his superiors; constantly employed in military duty, he was sure to lead, when any thing in the way of enterprize was going forward. "He lived, he fought For truth and wisdom; foremost of the brave, He had a very narrow escape at the siege of Badajos, and that before the general attack took place, which was related to me by one of his brother officers. In the assault and capture of Fort Picurin, one of the strongest works without the walls, the flank companies of the 83rd were desperately cut up; and their captain, the Hon. H. Powis, was among the slain. It is well known, that the sheer muscular strength and daring prowess of our soldiers, were the unaided means of causing our success. After breaking down the palisadoes, by which the well-defended work was girdled, they struggled hard against the enemy within, who met them in their teeth, and who fighting back to back, and heel to heel, disputed every inch of ground against the storming-party, with the fierceness of despair. A blazing fire of musquetry from the ramparts, threw a fitful glare upon the darkness of that gloomy night; and made some awful gaps 224 HEXT AT BADAJOS. among the assailants. The openings were however quickly filled by a fresh relay of stormers. All efforts of the foe were unavailing. Grappling with the chevaux de frize, and even with the muzzle of their guns, (the palings now being all destroyed), our fellows seized with tiger grip upon their prey; when, giving the "steel" in liberal abundance to those who resisted, the close-contested and murderous affray was briefly terminated. But with regard to the danger to which Hext in particular was exposed, the cool presence of mind and bravery of a soldier of the 83rd are worth recording. When they were all in the ditch together, friends and foes, cutting at each other unmercifully, scarcely knowing whom or where to strike, amid the uncertain light around them, one of the Frenchmen raised his piece to have a shot at Hext, who was within a yard or two of where he stood, This was soon noticed by a stout and intrepid grenadier of his company, hard at work beside him, who, seeing the fellow about to pull his trigger, made a spring upon him, when in a moment resting down the pointed musket, he shot the Frenchman through the head. Hext becoming effective in the 1st battalion, joined them in Ceylon; where, in the course of time, getting into an indifferent state of health, he was ordered for change of air and climate, to the Cape; when the catastrophe occurred, which finished the bright career of this deserving officer. Attached as he was at all times to the sports of the field, he resorted, when in a convalescent state, to the exciting and dangerous amusement of hunting the forest animals; he enjoyed the thing so much, that his brother sportsmen never thought of going to the woods without him. On the occasion now referred to, he with his companions sallied onward to the wild districts of that savage land, in quest of elephants, buffaloes, or any other quadrupeds of that description; some of the party, among whom was Hext, travelling on the huge misshapen waggon peculiar to the country. Pursuing their journey with the light-heartedness of men engaged in such excursions, they were in the height of animated converse, when, by some unaccountable fatality, a musket belonging to some one in the waggon accidentally went off, its contents lodging in the body of ill-fated Hext. The melancholy event made a deep impression at the Cape, where he lingered for some time; but he eventually embarked for England, and died within a day or two of the ship's arrival there, more deeply regretted than any man I ever knew. L 5 CHAPTER IX. Passage of the Pyrennees-Delusive appearances-False alarms -Splendid scenery-Invasion of France-Bravery of the French-Encouragement to French officers-Ditto to British, medals, clasps, and crosses-Denied to Subalterns-Circumstances under which soldiers fight well-Gallantry of Lieut. Deighton-Danger of the colours in action-Anecdote of Sir Stephenson Barnes-Adjutant Cluff-Battle of Toulouse -The 11th Regiment-Lieutenant Duff-Captain Gualley -Lieutenant Arnaud. THE PYRENNEES. On our journey in the Pyrennees, in winding through the mountain passages, we moved with the caution of men who were approaching the haunt of savage animals. Uncertain of our distance from the enemy, who, for aught we knew, might have been snug in ambush among the rocks before us, or lodged amid the brushwood, our precarious road, hemmed in by shelving precipices on either side, was both difficult and tedious, and therefore a considerable time elapsed before we got into any thing like an open country. We were preceded by the advanced guard, consisting of rifles and light infantry; in further advance of which a section moved, and further still, a file of men. Before the daylight broke, several objects on the pathway, or on the hills around, were at first but dimly or indistinctly seen, appearing in grotesque and curious forms; while the mist in which those objects were enveloped, rendered the illusion still more perfect: and as we passed along, those phantoms, like the figures in the "Ombres Chinois," seemed to dance before us in a strange variety of postures; clumps of broom were created in our imagination into parties of the enemy; the stump of an old tree into a piece of cannon; while the harmless fragment of a rock, was magnified into a troop of cavalry, or Polish lancers coming down upon us. It was curious to hear the different remarks that fell, as to the nature of these suspicious apparitions, that so fearfully crowded in, and seemed almost to impede our progress. A voice was heard in a sort of whisper to exclaim, “Do you see those dark figures to the right?" "Yes." "Then those are Frenchmen, |