The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-06 00:00:00

tral. Now and then you ran up against a horse

picketed in the intervals. There is a dark mass
just before you, motionless and still; it is a batta-
lion of infantry, formed up and watchful. The
firing has qmite ceased; officers begin to talk to
each other in whispers and to express their belief
that the alarm is unfounded, for that the sentries
are of the division just arrived from Spain and see
a Moor in every bush through which the night
wind rustles ; staff officers come in from recon-
noitring, and have been able to discover nothing,
and presently the general himself arrives, receives
a few reports, gives an order or two, and re-enters
his tent and after half an hour's qui rice and ten-
sion everybody does the same—some to wrap them-
selves again in their blankets, others to await day-
break and the diana over a cigar and a cup of tea,
but all excessively disgusted at having been dis-
turbed, and dividing their invectives between trou-
blesome Moors and hasty sentries. The troops have
now got accustomed to these alarms, are quick and
cool, muster silently and promptly, and the enemy,
if they did some night think proper to come down
in force, might reckon on a warm reception.
Yesterday was a fine day in camp, with some sun,
a fresh drying breeze—much the weather you
sometimes have in England (when you are lucky)
at the latter end of April. We had many visitors
from the men-of-war and transports now lying off
Fort Martin ; the engineers progressed rapidly with
their fortifications ; and there was a good deal of
examination of the Moors through telescopes from
the little bridge, some way in front of the Custom-
house, where a picket of cavalry and infantry is all
day stationed. The fortification of the Custom-house
is all but completed, and it is of ample strength to
defy all the efforts of all the Moors, so long as they
do not bring artillery te the attack. Another fort is
commenced to our right front, which, with Fort
Martin, completes the triangle. The Moors, on
their side, are throwing up a sort of plrapet on the
mountain where their camp still stands, but it is
impassible to say what purpose they expect it to
answer, for, unless they have artillery of long range
to place there, it will in no way effect our advance
upon Tetuan, whether that be made on right or left.
They have about 250 or 300 head of horned cattle
grazing in the plain towards the foot of the moun-
tains to their right front of Tetuan, and with a
view, we conjecture, to protect the herd, they have
pitched a small camp at the further extremity of the
level, exactly in our front, at a distance of barely
two miles. One of the gunboats that are moored in
the river close to the Custom-house sent a couple of
shots at them yesterday, but they fell short, the
guns being, as it seemed to me, insufficiently ele-
vated. The rifled 12-pounders could easily reach
them, but it is hardly worth while expending the
ammunition, which may be much better employed
when we advance upon Tetuan. This we shall do,
it is generally expected, within three or four days.
It is presumed that the plan adopted will be to take
the field artillery to within easy range of the place,
and to throw in shell, to see what the Moors propose
doing. As the Spanish guns will reach further than
any they are likely to have in their fort, they must
either advance and fight, decide on evacuating the
place, or make up their minds to have it knocked
about their ears. Their citadel is at the further end.
and highest point of the city.
A Russian Staff officer has arrived here teaccom-
pany the Spanish head-quarters. Also the Count
d'Eu, a nice-looking fair-haired lad, whose pink and
white complexion will be the better for a little
browning by African sun and storms. He wears the
elegant uniform (white and light blue) of the Prin-
cesa. Hussars, and on his left arm the embroidered
badge, indicating that he is attached ("at the im-
mediate orders of" it is here called) to the Commazi-
-6 er4 a-Chief. It is reported that French and
officers Pru-
ssian are coming to observe the operations.
The morning is very fine and sunray. The ships
are firing salutes in honour of the birthday of Queen p
Isabella's husband,
onFrra.neisco de Assis. A re-
connoissance is out on u
shots into the Moorish camr;ght, and has sent a few
on the mountain. "The
and the
tents are being 'airedamup, cleaned,—thee
s
latter is especially necessary,
for
qualities,
do panish sol-
diers, among their good
and a camp where notthey
have
possess
that of cleanliness,
have in this one, becomes
passed six days, as they
extremely filthy and offensive. There is much need
of strict regulations rigorously enforced in this re-
spect, not only out of regard for one's nasal and
visual organs, but also for the sake of health. The
subject is not a savoury one to touch upon, but the
soldiers are apt to throw about the refuse of their
food, are too domestic in their habits, and dislike
country walks. Some of the commanding officers
of divisions seem alive to the necessity of compelling
cleaner customs, and to-day a deal of scraping and

sweeping is going on and the aspect of the camp isgenerally improving.
As far as I can learn, there is not much variation
in the health of the army since I last adverted to it.
There is still some cholera, and a good deal of dy-
sentery and diarrhoea. There is one article of food,
lately largely given as rations to this army, which
I am convinced tends to provoke the latter diseases
—which often terminate in the former and more
usually fatal one—and that is preserved meats in
tins. The soldiers have found out this from expe-
rience, and, although the meat thus preserved is by
no means unpalatable, many of them reject it, be-
cause they find it makes them ill, and prefer con-
tenting themselves with their bread or biscuit, and
with a not unsavoury mess they make out of rice
with a bit of bacon boiled in it. In officers' messes
the preserved viands are equally out of favour;
many have brought out tins of different kinds of
meat, fish, stews, soups, &c., which remain unopened,
while their owners dine off rice soup and ration
beef, boiled with beans. The meat in tins served
out to the troops is beef, preserved with gravy, and
with a large proportion of fat. It is of English pre-
paration, and often—indeed, generally—has an un-
pleasant flavour, which seems to proceed from the
metal in which it is packed. It is extremely unpo-
pular, and, I believe, not wholesome, and a very
different thing from the boiled beef, without gravy,
which was much liked by the British army in the
Crimea. A considerable portion of the provisions
now serving out to the Spanish army proceed from
English sources. The prime bacon, in barrels of
loolb., is the best that comes here. We get a great
deal of biscuit in huge cases marked " navy bread,"
and also English pressed hay. Barring the tin beef,
this army has had no reason to complain of the qua-
lity of its provisions, or of their quantity either ;
and this is the more fortunate that the soldier has
had but rare opportunities of adding to his rations
either by foraging or by purchase. He gets his pay
regularly, but since we left the lines of Ceuta he
has seldom been able to expend it because there was
little or nothing to buy. For five or six days, be-
tween Castellejos and Cape Negro, rabbits were in
season. The jungle of gumcistus and other plants
through which we marched swarmed with them.
There were also a few monkeys hunted, although
not always caught, for their agility set whole bat-
talions at defiance, but I have not heard whether
the soldiers brought their stomachs to stand that
peculiar diet. When we got into the plain we left
rabbits and monkeys behind us, and the only thing
I now see the men adding to their rations are a few
tortoises which they have picked up in this
neighbourhood. But we have now supplies of
another nature. A number of boats have come
from Ceuta with provisions, and a sort of
market is established along the banks of the
river. Booths are formed out of three long oars
with a sail thrown over them, and in them are sold
bread, wine, oranges, raisins, chorizos (the small
Estramaduran sausage, strongly flavoured with gar-
lic and red pepper), and various other things suited
to the soldier's taste. And as soon as day breaks the
camp is perambulated by itinerant vendors, crying
their wares and recommending them in the highest
terms to the soldiers. Aquadiento and a bastard
sort of Geneva are carried about in stone bottles ;
also chocolate, olives, and other things of common
Spanish consumption. So that forthe present there
seems to be no danger of starvation, nor even of a
return to the rather short commons not a few had
to put up with in that camp of odious memory on
the muddy margin of the River Azn.eer.

Since the above was written we have had a fight
of no great importance, which commenced in con-
sequence of the Moors coming down upon our
right, apparently intending to molest the engineers
employed in constructing the new fort already
mentioned. A couple of companies were sent out
to cover them, skirmishing began, and the Spanish
artillery struck in. General Rios having
advanced a battalion overmuch into a posi-
tion where a piece of stagnant water in some de-
gree cut it off from support, the Moors pressed upon
it, other troops were obliged to wade to its support,
and the action assumed larger proportions than
had been intended or than there was any occasion
for. The artillery fired a good deal, the gunboats
in the river made some very indifferent practice,
some of their shells bursting nearer to Spaniards
than to Moors, and finally the cavalry executed
several charges, in which some damage was done to
the enemy, and a standard was captured by a trooper,
who was made a sergeant and decorated on the
spot. The young Cuunt d'Eu smelt powder for the
first time, went out among the skirmishers, and re-
ceived a decoration. I have not heard what the
Spanish loss was, but I should think it small. The
Moors displayed no great force, and the whole affair
was unimportant. The enemy, once fairly driven
back, showed little disposition to come on again,
and made but feeble attempts to harass the Spaniards
as they returned to their lines. There is nothing to
prevent their coming down to-night and destroying
the engineers' daily work at the outlying fort, but
judging from the way in which they respected the
new roads that were made outside the Ceuta lines it
is probable they will do nothing of the sort. It is
not unlikely, however, that they may again descend
from their hills to-morrow and provoke another
skirmish. During the fight to-day they fired some
cannon shots from their camp, but nothing was seen
of the balls. They have, apparently, two small pieces
of artillery up there, but probably very antiquated,
like some of those that were found in the fort and
custom-house. Their sound is faint and dull, very
different from the sharp reports of the rifled guns.
Moreover, the Moors have the reputation of being
very bad artillerymen and have evidently the
vaguest ideas as to the distance a gun can carry.
According to the Gibraltar Chronicle of the 20th
inst., the Moors boast of having carried off from the
Spaniards, on the night of the 11th, 97 mules, two
horses, and a donkey. I think it not unlikely that
between the lines of Ceuta and Cape Negro they
may have obtained possession of quite that number
of animals, some of them dead, and others too much
exhausted to proceed with the army. Round the
camp on the Azmeer they were continually prowl-
ing, and doubtless made some captures, thanks to
the stormy nights and the incorrigible stupidity
and obstinacy of the muleteers, who persisted in
taking their beasts to graze at a great distance from
the intrenchments, and used to leave them there
unattended. From one division along 22 mules were
reported missing the day before we marched from
the Azmeer, but some of them afterwards turned up,
and others had lain down and died. Mules are
tough animals, but, unfortunately, no means have as
food,discovered
a as of
mostprevailing ornsesthweemretnoealrivlye
yweitt hboeue tn
or quite without corn at that time, it may be ima-
gined that the mules did not get a large ration.

(From the Clamor Publico.)
The heroic and sanguinary "episode of the knap-
sacks" in the battle of Castillejos is describedinthe following manner by the brave Count de Reus
in a letter to a friend :
" The positions were held exclusively by the forces
of my division till one in the afternoon. At that
hour two battalions of the Cordoba Regiment came
up to reinforce me, and I ordered them to take off
their knapsacks, seeing that the soldier cannot
fight with such a weight on his back. It was
this order which, two hours later, obliged me to
do what I did. At three, the Moors having
concentrated their forces, charged in such num-
bers and so furiously, that they caused us to
lose the higher of our two positions. I was at
the time in the second, I drew my sword, ad-
vanced with two battalions, and the position was
again taken ; I then returned to my first station.
Moorish supports came up; once more they attack
furiously, and my men are again obliged to retreat,
falling back in some confusion to the place where
I was posted. Here were the knapsacks of the
Cordoba Regiment. A hundred paces further in
retreat, and the Moors would have carried them
off. In so critical a moment I seize the standard
of this regiment, address a few words to the men
with all the energy of my heart, call to my brave
fellows, the remains of the Principe and Vergara
Regiments, and dash sword in hand upon the enemy,
who was so close upon us that our fellows, in order
not to lose time in loading, used only the bayonet.
" What passed there canot be described—Moors
and Spaniards
yataghans crossing--a up
together—bayonets and
soldiers came g—a terrible moment—but my
throughstandard-bearing general
it ; the bravest follow their
,F_eneral, and to the shout of
Viva la Reina_i a Espana!' we conquer for
on V t
4 the last time that day. The Moors iy, and