In the evening a most charming entertainment was prepared for us at General Barnard’s. The company included General Rose; the French general, Bombaki; Colonel de Bathe, &c.
After an excellent dinner, at which a very fine turkey was the pièce de résistance,—(it had been reared under the farming care of Captain Barnard; this is a valuable quality in the Crimea: the turkey was accompanied by a delicious piece of boiled ration pork, and in addition two made dishes, two sweets, vegetables, &c.; the whole washed down by delicate claret cup à la Barnaby,)—the topic of conversation turned upon the great events of the previous day. Perfect harmony prevailed, when suddenly a warlike sound was heard round the general’s wooden dwelling. A friend entered, crying aloud, “The Russians—the Russians are coming!” and three Russian officers immediately entered, saying they had lost their way, and requesting a guide. The general’s first impulse was to give them hospitality, and then put them in their right way. Captain Barnard got up to usher them in, and soon returned with the new-comers, who, we perceived, had not only lost their way, but also their senses. Having seated themselves, the general asked them what they would take. “Tout ce que vous avez” (“Everything you have,” instead of “Anything you please”), one of them answered. To this the gallant general demurred, not being at all desirous of having his place pillaged, particularly in time of peace, after having escaped that sad tribute during the war. One of them was quite unmanageable: he spoke French, but was not such a good scholar as the Russian nobles generally are; he made sad havoc with that fashionable language, and used rude expressions, which were very unpleasant to the party. The Russians were anxious to explain what they had been doing at Kamiesch, the recital of which was much too droll to be pleasant. The noisiest of the party poured out a large tumbler of brandy, and, before any one could stop him, swallowed half of it, drinking the health of every mortal thing, including the French, English, Russians, and the Turkish Emperor’s. One who was more rational tried to appease him, but in vain. At all events, after an hour’s desultory conversation, owing to the great coolness of the general, we got rid of them, and they mounted their waggon, which was anything but a fashionable one. They were going to the Mackenzie Heights, and the French general, Bombaki, who was going that road, kindly undertook to point out the way. They said that they had finished twelve bottles of champagne at Kamiesch. Nice company this to drop in after an excellent petit dîner, just as we were about commencing the harmony of the evening! This strange incident completely broke up our party. We fixed the great madrigal soirée at my hut for the 27th of May, hoping on that occasion to be more fortunate. We afterwards heard that the Russian officers were stopped at the Traktir Bridge, and locked up for a few days—no doubt to give them time to get sober.
We began to hope that in case we should be visited by any Czarewitchian company at our semi-grand concerto—and there were plenty daily in the camp—that they would call before, and not after, their visit to the then reckless town of Kamiesch, at which place a friend and myself had, a few days previous, witnessed several very comical scenes. This was owing to the influx of visitors from the different armies. It was more particularly the case at the theatre, where the funniest part of the performance was acted in the pit, stalls, boxes, and gallery, instead of upon the stage. On one occasion, General Pelissier was compelled to have a few of the new spectators boxed for the night in the guard-house, in order to be allowed to enjoy the privilege of his own private box.
In return for their visits to us, both French and English officers daily returned the compliment, and the Russians did all they could to make themselves agreeable. General Garrett met with a very cordial reception from Major-General Vassileffsky, who commanded after the departure of General Lüders. General Garrett, in return, invited him to the head-quarters of the Fourth Division, which invitation was graciously accepted by the Russian general. I was spending the evening with General Garrett, when he observed that he wished to give General Vassileffsky a lunch, but that it would be a difficult matter, as he had no convenience for that purpose.
“Never mind that, general,” said I; “send out your invitations, and leave the rest to me. A lunch for twenty or thirty shall be upon your table in due time.”
“They are coming to-morrow morning.”
“Rather short notice, general; but never mind, it will be all right in spite of time: difficulties are common enough in time of war. Pray leave the matter to Major Dallas and myself—we will turn out a lunch worthy of yourself and your guests.”
I immediately set to work, and in a few hours extra provisions and rations had taken various shapes and forms; some were being stewed, others baked, and some boiled. Everything was going on so smoothly, that I almost wished the lunch had been for that day. My men had returned from their daily regimental rounds, and were all at work. In the midst of this, the worthy general begged of me to give him a call, when he informed me that he was sorry to say that the Russian general’s visit was postponed, General Sir W. Codrington having invited him to head-quarters for that day.
“No matter,” said I; “if your lunch is not postponed too long, the provisions will improve, instead of deteriorating.”
“You think so?”