Scenes in Spain. 13 



was then probably with his company, was very likely better'supplied, 

 and I, thinking I could find him sooner than my more nonchalant 

 friend, forthwith, with that intention, set off in the direction of the 

 little chapel, the station of the main-guard. Arrived there, I en- 

 quired of the sentry where the company to which C. belonged was 

 stationed ; and he directed me to some fires, distinctly visible at 

 some distance in the forest, about five hundred yards to our right, in 

 the neighbourhood of which he said the company of which I was in 

 quest was bivouacked. 



Keeping the distant fires as a guide to steer by, I made a rather 

 circuitous route in order to pass the streamlets at the most shallow 

 parts, for, as I have before said, the whole forest was intersected by 

 numerous rivulets that meandered in every direction. " Perseverance 

 will overcome every obstacle,'' thought I, as with some trouble I 

 arrived in the vicinity of the beacon fires; when I found to my 

 vexation that they were descried, and had apparently been so for 

 some hours, as the flickering light from the expiring embers cast an 

 occasional flash around that served for a moment to illumine the sur- 

 rounding gloom. Not a living object was in sight not a house was 

 to be seen in any direction the will-o'-the-wisp fires that had guided 

 me there showed no friendly light to direct me back, and the forest 

 was as trackless as the wide ocean. In a word, I had lost my way ! 

 " Past two o'clock, and a serene morning" (as the old London watch- 

 men used to cry), may be very agreeable, by way of a change, in 

 the 'streets of the metropolis ; but far from pleasant in a Carlist 

 forest, thought I, as with some anxiety I recollected that I was un- 

 armed with the exception of a small gimcrack pistol, which I had 

 providentially slipped into my breast-pocket on quitting the bed. 



There was, however, nothing to be done by staying where I was ; 

 so on I went, certainly distancing the fires but not improving my 

 position with regard to the village. After some time spent in this 

 manner, to my surprise I heard, at no great distance, some one sing- 

 ing, or rather shouting, at the top of his voice, a popular liberal air, 

 and presently distinguished the words, " Tragala, tragala, Perro !'* 

 as the drunken echoes reverberated through the silence of the forest. 

 A moment after a chapelgorri, reeling from the effects of strong 

 potations, made his appearance and staggered towards me. I hailed 

 him in Spanish and asked him in what direction lay the village his 

 only reply was, " Drinke, drinke, Senor ; vino, vino !" accompanied 

 with a drunken leer as, dangling a well-filled bota suspended from 

 his neck, he again shouted out " Tragala, tragala 1" 



With a curse upon the fellow's head for his ill-timed mirth, I pro- 

 ceeded onwards ; and for about half an hour, blundered on as before, 

 every minute getting deeper and deeper into the recesses of the 

 forest, till a very different object met my view. This was the appa- 

 rition of two men whom, by their stealthy movements as they cau- 

 tiously emerged into the more open space where I stood, I at once 

 perceived to be paisannos. At no time a particularly agreeable 

 sight, their appearance at such an hour and under such circumstances 

 was any thing but satisfactory. I began to feel not a little nervous, 

 as a glance around showed me the utter impossibility of escape. 



