his nonsense, I then simply related the story as it had
occurred, and sent for the quarter-master, who was with me, and who
confirmed all my statement. From that moment lie was a mark of contempt
in the ship. Every lie was a Murphy, and every Murphy a liar. He dared
not resent this scorn of ours; and found himself so uncomfortable, that
he offered no objection to the removal proposed by the captain; his
character followed him, and he never obtained promotion. It is a
satisfaction to me to reflect that I not only had my full revenge on
this man, but that I had been the instrument of turning him out of an
honourable profession which he would have disgraced.

This was no time for frigates to be idle; and if I chose to give the
name of mine and my captain, the naval history of the country would
prove that ours, of all other ships, was one of the most distinguished
in the cause of Spanish freedom. The south of Spain became the theatre
of the most cruel and desolating war. Our station was off Barcelona;
and thence to Perpignan, the frontier of France on the borders of Spain.
Our duty (for which the enterprising disposition of our captain was
admirably calculated) was to support the guerilla chiefs; to cut off the
enemy's convoys of provisions, either by sea or along the road which lay
by the sea-shore; or to dislodge the enemy from any stronghold he might
be in possession of.

I was absent from the ship on such services three and four weeks at a
time, being attached to a division of small-arm men under the command of
the third lieutenant. We suffered very much from privations of all
kinds. We never took with us more than one week's provision, and were
frequently three weeks without receiving any supply. In the article of
dress, our "catalogue of negatives," as a celebrated author says, "was
very copious;" we had no shoes nor stockings, no linen, and not all of
us had hats; a pocket-handkerchief was the common substitute for this
article; we clambered over rocks, and wandered through the flinty or
muddy ravines in company with our new allies, the hardy mountaineers.

These men respected our valour, but did not like our religion or our
manners. They cheerfully divided their rations with us, but were always
inexorable in their cruelty to the French prisoners; and no persuasion
of ours could induce them to spare the lives of one of these unhappy
people, whose cries and entreaties to the English to intercede for or
sav