Page:Memorials of Capt. Hedley Vicars, Ninety-seventh Regiment by Marsh, Catherine, 1818-1912.djvu/25

Rh I, when on the middle or morning watch, clambered aloft to the tops, and sat down and watched, on many a wild and stormy night, the flying scud as it rolled restlessly across the lace of the moon, entirely wrapped up in thoughts of you and home, of past times and past events. I have imagined myself coming home, the surprise it would give you, and how happy we should be. In the midst of such delicious reveries, the retrospect of the last few months has struck me as it were with a blight. I have said to myself, 'Oh, that I had the last two years allotted to me to live over again!' Alas, regrets are now unavailing: let my future aim be to atone for the lapse of time which can never be recalled.

"We anchored on the morning of the 5th in Montego Bay; and landed the same evening. By the time we had formed on the beach it was quite dark; that most pleasing part of the day, twilight, being very short in these latitudes. As soon as the guides were ready, our company marched off to Falmouth, twenty miles distant, while I gave the word of command to No. 5 company, 'Right form, four deep, march, quick march,' and we began our night march to Maroon Town. We were accompanied by crowds of blacks, many of whom carried torches of resinous wood; and the light glaring on the men's bayonets and appointments, through the pitch dark night, produced a very good effect. I wish the moon had given us her friendly light, for then I should have been able to give you some account of the country: as it was, I could only distinguish that we were marching on a road, with a deep ravine on each side, through a richly-wooded country. The chirping made by insects was both loud and incessant, and the fireflies flitting in the bushes, and across our path by myriads, now and then showed us by their light a yawning abyss, as we marched, skirting its edge. The air was hot and sultry; yet, in spite of this, and the badness of