The men continued to straggle into the camp until a late
hour of the night;--some crept under the shelving rocks and did not
come in until the next morning. We were so fortunate as to find our
tent, and after much difficulty pitched it under an oak-tree. All
efforts to light a fire and keep it blazing proving abortive, we spread
our blankets upon the ground and endeavoured to sleep, although we
could feel the cold streams of water running through the tent and
between and around our bodies.
In this condition we remained until about two o'clock in the morning,
when the storm having abated I rose, and shaking from my garments the
dripping water, after many unsuccessful efforts succeeded in kindling a
fire. Near our tent I found three soldiers who had reached camp at a
late hour. They were fast asleep on the ground, the water around them
being two or three inches deep; but they had taken care to keep their
heads above water, by using a log of wood for a pillow. The fire
beginning to blaze freely, I dug a ditch with my hands and a sharp
stick of wood, which drained off the pool surrounding the tent.
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