Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/155

129 ARMIES ON THE GARIGLIANO. 129 the river, which was crowned bj the little hamlet chapter of Cintura, and commanded the route to Naples. . In front of his camp he sunk a deep trench, which, in the saturated soil, speedily filled with water ; and he garnished it at each extremity with a strong redoubt. Thus securely intrenched, he resolved patiently to await the movements of the enemy. The situation of the army, in the mean time, was Great dis- •^ ' ' tress of the indeed deplorable. Those who occupied the lower "'"^' level were up to their knees in mud and water ; for the excessive rains, and the inundation of the Ga- rigliano had converted the whole country into a mere quagmire, or rather standing pool. The only way in which the men could secure themselves was by covering the earth as far as possible with boughs and bundles of twigs ; and it was altogether uncer- tain how long even this expedient would serve against the encroaching element. Those on the higher grounds were scarcely in better plight. The driving storms of sleet and rain, which had con- tinued for several weeks without intermission, found their way into every crevice of the flimsy tents and crazy hovels, thatched only with branches of trees, which afforded a temporary shelter to the troops. In addition to these evils, the soldiers were badly fed, from the difficulty of finding resources in the waste and depopulated regions in which they were quartered,^^ and badly paid, from the negligence, or 26 This barren tract of uninhab- Sessa, the Massican mountain, and ited country must have been of Falernian fields, — names, which very limited extent ; for it lay in call up associations, that must live the Campania Felix, in the neigh- while good poetry and good wine bourhood of the cultivated plains of shall be held in honor. VOL. III. 17