of the war, it
was disbanded in common with all the Navarrese corps. Whilst holding
this command, his skill and merit, and a certain air of superiority,
which was natural to him, excited the envy and dislike of some of his
brother officers; but to the intrigues and artifices employed to
injure him, he only opposed a redoubled zeal in the execution of
his duty. Subsequently he commanded a regiment with the rank of
lieutenant-colonel, and was at last made full colonel of the 3d light
infantry. The excellent state into which he brought this corps, caused
it to be sent from Valencia to Madrid, to form part of the military
pageant by which Queen Christina's first arrival at the capital of Spain
was celebrated. This piece of duty, it was expected, would have procured
Zumalacarregui his brigadier's rank; but the only thing he got by it was
a fall from his horse, from the effects of which he afterwards suffered.

Zumalacarregui's last command in the service of Ferdinand was that of
the 14th of the line. A curious narrative of the circumstances that
occurred whilst he had this regiment, is to be found in a letter from
the Carlist general, Don Carlos Vargas, who was at that time
aide-de-camp to Eguia, captain-general of Galicia, in which province the
14th was quartered.

"From time immemorial," says Vargas, "there had existed in the district
of the Ferrol a society of robbers, regularly sworn in and organized,
having branches all over the country, and so well directed in their
operations, that it was found impossible to make an end of them, or to
discover who they were. When any one of the associates was seen to
falter, or was suspected of an intention to betray his companions, he
was immediately assassinated, and almost always in some horrible
manner. Persons of every class and description belonged to this
association--even women, old men, and government functionaries of high
grade. From 1826 to 1832, a merchant of the name of C---- was at the
head of it--a very wealthy man, with respect to whom no one could
explain how it was that in so few years he had accumulated such great
riches. The public authorities, whose duty it was to discover and
suppress so infamous a society, had been drawn into it by bribery or
intimidation, or both; so that, instead of preventing the robberies,
they protected the robbers, and gave them all the opportunities in their
power. In spite of his known zeal, energy, and activity, General Eguia
had bee