As few persons came near the farm, which was remote from all thoroughfare, the Spaniards did not get notice of our proceedings; and we were thus, by dint of hard work, and the valuable assistance rendered by Mr Laffan, able to get together a very efficient body of cavalry. CHAPTER FOURTEEN. THE CAMPAIGN COMMENCED--WE JOIN THE PATRIOT ARMY--ORDERS TO HOLD THE FORT OF GUAMOCO AGAINST ALL ASSAILANTS--A THUNDERSTORM--SURVEY OF THE FORT FROM A HEIGHT--THE ENEMY IN THE DISTANCE--WE TAKE POSSESSION OF THE FORT, AND REPAIR IT--SPANISH OFFICERS APPEAR--TWO OF THEM SHOT BY OUR MEN--THE SPANIARDS ATTACK US FIERCELY, BUT ARE DRIVEN BACK--THEY RETURN, TO MEET WITH ANOTHER REPULSE--THE ENEMY AT LENGTH RETIRE--WE EXPECT ANOTHER ATTACK. Important events had meanwhile been taking place. Bolivar had assembled a considerable army, of which upwards of two thousand foreign troops-- mostly disbanded British soldiers--formed the most serviceable part. Whenever they met the enemy, the English exhibited the hardihood and courage which they had displayed on many hard-fought fields in the Peninsula, and lately at Waterloo. We heard, too, that they were led by several experienced officers who had taken part in those campaigns. The fearful atrocities which had been committed by Murillo, Boves, Morales, indeed by almost all the Spanish generals, had aroused the spirit of the people throughout the country, and we looked forward to the time when we should free our beloved land from the presence of the hated tyrants. At length being considered in an efficient state, with wild delight we received orders to join the Patriot forces. Before long we had several skirmishes with the enemy, and in a gallant charge--in which Mr Laffan distinguished himself--we put to flight a superior force of King Ferdinand's hussars. These hussars were the scorn of our wild horsemen, and the contrast between the two was great indeed. The arms and appointments of the hussar were a sad encumbrance in this climate. He had his lance, sword, carbine, and a brace of pistols; and his clothing and trappings were those of a Hungarian trooper. He was obliged to have his horse's tail cut short, for on several occasions a Llanero was known to have galloped up to the rear of a trooper, dismounted in an instant, and seizing the horse by its long tail, by a sudden jerk contrived to throw it on the ground, and then despatched the rider. Our fellows, when charging, used to lay their heads and bodies on the necks of their horses, carrying their lances horizontally in the right hand about the height of the knee, so that when the Spaniards fired they seldom managed to hit them.