onel Serasin's orders.'

Colonel Serasin, the second in command, was, in many respects, the very
opposite of Humbert Sharp, petulant, and irascible, he seemed quite to
overlook the fact, that, in an expedition which was little better than
a foray, there must necessarily be a great relaxation of the rules
of discipline, and many irregularities at least winked at, which, in
stricter seasons, would call for punishment. The consequence was, that
a large proportion of our force went on board under arrest, and many
actually in irons. The Irish were, without a single exception, all
drunk; and the English soldiers, who had procured their liberation
from imprisonment on condition of joining the expedition, had made
sufficiently free with the brandy-bottle, to forget their new alliance,
and vent their hatred of France and Frenchmen in expressions whose only
alleviation was, that they were nearly unintelligible.

Such a scene of uproar, discord, and insubordination never was seen. The
relative conditions of guard and prisoner elicited national animosities
that were scarcely even dormant, and many a bloody encounter took
place between those whose instinct was too powerful to feel themselves
anything but enemies. A cry, too, was raised, that it was meant
to betray the whole expedition to the English, whose fleet, it was
asserted, had been seen off Oleron that morning; and although there
was not even the shadow of a foundation for the belief, it served to
increase the alarm and confusion. Whether originating or not with the
Irish, I cannot say, but certainly they took advantage of it to avoid
embarking; and now began a schism which threatened to wreck the whole
expedition, even in the harbour.

The Irish, as indifferent to the call of discipline as they were
ignorant of French, refused to obey orders save from officers of their
own country; and although Serasin ordered two companies to 'load with
ball and fire low,' the similar note for preparation from the insurgents
induced him to rescind the command and try a compromise.

In this crisis I was sent by Serasin to fetch what was called the
'Committee,' the three Irish deputies who accompanied the force.
They had already gone aboard of the _Dedalus_, little foreseeing the
difficulties that were to arise on shore.

Seated in a small cabin next the wardroom, I found these three
gentlemen, whose names were Tone, Teel-ing, and Sullivan. Their
attitudes were gloomy and despondent, and