EXTRAORDINARY INCIDENT IN THE LIFE OF THE LATE LIEUTENANT-GENERAL SIR JOHN BURKE, K.C.B.

(As related by himself.)

BY COLONEL G. POULETT CAMERON, C.B., K.C.T.S., &c.

Author of “Adventures in Georgia, Circassia, and Russia."

In the year 1806, I belonged to a regiment, forming part of the force stationed at Messina, watching the movements of the French on the opposite coast of Calabria.

Our time for the last four months had passed heavily and gloomily enough, owing to the facility with which our Gallic adversaries had been permitted to overrun the whole southern portion of the Italian Continent, while we were lying idle, almost, it may be said, within a stone's throw of its shores, and when our naval comrades, led by their daring, and gallant Commander,* were pouncing upon their ammunition boats in sight of their encampments upon the coast, and cutting out their ships, when at anchor, in fancied security, under their strongest batteries. I know it was maintained at the time, that our small number, mustering only between five and six thousand bayonets, though supported by an equally limited number of Russians, could have offered but little resistance against the overwhelming masses of the enemy, equalling, if not exceeding, fifty thousand men, but when it is considered that the country abounded in strongholds, which a few resolute men might easily have defended, and a brilliant example of which was afforded in the defence of Gaeta, by the Prince of Hesse Philipsthal, the siege of which occupied at least twenty thousand of the invading army, it was at all events believed we might have greatly retarded, if not wholly prevented the almost unresisted march of General Regnier to the very extremity of the Continent, a supposition that, at least, seemed to receive confirmation two months later, in the glorious victory gained by Sir John Stuart at Maida, when the ranks of the rival soldiery met hand to hand, and the moral effect of which was felt throughout Europe, even in that moment of victory and exultation, when the glory of the great Conqueror had reached a height, which it seemed to defy the power of adversity to diminish or destroy.*

*Sir Sydney Smith.

*The reader will probably recall to mind, that the battle of Maida took place within a short period of the brilliant victory of Austerlitz, that action, the receipt of the intelligence of which, caused Mr. Pitt to say, "Roll up that, and put it away," pointing to a map of Europe, "its presence now is unnecessary, and will be for many years." Notwithstanding this, Napoleon felt most severely, according to French historians, this blow to his prestige, which caused him an anguish which he could not conceal.

In the humour we then were, it was something of a relief to me, that one morning I received an order to march with my Company to Palermo, for the purpose of escorting back treasure for the payment of the troops. I was at this period Captain of the Grenadiers, the only Company at the time that was complete, our corps having furnished the whole of the Guards for the day, the which, I suppose, was the reason of its being detached for this duty, as it was usual to keep both the flank Companies at head-quarters. One circumstance alone interfered with my satisfaction on being ordered upon this service, and that was, I was the only officer proceeding with the detachment having been left without a companion for the journey, from one of my subalterns being on the sick report, and the other on the outlying picquet.

We proceeded on our march to Palermo without any incident occurring worthy of being recorded, and after a stay of some days, having received charge of the treasure, consisting of four chests of silver, the which, though not large, were heavy, and one of gold, we set out upon our return. The whole was packed in a light ammunition waggon, drawn by six horses, and my orders were at each halt to cause the boxes to be taken out, and placed under a strong guard in any locanda,* or building, which we might occupy for the night. This was, perhaps, a precaution of the Quarter-Master-General, to guard against any sudden attack from the numerous bands of brigands, which then infested the island, but the more particularly the road between the capital and Messina, a supposition I remember we laughed at at the time, deeming the idea of any hostile demonstration on the part of these gentry against a force of eighty British soldiers, as too absurd to be entertained for a moment, though I should mention by the way, that subsequent events proved this confidence to be a little overweening, as it afterwards took nearly a whole regiment of the King's German Legion to put them down, (certainly in their own fastnesses), a measure that was not accomplished without severe, and heavy loss to the Germans, who exasperated at losing so many valuable lives in such a rascally service, did their work so effectually, while they were about it, that their names became a terror to the whole race of marauders, and for some time afterwards brigandage altogether disappeared.

But to resume. At our second day's stage, which was at the house of a farmer, or vine grower, the proprietor produced some capital wine, the which was so really good, so different to the poisonous trash usually sold to the soldiery, and withal so extremely moderate in cost, that I hardly know whether to impute it to some instinctive inward feeling, or the circumstances I have alluded to, as the motive which prompted me previous to resuming our march the following day, to desire that the men's cans should

* A place of reception for travellers corresponding to a wayside inn in England.

be filled to render them independent on reaching our next halting ground, at which we arrived about four in the afternoon.

The place at which we were to pass the night, was an isolated Locanda some five miles distant from the nearest town, or village. It was a long, low building consisting of a single story, unless what appeared to be a range of lofts, or garrets could be considered as a second, and was built of thick, and solid masonry, divided into several rooms, or compartments, each being wholly separate, and independent of the other; the place, in fact, more resembled one of those Eastern caravanserais we had seen in Cairo, and Alexandria during the war in Egypt, than any thing else, and it is not improbable may have been some relic of a similar nature, left by the Saracen conquerers of former years, the similarity being heightened by its strong thick folding doors, and iron grated windows, the which, indeed, would have rendered the place, a tolerably strong fortress in the event of an assault.

The landlord was momentarily absent when we arrived, but very soon after made his appearance, and the first sight of him caused a general shout of uncontrollable laughter among the merry, light-hearted soldiery. He was certainly a most extraordinary figure, but comical as his exterior appeared, there was a sinister forbidding look about the fellow, which created an antipathy on my own part towards him, I, at the time, thought equally silly, and unjust. He was tall, and ungainly in form, bull-necked, and bandy-legged, but evidently possessed of immense personal strength, the whole corresponding with features which presented a narrow retreating forehead, and ferret bloodshot eyes, that occasionally seemed altogether lost from an oblique perverse squint, which diverged towards an enormous long straight nose, tipped with a rubicund hue at the extremity, affording pretty strong evidence that abstinence from strong wines and spirituous liquors formed no part of our friend's theory, while an immense mouth with teeth, which in form, and regularity seemed to rival those of a saw, and a thick, bushy, tangled mass of black hair, that it would have tried even a horse comb to bring into anything resembling a civilized appearance, completed a portrait, the sight of which, I must confess, inspired me with a dislike and repugnance which I could neither disguise, or repress. The fellow, however, was extremely civil, indeed it seemed to me studiously officious in his manner, declaring that he could furnish me with a capital supper, and would procure some good wine for the men, the latter proposal, however, I peremptorily declined with the intimation that they were already sufficiently well provided on that score.

My ill-visaged friend was true to his word, and certainly set before me as excellent a meal as I ever had previously sat down to in Sicily, with the accompaniment of a bottle of Lacrymæ Christi, which surprising me in no slight degree by its exqusite flavour, led to impressions, on my part, not very favorable to the honesty of my

respected padron. The day had, however, been extremely hot, and heated, I may say indeed fevered by our march, I drank very little.

I had concluded my despatch of the provant set before me, when it struck me I heard the sound of the host's voice without, accompanied with smothered laughter from some of the men. I, at first, paid little attention to the circumstance, but as the noise continued, I arose from my seat, and looked out. What I there saw quickly induced me to rush from the room, and hastily to approach the group, which was formed of at least half the whole Company, in the centre of whom was the ill-omened proprietor of the Locanda with a small cask of wine before him, inviting, I may say, indeed, urgently entreating the men to help themselves, on the insinuating principle that a small additional glass could be of very little moment, and that he was sure il Signor Capitano never intended to prohibit that.

In all probability my friend had anticipated that the said il Signor Capitano was too busily occupied at the moment to be aware of what was passing, a supposition on his part, however, in which he was doomed to be most disagreeably undeceived, as scarcely had the words issued from his lips, before I had sent the barrel rolling with a hearty kick, upsetting the whole of its contents upon the ground, having approached the circle unperceived, and giving force to the action by mentioning to the host, that in the event of his again infringing my orders, he should undergo the ordeal of a sound flogging. Never to the end of my existence shall I forget the envenomed scowl with which the rascal regarded me as this piece of information was tendered to him.

As evening fell, the chests of treasure were taken from the waggon, and placed in the apartment where I was to pass the night. It had but one single entrance, viz., by the large, thick, strong door, in front of the building, before which a sentry was posted within a few feet of the boxes, (close to which stood my camp cot) a large ammunition lanthorn on the top of them, throwing a strong light throughout the whole chamber. advance of the sentry, the men lay down fully accoutred with their arms beside them, ready for action on the instant, and in front of them was an outlying piquet which furnished a chain of sentries throughout the night around the whole building.

In

Having visited my outposts, and ascertained that every thing was in the most perfect order, I returned to my apartment, and placing my sabre, and pistols within reach, I wrapped myself in my cloak, and lay down upon the bed. An hour previous, I had felt a drowsiness come over me that appeared so unaccountable, I found it was with the greatest difficulty I avoided giving way to it; now, however, whether it was the occupation of planting, and visiting the sentinels had created an excitement equally extraordinary, and unusual in its nature, certain it is that for a long

time, every effort at sleep was wholly unavailing, and if for a few moments it eventually overcame me, it was sure to be accompanied with such a hideous nightmare, in which the figure, and countenance of the landlord was the chief characteristic, that I as constantly started up, I suppose with some exclamation or gesture of dismay, and repugnance, as whenever 1 did so, the sentry invariably stopped short in his walk, and gazed upon me with the utmost degree of surprise.

At length, I finally did fall into a heavy, and profound, though still troubled slumber, in which, after a variety of fantastic images had occurred to my disordered vision, the following dream rose clearly, and distinctly before me. I was lying upon my cot in the identical room of the Locanda in which I had retired to rest; the treasure chests were beside me, and though it appeared that darkness was around, the lamp having by some inexplicable mystery been removed, I could observe the sleeping forms of my men as they lay without, and that of the sentry as he paced with measured tread his line of walk, the light, and careless whistle of the man even seeming to ring upon my ear.

All at once the roof of the house seemed to open, a bright and dazzling light appeared, and I could observe the hideous figure, and countenance of the landlord, as he apparently descended, in what manner I could not discover, into the room. I shivered with agony as I saw him advance towards me, his intention in which movement could not be mistaken, as brandishing a large, long Calabrian knife, he pointed it at my throat, a malicious scowl overspreading his features as he muttered I was now at his mercy. His arm was uplifted, a cold perspiration seemed to burst from me at every pore, as I vainly endeavoured to rouse myself to exertion, and resist. I tried to shout to my men, but utterance was denied me, the force of some hidden spell appeared cast around me, rendering me incapable of motion, and the blow was descending, when suddenly a bright flash gleamed out, illuminating still more the entire space around, and was instantaneously followed by a loud and terrific explosion which shook the whole building, and in the next moment I awoke in complete and total darkness, with some great heavy weight lying across me, the which wholly prevented me from moving.

Before I could in any way recover from my astonishment at the inexplicable incident which seemed to have occurred, I heard a loud clattering at the door, that was fast locked, and closed, but which suddenly ceased as a voice which I distinguished as that of my Colour-Sergeant called out "Captain Burke, sir, stand clear of the entrance as we are about to blow it open."

The advice was judicious, but there was unfortunately one difficulty in the way of its fulfilment, and this was the dead weight which lay upon me, and from which, struggle as I would, I could not disengage myself. In the next instant, the report of some