These same troops had rather astonished us in the
morning by filing up in stage style in front of our two charpoys just
as we awoke, and delivering a "Present arms" with great unction as we
sat up in a half-sleepy and dishevelled condition, rubbing our eyes,
and not exactly in the style of costume in which such a salute is
usually received. We now found the "army" in the domestic employment
of cooking their victuals, so that we were unable to have much of a
review. However, we looked at their arms and accoutrements; ammunition
they had none; and saw them perform the "manual and platoon." Their
arms had been matchlocks, but had been converted, these stirring
times, into flintlocks! In addition to these, which were about
as long as a respectable spear, they had each a sword and shield,
together with a belt and powder-horn, all clumsy in the extreme. In
loading, we found an improvement on the English fashion, for, after
putting the imaginary charge in with the hand, they BLEW playfully
down the muzzle to obviate the difficulty of the powder sticking to
the sides.
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