About noon we reached the town of Tolosa, the ancient Iturissa, on the rivers Arexes and Orio, over each of which is a handsome bridge. It being market-day, we had an opportunity of seeing a number of Biscayners assembled, who had the appearance of prosperity in their dress, and of affability in their manners. The women of this province are celebrated for their beauty, and those we saw justified this character. The market seemed to be well supplied with all kinds of provisions.

Here we found an excellent inn, a very uncommon thing in the small towns of Spain. Monsieur de Billi, who was ordered to quit us, to join General Mont Marie, as his aide-de-camp, at Valencia, gave a sumptuous breakfast after which we proceeded, and de Billi accompanied me out of the town, being obliged to wait at Tolosa for an escort. I hoped that, as I was on horseback, I should have escaped the parting embrace, à la Françoise; but was disappointed, for when about to return, he stopped his horse in the middle of the convoy, and kissed me very cordially on each cheek. He was, however, a good fellow; and I was afterwards very sorry to learn, that he lost one of his arms in an affair at Valencia.

During the day’s march we passed through several narrow and winding passes in the Pyrennees, excavated in the solid rock at vast labour; and had an opportunity of observing the singular mode of travelling of the Biscay women, two being usually conveyed by a mule, one on each side, balancing each other, while the strange caparison of the animal, and the still stranger costume of the women, afforded a subject worthy the pencil of a Hogarth.

In the evening we reached Villa Reale, a middling town, and the following morning (January 16) continued our journey in a heavy rain, that had prevailed throughout the preceding night, and produced a great number of cascades, some of considerable size, which tumbling perpendicularly from great heights, gave an additional interest to the romantic scenery around. A commissary invited me to take shelter in a caisson, and I was somewhat surprised to find so much good sense and candour in a Frenchman of that class; but was soon undeceived, by his telling me that he had the honour and happiness to be a Swiss. Adverting to the number of dismounted dragoons returning to France, and who principally formed our escort, I inquired the cause of so great a destruction of horses in the French army, and learnt that it was owing to the neglect in the management of them. The commissary, who was in a situation to ascertain the fact, assured me that the French armies in Spain had lost sixty thousand horses, valued each at sixteen louis; which makes the total loss in this article of military expenditure alone, amount to near one million sterling. From this person I also received some account of the French army in Portugal, which he said was at times so short of provisions, that the soldiers were frequently upon one-sixth allowance: hence he concluded that they would soon be obliged to evacuate that country, and that the evacuation of Andalusia would probably soon follow. He also spoke of Napoleon’s popularity among the superior officers in a very different manner from what I had heard from others; and if he was correct, the control and obedience in which he keeps them, spews great ability, as well as firmness of character.

We reached Urnieta before dark, and I was quartered d at the extremity of the town, where my reception from my landlady was so uncouth, that I was obliged to threaten her with applying for other quarters, in which case she would have a French officer billetted on her; a threat she did not at all seem to relish. On my return from procuring provisions and forage, I was quite surprised at the change in this lady’s manner, for she was now civil in the extreme. After dinner she entered the room, and first fastening the door, asked me if it was really true that I was an English officer, as somebody had told her; and when I answered in the affirmative, and related the manner of my being made prisoner, her sensibility got the better of her; her eyes gradually filled, and at last she burst into a flood of tears. When I asked her to sell and dress me a fowl for next day’s march, the offer of payment made her think I was still offended; and to convince her of the contrary, I was obliged to accept some fowls and ham “of her own curing.” She also begged permission to introduce her brother, who, she said, had been quite melancholy since the entrance of the French, and that the sight of an English officer would be highly gratifying and reviving to him; he accordingly made his appearance, and his deportment was such as to command respect and create confidence. He regretted that while England was so generously shedding her blood and expending her treasures for the support of Spanish liberty, she had neglected sending officers and arms to Biscay, for that, to his knowledge, there were sixty thousand stout, determined fellows registered, and ready for organization at the first favourable moment. He also mentioned the ports where arms might be landed with safety, as well as those which should be avoided, as being strictly watched by the enemy. At the same time he drew a topographical sketch of the country, pointing out the passes most capable of defence; adding that, though the Biscayners wanted no other stimulus than their patriotism, they would be sure to find ample pecuniary reward, by the capture of the treasure every day passing from France into Spain. Before we parted, I concerted some arrangements, in case a future chance should cause me to land on that coast.

January 17. I was waked early in the morning by the sound of the tocsin, announcing a fire, and on inquiry, learned that the town-house had been set on fire by the French soldiers. As my host told me that it was very unsafe to walk alone in the streets, even in the day, from the inveteracy of the inhabitants towards the French, for one of whom I might be taken, he offered to accompany me through the town; and I found that his caution was not unnecessary, as we met several scattered groups of sullen and apparently irritated people in the streets.

About a league from the town we fell in with a convoy of sick and wounded, belonging to the army of Portugal, going into France. Here, from an elevation, we caught a fine view of the Bay of Biscay, the port of Saint Sebastian (about half a league distant), and those of St. Andero, Santona, Guetaria, and Bilbao, all in sight, being situated on a curve of the coast.

We reached Irun to breakfast; and as we were to separate here, I invited sixteen of my compagnons de voyage to partake of as good a breakfast as could be procured in this miserable place, the last town of Spain on quitting which, there being no longer any necessity for an escort, each individual of the convoy was free to push on as he thought fit for the place of his destination.

After crossing a wooden bridge over the Bidassoa, which separates Spain from France, I at length arrived on the territory of la grande nation Here my baggage was examined, at a kind of custom-house, where the duties are paid on merchandize passing from Spain into France. This ceremony over, I was about to pursue my route, but was stopped by a, gend’arme, who demanded my feuille de route, and on my saying I had none, refused to let me proceed. A Polish Major just then coming up, offered to pass me on: but this I declined, fearing he might esteem it a great favour, and be inclined to honour me with more of his company than would be agreeable; I therefore returned back to Irun, and applied to the commandant for the necessary paper, which he did not think himself authorized to grant, although the corporal of a guard might have gone farther without straining his responsibility. I however met the Lieutenant commanding the convoy, who accompanied me to the barrier; and shewing my name in the feuille de route, I was allowed to proceed to St. Jean de Luz, about eight miles distant, and over a heavy road. Here I was billetted at the house of two ancient maiden ladies, who every moment expressed their dread of a visit from the Spaniards; but as I assured them that their virtue and property were equally safe in that respect, I succeeded in tranquillizing their fears.

According to agreement made at Irun, I met Monsieur Pole and the Swiss Commissary at dinner at the Porte Impériale, an inn of considerable repute, but which fell far short of the idea that had been given me of it. Our dinner was made up of scraps, consisting of the legs of a salt goose, and the legs and neck of a fowl, with some vegetables. The wine was little better than vinegar: added to which, the whole was thrown on the table as if it fell from Heaven by chance. My companions praised every thing, exclaiming, “quel bonheur! nous voilà en France!” but for my own part I could not help observing, that if such was the fare I had to expect in France, I should prefer returning into Spain. I however at last succeeded in procuring a little good Claret, which in some degree compensated for the other deficiencies.

Before continuing my journey through France, I shall offer a few observations on the province of Biscay, and the road through the Pyrennees, to cross which it took us three days most fatiguing march.

Biscay is formed of three subdivisions, viz. Guipuscoa, Beisorio, and La Montana. The only carriage road through the Pyrennees, on this side, is between St. Jean de Luz, through Irun to Vittoria, and was at this time almost impassable, from the continual passage of vehicles and the total want of repairs. Between Vittoria and Irun the road is skirted by numerous villages, wearing the appearance of industry and comfort.

Biscay has twenty-one considerably towns, of which the principal is Bilboa, possessing a good port and considerable trade, with an air so pure that it may be called the Montpelier of Spain; patients, therefore, particularly with chronical complaints, are ordered here by the faculty. The extent of the territory of Alava, which formerly was included in the province of Biscay, but is now united to Old Castile, is fourteen leagues east and west, and ten north and south. Guipuscoa, which is considerably the largest of the divisions of Biscay, is eighteen leagues east and west; and twelve north and south; its surface is composed of lofty mountains with narrow passes, and inhabited by a brave and warlike people, who should, above all the inhabitants of the Peninsula, call the attention of the British government in the present contest. This division has ten leagues of coast, in which there are several good ports, viz. St. Sebastian, Passages, &c. Those of Guetaria, Orio, Zaraus, Zumaya, Deva, and Motrico, though of less consideration, are accessible to vessels of a certain size; and indeed it seems astonishing that England neglected occupying these ports at the commencement of her alliance with Spain, for their possession would have been of inestimable value at different periods of the war.

Besides the three divisions already noticed, there is a territory included in Biscay called the Four Towns; each of these divisions is of a triangular shape, and they all join each other. When Cæsar invaded Spain, in the century before the Christian era, the whole of Biscay formed one province under the name of Cantabria, and its inhabitants in the fastnesses of their mountains defied the armies of the Romans; and aided by their neighbours the Asturians, and by the Gallicians, carried desolation into the subdued provinces. Although Augustus entered Avala and Guipuscoa with a formidable army, and defeated the Cantabrians and their allies in the plains, they still held out in their mountains, and were never entirely subdued. The Asturians, after sustaining a long and bloody siege in Oviedo, surrendered; but the Gallicians, surrounded on all sides, preferred death, to subjection, and were exterminated in the most desperate and unequal conflicts.

The Cantabrians, in want of provisions, determined to die by each others hands, and a great number put this desperate design into execution; those who remained harassed the Romans by a predatory warfare, and although Fabricius erected forts in the mountains, and adopted every other means to subdue them, after a century of glorious struggle, they succeeded in expelling their invaders, and continued to enjoy undisturbed liberty until a century after the establishment of the Moors in Spain. From what I saw of them the modern Biscayners have not degenerated from their Cantabrian ancestors in firmness and courage.