been, as usual, too rapid for their opponents, and that the numerous armies of Spain are already little more than a name. He represents the common people as brave and welt disposed; but as to the Juntas, he says, nothing can be more indolent, apathetic, and indifferent. This, indeed, is the language of every officer here whom I have conversed with on the subject. If so, I fear that Sir John Moore has a most arduous task to perform. The Colonel came to Corunna on the 13th October;, along with Lieutenant-General Sir David Baird's army from England. When they arrived there, the Junta would not permit them to disembark till they received an answer from the Central Junta at Madrid. Hence arose a considerable delay, and it was not before the end of the month that permission was given them to land in divisions, not exceeding two and three thousand men. This is a bad omen of what we have to expect from the Spaniards. Colonel D*** represents the country of Spain as much better cultivated than what he had conceived from the accounts of Spanish tourists. There is a British regiment now in garrison here, and Brigadier-General Anstruther and his suite have been ́in Almeida ever since the 17th September, during which time this regiment has been performing the garrison duty. It is strange that, generally speaking, the people of this town are as ignorant of what is passing in Spain, as if they were on the other side of the Atlantic: you must, therefore, restrain your curiosity till I get to Cuidad Rodrigo, the first stage in Spain, when I shall probably be enabled to inform you of the real state of affairs. I have inclosed in this letter a sketch of the bridge over the Coa River, of which I gave you a description in my last. I shall send this by the post to a friend at Oporto, who will forward it to England. Adieu. LETTER XXXIV. SPANISH FRONTIER. -FORT DE LA CONCEPTION.-COA RIVER, THE NATURAL BOUNDARY RIBA DE COA, ANNEXED BY KING DENNIS.- SPANISH Cuidad Rodrigo, 20th November, 1808. THIS morning we arrived within the territories of Spain. At an early hour D*** and I left Almeida. After passing for nearly three miles over a bleak flat, the road began to lead into some woods of evergreen oak, and soon after we passed a small rivulet, near which is a fortress, called Fort de Conception, in a dilapidated state, standing on the boundary of the two countries. The Coa River appears to be the more natural boundary between the two countries; and, indeed, I find that it was so formerly. On consulting the history of Portugal, it appears, that King Dennis annexed to Portugal a tract of country beyond the Coa, which was then called the Riba de Coa. On entering the first village in Spain a stranger is forcibly struck with the appearance of the houses, all the windows being fortified with strong bars of iron; the interior of them also evinces a much greater degree of cleanliness than those in Portugal. In our progress as we passed through a country abounding with game, we met several Spanish peasants, all armed with muskets. We were struck with the superiority of the athletic and muscular form of these men, compared with the Portuguese, many of whom seem dwarfish and cramped in their growth. After passing several, small villages, we reached the brow of a gently-rising hill, whence we had a view of a fine fertile plain, bounded by a lofty range of mountains, in part covered with snow. At the further extremity of the plain rose the white towers of Cuidad Rodrigo, to which we approached by a very handsome bridge, of ten arches, thrown over the river Agwada, on whose banks the town is proudly situated on a sand-stone rock. Overlooking the bridge is a large square tower, with battlements and loop-holes, connected with a lofty stone wall, round which the road winds for a short distance, and then enters the town by a strong turreted gate. The streets here are remarkably clean; a circumstance which strikes one the more forcibly, from the filthy state of those in Portugal. Indeed, there is such a sombre imposing air of barbarous magnificence in the whole place, so different from what I have lately seen, that I can hardly persuade myself that I am only ten miles from Almeida. D*** had rode on before me, but had not been enabled to procure our billets in the same house, as had always been the case in Portugal. He complained much of the incivility of his landlord, an old overgrown priest, who, on his entering the house, immediately retired, and ordered his housekeeper to show the Englishman up stairs, to a dreary attic room, in which there was a miserable brazero. My billet is likewise in the house of a priest; but as he appears inclined to be very civil. D*** has preferred spending the day with me in preference to remaining in his own quarters. After putting up my horse and securing my quarters, I lost no time in walking round the town; and shall now communicate to you my observations upon what I have just seen. The streets in general are narrow, but clean and well |