and Gerona,
was looking with a wistful eye on the castle of Trinity, on the
south-east side, the capture of which would be a certain prelude to
the fall of Rosas.

My captain determined to defend it, although it had just been
abandoned by another British naval officer, as untenable. I
volunteered, though a supernumerary, to be one of the party, and was
sent: nor can I but acknowledge that the officer who had abandoned the
place had shown more than a sound discretion. Every part of the
castle was in ruins. Heaps of crumbling stones and rubbish,
broken gun-carriages, and split guns, presented to my mind a very
unfavourable field of battle. The only advantage we appeared to have
over the assailants was that the breach which they had effected in the
walls was steep in its ascent, and the loose stones either fell down
upon them, or gave way under their feet, while we plied them with
every kind of missile: this was our only defence, and all we had to
prevent the enemy marching into the works, if works they could be
called.

There was another and very serious disadvantage attending our
locality. The castle was situated very near the summit of a steep
hill, the upper part of which was in possession of the enemy, who
were, by this means, nearly on a level with the top of the castle,
and, on that eminence, three hundred Swiss sharpshooters had effected
a lodgment, and thrown up works within fifty yards of us, keeping up
a constant fire at the castle. If a head was seen above the walls,
twenty rifle-bullets whizzed at it in a moment, and the same
unremitted attention was paid to our boats as they landed.

On another hill, much to the northward, and consequently, further
inland, the French had erected a battery of six 24-pounders. This
agreeable neighbour was only three hundred yards from us; and,
allowing short intervals for the guns to cool, this battery kept up
a constant fire upon us from daylight till dark. I never could have
supposed, in my boyish days, that the time would arrive when I should
envy a cock upon Shrove Tuesday; yet such was my case when in this
infernal castle. It was certainly not giving us fair play; we had no
chance against such a force; but my captain was a knight-errant,
and as I had volunteered, I had no right to complain. Such was the
precision of the enemy's fire, that we could tell the stone that would
be hit by the next shot, merely from seeing where the last had struck,
and our men were frequen