PRIVATE JOURNAL,&c. &c.
PRIVATE JOURNAL,&c. &c.
Departure from England—Exercises on Ship-board—Off the Coast—Arrival at Lisbon—Residence there—Journey to Head-quarters commenced—Abrantes—General features of the March—Salamanca.H. M. S.Vautour, off Mondego Bay,Sept. 14, 1812. Monday.
Departure from England—Exercises on Ship-board—Off the Coast—Arrival at Lisbon—Residence there—Journey to Head-quarters commenced—Abrantes—General features of the March—Salamanca.
H. M. S.Vautour, off Mondego Bay,Sept. 14, 1812. Monday.
My dear M——,
Itwas very fortunate that I kept to my post at the George Inn, at Portsmouth; for at seven in the morning of Saturday the 5th I was called from my bed by the Admiral, who told me that, in consequence of the news from Madrid, he had received orders to send a ship of war after thePylades, to endeavour to prevent her landing the money she had carried out to Oporto, and to direct her captain to take it on to Lisbon. He told me that, if I could get ready and on board immediately, I might accompany him. Accordingly, soon after nine o’clock I was on board His Majesty’s ship theVauteur, orVautour, orVulture, a fast-sailing brig of sixteen guns—fourteen carronades, twenty-four pounders, and two long nines; the only remaining trophy in our Navy of the glorious expedition to the Scheldt! The Captain, a most open-hearted, friendly man, by nameLawless, is a native of the south of Ireland. The vessel is an excellent sailer, and the whole in good order, with a fine crew of a hundred and five men; but the accommodations are very small, as all is made for use, and nothing for convenience or ornament. The Captain’s cabin, about ten feet by twelve, he shared with me. One of us hung up a cot on each side at night, and we lived there when these cots were removed in the daytime; there was no opening but the hatches at top, no windows at all. I had, however, what was most material, a most friendly, kind reception, and shared every comfort the Captain was possessed of. This consisted of a joint daily, generally fresh, good wine and brandy, vegetables, and, up to this day, good bread, great attention, and a thorough welcome.
Friday the 11th.—At eleven o’clock precisely, as our timepieces and observations had indicated, we sighted Spain; and had the additional amusement of good charts, and maps, and telescopes, to examine the coasts, besides assisting in the observations on deck, and watching all that was going on. The scene was one of constant activity during the voyage, not a moment’s idleness; the sails were mended; the masts were repaired; the deck was caulked, and made water-tight for the winter; the winter rigging was made ready; the sides of the ship painted. All this, besides the usual routine duty of the ship, was done whenever there was smooth water. One fine calm evening the Captain amused me with a sham-fight, and put the men through their exercises; first at one set of the guns, then at the other; marines and all were at work. He showed me also the effect of a long shot and a grape shot from the carronades in the water. These occupations, with a little reading and writing, preparatory to my land journey, filled up the days until dark, when we took to our cots. We first made the land off Cape Adrian, half way between Cape Ortegal andCape Finisterre, and got in close to the Sisarga Island, about one o’clock on Friday the 11th. We then coasted close in shore all the way to Cape Finisterre, which we reached at dark: the shore is very bold and fine, but with a barren aspect, and the appearance of an inhospitable and almost uninhabited land. The high tracts towards Corunna, and perhaps about Ferrol, were only just visible at first; but from Sisarga to Finisterre we saw them about as plainly as we should have done on shore.
Saturday 12th.—This morning we found ourselves close off Cape Saliers, having passed Vigo Bay in the night. Thence we slowly crept along shore all that day in sight of the country, buildings, &c., until we arrived at dark within about twelve miles of Oporto, off Villa de Condé. The country is very beautiful and picturesque, nearly as bold as the former, but very much built over, dotted with many villages and detached houses, and verdant with much wood; all externally very loveable and delightful. Monte Santa Tecla, at the entrance of Minho, is an imposing object, and the whole coast interesting, especially from Viana to Oporto, and most of all about Villa de Condé and Oporto. Condé is a handsome-looking town, well situated, with several large good-looking houses, and an aqueduct, reaching nearly three miles I should think, parallel to the shore, through two villages to the hills. The hills were well wooded, and many houses, villas, &c., covered their sides: whether the aqueduct was still in use we could not discover; but I saw no breaks in it as I viewed it through the glass. We made signals to the pilots to come out from Oporto on Saturday evening, but were too far off to be observed; and from the fear of an accident, though within ten miles, were obliged to stand off all night, and try to keep our place.
Sunday the 13th.—Still abreast of Condé, and havingno wind, the whole day getting near to Oporto. Several fishermen came on board from the boats around. They all agreed that thePyladeshad not been at Oporto—tidings which delighted the Captain; but upon the Consul’s boat coming off at a signal, when we got near the bar in the evening, we found that thePyladeshad been off the bar three nights before, just the time she sailed before us at Portsmouth, and had landed General Oswald, the medical men, and the money at nine o’clock at night, and had gone on; and that the money was on its way to the army. We, therefore, put right about again, and got about ten miles from the bar of Oporto, which we had heard roaring many miles off, before dark. Last night we were again becalmed, and at twelve to-day (the 14th) we were only in Mondego Bay, near the spot where theApollo, and forty of her convoy, were lost in 1804. Here we met a wind right a-head, and have been beating out ever since. At three it shifted a little, and we are now returning, and hope to clear Mondego Point and get in sight of the Burlingas before dark to-night. From about ten miles below Oporto, near Aveiro, to the Mondego highlands, the coast is flat, and we have only seen in Mondego Bay sand-hills and a few huts, and have only heard the surf roaring at a distance of nearly ten miles. We are now about fifty miles from the Burlingas and about ninety from Lisbon, and hope to be there to-morrow.
Our officers are, the Captain, Lawless; first lieutenant, Soper; the second lieutenant, a fine, stout Irishman, who has amused me much, by recounting the escapes of his past life.
Tuesday 15th, 12 o’clock.—Still about twenty miles from Mondego Point. Marshal Beresford, who is lying at Oporto badly wounded, sent out to ask for a passage to Lisbon on board our vessel; and it was arranged that we were to fire two guns if we could accommodate him:but the Captain was not able to do so in his small cabin, even if we had both given up our berths, which we would cheerfully have done. It was fortunate, however, he did not come on board, as he would have passed three miserable nights if he had made trial of our scanty accommodation.
Lisbon, September 17th.—Two more nights out becalmed—one, off Mondego Bay; and another, off the rock of Lisbon. We got in here this morning at seven o’clock, and have been all the morning running about the town. The view at the entrance into the harbour is very beautiful. We anchored at dusk off Cascaes Fort last night. The General, Peacock, has given me quarters at the Marquis d’Abrantes’, and to-day I dine with the General. It is said that there is a great mortality in the army; the officers sickly, and a great want of money.
Lisbon, September 20th, 1812.—I have now been three days in this town, which resembles the description of certain ladies whom I have a right to suppose to be within your knowledge, for I think they are described in the Bible, and in other good books which you study—all outside show, except in the state apartments of a few individuals, which are certainly very magnificent. Streets very offensive, palaces by the side of ruins, and sometimes even the palaces in a state of partial decay, though in other parts stately and magnificent in their architectural proportions. Everywhere there is an aspect of extreme poverty side by side with some showy indications of wealth; and it is evident that among the lower classes impostors are as plentiful as mosquitos. The heat is extreme—worse than I found it at Paris in August 1802. The evenings, however, are cool, and near the water the breezes are refreshing. They congratulate me, indeed, on the comparative mildness of the season, which is favourable for my journey to head-quarters, which are at Dulmas, in advance of Valladolid.
On landing, I proceeded immediately to General Peacock, the commanding officer, who received me with great civility, and I dined with him that day. As to forwarding me to the army, it appears all that he can do is to give me a route, which will procure me at different stations (though at times two or three days distant from each other), rations for bread and forage, as there are depôts at intervals of from one to three days’ journey all the way. I shall have to purchase two mules and two horses. The price of horses is high; on an average, two hundred and twenty dollars each. Captain C——, of the staff here, has offered to go to the fair with me on Tuesday to buy cattle and all other necessaries for my journey. There is no route except by Ciudad Rodrigo, and, therefore, though it is said that head-quarters may be at Madrid before my arrival, I shall be compelled to go that way. Baron Quintilla was not in town. The Envoy asked me to dinner immediately to his country-house at Benefica, and was extremely civil to me, remarking that mine was not a common letter of introduction. He asked me again yesterday, but being unwell, I declined the flattering invitation. He also offered to carry me in his suite to a bull-fight, twelve miles off; but as this would detain me from Sunday to Tuesday, and interfere with my whole plan, I am obliged reluctantly to forego the amusement. I am not here for my pleasure. When I arrived at the Envoy’s he was absent, and I had atête-à-têtewith General Abadia, who is here on his way to Cadiz, where he is to take a high official position. He appeared a clever man, but I understand his loyalty to Ferdinand is doubtful, for a letter addressed to him by his wife, who is with the French, inquiring when he would fulfil his promise of joining their party, has been intercepted.
This may be all a trick, but there is something suspicious about it. He blamed us very much, charging uswith having made two great blunders, in not seizing Santona, by troops from England, and securing that river communication and post to land all our men in, instead of Lisbon; and also in not allowing the Sicilian expedition to seize Tortosa, and maintain a post on that river, the most important and most annoying to Soult. He spoke in high terms of Lord Wellington, but seemed to think that the fate of Europe depends upon the conduct of Russia in this conjuncture.
The idea seems now to be, that Soult, Suchet, and Joseph have formed a junction. They have above sixty thousand effective men; and it is added, that the French now have their old position on the Ebro always in their power. General Carrier was brought in here a prisoner on Thursday, from Salamanca: he had five wounds, which are nearly healed, but he thought he should lose a finger. He came in to the General whilst I dined there. He seemed to be out of spirits, but said that Marmont was nearly well, and would resume his command. The French, I hear, are intrenched near Burgos.
I have obtained quarters at thecasaof the Marquesa d’Abrantes, a good situation, and a lieutenant-colonel’s quarters. Her husband is a prisoner in France. I have a separate door, which leads away to four small rooms to the street; bare walls, painted with military trophies, and the whole kept as quarters. In these I have two tables, a dozen chairs, a bedstead, a mattress, a worked flounced quilt, some fine sheets, but, of course, no blankets. At first we had nothing else; but I have now got a silver basin and ewer, some knives and forks, and a supply of water. These apartments might easily be made very comfortable. The state rooms of this house, looking over about an acre of garden (which is open to the public), are very handsome. As the marquesa lost her mother last week, about twenty cabriolets a-day have brought visitors to pay respects, &c., and about a hundredand fifty beggars to receive their alms. By the way, the English have caused everything here to become very dear. The churches are gaudy, and in some respects not a little ridiculous, but still, to my mind, nothing like so trumpery, absurd, and indeed indecorous in every respect as those in Flanders, and in some parts of Switzerland and Piedmont. The Roman Catholics here certainly have the appearance of devotion, and seem more in earnest, much more so than in France, and more so than in any country I have seen.
Lisbon, September 23rd, 1812.—I was at the fair, in the heat of the sun, all yesterday, and have bought two small mules, one small horse, and have agreed for another, a small pony, to carry me. The fair has knocked me up as well as my man Henry. I have been all this day with Captain C——, almost my only friend here, at market, bargaining for travelling necessaries. Commissary P—— will lend me one public mule; so now I hope I am equipped as far as that goes. The General offers to send me with the next treasure, which goes nobody knows when; but refuses me two soldiers to go with me, though it is said that it is really dangerous to go without them.
Lisbon, September 26th, 1812, Saturday.—Though in a constant fever from fleas and mosquitos, we should have started yesterday with some treasure, but my servant Henry could not stir, and my Portuguese servant took himself off at eight in the morning. I have now got a German deserter as servant instead of the Portuguese; and trust he will not carry on the old game, and desert with my baggage. He is said to speak a little English and Portuguese, and know the country well.
Sunday.—For one day more I have postponed my journey, intending to start with some treasure and two officers on Tuesday. The Opera-house here is a dull, heavy building, about the size of the Haymarket Opera-house;but the dancing more like Sadler’s Wells than the Opera in England: great activity and force in the buffo style like comic masks—this appears to be the favourite style here. Macbeth was turned into a pantomine; the death and dagger scene very fine, but the whole effect marred by the mummery of fantastic dancing and skipping witches. I have not had time to see any thing except Lisbon, and the aqueduct: the latter work certainly fine, but not of an attractive shape. Round arches would have had a better effect, and the piers want evenness and regularity; nevertheless it is a work worthy of the Romans. I contrived to-day to go to Belem church, a very fine specimen of arabesque, the best thing I have seen here; in style it is between the Saxon and Antique, with a little Gothic intermixed, the ornaments beautiful and in high preservation.
Abrantes, October 6th, 1812.—A day’s halt here enables me to write to you. I left Lisbon on the 30th September, by two o’clock, with my sick party, and thence eight miles to Saccavem in about three hours. The road to Saccavem and nearly to Villa Franca is fine; and, except that there are no trees besides olive-trees, which appear like apple-trees at a distance, and no verdure, the river and country are picturesque.
On the second night we reached Villa Franca, sixteen miles; the third night, Agembiga twelve; the fourth, Santarem sixteen. The positions and accounts in our gazettes made this route interesting, but the road itself is dull and sandy. Suppose a few olive-trees and firs on Bagshot Heath, and you have the scene. Saccavem and Santarem are both fine positions for appearance, and the latter for defence. All the towns are half in ruins, as well as almost all the single houses on the road to this place. On the fifth day we reached Galegao, sixteen miles; on the sixth, Punhete, twelve miles; on the seventh, Abrantes, eight miles. I am now eighty-eightmiles from Lisbon. From Galegao to Abrantes the road runs near the river, the verdure increases, there are a few chestnut, oranges, and larger firs, and in the spring the scenery must be very picturesque. Abrantes, on a commanding eminence, is in a very fine situation, and looks over much fine country. Finding my sick men unequal to the fatigue, I applied to the officer of the treasure, and got a soldier, a fine active Tyrolese, who does more work in an hour than my poor creatures in a day. He cleans down the animals, waters them, loads, &c., and as I carry his baggage for him, and give him rather better fare, he seems to be very well pleased with the post. He leads a mule on the road, walking at his ease: by this means I now get off about six o’clock every morning.
The treasure-party, finding the heat made the men ill, now start at five o’clock; still I am much better than I was when I started, and when on the march I go quicker than the treasure, as I have easy loads. Henry leads the first mule on horseback, the soldier walking by the side to keep everything right, whilst I bring up the rear myself, always on the watch, and thus have but few accidents. One of my mules is a nice fat round fellow, who eats so much they cannot keep the baggage from rolling off him without holding it on; another mule had a troublesome propensity of lying down with the baggage. My Tyrolese only speaks German, French, and a little Portuguese.
So many of the men of another treasure-party were ill, that they halted, and then went on with us; this crowded the road and made it more uncomfortable. Here at Abrantes we separate—they go to General Hill. On arriving at a place, the first thing is to hunt for theJuge de Fores, to procure quarters, but if there is an English commandant, he must first be beaten up for an order, then the quarters are to be found; sometimes those allotted are full; then another billet must be obtained:sometimes the stables are full of kicking mules, and other stables must be found elsewhere. At length we unload, all in one room with four walls, a table, and a chair. Then at every third place we have to go to the Commissary to draw rations, straw, and barley for the animals to eat—spirits, meat, and bread for ourselves, and wood for firing. These must sometimes be fetched from half a mile to a mile and a half off, and be procured from roguish Portuguese under-commissaries. Sometimes great pieces of green wood are allotted to us, which will not burn, and we have nothing to cut it with. This, which we often leave as not worth carriage, costs Government a large sum: a third of the quantity, if good, would serve better. As the wood and straw we cannot manage to take with us, we carry on barley, and buy a little straw, or Sadran corn straw, which is the best when fresh. At first the Portuguese were very civil at quarters, but we are now too numerous, and many behave ill from disgust and weariness. They are now very backward to supply anything, even when they have it, which often is not the case. They provide a room, a lamp, water, a basin, a towel by night, a table, a chair, and something to lie upon; some furnish very decent beds.
Two days ago the scene changed, and it has since rained almost incessantly. We got wet yesterday, halted to-day, and to-morrow I probably shall start, to be soaked to the very bones. My mode of living may interest you. I rise, then, at half-past four, take some bread, spirits and water, and a raw egg when I can get one, or sometimes a few grapes. When we stop to water, I eat some bread and cheese, a dear luxury on the road, a very little country wine and water, and now and then coffee or chocolate. In the evening, a stew (when we can get it) comes as a treat, and then we lie down on the floor at eight o’clock in hope of sleep—a hope more frequently fulfilled than it was at Lisbon. Stores are allnow at double price, and will soon not be procurable at any cost.
The Commissary says we shall have six hours’ walk in the rain instead of the sun now; and after two or three days we shall find only deserted ruins where the French came, and we after them, last year. I hope this is exaggeration. Windows in this great town are not to be seen even in Colonels’ quarters, or in the best shops. This is an active, busy place—thoroughly military. The vintage was going on as we proceeded on the road, and we had abundance of grapes. The poor soldiers, having three days’ rations served out at once, consume all the drink on the first day, sell the meat to save carriage and the trouble of cooking it, and live upon bread and grapes and water, till their next supply comes to hand. At Santarem and here, hospitals are established as well as at Lisbon; many fine-looking fellows, reduced to skeletons, are in them. I have a new route to-morrow round about: first day, Garvao; second, Nisa; third, Villa Velha; fourth, Cernados; fifth, Castello Branco: sixteen miles, twenty miles, twelve miles, eight, and eighty.
Sunday, Castello Branco, October 11th, 1812.—Here am I thus far safe on my pilgrimage, and tolerably well considering all things, for I seldom get above two or three hours’ sleep, and many nights none at all, from noises, fleas, gnats, mosquitos, bad accommodation, and anxiety. From Abrantes I got safely to Garvao, which is finely situated, and the walk to it wildly beautiful. The next day I warned my people to rise by half-past four; we loaded in the dark, but started by daylight, and got in before the treasure to Niga. A good mattress and clean sheets, &c., on the floor, without fleas, are genuine luxuries. For the first time in Portugal I got six hours’ sleep. In the same manner I started again from Niga by five o’clock, and got through two treasuredays’ journey in one to Cernados. Understanding that at Villa Velha there were only desolate ruins, scarcely supplying a dry cover, by starting again early yesterday from Cernados (which consists only of one house, half of it a ruin, with a nest of ruined cottages round it), I reached this place by ten yesterday, and thus had all the remainder of the day to rest, and this in addition (Sunday), for the treasure arrived only to-day.
I have thus avoided the common piggery of being all in one house at Cernados, and a bad night at Villa Velha. By calculating distances and time also, I have kept my men and myself dry. As the rains generally come on hitherto after twelve in the day, and in the night, we have only been caught in two English showers. It rained all the time we were at Abrantes, from twelve on the day we arrived, entirely through the following day, to about an hour before we started. All the rest of the day was fine, rain again all the evening—the same at Niga, and the same here also. And such rain! it would saturate anything in ten minutes. As it is now cooler, I walk half the way, which also saves my pony. I have here assigned to me the quarters of the Generals who pass through. These consist of the ruin of a fine house for quarters, and a large room with four great windows without glass, and four doors in it; gold frames around without their looking-glasses in them, fine chairs without bottoms, &c., &c. The house belongs to theIllustrissimo Signor Barao. I have a mattress on the floor with fleas innumerable. I have my route, and here it is: first day, Eschalas de Cimo; second, San Miguel; third, Menoa; fourth, Sabugal; fifth, perhaps a halt; sixth, Aldea da Ponte; seventh, Sturno; eighth, Ciudad Rodrigo. We are to carry provisions for four days with us, then provide for three, and start to-morrow or next day as the treasure mules are able; then go on to Fuentes de Castelegos, Forgadilla, Calçade de Don Diego, Salamanca.Few of these places are in Faden’s map. Nothing can be had on the road, it is said, not even dry stabling or a dry room; and much wet is expected. The place is finely situated on the east side of a hill which is crowned by an old Moorish castle and walls, and a modern monastery in ruins! It is one of the best towns we have seen, and there are the ruins of some good houses; provisions and necessaries are to be bought here, but at a high price. There is part of the fine episcopal palace (where a Portuguese General is quartered), with a garden in tolerable order, a good church, and several picturesque-looking ruined monasteries, with crosses at every step. I have taken a few sketches where we stop on the road, though too much occupied with business to think much of the picturesque. Niga is also picturesque.
My adventures are all much alike. The only variety is an arrival wet through to the skin. No one can say where we shall go to at last. I suppose I must now proceed to Salamanca, and then something must be determined upon. Things do not go on well at Burgos, I fear; there is much delay, more than was expected. Lord Wellington is, it is said, not satisfied. At Cernados a cobbler was theJuge de Fores, and gave us our billets. On the walls was an excellent likeness in chalk of Lord George Lennox, done by the shadow, I suppose from the lamp which is allowed us. I hear of sickness everywhere; much at head-quarters. The general orders have many more on the list of absent from sickness, than on that of arrivals at the army. Soult is very strong. General Hill, I believe, is still at Toledo.
Near the mountains on the other side of the Tagus is an old castle or two, and some pleasant glimpses of fine valleys, and the deep banks of the river which is hidden from the view. The sandy commons like Bagshot, over which the road passes, are more bold, the hills higher, and covered almost entirely with the gum cistus,which has a sweet scent, but, being out of bloom in that state, is not so pleasing as our heaths with their various colours. There is a little heath like the Devonshire heath, and some parts of the road rather like Dartmoor. Near Niga are seen the mountains about Elvas, and in the line to Badajoz, and the Spanish mountains of Estremadura, The country proved to me the merit of some of Rubens’ Spanish views, which are, like his Flemish pictures, most correct in the character of the scenery. From Niga, after proceeding a league, you wind down a wild Devonshire or Welsh sort of road; first cross a small river, then the Tagus again, almost down steps—not so bad as some wild parts of Ireland, to be sure, though very bad for the loaded mules. Here is very little oak, underwood, some fir, but chiefly and perpetually the gum cistus, which grows to about four feet high. Villa Velha is a village in ruins, finely situated on the side of a hill looking over the river. It is now nearly deserted. The soldiers with baggage pitched a tent below the office in the cellar. From the hills above the river, before we crossed the Tagus, we saw Castello Branco standing high on the hill, and the Moorish ruins. Cernados is like a Welsh village of the worst sort: rocks for streets, ruined stone houses inhabited in part, and used for quarters. Their few architectural large buildings alone constitute the difference between these and the worst Welsh or Irish villages. From Cernados to this place we again crossed a country like a large Bagshot Heath, but by a very tolerable good road; adieu.
P.S.—The Captain has just sent me word we must start to-morrow instead of the day after; he says that the treasure is not safe without the serjeants. Our detachments are all foreigners; many are drunk, and have quarrelled with the inhabitants!
Salamanca, October, 1812.—The first day after leaving Castello Branco, we reached Eschalo de Cimo, a pretty,and once a thriving village, with a good church, not so much destroyed as damaged; one handsome large house in the vicinity belonging to the Squiress, Donna Joanna, the best rooms in which were gutted and used as quarters, the rest inhabited by two or three families of the better kind, with some smart misses among them. The other houses mostly in ruins, but still some of them occupied. In this place bread was not to be bought, nor even an onion! but we fared well, in good rooms, with good fires. On our road thither we kept Castello Branco in sight nearly all the way; we also saw the distant mountains in Spain and Portugal. The road was over a sort of Dartmoor, stones, rock, sand, with fern oak a foot high, and abundance of apples. The second day we reached San Miguel de Cima. The same sort of village as Eschalo de Cimo, one good house for quarters, the rest small, and generally, like the church, in ruins; but the inhabitants were fast returning to it. Here we obtained bread, onions, and some hay. The appearance on entering the village, with the trees about it, very pleasant. The third day’s route was to Memoa, five long leagues. At first a good road and picturesque country, with a very fine view of Monsanto, with its town and castle on the right, and of the other hills grouped with it in the distance. Pennamacor, which is almost destroyed, we left on our right, about a mile, with its castle, standing boldly on the side of a hill, with rock and wood around it, and a rich-looking valley below. This is a fine situation, backed, as we left it, by Monsanto. We also passed Pedrigoa, a large village, nearly destroyed and deserted, and at last, after passing over a hill by a horrible road, through an oak copse, where we had nearly lost our way, we arrived at the heap of ruins called Memoa. This was the worst place we had stopped at all the way. There was only one room in the town, that only water-tight, and there were no stables. I took the driest cornerin a large common room, because there was a stable under it.
I could see and hear everything in the stables, for the floor was still less tight than the roof. The leg of a chair or a table, in spite of all possible care, went two or three times through it. I got a little hay, and slept behind a great chest, in my blanket. Three of the natives were in the room at night. The fourth day we had three leagues of fine road, though bad travelling, through a hilly wood of arbutuses in bearing, and Portugal laurels in flower, heath in bloom, a plant like the lignum vitæ, and broom. This day’s route brought us to Sabugal, where there is generally a halt, but this our captain declined. Sabugal stands on a hill, very finely situated, but commanded by other hills; the way is over a bridge and river, and with a winding road up to it. The situation is not unlike that of Ludlow; the town very inferior in size and beauty, but picturesque. The castle itself with its square Moorish towers, more so than Ludlow. The town is all in ruins; not even a weather-tight room in it. I got a large sort of barn, open in the roof in several places, with no doors, and two large windows, without even shutters, and four others half closed. On our road thither from Memoa we found half the body of a man, nearly a skeleton, but with flesh and nails on the toes. It was lying on the road, as if to scare travellers.
The market-place at Sabugal is, I think, very pretty, and everything in it very cheap: this, indeed, was the cheapest place through which we had passed. The fifth day we reached Aldea da Ponte, the last Portuguese village. The road was interesting, as we passed near Fuente Guinaldos, so long head-quarters, and Alfayetes, also head-quarters. We passed just under Alfayetes, and saw Lord Wellington’s house on the side of the hill, with the old castle. This place is now in ruins, like the rest. We then passed over the plain where our cavalry distinguishedthemselves in a sharp affair with the French. Aldea da Ponte is much cleaner than the other villages.
Here we saw more pots, pans, basins, &c., than usual; these the people desired us to make use of instead of hiding them from us, as was generally done in Portugal. On the sixth day, we came, after a short league, to a small village on the side of a hill, the first in Spain, then on to two or three more, and in less than six leagues we reached Ciudad Rodrigo. This town stands on a rise, in an undulating sort of rough Salisbury Plain. It is two-thirds in ruins, but the public buildings appear to have suffered comparatively little, and might, most of them, be restored. The entrance to the town is striking. We got an indifferent quarter in the suburbs, immediately opposite the place where the light battalions entered. The main breach was round the corner of our abode. The Spaniards had nearly restored these two breaches, but from ill luck or neglect both had entirely given way, and there must still be some months’ work before they can undo and clear enough away to begin to rebuild again. Everything was scarce in the town, and the people imposing and uncivil. On the seventh day we proceeded to Brondillo, where we were obliged to stop, as there were only two houses in Castel Legos, to which the route sent us. This was by far our worst day’s journey; the distance was seven leagues, that is, twenty-eight miles. It took us to accomplish this from six in the morning to past three, of which time it rained eight hours and a half, nearly all that time like a bad English thunder-shower of ten minutes’ duration. No coats could keep out the wet, and it was accompanied by a strong, cold November wind, for the weather for the last week has been as cold as an English November. We all suffered, and I have been chilly and aguish ever since. We then, for the first time, entered a Spanish cabin; and oh! how superior to those of Portugal! of Ireland! of Scotland! and if I did notconsider these cottages as farms and not as cottages, I should say of England too! All neat and clean; with pots, dishes, boilers in abundance.
The people are proud, but if treated with civility, courteous and kind, though they are turned away from their own firesides by us and the Portuguese three or four nights in the seven. They made us a great fire, and did all they could for us. The women seem chatty and merry—the men, the handsomest and best-grown, with the finest countenances I ever saw, except perhaps in Switzerland. We met with the same sort of treatment and kindness at the next village. The house belonged to the priest, with whom, through the medium of some mongrel Latin and Spanish, I managed to converse a little. These quarters are some of the best I have had since leaving Lisbon; at Togadillo, where the route sent us, there was only one good house.
At Robedila, a place out of the road, where we got by accident, finding we had passed Togadillo without knowing it, all was comfort again. This place the French occupied for some time with ten thousand men. We arrived yesterday at Salamanca. After the first five leagues from Ciudad Rodrigo, which were as rough as Dartmoor, we have passed through a country like the neighbourhood of Salisbury Plain, only that the villages were much more numerous, though several only of three or four houses, now nearly all repaired. Not a single large, or, I believe, two-storied house, from Ciudad Rodrigo to this place. Much of the country now quite a fine green, but a very large part in cultivation. The land looked good; about midway it consisted of, for five or six leagues, clay, and knee-deep: in some places a light soil, or reddish sand; with water up to the mules’ bellies, from the heavy rain, though it had ceased twenty-four hours. The people have plenty of bread and straw, but there are no shops in the villages. They only sell to oblige each his own lodgerfor the night. Bread was threepence a pound—it had been fourpence. All along this country, from St. Martin de Rio hither, are abundance of acorns, almost as good as chestnuts; quite sweet. The muleteers and men halt to eat them. This also gives good fires everywhere. Horses and bones are strewed more or less along the whole way from Lisbon. In one place, about seven leagues from Salamanca, were thirteen heads arranged in a row, as stepping-blocks for passengers through the water. I believe there was a little cavalry brush there. Salamanca stands well, but in a sort of Salisbury Plain. The colleges are destroyed, but the church is most beautiful, and the entrances much finer than those of our cathedrals—the figures and heads very fine indeed.
The altered Roman bridge is striking. The town is so full, principally of sick, that I have got bad quarters, half a mile out of the town; my direction l’Ultima Casa.
Later, same day.—I have been again looking at the town. The great church is very fine, and not damaged, but there are many miserable ruins of noble colleges, some gutted, some nearly razed. The public library has a fair supply of books, but too exclusively of sacred, or rather ecclesiastical literature; there are, however, good classics, French, and modern learned works, mathematics, and others: it is about two-thirds of the size of Trinity College, Cambridge. I hope to proceed the day after to-morrow, to Valladolid, which it is proposed to reach in seven days. There are good shops here, and articles not dear. It is curious to see the same effect of ages and of tastes as in England. Below and behind the great altar of the church was some old English, or, as we should say, Saxon architecture, that is, a rude imitation of Greek. Then came a florid sample of Gothic, not in the best taste, but beautifully ornamented, with screens, &c., in the style of King Charles and King William; forced Grecian again, of two centuries back.