( 280 )

this size is sufficient to cariy 30 men with theirequipment, or any field gun, carriage, or tumbril,embarked singly. When bullocks, or cavalryhorses are to cross, they are tied by the headsto the baskets, by which they are conductedacross the river, either by rowing or poling.In the campaign of 1800, under the Duke ofWellington, then Colonel Wellesley, this expe-dient was resorted to with great success. Somerivers in his front had become unfordable byheavy rains, (see observations, page 117); butthe difficulty was soon got over, by means ofsome basket boats which were constructed andcarried by the pioneers of the army. “ It wassurprising,” says my informant, “ what efficiencyeven this simple expedient gave to our move-ments, on a service, and under circumstances,which particularly required rapidity of move-ment.” And this campaign finished by theenemy being driven into a cul-de-sac between tworivers, which he had no means of crossing; andwhere he was completely destroyed, in conse-quence of Colonel Wellesley having been enabledto cross those rivers which laid in his way.

The chief defect of the basket boats describedas above, consists in their shape; but the modeof, and materials used in, their construction, areparticularly adapted to military service, as sub-