n not say, but the
British squadron almost exclusively confined its operations to the act
of blockade. Extending far across the bay, the English ensign was seen
floating from many a taper mast, while boats, of every shape and size,
plied incessantly from ship to ship, their course marked out at night by
the meteor-like light that glittered in them; not, indeed, that the eye
often turned in that direction, all the absorbing interest of the scene
lying in-shore. Genoa was, at that time, surrounded by an immense
Austrian force, under the command of General Melas, who, occupying all
the valleys and deep passes of the Apennines, were imperceptible during
the day; but no sooner had night closed in, than a tremendous cannonade
began, the balls describing great semicircles in the air, ere they fell,
to scatter death and ruin on the devoted city. The spectacle was grand
beyond description, for while the distance at which we lay dulled and
subdued the sound of the artillery to a hollow booming like far-off
thunder, the whole sky was streaked by the course of the shot, and, at
intervals, lighted up by the splendor of a great fire, as the red shot
fell into and ignited some large building or other.

As, night after night, the cannonade increased in power and intensity,
and the terrible effects showed themselves in the flames which burst out
from different quarters of the city, I used to long for morning, to see
if the tri-color still floated on the walls, and when my eye caught the
well-known ensign, I could have wept with joy as I beheld it.

High up, too, on the cliffs of the rugged Apennines, from many a craggy
eminence, where perhaps a solitary gun was stationed, I could see the
glorious flag of France, the emblem of liberty and glory, too!

In the day the scene was one of calm and tranquil beauty. It would have
seemed impossible to connect it with war and battle. The glorious city,
rising in terraces of palaces, lay reflected in the mirror-like waters
of the bay, blue as the deep sky above them. The orange trees, loaded
with golden fruit, shed their perfume over marble fountains, amid
gardens of every varied hue; bands of military music were heard from the
public promenades; all the signs of joy and festivity which betoken a
happy and pleasure-seeking population. But at night the "red artillery"
again flashed forth, and the wild cries of strife and battle rose
through the beleaguered city. The English spies reported that a fa