At the hospital we met Dr. Sutherland and Mr. Anderson, who had not recovered from the effect of his accident, and still had a pair of black eyes. The Commander had been waiting some time for us, and was on the point of retiring, when our arrival induced him to change his intention. We visited the hospital, which, though a small one, was delightfully situated. The huts were built on a new principle, with a new style of ventilation. The kitchen had then only just been commenced. I gave the sailor cook, a Maltese, who seemed very intelligent, a few hints, and promised to send the doctor a plan, and to give him my hospital receipts. The latter I had been expecting for some time from Constantinople; but they had been lost, and I was obliged to have them reprinted. The plan, however, I sent. It was adopted, and, upon my second visit, everything was going on very satisfactorily.
We then separated into groups, and enjoyed a delightful ramble over the rocks and mountains, herborising for a couple of hours. When we again reunited, we all had enormous bouquets of flowers, collected in honour of our fair lady, who could not help laughing at the appearance of her beaux and their bouquets. Only one was accepted, and the fortunate candidate was our worthy friend the invalid, Mr. Anderson. We carried our botanical harvest home, and descended the hill full of health and spirits. Even the cannon of Sebastopol was silent, at least to our ears, the wind being the wrong way for the report to reach us. In a few minutes we were once more afloat, and were about conducting Miss Nightingale on board, when she said that she wished to go to the General Hospital; so Captain Hamilton landed us as near to it as possible. We then separated—Dr. Smart and Mr. Anderson inviting me to go and see them often, as they had much to inform me of relating to the food of the army.
Dr. Smart accompanied Miss Nightingale to the hospital, and I went to find Captain King; but he had gone to the Sanatorium—at least so they told me at his office. I went up there, being anxious to have this kitchen completed, as it was really much wanted. The hospital was getting fuller every day, and I had a great desire to commence operations at the camp. The Captain was not there, nor could I find a single workman. To my great sorrow, I met Miss Nightingale coming down the hill, attended by a nurse or two, and the page-boy. She was walking through the mud in thin boots. The weather had entirely changed, and a heavy rain was falling. Upon meeting her, I could not refrain from expressing my fear that she would catch cold. She had been to ask the nurse at Dr. Henderson’s how the officer patient was. Upon reaching the harbour, we took a Maltese boat, and arrived on board the London almost wet through.
A different cabin to the one I had occupied the night before was allotted to me. All the rat-holes had been stopped, and by special favour I was allowed a night-lamp. I had the pleasure of seeing the rats run about, which afforded me the opportunity of hunting them at my ease. I then perceived that several escaped through the bull’s-eye, which I immediately closed, and so captured three. I then commenced killing them with a stick, and in so doing made noise enough to arouse everybody. Some of the crew came to see what was the matter, while the Captain, who was half asleep, and rather deaf, told the mate to send for the police and turn the drunken man out.
Having explained to the first mate the cause of my nocturnal disturbance, he told me that they were sure to come in at the bull’s-eye, if left open, that being the easiest way for them when in harbour. “And,” said he, “they travel that way from one ship to another in bands of ten or twenty at a time.” He then showed me how to close and fasten the bull’s-eye, after which he retired to his berth. All at once, one of the brutes, which had remained concealed, in attempting to escape upset the lamp upon the floor and extinguished it, and thus compelled me for the second time to seek to repose upon the hard and unsophisticated cabin bench, when the Captain made his appearance rather in a state of négligé, holding, a rushlight in one hand and a sword in the other, with a nightcap tied round with a red riband upon his head. In great anxiety, he inquired what the row was about.
“The row, Captain,” said I, “is nothing. It’s only the bull’s-eye in my cabin, which being half open, the rats have got in again.”
“What do you say, Monsieur Soyer?”
“Nothing,” again I shouted.
“Call that nothing? I never had such a row in my ship before. Bless my soul,” said he, “what a nuisance those rats are! They make quite as free in my cabin; but, being used to it, I do not care so much about them. The worst of it is that we can never keep a bit of cheese or a candle; they eat them up as fast as I buy them.”
“It is certainly very provoking, Captain; but why not try and catch them?”