fog, which grew thicker every moment, we had a
good time. As to seeing, we could see nothing; but then there was
nothing to see except views; and panoramic views from mountain tops,
extolled as they may be, do not particularly interest me. The officers,
so far as I could learn, are less ill off than the privates. Those who
are married have their wives with them; they can read, they can draw,
they can ride; they have gardens about their houses where they can grow
English flowers and vegetables and try experiments. Science can be
followed anywhere, and is everywhere a resource. Major ----told me that
he had never known what it was to find the day too long. Healthy the
camp is at any rate. The temperature never rises above 70 deg. nor sinks
often below 60 deg.. They require charcoal fires to keep the damp out and
blankets to sleep under; and when they see the sun it is an agreeable
change and something to talk about. There are no large incidents, but