enemy's batteries. There was no well in the place, and, although in the midst of the rainy season, the clouds, which deluged the country around, passed over the rock, upon which this ill-fated fortress stood. At length, a few partial showers afforded some relief, and Mina seeing the spirits of his men revive, made an attempt on the entrenchments of the enemy, on the night of the 8th of August, in which he was unsuccessful. His good star seemed to have deserted him: eleven of the little band of foreigners, to whom he was indebted for his first successes, fell upon this occasion: some died upon the spot, and others were only wounded. The fate of the last was, perhaps, the most melancholy; for, on the following morning, they were carried to a spot immediately in sight of the walls of the fort, and there strangled in the sight of their old comrades.
On the 9th of August, Mina, finding that the reinforcements and supplies promised by the Padre Torres, did not appear, quitted the fortress, accompanied only by three companions, in order to concert measures with the Insurgents without, for collecting a force sufficient to raise the siege. In this he completely failed: the cause of the Insurrection was in much too low a state to admit of the organization of a body numerous enough to contend with Liñan's force, and Mina, as a last resource, was compelled to send orders to Colonel Young, to evacuate the place by night.
Before these orders were received, that officer
