1825.] Conduct aud Defeat of General Morillo at Margarita. 
on the voast -* Holland. He was a 
-young..man_.of the, greatest promise, 
dai acted much celebrity by his 
** System of moral Philosophy,” and 
other writings. Of the, Aikins it is 
unnecessary to speak, their. merits 
and literary reputation, are universally 
Known. | | Iam, Sir, &c. &c. 
Soy ——=_>__- ; 
a! For the Monthly Magazine. 
Interestine Parricuranrs of the Con- 
.puct and Dereat of Genrrat Mo- 
~ RILLo aé Marcarira. 
GREEN. seems to be the princi- 
/_ pal feature that marked the ca- 
reer.of the Spanish generals from Pe- 
nario down to the arch traitor Morillo, 
whose atrocious conduct and perfidious 
policy. to, the poor inhabitants of Mar- 
garita merits. universal execration, -al- 
though ‘it ..is..but. partially known. in 
Europe... Having Janded_.at.Pompatai, 
on. the, island of Margarita, he got pos- 
session ofthe fortresses, at the head of 
seven thousand men. Perhaps there are 
few. places better fortified. by nature and 
art., It forms, an, amphitheatre around 
a safe and, commodious harbour. On 
the eastern, side.is‘an, eighteen-gun bat- 
tery; in front, a.twenty-four-gun. bat- 
tery ;.on..the west, a six-gun battery; 
and on the pinnacle»ofa lofty hill, com- 
manding, ‘the harbour and. every ap- 
proach .to;the town, is an eighteen- 
gun, battery with heavy ordnance. A 
person might well suppose, that a force 
consisting .of seven thousand picked 
troops, with such resources, were not to 
be\conquered,by a population of twenty 
thousand half-naked savages ; but love of 
jiberty,and hatred of the persecutions of 
animplacable enemy produce emanations 
of genius and.exertion, where all advan- 
tages:of culture and information seem 
to be denied. .Morillo began his career 
of bloodshed, by summoning the better 
sort of creole inhabitants to Pompatai. 
Some: appeared to the summons, and 
were. made., prisoners and put to 
death, without form of trial. On the 
inhabitants of this little island he levied 
contributions of ten thousand rations 
each day, until: every ox on the island 
but three was slaughtered,.and every 
sheep, but ten, which the inhabitants 
petitioned might be spared to propagate 
the species; but they received a sarcastic 
reply, that as he, meant to put them to 
death, as. rebels, they would not want 
fodd... This menace was accompanied 
by, a detachment of! four thousand men 
to the city of Alvalea, or La Ciudad, by 
which name it is better known, who 
Montuty Mac. No. 404. 
505 
pillaged and burnt the little paradise, 
of about eight hundred houses, uniformly 
built round a neat square, in the midst 
of the island. On each side of it were 
meandering rivers, encircling sayannahs, 
and fertile plantations. It was the 
see, or residence of a bishop, who lost 
his life there. After plundering and 
demolishing the, city, and putting such 
of the inhabitants as they could over- 
take to the sword, they. rioted and 
feasted in sight of the ruins of their 
vandalism for ten days ; after which they 
marched to. Port le Mar, which they 
also demolished, and the little towns of 
Tonseca, Clepasso, and Parawatchee. 
The half-naked inhabitants, driven to 
despair by these cruelties, herded to- 
gether in the impenetrable mountains 
onthenorthern district of the island; and: 
began. offensive operations by. lying in 
wait for the Spaniards, and, reducing 
their numbers ; every, bush, concealing 
an enraged enemy (man, woman; or boy) 
to the vandal Spaniard... The, Creoles 
now secured the only:pass on the island, 
by which Nortey, Juan, Greego, and St. 
John could be attacked (on the top of a 
high hill on the mountain path,) by. the 
incredible labour. of digging ,a chasm 
across the road, so as to prevent, the 
enemy crossing. Men, women, and boys, 
working incessantly, cut through , a 
granite rock in the space of seven days 
and nights, while the indolent Spaniards 
were carousing and feasting. Morillo 
now marched to attack Nortey, but 
found, to his inexpressible surprise, that 
the Creoles had encompassed ‘the hill, 
and were determined to dispute the 
pass; which he, however, seemed de- 
termined to carry, cost what it would, 
With this view he commenced the at- 
tack by a heavy fire of musquetry, and 
drove the Creoles behind their entrench- 
ments, following close after them, but 
was repulsed in a manner quite as un- 
expected as novel; stones of an incre- 
dible weight. being hurled and: rolled 
down the declivity with such velocity, 
as to tear up the slope, and crush and 
bear every thing before them in’ a mass 
of frightful destruction. In this one 
attack ‘he lost four hundred of his 
choicest troops, together with arms and 
ammunition. He renewed it next morn- 
ing, with as little success. Finding his 
efforts vain and the pass impracticable, 
hereturnedto Pompatai, with the loss of 
seven hundred of his men; harassed, as 
he marched along, by a victorious enemy, 
close couched in the thicket, and quite 
invisible to his men. Morillo now find- 
Eb ing 
