A few horsemen appearing on the summit of a hill, a detachment of the Lanciers Polonois was ordered to reconnoitre them, while the convoy halted to take some refreshment at a small house on the road side. The Poles ascended the hill with great rapidity, and soon returned with five horses, reporting that they belonged to the brigands, of whom they had killed seven. The General with an air of triumph bid me observe the cattle on which our Allies were mounted, while some of his suite, taking their tone from him, observed, “voilà les Alliés de l’Angleterre!” These animals were indeed most wretched, and a kind of pad on which the country people convey their things to market served for saddles. From this, as well as other circumstances, I firmly believe that these brigands were in reality nothing more than a party of inoffensive peasants, whom the Poles had robbed of their horses, in order to corroborate the detail of their prowess; besides it was considered as a sufficient proof of brigandage for the peasants to be found in the smallest number at any distance from their villages.

The escort was augmented by a detachment of the 10th dragoons near Antequera, where we arrived so late in the evening that the General’s cooks had not time to exert their abilities to the full, and we were obliged to content ourselves with a scanty repast. I could not help remarking the distance at which the General kept the inferior officers, whose stomachs even he appeared to have reduced to discipline; for though about twenty-six of them sat down to supper at the same time, not one of them touched any thing until the general officers had done. During this repast the Alcaide and principal persons of the town paid their respects to the General, who received them with the greatest affability, and informed them of the heavy contributions it would be necessary to lay them under, with such grace and good humour, that they seemed to depart perfectly satisfied. The manner of the General, indeed, afforded an excellent lesson in the art of levying contributions.

The distance between Malaga and Antequera is eight Spanish leagues, or about thirty-six English miles; the road ascends the whole way, and is skirted with vineyards, which afford the well known Malaga wine. The scenery is extremely romantic, being diversified by steep rocks cloathed with wood, fertile and well cultivated vallies, with abundance of fruit trees, particularly almonds, and extensive fields of melons. Within a league of Antequera the mountains afford a most singular appearance: rocks of various forms are seen as if shaped by art to represent a town, with its streets, churches, towers, houses, fountains, &c. together with men, women, and animals, particularly camels; from the clefts of these rocks shoot out various shrubs and plants, which compleat the extraordinary aspect of this spot, called, I believe, Torcal, and celebrated for its beautiful marble.

Antequera, probably the Anticaria of the Romans, and by some supposed to be built on the ruins of the ancient Sirigilis, is one of the most ancient towns of Spain. It is situated on the declivity of a hill, and is divided into the upper and lower town; through the latter runs the rivulets of La Villa and Guadalorce, which turn many mills near the town, and also supply it with water from several handsome fountains. On the summit of the hill is a Moorish castle, commanding the town, and which the French have put into a respectable state of defence. Antequera contains between thirteen and fourteen thousand inhabitants; it has given birth to some celebrated men, particularly Antonio Mohedano, a painter, and Solano Loque, a physician, who made some important discoveries in medicine in the last century.

My quarters here were at the house of an old priest whose sister and her family resided with him, from all of whom I received the greatest attention and considerable information. I was indeed glad to get away from the General’s society as soon as possible after dinner, in order to enjoy a segar in quietness, together with the conversation of the family on which I was billeted; and as I was never accompanied by any Frenchman, I was always certain of being received with kindness and without reserve. My desire of retiring from the General’s society was not, however, from any want of attention on his part; on the contrary, I met with every politeness, both from him and his suite, and after leaving Malaga my restraint was merely nominal. These attentions I probably owed to my acquaintance with many of the ancient French noblesse, of whom Sebastiani, and indeed all other Frenchmen high in station whom I have lately met with, speak with the greatest respect, and are happy when they can trace any relationship to them. The General’s staff was generally of this order, and their manners were so engaging and their attentions so polite, that I found myself perfectly at ease amongst them, and came ultimately to be considered as one of the establishment, with the character of a parfaitement bon garçon. Du Cogni, one of the aides-de-camp (of the family of the celebrated Marshal Du Cogni), to whose sister Sebastiani is married, in particular deserves my warmest remembrance for the liberality of his sentiments and conduct, so different from the herd of modern parvenus. To the Adjutant-Général de Bouillé I was also indebted for much civility; with this officer I had formerly been acquainted, when he commanded the Hulans Britanniques, in the campaigns of Holland in 1794 and 1795, the events of which afforded us much matter of conversation.

Leaving Antequera early in the morning (Oct.19) we passed through a generally level country, with a few scattered hills, the whole fertile and well cultivated, and arrived at a narrow defile, formed by a high mountain on the left and a lesser one on the right: the former is named Sierra de los Amaraos, or the Lover’s Mountain, from a traditional tale that a Moorish prince precipitated himself from its summit in despair, at being prohibited by his religion from marrying a Christian Princess, with whom he had fallen in love. However this may be, the defile would form an excellent military post for a small detachment. In the course of this day’s march I chiefly attached myself to General Milhaud, who had distinguished himself during the revolution as a cavalry officer. Our conversation now, however, chiefly turned on the subject of good living, for the General appeared to be a bon vivant in the utmost extent of the term, and expressed the greatest delight when I happened to hit on a good dish, or made an à propos quotation from the Journal des Gourmands, the bible of French epicures.

At Archidona we halted to breakfast, which, since leaving Malaga, has always been as substantial a repast as dinner, consisting of rich ragoûts and other made dishes, with all the fruits of the season, but more particularly melons. The wine we have met with on the road has, however, been much inferior to the eatables, but the French seem to have little discrimination in this respect, and therefore swallow it without complaining. A great concourse of people assembled to view our cavalcade, among whom were a number of women, conspicuous for their fine countenances and simple dress. At breakfast we were attended by four extremely pretty girls, whom the French officers, to shew their gallantry, pinched and pulled about, until the poor girls were afraid to approach the table, and although I did not join in tormenting them, I suffered as if I had, and was obliged to assist myself.

Archidona, as well as most of the towns in the Grenadines, is romantically situated at the foot of a hill, whose summit is crowned with a Moorish castle. These places, which compleatly command the towns and overawe the inhabitants, have all been repaired and put into a state of defence by the French. The neglect of the Spaniards, in not occupying the castle at the commencement of the invasion, is totally unaccountable, being from their situations defensible by very small garrisons, and the possession of them would have enabled the loyalists to annoy the French by that harassing and desultory warfare, by which they suffer more than by pitched battles. Archidona was formerly the property of the Duke d’Assuyne, but the French Emperor has been graciously pleased to appropriate it to himself, and the inhabitants have the peculiar blessing of enjoying the immediate protection of Napoleon-le-Grand. “Ces gens sont assez heureux en appartenant particulièrement à l’Empereur,” added Sebastiani, after informing me of this circumstance; “Quel bonheur!” replied I, and left him to put his own construction on the ambiguous exclamation.

From Archidona to Loxa, where we arrived in the evening, the road was indifferent, passing through extensive groves of olive trees; oil, together with saffron, being the principal productions of this part of the country. Loxa is situated on a hill rising from the banks of the Xenil, or Genil; it contains nothing worth notice, except some extensive saltpetre and copper works.

We commenced our march from Loxa early in the morning of the 20th (October), and I availed myself of the polite offer of Major Grotowski, commanding the 9th Polonois, to take a seat in his carriage, a great unwieldy machine drawn by eight mules. Besides the Major and two other persons, we had the company of a Signor Chevarial, a Spaniard, holding a situation under the invading government. There being a pack of cards in the carriage, we played at Trente et Quarante till we reached Lachao, where we halted to breakfast. This village had been totally destroyed by the French, and the greater part of the inhabitants massacred, but was now partly rebuilt. The surrounding country is fertile and well watered by the Xenil, which falls into the Guadalquivir at Seville.

From Lachao our next stage was Santa Fe, a strong town, where we were joined by Generals Purmurent and Roison, with the 12th regiment of dragoons, in order to render Sebastian is entrance into Grenada more imposing.