immediately informed General Canavarro, and orders were quickly given by him in consequence; but, notwithstanding these orders, our men did not arrive in time to defend the entrance of the lagune. A battery raised by us at the point of the mole, and directed by the brave Capetto, was only able to offer a feeble resistance, having nothing but guns of small calibre,— badly served, besides, by unskilful artillerymen. There then only remained our three little republican vessels, reduced to half their crews, the rest of the men having been sent on shore, to assist in the passage of the troops. Some, from impossibility, and others because they were quite as well pleased to keep out of the terrible fight that was preparing, in spite of all the orders I sent, did not join us, but left us the whole burden of the contest.

In the mean time, the enemy came down upon us full sail, favoured by both wind and tide. I on my part, hastened therefore to my post on board the RioPardo, where already my courageous Anita had commenced the cannonade, pointing and setting fire herself to the piece she had taken upon her to direct, and animating her somewhat intimidated men with her voice.

The fight was terrible, and more sanguinary than might have been expected. We did not lose many men, because more than half the crews were on shore; but, of the six officers distributed among the three vessels, I alone survived.

All our pieces were dismounted-but, when they were so, the fight was maintained with the carbine, and we never ceased firing till the whole of the enemy had passed. During all this time Anita remained close to me, in the post of danger, unwilling to go on shore, taking advantage of no shelter, disdaining even to stoop, as the bravest man will, when he sees the match approach the enemy's cannon. At length, I thought I had found a means of getting her out of the danger. I ordered her-and it required a positive order from

me, accompanied by a hint that if a man were sent he would find a pretext not to return-I ordered her to go and demand a reinforcement of the General, promising that if he would send me that reinforcement I would re-enter the lagune in pursuit of the Imperialists, and would occupy them in such a fashion that they should not think of landing, were I, torch in hand, to set fire to their fleet. I likewise obtained a promise from Anita that she would remain on shore, and would send me the answer by a man she could depend upon; but, to my great regret, she returned herself. The General had no men to send me ; he ordered me not to burn the enemy's fleet, which he considered a desperate, useless effort, but to return, saving the hand-arms and the ammunition.

I obeyed. Then, under a fire which was never relaxed for a minute, we succeeded in transporting to land, by the survivors, the arms and ammunition, an operation which, for want of an officer, was directed by Anita, whilst I, passing from one bark to the other, deposited in the most inflammable parts the fire which was to devour them. This was a terrible mission, as it forced me to pass, in a triple review, both the dead and the wounded. It was a veritable abattoir of human flesh. I walked over busts separated from bodies, and trampled at every step upon scattered limbs. The commander of the Itaparilla, Juan Enriquez de la Saguna, was lying amidst the two-thirds of his crew, with a bullet-hole in his breast big enough to pass an arm through. Poor John Griggs had had, as I have said elsewhere, his body cut in two by a mitraillade, fired almost close to him. I asked myself, at the sight of such a spectacle, how it was that, having taken no more care of myself than others had done, I had remained unhurt.

In an instant a cloud of smoke enveloped our vessels, and our brave dead had at least, on the decks of their own barks, a funeral pile lighted that was worthy of them.

Whilst I had accomplished my work of destruction, Anita had accomplished her work of preservation. But after what a fashion,-good God!—in a manner to make me tremble. Perhaps, in transporting the arms to the coast and in her return to the vessels, she made twenty journeys, passing constantly under the enemy's fire. She was in a small boat with two rowers, and the poor devils bent as much as possible to avoid balls and bullets; but she-standing on the poop, amidst the mitraille-she appeared erect, calm and proud as a statue of Pallas; and God, who extended his hand over me, at the same time covered her with the shadow of that hand. It was almost dark night when, having got together the survivors, I regained the rear of our division, in retreat towards Rio-Grande, along the same route we had followed some months before, with hearts full of hope, and preceded by victory.

CHAPTER XXVIII.

ON HORSEBACK.

AMIDST the changes of my adventurous existence, I have frequently had pleasant hours, good moments; and although that in which I found myself may not appear at first sight to form part of those which have left me an agreeable remembrance, I recall it, nevertheless, as, if not full of happiness, at least full of emotions. At the head of a few men left of so many combatants who had justly merited the name of brave men, I rode on horseback, proud of the living, proud of the dead, proud, almost, of myself. By my side rode the queen of my soul, the wife worthy of all admiration. I was launched into a career more attractive than that of the navy. Of what consequence was it to me that, like the Greek philosopher, I carried all I had about me, to save a poor republic, which paid nobody, and by which, if she had been rich, I would not have been paid? Had I

not a sabre beating against my thigh, a carbine lying across my holsters? Had I not close to me my Anita, my treasure, with a heart burning as warmly as my own in the cause of peoples? Did she not mingle in fights as an amusement, as a simple distraction in camp life? The future smiled serenely and fortunately upon me; and the more wild that these American deserts and solitudes presented themselves to me, the more beautiful, the more delicious they appeared.

We continued our march of retreat as far as Tares, the limit of the two provinces, where we fixed our camp. The enemy was satisfied with having recovered the lagune, and had ceased to pursue us. Combining with the division Andrea, the division Acunah, coming from the province of San-Paolo, directed its course towards Cama-da-Serra, a department of the mountain belonging to the province of Rio-Grande.

The mountaineers, our friends, attacked by superior forces, demanded assistance of General Canavarro, and he placed, for their service, an expedition under the command of Colonel Texeira. We formed part of that expedition. Received by the Senameris, commanded by Colonel Aranah, we completely beat the enemy's division at Santa-Vittoria. Acunah was drowned in the river Pelatas, and the major part of his troops remained prisoners. This victory replaced under the commands of the Republic the two departments of Vaccaria and Lages, and we entered the chief place of the latter triumphantly.

The news of the Imperial invasion had roused the Brazilian party, and Mello, its chief enemy, had collected in that province his body of about five hundred horse. General Bento-Manoel, charged with combating him, had not been able to do so on account of his retreat, and had satisfied himself with sending Colonel Portinko in pursuit of Mello, who was directing his course upon St. Paul.

Our position and our forces placed it in our power not only to oppose the passage of Mello, but even to

annihilate him. Fortune forbade it. Colonel Texeira, uncertain whether the enemy was coming by Vaccaria, or by Coritibani, divided his troops into two bodies, sending Colonel Aranah to Vaccaria with his best cavalry, whilst we, with the infantry, and only a few horsemen, taken alınost all from among our prisoners, marched towards Coritibani. That was the route the enemy took.

This division of our forces was fatal to us: our recent victory, the ardent character of our leader, and the news we received of the enemy, led us to despise him too much. A march of three days brought us to Coritibani, and we encamped at a small distance from Maremba, where it was supposed the Imperialists would pass. A post was placed upon the shore, sentinels were planted in spots judged most necessary, and all went comfortably to sleep.

As for me, the experience I had had in these sorts of wars made me sleep with one eye open. Towards midnight, the post on the river was attacked with so much fury as to leave time only to exchange a few shots with the enemy before flying. At the first report I was on foot, crying, "To arms!" At this cry, all were soon on the alert, and ready for action. Shortly after the appearance of day, the enemy appeared, and having passed the river, halted at some distance from us in battle array. Any other but Texeira, on seeing the superiority of the enemy in numbers, would have sent off couriers to call in the aid of the second corps, and, till the junction of Acunah, would have amused his adversary; but the valiant republican feared he would retire, and by his flight deprive him of an opportunity of fighting. He dashed, therefore, into the contest, heeding but little the advantageous position occupied by the enemy.

The Imperialists, profiting by the inequality of the ground, had established their line of battle upon a tolerably elevated hill, in front of which was a deep valley, encumbered by bushes; they had, be