110 

 SUFFERINGS OF LIEUTENANT D. O'BRIEN R. N. 



• Continued from pa^e 67. 



Since our arrival at this depot, several of the stoutest, and apparently most 

 healthy of our men, died of a fever, supposed to be caught in some of the 

 jails on the road ; our poor servant Allen was seized with it, and expired in 

 a few days. 



In the latter part of June, our commandant appeared much altered, and 

 became excessively distant ; we were at a loss to know the cause of so sudden 

 a change. Mr. Bradshaw informed us, that he once observed to him, ** that 

 the English officers (as he was kind enough to style us) were excessively 

 proud. I never meet them, but I take my hat off, whilst they only lift theirs." 

 Admitting this to have been the case, we had a better opinion of him, than to 

 suppose that so trivial a matter could cause so great an alteration in his 

 behaviour. He one night sent a guard of gend'armes to take us from our 

 lodging to the guard-house, for being in the streets after 9 o' clock ; when it 

 is scarcely dark at this season of the year ; although we had no regular time 

 prescribed by him to be in-doors ; there we remained, on a cold pavement, 

 all night, at a loss to know what we had been guilty of. Our guards assured 

 us, it was merely the caprice of the commandant. At noon Mr. Bradshaw 

 visited us, without giving us any hopes of release. The commandant informed 

 him, that we were confined for not answering a sentinel on his post, who had 

 hailed ns : this we denied, as we had not passed one that night. Mons. Bras- 

 scur, the second in command, then came to see us, and expressed great sorrow 

 at seeing us confined without cause ; he waited on the commandant, became 

 responsible for our conduct, and had us moved to our lodgings, where we were 

 ordered to continue without stirring out, until further orders. $ 



Our poor landlady received us with the greatest joy imaginable, bathed 

 us with her tears, and had some refreshments ready, although she had sent us 

 a very good breakfast to the guard-house by her own son. In three days we 

 were once more liberated, but were always confined whenever a religious 

 procession, or any amusement, took place, which, at this particular time, was 

 very frequent. Our chief amusement was a game at billiards, and a walk 

 round the ramparts, or rather ruins. We frequently met with military officers 

 at the billiard table, who always behaved with the strictest politeness, and 

 made us an offer of the table the moment we entered the room ; which, of 

 course, was declined until they had finished. I purchased a grammar and 

 dictionary, with an idea of learning French, and also begged the lady at the 

 library to choose me an easy French book, that I might begin translating 

 which she had the kindness to do. We were constantly, from the command- 

 ant's conduct of late, under apprehensions of being close confined with the 

 people ; he appeared more inveterate against me, than against any of the others. 

 However, about the 10th, or 12th of July, we received a letter from our 

 commanding officer at Verdun, stating, that General Wirrion had at last sent 

 an order for Mr. Mahony and me, to be conducted to Verdun depot ; but not 

 a word about either the boatswain or gunner ; those poor fellows, we had the 

 inexpressible sorrow of seeing pass through Verdun, in less than three months 

 after we quitted them, together with two of our seamen, that I observed had 

 escaped from Givet prison ; they were arrested close to the water side, near 

 Dunkirk, and were on their way to Biiche to be punished. Garree, the Jersey 

 man, who acted as interpreter, through some pique, informed the commandant 

 that the boatswain and gunner had an idea of making their escape ; he gave 

 him credit for this information, and dispatched these poor fellows to a depot 

 of punishment, where they remained for two years and a half, which caused 

 the death of the boatswain. This very scoundrel, the informer, a few days 



