When Buonaparte arrived in Spain he was not pleased at finding that Lefebvre had opened the campaign; his hope had been to march a strong force in the rear of Blake’s army, and thus place it in a situation where it must either have been destroyed or have laid down its arms. In crossing the mountains near Mondragon he had nearly lost one of his favourite Generals, Marshal Lasnes, Duke of Montebello; the ground was covered with frozen snow, his horse fell with him, and in attempting to rise fell on him. He was carried to Vitoria in a state of great danger, his body covered with those discolorations which show that the small vessels of the skin are ruptured, the abdomen swoln, the extremities cold, suffering acute pain, and with all the symptoms of inflammation in the intestines, from the shock and the pressure. M. Larrey, who attended Buonaparte in all his campaigns, had learnt a remedy from the savages of Newfoundland, applied by them to some sailors whose boat had been broken to pieces and themselves dashed by the waves upon their coast. A large sheep having been first stunned by a blow on the neck, was immediately flayed, the reeking skin was sown round the Marshal’s body, while his limbs were wrapped in warm flannels, and some cups of weak tea were given him. He felt immediate relief, complaining only of a painful sense of formication, and of the manner in which the skin seemed to attract every part wherewith it was in contact. In the course of ten minutes he was ♦LARREY, CAMPAGNES ET MEMOIRES, T. III. 243–246.♦ asleep. When he awoke, after two hours, the body was streaming with perspiration, the dangerous symptoms were relieved, and on the fifth day he was able to mount on horseback and follow the army. ♦DEFEAT OF THE EXTREMADURAN ARMY AT BURGOS.♦