the British blue ensign was displayed on the summit of Mr. Ormerod’s ‘lodge,’ and an officer had been previously despatched to General Saldanha, requesting his Excellency would give immediate directions to cause the fire at the Serra battery to cease.
“It may be necessary to apprise your Lordship that the delay on the part of Lord George Paulet entirely originated in a mere matter of etiquette. Count D’Almar protested against the British force being armed, and insinuated that he had several thousand men ready to repel what he was pleased to term an act of violation. Your Lordship, who is well acquainted with the locality of this country, and the intrigues and treachery on the part of its people, will, I am sure, accord with me in opinion, that I should have been highly culpable had I disembarked any body of men totally unarmed; and the result bears me out: for two Portuguese piquets, in the immediate vicinity of Villa Nova, attempted to arrest the progress of the party under my immediate command.
“To prevent any future caviling upon this point, I must acquaint your Lordship that the seamen of the squadron carried with them only a cutlass and a bucket each; the carpenters acting as pioneers, with crowbars and hatchets; and that the marines, twenty in number, were armed with their muskets, solely for the purpose of planting them as sentinels, should occasion require. I must also inform your Lordship, that a parley, commencing rather warmly, took place between Marshal Count D’Almar and myself, when in the very act of extinguishing the fire of Mr. Omerod’s store, upon what the Marshal termed the impropriety of landing with an armed force. I, however, soon succeeded in convincing him that my object was solely and undisguisedly the rescue of British property, then in such imminent danger. At length satisfied, the Count witnessed the departure of the seamen and marines, and I am happy to acquaint your Lordship that not a single accident occurred, nor was a single complaint alleged against any individual of H.M. ships; and this your Lordship will readily appreciate when I apprise you that the seamen and marines had to march to Villa Nova through villages crowded with an excited population, when wines were attainable in every direction.
“In conclusion, I feel it my duty to represent to your Lordship the ready assistance afforded to me by Lord George Paulet, whose activity upon this occasion, together with the arrangements made by his Lordship for disembarking the seamen of H.M. sloop Nautilus, are deserving of the highest encomiums. Nor should I be doing justice to Lieutenant Otway, of H.M. steam-vessel Echo, did I omit to mention the personal services of that officer, in assisting to extinguish the fire at Mr. Omerod’s ‘lodge.’ To Lieutenants Corbet and Montgomery, of the Orestes, and Lieutenant Dickson, of the Nautilus, every credit is due. These officers, in arresting the progress of the fire at Villa Nova, personally exposed themselves to imminent danger; and the orderly manner in which they conductcd the landing and re-embarkation of the seamen,