84 THE BATTLE OF BALACLAVA. CHAP, punishment. In one instance, she laid hold of a ' strong-looking, burly Turk, and held him fast until she had beaten him for some time, and seemingly with great fury. She also applied much invective. Notwithstanding all graver claims upon their attention, the men of the 93d were able to witness this incident. It mightily pleased and amused them. It amuses men still to remember that the Osmanlis, flying from danger and yearning after blissful repose, should have chosen a line of retreat where this pitiless dame mounted guard.* VI. If a man has to hear that in the open forenoon of an October day a body of Eussian horse which numbered itself by thousands could come wan- dering into the precincts of the English camp without exciting early attention on the part of our cavalry people, he ought to know what was the cause which made such an incident possible. Towards the west of the Balaclava plain, the ground was so undulating, and the view of it here
- She was a very powerful woman. In later years — I do not
know the origin of the appellation — she used to be known in the regiment by the name of the 'Kokona.' — End of Note to First Edition. Lord Stanley of Alderley has now kindly enabled me to give the meaning of the word. It is a modern Greek word, KoKwva, signifying 'Lady' or 'Madam,' and is applied by Turks to Christian ladies. It is the very word by which in deprecation of her wrath -an assaulted Turk would have 'hjuii likely to address the lady. — Note to Second Edition
