Egypt and the pox, what a lucky bloke
Lachlan was now fortunate to be appointed deputy adjutant general, with the rank of lieutenant colonel, of the British army sent to kick Napoleon and his French out of Egypt. He had the great good fortune to not only arrive when the British had almost finished dealing with Napoleon's army, but to also find himself in a position which supervised supplies and pay, rather than doing any actual fighting.
Of course, as already mentioned, Lachlan's brother wasn't so lucky, suffering a very nasty head injury with long term consequences.
Nonetheless, while not taking part in kicking Frenchie's bum, Lachlan learned at least one wonderful lesson - how to ride a camel. And what an incredibly useful skill this would prove to be for a man who owned an estate on Mull!
Of course, we know already that Lachlan probably picked up the pox in India, so unfortunately he doesn't seem to have learned this lesson in the place so many Aussie diggers learned it in 1915. If he had, maybe he would have left a message for them. Egypt was a grand place to pick up syphilis, doubtless spread all around the place by the preceding French occupation forces after Napoleon's lesser victory over the ultimate victors.
Of course, I've had to mention the pox again so I (Lex) can make my sad little joke about Aussie diggers.
At least Lachlan's treatment, although probably mostly useless, was better than that exercised upon the Diggers, who had to have a huge injection shoved up their errant members. Syphilis was a gift that just kept on giving, until you died. Raving madly. Often after bits had rotted off. If lucky, the patient would die of something else first. But, of course, many, many of them didn't, bringing the disease back as a gift to their loved ones. Which may be a reason why Lachlan's forthcoming second wife suffered multiple stillbirths, and infant death, and a sickly survivor. Or, of course, those events may be completely unrelated.
As an aside, John Batman, another Australian hero, at least for Melburnians, also had syphilis, and despite paintings and statues to the contrary, by the time his people settled Melbourne first (or not, depending upon one's opinion, bearing in mind that the area was already thoroughly settled by First Australians, murderous former convicts working as sealers, and the occasional escaped convict living with the First Australians) his nose had apparently rotted off. Serve the murdering bastard and his nose right for his disgusting role in the genocidal action against Tasmania's First Australians.
Of course, as already mentioned, Lachlan's brother wasn't so lucky, suffering a very nasty head injury with long term consequences.
Nonetheless, while not taking part in kicking Frenchie's bum, Lachlan learned at least one wonderful lesson - how to ride a camel. And what an incredibly useful skill this would prove to be for a man who owned an estate on Mull!
Of course, we know already that Lachlan probably picked up the pox in India, so unfortunately he doesn't seem to have learned this lesson in the place so many Aussie diggers learned it in 1915. If he had, maybe he would have left a message for them. Egypt was a grand place to pick up syphilis, doubtless spread all around the place by the preceding French occupation forces after Napoleon's lesser victory over the ultimate victors.
Of course, I've had to mention the pox again so I (Lex) can make my sad little joke about Aussie diggers.
At least Lachlan's treatment, although probably mostly useless, was better than that exercised upon the Diggers, who had to have a huge injection shoved up their errant members. Syphilis was a gift that just kept on giving, until you died. Raving madly. Often after bits had rotted off. If lucky, the patient would die of something else first. But, of course, many, many of them didn't, bringing the disease back as a gift to their loved ones. Which may be a reason why Lachlan's forthcoming second wife suffered multiple stillbirths, and infant death, and a sickly survivor. Or, of course, those events may be completely unrelated.
As an aside, John Batman, another Australian hero, at least for Melburnians, also had syphilis, and despite paintings and statues to the contrary, by the time his people settled Melbourne first (or not, depending upon one's opinion, bearing in mind that the area was already thoroughly settled by First Australians, murderous former convicts working as sealers, and the occasional escaped convict living with the First Australians) his nose had apparently rotted off. Serve the murdering bastard and his nose right for his disgusting role in the genocidal action against Tasmania's First Australians.