Review of Military Books.

request to accept of the letter N, the only one vacant). My own signature is E, but I shall beg leave to invite the particular attention of the readers to the signature W, and I; the first of which will be the signature of one of the most learned and accomplished gentlemen which the country has to boast, and the latter of the excellent writer of the Journal of the S4th Regiment.

REVIEW OF MILITARY BOOKS.

AT the request of several of our Correspondents, this will for the future be a standing division of the MILITARY CHRONICLE; and in the course of it, we shall review all the Military Works published. Our manner of review will be what the French term "Catalogue Raisonné," the characteristic nature of which is, that it enables the Reader to judge for himself. It exhibits the book before his view, and concludes with its character. We prefer this method for evident reasons————— many of the Military Writers are our own immediate friends and correspondents,and we might incur the inconvenience of a conflict between justice and friendship, truth and kindness.

PRACTICAL INSTRUCTIONS TO YOUNG OFFICERS, relative to the interior discipline of a regiment of foot. By Major T. Chamberlin, of 24th Regiment of Foot.

Major Chamberlin begins his work with a short preface, in which he states his object to be that of enabling young officers to become acquainted with the interior economy of a battalion, &c. He does not flatter himself that it can be requisite for commanding officers of regular regiments, or of corps long embodied; but that the young officer will find it both useful and acceptable.

The book is of the size called duodecimo, and contains seventy-two pages. Its price is four shillings. The subject is distributed into twenty-three chapters, which are headed as follow:

Review of Military Books.

The substance of the first chapter, that on young officers, is a few recommendations to attention upon the first entrance into the regiment. "A

young officer," says Major C. "should be present at every parade; should attend the orderly officer on his various duties; be instructed by the adjutant in the sword exercise, and facings; and by the serjeant-major, or drill-serjeant in the manual and platoon. He should learn the duties of members of courts martial, by attending the proceedings." Major C. recommends this very justly and energetically. "An officer should moreover supply himself with the Rules and Regulations; the Articles of War,', and the standing orders of the regiment to which he belongs. He would do well, too, to make himself master of the names of every private in his regiment, and to show the men that he knows them personally." We must beg leave to express our approbation of this last article. The chapter ends with a merited eulogy on Sir John Moore.

The substance of the second chapter is, that the captain of the day should visit the barracks once, at least, during his time of duty; that he should visit, likewise, the regimental guards; should pay particular attention to the hospital, and inquire whether the sick have been duly visited by the surgeon; should know that the serjeants and nurses do their duty, and that the wards are clean; should make a written report of all extraordinaries, and accom pany it by those he has received from the officer of the guard, and subaltern of the day.

In chapter the third, Major C. enumerates the duties of the subaltern of the day. Each regiment should daily furnish an orderly subaltern. le should visit the barrack rooms of every company in summer at eight, and in winter at nine; see that the windows are open, the rooms clean, the mattresses doubled up, and placed at the upper end of the births to which they belong, the blankets and rug being neatly folded and placed upon them; that the firelocks are on the arm-racks, and the cocks struck. At one o'clock he should again visit the barracks, and see that the dinners are cleanly, and at four should inspect the cooking-houses, and see that the fires are extinguished, and every thing cleaned. At tattoo beating, he should collect the reports, and should report the absent to the captain. He should see all lights extinguished.

The fourth chapter merely recommends minuteness in dress. This is perhaps carried too far.

The fifth chapter recommends captains of companies to be attentive to the cleanliness, morals, and comforts of their men. Above all things, they should avoid the necessity of publicly punishing. Confinements to barracks, additional drills, &c. will answer all the salutary purposes of ordinary correction. It is not possible to abolish flogging altogether, but a good officer will do every thing to avoid it. The captains, moreover, should always know the strength of their corps, the number of sick, &c.

(To be continued.)

Journal of the Eighty-third Regiment.

JOURNAL OF THE EIGHTY-THIRD REGIMENT.

(Continued from page 200)

TWO derivations are given to the name of this kingdom, which includes only a part of that tract described by the Romans as the province of Lusitania. Some say (and Portuguese authors consider this idea the best founded) there was formerly on an eminence which commands the entrance into the Douro, an ancient city called Cale, strong and populous; but being badly situated for trade, the inhabitants built another, and named it Portus Cale, a word that afterwards changed, by an easy alteration, into that of Portucalia, and subsequently into Portugal, which soon became general to the whole of the present province of Douro é Minho, whence it insensibly spread to all the kingdom. This statement is confirmed by the fact that the ancient bishops of Oporto, who attended the Christian synods in Spain, always signed their names with the additional title Portucalenses, which in later times (when the name of Portugal had extended over the whole country) they dropped, and signed Portuenses only. It may also be worthy notice, that in the itinerary of Antoninus, the town is called Cale only, while the modern Portuguese write it Porto, and the French, Port a Port. Other antiquarians assert, the name is derived from a number of Gauls who settled here, and gave "the appellation of Portus Gallorum, or Port of the Gauls, which name spread by degrees over the entire kingdom, and at length softened into that of Portugal. The period of this event is, however, totally unknown, as is the motive which brought the Gaulish fleet hither, as well as the duration of its stay.

The river Douro, in the itinerary of Antoninus called Durius, has its source in the Serra de Cogollo, near Aguilar del Campo, a small town in old Castille. It enters Portugal a little eastward by north of Miranda, and though it has a course of more than 400 miles, is not navigable (except in rainy seasons) above Lamego. The entrance from the sea is very difficult, on account of sand banks and sunken rocks, which obstruct the mouth, rendering it in several spots full of windings, some of which are barely 50 feet in width. It is therefore among sea-faring people termed a Bar harbour, for vessels cannot enter it except with the tide, and under charge of pilots. This difficulty is more particularly felt during the rainy season, when the current, from the immense body of water that pours down its channel, is remarkably powerful and rapid. The roadstead, though spacious, and capable of holding a numerous fleet, is not secure against periodical storms.

Having halted one day in this city*, during which the bridge of boats received a temporary repair, and the cavalry, together with the artillery, was *Route from Oporto to Braga.-Oporto to Porte de Léça 1 league, to Castellejo 1, to Carriça 1, to Barca de Trofa 1, to Villa Nova de Famelicaö 1, to Santiago de Cruz 1, to Tebosa 1, to Braga 1.-Total 8 leagues. 2X

VOL. IV. No. 23.

Journal of the Eighty-third Regiment.

brought to the northern bank of the Douro, the army was again put in motion. Some brigades had been pushed forward on the 13th, among which were General Sonntag's, Campbell's, and King's German legion. On the 14th, about two in the afternoon, General Cameron's brigade moved forward through a most violent storm of rain, which the guards, (more lucky than us, having marched early in the morning), totally escaped.

The road on quitting Oporto ascends some naked heights, and the view of the narrow, romantic valley of the Douro too soon disappears. The soil also quickly changes into a barren sandy gravel, on which are nevertheless growing dreary pine woods.

Whether the villages between Oporto and Barca de Trofa are really and naturally poor, or whether they had been rendered so by the enemy since his occupation of them, I know not, but when General Cameron's brigade passed through, they appeared to all of us a most miserable assemblage of wretched dwellings, fast falling to decay.

BARCA DE TROFA.-Barca de Trofa is the only place that deserved the name of a village, and this is certainly populous. At Villa Nova de Famelicaō the view appeared to brighten, and the contrast between it and Trofa was even greater than was that of Trofa and the intermediate places from Oporto.

VILLA NOVA DE FAMELICAO-Villa Nova de Famelica is situated in one of those fine vallies with which this province so frequently abounds. On every side are enclosures in full pride of cultivation, fields of millet, barley, rye, with patches of wheat surrounded by lofty oak, chesnut, and poplar trees iu continual succession, all well watered by numerous rivulets, gratify the eye. The vine in this province is cultivated differeutly from what it is in the other parts of Portugal, (where the practice appears more conformable to the French system); every year it increases in height and strength, twines round the trunks of trees which issue from the hedges, and thus supports itself, without giving the vintager the trouble of planting props for it.

General Sherbrooke, with the advanced division consisting of the brigade of guards, that of brigadier-generals Cameron, Langworth, and Lowe, ac companied by a squadron of the 14th regiment of light dragoons, and a bri gade of light artillery, entered Braga on the 15th. The same night the French rear-guard lay at Pinheiro and its neighbourhood.

The road throughout crossed a ridge of barren granite mountains, overrun by shrubs and heath, which, as we advanced north of Oporto, appeared less frequently studded with fir woods, isolated villages, or dispersed houses.

BRAGA. The valley of Braga is however delightful, being covered with fields of Indian corn, and verdant meadows. Hence are discovered the lofty chain of mountains which skirt the banks of the Lima, having in their front the high, Pica de Regulados, and the pass of Portella das Cabras, while beyond them, in a northerly direction, shoot up the Serra de Estrica. The elevated summits of the Serra de Gerez likewise show themselves in the eastward,

Journal of the Eighty-third Regiment.

towards which the eye is carried over a succession of moderate hills, to rest on that extensive range.

A few orange, but a far greater number of cork trees surround the town; and in the vicinity are extensive gardens and vineyards. The rivers Cabado and Este flow through the environs, and though hardly meriting the name of rivulets in the summer season, are not only important considerations to the military traveller, (as in rainy weather they are seldom fordable) but become of high value to the agriculturist, as their waters add greatly to the fertility of the soil.

Braga, seated in a broad, open, well cultivated, and well planted valley, is the capital of Entre Douro é Minho, and though without any fortifications whatever, is one of the most ancient places in the kingdom. It has five churches, seven monasteries, and quarters for 5000 men, exclusive of room in convents, and other religious buildings, sometimes delivered up for the use of the army. It has furthermore a very handsome gothic cathedral, said to have originally been a Roman temple. At all events the place was known to the Romans, who named it Bracara Augusta, which antiquarians derive from the Bracares, the first known inhabitants of this district. This city was also the chief town of the Sueves, and after them of the Goths, who on completing the conquest of the country, made it their seat of government. Besides which proofs of antiquity are several remains of ancient buildings, particularly the ruins of an aqueduct. The streets are fine, large, open, and clean. The houses are small, yet, generally speaking, neatly furnished, and the windows glazed, though the rooms are unprovided with fire places. Indeed these are rarely met with in any Portuguese apartments excepting the kitchen, which is usually on the attic floor. The population is calculated by some to exceed 15,000, while other persons reduce it below 12,000, over whom the clergy rule with the most absolute controul.

Braga is a very ancient archbishoprick, and one of the earliest of Count Henry's conquests from the Moors. That prince took it in 740, and was buried in a chapel of the cathedral, where, four centuries after his death, one of the bishops of this see raised a superb monument to his memory.

The neighbourhood of Braga boasts a fertile soil, producing much wine, fruit, and corn, besides abundance of pasture, vegetables, game, and cattle. At this and the intervening places from Oporto to Salamonde, the French had certainly committed some wanton ravages and disorders. To this, perhaps, may in some measure be ascribed the warm cordiality and joy with which the inhabitants of Braga received us. "Viva Inglaterra-Rompeo Buonaparte" resounded from all quarters, while roses and other flowers showered down on our heads as we traversed the streets. The bells rang merry peals, and many respectable burgesses came on the parade, requesting, not the officers alone, but likewise the private soldiers, would take up their • Route from Braga to Salamonde.-Braga to Ao Carvalho D'Este 1 league, Ao Pinheiro 1, Pardieiros 1, Penedo 1, Salamonde 1.-Total 5 leagues.