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by officers of similar rank in the British service.

3dly. That the expenses of outfit (with the exception of the passage to the Spanish Main) should be, in the first instance, borne by myself; but,

4thly. That I should, immediately on arriving in South America, receive the sum of two hundred dollars, towards defraying these expenses.

Such were the promises held out to me, in common with the other officers, by Colonel Gilmore, against whom, however, I do not in the most remote degree insinuate the charge of delusion or deceit; for he and the other commanding officers had received from Don Mendez, his guarantee for the faithful performance of the stipulated conditions. It is upon the latter gentleman, therefore, exclusively, that the responsibility must rest, of having excited hopes which he must have known would

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never be realized; of having guaranteed the performance of conditions, the fulfilment whereof he must have been aware was impracticable; and of having induced those desirous of embarking in this destructive enterprise, to believe that their services would be joyfully and gratefully accepted by the Independent Generals and their Armies; whilst he, at the same time, could scarcely have been ignorant, that the strongest hostility was manifested by the Patriots to the admission of foreign assistance; and that the jealousy of the native troops of those few British officers who had been tempted actually to join their armies was so rancorous, as to subject them to the perpetual hazard of assassination.

The preceding observations originate in no hostility to the South American Patriots; on the contrary, I am at this moment animated with the same warm feelings in their favour, and sincere good wishes for

their success, which induced me to proceed from this country for the purpose of sharing their dangers and fortune; but it will be obvious that the abstract justice of the Independent cause, or probability, if not certainty, of its ultimate triumph, are utterly distinct from the question ;—how far it is judicious for British subjects to take an active part in this sanguinary contest? My anxiety is to warn my countrymen of the fallacy of those hopes they have been led to entertain; to explain to them the true character of the enterprise, the estimation in which their services will be held, and the imminent hazard they must inevitably encounter from the jealousy of the natives. Nor should I omit referring to the exterminating and ferocious principle on which the war is carried on; each side being so infuriated against the other by a long train of barbarities and cold-blooded slaughter, as to render it almost necessary

for those who actually engage in the struggle to divest their minds of every feeling of humanity, and prepare themselves to be not only witnesses of, but participators in, acts of the most revolting and indiscriminate brutality.

I will now conclude, referring for a confirmation of the preceding statement, not only to the occurrences narrated in the ensuing Narrative, but likewise to the united testimony of those officers who were either my associates in the expedition to which I was particularly attached, or who, having actually landed on the Spanish Main, have had the good fortune to return in safety to their native country.

PRELIMINARY

OBSERVATIONS.

AS the occurrences detailed in the following pages, relate not exclusively to that particular corps to which I was personally attached, but have likewise frequent reference to various other brigades, raised in England for the same remote service; an account of their respective commanders, strength, equipments, character of service, &c., will not, I trust, be considered superfluous, previous to entering upon the Journal.

Five distinct corps embarked at nearly the same period, for that part of the seat of war in South America, occupied by the Independent General Bolivar.

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