54 ANDALUSIAN SKETCHES. 



mencement of the spring of 1810 that I was in Olbera, awaiting 

 the return of some scouts who had been sent to learn the move- 

 ments of the enemy. We guerillas wore no uniform ; the usual 

 brown dress of the mountaineers was our garb. I was chatting 

 one morning with my good friend the alcalde, when a townsman ac- 

 quainted us that a French officer was entering the place, demanding 

 billets and refreshments for a corps which was following. We hastily 

 put on our cloaks, and sallied forth. At the end of the Calle-ancha 

 (Broad-street), we encountered a young officer in the French uniform 

 covered with dust, and mounted upon a horse exhibiting extreme 

 fatigue. Don Carlos addressed him ; and the Frenchman replied in 

 Spanish, which he spoke fluently, demanding if the town was ' loyal 

 and well-disposed?' 'Undoubtedly/ replied the alcalde; 'the 

 people of Olbera will give you a good reception they esteem highly 

 the French/ I did not enter into the jesting humour of my friend, 

 although I knew him to be any thing but an afrancesado, the name 

 we gave to those traitors in Spain who favoured the invaders. I 

 coldly asked the Frenchman how many of his countrymen were fol- 

 lowing. ' Two hundred/ he replied, but in such a tone of hesita- 

 tion, that I at once felt persuaded that it was an exaggerated number. 

 He did not seem disposed to confer further with me, but turned with 

 a haughty commanding air to Don Carlos, handing to him a paper. 

 It was a decree, signed by the intruder king Joseph Napoleon, order- 

 ing all the constituted authorities in Spain to receive with proper re- 

 spect and attention their good friends the French troops. ' This shall 

 be obeyed/ said the alcalde. We had been surrounded during the 

 parley by a number of the inhabitants, whose countenances did not 

 evince much friendly feeling towards the stranger, and which he evi- 

 dently observed. He appeared, however, somewhat re-assured by the 

 demeanour of Don Carlos, and dismounting from his horse, we con- 

 ducted him to the plaza (the square), where billets were made out 

 for the numbers he stated to be advancing. In about an hour his de- 

 tachment arrived at the outskirts of the town, and I, as a volunteer 

 guide, accompanied him to meet it. I found, as I had expected, that 

 the boasted two hundred were about eighty dragoons, tired and 

 dispirited with their long and painful mountain march. After a short 

 consultation amongst the officers, I was informed that they resolved 

 not to incommode the ' good and loyal inhabitants of Olbera/ but 

 that they would bivouac on the spot where they now were, and oc- 

 cupy a small farm-yard and house near the road. I did not approve 

 of this arrangement, as it was my intention to have called in my band 

 during the evening, and in the course of the night to dispatch every 

 one of the French ; I therefore said all in my power to induce them 

 to accept the very comfortable lodgings we had prepared, but with- 

 out avail. I was rudely dismissed, and ordered to send, as soon as 

 possible, provisions. ' An ox must at all events be forthcoming/ 

 said the officer, ' and we shall then not demand any further supply 

 of beef.' I was on my return to the plaza to consult with Don 

 Carlos, when I was stopped in the narrow Calle-verde (Green-street), 

 by a wretched borico, which had fallen under an enormous load of 

 chopped straw, and was expiring from fatigue. ' Carne para los 



