One of my cooks has a revolver, and early this morning she was
unloading it when it went off and hit me on the arm; fortunately it
was not serious. The shot went through her box, then a thick pocket
book, and thence into a tea caddy, where it remained. It was really
very terrifying. A Russian and French Military Attache came in this
afternoon.
We have ten hospital tents and each one holds ten patients, and as
they are all full more tents have to be put up. At 9 o'clock this
evening a very bad case of typhus arrived in an ox cart--a poor
soldier who was just on leave. His old mother and father came with
him; they were to sleep under the cart, and as the ground was inches
thick with mud, we got them bundles of straw; we also gave them hot
coffee and bread. One sees some sad sights.
I went again to the market; it is very picturesque. Some of the gipsy
women are very handsome and their costumes charming. Most of the
materials for their dresses and aprons are homespun. The different
shades of reds, blues, yellow and green are lovely, they all tone so
well. We are just on 200 at the camp now, but the numbers never worry
me. We bought cheese and great rolls of sausages in the market. My
store tent is almost under water. I have had to put down bricks and
planks and have a trench dug through the centre. We are told we shall
have it wet for three weeks. The rain comes down in torrents, much
heavier than in England. The patients are all looking so much better
and much fatter. I have bought two large copper boilers for soup; one
cost 123 dinas and the other 77 dinas, but I should think they would
last for ever. I have had a brick wall set round them and a flue at
the back and a grate underneath. We only cook with wood; it is really
very excellent as it retains the heat so long, and really I like it
better than coal. But at first the smoke made us all cry until I got
the stoves properly set.