the narrow mountain ridge over which the road here passes. Coming from Castille, the traveller descends from this ridge into a country, where, for the first time, the gum-cistus appears as lord of the waste, ... the most beautiful of all shrubs in the Peninsula for the profusion of its delicate flowers, and one of the most delightful for the rich balsamic odour which its leaves exude under a southern sun; but which overspreads such extensive tracts, where it suffers nothing else to grow, that in many parts both of Portugal and Spain it becomes the very emblem of desolation. The old castle stood at little distance from the road, on the summit of the sierra: the French had surrounded it by a lower _enceinte_, twelve feet high; they had fortified a large _venta_, or travellers’ inn, upon the road, and had constructed two small works between the inn and the castle, forming altogether a strong line of defence. Sir Rowland Hill, to whom this important service had been intrusted, broke up from Almandralejo on the 12th of May, with part of the 2nd division of infantry, and six of the 24-pounder iron howitzers which had been used against Badajoz. The Marquis de Almeida, who was a member of the Junta of Extremadura, accompanied them, and from him and from the people, Sir Rowland received the most ready and effectual assistance which it was in their power to bestow. On the morning of the 16th they reached Jaraicejo, an old and decayed town, about eight miles from the summit of the pass; and on the same evening they advanced in three columns ... the left, under Lieutenant-General Chowne, toward the castle of Miravete; Sir Rowland himself, with the right under Major-General Howard, toward a pass through which a most difficult and circuitous footpath leads by the village of Romangordo to the bridge; and the centre, under Major-General Long, along the high road, to the Puerto. The artillery was with the centre: both the flank columns were provided with ladders, and it was intended that both should escalade the forts against which they were directed; but the difficulties of the way were such, that it was found impossible for them to reach their respective points before daybreak: as the enemy, therefore, could not be taken by surprise, Sir Rowland judged it best to defer the attack till they should be better acquainted with the position and nature of the works; and the troops bivouacked on the sierra. It was found that the castle, because of its peculiar situation, could not be carried without a long operation: a false attack therefore was directed to be made upon it by Lieutenant-General Chowne, and Sir Rowland, with the right, and the 6th Portugueze caçadores (about 2,000 men in all), on the evening of the 18th began to descend by the mountain path which he had originally proposed to take. They were provided with twelve scaling-ladders of sixteen feet in length; and he relied, as in this case he well might do, upon the valour of the troops, to supply the