Many of the recruits have come from homes as good as our best and ving without murmur a ife that is not easy. The man who has had his bachelor chambers now counts as his, no more than a few feet of floor space in a row. He turns out at 6.30 in the morning, fetches his bucket of icy water and washes in the open, then comes drill and physical exercise till break. followed by tent, or hut, inspection and perhaps some field' work till lunch breaks the monotony. The afternoons are often given over to signalling work, or, if wet, to lectures, unless some special marching is ordained. Dinner comes at five-thirty, after which each man has to wath his own knife, spoon and fork. The evenings, except for occasional walks across the dark plain, are spent either in the huts or at' the canteens, both of which are lighted by candles, but there is not much leisure, for "lights out" sounds at ten o'clock sharp, and, as may be guessed there is a considerable amount of washing and mending for each individual—and small conveniences for doing either, in a few feet of space around which other men are groaning off the effects of inoculation, playing cards, chess, draughts, whist, yarning or boxing, all by the light of candles.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.