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smile, thinking she does not know his baseness-she will plunge that dagger into his heart.

Poor child! poor child! she who used to cry to have the fish put back into the water-who never willingly killed the smallest living thing dreams now, in the madness of her passion, that she can kill the man whose very voice unnerves her.

But what is that lying among the dank leaves on the path three yards before her?

Good God! it is he-lying motionless-his hat fallen off. He is ill, then he has fainted. Her hand lets go the dagger, and she rushes towards him. His eyes are fixed; he does not see her. She sinks down on her knees, takes the dear head in her arms, and kisses the cold forehead.

"Anthony, Anthony! speak to me it is Tina-speak to me! O God, he is dead!"

A RUN TO NICARAGUA.

THE bar-room of the St Charles Hotel at New Orleans, always a scene of stir and bustle, presented a more than usually excited aspect on the morning of the 28th of last December; a degree of unwonted earnestness might have been observed in the countenances of some of the groups collected over cocktails, who, after touching each other's glasses with an air of fierce determination, and disposing of their contents with a defiant toss of the head, separated with so much hearty hand-shaking, and accompanied their parting blessings with so many ejaculations partaking of an exactly opposite character, that their next meeting was clearly, in their opinion, a distant and problematical event. On that eventful morning I myself had gone through an extensive and varied course of beverages, for I was fortunate enough to possess many friends in New Orleans; and as I was about to leave them, a number of parting-cups were necessarily involved. The influence which hotel bars exercise over the lives and fortunes of individuals in America, invests the institution with an importance which the stranger is at first sight apt to overlook. At the bar, many agreeable and profitable acquaintances may be made, and friendships cemented. Here, too, are hard bargains struck, and good stories and insults given and received, which result in duels fought under a wonderful variety of conditions, and reconciliations effect ed, and political intrigue concocted, and opinions ventilated; here men

celebrate their first meeting after a long and eventful interval of years, and here they pledge each other before parting, to join some adventurous expedition, from which they have little chance of returning. New Orleans is, of all others, the city of the United States where "the bubbling passions of the country" most freely find a vent. It is conveniently situated, in a filibustering point of view, and a favourite point of concentration for the more reckless spirits of the South, who find in the mixed and somewhat rowdy crowd which throng its streets and bars a congenial atmosphere. It is not to be supposed, however, that this constitutes the society of New Orleans. While its fluctuating population is composed of such varied materials, its social attractions are as great, if not greater, than those of any other city in the Union. In its clubs the visitor will find a cordial and hearty welcome; at its opera he will be fascinated by an array of beauty more brilliant than can be found in any other house of the same limited dimensions, and he will only have himself to blame, if he is contented to confine his experiences to the range of his lorgnette; should he extend them beyond it, he will in all probability find himself lingering in the Crescent City, long after the secret conviction has been forced upon him, that, as a resolute and conscientious traveller, he is bound to prosecute the ect, whatever it may be (and

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upon his travels. But if I would not fall into the very sin against which I am warning others, I must not remain dallying any longer at New Orleans. It was quite inexcusable to diverge from the St Charles Hotel to the opera, seeing that we are on our way to Nicaragua; and so, as Walter Gay said, when he finally tore himself away from the affectionate embraces of Cap'en Cuttle, "now I am off." The departure of the steamer Texas for Greytown, with recruits for Walker's army, was the cause of the excitement which prevailed in all the places of public resort in the city, which I have already described an excitement which derived an additional interest from the fact that it was partly increased by some rumours which had been current for a day or two previously, that the United States Government had determined to lay a veto upon the departure of the steamer at the last moment--a proceeding to which the free and independent citizens of New Orleans were by no means disposed tamely to submit; and announcements to that effect, in the forcible language peculiar to the country, rendered the moment of the steamboat's departure one of more than ordinary interest. The good ship Texas was moored to the Levée, amidst a host of shipping, and a fleet of Mississippi steamboats, which latter give to the port of New Orleans a character unlike that of any other port in the world. We picked our way across these extensive wharves, between barrels of sugar and molasses, through lanes formed by bales of cotton, past tobacco from Kentucky and Missouri, amid bags of corn and barrels of pork from Illinois and Iowa; in fact, through all that varied produce, which is grown for two thousand miles upon the banks of this mighty river, and which finds its port of export at New Orleans. The raw material, however, which possessed the highest interest in my eyes, was that with which I was to be associated, and which was now crowding the deck of the Texas, in the shape of two hundred and fifty "free comDanions," bound for certain lands of

sunny South, with the laudable

determination of appropriating the same. A large crowd was collected upon the Levée to wish us god-speed, and I parted with a number of friends who had come down to see me off, with feelings of a somewhat unusual description. The crowd, generally, seemed to regard us with mingled feelings of compassion (for those who have gone to Nicaragua hitherto have seldom returned), of admiration (for the desperate nature of the adventure commanded this), and of sympathy (for was not the object laudable) So that we were rather lions, on the whole, more particularly when slightly intoxicated and highly enthusiastic individuals harangued those on shore from the side of the ship, and were responded to by short spasmodic cheers, and observations ironical or genuine, according to the sympathies of the speaker. A number of oblong deal cases, very ominous in appearance, for they looked like unostentatious coffins, immediately preceded me, and I learned afterwards that they contained two hundred rifles, to be used upon an occasion hereinafter to be named. A good deal of delay took place, after we got on board, consequent upon the non-arrival of a certain Colonel Titus, of Kanzas notoriety, who was hourly expected from that tranquil territory with one hundred and fifty "boys," who had been helping him to keep the peace there, and who, now that their services were no longer needed, were going to make themselves useful elsewhere. Thick fogs, however, had prevented their coming "to time," and so we were obliged at last to start without them; and once more waving our adieus, we cast off from the wharf, unmolested by the myrmidons of Marcy, and amid the cheers of the populace dropped slowly down the river.

All that night and the following day we were enveloped in fogs so thick that our progress was but slow, and their depressing influence seemed to be felt on board: the men had not shaken down into their berths ; the decks were wet and uncomfortable; and it was not until we had crossed the bar, and left the river and its fogs behind us, that we began to feel at home, when it was

time to establish regular discipline among the men. Various contretemps before starting had reduced our force from 500, the number at which it was originally estimated, to 250. It was only necessary, however, to see these men mustered, to perceive their value as irregular troops, peculiarly fitted for the style of warfare in which they were about to be engaged, and in which, to a certain extent, every man would be called upon to rely upon himself. They were divided into five companies, each having a captain and two subalterns; these had all been raised in different States by enterprising young men, who received, as a reward for their exertions, rank proportionate to the number of men whom they enlisted. The inducement held out to them was grant of land as soon as the country should be settled, and, in the mean time, twenty-five dollars a-month, to be paid in scrip. There was nothing, however, in the aspect of these men, to lead one to suppose that they had embarked in the enterprise from mercenary motives alone. The spirit of adventure was the moving cause with nearly all; some were well off in their own country, others had left from personal motives which had in many cases rendered them reckless; while some were soldiers of fortune- men who were unable to live except under the exciting influence of gunpowder.

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It was a never-ending source of interest to me to hear from their own lips the adventures of men whose whole life had been passed in constant exposure to danger in every form. There were men of every nationality, who had fought in every part of the world. One company was composed entirely of Germans. There were Hungarians who had bled at Segedin; Italians who had fought at Novara; Prussians who had gone through the SchleswickHolstein campaigns; Frenchmen who had fought in Algeria; Englishmen who had been in our own artillery in the Crimea; Americans who had taken part in both the Cuban expeditions, and suffered a year's others fresh

the

younger ones were those who had not yet fleshed their maiden bowies, and were burning to have some deeds of prowess of their own to relate. Some of the officers had served already in Nicaragua, and were returning from leave of absence; others had been in the United States army, and were as well-informed, gentlemen-like, and agreeable as the officers in that service usually are.

With such an incongruous mixture, it might have been anticipated that to keep order would be no easy task. So far, however, from this being the case, nothing could exceed the orderly behaviour of the men. No spirits of any kind, even on New Year's Day, were allowed to be issued. The roll was called regularly morning and evening, the officers of the day appointed, and a guard of sixteen men told off. Nor did the fact that no social distinction existed between the men and officers in any way affect the maintenance of discipline; the men lived forward, the officers aft, and they mixed but rarely together, though now and then absurd mistakes arose among some of the younger and inexperienced officers at drill, one of whom I heard say to his company, "Break rank, gentlemen; right flank march!" am bound to say that the gentlemen behaved themselves as such. They were exercised daily at drill, to which they seemed to take instinctively. The officers of the day wore swords buckled round their shooting-coats, as insignia of rank, otherwise they were guiltless of uniform, while the men presented an extraordinary variety of costume. Some wore red flannel - shirts and high jackboots; others, in seedy black, were clerical in appearance, though they belonged to a sort of church militant; some were neat and respectable, others detestably shabby and ragged; still, for the most part, their countenances were not ill-favoured, and so strong was my confidence in their honesty at last, that I did not take those precautions with regard to my cabin door which I should have done, and all my property was abstracted My only consolation was, that fel low-sufferer in the same cab was

as

the colonel himself. On New Year's Day we passed Point Antonio, the western extremity of Cuba, which immediately became the object of much ardent gazing through telescopes, and many wistful eyes were turned upon its wooded hills, and sighs drawn over the two last fruitless expeditions, while the chances of success of another were discussed, all tending to the one inevitable conclusion, that some day or other Uncle Sam "is bound to have Cuba.” We glided prosperously over the smooth sea, no event of importance disturbing the even tenor of our voyage. On the fourth day we passed Big and Little Corn Island. These islands are inhabited chiefly by free negroes from Jamaica, who rear pigs, poultry, and grow corn, which they take to Greytown. The population of the largest is about five thousand; it is eight miles long by five broad, hilly, but fertile and well cultivated. In the calm moonlight evenings the men used to collect in groups forward to sing. In the German company there were some excellent voices, and their natural taste for music enabled them to sing beautifully in parts. On the opposite side of the deck a group of Americans were similarly engaged, and as some piece from Handel was being executed with exquisite taste and feeling by the Germans, the boisterous right tooral lol looral," &c., so dear to the Anglo-Saxon, would strike harshly in, a characteristic indication of our mixed company. Upon such occasions the aspect of our crowded deck was highly suggestive. It was strange to look upon this handful of men, who, confident in their superior energy and courage, were about to throw themselves boldly into a foreign country, and, enrolling themselves under its banner, add to the small but determined force which now forms its army, and in which there is scarce a native of the country. They left New Orleans as emigrants for Nicaragua, they arrive there as soldiers in its army; and so long as they continue to leave the United States in the her capacity, the Government ot prevent them from doing so.

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It was a significant indication of the age to see this magnificent steamer, the product of a high state of civilisation, employed in conveying across those very seas, where Kidd and Morgan won immortal renown, men bent upon an enterprise in some respects not very dissimilar in character, but yet differing in this important feature, that buccaneers sacked cities and robbed churches, and stored their plunder away for their own behoof in secluded islets, while filibusters have nobler and higher aspirations, and seeking to possess themselves, not of gold and silver ornaments, but of a magnificent and fertile country, they desire to replace the inefficient government, which left its resources undeveloped, by one which they would themselves supply, and, regenerating a neglected State, give prosperity to its inhabitants, and a profitable market to the world at large. These are the motives by which these gentlemen declare themselves animated, and if the process is somewhat rude, the results are desirable. At all events, it is a mode of colonisation peculiar to the age, and as such, an interesting subject of contemplation. Meantime we were drawing near Greytown, and speculations were rife as to whether the coffin-shaped boxes would have to be opened, or not. That such a contingency might occur, we were led to expect, from the fact that a report had reached New Orleans before our departure, to the effect that Vanderbilt had sent one hundred and fifty men to Omoa, in Honduras, but that in all probability their real destination was Greytown, where they were intended to arrive before us, so as to obtain possession of the Point, upon which the buildings of the Transit Company were situated, and which were a subject of dispute between Vanderbilt and Morgan, the present proprietor of the line. In the event of this occupation having taken place, we were prepared forcibly to eject the intruders, who probably would not calculate upon our arriving thus thoroughly armed. Great, therefore, was the excitement, as we neared the mouth of the river San Juan, and saw the pilot coming skipping out to

us over the bar, in his little cockleshell of a boat, to hear the news, and greater still was our wonderment and dismay to learn that the Point was in the hands, not of the men sent by Vanderbilt from New York, but of the Costa Ricans, led, however, by a Captain Spencer, an agent of this same man, the most indefatigable enemy of Walker and Morgan. The San Juan river forms a sort of lagoon before entering the sea. On the northern shore is the town of Greytown, on the southern a flat spit of land runs out to the bar, and is called Point Arenas. Upon this are situated the Company's buildings, and thither were all glasses directed as we rounded the Point, and came slowly up to our anchorage in a state of extreme perplexity and indecision, for we could not see the Costa Ricans anywhere. At last we perceived a miserable bit of red bunting, said to be the Costa Rican flag, flying over a hut about two hundred yards off, in front of which was anchored a small river-steamer, and on board this craft, we were assured, was the redoubted Captain Spencer and his Costa Ricans. Immediately on this becoming certain, preparations were made for taking the said boat, which was in fact the one by which we had been destined to pursue our own voyage up the river. The men, who, from the moment of our crossing the bar, had not been allowed to show themselves on deck for fear of allowing the enemy to perceive the extent of our force, were now all drawn up on the lower deck. The coffin-shaped boxes were opened, arms and ammunition were served out to the men, who were now on the tip-toe of expectation. Indeed, we all looked forward to some excitement after the monotony of the voyage. While these preparations were in progress, and matters were beginning to assume a warlike aspect, Captain Cockburn, of H.M.S. Cossack, came on board to learn the state of affairs. He found a few peaceable-looking individuals strolling about the deck, and was assured that no violence would be resorted to. On the other hand, he expressed the utmost desire on the part of the British naval authorities to maintain a strict neutrality, in so far as the

rival claims in the property of the Transit Company were concerned, but at the same time wished it clearly to be understood that, in waters under British protection, no bloodshed, or destruction of life or property, would be allowed. As the capture of the steamer could scarcely be effected without a struggle, the partisans of Walker would have probably found themselves in a dilemma, had not the difficulty been solved by the prompt departure of Captain Spencer, who had simply waited to inspect our appearance, and not liking the proximity of a large steamer, which he had good reason to suspect contained a strong hostile force, he slipped quietly away up the shallow waters of the river, where it was impossible, without another river-steamer (which we did not possess), to follow him, and was no more seen. To add to the difficulty of the position, we found that all the river and lake steamers, to the number of seven, were in the possession of the gallant captain and his Costa Rican associates, and that all possibility, therefore, of proceeding up the river to join Walker, was at an end. This disastrous intelligence was communicated to us by various excited personages who had come down from Walker, and been present at one or other of the events of which they were the voluble narrators, and who now found themselves cut off from any possibility of return. Regrets for what might have been done were now idle. The curses heaped upon the head of the devoted Spencer but little affected that acute individual, who was now chuckling over his success, and strengthening the defences of the river; and while I shall leave my quondam friends to devise plans for forcing their way past these, it may be interesting to give some account of the manner in which an operation was effected, calculated so seriously to injure the prospects of General Walker, and to render the work of reopening a communication with him, from the Atlantic side, one of the utmost danger and difficulty. The following account, taken from the Boletin Oficial of San José, the capital of Costa Rica, is said to be derived from undoubted authority:

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