Being relieved by other troops, we descended the mountain, and were encamped near the village of Ariscune. While here, one of the 83d regiment was shot for desertion; he had deserted when we formed the advance at the Maya pass, and having come out with some of the French generals to reconnoitre our position, they were attacked by a picquet of our cavalry, when the French officers decamped, leaving the deserter behind. He was then taken, and being subsequently tried by a general court-martial, was sentenced to be shot. He blamed the tyrannical conduct of the officer commanding his company, and the pay-sergeant, for being the cause of his desertion,—that they had taken ill-will at him on some account, and rendered his life so miserable, that he was driven to the desperate step which ended in his death. Whether his statement was true, I cannot say, but his comrades were inclined to think it was. During this time General Graham besieged and took St Sebastian. While we were here, I was sent on command with a letter to General Hill, whose division now occupied the heights above Roncesvalles. In going from the one place to the other, I had to travel about six miles through a by-path, on the ridge of one of the Pyrenees, and my imagination was struck in a peculiar manner by the awful grandeur of the scenery; yet I could not help feeling horror at the death-like stillness that reigned around me. I felt myself as it were lifted out of the world—I saw nor heard not any living thing but a huge vulture, who stood upright on a rock by the road side, looking at me as I passed, without seeming the least disturbed at my presence—he rather seemed to eye me as an invader of his solitary domain. I tried to startle him by making a noise, but he disdained to move; at length, when it suited his own pleasure, he slowly expanded his broad wings, and rising a few yards from the ground, hovered for some time immediately above my head, and then soared out of sight. Having ascended the mountain, I found the second division encamped on nearly the same ground that we had formerly occupied, and enveloped in mist as we had been. The place where General Hill and his staff were encamped was surrounded by a small intrenchment, inside of which the tents were pitched, and a kind of log-house built in the centre, to serve as a mess room. Judging from the proud and haughty bearing of some of our ensigns, in coming into the presence of the general second in command of the British army, I expected to be annihilated by his look, and I was ushered into the mess room to deliver my message with a palpitating heart; but I no sooner saw the humane and benevolent-looking countenance of the general, than my apprehensions vanished. Having read the letter, he questioned me concerning the health of the commanding officer, and asked me questions concerning our regiment, (of which he was colonel,) in the kindliest and most unaffected manner; then calling one of his servants, he ordered him