THE NEW SOUTH WALES CONTINGENT.

Manawatu Standard, Volume IX, Issue 137, 15 May 1885, Page 2

THE NEW SOUTH WALES CONTINGENT.

■'. , The Australion papers aro. beginning to "publish -letters from f\Ui\\- correspondents who accompanied force to Egypt. From icse it appears that even so early a.t he voyage oat breaches of . discipline yecurred. "Drunkenness, disobedient^ of orders, and breach of discipline 1 without malice, were the principal faults, and most of them were committed unwillingly. Many of the men displayed great ignorance of the position they occupy under military lavr and discipline, but the greater number -are- apparently acquainted with their situation and its duties. As day after day went by, the whole of the contingent slipped itself more] amenable to discipline, and its ''work • weiit-.'on more smoothly and rapidly." . The most serious fault was that of a bugler who left \m post without orders, for which he got iifty-six. days' imprisonment commuted to twenty-eight.' As the commander informed the men, such an offence m a few days would expose the culprit to the penalty of death. Another passage from one of the -letters is:— "Several of na have revolvers o£ our own, but the majority are supplied by the Government with revolvers which , are miserable weapons, The ammunition is also exceedingly bud. The cartridges miss fire ! about one >m six, and the cylinders are sometinre^Moeked by a bullet f ailing out of its case aritf UiSttging out of the chamber. These were the revolvers obtained from the Police Department at Sydney. They are, however, intended merely for practice on the voyage, and will be replaced by others supplied by the British | Government, 'together with ammunition." | Sergt. Dransfield broke his left ankle, by I slipping on deck while wrestling. Another man hurt his spine by f ailing down i stairs, and had to bo left beliind at Aden. No letters have yet been published descriptive of thelanding at Suakim.