The war had been going on for several years with varying fortunes; but latterly the Spaniards had been getting decidedly the best of it.

Caracas and all the seaport towns were in their possession, and the patriot cause was only maintained by a few bands of irregulars, who were waging a desperate and almost hopeless contest in the forests and on the llanos of the interior.
My sympathies were on the popular side, and I might have joined the volunteer force which was being raised in England for service with the insurgents.

But this did not suit my purpose.

If I accepted a commission in the Legion I should have to go where I was ordered.

I preferred to go where I listed.