Not a head of cattle, not a grain of corn, not a skin of wine, not a flask of oil, not a crumb of anything affording nourishment should be left behind.

The very mills were to be rendered useless, bridges were to be broken down, the houses emptied of all property, which the refugees were to carry away with them from the line of invasion.
Such was his terrible demand upon the country for its own salvation.

But such, as we have seen, was not war as Principal Souza and some of his adherents understood it.

They had not the foresight to perceive the inevitable result of this strategic plan if effectively and thoroughly executed.

They did not even realise that the devastation had better be effected by the British in this defensive--and in its results at the same time overwhelmingly offensive--manner than by the French in the course of a conquering onslaught.