train of artillery which had been brought thither from Zaragoza, with the intent, he supposed, of laying siege to ♦MAY 30.♦ Ciudad Rodrigo. The Empecinado attacked the French in Cuenca; they withdrew from it in the night, and he destroyed their fortifications there, and set fire to the Inquisition. Mina received information that a strong convoy was about to set forth from Vittoria for France, escorting some prisoners taken from Ballasteros. He determined to intercept them upon the plains of Arlaban, which had been the scene of one of his most successful exploits in the preceding year; and in order to deceive the enemy, he wrote letters which were thrown into their hands, declaring his intention of marching upon the river Arga, to form a junction at the foot of the Pyrenees with two of his battalions. The enemy, ♦APRIL 9.♦ supposing that this dreaded commander was far distant, began their march: his orders were, after one discharge to attack with the bayonet, and that no soldier should touch the convoy on pain of death till the action was ended. It was of no long duration; the vanguard were presently slaughtered; the centre and the rear, consisting of Poles and of Imperial Guards, made a brave but unavailing resistance: from 600 to 700 were slain, 500 wounded, and 150 taken, with the whole convoy, and about 400 prisoners set at liberty. M. Deslandes, the Intruder’s private secretary, was in the convoy; he got out of his carriage, and endeavoured to escape in a peasant’s dress, with which it seems he had provided himself, in anticipation of some such danger; but this disguise cost him his life, which would have been saved had it been known in time who he was. His wife, an Andalusian lady, with two of her countrywomen, who were married to officers in the enemy’s service, fell into Mina’s hands. Very few would have escaped if the French had not erected a fort at Arlaban, in consequence of their last year’s loss, and this served as a protection for the fugitives. ♦INTERCEPTED LETTERS FROM THE INTRUDER.♦