ks, and he was in the very act of purloining a
sergeant's regimental coat, when a corporal's guard, which had just been
relieved, took the liberty of stopping the gentleman at the door, and
secured him. He was a most powerful brute, and, I am persuaded, too much
for any single man. Notwithstanding his frequent misdemeanours, we did
not like to kill the poor creature; so, having first taken the
precaution of muzzling him, we determined on shaving his head and face,
and then turning him loose. To this ceremony, strange to say, he
submitted very quietly, and, when shaved, he was really an exceedingly
good-looking fellow; and I have seen many a "blood" in Bond Street not
half so prepossessing in his appearance. We then started him up the
hill, though he seemed rather reluctant to leave us. Some of his
companions came down to meet him; but, from the alteration which shaving
his head and face had made in him, they did not know him again, and,
accordingly, pelted him with stones, and beat him with sticks, in so
unmerciful a manner, that poor Father Murphy actually sought protection
from his enemies, and he in time became quite domesticated and tame.

We soon bade farewell to Muisenberg, and marched to Wynberg, and were in
camp for several months. Here we suffered dreadfully from the inclemency
of the weather, and from lying on damp ground, in small bell tents;
added to which, our very lives were drilled out by brigade field-days,
from three and four o'clock in the morning, until seven and eight
o'clock at night. At this period the Caffres were committing the most
terrific murders and robberies amongst the Dutch boers up the country.
To stop these devastations, a rifle company was formed from the several
corps of the 8th Dragoons, and the 22nd, 34th, 65th, 81st, and 91st
regiments, and placed under the command of Captain Effingham Lindsay,
one of the bravest soldiers in his majesty's army. We were dressed in
green, and our pieces were browned to prevent their being seen in the
woods where the Caffres congregated. About three months after the
formation of the company, we were sent up the country, in conjunction
with the light company of the 91st regiment and a corps of Hottentots.
We embarked on board the _Diamond_ frigate, and reached Algoa Bay in
fourteen days, having experienced bad weather.[7] From thence we marched
to Graaf-Reynett, about five or six hundred miles in the interior, and
fifteen hundred miles from Cape Town, an