fires.

For three hours they continued their march, at a rapid pace,
without a check. Then they halted for half an hour, and then held
on their way till daybreak, when they entered a large village. They
had left the redoubts at about nine o'clock, and it was now five;
so that they had marched at least twenty-five miles, and were
within some ten miles of the Aqueda.

Sentries were posted at the edge of the wood, and the troops then
lay down to sleep. Several times during the day parties of French
cavalry were seen moving about; but they were going at a leisurely
pace, and there was no appearance of their being engaged in any
search. At nightfall the troops got under arms again, and made
their way to the Aqueda.

A peasant, whom they fell in with soon after they started, had
undertaken to show them a ford. It was breast deep, but the stream
was not strong, and they crossed without difficulty, holding their
arms and ammunition well above the water. They learned that there
was, indeed, a French brigade at the bridge of San Felices.
Marching north now, they came before daybreak upon the Douro. Here
they again lay up during the day and, that evening, obtained two
boats at a village near the mouth of the Tormes, and crossed into
the Portuguese province of Tras os Nontes.

The 500 men joined in a hearty cheer, on finding themselves safe in
their own country. After halting for a couple of days, Terence
marched to Castel Rodrigo and then, learning that the main body of
the regiment was at Pinhel, marched there and joined them; his
arrival causing great rejoicing among his men, for it had been
supposed that he and the half battalion had been captured, at the
fall of Almeida. The Portuguese regular troops at that place had,
at the surrender at daybreak after the explosion, all taken service
with the French; while the militia regiments had been disbanded by
Massena, and allowed to return to their homes.

From here Terence sent off his report to headquarters, and asked
for orders. The adjutant general wrote back, congratulating him on
having successfully brought off his command, and ordering the corps
to take post at Linares. He found that another disaster, similar to
that at Almeida, had taken place--the magazine at Albuquerque
having been blown up by lightning, causing the loss of four hundred
men.

The French army were still behind the Coa, occupied in restoring
the fortifications of Almeida and Ciudad Rodrigo, and it w