Page:The New Monthly Magazine - Volume 094.djvu/329

Rh they were short of ammunition for their guns, they made no scruples in placing bits of iron two and three inches long in them; and I remember a poor young officer that was wounded having two pieces of iron taken out of his leg and thigh, almost three inches in length. An interval of some weeks had now elapsed, and all further apprehension of another attack on the town gradually subsided. Other evils were now felt. The increase of so large an addition to the population, caused provisions to be so raised in price, that the inhabitants formed a board of relief for those who had been rendered destitute by the ravages of the Caffres. A fever, too, broke out, of so virulent a character that it carried off a great number of people in a very short time, and it continued in the town, increasing and lessening in its severity, until the end of the war.

The 72nd Regiment had arrived some three weeks after the first outbreak, and Colonel Smith was also there to take command. Martial law was proclaimed; and several ludicrous scenes occurred about this time, from merchants refusing to mount guard, and being marched off by a file of soldiers to the guard-house. And during this time several conflicts had ensued between the Caffres and the troops in Caffreland; and so little advantage had we gained by them, that Colonel Smith at last went up himself with a large force, and there remained until he brought the war to a peaceful conclusion. I need not, after what 1 have already written, continue repeating the sufferings of the poor frontier colonist; they are already too well known. I can only pray, that if the war which is now raging be brought to as good a conclusion as the first was, that no representations from individuals will ever deter the home government from keeping a strong force of European soldiers in the heart of Caffreland, and never trusting for a moment to either Hottentot, Fingoe, or Caffre. They are all utterly faithless. This will be found, I am convinced, the only effectual way of preventing future war.

literature of Spain has amply shared in the decay, political and social, of that noble and once-flourishing country, which, in years gone by, stood forth so proudly pre-eminent, the home of heroism, of chivalry, and of loyalty, and of their handmaidens, imagination and poetry. The golden age of Castilian literature was that when Spain, after the struggle of centuries, arose to the highest pitch of grandeur, and seemed destined to extend its dominion over more than half the world. That exaltation of mind which gives rise to elevated sentiments, and kindles poetic fire, was then at its height; and that love of the beautiful and the sublime, that craving for the marvellous, which form the elements of romance, were everywhere prevalent, as well among the gentle dames of these times as among the hidalgo and other heroes who were