960 



ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



long, and, from its situation and 

 name, it was no doubt ori^iinally a 

 Roman camp, to wliich many jjreat 

 towns niiy be traced, not only in 

 Spain, but all over (jermany, 

 France, and Britain. Shortly be- 

 fore reachinji (astro tile ground 

 becomes uneven, and my guide, 

 using the privilege of a horseman, 

 conducted me across a long succes- 

 sion of cultiva'ed fieiiis, promising 

 the most abundiuit cii)[)s of beans 

 and vvlieat. The population of 

 Castro is reckoned at about four 

 thousand souls ; and, it being 

 Sunday, the crowd which assem- 

 bled, when I reached the post- 

 house, far exceeded any »wliich I 

 had yet witnessed on a similar oc- 

 casion. They asked me a great 

 number of questions ; and I men- 

 tioned, without reserve, what was 

 new to them, that the English 

 army had embarked, and that it 

 was said the Gallicians acted hos- 

 tilely to that army, but had given 

 up Corunna and Ferrol to tlie 

 French. At the former intelli- 

 gence they expressed great regret ; 

 and, when I concluded, there was 

 a general cry of ' Malditos sean 

 los Gailegos ;' or Curse the Gal- 

 licians. 



" On leaving the place, I found 

 a great concourse of people assem- 

 bled at the gate and lining both 

 sides of a small bridge which is 

 here thrown over the river, and 

 was courteously saluted. Having 

 got clear of the town, we soon en- 

 tered upon a fine plain, similar to 

 that on the other side of Castro, 

 having the Badajocillo on our left, 

 and gently rising hills on the right, 

 whilst at a distarce appeared the 

 lofty mountains of the chain which 

 divides Andalusia from Granada. 

 We had not proceeded far when 



we saw a great number of parties 

 approaching towards us, and in a 

 manner covering the plain. I at 

 first imajiined ihem to be inhabi- 

 tants of Castro, who had been 

 spending their Sunday in the coun- 

 try ; but, on their nearer approach, 

 the} appeared to be composed en- 

 tirely of men and youths, and who, 

 I was informi^d, had been drafted, 

 for the most part, from about Baena, 

 for the army. Tiiis was occasioned 

 by a recent decree of the Junta, 

 calling upon this part of the coun- 

 try for men, and granting very 

 few exemptions to such as were 

 able to carry arms. Nothing 

 could give a more striking picture 

 of the patience and implicit obe- 

 dience of the Spaniards to their 

 government, than was presented by 

 these successive groups, which had 

 just so suddenly relinquished their 

 homes, in strict obedience to a 

 single decree of a self-appointed 

 Junta. Some were old men with 

 grey hairs, riding on asses; others, 

 striplings under fourteen years of 

 age, playing with each other as 

 they went along the road. Most 

 were silent ; but some laughed 

 and sang; while others, with down- 

 cast eyes and melancholy looks, 

 appeared with difficulty to refrain 

 from tears. * Hay buenas noti- 

 cias ? Volveremos ? Viva I'lngla- 

 terra! Vumos? — Have you brought 

 good news ? Are we to return ? 

 England for ever! Let us go onl 

 Such were the exclamations which 

 showed the various feelings of the 

 parties, their hopes, and their 

 fears; their anxiety to return, or 

 their willingness, if not their eager- 

 ness, to advance. In this manner 

 at least twelve hundred men and 

 boys passed in review before me 

 ere sun-set ; nor was it possible to 



behold 



