A deep wagon-bed would be shoveled full of the smoking paste, which was then hailed inside and issued out to the detachments, the latter receiving it on blankets, pieces of shelter tents, or, lacking even these, upon the bare sand.
As still more prisoners came in, neither bread nor mush could be furnished them, and a part of the detachments received their rations in meal.

Earnest solicitation at length resulted in having occasional scanty issues of wood to cook this with.

My detachment was allowed to choose which it would take--bread, mush or meal.

It took the latter.
Cooking the meal was the topic of daily interest.

There were three ways of doing it: Bread, mush and "dumplings." In the latter the meal was dampened until it would hold together, and was rolled into little balls, the size of marbles, which were then boiled.