We and all the soldiers were covered with blood and mud and were in great fear of exhausting our mounts.

For a long distance we had to get down and lead them.

At last we entered a broad meadow covered with bushes and bordered with rocks.

Not only horses but riders also began to sink to their middle in a quagmire with apparently no bottom.

The whole surface of the meadow was but a thin layer of turf, covering a lake with black putrefying water.