Page:McCosh, John - Advice to Officers in India (1856).djvu/150

 '''6. FOREIGN SERVICE'''.—A campaign, under the above circumstances, will appear mere feather-bed work; but affairs undergo a wonderful change on foreign service, and the tug of war is then felt in real earnest. Every idea of luxury and comfort must then be left behind, and a new regime must be submitted to, consistent with the nature of the country, the seat of war. On board ship, the utmost discomfort is to be expected; such a thing as a cabin is entirely out of the question; room on deck for a chair by day and a mattrass by night, and a seat at the dinner-table, is the utmost accommodation to be looked for. The deck, from stem to stern, is crowded with soldiers, and the very ship heels from side to side with the top weight.

Government pay liberally on account of officers embarking on foreign service. They are not charged for passage, and their table expenses are also in a great measure paid by Government. Great confusion in embarking and disembarking, is almost unavoidable; tents and stores are in the hurry mislaid, or unapproachable, and on landing are not to be found. Hence, exposure to the intense heat of the sun by day and the comparative cold at night; to wind, and rain, and damp, and malaria; to hunger and thirst, and great bodily exertion and fatigue in getting into position to meet the enemy. As the army advances into the interior, its difficulties probably increase.