GERTRUDE VON HALEN; OR, THE BOAT-RACE of BROUVERSHAVEN.

Wellington Independent, Volume I, Issue 29, 9 July 1845, Page 4

GERTRUDE YON HALEN; OR, THE BOAT-RACE of BROUVERSHAVEN.

# The sun had set, red and lowering, over the inundated meadows, that lay stretched for miles around the beleagured walls of Ziriczee-belea-gured by the fierce Spaniards of Mondragone thirsting for blood, and insatiate of plunderAior was it the great natural sun only that had sunk beneath the horizon, the grand light-giver and adorner of the world; but hope likewise, the sun of the moral and intellectual world, had set to the brave men of Zealand. Everything thus far had favored the beseigers and the undaunted resolution of Mondragone' in marching his tremendous and irrestible le-

gions through wide arms of the sea, and m ' coming natural obstacles deemed hitherto •'" pregnable, if it had not broken down the vnl" 1 " had yet dispirited the souls of the stout Pmt ' tants of Schowen, and led them to consider sistence, although it were their duty, a boinf' 6 * honor only and religion, bnt wholly desalt and vain. f^ate The wily leader of Philip's Spanish veteran, at that time the finest and most famous infant in Europe, although as cruel and licentious they were gallant and determined, knew far\ 8S much of strategy to risk his men in onslaught against works defended by men rendered H perate by the sense of intolerable wron»« « „ fighting for their hearths and homes, their,S lives, and their women's honor. He left th to a foe more cruel and unsparing even than the" sword of the Castilian Papist— to hunger an/ its. companion ever in besieged and croVdS cities, the pestilence that slays at noon-davalitl and in the silent night. ■ yauKe » When the amphibious Zealanders broke do<vn their dykes, and suffered the wild waters—whinK for years it had been their labor to exclude and their pride to conquer-to pour in over'their cultivated fields, drowning their valuable cattle sweeping away their rich harvests, covering their choice lands with the barren ooze and bitter marl of those stagnant seas, destroying in on* hour the fruit of centuries, the Spanish general had drawn off his men, and posted them in stoni forts built everywhere along the margins of th* artificial deluge, and mounted with the heaviest ordinance, determined that no food or succors should be thrown into the starving town and confident that sooner or later it must surrender to his arms. The efforts, on the other hand, of the Prince of Orange and the confederates, had been from the beginning to introduce men and provisions at it mattered not what risk of life, to the un'. happy city. For this purpose a small canal had been cut from the great arm of the sea, separating the island of Schowen from Duveland, which had been forded by Mondragone in his first advance, and the banks of this lesser cut had been so strongly fortified by the Zealanders that, while they retained possession of their works, they could introduce flat-bottomed vessels capable of traversing the inundation from the Grevelingen Channel, which was occupied by their admiral, Boissot, in considerable force; and so long the citizens of Ziriczee were well supplied and cheerfully determined in resistance. After awhile, however, by his great skill in expedients, Mondragone contrived to lock up the mouth of the small canal, stationing his great ships where the water was deepest, and drawing a stacado from each side through the shallows, which he united finally with strong iron chains! and so rendered all access impracticable. When this was finished it became necessary for the Protestants to discover some new means of giving assistance to their friends, and, with his wonted energy, the Prince of Orange had strained every nerve to do this by means of another cut, made from the same canal; but here too the Spaniards anticipated him, occupying the greater part of the forces, and planting heavy batteries on the edge of the cut, so that a few days before the commencement of my narrative they had beat of Count Hohenloe, a German nobleman of unquestionable spirit and resolution, with great loss, and established permanent fortifications on the spot. On the morning which gave birth to this red and stormy afternoon, the hopes of the men of Ziriczee had been raised to the highest pitch of expectation—and it was time that they should be raised, for it was many days since the soldiers even and defenders of the place had tasted anything but the flesh of dogs and horses, while the burghers and those that were useless in action had fared even more wretchedly, on rats and mice and the weeds that grew on the ramparts, and even on soup made from shoe-leather and sword- belts —the women only of the place and the sick had been supplied with an ounce or two of flour and a small modicum of wine daily, but even these miserable supplies had now failed; and of the filthest and most sordid food there was not enough left to supply the garrison for another day. On this morning, however, their hopes had been raised by the arrival of carrier-pigeons with letters from the Prince of Orange, announcing that at noon he should attack the Spanish force at the village of Dreischer with such a poweras would, he hoped, insure success, and warning them to hold their gates in hand in readiness to receive the supplies at an early hour of the afternoon. From daybreak they had been on the alert, and when, at about ten o'clock, they heard from the right direction heavy discharges, and then the sustained and regular roar of a constant cannonade, and that too seeming to approach nearer and nearer, their hearts became glad and jocund, and they felt certain that they were relieved already. At one o'clock a third pigeon was seen winging its way towards the city from the dense smoke-clouds which had mantled the horizon to the northeastward in the blackest gloom. Welcome as Noah's messenger, when it came back with the olive branch, this bird brought, like those which it, good tidings. The prince had succeeded in his first attack, had thrown the Spaniards into confusion, and carried off the cannon from one of their batteries—there could be nowno doubt of his success, for he was winning his way everywhere at the pike's point.