two o’clock in the
afternoon
We therefore hove-about and returned to Palanquillo , a village that we had passed through that very morning , leaving the hussar and his horse sticking fast in a slough . We arrived about nightfall , and as the village was almost entirely deserted , we were driven to take up our quarters in an old house , that seemed formerly to have been used as a distillery . Here we found a Spanish lieutenant and several soldiers quartered , all of them suffering more or less from dysentery ; and after passing a very comfortless night on hard benches , we rose at grey dawn , with our hands and faces blistered from musquitto bites , and our hair full of wood ticks , or garapatos . We again started on our journey to headquarters , and finally arrived at Torrecilla at two o'clock in the afternoon . Both the Commander-in-Chief Morillo , and Admiral Enrile , had that morning proceeded to the works at Boca Chica , so we only found El Senor Montalvo , the Captain-General of the Province , a little kiln-dried diminutive Spaniard . Morillo used to call him `` uno muneco Creollo , '' but withal he was a gentlemanlike man in his manners . He received us very civilly ; we delivered our despatches ; and the same evening we made our bow , and having obtained fresh horses , set out on our return , and arrived at the village of Santa Rosa at nine at night , where we slept ; and next morning continuing on our journey , we got once more safely on board of the old Brig at twelve o'clock at noon , in a miserable plight , not having had our clothes off for three days .