The Sun.
London, England, 1823-12-06 00:00:00

BOLIVAR•S ARMY, &c.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM AN OFFICER IX THE ARMY
OF BOLIVAR, DATED PASTO, JULY 4, 1823.
" You will, perhaps, before this reaches you, have been in-
formed, through the Journals, of the happy result of our cam-
paign, by which Bor.. Ivan has finally stamped his fame, and
made his name immortal in the history of nations.
" It will undoubtedly be interesting to you, to be informed
of the almost insurmountable obstacles we had' to overcome,
after all the unlucky and expensive expeditions against Quito
and Posy), under Generals Narrino, Waldez, Torres, &c.
nothing but the uncompierable spirit and perseverance of
Bolivar, could have conducted the present campaign to such
fortunate results. What follows may give you an idea of this.:
from Popyan; which we quitted on the 12th of March, 7,000
strong, we marched during 25 days over hills, rocks, and
other place* never trod by human feet, which were overgrown
with bushes, trees, and even grass higher than ourselves, and
through which no European pointer could possibly hive made
his way ; we did this in small columns, wearing alpargatam, a
kind of shoe made from a sort of DUtch rush, something like
hemp, for the protection of our feet, which otherwise would
have been severely wounded ; and we were also, from the same
cause, obliged to wrap ox hides around the feet and hoofs of
all our horses ; thus we proceeded, struggling under many. dif-
ficulties and wants, as nothing is cultivated in those regions,
and what we had was secured to us through the care and pre-
' cautions of General Eben (the same who rendered formerly
great services in England and Portugal.) Though the'Eu-
ropean system of field tactics is not applicable in this coun-
try, this General is held in great estimation by Bolivar, on
account of his unremitting assiduities in regulating and or.
ganizing the armies; therefore to him in some measure the
happy termination of the war in the kingdom of Quito is to
be ascribed, and he is an universal favourite with all that know
his worth.
" After we had traversed a considerable part of the country,
our march was rendered the more arduous, on account of the
Patayans being excited by the' Bishop of Popyayan and the
Monks, in their preaching, to murder the Republicans ; which
actually took place; as the people thus incited did murder all
they met with in small parties, and all the sick whom we were
compelled-to leave behind ; and from the 12th March to the
15th June, our communication with Santa Fe de Bogota was
by their means intercepted ; which circumstance gave rise to
the rumour current at the time, that the army was destroyed,
Bolivar conveyed on a sick bed, &c. &c.
" While the different columns were concentrating near Pasto,
on the 28th of May, General Bacilia, who commanded there,
laughed, on seeing our advanced posts, to think that such a
handful of men should have wandered so far from home ;
but soon, to his astonishment, our army, headed by Bolivar,
made its appearance ; he immediately summoned the • city
to surrender, and gave notice that if it was not delivered up in
a given.time, it would be assaulted, and every soul in it put
to the sword. After a few days, our terms, were accepted,
and we marched into past°, where soon after we received
the pleasing intelligence that our tri-coloured ensign waved also
on the walls of Quito, and that its inhabitants desired to see
the Liberator. Thither General Bolivar immediately set oft'
with his Secretary, two Adjutants, and General Bacilia, fol.
lowed by part of the army. We sustained some lost at the
taking of Quito. On the surrender of Pasto, the Popyan lii.
shop, who had excited the people to insurrection, fell into our
hands; but Bolivar generously.forgave and. said to
hint, smiling, that he might return again to his 'Bithopric of
Popyan, and preach a better Gospel, since lie was come too
late to do mischief in Past°, and now the same man preaches
to the Patianos peace, respect, and obedience to the Liberator,
and friendship and brotherly love to every Republican.
" The Patianos laid down their arms, and entreated .Bolivar
to pardon them ; he did so, and spoke to them astfollows.:—' I
forgive you this time, and will leave no troops in any of your
cities to restrain you, but I will watch your conduct; should
that be again traitorous, as formerly, and you wish not to be-
long to the Republic of Colombia; I will sendone of my divisions,
and every soul, old and young, with the entire province, shall
be giVen up to destruction, till the race or the Patianos be an.
nihilated;and travellers shall exclaim, d under these ruins once
lived a treacherouse people."
" Bolivar has now left„ Quito, and gone to Guayaqun ; in,
about eight days we set out to follow him, under the command
of General Eben, who is ordered to march with 808 picked;
men. We receive the half of our pay, .and the remainder, is.
placed to our credit ; each soldier receives daily 11b. of fresh
meat, 4 ounces of rice, 1 ounce of salt, and instead of bread,
alb. of potatoes (as good as Irish !) or plantanos, or aracachas,
or apia—enough for one man.
" The above-mentioned aracacha is the same fruit, about
which you wrote, desiring that seeds or roots might ,be pro-
cured for you, and I have already given a commission to send,
you some of it. lam of opinion that this plant is likely to'
thrive in Europe ; and here Itiend you all the intelligence I
have been able to collect concerning it. it requires even less
care titan our potatoes; it is .not propagated by teed, but by
slips or shoots and comes to the greatest perfection in a loose,
and SOlllewhardarnp soil. The shoots from' which the fruit,
grows are placed, like our potatoe, under the earth ; the leaves
resemble celery, and grow upwards about a foot; when the,
fruit becomes ripe, the aforesaid shoots discoVer themselves
close to the earth; they are then broken off, and used again for,
propagation.
" It is to my mind the most pleasant and .wholesome of all
the earth fruits; the best quality of it is produced in the king-
dom of Granada, and .in the neighbourhood of Bogota. It is,
prepared in various ways for soup, and cooked like other ve-,
getables, dressed either with sugar or salt, and often intro-
duced at repasts as a dessert ; besides being frequently pre-
scribed as food for the sick, as it is nutritive and very easy of
(ligation."

We have always great pleasure in recording
any projected public Improvements, and an im-
portant one to the town is almost certain to take
place after the next Session of Parliament. We
allude to the new road set out from the Shoulder
of Mutton, at, the top of Marsh-lane, through
Gipton, Roundbay, &c. to Collingham and
Wetherby. At a public meeting held last week,
considerable progress was made as to securing
the requisite funds, and on application to Par-
liament was resolved upon, the measure being
unanimously approved. This will bring the 46-
tunes between Leeds and Wetherby to 12 miles,
and easy road ; there are to be branches to Sea-
croft Green (a saving of more than half a mile
from Leeds) and to Itoundhay Bridge : we hope
also some additional opening into the town of
Leeds will be hit upon, say Skinner-lune, or that
vicinity (Leeds Intelligencer.)

On Monday last, as Mr. likvxcs, sen. a student
of St. John's College, was shooting near Grant•
chester Mill, he slipped into the river, and en
seizing hold of a bough, he grasped the muzzle of
his gnu that was lying on the hank, which un-
fortunately went of, and shattered his left hand
and wrist so severely, as to require immediate
amputation, which he underwent on his arrival
at Cambridge. We are happy to learn, that he
is in a fair way or reCOvery.---(C;ambridge Chro.
nide, Dec. 5.)