The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-04 00:00:00

MYSTERIOUS PRIZE.

On Wednesday last, as, a young man was enjoying
the agreeable pastime, of popping at small birds' in
some fields near Sedgley, an intended victim of his
deadly sport perched itself 'on something, the exact,
nature. of which was not very' discernable, in one of
the pits of water with which the fields in that neigh-
bourhood abound. Our sportsman took his aim, but
the feathered one, too cunning to remain in such
dangerous . company, wisely ' took wing and flew-
away. Disappointed for the moment the wanderer.
resolved upon a scrutinizing examination of the ex-
traordinary looking affair from which the bird bad
just departed. It looked like the lead of ,a barrel,
dimly seen through a kind of mist of long-attached
slime and weed. But what business had a barrel
there ? Determined to solve this mysterious
appearance, and a hedge being near, the
hero of •our adventure judiciously armed
himself with a tolerably lengthy hedge rail,
and took many a cautious poke at the tantalizing
object before him. The weeds and aqueous_ incrus,
Cations at length gave way,•and a portion of a tolera-
bly portly kind of kilderkin stood revealed to. view.
It was heavy, and literally stuck in the mud. 110_,
get it gut unaided_ vattimpos3iblq,-ind-assistaxpeilits

speedily gathered. A stout rope and a hearty tug or
two soon brought the curiosity. to the, shore. It was
evidently well charged with . something—but what.
could it be ? It was broached, andlorthwith from it
poured. a rich stream of ruddy. mellow old- port !
port such as might have warmed the heart of even
•old Bacchus himself!' The cheerful -news of this
wonderful vintage soon'spreadaround ; even from the
most unseemly -vessel was the precious. liquor eagerly
quaffed, and those " drank port who ne'er drank
port before." Nordid the luck of the' party end here,
for one of them sagaciously enough conjectured
that, as . the surface of the pit presented such good
things, its inner depths might not be less satisfac-
torily stored, and forthwith an active exploration of
all -its muddy recesses commenced, and the skill and
enterprise of the party beheld' its reward in the safe
landing;_ amidst cheers- and eager expectation, of
another rotund prize, of similar. size and aspect to
the one already secured ! This, on tapping, turned
out to be a cask of peppermint! As the news of find-
ing these good things derelict became more extensively
known, it was resolved that means should be taken to
discover, if possible, unto whom these' remarkable
,• ,
waits legitimately belonged. .The wine cask was
found to be marked • " Prince and Co., Tamworth,"
and three -" Ws" were impressed on that containing
the peppermint. A communication was forwarded to
Tamworth; but, strange enough, the firm knew no-
thing of the commodities—nor is any trace of them
to' be found in thehOoki,Thotigh referred to for. years
back•-•L'Wolttei-hizmpton •
. • • _.. • •

'THE SEVENTY-NINTH HIGH-

LANDERS.

-
THE SQUARE OF THE HIGHLANDERS AT
TOULOUSE, APRIL 10, 'lBl4. (From the Note
Book of Captain John Ford, Royal Hospital, Chelsea.)
Though the square formed by the 79th Cameron
'Highlanders in the valley of the Ers, near Toulouse,
is mentioned by French military writers, and is laid
down in their plans, yet I am not aware that the par-
ticulars have been given in any British publication or
official letter; I may, therefore, be excused copying
from my notes a few words respecting it. The Sixth
Division, commanded by Sir Henry Clinton, of which
• the 79th Regiment formed a part, crossed the bridge
over the Ers at Croix d'Aurade, but did • not sustain
so much loss from the fire of the redoubt des Au-
gusting 'on the Plateau de Calvinet when advancing
along the valley, as the Fourth Division
which had preceded it. After passing and getting
out of the, range of the guns of the above. men-
'Coned redoubt, the 79th was on the right of the di-
vision in the valley, between the Plateau de Calvinet
•in possession of the enemy, and the little river Ers ;
While so situated a corps of French cavalry unex-
pectedly appeared, debouching in slow time by one
of the deep farm roads which cross the plateau, with
the' intention, no doubt, of attacking us if not pre
pared to receive them, of turning the right of the
two divisions, or of cutting off their communica-
tion with the bridge which we had passed, the only
one over the Ers not destroyed by the enemy. The
position of the 79th was, therefore, a very important
one. Lieutenant-Colonel Neil Douglas (command-
ing) immediately formed square, ordered out Ensign
Balfour to the front with one of the colours, and
gave the word " march."
Balfour's conduct was much admired ; he carried
himself quite erect, the 'colours inclined forward—
which, as he had no shoulder or waist-belt to support
them, required strength of arm—pointed his toes, and
gave the step
.to the square with as much regularity
and correctness as he would have done at any formal
parade in England. The view of the two corps ad-
vancing in slow time to meet each other must have,
been a very interesting sight, as seen from the high
ground which the French held possession of. When
the sctuare had arrived sufficiently near, Lieut.-Colo-
nel Douglas halted it, called in Balfour, and ordered
the grenadiers to giVe the enemy a volley, upon which-
they wheeled round and retired as slowly as they had
advanced. I believe they did not sustain any loss
from our. fire—certainly I did not see one man fall.
The French account
,does not agree with that I
have given ; the French author must have written
the passage from an incorrect report, because though
the .Dragoons and Lancers in the French service are.
called " Cavalerie de Ligne," they had not so many
as 115 regiments of that description of force, there-
fore the 115 de Ligne must have been an Infantry
regiment : The threatened attack upon .the 79th
square was made by cavalry.
'On the morning of the battle of Toulouse, the 79th
had only 414 rank and file present in the field, but
they were veterans in every sense of the word. Not
a shot was fired at us when in square. It was in
attacking and carrying the redoubt des Augustins
that the 79th afterwards sustained such a serious loss,
about one-half of the 414 rank and file being either
killed or wounded. Four of our officers were buried
in' one grave in the redoubt (three of whom bore the
name of Cameron, and were cousins), and a fifth at
Toulouse, and thirteen wounded.--United Service
Magazine, April.