The position which our forces occupied was at the commencement of a long and lofty range of mountains, upon which we had determined to retreat in case of necessity. We were then in daily expectation of the advance of the enemy, and as they were greatly superior in numerical force, we took every precaution to secure success in the expected engagement; among other measures it was thought prudent to occupy a small village, which was some miles distant among the mountains, as it commanded a narrow pass or ravine, which was likely to be of importance in case of our being compelled to retreat; this village was called by the very common name of St. Iago, and was beautifully situated in one of the loveliest and richest vallies in the American world. A detachment of 150 men were accordingly sent to occupy this position, and, it so occurred, that Seyton, with Calcraft, and myself, and a draft of the crews of the Dolphin and the Sylph, consisting of thirty-five men, formed a portion of this detachment which was under the command of Major E- ;. it was late in the evening when we took possession of this little village, and the stillness and silence of the hour seemed to add to the retirement of that beautiful and secluded place.

After we had been stationed here for a few days, we found that the Spaniards had advanced in force on our men's position, and, having made some demonstrations, again fell back on their original position; it now appeared that there was no immediate likelihood of the general engagement which we had expected, but still our detachment was ordered to remain at St. Iago till further orders; as therefore there was no immediate danger we resolved to amuse ourselves as we best could in this secluded village, and as time at first hung rather heavily on our hands, we made many excursions to see the beautiful scenery among the mountains,

so that in a short time we became tolerably well acquainted with the district.

At a distance of about half a mile was a convent of nuns, called the convent of St. Iago; it was an extensive establishment of the kind, and was most highly esteemed in the surrounding country for the marvellous sanctity of its inmates; the approach to it from our village was a long alley of trees, that cast a delicious and cooling shade over the road, so as to make it an agreeable place for lounging; many was the idle hour we whiled away under the delightful shadow of those trees. Within about one hundred yards of this convent stood a snug and comfortable house, that with its nicely whitewashed walls, its neat shrubbery and prime and quaintly-arranged gardens, presented the appearance of a very agreeable retreat. On our first arrival at St. Iago we had visited this place and were very hospitably received by its inmates, who were a brotherhood of monks, six in number, who acted in the capacity of confessors to the gentle inmates of the adjoining nunnery-this at least seemed to us to be their most interesting duty, although they certainly acquired no small reputation in our village, where they generally acted in a similar capacity; to our heretical notions they seemed to be very pleasant and jovial fellows, whose time was spent agreeably enough in gossipping from house to house, in attending to the culture of their gardens, and confessing the nuns of the convent, while they spent their evenings, when at home, over a jovial glass and a pack of cards, all which seemed to us to be an extremely pleasant sort of life for a set of bachelors. On two or three occasions we were hospitably received at their evening tables, and as we had some opportunities of witnessing their mode of life, and had some reason to suspect, afterwards, the character of their intercourse with the nunnery, we

thought that if we ever abandoned our present adventurous life we could not select one more agreeable than by turning monks in our own way, many were the pleasant jokes that were passed among us on the occasion.

We learned from these peasants, that we would be permitted not only to see the nuns, but to converse with them, provided we would be content to do so through a tolerably close iron grating; though this was by no means the most pleasant medium of communication with the fair recluses, and formed no very agreable draw-back to our acquaintance with them, we yet availed ourselves of the privilege which was offered, and in due form visited the convents. On the occasion of our first visit, we were accompanied by two of the monks, and imagined that such a circumstance might have awed the fair penitents into gravity, we soon however discovered our mistake, and perceived that the intercouse of the confessors and the penitents had at least as much of levity as of seriousness in its nature. I never spent a merrier hour-it was one continued series of pleasant and lively converse, full of laughter and light-heartedness that ended with great regrets on our part at being obliged to withdraw; we did not do so however without many pressing requests that we would repeat our visit, and many sincere promises on our part to comply; we accordingly repeated our visit over and over again-indeed, some of us made it a point to do so every day, for we found them, though separated by the iron grating, and though shrouded in black and grey, and enveloped in cowls and veils, both agreeable and interesting, so that we soon completely established ourselves in their good graces, learning much of their general system, and occasionally something of their individual history. Their life was a most regular routine, that could not fail to be wearisome from its essential sameness: there were their devotional exercises in the mornings, then their usual meal, which was chiefly composed of fruits and vegetables, and was taken by the whole sisterhood together; this was succeeded by retirement to their own separate apartments for private devotions for some hours, and then they assembled again for common devotion; after this they used to enjoy perfect VOL. II.

freedom for some time, and this was passed in reading, working, walking, or in any other way that suited the various tastes of the sisters; then again they would assemble for their vespers, and after that the evening was generally their own. Such a state of existence, carried on with the most perfect regularity, was, after a short time, tiresome in the extreme; and though the hours set apart for private devotions in their separate apartments, were often spent in a very different way, and though they had ample opportunity of innocent recreation, and society among themselves, yet, after a time, the novelty, which at first charmed the novices, wore away, and they almost invariably regretted the seclusion of the convents; the greater number of them would have given worlds, and they often told us so, to be allowed to revoke the step they had too precipitately taken; it was therefore not to be wondered at that our young men were welcome every day at the iron grating; we invariably found them waiting for us, and many was the gentle chiding we received for our delayindeed, I must say we did not deserve it, for though there were as many old and ugly as there were young and beautiful, and though there were some who were most perfect antidotes to the romance usually connected with our ideas of a nunnery, yet we were, some of us at least, very constant visitants, for we really pitied the sweet creatures in general, and more than pitied some of them, so that we had formed a pretty free acquaintance with many of them before the occurrence of the event which I am now to relate.

On the Spaniards having approached our forces, as already mentioned, and then retired to their original position, they called in all the troops that could be spared from certain districts, and great efforts were made to collect an army calculated to make an effectual attack on our position, which certainly was admirably chosen; the Spanish authorities, too, in those districts, still under their waning influence made every effort to second this design, and collected, and sent numerous detachments of troops to strengthen the main army; one of these detachments approached in the direction of our little village of St. Iago and halted about three miles from it in a very strong

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position, threatening our little party which was not half their number. This was far from welcome tidings to us, who felt ourselves responsible for the maintaining of the mountain pass, for which we had been especially dispatched and posted at St. Iago, and, at the same time, felt conscious that we were not sufficiently strong to defend it against such superior numbers; in this difficulty we held a council of war on a small scale, and it was determined to send a few men to occupy the convent, which was just at the entrance of the pass, and completely commanded it; this step seemed absolutely necessary for our safety, and, indeed, nothing but such an evident necessity could have justified us, in the eyes of the people, in taking military possession of a nunnery; the difficulties, however, which we anticipated to this step were fortunately easily surmounted, for there was a small building, forming a detached wing to the convent, enclosed within the main or outer wall of the establishment, which was quite separate from the main building, and had a small confined courtyard surrounding it; it was, therefore, determined that this should be given up to the military, and, accordingly, Calcraft and myself with twenty-five of our men from the Dolphin and Sylph took possession of this building, while Seyton, with the other ten of our crews, remained with Major E. and the rest of the detachment in the village.

We were at first very far from being pleased with our new quarters-the little detached wing, in which they birthed us, was dark and confined, surrounded on three sides by a wall considerably higher than the roof of our building, and on the fourth by the great and naked side-wall of the convent itself, there it stood with its vast expanse of whiteness fronting our windows, without one opening of any kind in the whole of it to break its monotony or to give promise of a fair face or a sparkling eye ever looking upon us, there was no other prospect whatever from the narrow windows of our building, the mountains, the valleys, the waving woods, and the merry village were all excluded, and we felt like condemned criminals, who were doomed to look from our cells on no objeet whatever but lofty and naked wallsif any thing could add to the misery

of our quarters, it was the tantalising vicinity to the nunnery, where the gentle recluses were in all their loneliness, and we separated from them by the stupid walls alone. We were near enough to them to act over again the story of Pyramus and Thisbe, had not the walls been of a more massive nature than in those innocent and classie times, and truly we were vexed to think that, notwithstanding our propinquity, we were nothing the better for it, as we were likely to enjoy no more of their society than our more fortunate companions, who were still quartered in the village, and that too through the iron grating. We were not long left, however, to indulge our vexation, for, the very next day after our arrival, we received a piece of information of a very agreable description, perfectly changing all our feelings as to the nature of our quarters; this interesting information was conveyed to us by our gentle friends at the grating, where we were paying, in our own way, our dutiful respects; they told us that a small door, in the back wall of the court that surrounded one wing, opened into the large inner court of the convent, from which were the entrances both to the convent itself and to the gardens belonging to the establishment, and, to give our informants their due, they did not give us this interesting information without something more than a hint that we should take an early opportunity of exploring the place.

It will readily be supposed that we were not long in making some adventurous experiments-before evening had well set in, and just as we heard the convent bells ringing the hour for vespers, Calcraft opened the little door, and, followed somewhat diffidently by myself, entered the inner courts from which we at once passed into the gardens; we instantly found ourselves in a kind of paradise; we entered through a long alley of limes and oranges in full and luxuriant bearing, and, at the same time, delightfully shadowing the walk, and meeting so nearly above as to give a dark and dream-like appearance to every thing in it; this led us to the shrubbery and the flowers, and truly there were flowers of every shape and every hue breathing their delicious perfumes around, while they almost dazzled the sight by the vivid brilliancy of their colours. As we passed on, we

observed that there was everything that the most refined and elegant taste could desire, long shaded walks, cool fountains, smooth silver-like ponds with jets throwing up the water in various forms, and then descending with that peculiar murmur of falling waters that makes solitude and silence seem still more solitary and silent; full of mirth and merriment as we were on first entering this garden, we soon became sobered and reflective, we felt that we were in a scene exquisitely arranged and suited to the wants of those interesting recluses, who had shut them selves out for ever from the world to enjoy the society of each other, and to devote themselves to religion in that delightful retirement; we felt conscious we were treading on forbidden ground, and, when we heard the voices of the nuns chaunting in their chapel, as it reached us indistinct and mellow ed by the distance, we were chained and charmed, as it were, to the spot, and it was not till the melody had ceased, and the peculiar lights of the evening hour was perceptibly stealing on, that we thought of retiring. I confess that I would have instantly withdrawn, were it not for the drollery and impudence of Calcraft, who vowed that he would not leave the gardens till, as he expressed it, he could see some of the nymphs that presided over these romantic fountains, and disported themselves among these beautiful retreats; true to his word, he seated himself in a small arbour, made at the end of a long and shady walk, and then stretching himself at full length, laughingly told me to retreat if I pleased, but again vowed that he would keep his pledge-in a few moments we heard the sound of voices, vespers were over, and the nuns, all laughing and talking, hastened from the convent, and entered the garden to amuse themselves there for the remainder of the evening, they soon scattered in different directions, and while Calcraft was rallying me, and suggesting the best mode of discovering ourselves, a group of five of the sisterhood suddenly stood before us, the start and exclamation of surprise on their parts was immediately changed for laughter, and, before we could exchange a few sentences, they observed a group of the elder nuns approaching, and they instantly vanished among the trees, leaving us to

explain our intrusion to the antiquated creatures who neared us but slowly. Calcraft was about to give chase through the shrubbery, but was restrained by my insisting that we should pacify the old ones, and certainly, when we did meet them, a scene, that baffles all description, ensued, some of them affecting to be shocked at the sight of mankind, seemed preparing to faint in the properest fashion, and others expressed their indignation at such a violation of the sanctity of their retreat, while we, with a profusion of apologies and artful flattery, and attention to those who were fainting, succeeded, after a few minutes, in so effectually pacifying them that, when I suggested our desire to pay our dutiful respects to the abbess, they very readily and goodnaturedly proposed to accompany us in searching for her in the garden. We found her in company with one of the younger nuns, and, on our walking politely up to her, taking off our hats, and respectfully saluting her, we apologised for our intrusion; that she was surprised at our appearance was evident, and that she was not displeased was equally evident, for there was an expression in her large dark eyes, as she looked into our faces, that did not escape our notice; indeed she not only at once expressed herself satisfied with our apologies, but seemed well disposed to excuse us of herself, expressing her opinion that we must feel extremely lonely in our new quarters, excluded, as we were, from the society of our brother officers; a good deal of conversation ensued in which we most fully succeeded in making ourselves very acceptable to the abbess, who was still a handsome woman, though a little beyond the prime of life; the result was very different from our first anticipations, for, whether she was pleased with the novelty of male acquaintances in addition to her monkish confessors, or deemed us as peculiarly entitled to privileges as military young men, whom the chance of war had placed in our peculiar position, she gave us permission to walk in the grounds during those hours in which the sisterhood were engaged at their devotions, or so otherwise occupied, as that their hours of recreation were not to be intruded on by us,-this was all we could expect, and, indeed, all we could desire, as we knew we could