The following morning my companions assured me that I could not be permitted to proceed; but that, as there was a station to be established at the town of Cuellar, it would be necessary that I should go thither, when they felt no doubt that I should speedily recover, so as to be enabled soon to rejoin them. A car was accordingly procured, drawn by two fine mules, with a blanket extended over the top as an awning.
At the expiration of two days' journey, I reached the entrance of Cuellar, when a soldier came forward, and intimated that no sick could enter the town until the commandant's permission was obtained; and we were actually detained nearly two hours roasting in the mid-day sun, before a free passage was granted us. Much exhausted, and half suffocated, I at length obtained a most excellent billet in a gentleman's house, where I received the greatest attention from an assistant-surgeon belonging to one of the regiments quartered there; being unable to quit my bed.
At this time the army had possessed itself of the passes of Segovia and the Guadarama, and had moved forward on the 11th of August towards Madrid, having, in the course of their march, forced the enemy's advanced guard of cavalry to retire; but in the afternoon these again advanced from Malajahonda towards Rosas, to reconnoitre the Portuguese dragoons, who were drawn up on a rising ground above the latter village, and made a show of charging, but when they had arrived sufficiently near to observe the hardened-looking visages of the sturdy French heavy horse, who displayed their long shining weapons, with brass hilts, like the Highland broadsword, with the exception of being one-third longer—at such a sight these our allies simultaneously wheeled about, and scampered off as fast as their Portuguese horses could trot and gallop, followed by their unmerciful pursuers, stabbing and hacking them down, and riding past three pieces of horse artillery that had been overturned. The heavy dragoons of the King's German Legion took to horse as speedily as possible, amidst the confusion, and, after a good deal of savage sabring, the enemy retired, leaving at night the captured guns behind them. El Rey Joseph had retired with his followers behind the Tagus, and the following day our army entered Madrid, where the French had injudiciously left a garrison in the Buen Retiro, who surrendered themselves prisoners of war, just as part of the third division, and some other detachments, were about to escalade the works. A vast quantity of stores, powder, and ball, fell into our hands, besides one hundred and ninety pieces of cannon, principally dismounted.
About the 20th of August, a detachment of our regiment, from England, passed through Cuellar, but, as they had experienced a long march during the hot months, an enormous number of them died, and the sick continued to increase from the army in such a ratio, that most of us were ordered to proceed to Salamanca. Accordingly, on the sixth day after my arrival, I was placed in a car, drawn by bullocks, to begin another tedious journey. The sixth division was on parade, having been left at that station as a corps of observation, and to protect the sick and the stores of the army.
That night I travelled a short way, and was billeted on a very clean house, where the patron was most anxious to have all the particulars of the late battle recounted to him; however, finding that I was not a sufficient master of the Spanish language to satisfy his curiosity, he was determined to make up for it by entering into the history of his own country. It was in vain that I exerted all my patience, and requested he would have the goodness to leave the room, pleading my indisposition in excuse for my apparent rudeness. Having maintained silence for a few minutes, he offered me every thing in his house, inquired if I was better, and recommenced his volubility to such a degree, that I almost became distracted, and was under the painful necessity of calling in my servant, who, in half fun and half earnest, turned him out of the room by the shoulders.
The next day I reached Arevalo, where the market was filled with fresh vegetables, a sight only to be appreciated by those who have travelled over a dry country, devoid of vegetation. A smiling muchacha, who sat by the side of a well-made young Spaniard, jumped up, and handed me a large bunch of grapes, with a dignified air of affability and frankness, so peculiar to the lower orders of that country. I obtained a billet on a very handsome house, situated in a luxuriant garden; and, on being supported out of the car, I was so weak that I fell down, and continued in fainting fits for some time, my servant all the while sousing me with water in imitation of the Doctor. The fascinating Señorita of the house, about seventeen years of age, very kindly administered every attention; and at night, with a small lamp, remained in a recess, in readiness to offer me liquids, for which I continually inquired. My recollection did not entirely forsake me, but my head was in a bad state, so that I fancied I saw groups of monkeys grinning at the foot of my bed; and, as I was unable to endure the slender rays of the lamp, I begged of the young lady to retire. At such a request her countenance pourtrayed every mark of disappointment: whether she considered me as one of the deliverers of her country, or whether so young a girl, residing in so sequestered a spot, fancied me under her especial protection, I know not; but I do know that her amiable solicitude and her lovely eyes made such an impression, that she continued the mistress of my thoughts, and heroine of my fancy, for a long period afterwards.
Taking my farewell on the following morning, and apologizing to the little Señorita for my want of gallantry, I proceeded on my journey, and at the end of four hours reached the middle of an extensive plain, when one of the bullocks became dead lame, and the enraged driver declared vehemently that he would go no farther; my servant, therefore, dismounted from my palfrey, and placed me on its back. We made for the distant steeple, which skirted the horizon, as the point of our destination. At the expiration of a toilsome ride, we reached the Pueblo, and there sojourned until the next morning. In two more days we reached Alba de Tormes; I was quartered at an apothecary's shop, where I lay on the mattress for twelve hours in a sort of stupor; on recovering, in some degree, my servant fancied that I was dying, and proposed sending for the Spaniard, which I would by no means consent to, from the apprehension that he would bleed me to death.
The next day, while quietly passing through a wood, at a lonely spot, my horse made a sudden start, and, on looking to the right, I observed a dead man, perfectly naked, placed against a large piece of rock. He had been killed at the battle of Salamanca. His hair was long and grey; his beard had grown to a considerable length; and his arms and legs had been placed in an extended position; in fact, he was in an exact fencing attitude, in an extraordinary state of preservation, and presenting, of course, a dreadful spectacle.
I noticed during the period that I was in Spain, that those soldiers killed in action, who were exposed to the rays of the sun, immediately became a mass of corruption, but of those, on the contrary, who fell under trees or in shady places, exposed to heavy dew or rain, the skin became as hard as leather, and they would remain in that state for a very considerable period, unless they were devoured by wild animals or birds of prey. I have often seen vultures feeding on dead horses (that had been killed in battle) so fat, that they could scarcely take wing, or raise themselves from the ground.
On reaching Salamanca, I obtained a billet, on presenting which, I was treated with the greatest insolence by the man of the house, who declared that I might enter, but that he had no accommodation for my servant; under these circumstances, I was under the necessity of sitting down in the street, until the soldier went to seek elsewhere for better success. After some farther delay, he procured me another on a public notary, where I was civilly received; but in the middle of the day my patron, smelling of tobacco and garlic, came in to take a siesta, in one of the two beds in a large recess. I asked him if he intended to sleep there; he replied "Si, Señor." To such an arrangement I objected; but he would not give up the point; a struggle then ensued between us, which lasted some minutes, although eventually I made him surrender. He was merely a diminutive old man; but I had become weak from the effects of my fever; and the scene was so amusing, that his own son, with a smiling countenance, was quietly looking on.