ot, and was sure to be a fit. When we had remained at this
station about two years, it was truly laughable to see the
metamorphosis of the once white regimental trousers. Here and there
pieces had been sewn in to patch up holes, and, these pieces being of
materials of other texture as well as other colours, we looked, at a
distance, like spotted leopards. During these two years I had sprung up
some six inches, outgrowing, of course, both my jacket and trousers;
and, when I was in full case for parade, my figure must have been
exceedingly ludicrous. My jacket was literally a strait jacket; for,
from its extreme tightness, I could scarcely raise my hand to my head.
My pantaloons or trousers had been, during the whole period, continually
rising in the world, and now they would scarcely condescend to protect
my protruding knees. I was but a novice at the needle, so that the
patches I put on were either too small or too large. In this predicament
I had to march nearly fifteen hundred miles through Africa. The rest of
the men were but little better off; and we might well have been compared
to Falstaff's ragged recruits, with whom he swore he would not march
through Coventry.

Having continued on this duty for upwards of two years, to very little
purpose, the Cape of Good Hope was ordered, by the British Government,
in 1801, to be given up to the Dutch. To remove the rifle company, and
the light company of the 91st Foot, a small vessel was dispatched from
Cape Town to Algoa Bay, for their conveyance to the capital, preparatory
to embarking for India. I was dispatched over land with a Dutch boer's
family, then about to leave the station for Cape Town. The whole of the
officers' baggage was committed to my care, which was a very serious
charge and responsibility, through such a wild and desolate country. On
this trip I had to pass along the margin of the country inhabited by the
Caffres; and, although the Dutch family with whom I travelled had
muskets and four waggons, these sojourners in the woods and hills
neither feared them nor their guns. After laying in a good stock of
powder and shot, we commenced our march in regular battle array. I was
mounted on a horse, with my rifle slung over my back, always loaded, and
a pistol in my holster-pipe; on each side rode the Dutchman's two sons;
after us, four Hottentots, armed with muskets; then the old boss (the
master); and, following him, the four waggons, containing the families
and