J 827.] French Prison of Valenciennes. 



" Each copse, which rose to view as we advanced, we fancied invited us to its pro- 

 tection. It was our intention to take the first opportunity, in passing a wood, 

 through which our road sometimes led, to leap from the waggon, and trust to our 

 heels, and its shelter, for security. To this end, we had taken our station in the 

 front of one, with our knapsacks (containing a few articles necessary for a march) 

 'on our backs. On approaching a wood, a gen-d'arme observed, with a very signi- 

 ficant expression of countenance, ' Messieurs, il me semble que vous vous trou- 

 verez plus a votre aise sans 1'havresac au dos. J " 



At Sedan, a " citadel with ramparts, in a most delightfully dilapidated 

 state," hopes are again entertained ; but, unhappily, only to be again foiled 

 by the " cat-like vigilance of the guard." And at Meziers a fourth most 

 admirable plot is knocked on the head, (as the projectors, we rather think, 

 would have been if they had attempted to execute it), by the unexpected 

 appearance of some " large dogs," upon whom the gaoler evidently counted 

 as his most effective and incorruptible turnkeys. The subsequent halts at 

 Arras, Quesnoy, and Landrecy, though the parties were incessantly upon 

 the quivive afforded no better fortune : and, on the 17th of August, hav- 

 ing then been five years, less by a few days, in France, the author, with 

 his party, arrived at the depot of Valenciennes. 



At Valenciennes, according to the order already recorded, no parole 

 is to be allowed ; and the new coming party are conducted to the citadel, 

 there to take up their abode with about 1,400 prisoners who occupied the 

 barracks. No distinction is made between the midshipmen " tres-mauvais 

 sujets" and the seamen " mauvais," of course in virtue of their inferior 

 rank except that the former have the permission of walking on a certain 

 rampart fronting the town, under observation too close (as it was sup- 

 posed), to let the privilege turn to much account. 



From the citadel, indeed, escape appears almost physically impracticable, 

 it being surrounded with ditches, which the new-comers soon discover to 

 contain six feet of mud, with not more than one foot of water above it so 

 that swimming is impossible ! The sentries, also, are increased in number, 

 and the very gens-d'armes, in their passage round the town at night, carry a 

 lanthorn ; commands being given tofire at every body who is found in the 

 streets after dark, without such a means of recognition. In addition to 

 these precautions, " espionage" is carried on to an inconceivable extent; and 

 several individuals, who attempt to break prison, are shot by the soldiers 

 (in preference to being re-captured), by way of caution to the rest. 



But, in despite of all these impediments or rather in wilful opposition 

 to them notwithstanding that he is now separated from his comrade, Mr. 

 Moyses our author (in whom the very spirit of flight seems to have 

 taken up its residence), has hardly been twelve hours in the depot, before 

 he begins to meditate how he shall get out of it ! And in his endeavour to 

 enlist associates in this enterprize (for it was impossible to undertake it 

 alone), he goes from man to man, sounding one and exhorting another, until 

 at length his intentions are not only known and publicly denounced by the 

 French authorities, but the very English themselves grow shy of him, as a 

 speculator whose plots are likely to bring their whole body into trouble. 



In fact, the book itself must'be read, in order to form any idea of the 

 extreme pertinacity with which Captain Boys pursued this favourite point : 

 and it is one of the worst symptoms (in our view) for Mr. Pocock's man- 

 carrying kites, that the possibility of such a vehicle did not suggest itself 

 to him. First, he applies in succession to at least half-a-dozon of his 

 brother midshipmen ; some of whom consent to aid, but all decline to 

 r 



