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came up ; and amid the whole party Sir Arthur scattered invitations thick and pressing . Our drive back was less exhilarating than that in the morning I think we were somewhat done up with over excitement .
3 rd . —Paid a visit of inspection to several of the men-of-war herecertainly , their order and cleanliness are quite wonderful ; but they have been too often described to be anything new . In the evening , Captain H . and Colonel — , with two or three French officers of their acquaintance , joined us at dinner : the latter most agreeable and accomplished gentlemen ; we sung all kinds of duets , trios , quintets , & c . There was an indescribable
charm about this social evening , snatched from the horrors of war . It showed how pleasant human nature is , when stripped of the thick coating of conventional assumption , affectation , and falsity , wherewith man disguises it . These young men , in a common-place drawing-room , might have , most probably would have , ruined themselves by some attempt to create effect ; -here , they were simply desirous to enjoy an unexpected pleasure , and show their consciousness of it to their entertainers . Our French friends were most anxious that
we should visit their camp , and promised to let us know when they could procure permission for us ; for theirs is even more jealously guarded than the British . 4 th . —There was some talk last night of standing out to sea , towards Kertch and Tenikale , but the weather this morning is too unfavourable .
We went ashore about twelve , and succeeded in procuring cavalry for a ride towards the camp ; but , except a few wounded on their way to hospital , met with nothing worthy of notice , and so returned , almost blinded with dust and blown to pieces with the wind . There seems to be some indescribable expectation in every face .
Neither the Colonel nor any of our fighting friends joined us at dinner . The only addition to our party , a couple of bright-eyed , curly-headed middies , who are cousins of some sort to Sir Arthurdelightful youngsters , who told us all sorts of anecdotes about the siege . They left us early , and . we all retired in a curious state of anticipation and watchfulness .
5 th . —Awoke this morning with a vague idea of a thunder-storm , and a continuous dull roar as of a distant peal , puzzled me for one moment of confused waking , and then made me spring up and commence dressing with railroad speed . I found every one equally on the alert , and shoals of boats were speeding from every ship in harbour to the shore .
We took a hasty breakfast—the ladies were pale and nervous , every now and then arresting the progress of a slice of hot cake , or a cup of coffee to their lips , to listen to the sullen booming so incessantly borne to us on the wind . They hesitated a good deal about accompanying us ashore , but we persuaded them not to lose so fine a sight as such a cannonade doubtless would present at a distance . vol . ii . 2 s
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
Untitled Article
came up ; and amid the whole party Sir Arthur scattered invitations thick and pressing . Our drive back was less exhilarating than that in the morning I think we were somewhat done up with over excitement .
3 rd . —Paid a visit of inspection to several of the men-of-war herecertainly , their order and cleanliness are quite wonderful ; but they have been too often described to be anything new . In the evening , Captain H . and Colonel — , with two or three French officers of their acquaintance , joined us at dinner : the latter most agreeable and accomplished gentlemen ; we sung all kinds of duets , trios , quintets , & c . There was an indescribable
charm about this social evening , snatched from the horrors of war . It showed how pleasant human nature is , when stripped of the thick coating of conventional assumption , affectation , and falsity , wherewith man disguises it . These young men , in a common-place drawing-room , might have , most probably would have , ruined themselves by some attempt to create effect ; -here , they were simply desirous to enjoy an unexpected pleasure , and show their consciousness of it to their entertainers . Our French friends were most anxious that
we should visit their camp , and promised to let us know when they could procure permission for us ; for theirs is even more jealously guarded than the British . 4 th . —There was some talk last night of standing out to sea , towards Kertch and Tenikale , but the weather this morning is too unfavourable .
We went ashore about twelve , and succeeded in procuring cavalry for a ride towards the camp ; but , except a few wounded on their way to hospital , met with nothing worthy of notice , and so returned , almost blinded with dust and blown to pieces with the wind . There seems to be some indescribable expectation in every face .
Neither the Colonel nor any of our fighting friends joined us at dinner . The only addition to our party , a couple of bright-eyed , curly-headed middies , who are cousins of some sort to Sir Arthurdelightful youngsters , who told us all sorts of anecdotes about the siege . They left us early , and . we all retired in a curious state of anticipation and watchfulness .
5 th . —Awoke this morning with a vague idea of a thunder-storm , and a continuous dull roar as of a distant peal , puzzled me for one moment of confused waking , and then made me spring up and commence dressing with railroad speed . I found every one equally on the alert , and shoals of boats were speeding from every ship in harbour to the shore .
We took a hasty breakfast—the ladies were pale and nervous , every now and then arresting the progress of a slice of hot cake , or a cup of coffee to their lips , to listen to the sullen booming so incessantly borne to us on the wind . They hesitated a good deal about accompanying us ashore , but we persuaded them not to lose so fine a sight as such a cannonade doubtless would present at a distance . vol . ii . 2 s