Thus it is certain, that difficulties of the most serious nature awaited the English army while acting on a single line of operations; and the double line proposed by sir Arthur was strictly scientific. For if sir John Moore, disembarking at the Mondego, had marched first to Santarem and then to Saccavem, he would have turned the positions of Torres Vedras and Montechique, and then sir Arthur on the other side would have turned the heights of Bellas by the road of Quelus. Junot’s central situation could not in this case have availed him, because the distance between the British corps would be more than a day’s march, and their near approach to Lisbon would have caused an insurrection of the populace. The duke of Abrantes must either have abandoned that capital and fallen vigorously upon sir John Moore, with a view to overwhelm him and gain Almeida or Elvas, or he must have concentrated his forces, and been prepared to cross the Tagus if he lost a battle in front of Lisbon. In the first case, the strength of the country afforded Moore every facility for a successful resistance, and sir Arthur’s corps would have quickly arrived upon the rear of the French. In the second case, Junot would have had to fight superior numbers, with an inveterate populace in his rear, and if, fearing the result of such an encounter he had crossed the Tagus, and pushed for Elvas, sir John Moore’s division could likewise have crossed the river, and harassed the French in their retreat. [Sidenote: Captain Poulteney Malcolm’s Evidence. Court of Inquiry.] 2º. The above reasoning being correct, it follows, that to re-embark sir John Moore’s army after it had landed at the Mondego, and to bring it down to Maceira bay, was an error which (no convention intervening) might have proved fatal to the success of the campaign. This error was rendered more important by the danger incurred from the passage; for, as the transports were not sea-worthy, the greatest part would have perished had a gale of wind come on from the south-west. [Illustration: _Explanatory Sketch_ of the CAMPAIGN IN PORTUGAL in August 1808. _London. Published March 1828, by John Murray, Albermarle Street._]