On the examination of the stores after the capture, we were highly pleased to find that the French had left us a valuable legacy.--Their magazines were well stocked, not only with powder and ball, but with an ample supply of provender, sufficient to rejoice the hearts of any half-starved warriors; the quality, moreover, of these materials being such as to gratify the palate of the most fastidious gourmand. To a set of fellows in our sorry plight this was no very unpleasing windfall, and fighting being allowed at all times to be very hungry work, we proceeded, with appetites sharpened like our swords, on the work of demolition; the lean and starving bullocks allotted for our use being at the same time happy at the prospect of a respite from the sentence of being cut up for rations by the remorseless knife. Assembled on the esplanade, so lately the arena of our exploits, fragments of the dainty fare were dispensed with liberal hand, under the inspection of the quarter-master; and with a relish, that might have put a town councillor to the blush, we dispatched the _vivres_ with as little ceremony as we had shown to the original proprietors of the same; nor were we by any means over nice, as to the mode in which our pic-nic repast was served or garnished. Collected together in knots and parties, with the green sward for our table-cloth, forgetful of the past, and careless about the future, we feasted most sumptuously, drinking to our foes in their own generous wine, and wishing that, in future campaigns, our adventures might be terminated in an equally agreeable and fortunate manner. CHAPTER XII. We marched on the morning of the 20th of May, 1812, and on the 21st entered our old quarters at Truxillo. The journey was fatiguing, but, as we returned by the main road, our sufferings were not by any means so great as they were on the former occasion. Truxillo is large and populous, and appears from the remains of its ancient buildings, castles, churches, and walls, to have once been a place of considerable note, and one of the principal towns in this part of Spain. From the hill, on which it stands, there is a commanding view, even to the mountains of Miravete. The square is spacious and uniform, the houses built in the Moorish style, their upper compartments projecting, so as to form a range of handsome piazzas underneath, where all the most respectable shops are situated. The windows above, opening to the plaza, are furnished with handsomely ornamented verandas and balconies, in front of which are appended solid iron bars. The fair Senoras occasionally display their charms at those windows, during the cooler hours, decked out in holyday robes and gaiest attire, imparting a brilliancy of effect to their balconies which it would be impossible for the most costly works of art to rival.