ucceeded each other till nigh
morning. The printed proclamations, meant for circulation among the
people, were read out, with droll commentaries; and all imaginable
quizzing and jesting went on about the new government to be established
in Ireland, and the various offices to be bestowed upon each. Had the
whole expedition been a joke, the tone of levity could not have been
greater. Not a thought was bestowed, not a word wasted, upon any of
the graver incidents that might ensue. All were, if not hopeful and
sanguine, utterly reckless, and thoroughly indifferent to the future.

CHAPTER XX. KILLALA

I will not weary my reader with an account of our debarkation, less
remarkable as it was for the 'pomp and circumstance of war' than for
incidents and accidents the most absurd and ridiculous--the miserable
boats of the peasantry, the still more wretched cattle employed to drag
our artillery and train-waggons, involving us in innumerable misfortunes
and mischances. Never were the heroic illusions of war more thoroughly
dissipated than by the scenes which accompanied our landing! Boats and
baggage-waggons upset; here, a wild, half savage-looking fellow swimming
after a cocked-hat--there, a group of ragged wretches scraping sea-weed
from a dripping officer of the staff; noise, uproar, and confusion
everywhere; smart aides-de-camp mounted on donkeys; trim field-pieces
'horsed' by a promiscuous assemblage of men, women, cows, ponies, and
asses. Crowds of idle country-people thronged the little quay, and,
obstructing the passages, gazed upon the whole with eyes of wonderment
and surprise, but evidently enjoying all the drollery of the scene with
higher relish than they felt interest in its object or success. This
trait in them soon attracted all our notice, for they laughed at
everything: not a caisson tumbled into the sea, not a donkey brought his
rider to the ground, but one general shout shook the entire assemblage.

If want and privation had impressed themselves by every external sign on
this singular people, they seemed to possess inexhaustible resources of
good-humour and good spirits within. No impatience or rudeness on
our part could irritate them; and even to the wildest and least
civilised-looking fellow around, there was a kind of native courtesy and
kindliness that could not fail to strike us.

A vague notion prevailed that we were their 'friends'; and although
many of them did not clearly comprehend why we had