"Yes," we answered, 66 we have had that misfortune."

"Ah, I saw you," he replied, "between these islands and the Canaries. I was going to bear down on you, but you mustered too many hands on board, your people outnumbered my own; besides you carried six teeth of a side."

"No," we said, "we only carried six guns altogether."

"Indeed!" he answered, "I thought I saw more; but our Captain seems asleep.-Well, Captain Koln," he shouted, "have you counted that money for me yet?"

"It is impossible to offer to resist you," said Koln; "I have, therefore, sent my mate below to bring up eight hundred dollars, which is all the money in the ship."

"Ah, Captain, I thought you would come to the same way of thinking as the ladies, and consider me irresistible," replied the Spaniard; "but eight hundred dollars-that will never do. Come, Captain, you must make it the thousand, I will take that and no less."

"I must make that sum up, then, out of my own money," said Koln, "Never mind, your owners will repay you," answered the other, who not five minutes before had declared that he would not touch poor Koln's purse if it was lying on the deck before him. After some hesitation the thousand dollars were paid by the Captain, but the Spaniard was far from satisfied.

"I think," he said, "I must trouble you for some gin, two or three dozen will be no harm on board my vessel; and if you could let me have some running rigging and a spare sail or two, and, by-the-bye, I am devilishly in want of a good anchor."

"Anything else?" said Koln,

"Why, yes," he replied, "I must have some potatoes and bread and flour, and a few casks of water-I really don't believe I require anything more."

"Except a halter," muttered Koln between his teeth.

"And now, Captain Koln," said the Spaniard, after he had seen his own people carry off the different articles he had enumerated, “I must apologise for having troubled you; but really necessity, the same necessity that makes you a sailor, compels me to act as I do: but the truth is, every man robs his neighbour in his own way, and yet it is not robbing, it is only making you act the part of a Christian in spite of yourself, by forcing you to share your superfluities with your poorer brother. Do you know, Sir," he continued turning suddenly to "that I was brought up and educated for a priest?" "Indeed!" I exclaimed.

me,

"Yes, Sir, but a love-affair destroyed my credit with the holy fathers, so I turned soldier;—I have fought under Mina, Sir, but that I did not much like, for I found it hard work and no profit. I left that and got acquainted with an Englishman who brought me to London, but he and I quarrelled. Sir, I know London as well as I know my own ship; I supported myself there for eighteen months teaching Spanish and the guitar; I soon picked up your language, and used very often to go to your theatres. Do you know, Sir, there is no part of Shakspeare I so much admire as that noble passage where he exclaims,— Who steals my purse steals trash.'' Here the Spaniard looked very knowingly at Koln and added,-"Now, I dare say, notwithstanding

such authority, it would be a difficult thing to make Captain Koln understand the truth of this splendid maxim."

It is bad enough to rob a man, but still worse to laugh at him afterwards, and Koln's countenance became black as midnight. As for the Spaniard himself, whatever might have been passing in his mind, there was not the least indication of risibility about his features. On the contrary, he looked as grave and uttered this rigmarole with as much solemnity as if he had followed up his priestly calling, and was delivering a benediction from the pulpit.

"Well," said I after a little, " you were in London, what next?"

"Oh, after that," he replied, "I joined these gentlemen of the wave; but I must be going,-good morning, gentlemen.-Captain Koln, I am under a thousand obligations to you." So saying, this hero, in a very graceful manner and, at the same time, with much respect, bowed himself to the gangway and entered his own boat. When he was gone, Koln seemed like one relieved from the nightmare, and instant orders were given to bend our course once more towards Bonavista, but we did not arrive there until Monday evening, the wind being all the way so dead in our teeth that it took us the six days to beat up a distance of not ninety miles.

We found our party in much the same condition as when we left them, excepting two individuals who were fast sinking under the fatigues they had undergone. One was a Jew named Benjamin, and he breathed his last rather unexpectedly the second or third evening after our return. We asked permission to bury him in consecrated ground, but this the priest peremptorily refused, and we were obliged to dig a grave at high water-mark, and there we laid him, the missionary reading prayers over him. Our other invalid, who was a female, lingered longer and suffered much pain, owing a good deal to the Governor's factotum brotherin-law, who had just skill sufficient to torture a sick person, but not to prolong life.

On Sunday morning we received an invitation to dinner from the Governor. Two o'clock was the hour, and on entering we were shown, not into a reception-room as in England, but into the apartment where the dinner-table was laid out. Here the party assembled, and presently the servants, who consisted of one male and two female slaves, began bringing in dinner. As soon as all the dishes, which were about a dozen, had been laid on the table, we drew forward and sat down. At the head sat the Governor with his wife on his right, while at the foot of the table his daughter, an exceedingly graceful and lady-like woman, presided. The only wine on table was Lisbon, of which the Portuguese scarcely tasted, indeed nothing can exceed their abstinence in this respect. The Governor drank about three glasses, and yet he assured us he had not taken so much during the whole two years previous. The dinner consisted of pretty good vermicelli soup, pork dressed in three different ways,-first, there was fresh pork, then salt pork with beans, and thirdly, a young pig roasted entire. There was goat also dressed in three different forms, and these with a piece of coarse meat, that they had done their best to wash fresh, under the denomination of roast beef, made up the heavy brigade of the dinner, which was flanked by three or four nondescript dishes that no one but a Portuguese cook could find a name for.

The different articles were cut up and handed round from one to the other, and you helped yourself to what you liked. The second course consisted of melons and of rice, cooked like the goat and pork, in a variety of ways. Beside me there was no small glass, so I was forced to take my wine out of a tumbler, and having called for a drink of water, one of the slaves came round, took away the tumbler containing my wine, washed it at the room door, throwing the slop down the stairs, and then brought it back to me filled with water.

Every nation has its peculiar habits, but cleanliness is not a Portuguese failing. When almost everything had been removed from table, the Governor filled his glass, and then standing up, he drank health and a happy return to the passengers and crew of the late 'Sir Thomas Munro.' This was responded to by all of us rising up and drinking prosperity and happiness to himself and his family; a wish on my own part, and I am sure on that of others, most sincere. Kind and worthy old man, long, indeed, do I hope that you and your family may live. prosperous and happy! When we got up from table, we went into an inner apartment, where we sat round in a circle for some time conversing, and then a servant brought us in coffee. There was a small Dutch barrel-organ most dreadfully out of order, that the Governor had by some means got hold of, and on this one of his sons entertained us, as he supposed, with some very fine music. Soon after we took leave. As for the Governor himself, every day after dinner he smokes his pipe, and then sleeps for a couple of hours, though I cannot say that this custom is very prevalent.

At length, the American Consul, who I have more than once stated transacts the English business, hired a vessel to convey us home. There was an English whaler, a fine commodious ship, that would have been glad to have taken us. Our friend, Captain Koln, also applied to take us to England, and his vessel was tolerably roomy-but no; neither of these would do: Jonathan would have nothing to do with any one but a brother Yankee, and so he gave the job to a "solid" man of Boston, who had an old crazy small vessel, not half the size of either of those I have mentioned; and to this moment it is a puzzle how he managed to stow away so many persons. Certainly, we were miserably uncomfortable; and nothing but the prospect of reaching our own country could have enabled us to bear it. For my own part, I had not my clothes off for ten minutes together, from the time we left the Cape de Verd, until we reached Plymouth; and in this respect I was by no means singular. However, though bad for us, it was a good thing for the "solid" man of Boston, for he received the sum of five thousand five hundred dollars, or eleven hundred pounds sterling. It is hard to say what private arrangement the two Yankees made between themselves, but that was the money paid by the English Government. Altogether, this shipwreck cost our Government upwards of seventeen hundred pounds; for perhaps it is not generally known, that the first duty of our Consuls in foreign countries is to provide every necessary for the shipwrecked British subject, until he can be sent to his own country, or to an English settlement. Every one of us, male and female, without exception, had been provided with some temporary clothing, for all we possessed had gone to the bottom.

THE TWENTY-NINTH AT ALBUERA.

MR. EDITOR.-On referring to the United Service Journal of June, 1832, I find a communication from the gallant Sir William Inglis, on the subject of Albuera, in which he has perfectly established the cool and steady conduct of our brave old comrades the 57th Regiment; but as it might be inferred from the complaint then made by a Spanish officer to him that the Spaniards had been wantonly fired upon, I have been induced to offer an explanation of what then took place. The following is a sketch of the operations of General Houghton's brigade, which suffered such immense loss on that day; should you deem this worthy of a place in your excellent Journal, I am led to suppose it will sufficiently prove that, the 29th Regiment did not fire on the Spaniards without necessity; and that, under the circumstances in which they were then placed, they were perfectly justified in so doing, Sir William Inglis having since informed me that he was not aware of the facts at the time above-mentioned, the insertion of this will, therefore, oblige

London, 1st July, 1835.

Your obedient servant,

AN OLD COMRADE.

The

On the afternoon of the 15th of May, 1811, after a long march, the English Army took up their ground on the heights in rear of Albuera; but as the Spanish Army had not arrived, General Houghton's brigade, consisting of the 29th, 57th and 1st battalion of the 48th regiment, were moved to the right and formed en potence. Spaniards having come up during the night, our brigade, after standing some hours under-arms, was ordered about six or seven o'clock on the morning of the 16th, to resume its place in the line. We had scarcely time to get a little tea and a morsel of biscuit, when the alarm was given-" Stand to your arms! The French are advancing!"

We accordingly instantly got under-arms, leaving tents and baggage to be disposed of as the quartermaster and bat-men best could. We moved forward in line to crown the heights in front, which were intended for our position, and which may be shortly described as follows. The rivulet of Albuera ran nearly parallel to the front of the heights, at about six hundred yards distance, which sloped down to it, these being perfectly open for all arms; but beyond our right, they swelled into steeper and more detached ones. The village of Albuera was nearly opposite the centre of our line, and on the same side of the water, at which point was the only bridge. The banks of the rivulet were, at some places, steep and abrupt. On the opposite or French side, they were rather low, and the ground flat and open for some little distance, then gradually rose to a gentle height, covered with wood, particularly at some distance from the bridge up the river, where the French Army lay concealed from our view, they having only some detached parties of cavalry in the open ground.

In occupying the position the Army was formed as follows:-The Portuguese (in blue) on the left: the English (in red), in the centre, viz., General Houghton's brigade, the 29th, 57th, and 1st battalion of the 48th regiment; General Lumley's, 28th, 39th, and 34th regiments; Colonel Colbourn's, the 3rd, the 2nd battalion of the 48th, 66th, and 31st regiments; and the Spaniards (in yellow or other bright colours) formed the right. The whole drawn up as for a grand

parade, in full view of the enemy, so that Soult could see almost every man, and was also enabled to choose his point of attack, which would not have been the case if we had been kept under cover, a few yards farther back, behind the crest of the heights, or had been made to lie down, as we were used to do on former occasions, when under the Duke of Wellington. That part of the 4th Division under Sir Lowry Cole, which had just arrived from Badajos, were posted in second line in our

rear.

Before we had time to halt in our position, we observed two large columns of the enemy, supported by cavalry and artillery, moving towards the bridge and village of Albuera, which was occupied by the light corps of the German Legion, under Colonel Hacket. The first attack here commenced, under cover of a heavy cannonade, upon the village and our line in its rear. The Germans made a gallant defence, and maintained their post. But as the enemy apparently seemed to make a push at this point, Colburn's brigade was ordered to move down in support of the troops in the village.

Soult must have been much delighted on observing this movement : it, no doubt, was precisely what he most wished, because the columns which appeared to threaten the village and our line, was only a ruse to distract our attention and neutralize the English force, which he most dreaded. Our skilful adversary was, in the mean while, throwing his masses directly across our right flank or Spanish Army, which extended to a great distance from us; and it was with no small surprise that we, most unexpectedly, heard a sharp fire commence in that quarter.

The error our chief had been led into now became evident. We were suddenly thrown into open column, and moved rapidly along the heights to our right flank, for nearly a mile, under a tremendous cannonade, for the French had already established themselves on some commanding heights, which raked us as we advanced, Captain Humphrey and several men being killed. They were, at the same time, attacking the Spaniards with great vigour, having thrown them into some confusion when in the act of throwing back their right to meet this flank attack. Colburn's brigade also, which had moved to cover the village (as above stated) had been recalled, and brought up in a hasty manner, in column, obliquing to their right towards the heights now occupied by the enemy, and formed line at a right angle, and perpendicular to the first position. It has been understood, that Colonel Colburn wished to move to the attack with the two flank regiments, in quarter-distance columns, and the two centre ones in line; but Sir William Stewart, anxious to show a large front, was deploying the whole; the 3rd, 48th, and 66th Regiments, were in line; and the 31st regiment still in column; when a body of French lancers, taking advantage of the thick weather and heavy showers of rain, got round the right of this brigade, made a dash from the rear through those regiments which were in line, breaking them, and swept off the greater part as prisoners into the French lines. The 31st regiment stood firm, and fortunately escaped the disaster; and the Spaniards contended with. some difficulty to hold their ground. Just as this misfortune had occurred our brigade came up (the 29th leading regiment): we closed up into quarter-distance columns, under cover of the heights, and