ir triumph. Poor wretches, we
found that though their lives were for the present spared, their fate
was sealed, and that it was intended by a public execution to strike
terror into the hearts of their countrymen. Those who could not move
fast enough were dragged forward by ropes fastened to their wrists, or
urged on at the point of the sword. When they halted, they were all
huddled together like sheep in a pen, and a strong guard placed over
them to prevent their escape. From the words we overheard, the soldiers
appeared to be recounting eagerly, to those who had been left as a
reserve, the adventures of the day. Pedro and I were shortly summoned
by Don Eduardo to attend the colonel; but fortunately he was too tired
and hungry to interrogate us closely, and after a few questions he
dismissed us, with permission to join several of his officers round
their watch-fires.

We were surprised at seeing only three or four wounded men; and we
learned that, with the exception of one killed, they were the only
sufferers among the troops. They were in high spirits, as this was the
first success the Spanish forces had met with since the commencement of
the outbreak. They boasted that they had killed several thousands of
the Indians, though their own loss had been so small. They had followed
them beyond the defile, where the remainder, entirely broken and
dispersed, had saved themselves in the recesses of the forest. The
officers civilly invited us to partake of their supper, Don Eduardo
having recommended us to their notice; and afterwards, the picquets
having been placed, we all wrapped ourselves in our cloaks and lay down
to sleep.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN.

A BATTLEFIELD AT NIGHT--OUR EXPERIENCES OF A PERUVIAN PRISON.

I am not fond of dwelling on horrors; but I should fail to give a true
picture of warfare and its effects, were I to neglect to describe those
scenes which are its never-failing accompaniments. I tried to sleep;
but at first the blaze of the fire, the voices of those around me, and
the din of the camp, kept me awake; and when that had ceased, all the
soldiers except the sentries, and even the Indian prisoners, having
dropped off asleep, there came up from the depths of the mountain gorge
a sound which, as I suspected its cause, effectually banished repose.
Though rendered faint by distance, it came through the quiet night air
with a distinctness which was truly terrible. I listened with painful
attenti