The sand-hills which run along the sea coast from Helder, terminated a little in the rear of Patten, where our right was posted, and commenced again about three miles farther south, in our front. An embankment of sand fills up this breach, and prevents the sea from flowing over the flat country. Tufts of strong straw are set in the sand in regular rows, like plants in a garden, the whole breadth and length of the embankment. The tops of the tufts rise upwards of a foot above the surface of the sand, and the sand that is washed up by the tide or blown by the wind, lodges about their roots, and as the tufts are regularly renewed, they not only preserve this bank of light sand from diminishing, but also increase its size and solidity. The left of the enemy's army was posted at the commencement of the sand-hills. It was determined that Sir Ralph Abercrombie, with a division of British troops, should attack the enemy posted there, while the Duke of York, with the other division of the army, should attack their positions in the flat country. We left our cantonments before one o'clock of the morning of the 2d October, and assembled before day-break on the beach in front of the enemy's lines. At day-break we began to drive in their outposts; and continued to advance along the sea-side, while another part of the army advanced along the inland side of the sand-hills, with a line of communication across them. The breadth of the beach along which we advanced was various: (the attack had been several days delayed, on account of stormy weather, which drove the sea so far upon the beach, as to leave no passage betwixt the sand-hills and the water:) it admitted sometimes of two or three companies to march abreast, and sometimes scarcely of one. We had four pieces of cannon in front, which fired upon the enemy, who retired along the beach as we advanced. I passed close by a man who had been struck with a cannon ball upon the knee joint; the ball had carried away the joint, and left a ligament of skin on each side of it, which held the leg suspended to the thigh. A little farther, I passed near a man who lay stretched upon his back, dead;--his eyes and countenance had something in them peculiarly dreadful; yet he appeared to be only shot through the thigh with a musket ball:--but it was the centre of it, and it had proved instantly mortal. I was so struck with this man's ghastly appearance, that I thought with myself, "Were I a poet, I would choose, as my subject, the horrors of war, that I might persuade mankind not to engage in it."--As we continued to advance, the sand-hills increased in breadth, which required additional troops to fill up the line of communication across them; we who remained upon the beach, saw nothing that was doing in the interior of the sand-hills; and as the firing there was only musketry, the roar of the sea upon the beach prevented us from hearing it, except when it was close to us. We had frequent and