equal ratio to those
of our army, are gentlemen, or persons of good birth and family
connections. They are in general, however, poor, or at all events not
over burdened with the good things of this life, and like soldiers
of all nations and times, some of them have a certain notoriety for
outrunning the constable, or for spending all that they can, which
is generally merely their pay. Soon after reaching Manilla, I was
accidentally thrown a good deal into their society, from chancing to
meet with Don Francisco Caro, a pleasant and lively young lieutenant,
at the house of my Spanish teacher, where he was as eager to learn
English as I was to be able to speak good Spanish. We became intimate,
and agreed to visit each other, he to talk in English to me, and I
to him in Spanish,--a practice which very soon enabled us to pick
up the languages, and saved a world of trouble in getting up tasks
for a teacher, whom we were soon able to do without. The fact of my
going frequently to his house, and taking part in the conversation of
himself and the many friends with whom he made me acquainted, gave me
a considerable facility in talking the language, from having gained
a knowledge of it in this way in place of from a pedantic teacher,
whose purisms were quite thrown away on one whose wish it was to
speak it fluently, although it might be at some sacrifice of elegance.

Here let me record my regret at the manner in which this old companion
and friend met his untimely fate, which is not the less regretted
because it proceeded from his own strong sense of duty and habitual
gallantry of spirit--for this poor fellow was a true Spaniard in all
his best qualities. Having been ordered into the provinces with a
detachment on the very disagreeable service of hunting up a band of
_tulisanes_, or robbers, the necessary exposure to the sun on such an
expedition operated so severely on his constitution as to produce a
very high fever; yet even in this state he would not succumb to it, but
persisted in marching for several days at the head of his men, although
they, on perceiving his condition, had several times endeavoured to
persuade him to make use of a litter which they had framed for the
purpose, and wished to carry him in. But he would not remain in it
even when they almost forced him to use it, and would take no repose
until after having accomplished his duty. In this he was successful,
as he surprised and destroyed the robber band,--but