bt as to the expediency of
this step; but I should not be at all surprised to hear that the
republic was preparing to make some show of resistance against its
powerful brother; for, as the reader will have perceived, the New
Granadans' experiences of American manners have not been favourable;
and they do not know, as we do, how little real sympathy the
Government of the United States has with the extreme class of its
citizens who have made themselves so conspicuous in the great
high-road to California.

CHAPTER VIII.

I LONG TO JOIN THE BRITISH ARMY BEFORE SEBASTOPOL--MY
WANDERINGS ABOUT LONDON FOR THAT PURPOSE--HOW I
FAIL--ESTABLISHMENT OF THE FIRM OF "DAY AND MARTIN"--I
EMBARK FOR TURKEY.

Before I left Jamaica for Navy Bay, as narrated in the last chapter,
war had been declared against Russia, and we were all anxiously
expecting news of a descent upon the Crimea. Now, no sooner had I
heard of war somewhere, than I longed to witness it; and when I was
told that many of the regiments I had known so well in Jamaica had
left England for the scene of action, the desire to join them became
stronger than ever. I used to stand for hours in silent thought before
an old map of the world, in a little corner of which some one had
chalked a red cross, to enable me to distinguish where the Crimea was;
and as I traced the route thither, all difficulties would vanish. But
when I came to talk over the project with my friends, the best scheme
I could devise seemed so wild and improbable, that I was fain to
resign my hopes for a time, and so started for Navy Bay.

But all the way to England, from Navy Bay, I was turning my old wish
over and over in my mind; and when I found myself in London, in the
autumn of 1854, just after the battle of Alma had been fought, and my
old friends were fairly before the walls of Sebastopol, how to join
them there took up far more of my thoughts than that visionary
gold-mining speculation on the river Palmilla, which seemed so
feasible to us in New Granada, but was considered so wild and
unprofitable a speculation in London. And, as time wore on, the
inclination to join my old friends of the 97th, 48th, and other
regiments, battling with worse foes than yellow fever or cholera, took
such exclusive possession of my mind, that I threw over the gold
speculation altogether, and devoted all my energies to my new scheme.

Heaven knows it was visionary enough! I had no friends who