A sad disaster happened at this period. Almeida was besieged by Masséna in person, at the head of a powerful army. The place, though regularly constructed with six bastions, ravelines, an excellent ditch and covered way, was extremely defective. With the exception of some damp casemates in one of the bastions, there was no magazine for the powder. The garrison consisted of about four thousand men. On the 18th of July the trenches were begun, and on the morning of the 26th, the second parallel being commenced, sixty-five pieces of artillery, mounted on ten batteries, threw in their fire. Many houses were soon in flames, and the garrison was unable to extinguish them; the counter fire was, however, briskly maintained, little military damage was sustained, and towards evening the cannonade slackened on both sides; but just after dark, the ground suddenly trembled, the castle burst into a thousand pieces, and gave vent to a column of smoke and fire. Presently the whole town sank into a shapeless mass of ruin. Treason or accident 107had caused the magazine to explode, and the devastation was incredible. Five hundred persons were struck dead on the instant; only six houses remained standing; and the surviving garrison, aghast at the terrible commotion, disregarded all exhortations to rally. An immediate surrender was the necessary result. The invasion of Portugal by the French now assumed a most serious aspect. Masséna’s command extended from the banks of the Tagus to the Bay of Biscay, and the number of his troops exceeded a hundred and ten thousand men. The view was discouraging, and was so felt by the British ministry at home. Masséna could bring sixty thousand veterans into the field, while the British force was scarcely fifty thousand, more than half of which consisted of untried men. The Sierra Busaco was the place on which Lord Wellington fixed for his position. A succession of ascending ridges lead to this mountain, which is separated from the last by a chasm so profound, that the unassisted eye could hardly distinguish the movement of troops in the bottom. When this formidable position was chosen, some officers expressed their fears that Masséna would not assail it. ‘But if he do, I shall beat him,’ was the reply of the English leader, who was well assured that the prince would attack. Masséna was in fact anxious for a battle, and indulged in a vision in which he beheld the allies fly before his face.