Alexandria Gazette

THE FRENCH TROOPS IN ALGERIA.

When marching on an expedition, every man carries for his own use, a week's supply of biscuits (three biscuits being the daily ration,) forty ball cartridges, his clothes, a blanket, and his musket. In addition to this, each man carries for the general use of the brigade, one or more of the following articles, as may be found convenient,—viz, a bucket for water, an iron pot for preparing soup, white bread for sopping in the soup, coffee, sugar, bacon, salt, and rice: of each article a supply sufficient for eight or ten men during a week. The fatigue of carrying these loads during the long days of an African summer may be easily imagined; and the difficulties of the march are not a little augmented by the necessity of frequently working a passage through thickets where there is no beaten track.

Should a river intervene, it must be forded: then, after plunging into the cold water the men have to march over a plain of burning sand. Amidst all the hardships the soldiers have to endure, feverish thirst is not the least; yet it must be borne. for he who slakes his thirst by drinking water is doomed to destruction. His limbs totter beneath him, and an unconquerable drowsiness subdues his senses. He can no longer keep up with his comrades, and the column marches on. He knows that sleep is death, for the Arabs are sure to find him. Unable, however, longer to contend against the overpowering sensation, he throws himself on the ground beneath the shade of a bush; and should he have sufficient strength remaining he probably uses it to terminate his existence,—Count St. Marie's Visit to Algeria.