At Aldea-de-Ponte, the headquarters of our division, all was quiet; and although our allowance of provisions was scanty, and our supply of money scarcely sufficient to procure us salt and rice for our soup, the division, nevertheless, was in high order; we had a good deal of drill, and regular examinations of the men’s kits—a very necessary precaution with all regiments, and with my corps as well as another. At an inspection of this kind by General Mackinnon he found fault—and deservedly so, I must confess—with the scanty manner in which some of the men of my company were supplied. The General was too much the gentleman to row, or call names, but it was clear from his manner that he was far from satisfied with the wardrobe displayed by these fellows; indeed, if he was, it would have been easy to please him! At last coming to a “boy” of the name of Darby Rooney, whose knapsack was what a Frenchman would term _vide_, or, to speak more intelligibly, one that contained nothing whatever but his watch-coat, a piece of pipe-clay and button-brush! he seemed thunderstruck, as well he might, for I believe “he ne’er had looked upon its like before”! With more asperity of manner than I ever observed him to make use of, he asked “Darby” to whose squad he belonged. Darby Rooney understood about as much English as enabled him to get over a parade tolerably, but a conversation such as the General was about to hold with him was beyond his capacity, and he began to feel a little confused at the prospect of a _tête-à-tête_ with his General: “Squidha—squodha—cad-dershe-vourneen?”[21] said he, turning to the orderly-sergeant, Pat Gafney, who did not himself speak the English language quite as correctly as Lindley Murray. “Whist, ye Bostoon,”[22] said Gafney, “and don’t make a baste of yourself before the General.”—“Why,” said General Mackinnon, “I believe he don’t understand me.”—“No, sir,” replied Gafney, “he don’t know what your honour manes.” ----- Footnote 21: “What does he say, honey?” Footnote 22: “Hold your tongue, you booby.” -----