picked up a ramrod and presented it to me. At the two first houses to which we applied for dinner they told us they actually had nothing to eat themselves, but at the third we were more fortunate and procured a very good meal of meat and vegetables. They said the “rebs” had gone into the cellar, filled their canteens with molasses from the hogshead and emptied the remainder on the floor, served the vinegar and other articles in the same way, stolen all their chickens, cows and horses, carried from the barn the rakes, pitchforks, &c., and wantonly destroyed many things they could not use. There was scarcely a horse left in that part of the country, a clean sweep having been made of those animals. In one secret spot among some bushes by the side of a creek, Doc. and I saw a place that looked as if some had been hidden there for safety, from the many marks of their feet upon the ground. We were gathering raspberries at the time, and pushing pretty far into the bushes, happened to meet with it. A large proportion of the wheat, though dead ripe, still stood uncut in the fields, from the want of horses to haul it in, and I have no doubt that a great deal was lost. On our way back we stopped in a barn where some of the rebels had slept and gathered up a number of letters and other documents left behind by them. What was of greater present value, I found a hen's nest with five eggs in it and immediately took possession of the contents without hesitation and left no nest egg either. On reaching camp we boiled them in our tin cups and had a dainty supper.
(Sunday, July 19th.) The Major inspected arms about ten o'clock. After that was concluded I started off on another tour, this time unaccompanied, and wandered along the railroad for a couple of miles picking and eating raspberries as I went. I then turned off to the right on
