spect due to him; for, let his vagaries take what form they would, he
never by any chance descended to the committal of a mean, cowardly, or
ungentlemanly act.

The camp of the land forces was pitched at a distance of about two miles
from the beach; and the march was accomplished in about three-quarters
of an hour, our tars beguiling the way with jokes and yarns of the most
outrageous and improbable character. The strictest discipline was
always maintained on board ship; but on land-expeditions, which would
admit of it, a little more freedom was tacitly permitted.

When we reached the point of rendezvous, we found the troops who were to
share with us the honours of the night already on the ground, and
waiting. The guns of the Cliff Battery were still thundering away far
above us; and the redoubt was replying with apparently undiminished
vigour.

The place of rendezvous was a sort of ravine, situated about midway
between the two opposing batteries; the ground being masked from the
redoubt by one of the precipitous sides of the ravine. At the farther
end, the precipice gradually merged into a steep slope, from the summit
of which rose the hill upon which the redoubt stood; and up these two
steep slopes the storming-party had to go.

By the time that all was ready, night had completely set in. Contrary
to our hopes, it was exquisitely fine, not a single shred of cloud
obscuring the deep blue vault of heaven. The wind had died away to the
faintest zephyr, and the dew was falling so copiously that it promised
soon to wet us to the skin. At a signal, made by the waving of a
lantern, the guns of the Cliff Battery above us suddenly became mute, as
though the artillerymen had given up for the night; and a calm and
tranquil silence ensued, broken only by the gentle rustle of the fitful
breeze through the foliage of some firs which were dotted here and there
along the precipitous sides of the ravine, the chirping of insects, the
occasional twitter of a sleeping bird, or a low murmur here and there in
the serried ranks of armed men which stood awaiting the order to rush
forth to death or victory. The stars flooded the scene with their
subdued and mellow radiance, and, but for the occasional gleam of a
naked weapon, everything was suggestive of restfulness and peace.

It had been hoped that we should be able to take the garrison of the
redoubt at least partially by surprise; but the fineness and silence of
the night rend