I feel bound, before quitting the subject, to declare it as my opinion that the bread was not actually poisoned; the materials of which it was made, no doubt, were of the worst description, of which the colour, which was of the most disheartening black, gave every proof; when two days old it would be as hard almost as wood, and in another similar lapse of time, it would mildew, and become green as old copper. The men, however, who were not taken ill, always fed upon it, from necessity; while most of the officers, who were served with good white bread (but at a less ration), were equally attacked by the sickness. The baker, therefore, in this respect, did no more than what our own contractors would have done, and which the abominable quality of almost everything sent us went to testify. That he conspired to favour Don Carlos’s cause I have no doubt, and the punishment was necessary, and a wholesome one. Footnote 29: There were seven brothers of the Cummings in our first battalion Rifle Brigade; the above Allan was sergeant in the band, and was killed at Vittoria 21st June, 1813. Footnote 30: This I was informed by the surgeon who dressed them afterwards. Footnote 31: Vide first article of conditions of service: “I. The time of service to be for _one_ or _two_ years, as may be preferred by the individual engaging to enter her Majesty’s service.” Footnote 32: The whole of these two regiments were almost entirely Scotch, a people whom I ever found justly submissive and brave. Each man of these signed his name himself; and, by the ready manner, gave full proof of their being well informed as well as intellectual. It will be recollected, also, that, up to the time of their laying down arms, they had carried them only on a matter of good faith; for not one of them had taken the oath of allegiance to either the British or the Spanish Government. In the Rifles none laid down their arms or joined the discontented. I had raised them myself; and they were the only regiment that had not been buoyed up with false representations. The deficiency of allegiance was universal, I believe, in the Legion; and, under these facts, I feel surprised that any man was punished by court-martial. They virtually were not a Spanish or a British force, and constituted mere camp followers, answerable only—with certain exceptions—to civil authorities, and not to their officers, who, I presume, are now accountable to British laws for the cruelties they inflicted. Transcriber's Note Italics are represented by _underscores_. Inconsistent hyphenation of words in the original book has been retained. Punctuation errors were fixed. The name Josh was followed by a period/full stop in the early parts of the book and not in the later parts. This was left as printed. Some additional corrections have been made, as detailed below: