him wait in his poor cabin whilst he traversed the streets of the city, and never returned without bringing back succour for him or them who awaited him. It is true that his goodness, his frankness, his loyalty, had made him the friend of everybody, and that in these pious errands all assisted him with pleasure.

The battle of Tarifa took place; the Republicans were there beaten by the Imperialists; Bento-Gonzales and his principal officers were made prisoners, and conveyed to Rio-de-Janeiro. Among these was one Captain Zambeccari, and we knew him, as I have related, in the prisons of Santa Cruz. Cruising was then talked of, and we were to have letters of marque; and from that time Rossetti and I were never at rest till we were launched upon the immensity of the ocean under the Republican banner. Rossetti took charge of everything, and succeeded in carrying out our wishes.

The rest is known, for from that moment the reader has not lost sight of us. Alas! there is no corner of the earth in which the bones of a generous Italian do not sleep! And this is why Italy can never rejoice, but, on the contrary, should clothe herself with mourning. Oh, poor Italy! thou wilt truly feel their absence on the day when thou shalt endeavour to tear thy dead body from the ravens which devour thee.

CHAPTER XXXV.

LA PICADA DAS ANTA S.

We

THIS retreat, undertaken in the winter season, across a mountainous country and through incessant rain, was the most terrible and disastrous I have ever seen. took with us, as our only provision, some cows in leash, knowing beforehand that we should find no animal fit for food on the route we were about to take.

Whilst retreating ourselves, we pursued the division of General Labattue, but were never able to come up

with him; only the Selvagians or inhabitants of the forest, showing their sympathy for us, attacked his vanguard. We saw these children of nature closely, and they were not at all hostile towards us.

Anita during this retreat of three months suffered all that can be humanly suffered without yielding up life. Ah! all! yes, she supported all with inexpressible stoicism and courage.

It is necessary to be acquainted with the forests of this part of Brazil to form an idea of the privations endured by a troop without means of transport, whose only resource for provisions is the lasso, a very useful arm in plains covered with cattle or large game, but perfectly useless in thick forests, the abode of tigers and lions.

As a crown to our misfortunes, the rivers, which are very near together in these virgin forests, became swollen beyond measure. The frightful rain which pursued us never ceasing to fall, it resulted that often a part of our troops found themselves imprisoned between two watercourses, and remained there destitute of food. Then hunger performed its work, particu larly among the women and children; it was a more lamentable carnage than could have been made by balls or bayonets.

Our poor infantry were a prey to sufferings and privations that are not to be described; for they had not, as the cavalry had, the resource of eating their horses. Few of the women, and still fewer of the childen, got through the forest. The few who did escape were saved by the horsemen, who, having had the good fortune to keep their horses, took pity on the poor little creatures left by their dead mothers, or dying with hunger, fatigue, and cold.

Anita shuddered at the idea of losing our Menotti, whom we really saved only by a miracle. At the most dangerous passages of our route and in crossing rivers, I carried the poor child, three months old, suspended from my neck by a handkerchief, and by that means I could warm him with my breath. Of a dozen

animals, either horses or mules, which had entered the forest with me for my own service or that of my people, I had only two mules and two horses left; the rest had either died from hunger or sunk under fatigue. To complete our misfortunes, the guides had lost the road; and this was the principal cause of our sufferings in this terrible forest das Antas.*

The further we went the further we seemed from the end of this accursed picada. I remained behind with two terribly tired mules, which I hoped to save, by allowing them to advance step by step, and by feeding them with the leaves of taquara, reeds from which the Taquari has borrowed its name. In the meantime I sent Anita forward with a servant and the child, that they might seek an issue from this interminable forest and endeavour to procure some food.

The two horses which I had left to Anita, ridden alternately by that courageous woman, saved us all. She at length found an end to the forest, and at that end a piquet of my brave soldiers with a lighted fire, a very uncommon thing in such a rain.

My companions, who, fortunately, had saved some woollen vestments, wrapped the child in them, warmed it and restored it to life, when the poor mother had already begun to despair of it. This was not all; these excellent creatures set to work to seek with a tender solicitude, which they could not have felt for themselves, for food of some kind, with which, for the love of me, they nourished and revived the mother and child. He who brought them the first and most efficacious assistance was called Mangio: be his name ever blessed!

I had taken useless pains to save my two mules; I finished by being obliged to abandon both the poor broken-winded, foundered animals, and greatly weakened myself, I traversed the rest of the road out of the forest

*The Anta is an animal of the height of an ass, perfectly inoffensive, whose flesh is delicious. Various elegant works are made with its skin. I have never seen it.-Note by the Author.

on foot.

The same day I found my wife and child, and learnt all that my companions had done for them. Nine days after our entrance into the forest, scarcely did the tail of our division issue from it. Few of our officers had succeeded in saving their horses. The enemy who preceded us, in their flight before us, had left two pieces of cannon in the picada; but we scarcely bestowed a look upon them as we passed. We had no means of transporting them, and, I have no doubt, they still remain where I saw them.

The tempests seemed confined to the forest; for scarcely had we left it, than, as we drew near to Amarda-Serra and Vaccaria, we had fine weather, and fell in with some oxen which indemnified us for our long fast, and made us forget hunger, fatigue, and rain.

We remained in the department of Vaccaria for a few days awaiting the division of Bento-Gonzales, which joined us in disorder, and diminished by a third. This was owing to the indefatigable Moringue, who, informed of the retreat of this division, had set out in pursuit of its rear-guard, followed it up without relaxation, attacking it on all occasions, and allying himself, for this work of destruction, with the mountaineers, always hostile to the Republicans. All this gave Labattue time to make his retreat and then his junction with the Imperial army. But when he did effect this junction, he had but a few hundred men left; the same inconveniences which had existed for us had existed for him. The enemy had, besides, an unforeseen obstacle to surmount, and which I note on account of its strangeness.

General Labattue having, in his road, to traverse two woods called di Mattes, there fell in with some of those indigenous tribes known under the name of Bugrés, which are the most savage of any in Brazil. These tribes, hearing of the passage of the Imperialists, assailed them in three or four ambuscades, and did them all the ill in their power. As to us, they did not interfere with us the least in the world, and though

there were, in our road, many of those traps which Indians lay beneath the feet of their enemies, instead of being concealed under grass and boughs, all were exposed, and consequently not dangerous.

During the short halt we made upon the edge of one of these gigantic woods, we saw a woman issue from it who, in her youth, had been carried off by the savages, and who had taken advantage of our being there to escape from them. The poor creature was in a deplorable condition.

As we had no longer an enemy to fly from or pursue in these elevated regions, we continued our march, by short stages, it is true, for we were completely destitute of horses, and were obliged to tame colts as we passed along. The corps of Republican lancers being entirely dismounted, were obliged to avail themselves of nothing but colts.

It was really a splendid sight, ever fresh though repeated daily, to see these young and robust blacks, each of whom merited the epithet of " tamer of horses," given by Virgil to Pelops to see them leaping upon the backs of these wild children of the steppes, ignorant of the bit, the saddle, or the spur, clinging to their manes, and rushing with them across the plain, until the quadruped, yielding to man, was conquered. But the struggle was long, the animal did not give up till after he had exhausted all his efforts to get rid of his tyrant; the man, on his side, admirable in address, strength, and courage, clung to all his movements, clasping him with his legs as with a vice, bounding with him, rolling over with him, rising again with him, never separating himself from him, till, streaming with sweat, white with foam, trembling in his limbs, the horse was tamed. Three days were sufficient for a good horse tamer to make the most rebellious animal submissive to the bit. But colts are seldom thoroughly tamed by soldiers, particularly on the march, when too many other occupations prevent the tamers from giving them all the care necessary.