MURCHISON. 281 



himself into a corner of a farmer's yard, and soon 

 fell asleep. Day had scarcely broken when the cry 

 of ' Picquet, turn out ! ' roused him from his rest, 

 but not in time to escape the notice of the vigilant 

 Colonel Packe, who, however, allowed him to 

 escape with a severe reprimand. But after the 

 halt at Tugo, when having vainly offered battle to 

 the French, the British army retreated by a forced 

 march to Corunna, the young lieutenant fairly 

 broke down. The mule, which had hitherto 

 carried himself or his kit, was lost ; his old soldier 

 servant had gone back to seek among the snow 

 for his wife and child." Of this sad time he has 

 preserved the following recollections : — " Never 

 shall I forget the night which followed the abandon- 

 ing of our position in front of Tugo. We marched 

 through that city at dusk, and then blew up the 

 bridge, which was to check for awhile our foe. In 

 darkness, with no food, and after sleepless nights, 

 with worn-out shoes, and thoroughly disgusted 

 with always running off and not fighting, this army 

 now fell into utter disorder. Starved as they were, 

 the men soon became reckless, and all the regi- 

 ments got mixed together ; in short, the soldiers 

 were desperate, in spite of the exertions of the few 

 mounted officers. For my own part, I walked on, 

 usually in my sleep, with the grumbling and tumul- 

 tuous mass, until awakened by the loss of my boots 

 in one of the numerous deep cuts across the roads, 

 which were like quagmires, so that with my bare 

 feet I had some twenty miles still to march, Many 



