te soldier of the regiment. How far such an expedient may
have deserved censure, I leave the public to judge. I merely introduce
the instance to warn other young officers against doing anything that
may justify the animadversions of the soldiers, or bring them under the
lash and ridicule of their brother officers. Whatever might have been
the feelings of this young officer--and I should be sorry to impute his
conduct to anything but thoughtlessness--I can venture to assert that he
never re-established his former character; in consequence of which, he
some time after left the regiment. Therefore, young soldier, never be
ashamed to let your foe know that you hold his majesty's commission. I
would sooner cram it down their throats than have my honour or courage
doubted. Be tenacious of your character, more especially in the point
of courage. If you trifle with this, the sooner you cut and run the
better.

The head engineer, conceiving the breaches not practicable, from his not
knowing the depth and width of the ditch, had the storming postponed
till the following day, with the view that an opportunity might be
afforded him, under cover of the night, to obtain the necessary
information. At night this officer stole down to the ditch unobserved,
and, on his return, he seemed delighted beyond bounds that the storm did
not take place, as the ditch was so wide and deep that an entrance was
impossible. It appeared that what had been knocked off the bastion, had
not actually filled up any part of the trench, but only hung to the
sides of it.

On the following morning, we found that the enemy, having seen us march
down the evening before, had fled when the night closed in, supposing we
were going to storm in the night. On this being ascertained, a strong
party was instantly dispatched to occupy the town. We found some
difficulty in obtaining an entrance, as they had barricaded the two
gates with stone and large bales of cotton. At last, we were obliged to
scale the walls with ladders. With the exception of a few poor old
people, not a living soul was to be seen in the town; but the number of
the dead was considerable. Two elephants had been slain, and camels,
horses, bullocks, goats, &c., lay killed in all directions. After
sauntering about the town, and taking a peep on the other side, we found
that the fort was quite close. The moment the enemy saw us, they
commenced a heavy cannonade; and the tremendous peals of musketry which