time was afforded for such a display. The volley pealed out; the dog bounded on his hind legs, and barked aloud; but his new master held him tight. He was led off the ground, vainly resisting, and I cannot tell what became of him afterwards.

CHAPTER III.

I visit England, and see something of other lands.

We returned to our camp on the evening of that day, very much down-hearted; for the spectacle which we had witnessed was a melancholy one, and our hopes concerning the future were far from bright. To be sure, Baron Charles was kind and considerate towards us; and his assurance that we should winter on the Elbe had the effect of throwing our fears a good deal into the distance. But the passage of a few days sufficed to renew again, to their utmost pitch, the apprehensions under which we laboured. There came an order, we knew not whence, to inspect the horses, and to cast such as might be unfit for service; and the severity of the weather had of late so affected them, that a considerable proportion out of the whole number were condemned. Immediately a suspicion arose that we were all to be dismounted; and when, in addition to this, we received orders to march for Staden, to a man we concluded that we should thenceforth act as infantry on board the English fleet. Not often has a regiment of German hussars executed a movement in worse order than that which marked the progress of our journey from the heath of Schwarm to Staden. In spite of a strong rear-guard, and all the vigilance of the officers, many deserted by the way; and many more, when brought into the town, got drunk, and broke out

into mutiny. I do not know that any lives were lost, though even that is possible, for swords were drawn and blows struck without regard to consequences. Nevertheless, after a good deal of trouble and confusion, both men and horses were embarked, after which the ships parted from their moorings, and dropping down to an anchorage off the port of Gluckstadt there took their stations.

I had never seen the mighty ocean till now. I had never beheld a fleet, nor witnessed the wonders that are visible to those who occupy their business in great waters; and I acknowledge that the effect produced upon my mind was quite overwhelming. We lay at the very mouth of the Elbe, and though land was on either side of us, in front was the North Sea, rolling its huge waves to and fro in unspeakable magnificence. There was around us, too, a perfect forest of masts; while the music of the different bands, as they played on the ships' decks-the occasional booming of signal-guns-the constant interchange of communications, by flags during the day, by blue lights at night—produced altogether such an effect, as to stupify by reason of its intensity. Nor was it by me alone that the influence of novelty was experienced. The men in general forgot their fears in the contempla. tion of so many wonders, and for a brief space, being well supplied with provisions of every sort, they appeared reconciled to their destiny. But week after week passed on, and we still continued stationary; and the winter set in with its furious storms and terrible sea-sickness; whatever of enthusiasm might have been excited for a moment soon died away, and we became as anxious as ever to give Baron Hompesch the slip, and to return to our own homes. It was a most unwise policy that which kept us confined in narrow transports during the whole winter; for it taught us to regard our Colonel as a deceiver, who, keeping the word of promise to the ear, and breaking it to the sense, was not to be trusted.

Desperate as our situation might well appear to be, there were not wanting among us those who still continued to meditate an escape, and to devise plans for effecting it. We were visited daily, particularly from the Danish side, by bum-boats, which brought alongside bread, beer, tobacco, and fruit, and drove with us, to whom pay had been recently issued, a very profitable trade. It was resolved by some of our most determined sea-haters, to seize one of these vessels; and, to the number of about a dozen, they accomplished their purpose. There was a sort of cutter, or large open sail-boat, which came every day to the ship's side, about noon, and was in the habit of staying one, or two, or three hours, according to the facility with which the owner might dispose of his wares. Her crew consisted of only two men, and these my comrades made up their minds to overpower. Accordingly, one day, when all hands were below watering their horses, and the officers had withdrawn into the cabin to lunch, the conspirators, having armed themselves with swords and pistols, rushed upon deck-seized the two boatmen, who had just come on board-thrust them down into the hold-shut the hatches upon them, with threats of doing more-and passed, in a shorter space of time than I have taken to describe it, into the bum-boat. In an instant it was up sail and away. They waved their caps to us, gave us a hearty cheer, and, having the wind in their favour, we saw them skim through the deep like a water-fowl, when some enemy has scared her, and she is too much alarmed to fly. It was to no purpose that the officers, taking the alarm, shouted to them to return-or that a signal-gun being fired, the man-of-war's launches all hastened in pursuit. The fugi tives got so near to the Danish shore, that they ran the boat aground, and then leaped, up to their necks, into the water. Moreover, Baron Hompesch, who chanced at the time to be sojourning in the town of Gluckstadt, vainly offered them a free pardon if they would return. They

had made up their minds to dare the worst; and as the authorities of the place could not refuse them passports, they set out next day on their progress homewards. What became of them eventually I do not know; but it is probable that they either returned to their homes, or took service with some other of the corps which were then collecting recruits for continental service every where throughout Germany.

The escape of these twelve had the natural effect of increasing the vigilance of those whose business it was to hinder so mischievous a precedent from being followed. Great precautions were taken to keep the rest of us where we were, and they succeeded; for after a cheerless winter, about eleven hundred men, with perhaps half as many horses, still answered to the name of Hompesch's Hussars; and in spite of our reluctance to cross the sea, it was felt by most of us as a relief, when on the 7th of April, 1795, the signal for sailing was hoisted. Our voyage, to be sure, was a rough one, for we had scarce lost sight of land, when a storm arose, during the continuance of which we were battened under hatches. Yet we got through it at last; and but for the circumstance that one of our men's wives brought a little one into the world during the height of its violence, I do not know that I should have paused to remark upon it. Poor things, they were as well taken care of in the trying hour as circumstances would allow; and they survived it, only to be committed a few months subsequently to the deep.

We had been just a week at sea, the latter portion of which was fine, when the shores of England became visible, and we gazed upon them from the vessel's side full of admiration and wonder. We steered for Portsmouth, between which and the Isle of Wight we cast anchor; our berth being in the middle of such a fleet as might have struck with awe the oldest sailor that ever ploughed the deep. Ships of war of every size and class

were there without number. Merchantmen, transports, victuallers, crowded round them, while to and fro boats were continually passing, as if all the maritime affairs of the whole world had been under discussion. Nobody from our vessel, however, was permitted to go on shore. On the contrary, after laying in a slight stock of fresh provisions, we again hoisted sail, and made for the mouth of the Southampton river, where, at a place called Hythe, on a neck of land jutting into the sea, we were finally disembarked, and marched into quarters.

We had every reason to be satisfied with the pains which the English government must have taken to render us comfortable. Hut barracks, composed of wood, were prepared for us, and commodious stables for our horses; while our bedding, provisions, pay, and general allowances, were all on the most liberal scale. Neither did any great while elapse ere a thorough remount was provided for us; so that in the course of a week or two we felt as soldiers ought to do, who respect themselves, and are taught from experience to feel, that they are in the service of a just and liberal government. It seemed, too, as if the English were determined to load us with honours, and by so doing, to remove whatever of disinclination to the new service might linger in our minds. We had been less than a month in the country when his Royal Highness the Duke of York, the Prince of Wales, and the whole of the headquarter-staff, came down to review us. I knew that we went through the manœuvres of the day in a very creditable manner, and that our appearance, bearing, and general state of discipline deserved approbation; but I fancy, now, that the encomiums bestowed upon us were exaggerated. Not content to feast us, after the review was over, upon roasted sheep and hogsheads of ale, the Prince of Wales caused it to be announced that he had adopted us as his own regiment; and taking away our old buttons, gave us new, richly plated, and stamped with the ostrich feathers