rregui, "after entering Cadiz. As yet we are
not safe even in the Pyrenees, and a title of any kind would be but a
step towards the ridiculous." It was not till eleven months after his
death that Don Carlos issued a decree, making him grandee of Spain, by
the titles of Duke of Victory and Count of Zumalacarregui.

The garrisons of Estella and of various other fortified towns in the
interior of Navarre and the Basque provinces, were now withdrawn by
order of Valdes; other strong places were taken or capitulated, the
garrisons remaining for the most part prisoners of war. Within two
months after the Eliot convention, the Carlists had got 300 Christino
officers and 2000 rank and file, prisoners in their various depots,
without reckoning those who, on being captured, took up arms for Don
Carlos. To exchange against these, the Queen's generals had not a single
prisoner. About this time Espartero was beaten at Descarga by Eraso;
whilst Oraa met the same fate in the valley of the Baztan at the hands
of Sagastibelza. Jauregui abandoned Tolosa, leaving behind him a
quantity of ammunition and stores, and shut himself up in St Sebastian.

The intrigues and manoeuvres of certain individuals who surrounded Don
Carlos, pandered to his weaknesses, and worked upon his superstitious
bigotry, began to occasion Zumalacarregui serious annoyance, and to
interfere in some instances with his plans. During a short visit to
Segura, where the Carlist court then was, he experienced much disgust
and vexation. His health, moreover, began to fail him; and a week later,
from the town of Vergara, which he had just taken, with its garrison of
2000 men, he sent in his resignation. The following day Don Carlos
himself came to Vergara, and had a short conference with Zumalacarregui,
after which the latter marched upon Durango and Ochandiano, towns on the
Bilboa road, and took the latter, whilst the former was abandoned by its
garrison. It was now his wish to attack Vittoria, which was the nearest
large town, and the easiest to take; but just at this time, Don Carlos,
it appears, had been disappointed of a loan, and his flatterers and
advisers had been consoling him for it, by holding out a prospect of
taking Bilboa, which opulent commercial city contained, they said,
enough riches to get him out of all his difficulties. Zumalacarregui
opposed this plan, but his deference for Don Carlos finally caused him
to yield; and with a heavy heart, and a train of ar