If any thing could have taught the French that their chances of reducing Spain to obedience were blank, the care which they were obliged to exercise for the purpose of passing the most ordinary convoy across the border ought to have done so. I believe that there was no instance on record of a moderately-sized party attempting that passage, and saving so much as an individual alive, to tell how it had fared with his companions. And even the accumulations of months, though escorted by a strong battalion, were glad by all manner of disguises to conceal the true moment of their starting. I found, for example, that, inclusive of sick, wounded, weary, and persons whom real business drew out of Spain, not fewer than 10,000 people were, when I reached Vittoria, assembled there, for the single purpose of being passed, under military guard, into France. Moreover, a corps of 600 infantry, with four fieldpieces, were appointed to guard them; and of waggons laden with baggage, and public and private plunder, there was no end. Yet, multitudinous as we were, it was not accounted safe to undertake the threading of those dangerous defiles, except under the protection of a stratagem. Thus there came out an order from the commandant, warning the travellers that, at a certain hour in the morning of the third day subsequently to the issue of his proclamation, they should be ready to begin their journey. As might be expected, intelligence of this arrangement spread far and wide through the provinces, and, without doubt, the guerillas were everywhere on the alert to intercept and profit by the movement. But we stole a march upon them. On the day immediately succeeding that on which the governor's handbill took its place at the corners of the streets, there appeared a supplementary command, by which we were directed to pack our baggage, and hold ourselves in readiness to move in one hour.

Never was the wisdom of any arrangement more distinctly proved than this. We had scarcely cleared the outskirts of the town, ere groups of brigands began to draw near us, which seemed to accumulate strength in proportion as we penetrated deeper and deeper among the mountains.
But they never acquired such a power of numbers as to justify them in their own eyes in making a serious attack; and we, in consequence, suffered nothing from first to last except from an occasional and very desultory fire of musketry. At the same time there was enough, in the whole progress of the journey, to divert my attention for the moment, and to make a deep impression upon my memory. In the first place, the scenery exceeded, in point of grandeur, all through which I had previously passed. So bold, indeed, were the ascents, and so steep the paths by which we regained the depths of the valleys, that over and over again I used to wonder how cars, and waggons, and even horses, contrived to traverse them. And then the wood was gorgeous in the extreme: the magnificent cork-tree overshadowing the base of mountains,--on the sides, and here and there the brows, of which waved far and wide whole forests of oak, and pine, and hazel. But that which gave to our journey its most engrossing interest was the constant proximity of bands of robbers, who, like the vultures that hover over a battle-field, seemed to track our course, and seize every opportunity that offered of molesting us. Repeatedly were we fired upon from the summits of inaccessible corries, and repeatedly threatened with more serious interruptions, which, however, our great numerical superiority, aided by the excellency of the device which had hindered them from assembling in force enough to meet us, effectually prevented. Yet the knowledge that danger was constantly at hand failed not to produce its effects as well upon the imaginative as upon the timid. And, finally, the bracing nature of the climate operated upon our nerves and spirits to an extent which I have no language adequate to describe. But the case may be judged of so soon as I state that when, towards sunset on the second day, we arrived in sight of Irun, there were comparatively few among us who did not experience a sensation not very far from regret that their perils were surmounted.

If I felt sorry at first on finding that I had quitted the salubrious air of the mountains, the feeling was at once dispelled when, to my great surprise, I found myself addressed, just after entering the town, by one who spoke to me in excellent English, and whom, in spite of the total change in his style and attire, I soon recognised as a former comrade in the 11th. I think that I have elsewhere spoken of one Nicholas Brown, an American by birth, who served in my own troop, and whose liberation from the prison at Salamanca I had been the means of procuring. But, however this may be, the person who now addressed me proved to be this same Brown, and the reception which he gave me was not more creditable to himself than it was, in the highest degree, acceptable to me. I confess that, when we first encountered, I was a good deal surprised by the elegance of his attire and bearing. Neither was the sentiment diminished when he conducted me to his apartments,--three well-furnished rooms in the commandant's house,--and, ringing the bell, ordered a servant to provide all things necessary for our recreation. So, also, the display of his wardrobe, his jewellery, and, though last not least, his ready money, impressed me with sentiments of great respect. But when the truth came out, my surprise, at least, suffered a remarkable diminution. The commandant's lady--not his wife--had, it appeared, taken a fancy to Brown. She was young, beautiful, and extremely fascinating; and Brown, acting as men in his circumstances are apt to do, readily gave himself up to the bright intoxication. All his wishes were in consequence prevented; and he very fairly told me, that, let him escape from the condition of a prisoner when he might, he would certainly not rejoin his regiment. I confess that, bearing the fact in my mind, that he was not an Englishman by lineage, I scarcely blamed him for this; but, even if I had, the fact of his meditating a public wrong to the state would have scarcely justified me, in my own eyes, for rejecting his private kindness. I spent a day with him very pleasantly; and, next morning, when we marched, as we did at five o'clock, he rode several miles in my company; neither did we part without feelings of sincere and mutual regret.

We halted for a couple of days in Bayonne, of the position and capabilities of which it is not necessary for me to say any thing. The intrenched camp, which at a later stage in the war covered and rested upon it, was not then begun; neither were the sluices taken up, nor the low ground flooded; but the permanent fortifications both of the town and the citadel were in excellent order; and being a sort of depot station for most of the regiments employed in the north and east of Spain, it could boast of a strong, if not a very homogeneous garrison. It is cut in halves, as the reader doubtless knows, by the river Adour; and can boast of a population greater by far, than the surface extent of the site would lead the traveller to imagine. But I cannot say that my remembrances of Bayonne are very agreeable; so I content myself with stating, that we turned our backs upon it with little regret; and plunging into that strange and wild district called the Llandes, passed on by way of Dax, towards Bordeaux.

The Llandes have been too often and too accurately described by other travellers to render so much as an allusion to the peculiarity of the scenery admissible from me. It is an enormous plain of sand, which extends along the sea from Bayonne to Bordeaux, and measures, at a moderate computation, at least two hundred miles in length, by fifty or sixty, or perhaps more, in breadth. In ancient times, the sands used to be quite bare, and to shift, like those of the desert of Alexandria, with every high wind that blew, till a pious monk--whose name I heard, but have forgotten--showed his countryman how to reclaim, by planting the waste with pine-trees. The roots of the pine served as braces to bind the sand together. The leaves and cones, as they fell and decayed, created a soil; and now we come, from time to time, in traversing a huge forest, upon extensive clearances, over which flocks of sheep and herds of cattle wander, and neat villages are scattered. It struck me, also, that the inhabitants of the Llandes were a very happy, as well as a primitive race. They seemed to have every thing about them in abundance which is necessary to sustain life, and many articles of simple luxury. Moreover, they were light of heart, free of speech, bold hunters of the wolf and of the bear; and, as I could gather as much from what I saw as what I heard, daring smugglers. Yet they appeared to be an innocent race, notwithstanding this latter propensity; and their deference for their priests was worthy of the patriarchal times. Many a pleasant dance I had with the young women, and many a pleasant chat with the old, after our tents were pitched, and our horses dressed, and our convoy established.

We traversed the Llandes in the space, if I recollect right, of five days, having been greatly interested throughout the journey, as well with the nature of the country, as with the happy condition of its inhabitants. Our resting-place was Bordeaux, of which, for the same reasons which held me back from describing Bayonne, I do not think that it is worth while to say any thing. It is a noble city, very clean, full of bustle, and adorned with many gorgeous edifices; and
enriched as well as beautified by the proximity of the Garonne, which, in a fine volume of water, flows past it. Besides, the opportunities afforded me of minutely examining the place were not great; for my master having brought with him certain relics of a French general who had been a friend of his, and fallen in battle, set out, on the day after our arrival, for the château in which the widow dwelt, that he might tell her how her husband's last moments were spent, and hand over to her his treasures. I dare say, that to the poor bereaved lady the visit was sad enough, for she was a young and delicate creature, not more, as it seemed, than twenty-five years of age; and her countenance, when I saw her, told a tale of hopes altogether blighted. But to me the excursion was full of interest, and therefore I may as well make mention of it.

The château towards which our steps were turned, lay a good day's journey from Bordeaux; and to reach it, we passed through a succession of vineyards, interspersed with luxuriant groves of olive and myrtle. The highest order of cultivation, too, was present everywhere, and food for ourselves, as well as forage for our horses, was both cheap and abundant. But it was the abode of the widow and her domestic establishment that principally engaged my attention; for any thing more gorgeous, yet peculiar, I never witnessed. We reached a village towards dusk, at the bottom of which stood the château,--a fine mansion, with extensive stables and outhouses attached,--and our reception, so soon as my master's name had been announced, was of the most gratifying kind. The entire household seemed, indeed, to greet our arrival as a jubilee. My master was led at once into the presence of the lady; while I had the horses taken from me, and was conducted into a room, where a dozen maids were assembled, and seated forthwith as the honoured guest among them. Not one word of their language could I speak, nor one in a dozen could I understand; and as for my efforts, whether I addressed them in English, or Spanish or German, they were alike unprofitable to gain a hearing. Yet we continued to converse, amid a great deal of laughter, by signs; and as to drinking healths, that was managed by hob-nobbing our glasses at momentary intervals. It was, upon the whole, the most amusing meal that I ever ate; and the viands, as well as the wines, were excellent.

We spent two days with the French general's widow, throughout which we were treated with the greatest possible kindness. My master was sumptuously lodged, in an apartment the walls of which were entirely covered with mirrors, and the floor laid with oak, on which the polish was so fine that, till I pulled off my boots, I at least could not stand upon it without slipping. There was, too, a peculiarity about that chamber, which, on one occasion put me to some inconvenience. The door shut with a spring; and being, like the panels, overlaid with glass, I found it impossible to make my way out again, till my master, waking from his first sleep, put his hand upon the catch and threw it open. As to my own billet, it was extremely comfortable, though in a remote and gloomy wing of the castle. And then the grounds were perfectly beautiful, with parterres of flowers, terraces rising above one another, all in the formal order of the French school. But it is not worth while to continue these details any further. We abode in this hospitable mansion till the morning of the third day; on the arrival of which we bade our friends farewell, and returned the same evening to Bordeaux.