Note 417 — SECTION XXI: CHAPTER II

This is the feature which Napier, somewhat hyperbolically, describes as ‘a chasm so profound that the naked eye could hardly distinguish the movement of troops in the bottom, yet so narrow in parts that 12-pounders could range across (iii. 21).’ It does not, as he says, separate the Serra de Bussaco from the last ridge in front of it, that which the French held, as it only lay in front of Craufurd and Pack. There is no chasm between Spencer’s, Picton’s, Leith’s, or Hill’s position and the French knolls.