My dear Mother, — We have at length had our first march, and are encamped near the village of Aladyn, upon some beautiful high land exquisitely wooded, overlooking the Devna Lake. We struck our tents at Varna at half-past three o'clock on Saturday morning last, and marched to this place, which is about 9 miles from Varna on the Schumla road. We have been very lucky in our weather till yesterday; it has certainly been excessively hot, oppressively so at times, with a hot wind blowing across the sandy plains, worse than no air at all. Yesterday, however, we had the most tremendous storm any of us had ever seen. The rain came down for three-quarters of an hour in such torrents that it ran like a sluice through the tents, some of which came to the ground, floating everything that was in the tents. The ground was so saturated, and the men so completely soused, that it was impossible to sleep in the tents, or indeed anywhere, the ground being one mass of mud. Sitting down was equally impossible, so we made large fires and kept them up all night, officers and men standing round them drying their clothes and singing songs till the sun rose. Some of the Guards were so wet and dirty that they were converted into Highlanders, and mounted sentry with no other clothes than their greatcoats and shoes. I most fortunately missed it all, for General Bentinck and Sir G.Campbell with their two Brigade-Majors had started on horseback immediately after breakfast to visit our outposts and then ride on to Devna, which will be our next march, so as to learn the road and see what the place is like. The ride there was lovely, over hills and across valleys, with a view of the Balkans the whole way. After two hours' ride, we got to a large plain with a little river running through it, the first I have seen since I left England, except by the bye the one in the Valley of Sweet Waters. I cannot describe to you how refreshing
1 854] MEETS OMAR PASHA 89