The Sun.
London, England, 1860-01-23 00:00:00

SPAIN AND MOROCCO.

(Fi•ons the Correspondent of the Times.)
CAMP ON THE RIVER AZMEER, Jan. 10.

The weather is calmer, the ships have returned,
and the Moors also. Very soon after daybreak this
morning, we beheld the welcome sight of a steamer
rounding Ceuta lighthouse, with prow in our direc-
tion. So General Prim's cavalry and infantry,
which were paraded on the shore, returned to camp,
as did the several hundred mules they were to escort
to Ceuta for rations, and that pugnacious General
remained for the skirmish that took place later. We
soon had 15 or 20 steamers off shore, some men of
war, others storeships, one with " Hay" painted in
large white letters upon her side, a label that pro-
duced much animation among the horses, many of
which had had little besides heather and young
twigs to eat for a day or two previous ; another
marked " Hospital stores ;" a third ammunition for
the artillery, and so on: The surf was still very
heavy, and the first boat that came to shore was
knocked to pieces and her crew swam in ; the
bread in another arrived disagreeably moist, and
finally it was decided that the much required ra-
tions should not be landed until some hours later.
It is now nine o'clock at night, and none worth
speaking of have been got ashore, and, as it is pour-
ing with rain and very dark, I suppose not much
will be done before to-morrow. Meanwhile the
army is on decidedly short commons. Luckily,
fresh meat is obtainable from the herd that accom-
panies us, but the allowance of ration biscuit is very
limited, coffee is scarce, and sugar nowhere. The
hungry days I some time ago predicted have come
at last, and many a soldier regrets past improvi-
dence and greedy consumption of rations that wore
to be reserved. Tobacco too is very rare, owing to
the time we have now been disconnected with
Ceuta and to the scarcity of canteenmen and mis-
cellaneous vendors in the train of this army. Two
canteen-keepers, by the by, were killed the day be-
fore yesterday as they were moving along shore to
recover some wine they had left there perforce, for
want of mules, the day the ships were compelled
to leave by the tempest. A third was wonnded in
the head and and brutally ill-treated, and has been
brought into camp. There have been very few things
eatable, drinkable, or smokeable to be obtained since
we left the lines of Ceuta, the bait of large gains
having been insufficient to counterbalance the risks
and difficulties of this hazardous march through a
desolate and hostile country, and now nothing of
any kind can be got at any price. The soldiers,
hungry aid deprived of their ciyaritto, which they
,prize above food, were not in the best of humours
to-day, and had attained just the point of irritation
calculated to render them dangerous enemies. This
the Moors discovered, when they came down about
noon to-day and opened fire upon the front and
right of the Spanish lines. They were both horse
and foot, and their numbers were estimated by an
officer who had watched them filing over the hills at
3,000 to 4,000. I did not see them until they had
taken up their position and began to fire, and then
one might as well attempt to count ants around an
ant-hill, so continual are their movements, their ins
and outs among the trees, their goings and comings
behind hills and through ravines. They were toler-
ably numerous, however, had a good many horses,
and several flags, red and green, carried by well-
mounted men in very white haicks, presumed to be
leaders from the prominent part they seemed to take
in the combat. This began with the usual desultory
firing from position to position, accompanied by some
little artillery practice on our side. Between two
and three o'clock the Moors showed themselves very
numerous and aggressive towards the centre of the
line on which the contest was going on ; but the
Spaniards were not in a mood to yield an inch of
ground. The skirmishers advanced thick and eager,
and a battalion which had lain quiet behind the
brow of the hill suddenly appeared in line upon the
summit and charged with the bayonet, with
shouts of " Viva la Reina !" This had the usual
effect. The Moors retreated helter-skelter, and
only 14 of them were bayoneted in that charge.
But the consequence of the dash, and of a
simultaneous forward movement made by two other
battalions was a rapid retreat of the enemy from
all his positions to ground very far beyond. lie was
evidently daunted and had had enough of fighting
for that day, for he never stopped till out of rifle
range of the Spaniards, his flight being accelerated
by quickly succeeding discharges from the artillery;
and when, an hour before dusk, these troops re-
turned towards camp, the Moors, contrary to their
custom, did not follow them up. All firing was over
before night, whereas in similar affairs in front of
Ceuta it was never over until the flashes of the mus-
ketry showed red and vivid through complete dark-
ness. In short, to-day Morito got a decided thrash-
ing. Very few battalions were engaged—a portion
of the 2d (Prim's) corps. The 3d corps and Rubin's
division wore not under fire at all. I have not yet
ascertained our casualties, but judging from my
own observation, from a position whence I saw most
of the wounded pass, I should think they were not
very numerous, considering the time the combat
lasted. I was glad, by-the-by, to see yesterday, near
the head-quarters hospital tents, a number of chairs
and litters for the sick and wounded, such as are
used by the French, arranged en cacolet, to be slung
across mules. Each mule in this way carries two
wounded, and the mode of conveyance is far prefer-
able to litters borne by men, to say nothing of the
diminution caused in the strength of a small army,
during anything like a severe action by sending
four sound men to carry off every wounded one.

JANUARY 11, NOON.

Much rain in the night, and the ground this morn-
ing very soaked, and the camp terribly muddy. The
steamers are landing rations and stores, an operation
which proceeds but slowly, owing to the scarcity of
large boats, and the surf that still breaks upon the
beach. The day is mild but cloudy, after one of the
most gorgeous and remarkable sunrises I ever saw—
the whole eastern sky flaked and barred with clouds
glowing like burnished copper, on a background the
tints of which varied from tee pale green of the willow
leaf to an almost emerald hue. For a few minutes
it was wonderful to contemplate ; then the sun rose
like a golden ball from the sea horizon, slightly
veiled by a low bank of mist, but almost as soon as
it appeared clouds floated across, and the whole
morning, without being exactly dull, has passed
without brightness. The soldiers are going through
the duty, lately so unpleasantly frequent, of dis-
charging and cleaning their damp muskets, the
contents of the tents are being spread out to dry ;
horses are being cleaned and rubbed and brushed,
which they greatly need, poor fellows, after stand-
ing all night up to their fetlocks in mud, with rain
pelting through their covering and not much to cat.
Some of the mules look very thin and miserable,
and as if greatly in need of the contents of the
steamer marked " Hay ;" one poor lean wretch, on
beholding some scanty handfuls of that desirable
article spread before a horse this morning, came
tottering up to claim a share, but fell from weakness
before he could reach the much needed forage. The
cavalry horses seem tc bear up pretty well ; at least,
two squadrons of dragoons, which went forward
yesterday and rode all along the line during the
action in hopes of getting a chance of a charge,
looked plucky and in hard condition, and trotted
briskly up and
down rugged declivities and through
the thick jungles of briars and gum-cistus. The
MOOTS apparently did not like their looks, for they
kept carefully out of their way. I confess I begin
to think there is a
great deal of exaggeration in
what has been 'aid of the formidable valour of the
Moorish horsemen. They have had, before my
eyes, several opportunities of attacking, with far
superior force, small bodies of Soa-
lush cavalry, and
not once have they availed themselves of them.
As yet, all they have shown themselves good for
is to scamper about the country, generally at a
pretty safe distance from the Spanish sharpshooters,
and to per form feats which would excite much ad-
miration in Batty's Circus, such as firing at a
canter, levelling their long espingardos, and
.discharging them at the same instant that their
well-trained horses turn short round and make at
speed for the rear. Considering the length of their
guns; and the need they have of a prop for steady
aim, 'Cannot believe that this kind of practice
causes. many casualties in their enemies' ranks.
The kind of estimation in which the Spanish in-