'Well, how are you getting on?'
'Not very well. And you?'
'Very badly!'
And, much depressed, we return to our respective carriages.
At last the patience under discomfort habitual to men of our unsettled lives asserts itself, and we sleep soundly till we reach Arles, when we find two seats together.
At Marseilles we were kindly received by a pleasant cousin of mine, and by a delightful lady, also of my kindred.
The 24th we spent with some comrades, officers of the neighbouring garrison, and on the 25th we and our baggage were safely on board the Natal, of the Messageries Maritimes.
I make special mention of our baggage, which, in preparation for the campaign we are about to undertake, consists of two little canteens. The two together weigh exactly 38 kilos, making about 19 kilos each. They hold all our belongings, including our two revolvers and two hundred cartridges. We are not overloaded with baggage.
The Natal is one of the 'fine steamers' of former days, fairly large.
We first take possession of our cabin, which opens into the dining-saloon. Then we go up on the bridge, where we are introduced to Colonel Gourko, who is also on his way to the Transvaal, as Russian military attaché. We had met him the evening before at the station, for he arrived by the same train as ourselves. But his fluent French, and his rosette of the Legion of Honour, which he always wears by courtesy in France, had made us take him for some important functionary on his way to Madagascar!...