CASUAL SOCIETY. 49 



paigns of Venezuela ; one of whom, although 

 retired from service, was under the neces- 

 sity of placing himself at the head of a 

 military party, which was ordered to go 

 in pursuit of the only banditti known to 

 remain in existence, and was unwilling 

 to march unless under the command of a 

 British officer. 



On the 15th of March I left Caraccas, in 

 company with Captain Dawkins of the Heli- 

 con. At the Venta, or inn, on the hill, where 

 I breakfasted, in going up, we were joined 

 by Messrs. Miranda and Wilson, sons of 

 the generals so named ; the former on his 

 way to establish a printing-press to aid the 

 cause of liberty, the latter about to join 

 General Bolivar as his aide-de-camp. Cap- 

 tain Dawkins and myself had been engaged 

 in serious conversation, but the youthful 

 gaiety of our new fellow-travellers so ex- 

 hilarated the whole party, that we soon 



VOL. I. E 



