inst the walls and filled with men:
but the enemy showered down a mass of heavy substances, such as trees
and large stones, and amongst all a number of deadly bursting shells,
and thus broke the ladders and tumbled the men down from top to
bottom, crushing still more underneath.

Yet more men were found ready to push on to the sanguinary scene. More
ladders had indeed to be procured, which caused another great delay,
but as soon as they arrived they were quickly hoisted, and the
precaution was taken this time to fix them farther apart, so that if
more beams were waiting to be rolled over, they might not take such a
deadly sweep.

The second attempt was more successful, for the ramparts were gained
and the French driven back: and a single piece of ground being thus
gained, a footing was soon established for many more, who succeeded in
turning round some guns and firing them along the ramparts, soon
sweeping the enemy off them.

Fresh reinforcements on both sides shortly arrived at this for us
successful spot, but the garrison was soon forced back into the town.
The ramparts were then scoured, the breaches cleared, and the _chevaux
de frise_ pulled down, and the main body of the English entered the
town. Some opposition had to be overcome in the streets, but that was
soon cleared away, and the French escaped to Fort San Cristoval.

Our troops found the city illuminated to welcome them, but
nevertheless then began all the horrors that generally attended a
capture by assault--plunder, waste, destruction of property,
drunkenness, and debauchery. I was myself exempt from all this, owing
to my wounds, which kept me in camp at the time the town was taken;
but though I was at least a mile off, I could distinctly hear the
clamour of the rabble, as the guns and musketry had ceased; and next
morning I hobbled as well as I could into the town with the help of
the handle of a sergeant's pike chopped up so as to form a stick, and
there sure enough I found a pretty state of affairs. Pipes of wine had
been rolled into the streets and tapped by driving the heads in, for
any one to drink of them who liked, and when the officers tried to
keep order by throwing all of these over that they could, the men that
were in a state of drunkenness lay down to drink out of the gutters,
which were thus running with all sorts of liquors; doors were blown
open all through the city, both upstairs and down, by placing muskets
at the keyhole and so re