516 Adventures in Colombia. [Nov. 



to organize a new force, which was employed with better success on the 

 next hostile rencontre, which took place at Ortiz (this, however, was 

 subsequent to the events which I have to detail in my present narra- 

 tive). Bolivar, on receiving the above intelligence, left his army under 

 the charge of General Soublette, at San Fernando, and hurried down to 

 Angostura, with the ostensible view of meeting the expected succours., 

 but his real object was of a far different nature ; to explain which, I 

 must make the reader acquainted with the position of. the other forces 

 of the republic, whose operations were not under his (Bolivar's) imme- 

 diate control, though nominally subject to his authority as " Supreme 

 Chief/' a title which he rather owed to his own assumption and by suf- 

 ferance, than to any legal act so constituting him. Those troops, embo- 

 died in the provinces of Cumana and Barcelona, were designated as the 

 " Army of the East ;" one division of which was commanded by the 

 gallant Marino, the other by the intrepid Piar. The first of these generals 

 was a young man of most amiable manners. His mother was a Caraccanian ; 

 he was himself (I believe) a native of the island of Margarita ; but his 

 paternal grandfather was of the Milesian family of the O'Briens, and 

 nearly related to the present Marquis of Thomond ; he had, in early 

 youth, emigrated to Spain, and was incorporated with the Irish Legion 

 in the service of that country. Here his military talents obtained^ him 

 the notice of the sovereign, by whom he was created Marquis de 

 Marino, and was shortly afterwards appointed to a command at Trini- 

 dad : here he realized a considerable fortune, and by his marriage came 

 into possession of a large estate on the Spanish Main. He had two 

 children a daughter, and the hero of my present sketch, who at his 

 decease drew lots for the property. The father's, situate at Trinidad 

 and its neighbouring island (Chicachicara), fell to the share of the sister, 

 whilst the brother took possession of his mother's portion, which was 

 equally valuable. The strongest affection existed between the brother 

 and sister ; and during the revolution, whenever the rainy season caused 

 a temporary cessation of hostilities, they never failed to visit each other, 

 alike insensible to the danger of the navigation, or the dread of inter- 

 ception from the Spanish gun-boats, which constantly hovered about the 

 coast. Santiago Marino in his complexion has not the slightest tinge 

 of his American descent : it is the fairest I have ever beheld ; his large 

 blue eyes, beaming with benignity, illumine a set of the most expressive 

 features. If the face be really the index of the heart, his must be a pure 

 and noble one : certain is it, that he possesses none of that ferocity of 

 disposition so prevalent amongst those of his countrymen, whom the 

 scum of the revolutionary cauldron has elevated into rank and power. 

 Brave to a fault, his courage has ever been tempered by humanity. 

 Prodigal of his own life when necessary, he is a niggard of the lives of 

 those under him ; no act of useless severity has ever stained the bright 

 annals of his political career, and even when called upon by imperative 

 justice to inflict punishment, his feeling heart has yearned (against his 

 better judgment) to pardon the criminal. One amongst many instances 

 of the clemency of his disposition I will relate. In the latter end of the 

 year 1818, his head-quarters were stationed at Maturin, a small town in 

 the province of Cumana; news was received that some stores for the use 

 of the troops had arrived at a small port some miles down the river, but 

 that the boats were too heavily laden to approach nearer ; six men, 

 under the command of a sergeant, were sent therefore with some mules 



