Sandoval Arrived About The Hour Of
Vespers, When He Found Us Occupied In Repelling The Enemy, Some Of Them
Having Attacked Us By The Causeway, And Others From The Ruined Houses.
I
and several other soldiers were at this time up to our middles in the
water, engaging the enemy in defence of a brigantine which had run aground,
and of which the enemy were endeavouring to gain possession.
Just as
Sandoval arrived, we got her afloat by a great exertion, after the enemy
had slain two of her crew and badly wounded all the rest. The enemy
continued their attack with the utmost violence, and Sandoval received a
blow on the face with a stone. He called out to us to retreat; and as we
did not fall back as fast as he wished, he repeated his orders, asking us
if we wished to have all the cavalry destroyed. We then retreated to our
post, and though the two guns under Moreno frequently swept the causeway,
the execution they made did not prevent the enemy from pursuing us to our
works.
We remained for some time at our quarters comparatively at rest,
recounting the events which had occurred at our post, and listening to a
relation of what had taken place at the two others. On a sudden, we were
struck by the horrifying sound of the great drum, accompanied by the
timbals, horns, and trumpets of the temple of the god of war: And,
shocking to tell! we could distinctly see our unfortunate companions who
had been made prisoners, driven by blows to the summit of the diabolical
temple.
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