even to the comforts and
conveniencies of a man-of-war's cockpit. All human enjoyment is
comparative, and nothing ever convinced me of it so much and so forcibly
as what took place at this memorable siege: Fortune, and the well-known
cowardice of the Spaniards, released me from this jeopardy; they
surrendered the citadel, after which the castle was of no use, and we
ran down to our boats as fast as we could; and notwithstanding the very
assiduous fire of the watchful _tirailleurs_ on the hill, we all got on
board without accident.

There was one very singular feature in this affair. The Swiss
mercenaries in the French and Spanish services, opposed to each other,
behaved with the greatest bravery, and did their duty with unexceeded
fidelity; but being posted so near, and coming so often in contact with
each other, they would cry truce for a quarter of an hour, while they
made inquiries after their mutual friends; often recognising each other
as fathers and sons, brothers and near relatives, fighting on opposite
sides. They would laugh and joke with each other, declare the truce at
an end, then load their muskets, and take aim, with the same
indifference, as regarded the object, as if they had been perfect
strangers; but, as I before observed, fighting is a trade.

From Rosas we proceeded to join the admiral off Toulon; and being
informed that a battery of six brass guns, in the port of Silva, would
be in possession of the French in a few hours, we ran in, and anchored
within pistol-shot of it. We lashed blocks to our lower mast-heads,
rove hawsers through them, sent the ends on shore, made them fast to the
guns, and hove off three of them, one after another, by the capstan; and
had the end of the hawser on shore, ready for the others, when our
marine videttes were surprised by the French, driven in, and retreated
to the beach, with the loss of one man taken prisoner.

Not having sufficient force on shore to resist them, we re-embarked our
party, and the French, taking up a position behind the rocks, commenced
a heavy fire of musketry upon us. We answered it with the same; and now
and then gave them a great gun; but they had the advantage of position,
and wounded ten or eleven of our men from their elevated stations behind
the rocks. At sunset this ceased, when a boat came off from the shore,
pulled by one Spaniard; he brought a letter for the captain, from the
officer commanding the French detachment. It presen