Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 9.djvu/81

 THE RENEWED EXPEDITION TO KEETCII. 51 George Brown distinguished them, spread out chap. over the country for miles, and busied them- _ selves with the ' sport ' of shooting pigs, sheep, onthe er3 fowls, ducks, and — supremely amusing! — tame m;lIC1 ' geese. Such indulgence on the part of invaders might perhaps be called trivial, but it weakened the bonds of discipline. After occupying Yeni and in Kale our allies, Sir George says, 'broke away ' in their old style ; ' * and, most of the inhabi- tants having fled, forced open the houses, and not only gutted the town, but set it on fire in two places. Unhappily, some of our soldiers — cessation . „, , , . of all mis- not any, however, or those who were under the contact of eyes of their officers — permitted themselves for troops." a while to follow the example in part, and prove guilty of conduct pronounced to be far, ' very far ' from blameless ; ' t but though erring on that first afternoon, when the instinct of ' sport ' was awakened, they did not again go astray.| The next morning Sir George Brown concurred Measures with General d'Autemarre in appointing a French sir George officer to act as commandant of Yeni Kale" for maintenance t • i p -r, ofdiscip- police purposes, with support from an English line; provost - marshal and assistants, and having at his disposal three companies of infantry, two French and one English. Commanding the means thus provided, the their result French, says Sir George, showed great zeal in repressing the sins of the Turks ; but for the pressed a good deal. + By Sir George Brown, 27th and 28th May. J Ibid,
 * From one ' Peninsular officer ' to another this phrase ex-