The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-29 00:00:00

CAMP IN FRON r OF CEUTA, DEC. 16.
The skirmish which was commencing yesterday
morning when I sent off my let tor lasted until dark,
,but was !not of sufficient importance for a detailed
account of it to be interesting out of Spain. These
small fights occur every two or three days, and
since I' first arrived here they have been invariably
provoked by the enemy, excepting on the 12th lust.,
when General Prim brought on an efiliir. The
Moors advance firing and menace 'et- line, and, of
course, wen.re obliged to repulse them Their ob-
ject is probably only to harass us, for they cannot
expect, with the forces they present, to gain an ad-
vantage over those we have. I\re had just as soon
they kept quiet, for they. give us trouble and cost
us men, and there is no profit and little glory to be
gained. Yesterday a sort of strategical idea
seemed to have struck them, but it was so clumsy
a one, a manoeuvre so easily
,detected, that, if they
expected it to succeed, they must have art exceed-
ingly low opinionTof Spanish intelligence. They
brought down about 800 to 1,000 cavalry, appa-
rently expecting that the attack of their infantry
would tempt us out of our lineS to ground where
the horse could act. Of course they were dis-
appointed; our artillery drove away the cavalry,
and the musketry fire nearly ceased for an hour or
two, but breezed up about 3 o'clock and lasted till
night. The shots were rather long, but, neverthe-
less, some of them told, and we had upwards of 100
killed and wounded. In the early part of the day
the Moors planted a flag on an eminence consider-
ably in our frott, and it is supposed there was some
General or great personage among them, whese
banner it was. The evening skirmish was on an
eminence in front of the Isabel 11. redoubt
(right of all), a hill the summit of which is a
long level ridge. At the further extremity of
the ridge a number of pieces of rock and large
stones afford cover to Moorish sharp-shooters.: It .
is a very favourite position of theirs, and I call it
Tombstone-hill, in order to distinguish it. At
one end of the hill the Spanish • skirmishers lay
down upon the slope which runs down. into the
valley immediately in front of the redoubt; their
object was, not to fight, but merely to hold the
ground until night, so they kept just below the
brow, and returned the enemy's fire only occasion-
ally. Their practice while thus recumbent did not
do them much eredit; and I understand they are
not accustomed to fire in that posture. A rifled
four-pounder on the redoubt occasionally sent a
shot among the Moors and set some of them running,
but upon the whole they stood their ground very.
stoutly, and sonic of them gave proof of great cou-
rage, advancing singly along the ridge until they
caught sight of the first Spaniards posted below it,
when they discharged their espingardas and re-
treated. If they had had better shots to deal with,.
not one of those who played this hazardous trick
ought to have returned alise to his friends. One
or two only were hit, and two of, three of their
comrades made gallant efforts and exposed them-
selves very much to cony them off. These small
incidents afforded some amusement' to the lookers-
on, who could not, however, but think it dearly
purchased when they saw sundry poor fellows, in-
cluding two or three officers, carried by wounded,
and some deal bodies taken to the rear in blankets.
As to the loss of the Moors it were idle to hazard
conjecture. although it is the fashion here, as in
most armies under similar circumstances, to make
them—the loss of the enemy being, of course, always
estimatedi.greatly to exceed our own. It is pro-
bable, however, that the Moors do generally suffer
considerably more than the Spaniards, for the simple
reason that the latter have artillery and their op-
ponents have not. In the early part of yesterday
the rifled mountain battery of Major Lopez Domin-
iusz, a cousin of Marshal Serrano, made scmegood
practice, ane hvast have been unpleasant, to the
Moors. 4!. •
While fi,gliking, even when only exchanging long
shots, the 'Moors keep up a mostilideous howling
and shrieking, vituperating theit.enemiee in had
Spanish, and making the mountains resound with
the often-repeated epithet of "perros" (dogs). To
this the Spaniards condescend not to reply, except
with bullets, although in the civil war it was no un-
usual thing to hear Carlist and Christina skir-
mishers abusing each other, and especially indulg-
ing_ in anthaudsome reflections upon each others'
Sovereign. •
During the lull in the middle of the day, when
there was almost a cessation of firing, the Com-
mander-in-Chief rode to our extreme left to visit the
corps of General Ros de Olano, which has esta-
blished its camp in a picturesque recess of the Shore,
formed iss- two wooded hills that slope sown
towards- each other's base almost into a dell. The
tents are pitehed with much regularity ; the sur-
rounding cork trees afford abundant fuel, and last
night the place was in a blaze of light from the
camp fires. The nights, and especially the early
mornings for two or three hours before daybreak,
have now become so cold that it is most fortunate
that wood is plentiful hereabouts. On O'Donnell's
arrival the corps was drawn up to receive him, V&
band playing the Marcia Real (which has becOme
the Spanish national air since the follies of the
•Progresista party disgusted people with Reigo's
hymn and other Liberal melodies); sonic battalions
were in advance, with skirmishers thrown out, as a
little firing was still going on, and the enemy
visible on various points at no great distance from
our line. The sun shone brightly, and the coup-
dceil was good, as was also the appearance of the
troops. The corps is said to be about 11,000
strong.
This morning General Prim went out with his
division, consisting of seven battalions, over the
hills on our left
.along shore, to protect the men
working at the continuation of the road, which is
to be completed as far as the level beach in the
direction of Tetuan. With him went a battalion
of engineers and another of artillerymen, who are
to cut the road. The move is to a considerable
distance beyond our lines, but the Moors have made
no attempt to molest the Spanish troops, which
were protected in the early part of the day by two
steamers and a gunboat. The enemy has a whole-
some dread of the fire from the ships. Other roads
are in progress connecting -the redoubts, and it
is probable that when the next skirmish
occurs the wounded will be conveyed along them
to the shore, and sent off in boats to vessels
waiting there. It will be a shorter and easier
transit than taking them through the tedious wind-

ings of the fortifications into Ceuta, and it will,
moreover, serve as practice previous to the ship-
ment of wounded in the fighting we may expect as
we proceed along the coast to Tetuan. Up to Cape
Negro it is expected, as I think I have already men-
tioned, that there will be small difficulty or opposi-
tion to our march, but there the ground again be-
comes difficult (it is said that there is a deep and
rugged ravine), and we may possibly have to form
an entrenched camp and abide there until the en-
gineers have overcome obstacles. Meanwhile we
are menaced with a change of weather; the sailors
predict rain, which would retard our operations, and
probably increase the amount of sickness, lately
sensibly diminished under the beneficial influence of
a few fine days. The transitions here are great
and rapid ; to-day, at 2 o'clock, the sun was so hot
as td render exposure to it, when in exercise, by no
means pleasant ; it is now half-past 4, and one is
very glad to put on a warm greatcoat, even under
the shelter of a tent.
Of our life in camp there is not much to tell you
that would have the charm of novelty. Of the
hardships and pleasures (the latter not numerous),
the disagreeables, the shifts, and the fun of that
mode of existence you heard much, even to the
minutest details, during the still recent compaign in
the Crimea, and now to enlarge upon them would
be but to repeat a thrice-told tale. With fine
weather, things are endurable enough for persons
not over delicate ; wind and rain sadly mar our
comparative happiness. Here only for a few days,
it is not worth while to do many things which would
contribute to comfort and greatly improve our con-
dition. We rough it, and hope for an early move, a
successful fight, and a period of repose at Tetuan.
Ceuta having within the last few days been
made a free port, except for articles of estance
(Government monopoly), such as tobacco and salt,
supplies begin to improve, although as yet but
slowly. A restaurant has just- been opened at
head-quarters of the productions of which I can-
not yet speak from personal knowledge, but which,
I am assured, far surpasses in the prices, although
not in the quality, of its dishes, the Freres Pro-
vengaux or the lamented Verrey. I suspect its
habitues will not be numeius, for the Spanish
officer is generally frugal, and sets no great store
by the pleasures of the palate. Generally speak-
ing, as far as I have observed, the officers mess to-
gether in small groups, a tent forming but a limited
dining-room, and nearly the largest of those we
have here being pretty well crowded with half-a-
dozen persons. Tables, too, are rather a difficulty,
since we brought little furniture with us, aed have
not as yet had opportunities of borrowing any from
Moorish palaces. About a fourth part of the furni-
ture that the British army left behind it in the