“There remained two other points to consider--the re-embarkation of the British army, in the event of failure, and the chances of the Portuguese nation continuing the contest alone. As to the first, he could carry off everything safely, except the horses of the cavalry and artillery, those could not be carried off, if the embarkation took place after a lost battle; and, if under other circumstances, the expense of horse-transports would be more than the worth of the animals. As to the second point, if the British army evacuated Portugal, under any circumstances, he could not give hopes that the contest could be prolonged effectually by the natives. Although I,” he said, “_consider the Portuguese government and army as the principals in the contest for their own independence, and that their success or failure must depend principally upon their own exertions and the bravery of their army, and that I am sanguine in my expectations of both, when excited by the example of British officers and troops, I have no hope of either, if his Majesty should now withdraw the army from the Peninsula, or if it should be obliged to evacuate it by defeat. There is no doubt that the immediate consequences will be the possession of Lisbon by the enemy, probably without a contest; and other consequences will follow, affecting the state of the war, not only in Portugal but Spain._ If, therefore, it should be thought advisable now to withdraw, or if, eventually the British army should be obliged to withdraw from Portugal, I would recommend a consideration of the means of carrying away such of the Portuguese military as should be desirous of emigrating, rather than continue, by their means, the contest in this country.” Peniché and Setuval offered secure points of embarkation in the event of failure, but neither were likely to come within the scope of the operations, and lord Wellington’s opinion as to the facility of carrying off the army from Lisbon was founded chiefly upon admiral Berkeley’s assurances that the embarkation would not take longer than four hours, during which time, even though the left bank of that river should be occupied by the enemy, the ships of war could sustain the fire and at the same time sweep with their own guns all the ground above Passo d’Arcos, which, from the circumstance of its having no surf, was thought preferable to St. Julian’s for an embarkation. But the admiral’s views, as I shall have occasion to observe hereafter, were erroneous; the fleet could not remain in the Tagus, if the enemy were in possession of the left bank.