count of this civil war. It was summer,
but the city was in a state of hibernation. No business was done in the
shops, the cafes were empty, most of the resident population who could
afford it had emigrated, and the public squares were as vacant as if
there were a perpetual siesta. There was no sign of animation, as we
understand it in England. There were but three vessels in the west
bay--the _Buenaventura_, a merchant steamer, and the _San Margarita_,
pinioned at last, her yellow funnel cold. Sojourn in the place was
insupportable. I knew not how to kill the tedious hours. I climbed again
to the Castle of the Mota, inspected some English tombs on the slope of
the acclivity, and noticed that if the citadel is still a position of
strength, nature deserves much of the credit. The defences recently
thrown up had been devised and executed carefully, and if the defenders
were only true to themselves, the Carlists, with no better artillery
than they possessed, might as well think of taking the moon as of
entering San Sebastian. They would have a formidable fire from
well-planted cannon to face; stockades, and strong earthworks, and more
than one blockhouse cunningly pierced with loopholes, to carry. Even if
San Sebastian was entered, the configuration of the streets was such as
to give every aid to disciplined men as opposed to mere guerrilleros.
The city is built in blocks, on the American system; the wide
thoroughfares cross each other at right-angles, and all of them could be
swept as with a besom by a few guns _en barbette_ behind a breastwork at
either end. In this sort of work, accuracy of aim is not called for, as
in that warfare up in the mountains. If it were, not much reliance could
be placed on the Republican artillery. General Hidalgo had well-nigh
nullified that arm of the service. A Carlist leader, in whose
information and whose word confidence could be reposed, assured me that
not a single Carlist had yet been killed or wounded by the Republican
gunners. The estimated lists of the enemy's casualties given by both
parties during the struggle, I may remark _en passant_, were grossly
exaggerated. The butcher's bill was very small in proportion to the
expenditure of gunpowder. Returning to the question of the defence of
San Sebastian--even on the supposition that the main works and town were
to fall into the hands of the Carlists, the citadel still remained,
where a determined leader could hold out till relief came,