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French or English, agree that it was one of the best connected, one of the most gallant, as well as one of the most bloody, exploits recorded in history. So secret were the arrangements of Lord Wellington before he invested the place, and so prompt and straightforward his operations after he had taken that step, that we are at a loss whether most to admire his strategy or daring. Even Soult himself, the most celebrated of Napoleon's captains, was under no apprehension for the safety of this fortress. Count Phillipon's fine defence of it the preceding year, a garrison of six thousand men, and the formation of numerous outworks, appeared to be a sufficient guarantee for his confidence. The place was, moreover, amply provisioned for three months; and all those causes, if to be combated by another sort of man than him that was at the head of the British army, would have been sufficient to ensure the safety of the place; but, as it was, they only made its loss the more certain, because Soult, with that presumption which scarcely any Frenchman can divest himself of, relied too firmly on his own dispositions, and the quality of his soldiers, while he held those of his antagonist, as well as the sort of troops which he commanded, at too cheap a rate: his mortification must, therefore, have been at the greatest height, when he found himself out-generalled by the one, and out-fought by the other.

General Lery, chief engineer of Soult's army, and he who superintended the arrangements for the defence of Badajoz, was so utterly confounded upon hearing of its fall, that he wrote to General Kellerman respecting its capture." The conquest of Badajoz," said he, "costs me eight engineers. I am not yet acquainted with the details of that fatal event. Never was there a place in a better state, better supplied, and better provided with the requisite number of troops. There is in that event a marked fatality. I confess my inability to account for its bad defence. Very extensive works have been constructed: all our calculations have been disappointed; and Lord Wellington, with his Anglo-Portuguese troops, has taken the place, as it were, in the presence of two armies, amounting together to about eighty thousand men. short, I think the capture of Badajoz a very extraordinary event"-(and he was right)" and I should be much at a loss to account for it in a clear and distinct manner."

In

Now this is plain speaking, and says more in praise of our men than any British writer could do; but the air of mystery which Monsieur Lery strives to throw over the affair is amusing enough. No person can deny that the French are good troops, and that at this same siege they fought well; and there cannot be a shadow of doubt,—at least there is none on my mind, but that they would have been successful, had not our men fought better than they did; and thus may the mystery be solved.

[To be continued.]

THE DEATH.

On the evening of the 1st of March, 1816, one of his Majesty's vessels employed in the British Channel for the suppression of smuggling, and of which I was then first-lieutenant, was lying safely moored in the snug and beautiful harbour of Dartmouth. We had just put in from a short cruise; and the work of the day being finished, the ropes coiled up, the decks swept, and everything ready for going through the usual operation of "holy-stoning" the following morning; -a proportion of the officers and men were preparing for a cruise on shore, while the "ship-keepers" were equally intent on having a skylark on board. At this time, when fun and frolic were the order of the day with all, I received a letter from the captain, informing me that a smuggling vessel was expected on the coast, and directing me to send the second-lieutenant with the galley armed, to look out between Torbay and Dartmouth during the night. The order was, of course, a "damper" to the good humour of many; and on no one did it appear to have a greater effect than on my brother officer, who was that evening engaged to a tea party, where he expected to meet a young West-country beauty, whose sparkling eyes had brought him to, and a broadside of charms and accomplishments had so completely riddled his heart, and effected what a random shot from her "bow-chasers" had commenced, that report said he was fairly in the "doldrums," and, judging from the sudden dropping of the brails of that part of his countenance elegantly termed the " under-jaw," I was inclined to think report, for once, had laid aside her "tooth-drawer's" propensity. Sympathizing, therefore, in my messmate's disappointment, and not being that night very deeply in love myself, I volunteered to undertake his duty on the occasion; which offer, with very little pressing on my part, and lots of thanks on his, being accepted, the necessary orders were given, and we each retired to our respective cabins to prepare for our different occupations; and in a short time both re-appeared in the gun-room: he, as complete and as sweet a nautical Adonis as a new swab, a new gang of rigging, and a pint bottle of lavender-water could make him; and myself, with the assistance of a suit of "Flushing" over my usual dress of a round jacket and trousers,-no bad representative of the celebrated "Dirk Hatteraick."

The galley was shortly after hauled up alongside, and the arms, bittacle, and other necessary articles being deposited in her, six seamen, one marine, and myself, took our seats ;-the painter was cast off,-and with muffled-oars we commenced paddling her out of the harbour, so silently, that not even a ripple was heard under her bows to interrupt the mournful" All's well" of the sentry, as it swept along the glassy surface of the Dart. As the boat slowly increased her distance from the latter vessel, that lay like a seamew on the water, her rigging, that resembled a spider's web spread between us and heaven,—gradually disappeared: the lights of the near and overhanging houses, for a few short minutes, shone brilliantly between her masts and yards, like winter stars through a leafless tree; but long before the battlements of the romantically-situated church of Saint Petrox were distinguishable ahead, naught remained in view astern, save the lofty black land, and

glittering lights of the elevated town;-for the poor little "barkey" had vanished from our sight, never, alas! to be again beheld by the greater part of my ill-fated crew.

Pursuing our course down the harbour, we soon gained the " narrows," and passing almost within oar's length of the rocky point on which stands the hostile-looking church of "Saint Petrox," and the adjoining fortifications, we left the opposite shore, together with the remains of the humble tower, known by the imposing name of " Kingsware Castle," on our larboard side, and shortly after reached the wild anchorage called "Dartmouth Range." From thence we passed through the Sound that separates the stupendous rock named the "Dartmouth Mewstone" from the Main, and rowing easily alongshore to the eastward, rounded the “ Berry Head," and entered the beautiful and spacious roadstead called "Torbay." On arriving off Brixham, (the spot I considered most likely for the smuggler to attempt,) four of the oars were run across; and, while the major part of the crew dozed on their thwarts, the galley was kept in her position by the two remaining oars; the helmsman and rowers looking out brightly in every direction, and occasionally "laying on their oars" altogether, in order to catch the sound either of the flapping canvass or of the rippling of the water under the bows of the expected vessel, as the darkness of the night rendered it probable our ears might serve us better than our eyes on the occasion.

In this manner we continued some time; and in addition to the coldness of the night, suffered much from passing showers; but as smugglers generally choose dirty weather for their operations, this only increased the probability of a landing being attempted. The hopes, therefore, of making a seizure kept us in good humour, and enabled us to "grin and bear" the inclemency of the weather tolerably well. And after the lapse of some hours, these hopes were for a few seconds elevated to the highest pitch. About midnight, as we lay benumbed with the cold, and half-drenched with rain, the faint splash of water was heard on the larboard bow; all eyes were in an instant turned in that direction, and through the obscurity of the night, we thought we observed an object on the water. Shortly, the splashes were distinctly heard! The sound appeared to impart heat to our bodies, and the cold embrace of our wet garments was no longer felt. The order "Give way, lads, off all," was given in a whisper, and obeyed with alacrity, in silence: the galley sprung under her oars, and darting like a falcon on its prey, we, in a few seconds, found ourselves "head and stern" alongside of a galley belonging to H. M. R. C.. Our disappointment was great, and I may add, mutual; as the other crew were on the same "scent" as ourselves: growling was however useless. We therefore had a dry laugh at each other's expense; and after a quarter of an hour's whispering together, we parted company, with the friendly wish on both sides of, "If we don't fall in with her, I hope you will." More courteous landsmen would, in all probability, have expressed the wish without the proviso. "Jack," however, confines himself to saying only what he means.

The

's galley on parting pulled deeper into the bay, and we, in order to double the chance of falling in with the expected smuggler, pulled farther out; where, after lying some time, and

having neither observed nor heard anything to excite suspicion, I determined on shaping my course homewards, intending to paddle quietly alongshore, and in the event of reaching "Dartmouth Range" before daylight, to remain there on the look-out during the remainder of the night: for, as my information did not specify the exact "spot" of the smuggler, my chance, for what I knew to the contrary, was as good at one place as the other. The weather, moreover, looked threatening, and I wished, in case it freshened, to be sufficiently near my vessel to insure my getting on board shortly after daylight. The galley was accordingly pulled towards "Berry Head;" on reaching which, my fears of a change of weather appeared about to be realized; for, although there was no wind to speak of at the time, yet a very heavy ground-swell seemed to announce that a gale was not far distant.

We had some difficulty in rounding the pitch of the "Berry;" for (as is almost always the case with headlands) there was rather a heavy sea off it, occasioned by the tide; and we shipped several green seas over the stem head, before we unfortunately accomplished our purpose. On our clearing it the sea ran fairer, and the breeze, that had blown in puffs round the head, as if in pity to warn us not to proceed, died away, and left us to our fate. Our situation was, however, melancholy in the extreme, for all was silent around, save the roar of the breakers inside of us. A solitary star only occasionally gleamed between the heavy clouds that sailed past it. The galley rose slowly and mournfully over the mountain-swell, under her muffled oars; and wet, cold, and weary as I was, it required but little stretch of the imagination to metamorphose the black profile of the flat-topped, elevated, and remarkably formed "Berry,"-edged beneath with a broad belt of foam,-into the white-bordered, sable pall of a gigantic coffin. Indeed, I know not now exactly whether the melancholy catastrophe that shortly after. took place gave birth to the idea or not, but it has ever since appeared to me that there was something particularly marked and ominous in our rounding the head. Would to God, for the sake of the unfortunate men then under my command, the warning had been taken!

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Following the "lay" of the coast, we continued pulling to the westward, with "death," as Jack would say, on one side, and no mercy on the other;" for, on our larboard side we saw nothing but a dirty horizon, and in the opposite direction naught presented itself save breakers and an "iron-bound" shore; and even these were occasionally. lost sight of, as the boat slowly sank in the deep hollow of the swell that rolled from the south-west.

At about half-past one,-for my watch had stopped at that time,we reached the entrance of the Sound, that separates the "Mewstone" from the Main; and as I had never observed any danger from the vessel in our frequent visits to the harbour, nor had seen anything particularly dangerous in the passage a few hours before, I steered directly through it; taking the precaution to keep as nearly in midchannel as possible,-giving directions to the bowman to keep a good look out,—and, of course, keeping my own eyes about me in all directions. In this manner we half threaded the passage; and the "Ay, ay, Sir!" of the bowman, to my oft-repeated order of "Keep a good look out forward!" was still sounding in my ears, when to my great surprise, the boat struck on something forward, and the bowman at the

same moment hastily called out, "There's a rock under the bows, Sir!" “Back off all !"-"Jump out, bowman, and shove the boat astern!"were the orders instantly given. Neither, however, could be obeyed; for the descending swell immediately left the boat suspended by the gripe; and she being of that class appropriately called " DEATHS! instantly fell on her broadside. The next sea, instead of bearing her up, which would in all probability have been the case had she had any bearings, rushed over the starboard quarter, and with the last words of the order" Throw the ballast-bags overboard!"-on my lips, she sank under me; while, for a second or two, the men forwards appeared high and dry out of the water. It was but for a second or two! She slipped off the rock-sank—and not a splinter of her was ever again seen, that I know of.

On first feeling the boat sink under me, I of course knew our case was a desperate one; and that (to make use of a sailor's expression,) "it was every man for himself, and God for us all." Swim I could, -much better, indeed, than the generality of people, and I had, moreover, that confidence in the water, that very few have; but benumbed as I was with cold, at such a distance from the land,-on such a coast,—and with such a sea on the shore, it appeared that little short of a miracle could save me; and all thoughts of endeavouring to assist others were entirely out of the question. My first object was to avoid the grasp of my drowning crew; (more particularly that of the unfortunate marine, whom, but a few seconds before, I had observed comfortably nestled, and apparently fast asleep behind me ;) therefore, while the poor fellows sprang and clang, instinctively, to that part of the boat that was still above water,-probably with an idea of finding footing on the rock,-I seized the strokesman's oar that lay on the water near me, and giving myself what little impetus my sinking footing would admit of, I struck out over the starboard quarter of the boat, in quite the opposite direction. After a few hasty strokes, I ventured to look behind me to see whether the poor dreaded marine was near me, when a scene presented itself, that may have been the unfortunate lot of many to behold, but that few have lived to describe. The "Death" was gone! The treacherous cause of our misfortune had never shown itself above the water! But, as I rode on the crest of a long unbroken wave, the sparkling of the sea beneath me, and the wild shrieks that rose from the watery hollow, but too plainly pointed out the fatal spot, and announced that the poor fellows were sinking in each other's convulsive embrace. For a few seconds a sea rose between us and hid the spot from my view; but, on my again getting a glimpse of it, the sparkling of the water was scarcely discernible, and a faint murmur only crept along the surface of the leaden wave. Another sea followed! As it rose between me and heaven, I saw on its black outline a hand clutching at the clouds above it,-a faint gurgle followed, the sea rolled sullenly by,—and all was dark and silent around me!

I had just beheld within a few yards of me the dying struggle of as I then thought-my whole crew; and everything seemed to announce that my own life was prolonged for only a few short minutes; for, allowing I succeeded in reaching the shore, the surf threatened my destruction on the rocks. And, should a miracle enable me to weather that danger, the precipitous coast promised only a more lingering death

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