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NARRATIVE OF A 



riders had been obliged to follow on foot. A detention of 

 a few hours was also incurred, in consequence of a report 

 that a considerable band of Carrera's people was hovering 

 about the neighbourhood. A scout was forthwith dis- 

 patched to ascertain the fact. On his return we learned 

 that one of the most noted leaders of the revolution had 

 been seen in that vicinity, but with a small number of 

 men only, and that he had betaken himself to a village in 

 the mountains. This village was situated at no great 

 distance from the road we were to pass ; but the circum- 

 stances of the case were not such as to justify any further 

 detention, and we resumed our march. 



After proceeding a few miles, we came to a steep rocky 

 mountain, called la Cuesta de la Leona. The ascent was 

 by a narrow winding path, sufficiently abrupt and diffi- 

 cult. I happened to be in. the advance, and was the first 

 to reach the summit ; whence I looked back upon our 

 wild and motley cavalgada, horse and foot, and baggage 

 mules, forming a long line, and toiling in a zig-zag direc- 

 tion up the mountain ; the bannerets of the cavalry flut- 

 tering in the air, and the muskets of the infantry glittering 

 in the sun. Of the foot soldiers, some held on by the 

 tails of the horses, or grappled with the rocks and bushes 

 to help themselves along, and others, to facilitate their 

 progress, had nearly stripped themselves of their clothes, 

 which were carried by their comrades who were mounted. 



Beyond this mountain, there were others equally wild 

 and lofty. High up, near the crest of one of them, and 

 embosomed amid rocks and bushes, was a group of huts 

 like a bird's nest, which the commandant pointed out to 

 me, saying that it was the village where the rebel chief, 

 alluded to above, had retreated. There he was, like an 

 eagle in his eyry, which was almost inaccessible, and, 

 doubtless, watching us with a wistful eye as we passed 

 beneath. 



Further on, an opening in the mountains afforded a 

 wide and charming vista of plains stretching far away to 



