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diff --git a/415-0.txt b/415-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..2488d20 --- /dev/null +++ b/415-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,21051 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Bible in Spain, by George Borrow + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and +most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions +whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms +of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at +www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you +will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before +using this eBook. + +Title: The Bible in Spain + +Author: George Borrow + +Release Date: December 15, 1995 [eBook #415] +[Most recently updated: October 15, 2020] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +Produced by: David Price + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIBLE IN SPAIN *** + + + + + THE BIBLE IN SPAIN + + + or The Journeys, Adventures, and Imprisonments + of an Englishman, in an Attempt to + circulate the Scriptures in the Peninsula + + BY + GEORGE BORROW + + * * * * * + + CASSELL AND COMPANY, LTD. + LONDON, PARIS, NEW YORK, + TORONTO & MELBOURNE + MCMVIII + + + + +EDITOR’S NOTE + + +Blessed with a magnificent physique, and an unswerving belief in God’s +beneficence; endowed with “the gift of tongues” and a cheerful +disposition, George Borrow was well equipped for life. That he was +called to be a Bible Society missionary was surely a curious turn of +fortune. The son of a Militia captain, whose duties took him about the +country, Borrow early acquired the taste for a roving life, and it must +have been a severe hardship to him when, at the age of sixteen, he was +articled to a Norwich firm of solicitors. Indeed, it would almost appear +that the gypsy spirit was quenched, for on the completion of his five +years he was engaged as literary hack to Phillips, the London publisher. +But after a year or so the “call of the wild” came, and Borrow eagerly +responded. What happened is not really known, though much of his gypsy +life is pictured in _Lavengro_. + +In 1832 he commenced his work for the Bible Society, and the next year +went as its representative to Russia. He stayed there until 1835, when +he was ordered to Spain and Portugal. In spite of their adventurous +nature, the five years there spent were described by Borrow as “the most +happy years of my life.” _The Bible in Spain_ consists largely of his +letters to the Society, and the vigour and directness of his language +must ofttimes have startled the officials. The book was published in +December, 1842. + +George Henry Borrow was born July 5, 1803, and died July 26, 1881. + + + + +AUTHOR’S PREFACE + + +It is very seldom that the preface of a work is read; indeed, of late +years, most books have been sent into the world without any. I deem it, +however, advisable to write a preface, and to this I humbly call the +attention of the courteous reader, as its perusal will not a little tend +to the proper understanding and appreciation of these volumes. + +The work now offered to the public, and which is styled _The Bible in +Spain_, consists of a narrative of what occurred to me during a residence +in that country, to which I was sent by the Bible Society, as its agent +for the purpose of printing and circulating the Scriptures. It +comprehends, however, certain journeys and adventures in Portugal, and +leaves me at last in “the land of the Corahai,” to which region, after +having undergone considerable buffeting in Spain, I found it expedient to +retire for a season. + +It is very probable that had I visited Spain from mere curiosity, or with +a view of passing a year or two agreeably, I should never have attempted +to give any detailed account of my proceedings, or of what I heard and +saw. I am no tourist, no writer of books of travels; but I went there on +a somewhat remarkable errand, which necessarily led me into strange +situations and positions, involved me in difficulties and perplexities, +and brought me into contact with people of all descriptions and grades; +so that, upon the whole, I flatter myself that a narrative of such a +pilgrimage may not be wholly uninteresting to the public, more especially +as the subject is not trite; for though various books have been published +about Spain, I believe that the present is the only one in existence +which treats of missionary labour in that country. + +Many things, it is true, will be found in the following volume which have +little connexion with religion or religious enterprise; I offer, however, +no apology for introducing them. I was, as I may say, from first to last +adrift in Spain, the land of old renown, the land of wonder and mystery, +with better opportunities of becoming acquainted with its strange secrets +and peculiarities than perhaps ever yet were afforded to any individual, +certainly to a foreigner; and if in many instances I have introduced +scenes and characters perhaps unprecedented in a work of this +description, I have only to observe, that, during my sojourn in Spain, I +was so unavoidably mixed up with such, that I could scarcely have given a +faithful narrative of what befell me had I not brought them forward in +the manner which I have done. + +It is worthy of remark that, called suddenly and unexpectedly “to +undertake the adventure of Spain,” I was not altogether unprepared for +such an enterprise. In the daydreams of my boyhood, Spain always bore a +considerable share, and I took a particular interest in her, without any +presentiment that I should at a future time be called upon to take a +part, however humble, in her strange dramas; which interest, at a very +early period, led me to acquire her noble language, and to make myself +acquainted with her literature (scarcely worthy of the language), her +history and traditions; so that when I entered Spain for the first time I +felt more at home than I should otherwise have done. + +In Spain I passed five years, which, if not the most eventful, were, I +have no hesitation in saying, the most happy years of my existence. Of +Spain, at the present time, now that the daydream has vanished, never, +alas! to return, I entertain the warmest admiration: she is the most +magnificent country in the world, probably the most fertile, and +certainly with the finest climate. Whether her children are worthy of +their mother, is another question, which I shall not attempt to answer; +but content myself with observing, that, amongst much that is lamentable +and reprehensible, I have found much that is noble and to be admired; +much stern heroic virtue; much savage and horrible crime; of low vulgar +vice very little, at least amongst the great body of the Spanish nation, +with which my mission lay; for it will be as well here to observe, that I +advance no claim to an intimate acquaintance with the Spanish nobility, +from whom I kept as remote as circumstances would permit me; _en +revanche_, however, I have had the honour to live on familiar terms with +the peasants, shepherds, and muleteers of Spain, whose bread and bacalao +I have eaten; who always treated me with kindness and courtesy, and to +whom I have not unfrequently been indebted for shelter and protection. + + “The generous bearing of Francisco Gonzales, and the high deeds of + Ruy Diaz the Cid, are still sung amongst the fastnesses of the Sierra + Morena.” {8} + +I believe that no stronger argument can be brought forward in proof of +the natural vigour and resources of Spain, and the sterling character of +her population, than the fact that, at the present day, she is still a +powerful and unexhausted country, and her children still, to a certain +extent, a high-minded and great people. Yes, notwithstanding the misrule +of the brutal and sensual Austrian, the doting Bourbon, and, above all, +the spiritual tyranny of the court of Rome, Spain can still maintain her +own, fight her own combat, and Spaniards are not yet fanatic slaves and +crouching beggars. This is saying much, very much: she has undergone far +more than Naples had ever to bear, and yet the fate of Naples has not +been hers. There is still valour in Astruria; generosity in Aragon; +probity in Old Castile; and the peasant women of La Mancha can still +afford to place a silver fork and a snowy napkin beside the plate of +their guest. Yes, in spite of Austrian, Bourbon, and Rome, there is +still a wide gulf between Spain and Naples. + +Strange as it may sound, Spain is not a fanatic country. I know +something about her, and declare that she is not, nor has ever been; +Spain never changes. It is true that, for nearly two centuries, she was +the she-butcher, _La Verduga_, of malignant Rome; the chosen instrument +for carrying into effect the atrocious projects of that power; yet +fanaticism was not the spring which impelled her to the work of butchery; +another feeling, in her the predominant one, was worked upon—her fatal +pride. It was by humouring her pride that she was induced to waste her +precious blood and treasure in the Low Country wars, to launch the +Armada, and to many other equally insane actions. Love of Rome had ever +slight influence over her policy; but flattered by the title of +Gonfaloniera of the Vicar of Jesus, and eager to prove herself not +unworthy of the same, she shut her eyes and rushed upon her own +destruction with the cry of “Charge, Spain.” + +But the arms of Spain became powerless abroad, and she retired within +herself. She ceased to be the tool of the vengeance and cruelty of Rome. +She was not cast aside, however. No! though she could no longer wield +the sword with success against the Lutherans, she might still be turned +to some account. She had still gold and silver, and she was still the +land of the vine and olive. Ceasing to be the butcher, she became the +banker of Rome; and the poor Spaniards, who always esteem it a privilege +to pay another person’s reckoning, were for a long time happy in being +permitted to minister to the grasping cupidity of Rome, who during the +last century, probably extracted from Spain more treasure than from all +the rest of Christendom. + +But wars came into the land. Napoleon and his fierce Franks invaded +Spain; plunder and devastation ensued, the effects of which will probably +be felt for ages. Spain could no longer pay pence to Peter so freely as +of yore, and from that period she became contemptible in the eyes of +Rome, who has no respect for a nation, save so far as it can minister to +her cruelty or avarice. The Spaniard was still willing to pay, as far as +his means would allow, but he was soon given to understand that he was a +degraded being,—a barbarian; nay, a beggar. Now, you may draw the last +cuarto from a Spaniard, provided you will concede to him the title of +cavalier, and rich man, for the old leaven still works as powerfully as +in the time of the first Philip; but you must never hint that he is poor, +or that his blood is inferior to your own. And the old peasant, on being +informed in what slight estimation he was held, replied, “If I am a +beast, a barbarian, and a beggar withal, I am sorry for it; but as there +is no remedy, I shall spend these four bushels of barley, which I had +reserved to alleviate the misery of the holy father, in procuring bull +spectacles, and other convenient diversions, for the queen my wife, and +the young princes my children. Beggar! carajo! The water of my village +is better than the wine of Rome.” + +I see that in a late pastoral letter directed to the Spaniards, the +father of Rome complains bitterly of the treatment which he has received +in Spain at the hands of naughty men. “My cathedrals are let down,” he +says, “my priests are insulted, and the revenues of my bishops are +curtailed.” He consoles himself, however, with the idea that this is the +effect of the malice of a few, and that the generality of the nation love +him, especially the peasantry, the innocent peasantry, who shed tears +when they think of the sufferings of their pope and their religion. +Undeceive yourself, Batuschca, undeceive yourself! Spain was ready to +fight for you so long as she could increase her own glory by doing so; +but she took no pleasure in losing battle after battle on your account. +She had no objection to pay money into your coffers in the shape of alms, +expecting, however, that the same would be received with the gratitude +and humility which becomes those who accept charity. Finding, however, +that you were neither humble nor grateful; suspecting, moreover, that you +held Austria in higher esteem than herself, even as a banker, she +shrugged up her shoulders, and uttered a sentence somewhat similar to +that which I have already put into the mouth of one of her children, +“These four bushels of barley,” etc. + +It is truly surprising what little interest the great body of the Spanish +nation took in the late struggle, and yet it has been called, by some who +ought to know better, a war of religion and principle. It was generally +supposed that Biscay was the stronghold of Carlism, and that the +inhabitants were fanatically attached to their religion, which they +apprehended was in danger. The truth is, that the Basques cared nothing +for Carlos or Rome, and merely took up arms to defend certain rights and +privileges of their own. For the dwarfish brother of Ferdinand they +always exhibited supreme contempt, which his character, a compound of +imbecility, cowardice, and cruelty, well merited. If they made use of +his name, it was merely as a _cri de guerre_. Much the same may be said +with respect to his Spanish partisans, at least those who appeared in the +field for him. These, however, were of a widely different character from +the Basques, who were brave soldiers and honest men. The Spanish armies +of Don Carlos were composed entirely of thieves and assassins, chiefly +Valencians and Manchegans, who, marshalled under two cut-throats, Cabrera +and Palillos, took advantage of the distracted state of the country to +plunder and massacre the honest part of the community. With respect to +the Queen Regent Christina, of whom the less said the better, the reins +of government fell into her hands on the decease of her husband, and with +them the command of the soldiery. The respectable part of the Spanish +nation, and more especially the honourable and toilworn peasantry, +loathed and execrated both factions. Oft when I was sharing at nightfall +the frugal fare of the villager of Old or New Castile, on hearing the +distant shot of the Christino soldier or Carlist bandit, he would invoke +curses on the heads of the two pretenders, not forgetting the holy father +and the goddess of Rome, Maria Santissima. Then, with the tiger energy +of the Spaniard when roused, he would start up and exclaim: “Vamos, Don +Jorge, to the plain, to the plain! I wish to enlist with you, and to +learn the law of the English. To the plain, therefore, to the plain +to-morrow, to circulate the gospel of Ingalaterra.” + +Amongst the peasantry of Spain I found my sturdiest supporters: and yet +the holy father supposes that the Spanish labourers are friends and +lovers of his. Undeceive yourself, Batuschca! + +But to return to the present work: it is devoted to an account of what +befell me in Spain whilst engaged in distributing the Scripture. With +respect to my poor labours, I wish here to observe, that I accomplished +but very little, and that I lay claim to no brilliant successes and +triumphs; indeed I was sent into Spain more to explore the country, and +to ascertain how far the minds of the people were prepared to receive the +truths of Christianity, than for any other object; I obtained, however, +through the assistance of kind friends, permission from the Spanish +government to print an edition of the sacred volume at Madrid, which I +subsequently circulated in that capital and in the provinces. + +During my sojourn in Spain, there were others who wrought good service in +the Gospel cause, and of whose efforts it were unjust to be silent in a +work of this description. Base is the heart which would refuse merit its +meed, and, however insignificant may be the value of any eulogium which +can flow from a pen like mine, I cannot refrain from mentioning with +respect and esteem a few names connected with Gospel enterprise. A +zealous Irish gentleman, of the name of Graydon, exerted himself with +indefatigable diligence in diffusing the light of Scripture in the +province of Catalonia, and along the southern shores of Spain; whilst two +missionaries from Gibraltar, Messrs. Rule and Lyon, during one entire +year, preached Evangelic truth in a Church at Cadiz. So much success +attended the efforts of these two last brave disciples of the immortal +Wesley, that there is every reason for supposing that, had they not been +silenced and eventually banished from the country by the pseudo-liberal +faction of the Moderados, not only Cadiz, but the greater part of +Andalusia, would by this time have confessed the pure doctrines of the +Gospel, and have discarded for ever the last relics of popish +superstition. + +More immediately connected with the Bible Society and myself, I am most +happy to take this opportunity of speaking of Luis de Usoz y Rio, the +scion of an ancient and honourable family of Old Castile, my coadjutor +whilst editing the Spanish New Testament at Madrid. Throughout my +residence in Spain, I experienced every mark of friendship from this +gentleman, who, during the periods of my absence in the provinces, and my +numerous and long journeys, cheerfully supplied my place at Madrid, and +exerted himself to the utmost in forwarding the views of the Bible +Society, influenced by no other motive than a hope that its efforts would +eventually contribute to the peace, happiness, and civilisation of his +native land. + +In conclusion, I beg leave to state that I am fully aware of the various +faults and inaccuracies of the present work. It is founded on certain +journals which I kept during my stay in Spain, and numerous letters +written to my friends in England, which they had subsequently the +kindness to restore: the greater part, however, consisting of +descriptions of scenery, sketches of character, etc., has been supplied +from memory. In various instances I have omitted the names of places, +which I have either forgotten, or of whose orthography I am uncertain. +The work, as it at present exists, was written in a solitary hamlet in a +remote part of England, where I had neither books to consult, nor friends +of whose opinion or advice I could occasionally avail myself, and under +all the disadvantages which arise from enfeebled health; I have, however, +on a recent occasion, experienced too much of the lenity and generosity +of the public, both of Britain and America, to shrink from again exposing +myself to its gaze, and trust that, if in the present volumes it finds +but little to admire, it will give me credit for good spirit, and for +setting down nought in malice. + +Nov. 26, 1842. + + + + +CHAPTER I + + +Man Overboard—The Tagus—Foreign Languages—Gesticulation—Streets of +Lisbon—The Aqueduct—Bible tolerated in Portugal—Cintra—Don Sebastian—John +de Castro—Conversation with a Priest—Colhares—Mafra—Its Palace—The +Schoolmaster—The Portuguese—Their Ignorance of Scripture—Rural +Priesthood—The Alemtejo. + +On the morning of the tenth of November, 1835, I found myself off the +coast of Galicia, whose lofty mountains, gilded by the rising sun, +presented a magnificent appearance. I was bound for Lisbon; we passed +Cape Finisterre, and standing farther out to sea, speedily lost sight of +land. On the morning of the eleventh the sea was very rough, and a +remarkable circumstance occurred. I was on the forecastle, discoursing +with two of the sailors: one of them, who had but just left his hammock, +said, “I have had a strange dream, which I do not much like, for,” +continued he, pointing up to the mast, “I dreamt that I fell into the sea +from the cross-trees.” He was heard to say this by several of the crew +besides myself. A moment after, the captain of the vessel perceiving +that the squall was increasing, ordered the topsails to be taken in, +whereupon this man with several others instantly ran aloft; the yard was +in the act of being hauled down, when a sudden gust of wind whirled it +round with violence, and a man was struck down from the cross-trees into +the sea, which was working like yeast below. In a short time he emerged; +I saw his head on the crest of a billow, and instantly recognised in the +unfortunate man the sailor who a few moments before had related his +dream. I shall never forget the look of agony he cast whilst the steamer +hurried past him. The alarm was given, and everything was in confusion; +it was two minutes at least before the vessel was stopped, by which time +the man was a considerable way astern; I still, however, kept my eye upon +him, and could see that he was struggling gallantly with the waves. A +boat was at length lowered, but the rudder was unfortunately not at hand, +and only two oars could be procured, with which the men could make but +little progress in so rough a sea. They did their best, however, and had +arrived within ten yards of the man, who still struggled for his life, +when I lost sight of him, and the men on their return said that they saw +him below the water, at glimpses, sinking deeper and deeper, his arms +stretched out and his body apparently stiff, but that they found it +impossible to save him; presently after, the sea, as if satisfied with +the prey which it had acquired, became comparatively calm. The poor +fellow who perished in this singular manner was a fine young man of +twenty-seven, the only son of a widowed mother; he was the best sailor on +board, and was beloved by all who were acquainted with him. This event +occurred on the eleventh of November, 1835; the vessel was the _London +Merchant_ steamship. Truly wonderful are the ways of Providence! + +That same night we entered the Tagus, and dropped anchor before the old +tower of Belem; early the next morning we weighed, and, proceeding onward +about a league, we again anchored at a short distance from the Caesodré, +or principal quay of Lisbon. Here we lay for some hours beside the +enormous black hulk of the _Rainha Nao_, a man-of-war, which in old times +so captivated the eye of Nelson, that he would fain have procured it for +his native country. She was, long subsequently, the admiral’s ship of +the Miguelite squadron, and had been captured by the gallant Napier about +three years previous to the time of which I am speaking. + +The _Rainha Nao_ is said to have caused him more trouble than all the +other vessels of the enemy; and some assert that, had the others defended +themselves with half the fury which the old vixen queen displayed, the +result of the battle which decided the fate of Portugal would have been +widely different. + +I found disembarkation at Lisbon to be a matter of considerable vexation; +the custom-house officers were exceedingly uncivil, and examined every +article of my little baggage with most provocating minuteness. + +My first impression on landing in the Peninsula was by no means a +favourable one; and I had scarcely pressed the soil one hour before I +heartily wished myself back in Russia, a country which I had quitted +about one month previous, and where I had left cherished friends and warm +affections. + +After having submitted to much ill-usage and robbery at the custom-house, +I proceeded in quest of a lodging, and at last found one, but dirty and +expensive. The next day I hired a servant, a Portuguese, it being my +invariable custom on arriving in a country to avail myself of the +services of a native; chiefly with the view of perfecting myself in the +language; and being already acquainted with most of the principal +languages and dialects of the east and the west, I am soon able to make +myself quite intelligible to the inhabitants. In about a fortnight I +found myself conversing in Portuguese with considerable fluency. + +Those who wish to make themselves understood by a foreigner in his own +language, should speak with much noise and vociferation, opening their +mouths wide. Is it surprising that the English are, in general, the +worst linguists in the world, seeing that they pursue a system +diametrically opposite? For example, when they attempt to speak Spanish, +the most sonorous tongue in existence, they scarcely open their lips, and +putting their hands in their pockets, fumble lazily, instead of applying +them to the indispensable office of gesticulation. Well may the poor +Spaniards exclaim, _These English talk so crabbedly_, _that Satan himself +would not be able to understand them_. + +Lisbon is a huge ruinous city, still exhibiting in almost every direction +the vestiges of that terrific visitation of God, the earthquake which +shattered it some eighty years ago. It stands on seven hills, the +loftiest of which is occupied by the castle of Saint George, which is the +boldest and most prominent object to the eye, whilst surveying the city +from the Tagus. The most frequented and busy parts of the city are those +comprised within the valley to the north of this elevation. + +Here you find the Plaza of the Inquisition, the principal square in +Lisbon, from which run parallel towards the river three or four streets, +amongst which are those of the gold and silver, so designated from being +inhabited by smiths cunning in the working of those metals; they are upon +the whole very magnificent; the houses are huge and as high as castles; +immense pillars defend the causeway at intervals, producing, however, +rather a cumbrous effect. These streets are quite level, and are well +paved, in which respect they differ from all the others in Lisbon. The +most singular street, however, of all is that of the Alemcrin, or +Rosemary, which debouches on the Caesodré. It is very precipitous, and +is occupied on either side by the palaces of the principal Portuguese +nobility, massive and frowning, but grand and picturesque, edifices, with +here and there a hanging garden, overlooking the streets at a great +height. + +With all its ruin and desolation, Lisbon is unquestionably the most +remarkable city in the Peninsula, and, perhaps, in the south of Europe. +It is not my intention to enter into minute details concerning it; I +shall content myself with remarking, that it is quite as much deserving +the attention of the artist as even Rome itself. True it is that though +it abounds with churches it has no gigantic cathedral, like St. Peter’s, +to attract the eye and fill it with wonder, yet I boldly say that there +is no monument of man’s labour and skill, pertaining either to ancient or +modern Rome, for whatever purpose designed, which can rival the +water-works of Lisbon; I mean the stupendous aqueduct whose principal +arches cross the valley to the north-east of Lisbon, and which discharges +its little runnel of cool and delicious water into the rocky cistern +within that beautiful edifice called the Mother of the Waters, from +whence all Lisbon is supplied with the crystal lymph, though the source +is seven leagues distant. Let travellers devote one entire morning to +inspecting the Arcos and the Mai das Agoas, after which they may repair +to the English church and cemetery, Père-la-Chaise in miniature, where, +if they be of England, they may well be excused if they kiss the cold +tomb, as I did, of the author of _Amelia_, the most singular genius which +their island ever produced, whose works it has long been the fashion to +abuse in public and to read in secret. In the same cemetery rest the +mortal remains of Doddridge, another English author of a different stamp, +but justly admired and esteemed. I had not intended, on disembarking, to +remain long in Lisbon, nor indeed in Portugal; my destination was Spain, +whither I shortly proposed to direct my steps, it being the intention of +the Bible Society to attempt to commence operations in that country, the +object of which should be the distribution of the Word of God, for Spain +had hitherto been a region barred against the admission of the Bible; not +so Portugal, where, since the revolution, the Bible had been permitted +both to be introduced and circulated. Little, however, had been +accomplished; therefore, finding myself in the country, I determined, if +possible, to effect something in the way of distribution, but first of +all to make myself acquainted as to how far the people were disposed to +receive the Bible, and whether the state of education in general would +permit them to turn it to much account. I had plenty of Bibles and +Testaments at my disposal, but could the people read them, or would they? +A friend of the Society to whom I was recommended was absent from Lisbon +at the period of my arrival; this I regretted, as he could have afforded +me several useful hints. In order, however, that no time might be lost, +I determined not to wait for his arrival, but at once proceed to gather +the best information I could upon those points to which I have already +alluded. I determined to commence my researches at some slight distance +from Lisbon, being well aware of the erroneous ideas that I must form of +the Portuguese in general, should I judge of their character and opinions +from what I saw and heard in a city so much subjected to foreign +intercourse. + +My first excursion was to Cintra. If there be any place in the world +entitled to the appellation of an enchanted region, it is surely Cintra; +Tivoli is a beautiful and picturesque place, but it quickly fades from +the mind of those who have seen the Portuguese Paradise. When speaking +of Cintra, it must not for a moment be supposed that nothing more is +meant than the little town or city; by Cintra must be understood the +entire region, town, palace, quintas, forests, crags, Moorish ruin, which +suddenly burst on the view on rounding the side of a bleak, savage, and +sterile-looking mountain. Nothing is more sullen and uninviting than the +south-western aspect of the stony wall which, on the side of Lisbon, +seems to shield Cintra from the eye of the world, but the other side is a +mingled scene of fairy beauty, artificial elegance, savage grandeur, +domes, turrets, enormous trees, flowers and waterfalls, such as is met +with nowhere else beneath the sun. Oh! there are strange and wonderful +objects at Cintra, and strange and wonderful recollections attached to +them. The ruin on that lofty peak, and which covers part of the side of +that precipitous steep, was once the principal stronghold of the +Lusitanian Moors, and thither, long after they had disappeared, at a +particular moon of every year, were wont to repair wild santons of +Maugrabie, to pray at the tomb of a famous Sidi, who slumbers amongst the +rocks. That grey palace witnessed the assemblage of the last cortes held +by the boy king Sebastian, ere he departed on his romantic expedition +against the Moors, who so well avenged their insulted faith and country +at Alcazarquibir, and in that low shady quinta, embowered amongst those +tall alcornoques, once dwelt John de Castro, the strange old viceroy of +Goa, who pawned the hairs of his dead son’s beard to raise money to +repair the ruined wall of a fortress threatened by the heathen of Ind; +those crumbling stones which stand before the portal, deeply graven, not +with “runes,” but things equally dark, Sanscrit rhymes from the Vedas, +were brought by him from Goa, the most brilliant scene of his glory, +before Portugal had become a base kingdom; and down that dingle, on an +abrupt rocky promontory, stand the ruined halls of the English +Millionaire, who there nursed the wayward fancies of a mind as wild, +rich, and variegated as the scenes around. Yes, wonderful are the +objects which meet the eye at Cintra, and wonderful are the recollections +attached to them. + +The town of Cintra contains about eight hundred inhabitants. The morning +subsequent to my arrival, as I was about to ascend the mountain for the +purpose of examining the Moorish ruins, I observed a person advancing +towards me whom I judged by his dress to be an ecclesiastic; he was in +fact one of the three priests of the place. I instantly accosted him, +and had no reason to regret doing so; I found him affable and +communicative. + +After praising the beauty of the surrounding scenery, I made some inquiry +as to the state of education amongst the people under his care. He +answered, that he was sorry to say that they were in a state of great +ignorance, very few of the common people being able either to read or +write; that with respect to schools, there was but one in the place, +where four or five children were taught the alphabet, but that even this +was at present closed; he informed me, however, that there was a school +at Colhares, about a league distant. Amongst other things, he said that +nothing more surprised him than to see Englishmen, the most learned and +intelligent people in the world, visiting a place like Cintra, where +there was no literature, science, nor anything of utility (_coisa que +presta_). I suspect that there was some covert satire in the last speech +of the worthy priest; I was, however, Jesuit enough to appear to receive +it as a high compliment, and, taking off my hat, departed with an +infinity of bows. + +That same day I visited Colhares, a romantic village on the side of the +mountain of Cintra, to the north-west. Seeing some peasants collected +round a smithy, I inquired about the school, whereupon one of the men +instantly conducted me thither. I went upstairs into a small apartment, +where I found the master with about a dozen pupils standing in a row; I +saw but one stool in the room, and to that, after having embraced me, he +conducted me with great civility. After some discourse, he showed me the +books which he used for the instruction of the children; they were +spelling books, much of the same kind as those used in the village +schools in England. Upon my asking him whether it was his practice to +place the Scriptures in the hands of the children, he informed me that +long before they had acquired sufficient intelligence to understand them +they were removed by their parents, in order that they might assist in +the labours of the field, and that the parents in general were by no +means solicitous that their children should learn anything, as they +considered the time occupied in learning as so much squandered away. He +said, that though the schools were nominally supported by the government, +it was rarely that the schoolmasters could obtain their salaries, on +which account many had of late resigned their employments. He told me +that he had a copy of the New Testament in his possession, which I +desired to see, but on examining it I discovered that it was only the +epistles by Pereira, with copious notes. I asked him whether he +considered that there was harm in reading the Scriptures without notes: +he replied that there was certainly no harm in it, but that simple +people, without the help of notes, could derive but little benefit from +Scripture, as the greatest part would be unintelligible to them; +whereupon I shook hands with him, and on departing said that there was no +part of Scripture so difficult to understand as those very notes which +were intended to elucidate it, and that it would never have been written +if not calculated of itself to illume the minds of all classes of +mankind. + +In a day or two I made an excursion to Mafra, distant about three leagues +from Cintra; the principal part of the way lay over steep hills, somewhat +dangerous for horses; however, I reached the place in safety. + +Mafra is a large village in the neighbourhood of an immense building, +intended to serve as a convent and palace, and which is built somewhat +after the fashion of the Escurial. In this edifice exists the finest +library in Portugal, containing books on all sciences and in all +languages, and well suited to the size and grandeur of the edifice which +contains it. There were no monks, however, to take care of it, as in +former times; they had been driven forth, some to beg their bread, some +to serve under the banners of Don Carlos, in Spain, and many, as I was +informed, to prowl about as banditti. I found the place abandoned to two +or three menials, and exhibiting an aspect of solitude and desolation +truly appalling. Whilst I was viewing the cloisters, a fine +intelligent-looking lad came up and asked (I suppose in the hope of +obtaining a trifle) whether I would permit him to show me the village +church, which he informed me was well worth seeing; I said no, but added, +that if he would show me the village school I should feel much obliged to +him. He looked at me with astonishment, and assured me that there was +nothing to be seen at the school, which did not contain more than half a +dozen boys, and that he himself was one of the number. On my telling +him, however, that he should show me no other place, he at length +unwillingly attended me. On the way I learned from him that the +schoolmaster was one of the friars who had lately been expelled from the +convent, that he was a very learned man, and spoke French and Greek. We +passed a stone cross, and the boy bent his head and crossed himself with +much devotion. I mention this circumstance, as it was the first instance +of the kind which I had observed amongst the Portuguese since my arrival. +When near the house where the schoolmaster resided, he pointed it out to +me, and then hid himself behind a wall, where he awaited my return. + +On stepping over the threshold I was confronted by a short stout man, +between sixty and seventy years of age, dressed in a blue jerkin and grey +trousers, without shirt or waistcoat; he looked at me sternly, and +enquired in the French language what was my pleasure. I apologised for +intruding upon him, and stated that, being informed he occupied the +situation of schoolmaster, I had come to pay my respects to him and to +beg permission to ask a few questions respecting the seminary. He +answered that whoever told me he was a schoolmaster lied, for that he was +a friar of the convent and nothing else. “It is not then true,” said I, +“that all the convents have been broken up and the monks dismissed?” +“Yes, yes,” said he with a sigh, “it is true; it is but too true.” He +then was silent for a minute, and his better nature overcoming his angry +feelings, he produced a snuff-box and offered it to me. The snuff-box is +the olive-branch of the Portuguese, and he who wishes to be on good terms +with them must never refuse to dip his finger and thumb into it when +offered. I took therefore a huge pinch, though I detest the dust, and we +were soon on the best possible terms. He was eager to obtain news, +especially from Lisbon and Spain. I told him that the officers of the +troops at Lisbon had, the day before I left that place, gone in a body to +the queen and insisted upon her either receiving their swords or +dismissing her ministers; whereupon he rubbed his hands and said that he +was sure matters would not remain tranquil at Lisbon. On my saying, +however, that I thought the affairs of Don Carlos were on the decline +(this was shortly after the death of Zumalacarregui), he frowned, and +cried that it could not possibly be, for that God was too just to suffer +it. I felt for the poor man who had been driven out of his home in the +noble convent close by, and from a state of affluence and comfort reduced +in his old age to indigence and misery, for his present dwelling scarcely +seemed to contain an article of furniture. I tried twice or thrice to +induce him to converse about the school, but he either avoided the +subject or said shortly that he knew nothing about it. On my leaving +him, the boy came from his hiding-place and rejoined me; he said that he +had hidden himself through fear of his master’s knowing that he had +brought me to him, for that he was unwilling that any stranger should +know that he was a schoolmaster. + +I asked the boy whether he or his parents were acquainted with the +Scripture and ever read it; he did not, however, seem to understand me. +I must here observe that the boy was fifteen years of age, that he was in +many respects very intelligent, and had some knowledge of the Latin +language; nevertheless he knew not the Scripture even by name, and I have +no doubt, from what I subsequently observed, that at least two-thirds of +his countrymen are on that important point no wiser than himself. At the +doors of village inns, at the hearths of the rustics, in the fields where +they labour, at the stone fountains by the wayside where they water their +cattle, I have questioned the lower class of the children of Portugal +about the Scripture, the Bible, the Old and New Testament, and in no one +instance have they known what I was alluding to, or could return me a +rational answer, though on all other matters their replies were sensible +enough; indeed, nothing surprised me more than the free and unembarrassed +manner in which the Portuguese peasantry sustain a conversation, and the +purity of the language in which they express their thoughts, and yet few +of them can read or write; whereas the peasantry of England, whose +education is in general much superior, are in their conversation coarse +and dull almost to brutality, and absurdly ungrammatical in their +language, though the English tongue is upon the whole more simple in its +structure than the Portuguese. + +On my return to Lisbon I found our friend ---, who received me very +kindly. The next ten days were exceedingly rainy, which prevented me +from making any excursions into the country: during this time I saw our +friend frequently, and had long conversations with him concerning the +best means of distributing the gospel. He thought we could do no better +for the present than put part of our stock into the hands of the +booksellers of Lisbon, and at the same time employ colporteurs to hawk +the books about the streets, receiving a certain profit off every copy +they sold. This plan was agreed upon and forthwith put in practice, and +with some success. I had thought of sending colporteurs into the +neighbouring villages, but to this our friend objected. He thought the +attempt dangerous, as it was very possible that the rural priesthood, who +still possessed much influence in their own districts, and who were for +the most part decided enemies to the spread of the gospel, might cause +the men employed to be assassinated or ill-treated. + +I determined, however, ere leaving Portugal, to establish dépots of +Bibles in one or two of the provincial towns. I wished to visit the +Alemtejo, which I had heard was a very benighted region. The Alemtejo +means the province beyond the Tagus. This province is not beautiful and +picturesque, like most other parts of Portugal: there are few hills and +mountains, the greater part consists of heaths broken by knolls, and +gloomy dingles, and forests of stunted pine; these places are infested +with banditti. The principal city is Evora, one of the most ancient in +Portugal, and formerly the seat of a branch of the Inquisition, yet more +cruel and baneful than the terrible one of Lisbon. Evora lies about +sixty miles from Lisbon, and to Evora I determined on going with twenty +Testaments and two Bibles. How I fared there will presently be seen. + + + + +CHAPTER II + + +Boatmen of the Tagus—Dangers of the Stream—Aldea Gallega—The +Hostelry—Robbers—Sabocha—Adventure of a Muleteer—Estalagem de Ladroes—Don +Geronimo—Vendas Novas—Royal Residence—Swine of the Alemtejo—Monto +Moro—Swayne Vonved—Singular Goatherd—Children of the Fields—Infidels and +Sadducees. + +On the afternoon of the sixth of December I set out for Evora, +accompanied by my servant. I had been informed that the tide would serve +for the regular passage-boats, or felouks, as they are called, at about +four o’clock, but on reaching the side of the Tagus opposite to Aldea +Gallega, between which place and Lisbon the boats ply, I found that the +tide would not permit them to start before eight o’clock. Had I waited +for them I should have probably landed at Aldea Gallega about midnight, +and I felt little inclination to make my entrée in the Alemtejo at that +hour; therefore, as I saw small boats which can push off at any time +lying near in abundance, I determined upon hiring one of them for the +passage, though the expense would be thus considerably increased. I soon +agreed with a wild-looking lad, who told me that he was in part owner of +one of the boats, to take me over. I was not aware of the danger in +crossing the Tagus at its broadest part, which is opposite Aldea Gallega, +at any time, but especially at close of day in the winter season, or I +should certainly not have ventured. The lad and his comrade, a miserable +looking object, whose only clothing, notwithstanding the season, was a +tattered jerkin and trousers, rowed until we had advanced about half a +mile from the land; they then set up a large sail, and the lad, who +seemed to direct everything and to be the principal, took the helm and +steered. The evening was now setting in; the sun was not far from its +bourne in the horizon, the air was very cold, the wind was rising, and +the waves of the noble Tagus began to be crested with foam. I told the +boy that it was scarcely possible for the boat to carry so much sail +without upsetting, upon which he laughed, and began to gabble in a most +incoherent manner. He had the most harsh and rapid articulation that has +ever come under my observation in any human being; it was the scream of +the hyena blended with the bark of the terrier, though it was by no means +an index of his disposition, which I soon found to be light, merry, and +anything but malevolent, for when I, in order to show him that I cared +little about him, began to hum “_Eu que sou Contrabandista_,” he laughed +heartily and said, clapping me on the shoulder, that he would not drown +us if he could help it. The other poor fellow seemed by no means averse +to go to the bottom; he sat at the fore part of the boat looking the +image of famine, and only smiled when the waters broke over the weather +side and soaked his scanty habiliments. In a little time I had made up +my mind that our last hour was come; the wind was getting higher, the +short dangerous waves were more foamy, the boat was frequently on its +beam, and the water came over the lee side in torrents; but still the +wild lad at the helm held on laughing and chattering, and occasionally +yelling out part of the Miguelite air, “_Quando el Rey chegou_” the +singing of which in Lisbon is imprisonment. + +The stream was against us, but the wind was in our favour, and we sprang +along at a wonderful rate, and I saw that our only chance of escape was +in speedily passing the farther bank of the Tagus where the bight or bay +at the extremity of which stands Aldea Gallega commences, for we should +not then have to battle with the waves of the stream, which the adverse +wind lashed into fury. It was the will of the Almighty to permit us +speedily to gain this shelter, but not before the boat was nearly filled +with water, and we were all wet to the skin. At about seven o’clock in +the evening we reached Aldea Gallega, shivering with cold and in a most +deplorable plight. + +Aldea Gallega, or the Galician Village (for the two words are Spanish, +and have that signification), is a place containing, I should think, +about four thousand inhabitants. It was pitchy dark when we landed, but +rockets soon began to fly about in all directions, illuming the air far +and wide. As we passed along the dirty unpaved street which leads to the +Largo, or square in which the inn is situated, a horrible uproar of drums +and voices assailed our ears. On inquiring the cause of all this bustle, +I was informed that it was the eve of the Conception of the Virgin. + +As it was not the custom of the people at the inn to furnish provisions +for the guests, I wandered about in search of food; and at last seeing +some soldiers eating and drinking in a species of wine-house, I went in +and asked the people to let me have some supper, and in a short time they +furnished me with a tolerable meal, for which, however, they charged +three crowns. + +Having engaged with a person for mules to carry us to Evora, which were +to be ready at five next morning, I soon retired to bed, my servant +sleeping in the same apartment, which was the only one in the house +vacant. I closed not my eyes during the whole night. Beneath us was a +stable, in which some almocreves, or carriers, slept with their mules; at +our back, in the yard, was a pigsty. How could I sleep? The hogs +grunted, the mules screamed, and the almocreves snored most horribly. I +heard the village clock strike the hours until midnight, and from +midnight till four in the morning, when I sprang up and began to dress, +and despatched my servant to hasten the man with the mules, for I was +heartily tired of the place and wanted to leave it. An old man, bony and +hale, accompanied by a barefooted lad, brought the beasts, which were +tolerably good. He was the proprietor of them, and intended, with the +lad, who was his nephew, to accompany us to Evora. + +When we started, the moon was shining brightly, and the morning was +piercingly cold. We soon entered on a sandy hollow way, emerging from +which we passed by a strange-looking and large edifice, standing on a +high bleak sand-hill on our left. We were speedily overtaken by five or +six men on horseback, riding at a rapid pace, each with a long gun slung +at his saddle, the muzzle depending about two feet below the horse’s +belly. I inquired of the old man what was the reason of this warlike +array. He answered, that the roads were very bad (meaning that they +abounded with robbers), and that they went armed in this manner for their +defence; they soon turned off to the right towards Palmella. + +We reached a sandy plain studded with stunted pine; the road was little +more than a footpath, and as we proceeded, the trees thickened and became +a wood, which extended for two leagues, with clear spaces at intervals, +in which herds of cattle and sheep were feeding; the bells attached to +their necks were ringing lowly and monotonously. The sun was just +beginning to show itself; but the morning was misty and dreary, which, +together with the aspect of desolation which the country exhibited, had +an unfavourable effect on my spirits. I got down and walked, entering +into conversation with the old man. He seemed to have but one theme, +“the robbers,” and the atrocities they were in the habit of practising in +the very spots we were passing. The tales he told were truly horrible, +and to avoid them I mounted again, and rode on considerably in front. + +In about an hour and a half we emerged from the forest, and entered upon +a savage, wild, broken ground, covered with mato, or brushwood. The +mules stopped to drink at a shallow pool, and on looking to the right I +saw a ruined wall. This, the guide informed me, was the remains of +Vendas Velhas, or the Old Inn, formerly the haunt of the celebrated +robber Sabocha. This Sabocha, it seems, had, some sixteen years ago, a +band of about forty ruffians at his command, who infested these wilds, +and supported themselves by plunder. For a considerable time Sabocha +pursued his atrocious trade unsuspected, and many an unfortunate +traveller was murdered in the dead of night at the solitary inn by the +wood-side, which he kept; indeed, a more fit situation for plunder and +murder I never saw. The gang were in the habit of watering their horses +at the pool, and perhaps of washing therein their hands stained with the +blood of their victims; the lieutenant of the troop was the brother of +Sabocha, a fellow of great strength and ferocity, particularly famous for +the skill he possessed in darting a long knife, with which he was in the +habit of transfixing his opponents. Sabocha’s connection with the gang +at length became known, and he fled, with the greater part of his +associates, across the Tagus to the northern provinces. Himself and his +brothers eventually lost their lives on the road to Coimbra, in an +engagement with the military. His house was razed by order of the +government. + +The ruins are still frequently visited by banditti, who eat and drink +amidst them, and look out for prey, as the place commands a view of the +road. The old man assured me, that about two months previous, on +returning to Aldea Gallega with his mules from accompanying some +travellers, he had been knocked down, stripped naked, and all his money +taken from him, by a fellow whom he believed came from this murderers’ +nest. He said that he was an exceedingly powerful young man, with +immense moustaches and whiskers, and was armed with an espingarda, or +musket. About ten days subsequently he saw the robber at Vendas Novas, +where we should pass the night. The fellow on recognising him took him +aside, and, with horrid imprecations, threatened that he should never be +permitted to return home if he attempted to discover him; he therefore +held his peace, as there was little to be gained and everything to be +risked in apprehending him, as he would have been speedily set at liberty +for want of evidence to criminate him, and then he would not have failed +to have had his revenge, or would have been anticipated therein by his +comrades. + +I dismounted and went up to the place, and saw the vestiges of a fire and +a broken bottle. The sons of plunder had been there very lately. I left +a New Testament and some tracts amongst the ruins, and hastened away. + +The sun had dispelled the mists and was beaming very hot; we rode on for +about an hour, when I heard the neighing of a horse in our rear, and our +guide said there was a party of horsemen behind; our mules were good, and +they did not overtake us for at least twenty minutes. The headmost rider +was a gentleman in a fashionable travelling dress; a little way behind +were an officer, two soldiers, and a boy in livery. I heard the +principal horseman, on overtaking my servant, inquiring who I was, and +whether French or English. He was told I was an English gentleman, +travelling. He then asked whether I understood Portuguese; the man said +I understood it, but he believed that I spoke French and Italian better. +The gentleman then spurred on his horse and accosted me, not in +Portuguese, nor in French or Italian, but in the purest English that I +ever heard spoken by a foreigner; it had, indeed, nothing of foreign +accent or pronunciation in it; and had I not known, by the countenance of +the speaker, that he was no Englishman, (for there is a peculiarity in +the countenance, as everybody knows, which, though it cannot be +described, is sure to betray the Englishman), I should have concluded +that I was in company with a countryman. We continued discoursing until +we arrived at Pegoens. + +Pegoens consists of about two or three houses and an inn; there is +likewise a species of barrack, where half a dozen soldiers are stationed. +In the whole of Portugal there is no place of worse reputation, and the +inn is nick-named _Estalagem de Ladroes_, or the hostelry of thieves; for +it is there that the banditti of the wilderness, which extends around it +on every side for leagues, are in the habit of coming and spending the +money, the fruits of their criminal daring; there they dance and sing, +eat fricasseed rabbits and olives, and drink the muddy but strong wine of +the Alemtejo. An enormous fire, fed by the trunk of a cork tree, was +blazing in a niche on the left hand on entering the spacious kitchen. +Close by it, seething, were several large jars, which emitted no +disagreeable odour, and reminded me that I had not broken my fast, +although it was now nearly one o’clock, and I had ridden five leagues. +Several wild-looking men, who if they were not banditti might easily be +mistaken for such, were seated on logs about the fire. I asked them some +unimportant questions, to which they replied with readiness and civility, +and one of them, who said he could read, accepted a tract which I offered +him. + +My new friend, who had been bespeaking dinner, or rather breakfast, now, +with great civility, invited me to partake of it, and at the same time +introduced me to the officer who accompanied him, and who was his +brother, and also spoke English, though not so well as himself. I found +I had become acquainted with Don Geronimo Joze D’Azveto, secretary to the +government at Evora; his brother belonged to a regiment of hussars, whose +headquarters were at Evora, but which had outlying parties along the +road,—for example, the place where we were stopping. + +Rabbits at Pegoens seem to be a standard article of food, being produced +in abundance on the moors around. We had one fried, the gravy of which +was delicious, and afterwards a roasted one, which was brought up on a +dish entire; the hostess, having first washed her hands, proceeded to +tear the animal to pieces, which having accomplished, she poured over the +fragments a sweet sauce. I ate heartily of both dishes, particularly of +the last; owing, perhaps, to the novel and curious manner in which it was +served up. Excellent figs, from the Algarves, and apples concluded our +repast, which we ate in a little side room with a mud floor, which sent +such a piercing chill into my system, as prevented me from deriving that +pleasure from my fare and my agreeable companions that I should have +otherwise experienced. + +Don Geronimo had been educated in England, in which country he passed his +boyhood, which in a certain degree accounted for his proficiency in the +English language, the idiom and pronunciation of which can only be +acquired by residing in the country at that period of one’s life. He had +also fled thither shortly after the usurpation of the throne of Portugal +by Don Miguel, and from thence had departed to the Brazils, where he had +devoted himself to the service of Don Pedro, and had followed him in the +expedition which terminated in the downfall of the usurper and the +establishment of the constitutional government in Portugal. Our +conversation rolled chiefly on literary and political subjects, and my +acquaintance with the writings of the most celebrated authors of Portugal +was hailed with surprise and delight; for nothing is more gratifying to a +Portuguese than to observe a foreigner taking an interest in the +literature of his nation, of which, in many respects, he is justly proud. + +At about two o’clock we were once more in the saddle, and pursued our way +in company through a country exactly resembling that which we had +previously been traversing, rugged and broken, with here and there a +clump of pines. The afternoon was exceedingly fine, and the bright rays +of the sun relieved the desolation of the scene. Having advanced about +two leagues, we caught sight of a large edifice towering majestically in +the distance, which I learnt was a royal palace standing at the farther +extremity of Vendas Novas, the village in which we were to pass the +night; it was considerably more than a league from us, yet, seen through +the clear transparent atmosphere of Portugal it appeared much nearer. + +Before reaching it we passed by a stone cross, on the pedestal of which +was an inscription commemorating a horrible murder of a native of Lisbon, +which had occurred on that spot; it looked ancient, and was covered with +moss, and the greater part of the inscription was illegible, at least it +was to me, who could not bestow much time on its deciphering. Having +arrived at Vendas Novas, and bespoken supper, my new friend and myself +strolled forth to view the palace; it was built by the late king of +Portugal, and presents little that is remarkable in its exterior; it is a +long edifice with wings, and is only two stories high, though it can be +seen afar off, from being situated on elevated ground; it has fifteen +windows in the upper, and twelve in the lower story, with a +paltry-looking door, something like that of a barn, to which you ascend +by one single step; the interior corresponds with the exterior, offering +nothing which can gratify curiosity, if we except the kitchens, which are +indeed magnificent, and so large that food enough might be cooked in +them, at one time, to serve as a repast for all the inhabitants of the +Alemtejo. + +I passed the night with great comfort in a clean bed, remote from all +those noises so rife in a Portuguese inn, and the next morning at six we +again set out on our journey, which we hoped to terminate before sunset, +as Evora is but ten leagues from Vendas Novas. The preceding morning had +been cold, but the present one was far colder, so much so, that just +before sunrise I could no longer support it on horseback, and therefore +dismounting, ran and walked until we reached a few houses at the +termination of these desolate moors. It was in one of these houses that +the commissioners of Don Pedro and Miguel met, and it was there agreed +that the latter should resign the crown in favour of Donna Maria, for +Evora was the last stronghold of the usurper, and the moors of the +Alemtejo the last area of the combats which so long agitated unhappy +Portugal. I therefore gazed on the miserable huts with considerable +interest, and did not fail to scatter in the neighbourhood several of the +precious little tracts with which, together with a small quantity of +Testaments, my carpet bag was provided. + +The country began to improve; the savage heaths were left behind, and we +saw hills and dales, cork trees, and azinheiras, on the last of which +trees grows that kind of sweet acorn called bolotas, which is pleasant as +a chestnut, and which supplies in winter the principal food on which the +numerous swine of the Alemtejo subsist. Gallant swine they are, with +short legs and portly bodies of a black or dark red colour; and for the +excellence of their flesh I can vouch, having frequently luxuriated upon +it in the course of my wanderings in this province; the lombo, or loin, +when broiled on the live embers, is delicious, especially when eaten with +olives. + +We were now in sight of Monte Moro, which, as the name denotes, was once +a fortress of the Moors; it is a high steep hill, on the summit and sides +of which are ruined walls and towers; at its western side is a deep +ravine or valley, through which a small stream rushes, traversed by a +stone bridge; farther down there is a ford, over which we passed and +ascended to the town, which, commencing near the northern base, passes +over the lower ridge towards the north-east. The town is exceedingly +picturesque, and many of the houses are very ancient, and built in the +Moorish fashion. I wished much to examine the relics of Moorish sway on +the upper part of the mountain, but time pressed, and the short period of +our stay at this place did not permit me to gratify my inclination. + +Monte Moro is the head of a range of hills which cross this part of the +Alemtejo, and from hence they fork east and south-east, towards the +former of which directions lies the direct road to Elvas, Badajos, and +Madrid; and towards the latter that to Evora. A beautiful mountain, +covered to the top with cork trees, is the third of the chain which +skirts the way in the direction of Elvas. It is called Monte Almo; a +brook brawls at its base, and as I passed it the sun was shining +gloriously on the green herbage on which flocks of goats were feeding, +with their bells ringing merrily, so that the _tout ensemble_ resembled a +fairy scene; and that nothing might be wanted to complete the picture, I +here met a man, a goatherd, beneath an azinheira, whose appearance +recalled to my mind the Brute Carle, mentioned in the Danish ballad of +Swayne Vonved:— + + “A wild swine on his shoulders he kept, + And upon his bosom a black bear slept; + And about his fingers with hair o’erhung, + The squirrel sported and weasel clung.” + +Upon the shoulder of the goatherd was a beast, which he told me was a +lontra, or otter, which he had lately caught in the neighbouring brook; +it had a string round its neck which was attached to his arm. At his +left side was a bag, from the top of which peered the heads of two or +three singular-looking animals, and at his right was squatted the sullen +cub of a wolf, which he was endeavouring to tame; his whole appearance +was to the last degree savage and wild. After a little conversation such +as those who meet on the road frequently hold, I asked him if he could +read, but he made me no answer. I then inquired if he knew anything of +God or Jesus Christ; he looked me fixedly in the face for a moment, and +then turned his countenance towards the sun, which was beginning to sink +in the west, nodded to it, and then again looked fixedly upon me. I +believe that I understood the mute reply; which probably was, that it was +God who made that glorious light which illumes and gladdens all creation; +and gratified with that belief, I left him and hastened after my +companions, who were by this time a considerable way in advance. + +I have always found in the disposition of the children of the fields a +more determined tendency to religion and piety than amongst the +inhabitants of towns and cities, and the reason is obvious, they are less +acquainted with the works of man’s hands than with those of God; their +occupations, too, which are simple, and requiring less of ingenuity and +skill than those which engage the attention of the other portion of their +fellow-creatures, are less favourable to the engendering of self-conceit +and sufficiency so utterly at variance with that lowliness of spirit +which constitutes the best foundation of piety. The sneerers and +scoffers at religion do not spring from amongst the simple children of +nature, but are the excrescences of overwrought refinement, and though +their baneful influence has indeed penetrated to the country and +corrupted man there, the source and fountainhead was amongst crowded +houses, where nature is scarcely known. I am not one of those who look +for perfection amongst the rural population of any country; perfection is +not to be found amongst the children of the fall, wherever their abodes +may happen to be; but, until the heart discredits the existence of a God, +there is still hope for the soul of the possessor, however stained with +crime he may be, for even Simon the magician was converted; but when the +heart is once steeled with infidelity, infidelity confirmed by carnal +wisdom, an exuberance of the grace of God is required to melt it, which +is seldom manifested; for we read in the blessed book that the Pharisee +and the wizard became receptacles of grace, but where is there mention +made of the conversion of the sneering Sadducee, and is the modern +infidel aught but a Sadducee of later date? + +It was dark night before we reached Evora, and having taken leave of my +friends, who kindly requested me to consider their house my home, I and +my servant went to the Largo de San Francisco, in which the muleteer +informed me was the best hostelry of the town. We rode into the kitchen, +at the extreme end of which was the stable, as is customary in Portugal. +The house was kept by an aged gypsy-like female and her daughter, a fine +blooming girl about eighteen years of age. The house was large; in the +upper storey was a very long room, like a granary, which extended nearly +the whole length of the house; the farther part was partitioned off and +formed a chamber tolerably comfortable but very cold, and the floor was +of tiles, as was also that of the large room in which the muleteers were +accustomed to sleep on the furniture of the mules. After supper I went +to bed, and having offered up my devotions to Him who had protected me +through a dangerous journey, I slept soundly till the morning. + + + + +CHAPTER III + + +Shopkeeper at Evora—Spanish Contrabandistas—Lion and Unicorn—The +Fountain—Trust in the Almighty—Distribution of Tracts—Library at +Evora—Manuscript—The Bible as a Guide—The Infamous Mary—The Man of +Palmella—The Charm—The Monkish System—Sunday—Volney—An Auto-Da-Fé—Men +from Spain—Reading of a Tract—New Arrival—The Herb Rosemary. + +Evora is a small city, walled, but not regularly fortified, and could not +sustain a siege of a day. It has five gates; before that to the +south-west is the principal promenade of its inhabitants: the fair on St. +John’s day is likewise held there; the houses are in general very +ancient, and many of them unoccupied. It contains about five thousand +inhabitants, though twice that number would be by no means +disproportionate to its size. The two principal edifices are the See, or +cathedral, and the convent of San Francisco, in the square before the +latter of which was situated the posada where I had taken up my abode. A +large barrack for cavalry stands on the right-hand side, on entering the +south-west gate. To the south-east, at the distance of six leagues, is +to be seen a blue chain of hills, the highest of which is called Serra +Dorso; it is picturesquely beautiful, and contains within its recesses +wolves and wild boars in numbers. About a league and a half on the other +side of this hill is Estremos. + +I passed the day succeeding my arrival principally in examining the town +and its environs, and, as I strolled about, entering into conversation +with various people that I met; several of these were of the middle +class, shopkeepers and professional men; they were all +Constitutionalists, or pretended to be so, but had very little to say +except a few commonplace remarks on the way of living of the friars, +their hypocrisy and laziness. I endeavoured to obtain some information +respecting the state of instruction in the place, and from their answers +was led to believe that it must be at the lowest ebb, for it seemed that +there was neither book-shop nor school. When I spoke of religion, they +exhibited the utmost apathy for the subject, and making their bows left +me as soon as possible. + +Having a letter of introduction to a person who kept a shop in the +market-place, I went thither and delivered it to him as he stood behind +his counter. In the course of conversation, I found that he had been +much persecuted whilst the old system was in its vigour, and that he +entertained a hearty aversion for it. I told him that the ignorance of +the people in religious matters had served to nurse that system, and that +the surest way to prevent its return was to enlighten their minds: I +added that I had brought a small stock of Bibles and Testaments to Evora, +which I wished to leave for sale in the hands of some respectable +merchant, and that if he were anxious to help to lay the axe to the root +of superstition and tyranny, he could not do so more effectually than by +undertaking the charge of these books. He declared his willingness to do +so, and I went away determined to entrust to him half of my stock. I +returned to the hostelry, and sat down on a log of wood on the hearth +within the immense chimney in the common apartment; two surly looking men +were on their knees on the stones; before them was a large heap of pieces +of old iron, brass, and copper; they were assorting it, and stowing it +away in various bags. They were Spanish contrabandistas of the lowest +class, and earned a miserable livelihood by smuggling such rubbish from +Portugal into Spain. Not a word proceeded from their lips, and when I +addressed them in their native language, they returned no other answer +than a kind of growl. They looked as dirty and rusty as the iron in +which they trafficked; their four miserable donkeys were in the stable in +the rear. + +The woman of the house and her daughter were exceedingly civil to me, and +coming near crouched down, asking various questions about England. A man +dressed somewhat like an English sailor, who sat on the other side of the +hearth confronting me, said, “I hate the English, for they are not +baptized, and have not the law,” meaning the law of God. I laughed, and +told him that according to the law of England, no one who was unbaptized +could be buried in consecrated ground; whereupon he said, “Then you are +stricter than we.” He then said, “What is meant by the lion and the +unicorn which I saw the other day on the coat of arms over the door of +the English consul at St. Ubes?” I said they were the arms of England! +“Yes,” he replied, “but what do they represent?” I said I did not know. +“Then,” said he, “you do not know the secrets of your own house.” I +said, “Suppose I were to tell you that they represent the Lion of +Bethlehem, and the horned monster of the flaming pit in combat, as to +which should obtain the mastery in England, what would you say?” He +replied, “I should say that you gave a fair answer.” This man and myself +became great friends; he came from Palmella, not far from St. Ubes; he +had several mules and horses with him, and dealt in corn and barley. I +again walked out and roamed in the environs of the town. + +About half a mile from the southern wall is a stone fountain, where the +muleteers and other people who visit the town are accustomed to water +their horses. I sat down by it, and there I remained about two hours, +entering into conversation with every one who halted at the fountain; and +I will here observe, that during the time of my sojourn at Evora, I +repeated my visit every day, and remained there the same time; and by +following this plan, I believe that I spoke to at least two hundred of +the children of Portugal upon matters relating to their eternal welfare. +I found that very few of those whom I addressed had received any species +of literary education, none of them had seen the Bible, and not more than +half a dozen had the slightest inkling of what the holy book consisted. +I found that most of them were bigoted Papists and Miguelites at heart. +I therefore, when they told me they were Christians, denied the +possibility of their being so, as they were ignorant of Christ and His +commandments, and placed their hope of salvation on outward forms and +superstitious observances, which were the invention of Satan, who wished +to keep them in darkness that at last they might stumble into the pit +which he had dug for them. I said repeatedly that the Pope, whom they +revered, was an arch deceiver, and the head minister of Satan here on +earth, and that the monks and friars, whose absence they so deplored, and +to whom they had been accustomed to confess themselves, were his +subordinate agents. When called upon for proofs, I invariably cited the +ignorance of my auditors respecting the Scriptures, and said that if +their spiritual guides had been really ministers of Christ, they would +not have permitted their flocks to remain unacquainted with His Word. + +Since this occurred, I have been frequently surprised that I experienced +no insult and ill-treatment from the people, whose superstitions I was +thus attacking; but I really experienced none, and am inclined to believe +that the utter fearlessness which I displayed, trusting in the Protection +of the Almighty, may have been the cause. When threatened by danger, the +best policy is to fix your eye steadily upon it, and it will in general +vanish like the morning mist before the sun; whereas, if you quail before +it, it is sure to become more imminent. I have fervent hope that the +words of my mouth sank deep into the hearts of some of my auditors, as I +observed many of them depart musing and pensive. I occasionally +distributed tracts amongst them; for although they themselves were unable +to turn them to much account, I thought that by their means they might +become of service at some future time, and fall into the hands of others, +to whom they might be of eternal interest. Many a book which is +abandoned to the waters is wafted to some remote shore, and there proves +a blessing and a comfort to millions, who are ignorant from whence it +came. + +The next day, which was Friday, I called at the house of my friend Don +Geronimo Azveto. I did not find him there, but was directed to the see, +or episcopal palace, in an apartment of which I found him, writing, with +another gentleman, to whom he introduced me; it was the governor of +Evora, who welcomed me with every mark of kindness and affability. After +some discourse, we went out together to examine an ancient edifice, which +was reported to have served, in bygone times, as a temple to Diana. Part +of it was evidently of Roman architecture, for there was no mistaking the +beautiful light pillars which supported a dome, under which the +sacrifices to the most captivating and poetical divinity of the heathen +theocracy had probably been made; but the original space between the +pillars had been filled up with rubbish of a modern date, and the rest of +the building was apparently of the architecture of the latter end of the +Middle Ages. It was situated at one end of the building which had once +been the seat of the Inquisition, and had served, before the erection of +the present see, as the residence of the bishop. + +Within the see, where the governor now resides, is a superb library, +occupying an immense vaulted room, like the aisle of a cathedral, and in +a side apartment is a collection of paintings by Portuguese artists, +chiefly portraits, amongst which is that of Don Sebastian. I sincerely +hope it did not do him justice, for it represents him in the shape of an +awkward lad of about eighteen, with a bloated booby face with staring +eyes, and a ruff round a short apoplectic neck. + +I was shown several beautifully illuminated missals and other +manuscripts; but the one which most arrested my attention, I scarcely +need say why, was that which bore the following title:— + + “Forma sive ordinatio Capelli illustrissimi et xianissimi principis + Henvici Sexti Regis Anglie et Francie am dm Hibernie descripta + serenissio principi Alfonso Regi Portugalie illustri per humilem + servitorem sm Willm. Sav. Decanu capelle supradicte.” + +It seemed a voice from the olden times of my dear native land! This +library and picture gallery had been formed by one of the latter bishops, +a person of much learning and piety. + +In the evening I dined with Don Geronimo and his brother; the latter soon +left us to attend to his military duties. My friend and myself had now +much conversation of considerable interest; he lamented the deplorable +state of ignorance in which his countrymen existed at present. He said +that his friend the governor and himself were endeavouring to establish a +school in the vicinity, and that they had made application to the +government for the use of an empty convent, called the Espinheiro, or +thorn tree, at about a league’s distance, and that they had little doubt +of their request being complied with. I had before told him who I was, +and after expressing joy at the plan which he had in contemplation, I now +urged him in the most pressing manner to use all his influence to make +the knowledge of the Scripture the basis of the education which the +children were to receive, and added, that half the Bibles and Testaments +which I had brought with me to Evora were heartily at his service; he +instantly gave me his hand, said he accepted my offer with the greatest +pleasure, and would do all in his power to forward my views, which were +in many respects his own. I now told him that I did not come to Portugal +with the view of propagating the dogmas of any particular sect, but with +the hope of introducing the Bible, which is the well-head of all that is +useful and conducive to the happiness of society,—that I cared not what +people called themselves, provided they followed the Bible as a guide; +for that where the Scriptures were read, neither priestcraft nor tyranny +could long exist, and instanced the case of my own country, the cause of +whose freedom and prosperity was the Bible, and that only, as the last +persecutor of this book, the bloody and infamous Mary, was the last +tyrant who had sat on the throne of England. We did not part till the +night was considerably advanced, and the next morning I sent him the +books, in the firm and confident hope that a bright and glorious morning +was about to rise over the night which had so long cast its dreary +shadows over the regions of the Alemtejo. + +The day after this interesting event, which was Saturday, I had more +conversation with the man from Palmella. I asked him if in his journeys +he had never been attacked by robbers; he answered no, for that he +generally travelled in company with others. “However,” said he, “were I +alone I should have little fear, for I am well protected.” I said that I +supposed he carried arms with him. “No other arms than this,” said he, +pulling out one of those long desperate looking knives, of English +manufacture, with which every Portuguese peasant is usually furnished. +This knife serves for many purposes, and I should consider it a far more +efficient weapon than a dagger. “But,” said he, “I do not place much +confidence in the knife.” I then inquired in what rested his hope of +protection. “In this,” said he: and unbuttoning his waistcoat, he showed +me a small bag, attached to his neck by a silken string. “In this bag is +an oracam, or prayer, written by a person of power, and as long as I +carry it about with me, no ill can befall me.” Curiosity is the leading +feature of my character, and I instantly said, with eagerness, that I +should feel great pleasure in being permitted to read the prayer. +“Well,” he replied, “you are my friend, and I would do for you what I +would for few others, I will show it you.” He then asked for my +penknife, and having unripped the bag, took out a large piece of paper +closely folded up. I hurried to my apartment and commenced the +examination of it. It was scrawled over in a very illegible hand, and +was moreover much stained with perspiration, so that I had considerable +difficulty in making myself master of its contents, but I at last +accomplished the following literal translation of the charm, which was +written in bad Portuguese, but which struck me at the time as being one +of the most remarkable compositions that had ever come to my knowledge. + + + +THE CHARM + + + “Just Judge and divine Son of the Virgin Maria, who wast born in + Bethlehem, a Nazarene, and wast crucified in the midst of all Jewry, + I beseech thee, O Lord, by thy sixth day, that the body of me be not + caught, nor put to death by the hands of justice at all; peace be + with you, the peace of Christ, may I receive peace, may you receive + peace, said God to his disciples. If the accursed justice should + distrust me, or have its eyes on me, in order to take me or to rob + me, may its eyes not see me, may its mouth not speak to me, may it + have ears which may not hear me, may it have hands which may not + seize me, may it have feet which may not overtake me; for may I be + armed with the arms of St. George, covered with the cloak of Abraham, + and shipped in the ark of Noah, so that it can neither see me, nor + hear me, nor draw the blood from my body. I also adjure thee, O + Lord, by those three blessed crosses, by those three blessed + chalices, by those three blessed clergymen, by those three + consecrated hosts, that thou give me that sweet company which thou + gavest to the Virgin Maria, from the gates of Bethlehem to the + portals of Jerusalem, that I may go and come with pleasure and joy + with Jesus Christ, the Son of the Virgin Maria, the prolific yet + nevertheless the eternal virgin.” + +The woman of the house and her daughter had similar bags attached to +their necks, containing charms, which, they said, prevented the witches +having power to harm them. The belief in witchcraft is very prevalent +amongst the peasantry of the Alemtejo, and I believe of other provinces +of Portugal. This is one of the relics of the monkish system, the aim of +which, in all countries where it has existed, seems to have been to besot +the minds of the people, that they might be more easily misled. All +these charms were fabrications of the monks, who had sold them to their +infatuated confessants. The monks of the Greek and Syrian churches +likewise deal in this ware, which they know to be poison, but which they +would rather vend than the wholesome balm of the gospel, because it +brings them a large price, and fosters the delusion which enables them to +live a life of luxury. + +The Sunday morning was fine, and the plain before the church of the +convent of San Francisco was crowded with people hastening to or +returning from the mass. After having performed my morning devotion, and +breakfasted, I went down to the kitchen; the girl Geronima was seated by +the fire. I inquired if she had heard mass? She replied in the +negative, and that she did not intend to hear it. Upon my inquiring her +motive for absenting herself, she replied, that since the friars had been +expelled from their churches and convents she had ceased to attend mass, +or to confess herself; for that the government priests had no spiritual +power, and consequently she never troubled them. She said the friars +were holy men and charitable; for that every morning those of the convent +over the way fed forty poor persons with the relics of the meals of the +preceding day, but that now these people were allowed to starve. I +replied, that the friars, who lived on the fat of the land, could well +afford to bestow a few bones upon their poor, and that their doing so was +merely a part of their policy, by which they hoped to secure to +themselves friends in time of need. The girl then observed, that as it +was Sunday, I should perhaps like to see some books, and without waiting +for a reply she produced them. They consisted principally of popular +stories, with lives and miracles of saints, but amongst them was a +translation of Volney’s _Ruins of Empires_. I expressed a wish to know +how she became possessed of this book. She said that a young man, a +great Constitutionalist, had given it to her some months previous, and +had pressed her much to read it, for that it was one of the best books in +the world. I replied, that the author of it was an emissary of Satan, +and an enemy of Jesus Christ and the souls of mankind; that it was +written with the sole aim of bringing all religion into contempt, and +that it inculcated the doctrine that there was no future state, nor +reward for the righteous nor punishment for the wicked. She made no +reply, but going into another room, returned with her apron full of dry +sticks and brushwood, all which she piled upon the fire, and produced a +bright blaze. She then took the book from my hand and placed it upon the +flaming pile; then sitting down, took her rosary out of her pocket and +told her beads till the volume was consumed. This was an _auto da fé_ in +the best sense of the word. + +On the Monday and Tuesday I paid my usual visits to the fountain, and +likewise rode about the neighbourhood on a mule, for the purpose of +circulating tracts. I dropped a great many in the favourite walks of the +people of Evora, as I felt rather dubious of their accepting them had I +proffered them with my own hand, whereas, should they be observed lying +on the ground, I thought that curiosity might cause them to be picked up +and examined. I likewise, on the Tuesday evening, paid a farewell visit +to my friend Azveto, as it was my intention to leave Evora on the +Thursday following and return to Lisbon; in which view I had engaged a +calash of a man who informed me that he had served as a soldier in the +grande armée of Napoleon, and been present in the Russian campaign. He +looked the very image of a drunkard. His face was covered with +carbuncles, and his breath impregnated with the fumes of strong waters. +He wished much to converse with me in French, in the speaking of which +language it seemed he prided himself, but I refused, and told him to +speak the language of the country, or I would hold no discourse with him. + +Wednesday was stormy, with occasional rain. On coming down, I found that +my friend from Palmella had departed: but several contrabandistas had +arrived from Spain. They were mostly fine fellows, and unlike the two I +had seen the preceding week, who were of much lower degree, were chatty +and communicative; they spoke their native language, and no other, and +seemed to hold the Portuguese in great contempt. The magnificent tones +of the Spanish sounded to great advantage amidst the shrill squeaking +dialect of Portugal. I was soon in deep conversation with them, and was +much pleased to find that all of them could read. I presented the +eldest, a man of about fifty years of age, with a tract in Spanish. He +examined it for some time with great attention; he then rose from his +seat, and going into the middle of the apartment, began reading it aloud, +slowly and emphatically; his companions gathered around him, and every +now and then expressed their approbation of what they heard. The reader +occasionally called upon me to explain passages which, as they referred +to particular texts of Scripture, he did not exactly understand, for not +one of the party had ever seen either the Old or New Testament. + +He continued reading for upwards of an hour, until he had finished the +tract; and, at its conclusion, the whole party were clamorous for similar +ones, with which I was happy to be able to supply them. + +Most of these men spoke of priestcraft and the monkish system with the +utmost abhorrence, and said that they should prefer death to submitting +again to the yoke which had formerly galled their necks. I questioned +them very particularly respecting the opinion of their neighbours and +acquaintances on this point, and they assured me that in their part of +the Spanish frontier all were of the same mind, and that they cared as +little for the Pope and his monks as they did for Don Carlos; for the +latter was a dwarf (_chicotito_) and a tyrant, and the others were +plunderers and robbers. I told them they must beware of confounding +religion with priestcraft, and that in their abhorrence of the latter +they must not forget that there is a God and a Christ to whom they must +look for salvation, and whose word it was incumbent upon them to study on +every occasion; whereupon they all expressed a devout belief in Christ +and the Virgin. + +These men, though in many respects more enlightened than the surrounding +peasantry, were in others as much in the dark; they believed in +witchcraft and in the efficacy of particular charms. The night was very +stormy, and at about nine we heard a galloping towards the door, and then +a loud knocking; it was opened, and in rushed a wild-looking man mounted +on a donkey; he wore a ragged jacket of sheepskin, called in Spanish +zamarra, with breeches of the same as far down as his knees; his legs +were bare. Around his sombrero, or shadowy hat, was tied a large +quantity of the herb which in English is called rosemary, in Spanish +romero, and in the rustic language of Portugal, alecrim; which last is a +word of Scandinavian origin (_ellegren_), signifying the elfin plant, and +was probably carried into the south by the Vandals. The man seemed +frantic with terror, and said that the witches had been pursuing him and +hovering over his head for the last two leagues. He came from the +Spanish frontier with meal and other articles; he said that his wife was +following him and would soon arrive, and in about a quarter of an hour +she made her appearance, dripping with rain, and also mounted on a +donkey. + +I asked my friends the contrabandistas why he wore the rosemary in his +hat; whereupon they told me that it was good against witches and the +mischances on the road. I had no time to argue against this +superstition, for, as the chaise was to be ready at five the next +morning, I wished to make the most of the short time which I could devote +to sleep. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + + +Vexatious Delays—Drunken Driver—The Murdered Mule—The +Lamentation—Adventure on the Heath—Fear of Darkness—Portuguese +Fidalgo—The Escort—Return to Lisbon. + +I rose at four, and after having taken some refreshment, I descended and +found the strange man and his wife sleeping in the chimney corner by the +fire, which was still burning; they soon awoke and began preparing their +breakfast, which consisted of salt sardinhas, broiled upon the embers. +In the meantime the woman sang snatches of the beautiful hymn, very +common in Spain, which commences thus:— + + “Once of old upon a mountain, shepherds overcome with sleep, + Near to Bethlem’s holy tower, kept at dead of night their sheep; + Round about the trunk they nodded of a huge ignited oak, + Whence the crackling flame ascending bright and clear the darkness + broke.” + +On hearing that I was about to depart, she said, “You shall have some of +my husband’s rosemary, which will keep you from danger, and prevent any +misfortune occurring.” I was foolish enough to permit her to put some of +it in my hat; and the man having by this time arrived with his mules, I +bade farewell to my friendly hostesses, and entered the chaise with my +servant. + +I remarked at the time, that the mules which drew us were the finest I +had ever seen; the largest could be little short of sixteen hands high; +and the fellow told me in his bad French that he loved them better than +his wife and children. We turned round the corner of the convent and +proceeded down the street which leads to the south-western gate. The +driver now stopped before the door of a large house, and having alighted, +said that it was yet very early, and that he was afraid to venture forth, +as it was very probable we should be robbed, and himself murdered, as the +robbers who resided in the town would be apprehensive of his discovering +them, but that the family who lived in this house were going to Lisbon, +and would depart in about a quarter of an hour, when we might avail +ourselves of an escort of soldiers which they would take with them, and +in their company we should run no danger. I told him I had no fear, and +commanded him to drive on; but he said he would not, and left us in the +street. We waited an hour, when two carriages came to the door of the +house, but it seems the family were not yet ready, whereupon the coachman +likewise got down and went away. At the expiration of about half an hour +the family came out, and when their luggage had been arranged they called +for the coachman, but he was nowhere to be found. Search was made for +him, but ineffectually, and an hour more was spent before another driver +could be procured; but the escort had not yet made its appearance, and it +was not before a servant had been twice despatched to the barracks that +it arrived. At last everything was ready, and they drove off. + +All this time I had seen nothing of our own coachman, and I fully +expected that he had abandoned us altogether. In a few minutes I saw him +staggering up the street in a state of intoxication, attempting to sing +the Marseillois hymn. I said nothing to him, but sat observing him. He +stood for some time staring at the mules and talking incoherent nonsense +in French. At last he said, “I am not so drunk but I can ride,” and +proceeded to lead his mules towards the gate. When out of the town he +made several ineffectual attempts to mount the smallest mule which bore +the saddle; he at length succeeded, and instantly commenced spurring at a +furious rate down the road. We arrived at a place where a narrow rocky +path branched off, by taking which we should avoid a considerable circuit +round the city wall, which otherwise it would be necessary to make before +we could reach the road to Lisbon, which lay at the north-east; he now +said, “I shall take this path, for by so doing we shall overtake the +family in a minute”; so into the path we went; it was scarcely wide +enough to admit the carriage, and exceedingly steep and broken; we +proceeded; ascending and descending, the wheels cracked, and the motion +was so violent that we were in danger of being cast out as from a sling. +I saw that if we remained in the carriage it must be broken in pieces, as +our weight must insure its destruction. I called to him in Portuguese to +stop, but he flogged and spurred the beasts the more. My man now +entreated me for God’s sake to speak to him in French, for, if anything +would pacify him, that would. I did so, and entreated him to let us +dismount and walk, till we had cleared this dangerous way. The result +justified Antonio’s anticipation. He instantly stopped and said, “Sir, +you are master, you have only to command and I shall obey.” We +dismounted and walked on till we reached the great road, when we once +more seated ourselves. + +The family were about a quarter of a mile in advance, and we were no +sooner reseated, than he lashed the mules into full gallop for the +purpose of overtaking it; his cloak had fallen from his shoulder, and, in +endeavouring to readjust it, he dropped the string from his hand by which +he guided the large mule, it became entangled in the legs of the poor +animal, which fell heavily on its neck, it struggled for a moment, and +then lay stretched across the way, the shafts over its body. I was +pitched forward into the dirt, and the drunken driver fell upon the +murdered mule. + +I was in a great rage, and cried, “You drunken renegade, who are ashamed +to speak the language of your own country, you have broken the staff of +your existence, and may now starve.” “Paciencia,” said he, and began +kicking the head of the mule, in order to make it rise; but I pushed him +down, and taking his knife, which had fallen from his pocket, cut the +bands by which it was attached to the carriage, but life had fled, and +the film of death had begun to cover its eyes. + +The fellow, in the recklessness of intoxication, seemed at first disposed +to make light of his loss, saying, “The mule is dead, it was God’s will +that she should die, what more can be said? Paciencia.” Meanwhile, I +despatched Antonio to the town for the purpose of hiring mules, and, +having taken my baggage from the chaise, waited on the roadside until he +should arrive. + +The fumes of the liquor began now to depart from the fellow’s brain; he +clasped his hands and exclaimed, “Blessed Virgin, what is to become of +me? How am I to support myself? Where am I to get another mule! For my +mule, my best mule is dead, she fell upon the road, and died of a sudden! +I have been in France, and in other countries, and have seen beasts of +all kinds, but such a mule as that I have never seen; but she is dead—my +mule is dead—she fell upon the road and died of a sudden!” He continued +in this strain for a considerable time, and the burden of his lamentation +was always, “My mule is dead, she fell upon the road, and died of a +sudden.” At length he took the collar from the creature’s neck, and put +it upon the other, which with some difficulty he placed in the shafts. + +A beautiful boy of about thirteen now came from the direction of the +town, running along the road with the velocity of a hare: he stopped +before the dead mule and burst into tears: it was the man’s son, who had +heard of the accident from Antonio. This was too much for the poor +fellow: he ran up to the boy, and said, “Don’t cry, our bread is gone, +but it is God’s will; the mule is dead!” He then flung himself on the +ground, uttering fearful cries. “I could have borne my loss,” said he, +“but when I saw my child cry, I became a fool.” I gave him two or three +crowns, and added some words of comfort; assuring him I had no doubt +that, if he abandoned drink, the Almighty God would take compassion on +him and repair his loss. At length he became more composed, and placing +my baggage in the chaise, we returned to the town, where I found two +excellent riding mules awaiting my arrival at the inn. I did not see the +Spanish woman, or I should have told her of the little efficacy of +rosemary in this instance. + +I have known several drunkards amongst the Portuguese, but, without one +exception, they have been individuals who, having travelled abroad, like +this fellow, have returned with a contempt for their own country, and +polluted with the worst vices of the lands which they have visited. + +I would strongly advise any of my countrymen who may chance to read these +lines, that, if their fate lead them into Spain or Portugal, they avoid +hiring as domestics, or being connected with, individuals of the lower +classes who speak any other language than their own, as the probability +is that they are heartless thieves and drunkards. These gentry are +invariably saying all they can in dispraise of their native land; and it +is my opinion, grounded upon experience, that an individual who is +capable of such baseness would not hesitate at the perpetration of any +villainy, for next to the love of God, the love of country is the best +preventive of crime. He who is proud of his country, will be +particularly cautious not to do anything which is calculated to disgrace +it. + +We now journeyed towards Lisbon, and reached Monte Moro about two +o’clock. After taking such refreshment as the place afforded, we pursued +our way till we were within a quarter of a league of the huts which stand +on the edge of the savage wilderness we had before crossed. Here we were +overtaken by a horseman; he was a powerful, middle-sized man, and was +mounted on a noble Spanish horse. He had a broad, slouching sombrero on +his head, and wore a jerkin of blue cloth, with large bosses of silver +for buttons, and clasps of the same metal; he had breeches of yellow +leather, and immense jackboots: at his saddle was slung a formidable gun. +He inquired if I intended to pass the night at Vendas Novas, and on my +replying in the affirmative, he said that he would avail himself of our +company. He now looked towards the sun, whose disk was rapidly sinking +beneath the horizon, and entreated us to spur on and make the most of its +light, for that the moor was a horrible place in the dusk. He placed +himself at our head, and we trotted briskly on, the boy or muleteer who +attended us running behind without exhibiting the slightest symptom of +fatigue. + +We entered upon the moor, and had advanced about a mile when dark night +fell around us; we were in a wild path, with high brushwood on either +side, when the rider said that he could not confront the darkness, and +begged me to ride on before, and he would follow after: I could hear him +trembling. I asked the reason of his terror, and he replied that at one +time darkness was the same thing to him as day, but that of late years he +dreaded it, especially in wild places. I complied with his request, but +I was ignorant of the way, and as I could scarcely see my hand, was +continually going wrong. This made the man impatient, and he again +placed himself at our head. We proceeded so for a considerable way, when +he again stopped, and said that the power of the darkness was too much +for him. His horse seemed to be infected with the same panic, for it +shook in every limb. I now told him to call on the name of the Lord +Jesus, who was able to turn the darkness into light, but he gave a +terrible shout, and, brandishing his gun aloft, discharged it in the air. +His horse sprang forward at full speed, and my mule, which was one of the +swiftest of its kind, took fright and followed at the heels of the +charger. Antonio and the boy were left behind. On we flew like a +whirlwind, the hoofs of the animals illuming the path with the sparks of +fire they struck from the stones. I knew not whither we were going, but +the dumb creatures were acquainted with the way, and soon brought us to +Vendas Novas, where we were rejoined by our companions. + +I thought this man was a coward, but I did him injustice, for during the +day he was as brave as a lion, and feared no one. About five years +since, he had overcome two robbers who had attacked him on the moors, +and, after tying their hands behind them, had delivered them up to +justice; but at night the rustling of a leaf filled him with terror. I +have known similar instances of the kind in persons of otherwise +extraordinary resolution. For myself, I confess I am not a person of +extraordinary resolution, but the dangers of the night daunt me no more +than those of midday. The man in question was a farmer from Evora, and a +person of considerable wealth. + +I found the inn at Vendas Novas thronged with people, and had some +difficulty in obtaining accommodation and refreshment. It was occupied +by the family of a certain Fidalgo, from Estremoz; he was on the way to +Lisbon, conveying a large sum of money, as was said—probably the rents of +his estates. He had with him a body guard of four-and-twenty of his +dependants, each armed with a rifle; they consisted of his swineherds, +shepherds, cowherds, and hunters, and were commanded by two youths, his +son and nephew, the latter of whom was in regimentals; nevertheless, +notwithstanding the number of his troop, it appeared that the Fidalgo +laboured under considerable apprehension of being despoiled upon the +waste which lay between Vendas Novas and Pegoens, as he had just +requested a guard of four soldiers from the officer who commanded a +detachment stationed here: there were many females in his company, who, I +was told, were his illegitimate daughters—for he bore an infamous moral +character, and was represented to me as a staunch friend of Don Miguel. +It was not long before he came up to me and my new acquaintance, as we +sat by the kitchen fire: he was a tall man of about sixty, but stooped +much. His countenance was by no means pleasing: he had a long hooked +nose, small twinkling cunning eyes, and, what I liked worst of all, a +continual sneering smile, which I firmly believe to be the index of a +treacherous and malignant heart. He addressed me in Spanish, which, as +he resided not far from the frontier, he spoke with fluency, but contrary +to my usual practice, I was reserved and silent. + +On the following morning I rose at seven, and found that the party from +Estremoz had started several hours previously. I breakfasted with my +acquaintance of the preceding night, and we set out to accomplish what +remained of our journey. The sun had now arisen; and all his fears had +left him—he breathed defiance against all the robbers of the Alemtejo. +When we had advanced about a league, the boy who attended us said he saw +heads of men amongst the brushwood. Our cavalier instantly seized his +gun, and causing his horse to make two or three lofty bounds, held it in +one hand, the muzzle pointed in the direction indicated, but the heads +did not again make their appearance, and it was probably but a false +alarm. + +We resumed our way, and the conversation turned, as might be expected, +upon robbers. My companion, who seemed to be acquainted with every inch +of ground over which we passed, had a legend to tell of every dingle and +every pine-clump. We reached a slight eminence, on the top of which grew +three stately pines: about half a league farther on was another similar +one: these two eminences commanded a view of the road from Pegoens and +Vendas Novas, so that all people going and coming could be descried, +whilst yet at a distance. My friend told me that these heights were +favourite stations of robbers. Some two years since, a band of six +mounted banditti remained there three days, and plundered whomsoever +approached from either quarter: their horses, saddled and bridled, stood +picqueted at the foot of the trees, and two scouts, one for each +eminence, continually sat in the topmost branches and gave notice of the +approach of travellers: when at a proper distance the robbers below +sprang upon their horses, and putting them to full gallop, made at their +prey, shouting _Rendete_, _Picaro_! _Rendete_,_ Picaro_! (Surrender, +scoundrel, surrender!) We, however, passed unmolested, and, about a +quarter of a mile before we reached Pegoens, overtook the family of the +Fidalgo. + +Had they been conveying the wealth of Ind through the deserts of Arabia, +they could not have travelled with more precaution. The nephew, with +drawn sabre, rode in front; pistols at his holsters, and the usual +Spanish gun slung at his saddle. Behind him tramped six men in a rank, +with muskets shouldered, and each of them wore at his girdle a hatchet, +which was probably intended to cleave the thieves to the brisket should +they venture to come to close quarters. There were six vehicles, two of +them calashes, in which latter rode the Fidalgo and his daughters; the +others were covered carts, and seemed to be filled with household +furniture; each of these vehicles had an armed rustic on either side; and +the son, a lad about sixteen, brought up the rear with a squad equal to +that of his cousin in the van. The soldiers, who by good fortune were +light horse, and admirably mounted, were galloping about in all +directions, for the purpose of driving the enemy from cover, should they +happen to be lurking in the neighbourhood. + +I could not help thinking as I passed by, that this martial array was +very injudicious, for though it was calculated to awe plunderers, it was +likewise calculated to allure them, as it seemed to hint that immense +wealth was passing through their territories. I do not know how the +soldiers and rustics would have behaved in case of an attack; but am +inclined to believe that if three such men as Richard Turpin had suddenly +galloped forth from behind one of the bush-covered knolls, neither the +numbers nor resistance opposed to them would have prevented them from +bearing away the contents of the strong box jingling in their saddlebags. + +From this moment nothing worthy of relating occurred till our arrival at +Aldea Gallega, where we passed the night, and next morning at three +o’clock embarked in the passage-boat for Lisbon, where we arrived at +eight—and thus terminates my first wandering in the Alemtejo. + + + + +CHAPTER V + + +The College—The Rector—Shibboleth—National Prejudices—Youthful +Sports—Jews of Lisbon—Bad Faith—Crime and Superstition—Strange Proposal. + +One afternoon Antonio said to me, “It has struck me, Senhor, that your +worship would like to see the college of the English ---.” “By all +means,” I replied, “pray conduct me thither.” So he led me through +various streets until we stopped before the gate of a large building in +one of the most elevated situations in Lisbon; upon our ringing, a kind +of porter presently made his appearance, and demanded our business. +Antonio explained it to him. He hesitated for a moment; but presently, +bidding us enter, conducted us to a large gloomy-looking stone hall, +where, begging us to be seated, he left us. We were soon joined by a +venerable personage, seemingly about seventy, in a kind of flowing robe +or surplice, with a collegiate cap upon his head. Notwithstanding his +age there was a ruddy tinge upon his features, which were perfectly +English. Coming slowly up he addressed me in the English tongue, +requesting to know how he could serve me. I informed him that I was an +English traveller, and should be happy to be permitted to inspect the +college, provided it were customary to show it to strangers. He informed +me that there could be no objection to accede to my request, but that I +came at rather an unfortunate moment, it being the hour of refection. I +apologised, and was preparing to retire, but he begged me to remain, as, +in a few minutes, the refection would be over, when the principals of the +college would do themselves the pleasure of waiting on me. + +We sat down on the stone bench, when he commenced surveying me +attentively for some time, and then cast his eyes on Antonio. “Whom have +we here?” said he to the latter; “surely your features are not unknown to +me.” “Probably not, your reverence,” replied Antonio, getting up and +bowing most profoundly. “I lived in the family of the Countess ---, at +Cintra, when your venerability was her spiritual guide.” “True, true,” +said the old gentleman, sighing, “I remember you now. Ah, Antonio, +things are strangely changed since then. A new government—a new system—a +new religion, I may say.” Then looking again at me, he demanded whither +I was journeying? “I am going to Spain,” said I, “and have stopped at +Lisbon by the way.” “Spain, Spain!” said the old man; “surely you have +chosen a strange time to visit Spain; there is much bloodshedding in +Spain at present, and violent wars and tumults.” “I consider the cause +of Don Carlos as already crushed,” I replied; “he has lost the only +general capable of leading his armies to Madrid. Zumalacarregui, his +Cid, has fallen.” “Do not flatter yourself; I beg your pardon, but do +not think, young man, that the Lord will permit the powers of darkness to +triumph so easily; the cause of Don Carlos is not lost; its success did +not depend on the life of a frail worm like him whom you have mentioned.” +We continued in discourse some little time, when he arose, saying that by +this time he believed the refection was concluded. + +He had scarcely left me five minutes when three individuals entered the +stone hall, and advanced slowly towards me;—the principals of the +college, said I to myself! and so indeed they were. The first of these +gentlemen, and to whom the other two appeared to pay considerable +deference, was a thin spare person, somewhat above the middle height; his +complexion was very pale, his features emaciated but fine, his eyes dark +and sparkling; he might be about fifty—the other two were men in the +prime of life. One was of rather low stature; his features were dark, +and wore that pinched and mortified expression so frequently to be +observed in the countenance of the English ---: the other was a bluff, +ruddy, and rather good-looking young man; all three were dressed alike in +the usual college cap and silk gown. Coming up, the eldest of the three +took me by the hand and thus addressed me in clear silvery tones:— + +“Welcome, Sir, to our poor house; we are always happy to see in it a +countryman from our beloved native land; it will afford us extreme +satisfaction to show you over it; it is true that satisfaction is +considerably diminished by the reflection that it possesses nothing +worthy of the attention of a traveller; there is nothing curious +pertaining to it save perhaps its economy, and that as we walk about we +will explain to you. Permit us, first of all, to introduce ourselves to +you; I am rector of this poor English house of refuge; this gentleman is +our professor of humanity, and this (pointing to the ruddy personage) is +our professor of polite learning, Hebrew, and Syriac.” + +_Myself_.—I humbly salute you all; excuse me if I inquire who was the +venerable gentleman who put himself to the inconvenience of staying with +me whilst I was awaiting your leisure. + +_Rector_.—O! a most admirable personage, our almoner, our chaplain; he +came into this country before any of us were born, and here he has +continued ever since. Now let us ascend that we may show you our poor +house: but how is this, my dear Sir, how is it that I see you standing +uncovered in our cold damp hall? + +_Myself_.—I can easily explain that to you; it is a custom which has +become quite natural to me. I am just arrived from Russia, where I have +spent some years. A Russian invariably takes off his hat whenever he +enters beneath a roof, whether it pertain to hut, shop, or palace. To +omit doing so would be considered as a mark of brutality and barbarism, +and for the following reason: in every apartment of a Russian house there +is a small picture of the Virgin stuck up in a corner, just below the +ceiling—the hat is taken off out of respect to her. + +Quick glances of intelligence were exchanged by the three gentlemen. I +had stumbled upon their shibboleth, and proclaimed myself an Ephraimite, +and not of Gilead. I have no doubt that up to that moment they had +considered me as one of themselves—a member, and perhaps a priest, of +their own ancient, grand, and imposing religion, for such it is, I must +confess—an error into which it was natural that they should fall. What +motives could a Protestant have for intruding upon their privacy? What +interest could he take in inspecting the economy of their establishment? +So far, however, from relaxing in their attention after this discovery, +their politeness visibly increased, though, perhaps, a scrutinizing +observer might have detected a shade of less cordiality in their manner. + +_Rector_.—Beneath the ceiling in every apartment? I think I understood +you so. How delightful—how truly interesting; a picture of the _Blessed_ +Virgin beneath the ceiling in every apartment of a Russian house! Truly, +this intelligence is as unexpected as it is delightful. I shall from +this moment entertain a much higher opinion of the Russians than +hitherto—most truly an example worthy of imitation. I wish sincerely +that it was our own practice to place an _image_ of the _Blessed_ Virgin +beneath the ceiling in every corner of our houses. What say you, our +professor of humanity? What say you to the information so obligingly +communicated to us by this excellent gentleman? + +_Humanity Professor_.—It is, indeed, most delightful, most cheering, I +may say; but I confess that I was not altogether unprepared for it. The +adoration of the Blessed Virgin is becoming every day more extended in +countries where it has hitherto been unknown or forgotten. Dr. W---, +when he passed through Lisbon, gave me some most interesting details with +respect to the labours of the propaganda in India. Even England, our own +beloved country. . . . + + * * * * * + +My obliging friends showed me all over their “poor house,” it certainly +did not appear a very rich one; it was spacious, and rather dilapidated. +The library was small, and possessed nothing remarkable; the view, +however, from the roof, over the greater part of Lisbon and the Tagus, +was very grand and noble; but I did not visit this place in the hope of +seeing busts, or books, or fine prospects,—I visited this strange old +house to converse with its inmates, for my favourite, I might say, my +only study, is man. I found these gentlemen much what I had anticipated, +for this was not the first time that I had visited an English --- +establishment in a foreign land. They were full of amiability and +courtesy to their heretic countryman, and though the advancement of their +religion was with them an object of paramount importance, I soon found +that, with ludicrous inconsistency, they cherished, to a wonderful +degree, national prejudices almost extinct in the mother land, even to +the disparagement of those of their own darling faith. I spoke of the +English ---, of their high respectability, and of the loyalty which they +had uniformly displayed to their sovereign, though of a different +religion, and by whom they had been not unfrequently subjected to much +oppression and injustice. + +_Rector_.—My dear Sir, I am rejoiced to hear you; I see that you are well +acquainted with the great body of those of our faith in England. They +are as you have well described them, a most respectable and loyal body; +from loyalty, indeed, they never swerved, and though they have been +accused of plots and conspiracies, it is now well known that such had no +real existence, but were merely calumnies invented by their religious +enemies. During the civil wars the English --- cheerfully shed their +blood and squandered their fortunes in the cause of the unfortunate +martyr, notwithstanding that he never favoured them, and invariably +looked upon them with suspicion. At present the English --- are the most +devoted subjects to our gracious sovereign. I should be happy if I could +say as much for our Irish brethren; but their conduct has been—oh! +detestable. Yet what can you expect? The true—blush for them. A +certain person is a disgrace to the church of which he pretends to be a +servant. Where does he find in our canons sanction for his proceedings, +his undutiful expressions towards one who is his sovereign by divine +right, and who can do no wrong? And above all, where does he find +authority for inflaming the passions of a vile mob against a nation +intended by nature and by position to command them? + +_Myself_.—I believe there is an Irish college in this city? + +_Rector_.—I believe there is; but it does not flourish, there are few or +no pupils. Oh! + +I looked through a window, at a great height, and saw about twenty or +thirty fine lads sporting in a court below. “This is as it should be,” +said I; “those boys will not make worse priests from a little early +devotion to trap-ball and cudgel playing. I dislike a staid, serious, +puritanic education, as I firmly believe that it encourages vice and +hypocrisy.” + +We then went into the Rector’s room, where, above a crucifix, was hanging +a small portrait. + +_Myself_.—That was a great and portentous man, honest withal. I believe +the body of which he was the founder, and which has been so much decried, +has effected infinitely more good than it has caused harm. + +_Rector_.—What do I hear? You an Englishman, and a Protestant, and yet +an admirer of Ignatius Loyola? + +_Myself_.—I will say nothing with respect to the doctrine of the Jesuits, +for, as you have observed, I am a Protestant: but I am ready to assert +that there are no people in the world better qualified, upon the whole, +to be intrusted with the education of youth. Their moral system and +discipline are truly admirable. Their pupils, in after life, are seldom +vicious and licentious characters, and are in general men of learning, +science, and possessed of every elegant accomplishment. I execrate the +conduct of the liberals of Madrid in murdering last year the helpless +fathers, by whose care and instruction two of the finest minds of Spain +have been evolved—the two ornaments of the liberal cause and modern +literature of Spain, for such are Toreno and Martinez de la Rosa. . . . + + * * * * * + +Gathered in small clusters about the pillars at the lower extremities of +the gold and silver streets in Lisbon, may be observed, about noon in +every day, certain strange looking men, whose appearance is neither +Portuguese nor European. Their dress generally consists of a red cap, +with a blue silken tassel at the top of it, a blue tunic girded at the +waist with a red sash, and wide linen pantaloons or trousers. He who +passes by these groups generally hears them conversing in broken Spanish +or Portuguese, and occasionally in a harsh guttural language, which the +oriental traveller knows to be the Arabic, or a dialect thereof. These +people are the Jews of Lisbon. Into the midst of one of these groups I +one day introduced myself, and pronounced a beraka, or blessing. I have +lived in different parts of the world, much amongst the Hebrew race, and +am well acquainted with their ways and phraseology. I was rather anxious +to become acquainted with the state of the Portuguese Jews, and I had now +an opportunity. “The man is a powerful rabbi,” said a voice in Arabic; +“it behoves us to treat him kindly.” They welcomed me. I favoured their +mistake, and in a few days I knew all that related to them and their +traffic in Lisbon. + +I found them a vile, infamous rabble, about two hundred in number. With +a few exceptions, they consist of escapados from the Barbary shore, from +Tetuan, from Tangier, but principally from Mogadore; fellows who have +fled to a foreign land from the punishment due to their misdeeds. Their +manner of life in Lisbon is worthy of such a goodly assemblage of _amis +reunis_. The generality of them pretend to work in gold and silver, and +keep small peddling shops; they, however, principally depend for their +livelihood on an extensive traffic in stolen goods which they carry on. +It is said that there is honour amongst thieves, but this is certainly +not the case with the Jews of Lisbon, for they are so greedy and +avaricious, that they are constantly quarrelling about their ill-gotten +gain, the result being that they frequently ruin each other. Their +mutual jealousy is truly extraordinary. If one, by cheating and roguery, +gains a cruzado in the presence of another, the latter instantly says I +cry halves, and if the first refuse he is instantly threatened with an +information. The manner in which they cheat each other has, with all its +infamy, occasionally something extremely droll and ludicrous. I was one +day in the shop of a Swiri, or Jew of Mogadore, when a Jew from Gibraltar +entered, with a Portuguese female, who held in her hand a mantle, richly +embroidered with gold. + +_Gibraltar Jew_ (speaking in broken Arabic).—Good-day, O Swiri; God has +favoured me this day; here is a bargain by which we shall both gain. I +have bought this mantle of the woman almost for nothing, for it is +stolen; but I am poor, as you know, I have not a cruzado; pay her +therefore the price, that we may then forthwith sell the mantle and +divide the gain. + +_Swiri_.—Willingly, brother of Gibraltar; I will pay the woman for the +mantle; it does not appear a bad one. + +Thereupon he flung two cruzados to the woman, who forthwith left the +shop. + +_Gibraltar Jew_.—Thanks, brother Swirl, this is very kind of you; now let +us go and sell the mantle, the gold alone is well worth a moidore; but I +am poor and have nothing to eat, give me, therefore, the half of that sum +and keep the mantle; I shall be content. + +_Swiri_.—May Allah blot out your name, you thief. What mean you by +asking me for money? I bought the mantle of the woman and paid for it. +I know nothing of you. Go out of my doors, dog of a Nazarene, if not I +will pay you with a kick. + +The dispute was referred to one of the sabios, or priests; but the sabio, +who was also from Mogadore, at once took the part of the Swiri, and +decided that the other should have nothing. Whereupon the Gibraltar Jew +cursed the sabio, his father, mother, and all his family. The sabio +replied, “I put you in ndui,” a kind of purgatory or hell. “I put you in +seven nduis,” retorted the incensed Jew, over whom, however, +superstitious fear speedily prevailed; he faltered, became pale, and +dropping his voice, retreated, trembling in every limb. + +The Jews have two synagogues in Lisbon, both are small; one is, however, +tolerably well furnished, it has its reading desk, and in the middle +there is a rather handsome chandelier; the other is little better than a +sty, filthy to a degree, without ornament of any kind. The congregation +of this last are thieves to a man; no Jew of the slightest respectability +ever enters it. + +How well do superstition and crime go hand in hand. These wretched +beings break the eternal commandments of their Maker without scruple; but +they will not partake of the beast of the uncloven foot, and the fish +which has no scales. They pay no regard to the denunciations of holy +prophets against the children of sin, but they quake at the sound of a +dark cabalistic word, pronounced by one perhaps their equal, or superior, +in villainy, as if God would delegate the exercise of his power to the +workers of iniquity. + +I was one day sauntering on the Caesodré, when a Jew, with whom I had +previously exchanged a word or two, came up and addressed me. + +_Jew_.—The blessing of God upon you, brother; I know you to be a wise and +powerful man, and I have conceived much regard for you; it is on that +account that I wish to put you in the way of gaining much money. Come +with me, and I will conduct you to a place where there are forty chests +of tea. It is a seréka (a robbery), and the thieves are willing to +dispose of it for a trifle, for there is search being made, and they are +in much fear. I can raise one half of what they demand, do you supply +the other, we will then divide it, each shall go his own way and dispose +of his portion. + +_Myself_.—Wherefore, O son of Arbat, do you propose this to me, who am a +stranger? Surely you are mad. Have you not your own people about you +whom you know, and in whom you can confide? + +_Jew_.—It is because I know our people here that I do not confide in +them; we are in the galoot of sin. Were I to confide in my brethren +there would be a dispute, and perhaps they would rob me, and few of them +have any money. Were I to apply to the sabio he might consent, but when +I ask for my portion he would put me in ndui! You I do not fear; you are +good and would do me no harm, unless I attempted to deceive you, and that +I dare not do, for I know you are powerful. Come with me, master, for I +wish to gain something, that I may return to Arbat, where I have children +. . . + +Such are Jews in Lisbon. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + + +Cold of Portugal—Extortion prevented—Sensation of Loneliness—The Dog—The +Convent—Enchanting Landscape—Moorish Fortresses—Prayer for the Sick. + +About a fortnight after my return from Evora, having made the necessary +preparations, I set out on my journey for Badajoz, from which town I +intended to take the diligence to Madrid. Badajoz lies about a hundred +miles distant from Lisbon, and is the principal frontier town of Spain in +the direction of the Alemtejo. To reach this place, it was necessary to +retravel the road as far as Monte Moro, which I had already passed in my +excursion to Evora; I had therefore very little pleasure to anticipate +from novelty of scenery. Moreover, in this journey I should be a +solitary traveller, with no other companion than the muleteer, as it was +my intention to take my servant no farther than Aldea Gallega, for which +place I started at four in the afternoon. Warned by former experience, I +did not now embark in a small boat, but in one of the regular passage +felouks, in which we reached Aldea Gallega, after a voyage of six hours; +for the boat was heavy, there was no wind to propel it, and the crew were +obliged to ply their huge oars the whole way. In a word, this passage +was the reverse of the first,—safe in every respect,—but so sluggish and +tiresome, that I a hundred times wished myself again under the guidance +of the wild lad, galloping before the hurricane over the foaming billows. +From eight till ten the cold was truly terrible, and though I was closely +wrapped in an excellent fur “shoob,” with which I had braved the frosts +of Russian winters, I shivered in every limb, and was far more rejoiced +when I again set my foot on the Alemtejo, than when I landed for the +first time, after having escaped the horrors of the tempest. + +I took up my quarters for the night at a house to which my friend who +feared the darkness had introduced me on my return from Evora, and where, +though I paid mercilessly dear for everything, the accommodation was +superior to that of the common inn in the square. My first care now was +to inquire for mules to convey myself and baggage to Elvas, from whence +there are but three short leagues to the Spanish town of Badajoz. The +people of the house informed me that they had an excellent pair at my +disposal, but when I inquired the price, they were not ashamed to demand +four moidores. I offered them three, which was too much, but which, +however, they did not accept, for knowing me to be an Englishman, they +thought they had an excellent opportunity to practise imposition, not +imagining that a person so rich as an Englishman _must_ be, would go out +in a cold night for the sake of obtaining a reasonable bargain. They +were, however, much mistaken, as I told them that rather than encourage +them in their knavery, I should be content to return to Lisbon; whereupon +they dropped their demand to three and a half, but I made them no answer, +and going out with Antonio, proceeded to the house of the old man who had +accompanied us to Evora. We knocked a considerable time, for he was in +bed; at length he arose and admitted us, but on hearing our object, he +said that his mules were again gone to Evora, under the charge of the +boy, for the purpose of transporting some articles of merchandise. He, +however, recommended us to a person in the neighbourhood who kept mules +for hire, and there Antonio engaged two fine beasts for two moidores and +a half. I say he engaged them, for I stood aloof and spoke not, and the +proprietor, who exhibited them, and who stood half-dressed, with a lamp +in his hand and shivering with cold, was not aware that they were +intended for a foreigner till the agreement was made, and he had received +a part of the sum in earnest. I returned to the inn well pleased, and +having taken some refreshment went to rest, paying little attention to +the people, who glanced daggers at me from their small Jewish eyes. + +At five the next morning the mules were at the door; a lad of some +nineteen or twenty years of age attended them; he was short but +exceedingly strong built, and possessed the largest head which I ever +beheld upon mortal shoulders; neck he had none, at least I could discern +nothing which could be entitled to that name. His features were +hideously ugly, and upon addressing him I discovered that he was an +idiot. Such was my intended companion in a journey of nearly a hundred +miles, which would occupy four days, and which lay over the most savage +and ill noted track in the whole kingdom. I took leave of my servant +almost with tears, for he had always served me with the greatest +fidelity, and had exhibited an assiduity and a wish to please which +afforded me the utmost satisfaction. + +We started, my uncouth guide sitting tailor-fashion on the sumpter mule +upon the baggage. The moon had just gone down, and the morning was +pitchy dark, and, as usual, piercingly cold. He soon entered the dismal +wood, which I had already traversed, and through which we wended our way +for some time, slowly and mournfully. Not a sound was to be heard save +the trampling of the animals, not a breath of air moved the leafless +branches, no animal stirred in the thickets, no bird, not even the owl, +flew over our heads, all seemed desolate and dead, and during my many and +far wanderings, I never experienced a greater sensation of loneliness, +and a greater desire for conversation and an exchange of ideas than then. +To speak to the idiot was useless, for though competent to show the road, +with which he was well acquainted, he had no other answer than an uncouth +laugh to any question put to him. Thus situated, like many other persons +when human comfort is not at hand, I turned my heart to God, and began to +commune with Him, the result of which was that my mind soon became +quieted and comforted. + +We passed on our way uninterrupted; no thieves showed themselves, nor +indeed did we see a single individual until we arrived at Pegoens, and +from thence to Vendas Novas our fortune was the same. I was welcomed +with great kindness by the people of the hostelry of the latter place, +who were well acquainted with me on account of my having twice passed the +night under their roof. The name of the keeper of this is, or was, Jozé +Dias Azido, and unlike the generality of those of the same profession as +himself in Portugal, he is an honest man, and a stranger and foreigner +who takes up his quarters at his inn, may rest assured that he will not +be most unmercifully pillaged and cheated when the hour of reckoning +shall arrive, as he will not be charged a single ré more than a native +Portuguese on a similar occasion. I paid at this place exactly one half +of the sum which was demanded from me at Arroyolos, where I passed the +ensuing night, and where the accommodation was in every respect inferior. + +At twelve next day we arrived at Monte Moro, and, as I was not pressed +for time, I determined upon viewing the ruins which cover the top and +middle part of the stately hill which towers above the town. Having +ordered some refreshment at the inn where we dismounted, I ascended till +I arrived at a large wall or rampart, which, at a certain altitude +embraces the whole hill. I crossed a rude bridge of stones, which +bestrides a small hollow or trench; and passing by a large tower, entered +through a portal into the enclosed part of the hill. On the left hand +stood a church, in good preservation, and still devoted to the purposes +of religion, but which I could not enter, as the door was locked, and I +saw no one at hand to open it. + +I soon found that my curiosity had led me to a most extraordinary place, +which quite beggars the scanty powers of description with which I am +gifted. I stumbled on amongst ruined walls, and at one time found I was +treading over vaults, as I suddenly started back from a yawning orifice +into which my next step, as I strolled musing along, would have +precipitated me. I proceeded for a considerable way by the eastern wall, +till I heard a tremendous bark, and presently an immense dog, such as +those which guard the flocks in the neighbourhood against the wolves, +came bounding to attack me “with eyes that glowed and fangs that +grinned.” Had I retreated, or had recourse to any other mode of defence +than that which I invariably practise under such circumstances, he would +probably have worried me; but I stooped till my chin nearly touched my +knee, and looked him full in the eyes, and as John Leyden says, in the +noblest ballad which the Land of Heather has produced:— + + “The hound he yowled and back he fled, + As struck with fairy charm.” + +It is a fact known to many people, and I believe it has been frequently +stated, that no large and fierce dog or animal of any kind, with the +exception of the bull, which shuts its eyes and rushes blindly forward, +will venture to attack an individual who confronts it with a firm and +motionless countenance. I say large and fierce, for it is much easier to +repel a bloodhound or bear of Finland in this manner than a dunghill cur +or a terrier, against which a stick or a stone is a much more certain +defence. This will astonish no one who considers that the calm reproving +glance of reason, which allays the excesses of the mighty and courageous +in our own species, has seldom any other effect than to add to the +insolence of the feeble and foolish, who become placid as doves upon the +infliction of chastisements, which if attempted to be applied to the +former would only serve to render them more terrible, and like gunpowder +cast on a flame, cause them in mad desperation to scatter destruction +around them. + +The barking of the dog brought out from a kind of alley an elderly man, +whom I supposed to be his master, and of whom I made some inquiries +respecting the place. The man was civil, and informed me that he served +as a soldier in the British army, under the “great lord,” during the +Peninsular war. He said that there was a convent of nuns a little +farther on, which he would show me, and thereupon led the way to the +south-east part of the wall, where stood a large dilapidated edifice. + +We entered a dark stone apartment, at one corner of which was a kind of +window occupied by a turning table, at which articles were received into +the convent or delivered out. He rang the bell, and, without saying a +word, retired, leaving me rather perplexed; but presently I heard, though +the speaker was invisible, a soft feminine voice demanding who I was, and +what I wanted. I replied that I was an Englishman travelling into Spain, +and that passing through Monte Moro I had ascended the hill for the +purpose of seeing the ruins. The voice then said, “I suppose you are a +military man going to fight against the king, like the rest of your +countrymen.” “No,” said I, “I am not a military man, but a Christian, +and I go not to shed blood but to endeavour to introduce the gospel of +Christ into a country where it is not known;” whereupon there was a +stifled titter. I then inquired if there were any copies of the Holy +Scriptures in the convent, but the friendly voice could give me no +information on that point, and I scarcely believe that its possessor +understood the purport of my question. It informed me, that the office +of lady abbess of the house was an annual one, and that every year there +was a fresh superior; on my inquiring whether the nuns did not frequently +find the time exceedingly heavy on their hands, it stated that, when they +had nothing better to do, they employed themselves in making cheesecakes, +which were disposed of in the neighbourhood. I thanked the voice for its +communications, and walked away. Whilst proceeding under the wall of the +house towards the south-west, I heard a fresh and louder tittering above +my head, and looking up, saw three or four windows crowded with dusky +faces, and black waving hair; these belonged to the nuns, anxious to +obtain a view of the stranger. After kissing my hand repeatedly, I moved +on, and soon arrived at the south-west end of this mountain of +curiosities. There I found the remains of a large building, which seemed +to have been originally erected in the shape of a cross. A tower at its +eastern entrance was still entire; the western side was quite in ruins, +and stood on the verge of the hill overlooking the valley, at the bottom +of which ran the stream I have spoken of on a former occasion. + +The day was intensely hot, notwithstanding the coldness of the preceding +nights; and the brilliant sun of Portugal now illumined a landscape of +entrancing beauty. Groves of cork trees covered the farther side of the +valley and the distant acclivities, exhibiting here and there charming +vistas, where various flocks of cattle were feeding; the soft murmur of +the stream, which was at intervals chafed and broken by huge stones, +ascended to my ears and filled my mind with delicious feelings. I sat +down on the broken wall and remained gazing, and listening, and shedding +tears of rapture; for, of all the pleasures which a bountiful God +permitteth his children to enjoy, none are so dear to some hearts as the +music of forests, and streams, and the view of the beauties of his +glorious creation. An hour elapsed, and I still maintained my seat on +the wall; the past scenes of my life flitting before my eyes in airy and +fantastic array, through which every now and then peeped trees and hills +and other patches of the real landscape which I was confronting; the sun +burnt my visage, but I heeded it not; and I believe that I should have +remained till night, buried in these reveries, which, I confess, only +served to enervate the mind, and steal many a minute which might be most +profitably employed, had not the report of the gun of a fowler in the +valley, which awakened the echoes of the woods, hills, and ruins, caused +me to start on my feet, and remember that I had to proceed three leagues +before I could reach the hostelry where I intended to pass the night. + +I bent my steps to the inn, passing along a kind of rampart: shortly +before I reached the portal, which I have already mentioned, I observed a +kind of vault on my right hand, scooped out of the side of the hill; its +roof was supported by three pillars, though part of it had given way +towards the farther end, so that the light was admitted through a chasm +in the top. It might have been intended for a chapel, a dungeon, or a +cemetery, but I should rather think for the latter; one thing I am +certain of, that it was not the work of Moorish hands, and indeed +throughout my wanderings in this place I saw nothing which reminded me of +that most singular people. The hill on which the ruins stand was +doubtless originally a strong fortress of the Moors, who, upon their +first irruption into the peninsula, seized and fortified most of the +lofty and naturally strong positions, but they had probably lost it at an +early period, so that the broken walls and edifices, which at present +cover the hill, are probably remains of the labours of the Christians +after the place had been rescued from the hands of the terrible enemies +of their faith. Monte Moro will perhaps recall Cintra to the mind of the +traveller, as it exhibits a distant resemblance to that place; +nevertheless, there is something in Cintra wild and savage, to which +Monte Moro has no pretension; its scathed and gigantic crags are piled +upon each other in a manner which seems to menace headlong destruction to +whatever is in the neighbourhood; and the ruins which still cling to +those crags seem more like eagles’ nests than the remains of the +habitations even of Moors; whereas those of Monte Moro stand +comparatively at their ease on the broad back of a hill, which, though +stately and commanding, has no crags nor precipices, and which can be +ascended on every side without much difficulty: yet I was much gratified +by my visit, and I shall wander far indeed before I forget the voice in +the dilapidated convent, the ruined walls amongst which I strayed, and +the rampart where, sunk in dreamy rapture, I sat during a bright sunny +hour at Monte Moro. + +I returned to the inn, where I refreshed myself with tea and very sweet +and delicious cheesecakes, the handiwork of the nuns in the convent +above. Observing gloom and unhappiness on the countenances of the people +of the house, I inquired the reason of the hostess, who sat almost +motionless, on the hearth by the fire; whereupon she informed me that her +husband was deadly sick with a disorder which, from her description, I +supposed to be a species of cholera; she added, that the surgeon who +attended him entertained no hopes of his recovery. I replied that it was +quite in the power of God to restore her husband in a few hours from the +verge of the grave to health and vigour, and that it was her duty to pray +to that Omnipotent Being with all fervency. I added, that if she did not +know how to pray upon such an occasion, I was ready to pray for her, +provided she would join in the spirit of the supplication. I then +offered up a short prayer in Portuguese, in which I entreated the Lord to +remove, if he thought proper, the burden of affliction under which the +family was labouring. + +The woman listened attentively, with her hands devoutly clasped, until +the prayer was finished, and then gazed at me seemingly with +astonishment, but uttered no word by which I could gather that she was +pleased or displeased with what I had said. I now bade the family +farewell, and having mounted my mule, set forward to Arroyolos. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + + +The Druids’ Stone—The Young Spaniard—Ruffianly Soldiers—Evils of +War—Estremoz—The Brawl—Ruined Watch Tower—Glimpse of Spain—Old Times and +New. + +After proceeding about a league and a half, a blast came booming from the +north, rolling before it immense clouds of dust; happily it did not blow +in our faces, or it would have been difficult to proceed, so great was +its violence. We had left the road in order to take advantage of one of +those short cuts, which, though possible for a horse or a mule, are far +too rough to permit any species of carriage to travel along them. We +were in the midst of sands, brushwood, and huge pieces of rock, which +thickly studded the ground. These are the stones which form the sierras +of Spain and Portugal; those singular mountains which rise in naked +horridness, like the ribs of some mighty carcass from which the flesh has +been torn. Many of these stones, or rocks, grew out of the earth, and +many lay on its surface unattached, perhaps wrested from their bed by the +waters of the deluge. Whilst toiling along these wild wastes, I +observed, a little way to my left, a pile of stones of rather a singular +appearance, and rode up to it. It was a druidical altar, and the most +perfect and beautiful one of the kind which I had ever seen. It was +circular, and consisted of stones immensely large and heavy at the +bottom, which towards the top became thinner and thinner, having been +fashioned by the hand of art to something of the shape of scollop shells. +These were surmounted by a very large flat stone, which slanted down +towards the south, where was a door. Three or four individuals might +have taken shelter within the interior, in which was growing a small +thorn tree. + +I gazed with reverence and awe upon the pile where the first colonies of +Europe offered their worship to the unknown God. The temples of the +mighty and skilful Roman, comparatively of modern date, have crumbled to +dust in its neighbourhood. The churches of the Arian Goth, his successor +in power, have sunk beneath the earth, and are not to be found; and the +mosques of the Moor, the conqueror of the Goth, where and what are they? +Upon the rock, masses of hoary and vanishing ruin. Not so the Druids’ +stone; there it stands on the hill of winds, as strong and as freshly new +as the day, perhaps thirty centuries back, when it was first raised, by +means which are a mystery. Earthquakes have heaved it, but its copestone +has not fallen; rain floods have deluged it, but failed to sweep it from +its station; the burning sun has flashed upon it, but neither split nor +crumbled it; and time, stern old time, has rubbed it with his iron tooth, +and with what effect let those who view it declare. There it stands, and +he who wishes to study the literature, the learning, and the history of +the ancient Celt and Cymbrian, may gaze on its broad covering, and glean +from that blank stone the whole known amount. The Roman has left behind +him his deathless writings, his history, and his songs; the Goth his +liturgy, his traditions, and the germs of noble institutions; the Moor +his chivalry, his discoveries in medicine, and the foundations of modern +commerce; and where is the memorial of the Druidic races? Yonder: that +pile of eternal stone! + +We arrived at Arroyolos about seven at night. I took possession of a +large two-bedded room, and, as I was preparing to sit down to supper, the +hostess came to inquire whether I had any objection to receive a young +Spaniard for the night. She said he had just arrived with a train of +muleteers, and that she had no other room in which she could lodge him. +I replied that I was willing, and in about half an hour he made his +appearance, having first supped with his companions. He was a very +gentlemanly, good-looking lad of seventeen. He addressed me in his +native language, and, finding that I understood him, he commenced talking +with astonishing volubility. In the space of five minutes he informed me +that, having a desire to see the world, he had run away from his friends, +who were people of opulence at Madrid, and that he did not intend to +return until he had travelled through various countries. I told him that +if what he said was true, he had done a very wicked and foolish action; +wicked, because he must have overwhelmed those with grief whom he was +bound to honour and love, and foolish, inasmuch as he was going to expose +himself to inconceivable miseries and hardships, which would shortly +cause him to rue the step he had taken; that he would be only welcome in +foreign countries so long as he had money to spend, and when he had none, +he would be repulsed as a vagabond, and would perhaps be allowed to +perish of hunger. He replied that he had a considerable sum of money +with him, no less than a hundred dollars, which would last him a long +time, and that when it was spent he should perhaps be able to obtain +more. “Your hundred dollars,” said I, “will scarcely last you three +months in the country in which you are, even if it be not stolen from +you; and you may as well hope to gather money on the tops of the +mountains as expect to procure more by honourable means.” But he had not +yet sufficiently drank of the cup of experience to attend much to what I +said, and I soon after changed the subject. About five next morning he +came to my bedside to take leave, as his muleteers were preparing to +depart. I gave him the usual Spanish valediction (_Vaya usted con +Dios_), and saw no more of him. + +At nine, after having paid a most exorbitant sum for slight +accommodation, I started from Arroyolos, which is a town or large village +situated on very elevated ground, and discernible afar off. It can boast +of the remains of a large ancient and seemingly Moorish castle, which +stands on a hill on the left as you take the road to Estremoz. + +About a mile from Arroyolos I overtook a train of carts escorted by a +number of Portuguese soldiers, conveying stores and ammunition into +Spain. Six or seven of these soldiers marched a considerable way in +front; they were villainous looking ruffians upon whose livid and ghastly +countenances were written murder, and all the other crimes which the +decalogue forbids. As I passed by, one of them, with a harsh, croaking +voice, commenced cursing all foreigners. “There,” said he, “is this +Frenchman riding on horseback” (I was on a mule), “with a man” (the +idiot) “to take care of him, and all because he is rich; whilst I, who am +a poor soldier, am obliged to tramp on foot. I could find it in my heart +to shoot him dead, for in what respect is he better than I? But he is a +foreigner, and the devil helps foreigners and hates the Portuguese.” He +continued shouting his remarks until I got about forty yards in advance, +when I commenced laughing; but it would have been more prudent in me to +have held my peace, for the next moment, with bang—bang, two bullets, +well aimed, came whizzing past my ears. A small river lay just before +me, though the bridge was a considerable way on my left. I spurred my +animal through it, closely followed by my terrified guide, and commenced +galloping along a sandy plain on the other side, and so escaped with my +life. + +These fellows, with the look of banditti, were in no respect better; and +the traveller who should meet them in a solitary place would have little +reason to bless his good fortune. One of the carriers (all of whom were +Spaniards from the neighbourhood of Badajoz, and had been despatched into +Portugal for the purpose of conveying the stores), whom I afterwards met +in the aforesaid town, informed me that the whole party were equally bad, +and that he and his companions had been plundered by them of various +articles, and threatened with death if they attempted to complain. How +frightful to figure to oneself an army of such beings in a foreign land, +sent thither either to invade or defend; and yet Spain, at the time I am +writing this, is looking forward to armed assistance from Portugal. May +the Lord in his mercy grant that the soldiers who proceed to her +assistance may be of a different stamp: and yet, from the lax state of +discipline which exists in the Portuguese army, in comparison with that +of England and France, I am afraid that the inoffensive population of the +disturbed provinces will say that wolves have been summoned to chase away +foxes from the sheepfold. O! may I live to see the day when soldiery +will no longer be tolerated in any civilized, or at least Christian, +country! + +I pursued my route to Estremoz, passing by Monte Moro Novo, which is a +tall dusky hill, surmounted by an ancient edifice, probably Moorish. The +country was dreary and deserted, but offering here and there a valley +studded with cork trees and azinheiras. After midday the wind, which +during the night and morning had much abated, again blew with such +violence as nearly to deprive me of my senses, though it was still in our +rear. + +I was heartily glad when, on ascending a rising ground, at about four +o’clock, I saw Estremoz on its hill at something less than a league’s +distance. Here the view became wildly interesting; the sun was sinking +in the midst of red and stormy clouds, and its rays were reflected on the +dun walls of the lofty town to which we were wending. Nor far distant to +the south-west rose Serra Dorso, which I had seen from Evora, and which +is the most beautiful mountain in the Alemtejo. My idiot guide turned +his uncouth visage towards it, and becoming suddenly inspired, opened his +mouth for the first time during the day, I might almost say since we had +left Aldea Gallega, and began to tell me what rare hunting was to be +obtained in that mountain. He likewise described with great minuteness a +wonderful dog, which was kept in the neighbourhood for the purpose of +catching the wolves and wild boars, and for which the proprietor had +refused twenty moidores. + +At length we reached Estremoz, and took up our quarters at the principal +inn, which looks upon a large plain or market-place occupying the centre +of the town, and which is so extensive that I should think ten thousand +soldiers at least might perform their evolutions there with ease. + +The cold was far too terrible to permit me to remain in the chamber to +which I had been conducted; I therefore went down to a kind of kitchen on +one side of the arched passage, which led under the house to the yard and +stables. A tremendous withering blast poured through this passage, like +the water through the flush of a mill. A large cork tree was blazing in +the kitchen beneath a spacious chimney; and around it were gathered a +noisy crew of peasants and farmers from the neighbourhood, and three or +four Spanish smugglers from the frontier. I with difficulty obtained a +place amongst them, as a Portuguese or a Spaniard will seldom make way +for a stranger, till called upon or pushed aside, but prefers gazing upon +him with an expression which seems to say, I know what you want, but I +prefer remaining where I am. + +I now first began to observe an alteration in the language spoken; it had +become less sibilant, and more guttural; and, when addressing each other, +the speakers used the Spanish title of courtesy _usted_, or your +worthiness, instead of the Portuguese high flowing _vossem se_, or your +lordship. This is the result of constant communication with the natives +of Spain, who never condescend to speak Portuguese, even when in +Portugal, but persist in the use of their own beautiful language, which, +perhaps, at some future period, the Portuguese will generally adopt. +This would greatly facilitate the union of the two countries, hitherto +kept asunder by the natural waywardness of mankind. + +I had not been seated long before the blazing pile, when a fellow, +mounted on a fine spirited horse, dashed from the stables through the +passage into the kitchen, where he commenced displaying his horsemanship, +by causing the animal to wheel about with the velocity of a millstone, to +the great danger of everybody in the apartment. He then galloped out +upon the plain, and after half an hour’s absence returned, and having +placed his horse once more in the stable, came and seated himself next to +me, to whom he commenced talking in a gibberish of which I understood +very little, but which he intended for French. He was half intoxicated, +and soon became three parts so, by swallowing glass after glass of +aguardiente. Finding that I made him no answer, he directed his +discourse to one of the contrabandistas, to whom he talked in bad +Spanish. The latter either did not or would not understand him; but at +last, losing patience, called him a drunkard, and told him to hold his +tongue. The fellow, enraged at this contempt, flung the glass out of +which he was drinking at the Spaniard’s head, who sprang up like a tiger, +and unsheathing instantly a snick and snee knife, made an upward cut at +the fellow’s cheek, and would have infallibly laid it open, had I not +pulled his arm down just in time to prevent worse effects than a scratch +above the lower jawbone, which, however, drew blood. + +The smuggler’s companions interfered, and with much difficulty led him +off to a small apartment in the rear of the house, where they slept, and +kept the furniture of their mules. The drunkard then commenced singing, +or rather yelling, the Marseillois hymn; and after having annoyed every +one for nearly an hour, was persuaded to mount his horse and depart, +accompanied by one of his neighbours. He was a pig merchant of the +vicinity, but had formerly been a trooper in the army of Napoleon, where, +I suppose, like the drunken coachman of Evora, he had picked up his +French and his habits of intoxication. + +From Estremoz to Elvas the distance is six leagues. I started at nine +next morning; the first part of the way lay through an enclosed country, +but we soon emerged upon wild bleak downs, over which the wind, which +still pursued us, howled most mournfully. We met no one on the route; +and the scene was desolate in the extreme; the heaven was of a dark grey, +through which no glimpse of the sun was to be perceived. Before us, at a +great distance, on an elevated ground, rose a tower—the only object which +broke the monotony of the waste. In about two hours from the time when +we first discovered it, we reached a fountain, at the foot of the hill on +which it stood; the water, which gushed into a long stone trough, was +beautifully clear and transparent, and we stopped here to water the +animals. + +Having dismounted, I left the guide, and proceeded to ascend the hill on +which the tower stood. Though the ascent was very gentle I did not +accomplish it without difficulty; the ground was covered with sharp +stones, which, in two or three instances, cut through my boots and +wounded my feet; and the distance was much greater than I had expected. +I at last arrived at the ruin, for such it was. I found it had been one +of those watch towers or small fortresses called in Portuguese +_atalaias_; it was square, and surrounded by a wall, broken down in many +places. The tower itself had no door, the lower part being of solid +stone work; but on one side were crevices at intervals between the +stones, for the purpose of placing the feet, and up this rude staircase I +climbed to a small apartment, about five feet square, from which the top +had fallen. It commanded an extensive view from all sides, and had +evidently been built for the accommodation of those whose business it was +to keep watch on the frontier, and at the appearance of an enemy to alarm +the country by signals—probably by a fire. Resolute men might have +defended themselves in this little fastness against many assailants, who +must have been completely exposed to their arrows or musketry in the +ascent. + +Being about to leave the place, I heard a strange cry behind a part of +the wall which I had not visited, and hastening thither, I found a +miserable object in rags, seated upon a stone. It was a maniac—a man +about thirty years of age, and I believe deaf and dumb; there he sat, +gibbering and mowing, and distorting his wild features into various +dreadful appearances. There wanted nothing but this object to render the +scene complete; banditti amongst such melancholy desolation would have +been by no means so much in keeping. But the maniac, on his stone, in +the rear of the wind-beaten ruin, overlooking the blasted heath, above +which scowled the leaden heaven, presented such a picture of gloom and +misery as I believe neither painter nor poet ever conceived in the +saddest of their musings. This is not the first instance in which it has +been my lot to verify the wisdom of the saying, that truth is sometimes +wilder than fiction. + +I remounted my mule, and proceeded till, on the top of another hill, my +guide suddenly exclaimed, “there is Elvas.” I looked in the direction in +which he pointed, and beheld a town perched on the top of a lofty hill. +On the other side of a deep valley towards the left rose another hill, +much higher, on the top of which is the celebrated fort of Elvas, +believed to be the strongest place in Portugal. Through the opening +between the fort and the town, but in the background and far in Spain, I +discerned the misty sides and cloudy head of a stately mountain, which I +afterwards learned was Albuquerque, one of the loftiest of Estremadura. + +We now got into a cultivated country, and following the road, which wound +amongst hedgerows, we arrived at a place where the ground began gradually +to shelve down. Here, on the right, was the commencement of an aqueduct +by means of which the town on the opposite hill was supplied; it was at +this point scarcely two feet in altitude, but, as we descended, it became +higher and higher, and its proportions more colossal. Near the bottom of +the valley it took a turn to the left, bestriding the road with one of +its arches. I looked up, after passing under it; the water must have +been flowing near a hundred feet above my head, and I was filled with +wonder at the immensity of the structure which conveyed it. There was, +however, one feature which was no slight drawback to its pretensions to +grandeur and magnificence; the water was supported not by gigantic single +arches, like those of the aqueduct of Lisbon, which stalk over the valley +like legs of Titans, but by three layers of arches, which, like three +distinct aqueducts, rise above each other. The expense and labour +necessary for the erection of such a structure must have been enormous; +and, when we reflect with what comparative ease modern art would confer +the same advantage, we cannot help congratulating ourselves that we live +in times when it is not necessary to exhaust the wealth of a province to +supply a town on a hill with one of the first necessaries of existence. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + + +Elvas—Extraordinary Longevity—The English Nation—Portuguese +Ingratitude—Illiberality—Fortifications—Spanish Beggar—Badajoz—The Custom +House. + +Arrived at the gate of Elvas, an officer came out of a kind of guard +house, and, having asked me some questions, despatched a soldier with me +to the police office, that my passport might be viséed, as upon the +frontier they are much more particular with respect to passports than in +other parts. This matter having been settled, I entered an hostelry near +the same gate, which had been recommended to me by my host at Vendas +Novas, and which was kept by a person of the name of Joze Rosado. It was +the best in the town, though, for convenience and accommodation, inferior +to a hedge alehouse in England. The cold still pursued me, and I was +glad to take refuge in an inner kitchen, which, when the door was not +open, was only lighted by a fire burning somewhat dimly on the hearth. +An elderly female sat beside it in her chair, telling her beads: there +was something singular and extraordinary in her look, as well as I could +discern by the imperfect light of the apartment. I put a few unimportant +questions to her, to which she replied, but seemed to be afflicted to a +slight degree with deafness. Her hair was becoming grey, and I said that +I believed she was older than myself, but that I was confident she had +less snow on her head. + +“How old may you be, cavalier?” said she, giving me that title which in +Spain is generally used when an extraordinary degree of respect is wished +to be exhibited. I answered that I was near thirty. “Then,” said she, +“you were right in supposing that I am older than yourself; I am older +than your mother, or your mother’s mother: it is more than a hundred +years since I was a girl, and sported with the daughters of the town on +the hillside.” “In that case,” said I, “you doubtless remember the +earthquake.” “Yes,” she replied, “if there is any occurrence in my life +that I remember, it is that: I was in the church of Elvas at the moment, +hearing the mass of the king, and the priest fell on the ground, and let +fall the Host from his hands. I shall never forget how the earth shook; +it made us all sick; and the houses and walls reeled like drunkards. +Since that happened I have seen fourscore years pass by me, yet I was +older then than you are now.” + +I looked with wonder at this surprising female, and could scarcely +believe her words. I was, however, assured that she was in fact upwards +of a hundred and ten years of age, and was considered the oldest person +in Portugal. She still retained the use of her faculties in as full a +degree as the generality of people who have scarcely attained the half of +her age. She was related to the people of the house. + +As the night advanced, several persons entered for the purpose of +enjoying the comfort of the fire and for the sake of conversation, for +the house was a kind of news room, where the principal speaker was the +host, a man of some shrewdness and experience, who had served as a +soldier in the British army. Amongst others was the officer who +commanded at the gate. After a few observations, this gentleman, who was +a good-looking young man of five-and-twenty, began to burst forth in +violent declamation against the English nation and government, who, he +said, had at all times proved themselves selfish and deceitful, but that +their present conduct in respect to Spain was particularly infamous, for +though it was in their power to put an end to the war at once, by sending +a large army thither, they preferred sending a handful of troops, in +order that the war might be prolonged, for no other reason than that it +was of advantage to them. Having paid him an ironical compliment for his +politeness and urbanity, I asked whether he reckoned amongst the selfish +actions of the English government and nation, their having expended +hundreds of millions of pounds sterling, and an ocean of precious blood, +in fighting the battles of Spain and Portugal against Napoleon. +“Surely,” said I, “the fort of Elvas above our heads, and still more the +castle of Badajoz over the water, speak volumes respecting English +selfishness, and must, every time you view them, confirm you in the +opinion which you have just expressed. And then, with respect to the +present combat in Spain, the gratitude which that country evinced to +England after the French, by means of English armies, had been +expelled,—gratitude evinced by discouraging the trade of England on all +occasions, and by offering up masses in thanksgiving when the English +heretics quitted the Spanish shores,—ought now to induce England to +exhaust and ruin herself, for the sake of hunting Don Carlos out of his +mountains. In deference to your superior judgment,” continued I to the +officer, “I will endeavour to believe that it would be for the advantage +of England were the war prolonged for an indefinite period; nevertheless, +you would do me a particular favour by explaining by what process in +chemistry blood shed in Spain will find its way into the English treasury +in the shape of gold.” + +As he was not ready with his answer, I took up a plate of fruit which +stood on the table beside me, and said, “What do you call these fruits?” +“Pomegranates and bolotas,” he replied. “Right,” said I, “a home-bred +Englishman could not have given me that answer; yet he is as much +acquainted with pomegranates and bolotas as your lordship is with the +line of conduct which it is incumbent upon England to pursue in her +foreign and domestic policy.” + +This answer of mine, I confess, was not that of a Christian, and proved +to me how much of the leaven of the ancient man still pervaded me; yet I +must be permitted to add, that I believe no other provocation would have +elicited from me a reply so full of angry feeling: but I could not +command myself when I heard my own glorious land traduced in this +unmerited manner. By whom? A Portuguese! A native of a country which +has been twice liberated from horrid and detestable thraldom by the hands +of Englishmen. But for Wellington and his heroes, Portugal would have +been French at this day; but for Napier and his mariners, Miguel would +now be lording it in Lisbon. To return, however, to the officer; every +one laughed at him, and he presently went away. + +The next day I became acquainted with a respectable tradesman of the name +of Almeida, a man of talent, though rather rough in his manners. He +expressed great abhorrence of the papal system, which had so long spread +a darkness like that of death over his unfortunate country, and I had no +sooner informed him that I had brought with me a certain quantity of +Testaments, which it was my intention to leave for sale at Elvas, than he +expressed a great desire to undertake the charge, and said that he would +do the utmost in his power to procure a sale for them amongst his +numerous customers. Upon showing him a copy, I remarked, your name is +upon the title page; the Portuguese version of the Holy Scriptures, +circulated by the Bible Society, having been executed by a Protestant of +the name of Almeida, and first published in the year 1712; whereupon he +smiled, and observed that he esteemed it an honour to be connected in +name at least with such a man. He scoffed at the idea of receiving any +remuneration, and assured me that the feeling of being permitted to +co-operate in so holy and useful a cause as the circulation of the +Scriptures was quite a sufficient reward. + +After having accomplished this matter, I proceeded to survey the environs +of the place, and strolled up the hill to the fort on the north side of +the town. The lower part of the hill is planted with azinheiras, which +give it a picturesque appearance, and at the bottom is a small brook, +which I crossed by means of stepping stones. Arrived at the gate of the +fort, I was stopped by the sentry, who, however, civilly told me, that if +I sent in my name to the commanding officer he would make no objection to +my visiting the interior. I accordingly sent in my card by a soldier who +was lounging about, and, sitting down on a stone, waited his return. He +presently appeared, and inquired whether I was an Englishman; to which, +having replied in the affirmative, he said, “In that case, sir, you +cannot enter; indeed, it is not the custom to permit any foreigners to +visit the fort.” I answered that it was perfectly indifferent to me +whether I visited it or not; and, having taken a survey of Badajoz from +the eastern side of the hill, descended by the way I came. + +This is one of the beneficial results of protecting a nation and +squandering blood and treasure in its defence. The English, who have +never been at war with Portugal, who have fought for its independence on +land and sea, and always with success, who have forced themselves by a +treaty of commerce to drink its coarse and filthy wines, which no other +nation cares to taste, are the most unpopular people who visit Portugal. +The French have ravaged the country with fire and sword, and shed the +blood of its sons like water; the French buy not its fruits and loathe +its wines, yet there is no bad spirit in Portugal towards the French. +The reason of this is no mystery; it is the nature not of the Portuguese +only, but of corrupt and unregenerate man, to dislike his benefactors, +who, by conferring benefits upon him, mortify in the most generous manner +his miserable vanity. + +There is no country in which the English are so popular as in France; +but, though the French have been frequently roughly handled by the +English, and have seen their capital occupied by an English army, they +have never been subjected to the supposed ignominy of receiving +assistance from them. + +The fortifications of Elvas are models of their kind, and, at the first +view, it would seem that the town, if well garrisoned, might bid defiance +to any hostile power; but it has its weak point: the western side is +commanded by a hill, at the distance of half a mile, from which an +experienced general would cannonade it, and probably with success. It is +the last town in this part of Portugal, the distance to the Spanish +frontier being barely two leagues. It was evidently built as a rival to +Badajoz, upon which it looks down from its height across a sandy plain +and over the sullen waters of the Guadiana; but, though a strong town, it +can scarcely be called a defence to the frontier, which is open on all +sides, so that there would not be the slightest necessity for an invading +army to approach within a dozen leagues of its walls, should it be +disposed to avoid them. Its fortifications are so extensive that ten +thousand men at least would be required to man them, who, in the event of +an invasion, might be far better employed in meeting the enemy in the +open field. The French, during their occupation of Portugal, kept a +small force in this place, who, at the approach of the British, retreated +to the fort, where they shortly after capitulated. + +Having nothing farther to detain me at Elvas, I proceeded to cross the +frontier into Spain. My idiot guide was on his way back to Aldea +Gallega; and, on the fifth of January, I mounted a sorry mule without +bridle or stirrups, which I guided by a species of halter, and followed +by a lad who was to attend me on another, I spurred down the hill of +Elvas to the plain, eager to arrive in old chivalrous romantic Spain. +But I soon found that I had no need to quicken the beast which bore me, +for though covered with sores, wall-eyed, and with a kind of halt in its +gait, it cantered along like the wind. + +In little more than half an hour we arrived at a brook, whose waters ran +vigorously between steep banks. A man who was standing on the side +directed me to the ford in the squeaking dialect of Portugal; but whilst +I was yet splashing through the water, a voice from the other bank hailed +me, in the magnificent language of Spain, in this guise: “_O Senor +Caballero_, _que me de usted una limosna por amor de Dios_, _una +limosnita para que io me compre un traguillo de vino tinto_” (Charity, +Sir Cavalier, for the love of God, bestow an alms upon me, that I may +purchase a mouthful of red wine). In a moment I was on Spanish ground, +as the brook, which is called Acaia, is the boundary here of the two +kingdoms, and having flung the beggar a small piece of silver, I cried in +ecstasy “_Santiago y cierra Espana_!” and scoured on my way with more +speed than before, paying, as Gil Blas says, little heed to the torrent +of blessings which the mendicant poured forth in my rear: yet never was +charity more unwisely bestowed, for I was subsequently informed that the +fellow was a confirmed drunkard, who took his station every morning at +the ford, where he remained the whole day for the purpose of extorting +money from the passengers, which he regularly spent every night in the +wine-shops of Badajoz. To those who gave him money he returned +blessings, and to those who refused, curses; being equally skilled and +fluent in the use of either. + +Badajoz was now in view, at the distance of little more than half a +league. We soon took a turn to the left, towards a bridge of many arches +across the Guadiana, which, though so famed in song and ballad, is a very +unpicturesque stream, shallow and sluggish, though tolerably wide; its +banks were white with linen which the washer-women had spread out to dry +in the sun, which was shining brightly; I heard their singing at a great +distance, and the theme seemed to be the praises of the river where they +were toiling, for as I approached, I could distinguish Guadiana, +Guadiana, which reverberated far and wide, pronounced by the clear and +strong voices of many a dark-cheeked maid and matron. I thought there +was some analogy between their employment and my own: I was about to tan +my northern complexion by exposing myself to the hot sun of Spain, in the +humble hope of being able to cleanse some of the foul stains of Popery +from the minds of its children, with whom I had little acquaintance, +whilst they were bronzing themselves on the banks of the river in order +to make white the garments of strangers: the words of an eastern poet +returned forcibly to my mind. + + “I’ll weary myself each night and each day, + To aid my unfortunate brothers; + As the laundress tans her own face in the ray, + To cleanse the garments of others.” + +Having crossed the bridge, we arrived at the northern gate, when out +rushed from a species of sentry box a fellow wearing on his head a +high-peaked Andalusian hat, with his figure wrapped up in one of those +immense cloaks so well known to those who have travelled in Spain, and +which none but a Spaniard can wear in a becoming manner: without saying a +word, he laid hold of the halter of the mule, and began to lead it +through the gate up a dirty street, crowded with long-cloaked people like +himself. I asked him what he meant, but he deigned not to return an +answer, the boy, however, who waited upon me said that it was one of the +gate-keepers, and that he was conducting us to the Custom House or +Alfandega, where the baggage would be examined. Having arrived there, +the fellow, who still maintained a dogged silence, began to pull the +trunks off the sumpter mule, and commenced uncording them. I was about +to give him a severe reproof for his brutality, but before I could open +my mouth a stout elderly personage appeared at the door, who I soon found +was the principal officer. He looked at me for a moment and then asked +me, in the English language, if I was an Englishman. On my replying in +the affirmative, he demanded of the fellow how he dared to have the +insolence to touch the baggage, without orders, and sternly bade him cord +up the trunks again and place them on the mule, which he performed +without uttering a word. The gentleman then asked what the trunks +contained: I answered clothes and linen; when he begged pardon for the +insolence of the subordinate, and informed him that I was at liberty to +proceed where I thought proper. I thanked him for his exceeding +politeness, and, under guidance of the boy, made the best of my way to +the Inn of the Three Nations, to which I had been recommended at Elvas. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + + +Badajoz—Antonio the Gypsy—Antonio’s Proposal—The Proposal Accepted—Gypsy +Breakfast—Departure from Badajoz—The Gypsy Donkey—Merida—The Ruined +Wall—The Crone—The Land of the Moor—The Black Men—Life in the Desert—The +Supper. + +I was now at Badajoz in Spain, a country which for the next four years +was destined to be the scene of my labour: but I will not anticipate. +The neighbourhood of Badajoz did not prepossess me much in favour of the +country which I had just entered; it consists chiefly of brown moors, +which bear little but a species of brushwood, called in Spanish +_carrasco_; blue mountains are however seen towering up in the far +distance, which relieve the scene from the monotony which would otherwise +pervade it. + +It was at this town of Badajoz, the capital of Estremadura, that I first +fell in with those singular people, the Zincali, Gitanos, or Spanish +gypsies. It was here I met with the wild Paco, the man with the withered +arm, who wielded the cachas (_shears_) with his left hand; his shrewd +wife, Antonia, skilled in hokkano baro, or the great trick; the fierce +gypsy, Antonio Lopez, their father-in-law; and many other almost equally +singular individuals of the Errate, or gypsy blood. It was here that I +first preached the gospel to the gypsy people, and commenced that +translation of the New Testament in the Spanish gypsy tongue, a portion +of which I subsequently printed at Madrid. + +After a stay of three weeks at Badajoz, I prepared to depart for Madrid: +late one afternoon, as I was arranging my scanty baggage, the gypsy +Antonio entered my apartment, dressed in his zamarra and high-peaked +Andalusian hat. + +_Antonio_.—Good evening, brother; they tell me that on the callicaste +(_day after to-morrow_) you intend to set out for Madrilati. + +_Myself_.—Such is my intention; I can stay here no longer. + +_Antonio_.—The way is far to Madrilati: there are, moreover, wars in the +land and many chories (_thieves_) walk about; are you not afraid to +journey? + +_Myself_.—I have no fears; every man must accomplish his destiny: what +befalls my body or soul was written in a gabicote (_book_) a thousand +years before the foundation of the world. + +_Antonio_.—I have no fears myself, brother; the dark night is the same to +me as the fair day, and the wild carrascal as the market-place or the +chardy (_fair_); I have got the bar lachi in my bosom, the precious stone +to which sticks the needle. + +_Myself_.—You mean the loadstone, I suppose. Do you believe that a +lifeless stone can preserve you from the dangers which occasionally +threaten your life? + +_Antonio_.—Brother, I am fifty years old, and you see me standing before +you in life and strength; how could that be unless the bar lachi had +power? I have been soldier and contrabandista, and I have likewise slain +and robbed the Busné. The bullets of the Gabiné (_French_) and of the +jara canallis (_revenue officers_) have hissed about my ears without +injuring me, for I carried the bar lachi. I have twenty times done that +which by Busnée law should have brought me to the filimicha (_gallows_), +yet my neck has never yet been squeezed by the cold garrote. Brother, I +trust in the bar lachi, like the Caloré of old: were I in the midst of +the gulph of Bombardo (_Lyons_), without a plank to float upon, I should +feel no fear; for if I carried the precious stone, it would bring me safe +to shore: the bar lachi has power, brother. + +_Myself_.—I shall not dispute the matter with you, more especially as I +am about to depart from Badajoz: I must speedily bid you farewell, and we +shall see each other no more. + +_Antonio_.—Brother, do you know what brings me hither? + +_Myself_.—I cannot tell, unless it be to wish me a happy journey: I am +not gypsy enough to interpret the thoughts of other people. + +_Antonio_.—All last night I lay awake, thinking of the affairs of Egypt; +and when I arose in the morning I took the bar lachi from my bosom, and +scraping it with a knife, swallowed some of the dust in aguardiente, as I +am in the habit of doing when I have made up my mind; and I said to +myself, I am wanted on the frontiers of Castumba (_Castile_) on a certain +matter. The strange Caloro is about to proceed to Madrilati; the journey +is long, and he may fall into evil hands, peradventure into those of his +own blood; for let me tell you, brother, the Calés are leaving their +towns and villages, and forming themselves into troops to plunder the +Busné, for there is now but little law in the land, and now or never is +the time for the Caloré to become once more what they were in former +times; so I said, the strange Caloro may fall into the hands of his own +blood and be ill-treated by them, which were shame: I will therefore go +with him through the Chim del Manro (_Estremadura_) as far as the +frontiers of Castumba, and upon the frontiers of Castumba I will leave +the London Caloro to find his own way to Madrilati, for there is less +danger in Castumba than in the Chim del Manro, and I will then betake me +to the affairs of Egypt which call me from hence. + +_Myself_.—This is a very hopeful plan of yours, my friend; and in what +manner do you propose that we shall travel? + +_Antonio_.—I will tell you, brother; I have a gras in the stall, even the +one which I purchased at Olivenças, as I told you on a former occasion; +it is good and fleet, and cost me, who am a gypsy, fifty chulé +(_dollars_); upon that gras you shall ride. As for myself, I will +journey upon the macho. + +_Myself_.—Before I answer you, I shall wish you to inform me what +business it is which renders your presence necessary in Castumba; your +son-in-law, Paco, told me that it was no longer the custom of the gypsies +to wander. + +_Antonio_.—It is an affair of Egypt, brother, and I shall not acquaint +you with it; peradventure it relates to a horse or an ass, or +peradventure it relates to a mule or a macho; it does not relate to +yourself, therefore I advise you not to inquire about it—Dosta +(_enough_). With respect to my offer, you are free to decline it; there +is a drungruje (_royal road_) between here and Madrilati, and you can +travel it in the birdoche (_stage-coach_) or with the dromale +(_muleteers_); but I tell you, as a brother, that there are chories upon +the drun, and some of them are of the Errate. + +Certainly few people in my situation would have accepted the offer of +this singular gypsy. It was not, however, without its allurements for +me; I was fond of adventure, and what more ready means of gratifying my +love of it than by putting myself under the hands of such a guide. There +are many who would have been afraid of treachery, but I had no fears on +this point, as I did not believe that the fellow harboured the slightest +ill intention towards me; I saw that he was fully convinced that I was +one of the Errate, and his affection for his own race, and his hatred for +the Busné, were his strongest characteristics. I wished, moreover, to +lay hold of every opportunity of making myself acquainted with the ways +of the Spanish gypsies, and an excellent one here presented itself on my +first entrance into Spain. In a word, I determined to accompany the +gypsy. “I will go with you,” I exclaimed; “as for my baggage, I will +despatch it to Madrid by the birdoche.” “Do so, brother,” he replied, +“and the gras will go lighter. Baggage, indeed!—what need of baggage +have you? How the Busné on the road would laugh if they saw two Calés +with baggage behind them.” + +During my stay at Badajoz, I had but little intercourse with the +Spaniards, my time being chiefly devoted to the gypsies, with whom, from +long intercourse with various sections of their race in different parts +of the world, I felt myself much more at home than with the silent, +reserved men of Spain, with whom a foreigner might mingle for half a +century without having half a dozen words addressed to him, unless he +himself made the first advances to intimacy, which, after all, might be +rejected with a shrug and a _no intendo_; for, among the many deeply +rooted prejudices of these people, is the strange idea that no foreigner +can speak their language; an idea to which they will still cling though +they hear him conversing with perfect ease; for in that case the utmost +that they will concede to his attainments is, _Habla quatro palabras y +nada mas_ (he can speak four words, and no more). + +Early one morning, before sunrise, I found myself at the house of +Antonio; it was a small mean building, situated in a dirty street. The +morning was quite dark; the street, however, was partially illumined by a +heap of lighted straw, round which two or three men were busily engaged, +apparently holding an object over the flames. Presently the gypsy’s door +opened, and Antonio made his appearance; and, casting his eye in the +direction of the light, exclaimed, “The swine have killed their brother; +would that every Busno was served as yonder hog is. Come in, brother, +and we will eat the heart of that hog.” I scarcely understood his words, +but, following him, he led me into a low room in which was a brasero, or +small pan full of lighted charcoal; beside it was a rude table, spread +with a coarse linen cloth, upon which was bread and a large pipkin full +of a mess which emitted no disagreeable savour. “The heart of the +balichow is in that puchera,” said Antonio; “eat, brother.” We both sat +down and ate, Antonio voraciously. When we had concluded he arose:—“Have +you got your _li_?” he demanded. “Here it is,” said I, showing him my +passport. “Good,” said he, “you may want it; I want none, my passport is +the bar lachi. Now for a glass of repani, and then for the road.” + +We left the room, the door of which he locked, hiding the key beneath a +loose brick in a corner of the passage. “Go into the street, brother, +whilst I fetch the caballerias from the stable.” I obeyed him. The sun +had not yet risen, and the air was piercingly cold; the grey light, +however, of dawn enabled me to distinguish objects with tolerable +accuracy; I soon heard the clattering of the animals’ feet, and Antonio +presently stepped forth leading the horse by the bridle; the macho +followed behind. I looked at the horse and shrugged my shoulders: as far +as I could scan it, it appeared the most uncouth animal I had ever +beheld. It was of a spectral white, short in the body, but with +remarkably long legs. I observed that it was particularly high in the +cruz or withers. “You are looking at the grasti,” said Antonio; “it is +eighteen years old, but it is the very best in the Chim del Manro; I have +long had my eye upon it; I bought it for my own use for the affairs of +Egypt. Mount, brother, mount and let us leave the foros—the gate is +about being opened.” + +He locked the door, and deposited the key in his faja. In less than a +quarter of an hour we had left the town behind us. “This does not appear +to be a very good horse,” said I to Antonio, as we proceeded over the +plain. “It is with difficulty that I can make him move.” + +“He is the swiftest horse in the Chim del Manro, brother,” said Antonio; +“at the gallop and at the speedy trot there is no one to match him; but +he is eighteen years old, and his joints are stiff, especially of a +morning; but let him once become heated and the genio del viejo (_spirit +of the old man_) comes upon him and there is no holding him in with bit +or bridle. I bought that horse for the affairs of Egypt, brother.” + +About noon we arrived at a small village in the neighbourhood of a high +lumpy hill. “There is no Calo house in this place,” said Antonio; “we +will therefore go to the posada of the Busné, and refresh ourselves, man +and beast.” We entered the kitchen and sat down at the boards, calling +for wine and bread. There were two ill-looking fellows in the kitchen, +smoking cigars; I said something to Antonio in the Calo language. + +“What is that I hear?” said one of the fellows, who was distinguished by +an immense pair of moustaches. “What is that I hear? is it in Calo that +you are speaking before me, and I a Chalan and national? Accursed gypsy, +how dare you enter this posada and speak before me in that speech? Is it +not forbidden by the law of the land in which we are, even as it is +forbidden for a gypsy to enter the mercado? I tell you what, friend, if +I hear another word of Calo come from your mouth, I will cudgel your +bones and send you flying over the house-tops with a kick of my foot.” + +“You would do right,” said his companion; “the insolence of these gypsies +is no longer to be borne. When I am at Merida or Badajoz I go to the +mercado, and there in a corner stand the accursed gypsies jabbering to +each other in a speech which I understand not. ‘Gypsy gentleman,’ say I +to one of them, ‘what will you have for that donkey?’ ‘I will have ten +dollars for it, Caballero nacional,’ says the gypsy; ‘it is the best +donkey in all Spain.’ ‘I should like to see its paces,’ say I. ‘That +you shall, most valorous!’ says the gypsy, and jumping upon its back, he +puts it to its paces, first of all whispering something into its ears in +Calo, and truly the paces of the donkey are most wonderful, such as I +have never seen before. ‘I think it will just suit me,’ and after +looking at it awhile, I take out the money and pay for it. ‘I shall go +to my house,’ says the gypsy; and off he runs. ‘I shall go to my +village,’ say I, and I mount the donkey. ‘Vamonos,’ say I, but the +donkey won’t move. I give him a switch, but I don’t get on the better +for that. ‘How is this?’ say I, and I fall to spurring him. What +happens then, brother? The wizard no sooner feels the prick than he +bucks down, and flings me over his head into the mire. I get up and look +about me; there stands the donkey staring at me, and there stand the +whole gypsy canaille squinting at me with their filmy eyes. ‘Where is +the scamp who has sold me this piece of furniture?’ I shout. ‘He is gone +to Granada, Valorous,’ says one. ‘He is gone to see his kindred among +the Moors,’ says another. ‘I just saw him running over the field, in the +direction of ---, with the devil close behind him,’ says a third. In a +word, I am tricked. I wish to dispose of the donkey; no one, however, +will buy him; he is a Calo donkey, and every person avoids him. At last +the gypsies offer thirty rials for him; and after much chaffering I am +glad to get rid of him at two dollars. It is all a trick, however; he +returns to his master, and the brotherhood share the spoil amongst them. +All which villainy would be prevented, in my opinion, were the Calo +language not spoken; for what but the word of Calo could have induced the +donkey to behave in such an unaccountable manner?” + +Both seemed perfectly satisfied with the justness of this conclusion, and +continued smoking till their cigars were burnt to stumps, when they +arose, twitched their whiskers, looked at us with fierce disdain, and +dashing the tobacco-ends to the ground, strode out of the apartment. + +“Those people seem no friends to the gypsies,” said I to Antonio, when +the two bullies had departed, “nor to the Calo language either.” + +“May evil glanders seize their nostrils,” said Antonio; “they have been +jonjabadoed by our people. However, brother, you did wrong to speak to +me in Calo, in a posada like this; it is a forbidden language; for, as I +have often told you, the king has destroyed the law of the Calés. Let us +away, brother, or those juntunes (_sneaking scoundrels_) may set the +justicia upon us.” + +Towards evening we drew near to a large town or village. “That is +Merida,” said Antonio, “formerly, as the Busné say, a mighty city of the +Corahai. We shall stay here to-night, and perhaps for a day or two, for +I have some business of Egypt to transact in this place. Now, brother, +step aside with the horse, and wait for me beneath yonder wall. I must +go before and see in what condition matters stand.” + +I dismounted from the horse, and sat down on a stone beneath the ruined +wall to which Antonio had motioned me; the sun went down, and the air was +exceedingly keen; I drew close around me an old tattered gypsy cloak with +which my companion had provided me, and being somewhat fatigued, fell +into a doze which lasted for nearly an hour. + +“Is your worship the London Caloro?” said a strange voice close beside +me. + +I started and beheld the face of a woman peering under my hat. +Notwithstanding the dusk, I could see that the features were hideously +ugly and almost black; they belonged, in fact, to a gypsy crone, at least +seventy years of age, leaning upon a staff. + +“Is your worship the London Caloro?” repeated she. + +“I am he whom you seek,” said I; “where is Antonio?” + +“_Curelando_, _curelando_, _baribustres curelos terela_,” {90} said the +crone: “come with me, Caloro of my garlochin, come with me to my little +ker, he will be there anon.” + +I followed the crone, who led the way into the town, which was ruinous +and seemingly half deserted; we went up the street, from which she turned +into a narrow and dark lane, and presently opened the gate of a large +dilapidated house; “Come in,” said she. + +“And the gras?” I demanded. + +“Bring the gras in too, my chabo, bring the gras in too; there is room +for the gras in my little stable.” We entered a large court, across +which we proceeded till we came to a wide doorway. “Go in, my child of +Egypt,” said the hag; “go in, that is my little stable.” + +“The place is as dark as pitch,” said I, “and may be a well for what I +know; bring a light or I will not enter.” + +“Give me the solabarri (_bridle_),” said the hag, “and I will lead your +horse in, my chabo of Egypt, yes, and tether him to my little manger.” +She led the horse through the doorway, and I heard her busy in the +darkness; presently the horse shook himself: “_Grasti terelamos_,” said +the hag, who now made her appearance with the bridle in her hand; “the +horse has shaken himself, he is not harmed by his day’s journey; now let +us go in, my Caloro, into my little room.” + +We entered the house and found ourselves in a vast room, which would have +been quite dark but for a faint glow which appeared at the farther end; +it proceeded from a brasero, beside which were squatted two dusky +figures. + +“These are Callees,” said the hag; “one is my daughter and the other is +her chabi; sit down, my London Caloro, and let us hear you speak.” + +I looked about for a chair, but could see none; at a short distance, +however, I perceived the end of a broken pillar lying on the floor; this +I rolled to the brasero and sat down upon it. + +“This is a fine house, mother of the gypsies,” said I to the hag, willing +to gratify the desire she had expressed of hearing me speak; “a fine +house is this of yours, rather cold and damp, though; it appears large +enough to be a barrack for hundunares.” + +“Plenty of houses in this foros, plenty of houses in Merida, my London +Caloro, some of them just as they were left by the Corahanoes; ah, a fine +people are the Corahanoes; I often wish myself in their chim once more.” + +“How is this, mother,” said I, “have you been in the land of the Moors?” + +“Twice have I been in their country, my Caloro,—twice have I been in the +land of the Corahai; the first time is more than fifty years ago, I was +then with the Sese (_Spaniards_), for my husband was a soldier of the +Crallis of Spain, and Oran at that time belonged to Spain.” + +“You were not then with the real Moors,” said I, “but only with the +Spaniards who occupied part of their country.” + +“I have been with the real Moors, my London Caloro. Who knows more of +the real Moors than myself? About forty years ago I was with my ro in +Ceuta, for he was still a soldier of the king, and he said to me one day, +‘I am tired of this place where there is no bread and less water, I will +escape and turn Corahano; this night I will kill my sergeant and flee to +the camp of the Moor.’ ‘Do so,’ said I, ‘my chabo, and as soon as may be +I will follow you and become a Corahani.’ That same night he killed his +sergeant, who five years before had called him Calo and cursed him, then +running to the wall he dropped from it, and amidst many shots he escaped +to the land of the Corahai, as for myself, I remained in the presidio of +Ceuta as a suttler, selling wine and repani to the soldiers. Two years +passed by and I neither saw nor heard from my ro; one day there came a +strange man to my cachimani (_wine-shop_), he was dressed like a +Corahano, and yet he did not look like one, he looked like more a +callardo (_black_), and yet he was not a callardo either, though he was +almost black, and as I looked upon him I thought he looked something like +the Errate, and he said to me, ‘Zincali; chachipé!’ and then he whispered +to me in queer language, which I could scarcely understand, ‘Your ro is +waiting, come with me, my little sister, and I will take you unto him.’ +‘Where is he?’ said I, and he pointed to the west, to the land of the +Corahai, and said, ‘He is yonder away; come with me, little sister, the +ro is waiting.’ For a moment I was afraid, but I bethought me of my +husband and I wished to be amongst the Corahai; so I took the little +parné (_money_) I had, and locking up the cachimani went with the strange +man; the sentinel challenged us at the gate, but I gave him repani +(_brandy_) and he let us pass; in a moment we were in the land of the +Corahai. About a league from the town beneath a hill we found four +people, men and women, all very black like the strange man, and we joined +ourselves with them and they all saluted me and called me little sister. +That was all I understood of their discourse, which was very crabbed; and +they took away my dress and gave me other clothes, and I looked like a +Corahani, and away we marched for many days amidst deserts and small +villages, and more than once it seemed to me that I was amongst the +Errate, for their ways were the same: the men would hokkawar (_cheat_) +with mules and asses, and the women told baji, and after many days we +came before a large town, and the black man said, ‘Go in there, little +sister, and there you will find your ro;’ and I went to the gate, and an +armed Corahano stood within the gate, and I looked in his face, and lo! +it was my ro. + +“O what a strange town it was that I found myself in, full of people who +had once been Candoré (_Christians_) but had renegaded and become +Corahai. There were Sese and Laloré (_Portuguese_), and men of other +nations, and amongst them were some of the Errate from my own country; +all were now soldiers of the Crallis of the Corahai and followed him to +his wars; and in that town I remained with my ro a long time, +occasionally going out with him to the wars, and I often asked him about +the black men who had brought me thither, and he told me that he had had +dealings with them, and that he believed them to be of the Errate. Well, +brother, to be short, my ro was killed in the wars, before a town to +which the king of the Corahai laid siege, and I became a piuli (_widow_), +and I returned to the village of the renegades, as it was called, and +supported myself as well as I could; and one day as I was sitting +weeping, the black man, whom I had never seen since the day he brought me +to my ro, again stood before me, and he said, ‘Come with me, little +sister, come with me, the ro is at hand’; and I went with him, and beyond +the gate in the desert was the same party of black men and women which I +had seen before. ‘Where is my ro?’ said I. ‘Here he is, little sister,’ +said the black man, ‘here he is; from this day I am the ro and you the +romi; come, let us go, for there is business to be done.’ + +“And I went with him, and he was my ro, and we lived amongst the deserts, +and hokkawar’d and choried and told baji; and I said to myself, this is +good, sure I am amongst the Errate in a better chim than my own; and I +often said that they were of the Errate, and then they would laugh and +say that it might be so, and that they were not Corahai, but they could +give no account of themselves. + +“Well, things went on in this way for years, and I had three chai by the +black man, two of them died, but the youngest, who is the Calli who sits +by the brasero, was spared; so we roamed about and choried and told baji; +and it came to pass that once in the winter time our company attempted to +pass a wide and deep river, of which there are many in the Chim del +Corahai, and the boat overset with the rapidity of the current and all +our people were drowned, all but myself and my chabi, whom I bore in my +bosom. I had now no friends amongst the Corahai, and I wandered about +the despoblados howling and lamenting till I became half lili (_mad_), +and in this manner I found my way to the coast, where I made friends with +the captain of a ship and returned to this land of Spain. And now I am +here, I often wish myself back again amongst the Corahai.” + +Here she commenced laughing loud and long, and when she had ceased, her +daughter and grandchild took up the laugh, which they continued so long +that I concluded they were all lunatics. + +Hour succeeded hour, and still we sat crouching over the brasero, from +which, by this time, all warmth had departed; the glow had long since +disappeared, and only a few dying sparks were to be distinguished. The +room or hall was now involved in utter darkness; the women were +motionless and still; I shivered and began to feel uneasy. “Will Antonio +be here to-night?” at length I demanded. + +“_No tenga usted cuidao_, my London Caloro,” said the Gypsy mother, in an +unearthly tone; “Pepindorio {93a} has been here some time.” + +I was about to rise from my seat and attempt to escape from the house, +when I felt a hand laid upon my shoulder, and in a moment I heard the +voice of Antonio. + +“Be not afraid, ’tis I, brother; we will have a light anon, and then +supper.” + +The supper was rude enough, consisting of bread, cheese, and olives. +Antonio, however, produced a leathern bottle of excellent wine; we +despatched these viands by the light of an earthen lamp which was placed +upon the floor. + +“Now,” said Antonio to the youngest female, “bring me the pajandi, and I +will sing a gachapla.” + +The girl brought the guitar, which, with some difficulty, the Gypsy +tuned, and then strumming it vigorously, he sang: + + “I stole a plump and bonny fowl, + But ere I well had dined, + The master came with scowl and growl, + And me would captive bind. + + “My hat and mantle off I threw, + And scour’d across the lea, + Then cried the beng {93b} with loud halloo, + Where does the Gypsy flee?” + +He continued playing and singing for a considerable time, the two younger +females dancing in the meanwhile with unwearied diligence, whilst the +aged mother occasionally snapped her fingers or beat time on the ground +with her stick. At last Antonio suddenly laid down the instrument:— + +“I see the London Caloro is weary; enough, enough, to-morrow more +thereof—we will now to the charipé (_bed_).” + +“With all my heart,” said I; “where are we to sleep?” + +“In the stable,” said he, “in the manger; however cold the stable may be +we shall be warm enough in the bufa.” + + + + +CHAPTER X + + +The Gypsy’s Granddaughter—Proposed Marriage—The Algnazil—The +Assault—Speedy Trot—Arrival at Trujillo—Night and Rain—The Forest—The +Bivouac—Mount and Away!—Jaraicejo—The National—The Cavalier +Balmerson—Among the Thickets—Serious Discourse—What is Truth?—Unexpected +Intelligence. + +We remained three days at the Gypsies’ house, Antonio departing early +every morning, on his mule, and returning late at night. The house was +large and ruinous, the only habitable part of it, with the exception of +the stable, being the hall, where we had supped, and there the Gypsy +females slept at night, on some mats and mattresses in a corner. + +“A strange house is this,” said I to Antonio, one morning as he was on +the point of saddling his mule and departing, as I supposed, on the +affairs of Egypt; “a strange house and strange people; that Gypsy +grandmother has all the appearance of a sowanee (_sorceress_).” + +“All the appearance of one!” said Antonio; “and is she not really one? +She knows more crabbed things and crabbed words than all the Errate +betwixt here and Catalonia. She has been amongst the wild Moors, and can +make more drows, poisons, and philtres than any one alive. She once made +a kind of paste, and persuaded me to taste, and shortly after I had done +so my soul departed from my body, and wandered through horrid forests and +mountains, amidst monsters and duendes, during one entire night. She +learned many things amidst the Corahai which I should be glad to know.” + +“Have you been long acquainted with her?” said I; “you appear to be quite +at home in this house.” + +“Acquainted with her!” said Antonio. “Did not my own brother marry the +black Calli, her daughter, who bore him the chabi, sixteen years ago, +just before he was hanged by the Busné?” + +In the afternoon I was seated with the Gypsy mother in the hall, the two +Callees were absent telling fortunes about the town and neighbourhood, +which was their principal occupation. “Are you married, my London +Caloro?” said the old woman to me. “Are you a ro?” + +_Myself_.—Wherefore do you ask, O Dai de los Cales? + +_Gypsy Mother_.—It is high time that the lacha of the chabi were taken +from her, and that she had a ro. You can do no better than take her for +romi, my London Caloro. + +_Myself_.—I am a stranger in this land, O mother of the Gypsies, and +scarcely know how to provide for myself, much less for a romi. + +_Gypsy Mother_.—She wants no one to provide for her, my London Caloro, +she can at any time provide for herself and her ro. She can hokkawar, +tell baji, and there are few to equal her at stealing a pastesas. Were +she once at Madrilati, where they tell me you are going, she would make +much treasure; therefore take her thither, for in this foros she is nahi +(_lost_), as it were, for there is nothing to be gained; but in the foros +baro it would be another matter; she would go dressed in lachipi and +sonacai (_silk and gold_), whilst you would ride about on your +black-tailed gra; and when you had got much treasure, you might return +hither and live like a Crallis, and all the Errate of the Chim del Manro +should bow down their heads to you. What, say you, my London Caloro, +what say you to my plan? + +Myself.—Your plan is a plausible one, mother, or at least some people +would think so; but I am, as you are aware, of another chim, and have no +inclination to pass my life in this country. + +_Gypsy Mother_.—Then return to your own country, my Caloro, the chabi can +cross the pani. Would she not do business in London with the rest of the +Caloré? Or why not go to the land of the Corahai? In which case I would +accompany you; I and my daughter, the mother of the chabi. + +_Myself_.—And what should we do in the land of the Corahai? It is a poor +and wild country, I believe. + +_Gypsy Mother_.—The London Caloro asks me what we could do in the land of +the Corahai! Aromali! I almost think that I am speaking to a lilipendi +(_simpleton_). Are there not horses to chore? Yes, I trow there are, +and better ones than in this land, and asses and mules. In the land of +the Corahai you must hokkawar and chore even as you must here, or in your +own country, or else you are no Caloro. Can you not join yourselves with +the black people who live in the despoblados? Yes, surely; and glad they +would be to have among them the Errate from Spain and London. I am +seventy years of age, but I wish not to die in this chim, but yonder, far +away, where both my roms are sleeping. Take the chabi, therefore, and go +to Madrilati to win the parné, and when you have got it, return, and we +will give a banquet to all the Busné in Merida, and in their food I will +mix drow, and they shall eat and burst like poisoned sheep. . . . And +when they have eaten we will leave them, and away to the land of the +Moor, my London Caloro. + +During the whole time that I remained at Merida I stirred not once from +the house; following the advice of Antonio, who informed me that it would +not be convenient. My time lay rather heavily on my hands, my only +source of amusement consisting in the conversation of the women, and in +that of Antonio when he made his appearance at night. In these tertulias +the grandmother was the principal spokeswoman, and astonished my ears +with wonderful tales of the Land of the Moors, prison escapes, thievish +feats, and one or two poisoning adventures, in which she had been +engaged, as she informed me, in her early youth. + +There was occasionally something very wild in her gestures and demeanour; +more than once I observed her, in the midst of much declamation, to stop +short, stare in vacancy, and thrust out her palms as if endeavouring to +push away some invisible substance; she goggled frightfully with her +eyes, and once sank back in convulsions, of which her children took no +farther notice than observing that she was only lili, and would soon come +to herself. + +Late in the afternoon of the third day, as the three women and myself sat +conversing as usual over the brasero, a shabby looking fellow in an old +rusty cloak walked into the room: he came straight up to the place where +we were sitting, produced a paper cigar, which he lighted at a coal, and +taking a whiff or two, looked at me: “Carracho,” said he, “who is this +companion?” + +I saw at once that the fellow was no Gypsy: the women said nothing, but I +could hear the grandmother growling to herself, something after the +manner of an old grimalkin when disturbed. + +“Carracho,” reiterated the fellow, “how came this companion here?” + +“_No le penela chi min chaboro_,” said the black Callee to me, in an +undertone; “_sin un balicho de los chineles_ {97};” then looking up to +the interrogator she said aloud, “he is one of our people from Portugal, +come on the smuggling lay, and to see his poor sisters here.” + +“Then let him give me some tobacco,” said the fellow, “I suppose he has +brought some with him.” + +“He has no tobacco,” said the black Callee, “he has nothing but old iron. +This cigar is the only tobacco there is in the house; take it, smoke it, +and go away!” + +Thereupon she produced a cigar from out her shoe, which she presented to +the alguazil. + +“This will not do,” said the fellow, taking the cigar, “I must have +something better; it is now three months since I received anything from +you; the last present was a handkerchief, which was good for nothing; +therefore hand me over something worth taking, or I will carry you all to +the Carcel.” + +“The Busno will take us to prison,” said the black Callee, “ha! ha! ha!” + +“The Chinel will take us to prison,” giggled the young girl “he! he! he!” + +“The Bengui will carry us all to the estaripel,” grunted the Gypsy +grandmother, “ho! ho! ho!” + +The three females arose and walked slowly round the fellow, fixing their +eyes steadfastly on his face; he appeared frightened, and evidently +wished to get away. Suddenly the two youngest seized his hands, and +whilst he struggled to release himself, the old woman exclaimed: “You +want tobacco, hijo—you come to the Gypsy house to frighten the Callees +and the strange Caloro out of their plako—truly, hijo, we have none for +you, and right sorry I am; we have, however, plenty of the dust _a su +servicio_.” + +Here, thrusting her hand into her pocket, she discharged a handful of +some kind of dust or snuff into the fellow’s eyes; he stamped and roared, +but was for some time held fast by the two Callees; he extricated +himself, however, and attempted to unsheath a knife which he bore at his +girdle; but the two younger females flung themselves upon him like +furies, while the old woman increased his disorder by thrusting her stick +into his face; he was soon glad to give up the contest, and retreated, +leaving behind him his hat and cloak, which the chabi gathered up and +flung after him into the street. + +“This is a bad business,” said I, “the fellow will of course bring the +rest of the justicia upon us, and we shall all be cast into the +estaripel.” + +“Ca!” said the black Callee, biting her thumb nail, “he has more reason +to fear us than we him, we could bring him to the filimicha; we have, +moreover, friends in this town, plenty, plenty.” + +“Yes,” mumbled the grandmother, “the daughters of the baji have friends, +my London Caloro, friends among the Busnees, baributre, baribu (_plenty_, +_plenty_).” + +Nothing farther of any account occurred in the Gypsy house; the next day, +Antonio and myself were again in the saddle, we travelled at least +thirteen leagues before we reached the Venta, where we passed the night; +we rose early in the morning, my guide informing me that we had a long +day’s journey to make. “Where are we bound to?” I demanded. “To +Trujillo,” he replied. + +When the sun arose, which it did gloomily and amidst threatening +rain-clouds, we found ourselves in the neighbourhood of a range of +mountains which lay on our left, and which, Antonio informed me, were +called the Sierra of San Selvan; our route, however, lay over wide +plains, scantily clothed with brushwood, with here and there a melancholy +village, with its old and dilapidated church. Throughout the greater +part of the day, a drizzling rain was falling, which turned the dust of +the roads into mud and mire, considerably impeding our progress. Towards +evening we reached a moor, a wild place enough, strewn with enormous +stones and rocks. Before us, at some distance, rose a strange conical +hill, rough and shaggy, which appeared to be neither more nor less than +an immense assemblage of the same kind of rocks which lay upon the moor. +The rain had now ceased, but a strong wind rose and howled at our backs. +Throughout the journey, I had experienced considerable difficulty in +keeping up with the mule of Antonio; the walk of the horse was slow, and +I could discover no vestige of the spirit which the Gypsy had assured me +lurked within him. We were now upon a tolerably clear spot of the moor: +“I am about to see,” I said, “whether this horse has any of the quality +which you have described.” “Do so,” said Antonio, and spurred his beast +onward, speedily leaving me far behind. I jerked the horse with the bit, +endeavouring to arouse his dormant spirit, whereupon he stopped, reared, +and refused to proceed. “Hold the bridle loose and touch him with your +whip,” shouted Antonio from before. I obeyed, and forthwith the animal +set off at a trot, which gradually increased in swiftness till it became +a downright furious speedy trot; his limbs were now thoroughly lithy, and +he brandished his fore legs in a manner perfectly wondrous; the mule of +Antonio, which was a spirited animal of excellent paces, would fain have +competed with him, but was passed in a twinkling. This tremendous trot +endured for about a mile, when the animal, becoming yet more heated, +broke suddenly into a gallop. Hurrah! no hare ever ran so wildly or +blindly; it was, literally, _ventre a terre_; and I had considerable +difficulty in keeping him clear of rocks, against which he would have +rushed in his savage fury, and dashed himself and rider to atoms. + +This race brought me to the foot of the hill, where I waited till the +Gypsy rejoined me: we left the hill, which seemed quite inaccessible, on +our right, passing through a small and wretched village. The sun went +down, and dark night presently came upon us; we proceeded on, however, +for nearly three hours, until we heard the barking of dogs, and perceived +a light or two in the distance. “That is Trujillo,” said Antonio, who +had not spoken for a long time. “I am glad of it,” I replied; “I am +thoroughly tired; I shall sleep soundly in Trujillo.” “That is as it may +be,” said the Gypsy, and spurred his mule to a brisker pace. We soon +entered the town, which appeared dark and gloomy enough; I followed close +behind the Gypsy, who led the way I knew not whither, through dismal +streets and dark places, where cats were squalling. “Here is the house,” +said he at last, dismounting before a low mean hut; he knocked, no answer +was returned;—he knocked again, but still there was no reply; he shook +the door and essayed to open it, but it appeared firmly locked and +bolted. “Caramba!” said he, “they are out—I feared it might be so. Now +what are we to do?” + +“There can be no difficulty,” said I, “with respect to what we have to +do; if your friends are gone out, it is easy enough to go to a posada.” + +“You know not what you say,” replied the Gypsy, “I dare not go to the +mesuna, nor enter any house in Trujillo save this, and this is shut; +well, there is no remedy, we must move on, and, between ourselves, the +sooner we leave this place the better; my own planoro (_brother_) was +garroted at Trujillo.” + +He lighted a cigar, by means of a steel and yesca, sprang on his mule, +and proceeded through streets and lanes equally dismal as those which we +had already traversed till we again found ourselves out of the, town. + +I confess I did not much like this decision of the Gypsy; I felt very +slight inclination to leave the town behind and to venture into unknown +places in the dark night: amidst rain and mist, for the wind had now +dropped, and the rain began again to fall briskly. I was, moreover, much +fatigued, and wished for nothing better than to deposit myself in some +comfortable manger, where I might sink to sleep, lulled by the pleasant +sound of horses and mules despatching their provender. I had, however, +put myself under the direction of the Gypsy, and I was too old a +traveller to quarrel with my guide under the present circumstances. I +therefore followed close at his crupper; our only light being the glow +emitted from the Gypsy’s cigar; at last he flung it from his mouth into a +puddle, and we were then in darkness. + +We proceeded in this manner for a long time; the Gypsy was silent; I +myself was equally so; the rain descended more and more. I sometimes +thought I heard doleful noises, something like the hooting of owls. +“This is a strange night to be wandering abroad in,” I at length said to +Antonio. + +“It is, brother,” said he, “but I would sooner be abroad in such a night, +and in such places, than in the estaripel of Trujillo.” + +We wandered at least a league farther, and appeared now to be near a +wood, for I could occasionally distinguish the trunks of immense trees. +Suddenly Antonio stopped his mule; “Look, brother,” said he, “to the +left, and tell me if you do not see a light; your eyes are sharper than +mine.” I did as he commanded me. At first I could see nothing, but +moving a little farther on I plainly saw a large light at some distance, +seemingly amongst the trees. “Yonder cannot be a lamp or candle,” said +I; “it is more like the blaze of a fire.” “Very likely,” said Antonio. +“There are no queres (_houses_) in this place; it is doubtless a fire +made by durotunes (_shepherds_); let us go and join them, for, as you +say, it is doleful work wandering about at night amidst rain and mire.” + +We dismounted and entered what I now saw was a forest, leading the +animals cautiously amongst the trees and brushwood. In about five +minutes we reached a small open space, at the farther side of which, at +the foot of a large cork tree, a fire was burning, and by it stood or sat +two or three figures; they had heard our approach, and one of them now +exclaimed Quien Vive? “I know that voice,” said Antonio, and leaving the +horse with me, rapidly advanced towards the fire: presently I heard an +Ola! and a laugh, and soon the voice of Antonio summoned me to advance. +On reaching the fire I found two dark lads, and a still darker woman of +about forty; the latter seated on what appeared to be horse or mule +furniture. I likewise saw a horse and two donkeys tethered to the +neighbouring trees. It was in fact a Gypsy bivouac. . . . “Come forward, +brother, and show yourself,” said Antonio to me; “you are amongst +friends; these are of the Errate, the very people whom I expected to find +at Trujillo, and in whose house we should have slept.” + +“And what,” said I, “could have induced them to leave their house in +Trujillo and come into this dark forest in the midst of wind and rain, to +pass the night?” + +“They come on business of Egypt, brother, doubtless,” replied Antonio; +“and that business is none of ours, Calla boca! It is lucky we have +found them here, else we should have had no supper, and our horses no +corn.” + +“My ro is prisoner at the village yonder,” said the woman, pointing with +her hand in a particular direction; “he is prisoner yonder for choring a +mailla (_stealing a donkey_); we are come to see what we can do in his +behalf; and where can we lodge better than in this forest, where there is +nothing to pay? It is not the first time, I trow, that Caloré have slept +at the root of a tree.” + +One of the striplings now gave us barley for our animals in a large bag, +into which we successively introduced their heads, allowing the famished +creatures to regale themselves till we conceived that they had satisfied +their hunger. There was a puchero simmering at the fire, half full of +bacon, garbanzos, and other provisions; this was emptied into a large +wooden platter, and out of this Antonio and myself supped; the other +Gypsies refused to join us, giving us to understand that they had eaten +before our arrival; they all, however, did justice to the leathern bottle +of Antonio, which, before his departure from Merida, he had the +precaution to fill. + +I was by this time completely overcome with fatigue and sleep. Antonio +flung me an immense horse-cloth, of which he bore more than one beneath +the huge cushion on which he rode; in this I wrapped myself, and placing +my head upon a bundle, and my feet as near as possible to the fire, I lay +down. + +Antonio and the other Gypsies remained seated by the fire conversing. I +listened for a moment to what they said, but I did not perfectly +understand it, and what I did understand by no means interested me: the +rain still drizzled, but I heeded it not, and was soon asleep. + +The sun was just appearing as I awoke. I made several efforts before I +could rise from the ground; my limbs were quite stiff, and my hair was +covered with rime; for the rain had ceased and a rather severe frost set +in. I looked around me, but could see neither Antonio nor the Gypsies; +the animals of the latter had likewise disappeared, so had the horse +which I had hitherto rode; the mule, however, of Antonio still remained +fastened to the tree! this latter circumstance quieted some apprehensions +which were beginning to arise in my mind. “They are gone on some +business of Egypt,” I said to myself, “and will return anon.” I gathered +together the embers of the fire, and heaping upon them sticks and +branches, soon succeeded in calling forth a blaze, beside which I placed +the puchero, with what remained of the provision of last night. I waited +for a considerable time in expectation of the return of my companions, +but as they did not appear, I sat down and breakfasted. Before I had +well finished I heard the noise of a horse approaching rapidly, and +presently Antonio made his appearance amongst the trees, with some +agitation in his countenance. He sprang from the horse, and instantly +proceeded to untie the mule. “Mount, brother, mount!” said he, pointing +to the horse; “I went with the Callee and her chabés to the village where +the ro is in trouble; the chinobaro, however, seized them at once with +their cattle, and would have laid hands also on me, but I set spurs to +the grasti, gave him the bridle, and was soon far away. Mount, brother, +mount, or we shall have the whole rustic canaille upon us in a +twinkling.” + +I did as he commanded: we were presently in the road which we had left +the night before. Along this we hurried at a great rate, the horse +displaying his best speedy trot; whilst the mule, with its ears pricked +up, galloped gallantly at his side. “What place is that on the hill +yonder?” said I to Antonio, at the expiration of an hour, as we prepared +to descend a deep valley. + +“That is Jaraicejo,” said Antonio; “a bad place it is and a bad place it +has ever been for the Calo people.” + +“If it is such a bad place,” said I, “I hope we shall not have to pass +through it.” + +“We must pass through it,” said Antonio, “for more reasons than one: +first, forasmuch is the road lies through Jaraicejo; and second, +forasmuch as it will be necessary to purchase provisions there, both for +ourselves and horses. On the other side of Jaraicejo there is a wild +desert, a despoblado, where we shall find nothing.” + +We crossed the valley, and ascended the hill, and as we drew near to the +town the Gypsy said, “Brother, we had best pass through that town singly. +I will go in advance; follow slowly, and when there purchase bread and +barley; you have nothing to fear. I will await you on the despoblado.” + +Without waiting for my answer he hastened forward, and was speedily out +of sight. + +I followed slowly behind, and entered the gate of the town; an old +dilapidated place, consisting of little more than one street. Along this +street I was advancing, when a man with a dirty foraging cap on his head, +and holding a gun in his hand, came running up to me: “Who are you?” said +he, in rather rough accents, “from whence do you come?” + +“From Badajoz and Trujillo,” I replied; “why do you ask?” + +“I am one of the national guard,” said the man, “and am placed here to +inspect strangers; I am told that a Gypsy fellow just now rode through +the town; it is well for him that I had stepped into my house. Do you +come in his company?” + +“Do I look a person,” said I, “likely to keep company with Gypsies?” + +The national measured me from top to toe, and then looked me full in the +face with an expression which seemed to say, “likely enough.” In fact, +my appearance was by no means calculated to prepossess people in my +favour. Upon my head I wore an old Andalusian hat, which, from its +condition, appeared to have been trodden under foot; a rusty cloak, which +had perhaps served half a dozen generations, enwrapped my body. My +nether garments were by no means of the finest description; and as far as +could be seen were covered with mud, with which my face was likewise +plentifully bespattered, and upon my chin was a beard of a week’s growth. + +“Have you a passport?” at length demanded the national. + +I remembered having read that the best way to win a Spaniard’s heart is +to treat him with ceremonious civility. I therefore dismounted, and +taking off my hat, made a low bow to the constitutional soldier, saying, +“Señor nacional, you must know that I am an English gentleman, travelling +in this country for my pleasure; I bear a passport, which, on inspecting, +you will find to be perfectly regular; it was given me by the great Lord +Palmerston, minister of England, whom you of course have heard of here; +at the bottom you will see his own handwriting; look at it and rejoice; +perhaps you will never have another opportunity. As I put unbounded +confidence in the honour of every gentleman, I leave the passport in your +hands whilst I repair to the posada to refresh myself. When you have +inspected it, you will perhaps oblige me so far as to bring it to me. +Cavalier, I kiss your hands.” + +I then made him another low bow, which he returned with one still lower, +and leaving him now staring at the passport and now looking at myself, I +went into a posada, to which I was directed by a beggar whom I met. + +I fed the horse, and procured some bread and barley, as the Gypsy had +directed me; I likewise purchased three fine partridges of a fowler, who +was drinking wine in the posada. He was satisfied with the price I gave +him, and offered to treat me with a copita, to which I made no objection. +As we sat discoursing at the table, the national entered with the +passport in his hand, and sat down by us. + +_National_.—Caballero! I return you your passport, it is quite in form; +I rejoice much to have made your acquaintance; I have no doubt that you +can give me some information respecting the present war. + +_Myself_.—I shall be very happy to afford so polite and honourable a +gentleman any information in my power. + +_National_.—What is England doing,—is she about to afford any assistance +to this country? If she pleased she could put down the war in three +months. + +_Myself_.—Be under no apprehension, Señor nacional; the war will be put +down, don’t doubt. You have heard of the English legion, which my Lord +Palmerston has sent over? Leave the matter in their hands, and you will +soon see the result. + +_National_.—It appears to me that this Caballero Balmerson must be a very +honest man. + +_Myself_.—There can be no doubt of it. + +_National_.—I have heard that he is a great general. + +_Myself_.—There can be no doubt of it. In some things neither Napoleon +nor the sawyer {104} would stand a chance with him for a moment. _Es +mucho hombre_. + +_National_.—I am glad to hear it. Does he intend to head the legion +himself? + +_Myself_.—I believe not; but he has sent over, to head the fighting men, +a friend of his, who is thought to be nearly as much versed in military +matters as himself. + +_National_.—I am rejoiced to hear it. I see that the war will soon be +over. Caballero, I thank you for your politeness, and for the +information which you have afforded me. I hope you will have a pleasant +journey. I confess that I am surprised to see a gentleman of your +country travelling alone, and in this manner, through such regions as +these. The roads are at present very bad; there have of late been many +accidents, and more than two deaths in this neighbourhood. The +despoblado out yonder has a particularly evil name; be on your guard, +Caballero. I am sorry that Gypsy was permitted to pass; should you meet +him and not like his looks, shoot him at once, stab him, or ride him +down. He is a well known thief, contrabandista, and murderer, and has +committed more assassinations than he has fingers on his hands. +Caballero, if you please, we will allow you a guard to the other side of +the pass. You do not wish it? Then, farewell. Stay, before I go I +should wish to see once more the signature of the Caballero Balmerson. + +I showed him the signature, which he looked upon with profound reverence, +uncovering his head for a moment; we then embraced and parted. + +I mounted the horse and rode from the town, at first proceeding very +slowly; I had no sooner, however, reached the moor, than I put the animal +to his speedy trot, and proceeded at a tremendous rate for some time, +expecting every moment to overtake the Gypsy. I, however, saw nothing of +him, nor did I meet with a single human being. The road along which I +sped was narrow and sandy, winding amidst thickets of broom and +brushwood, with which the despoblado was overgrown, and which in some +places were as high as a man’s head. Across the moor, in the direction +in which I was proceeding, rose a lofty eminence, naked and bare. The +moor extended for at least three leagues; I had nearly crossed it, and +reached the foot of the ascent. I was becoming very uneasy, conceiving +that I might have passed the Gypsy amongst the thickets, when I suddenly +heard his well known Ola! and his black savage head and staring eyes +suddenly appeared from amidst a clump of broom. + +“You have tarried long, brother,” said he; “I almost thought you had +played me false.” + +He bade me dismount, and then proceeded to lead the horse behind the +thicket, where I found the mule picqueted to the ground. I gave him the +barley and provisions, and then proceeded to relate to him my adventure +with the national. + +“I would I had him here,” said the Gypsy, on hearing the epithets which +the former had lavished upon him. “I would I had him here, then should +my chulee and his carlo become better acquainted.” + +“And what are you doing here yourself,” I demanded, “in this wild place, +amidst these thickets?” + +“I am expecting a messenger down yon pass,” said the Gypsy; “and till +that messenger arrive I can neither go forward nor return. It is on +business of Egypt, brother, that I am here.” + +As he invariably used this last expression when he wished to evade my +inquiries, I held my peace, and said no more; the animals were fed, and +we proceeded to make a frugal repast on bread and wine. + +“Why do you not cook the game which I brought?” I demanded; “in this +place there is plenty of materials for a fire.” + +“The smoke might discover us, brother,” said Antonio, “I am desirous of +lying escondido in this place until the arrival of the messenger.” + +It was now considerably past noon; the gypsy lay behind the thicket, +raising himself up occasionally and looking anxiously towards the hill +which lay over against us; at last, with an exclamation of disappointment +and impatience, he flung himself on the ground, where he lay a +considerable time, apparently ruminating; at last he lifted up his head +and looked me in the face. + +_Antonio_.—Brother, I cannot imagine what business brought you to this +country. + +_Myself_.—Perhaps the same which brings you to this moor—business of +Egypt. + +_Antonio_.—Not so, brother; you speak the language of Egypt, it is true, +but your ways and words are neither those of the Cales nor of the Busné. + +_Myself_.—Did you not hear me speak in the foros about God and Tebleque? +It was to declare his glory to the Cales and Gentiles that I came to the +land of Spain. + +_Antonio_.—And who sent you on this errand? + +_Myself_.—You would scarcely understand me were I to inform you. Know, +however, that there are many in foreign lands who lament the darkness +which envelops Spain, and the scenes of cruelty, robbery, and murder +which deform it. + +_Antonio_.—Are they Caloré or Busné? + +_Myself_.—What matters it? Both Caloré and Busné are sons of the same +God. + +_Antonio_.—You lie, brother, they are not of one father nor of one +Errate. You speak of robbery, cruelty, and murder. There are too many +Busné, brother; if there were no Busné there would be neither robbery nor +murder. The Caloré neither rob nor murder each other, the Busné do; nor +are they cruel to their animals, their law forbids them. When I was a +child I was beating a burra, but my father stopped my hand, and chided +me. “Hurt not the animal,” said he; “for within it is the soul of your +own sister!” + +_Myself_.—And do you believe in this wild doctrine, O Antonio? + +_Antonio_.—Sometimes I do, sometimes I do not. There are some who +believe in nothing; not even that they live! Long since, I knew an old +Caloro, he was old, very old, upwards of a hundred years,—and I once +heard him say, that all we thought we saw was a lie; that there was no +world, no men nor women, no horses nor mules, no olive trees. But +whither are we straying? I asked what induced you to come to this +country—you tell me the glory of God and Tebleque. Disparate! tell that +to the Busné. You have good reasons for coming, no doubt, else you would +not be here. Some say you are a spy of the Londoné, perhaps you are; I +care not. Rise, brother, and tell me whether any one is coming down the +pass. + +“I see a distant object,” I replied; “like a speck on the side of the +hill.” + +The Gypsy started up, and we both fixed our eyes on the object: the +distance was so great that it was at first with difficulty that we could +distinguish whether it moved or not. A quarter of an hour, however, +dispelled all doubts, for within this time it had nearly reached the +bottom of the hill, and we could descry a figure seated on an animal of +some kind. + +“It is a woman,” said I, at length, “mounted on a grey donkey.” + +“Then it is my messenger,” said Antonio, “for it can be no other.” + +The woman and the donkey were now upon the plain, and for some time were +concealed from us by the copse and brushwood which intervened. They were +not long, however, in making their appearance at the distance of about a +hundred yards. The donkey was a beautiful creature of a silver grey, and +came frisking along, swinging her tail, and moving her feet so quick that +they scarcely seemed to touch the ground. The animal no sooner perceived +us than she stopped short, turned round, and attempted to escape by the +way she had come; her rider, however, detained her, whereupon the donkey +kicked violently, and would probably have flung the former, had she not +sprung nimbly to the ground. The form of the woman was entirely +concealed by the large wrapping man’s cloak which she wore. I ran to +assist her, when she turned her face full upon me, and I instantly +recognized the sharp clever features of Antonia, whom I had seen at +Badajoz, the daughter of my guide. She said nothing to me, but advancing +to her father, addressed something to him in a low voice, which I did not +hear. He started back, and vociferated “All!” “Yes,” said she in a +louder tone, probably repeating the words which I had not caught before, +“All are captured.” + +The Gypsy remained for some time like one astounded and, unwilling to +listen to their discourse, which I imagined might relate to business of +Egypt, I walked away amidst the thickets. I was absent for some time, +but could occasionally hear passionate expressions and oaths. In about +half an hour I returned; they had left the road, but I found then behind +the broom clump, where the animals stood. Both were seated on the +ground; the features of the Gypsy were peculiarly dark and grim; he held +his unsheathed knife in his hand, which he would occasionally plunge into +the earth, exclaiming, “All! All!” + +“Brother,” said he at last, “I can go no farther with you; the business +which carried me to Castumba is settled; you must now travel by yourself +and trust to your baji (_fortune_).” + +“I trust in Undevel,” I replied, “who wrote my fortune long ago. But how +am I to journey? I have no horse, for you doubtless want your own.” + +The Gypsy appeared to reflect: “I want the horse, it is true, brother,” +he said, “and likewise the macho; but you shall not go _en pindre_ (on +foot); you shall purchase the burra of Antonia, which I presented her +when I sent her upon this expedition.” + +“The burra,” I replied, “appears both savage and vicious.” + +“She is both, brother, and on that account I bought her; a savage and +vicious beast has generally four excellent legs. You are a Calo, +brother, and can manage her; you shall therefore purchase the savage +burra, giving my daugher Antonia a baria of gold. If you think fit, you +can sell the beast at Talavera or Madrid, for Estremenian bestis are +highly considered in Castumba.” + +In less than an hour I was on the other side of the pass, mounted on the +savage burra. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + + +The Pass of Mirabéte—Wolves and Shepherds—Female Subtlety—Death by +Wolves—The Mystery Solved—The Mountains—The Dark Hour—The Traveller of +the Night—Abarbenel—Hoarded Treasure—Force of Gold—The Archbishop—Arrival +at Madrid. + +I proceeded down the pass of Mirabéte, occasionally ruminating on the +matter which had brought me to Spain, and occasionally admiring one of +the finest prospects in the world; before me outstretched lay immense +plains, bounded in the distance by huge mountains, whilst at the foot of +the hill which I was now descending, rolled the Tagus, in a deep narrow +stream, between lofty banks; the whole was gilded by the rays of the +setting sun; for the day, though cold and wintry, was bright and clear. +In about an hour I reached the river at a place where stood the remains +of what had once been a magnificent bridge, which had, however, been +blown up in the Peninsular war and never since repaired. + +I crossed the river in a ferry-boat; the passage was rather difficult, +the current very rapid and swollen, owing to the latter rains. + +“Am I in New Castile?” I demanded of the ferryman, on reaching the +further bank. “The raya is many leagues from hence,” replied the +ferryman; “you seem a stranger. Whence do you come?” “From England,” I +replied, and without waiting for an answer, I sprang on the burra, and +proceeded on my way. The burra plied her feet most nimbly, and, shortly +after nightfall, brought me to a village at about two leagues’ distance +from the river’s bank. + +I sat down in the venta where I put up; there was a huge fire, consisting +of the greater part of the trunk of an olive tree; the company was rather +miscellaneous: a hunter with his escopeta; a brace of shepherds with +immense dogs, of that species for which Estremadura is celebrated; a +broken soldier, just returned from the wars; and a beggar, who, after +demanding charity for the seven wounds of Maria Santissima, took a seat +amidst us, and made himself quite comfortable. The hostess was an active +bustling woman, and busied herself in cooking my supper, which consisted +of the game which I had purchased at Jaraicejo, and which, on my taking +leave of the Gypsy, he had counselled me to take with me. In the +meantime, I sat by the fire listening to the conversation of the company. + +“I would I were a wolf,” said one of the shepherds; “or, indeed, anything +rather than what I am. A pretty life is this of ours, out in the campo, +among the carascales, suffering heat and cold for a peseta a day. I +would I were a wolf; he fares better and is more respected than the +wretch of a shepherd.” + +“But he frequently fares scurvily,” said I; “the shepherd and dogs fall +upon him, and then he pays for his temerity with the loss of his head.” + +“That is not often the case, señor traveller,” said the shepherd; “he +watches his opportunity, and seldom runs into harm’s way. And as to +attacking him, it is no very pleasant task; he has both teeth and claws, +and dog or man, who has once felt them, likes not to venture a second +time within his reach. These dogs of mine will seize a bear singly with +considerable alacrity, though he is a most powerful animal, but I have +seen them run howling away from a wolf, even though there were two or +three of us at hand to encourage them.” + +“A dangerous person is the wolf,” said the other shepherd, “and cunning +as dangerous; who knows more than he? He knows the vulnerable point of +every animal; see, for example, how he flies at the neck of a bullock, +tearing open the veins with his grim teeth and claws. But does he attack +a horse in this manner? I trow not.” + +“Not he,” said the other shepherd, “he is too good a judge; but he +fastens on the haunches, and hamstrings him in a moment. O the fear of +the horse when he comes near the dwelling of the wolf. My master was the +other day riding in the despoblado, above the pass, on his fine +Andalusian steed, which had cost him five hundred dollars; suddenly the +horse stopped, and sweated and trembled like a woman in the act of +fainting; my master could not conceive the reason, but presently he heard +a squealing and growling in the bushes, whereupon he fired off his gun +and scared the wolves, who scampered away; but he tells me, that the +horse has not yet recovered from his fright.” + +“Yet the mares know, occasionally, how to balk him,” replied his +companion; “there is great craft and malice in mares, as there is in all +females; see them feeding in the campo with their young cria about them; +presently the alarm is given that the wolf is drawing near; they start +wildly and run about for a moment, but it is only for a moment—amain they +gather together, forming themselves into a circle, in the centre of which +they place the foals. Onward comes the wolf, hoping to make his dinner +on horse-flesh; he is mistaken, however, the mares have balked him, and +are as cunning as himself: not a tail is to be seen—not a hinder +quarter—but there stands the whole troop, their fronts towards him ready +to receive him, and as he runs around them barking and howling, they rise +successively on their hind legs, ready to stamp him to the earth, should +he attempt to hurt their cria or themselves.” + +“Worse than the he-wolf,” said the soldier, “is the female, for as the +señor pastor has well observed, there is more malice in women than in +males: to see one of these she-demons with a troop of the males at her +heels is truly surprising: where she turns, they turn, and what she does +that do they; for they appear bewitched, and have no power but to imitate +her actions. I was once travelling with a comrade over the hills of +Galicia, when we heard a howl. ‘Those are wolves,’ said my companion, +‘let us get out of the way;’ so we stepped from the path and ascended the +side of the hill a little way, to a terrace, where grew vines, after the +manner of Galicia: presently appeared a large grey she-wolf, +_deshonesta_, snapping and growling at a troop of demons, who followed +close behind, their tails uplifted, and their eyes like fire-brands. +What do you think the perverse brute did? Instead of keeping to the +path, she turned in the very direction in which we were; there was now no +remedy, so we stood still. I was the first upon the terrace, and by me +she passed so close that I felt her hair brush against my legs; she, +however, took no notice of me, but pushed on, neither looking to the +right nor left, and all the other wolves trotted by me without offering +the slightest injury or even so much as looking at me. Would that I +could say as much for my poor companion, who stood farther on, and was, I +believe, less in the demon’s way than I was; she had nearly passed him, +when suddenly she turned half round and snapped at him. I shall never +forget what followed: in a moment a dozen wolves were upon him, tearing +him limb from limb, with howlings like nothing in this world; in a few +moments he was devoured; nothing remained but a skull and a few bones; +and then they passed on in the same manner as they came. Good reason had +I to be grateful that my lady wolf took less notice of me than my poor +comrade.” + +Listening to this and similar conversation, I fell into a doze before the +fire, in which I continued for a considerable time, but was at length +aroused by a voice exclaiming in a loud tone, “All are captured!” These +were the exact words which, when spoken by his daughter, confounded the +Gypsy upon the moor. I looked around me, the company consisted of the +same individuals to whose conversation I had been listening before I sank +into slumber; but the beggar was now the spokesman, and he was haranguing +with considerable vehemence. + +“I beg your pardon, Caballero,” said I, “but I did not hear the +commencement of your discourse. Who are those who have been captured?” + +“A band of accursed Gitanos, Caballero,” replied the beggar, returning +the title of courtesy, which I had bestowed upon him. “During more than +a fortnight they have infested the roads on the frontier of Castile, and +many have been the gentleman travellers like yourself whom they have +robbed and murdered. It would seem that the Gypsy canaille must needs +take advantage of these troublous times, and form themselves into a +faction. It is said that the fellows of whom I am speaking expected many +more of their brethren to join them, which is likely enough, for all +Gypsies are thieves: but praised be God, they have been put down before +they became too formidable. I saw them myself conveyed to the prison at +---. Thanks be to God. _Todos estan presos_.” + +“The mystery is now solved,” said I to myself, and proceeded to despatch +my supper, which was now ready. + +The next day’s journey brought me to a considerable town, the name of +which I have forgotten. It is the first in New Castile, in this +direction. I passed the night as usual in the manger of the stable, +close beside the Caballeria; for, as I travelled upon a donkey, I deemed +it incumbent upon me to be satisfied with a couch in keeping with my +manner of journeying, being averse, by any squeamish and over delicate +airs, to generate a suspicion amongst the people with whom I mingled that +I was aught higher than what my equipage and outward appearance might +lead them to believe. Rising before daylight, I again proceeded on my +way, hoping ere night to be able to reach Talavera, which I was informed +was ten leagues distant. The way lay entirely over an unbroken level, +for the most part covered with olive trees. On the left, however, at the +distance of a few leagues, rose the mighty mountains which I have already +mentioned. They run eastward in a seemingly interminable range, parallel +with the route which I was pursuing; their tops and sides were covered +with dazzling snow, and the blasts which came sweeping from them across +the wide and melancholy plains were of bitter keenness. + +“What mountains are those?” I inquired of a barber-surgeon, who, mounted +like myself on a grey burra, joined me about noon, and proceeded in my +company for several leagues. “They have many names, Caballero,” replied +the barber; “according to the names of the neighbouring places so they +are called. Yon portion of them is styled the Serrania of Plasencia; and +opposite to Madrid they are termed the Mountains of Guadarama, from a +river of that name, which descends from them; they run a vast way, +Caballero, and separate the two kingdoms, for on the other side is Old +Castile. They are mighty mountains, and though they generate much cold, +I take pleasure in looking at them, which is not to be wondered at, +seeing that I was born amongst them, though at present, for my sins, I +live in a village of the plain. Caballero, there is not another such +range in Spain; they have their secrets too—their mysteries—strange tales +are told of those hills, and of what they contain in their deep recesses, +for they are a broad chain, and you may wander days and days amongst them +without coming to any termino. Many have lost themselves on those hills, +and have never again been heard of. Strange things are told of them: it +is said that in certain places there are deep pools and lakes, in which +dwell monsters, huge serpents as long as a pine tree, and horses of the +flood, which sometimes come out and commit mighty damage. One thing is +certain, that yonder, far away to the west, in the heart of those hills, +there is a wonderful valley, so narrow that only at midday is the face of +the sun to be descried from it. That valley lay undiscovered and unknown +for thousands of years; no person dreamed of its existence, but at last, +a long time ago, certain hunters entered it by chance, and then what do +you think they found, Caballero? They found a small nation or tribe of +unknown people, speaking an unknown language, who, perhaps, had lived +there since the creation of the world, without intercourse with the rest +of their fellow creatures, and without knowing that other beings besides +themselves existed! Caballero, did you never hear of the valley of the +Batuecas? Many books have been written about that valley and those +people. Caballero, I am proud of yonder hills; and were I independent, +and without wife or children, I would purchase a burra like that of your +own, which I see is an excellent one, and far superior to mine, and +travel amongst them till I knew all their mysteries, and had seen all the +wondrous things which they contain.” + +Throughout the day I pressed the burra forward, only stopping once in +order to feed the animal; but, notwithstanding that she played her part +very well, night came on, and I was still about two leagues from +Talavera. As the sun went down, the cold became intense; I drew the old +Gypsy cloak, which I still wore, closer around me, but I found it quite +inadequate to protect me from the inclemency of the atmosphere. The +road, which lay over a plain, was not very distinctly traced, and became +in the dusk rather difficult to find, more especially as cross roads +leading to different places were of frequent occurrence. I, however, +proceeded in the best manner I could, and when I became dubious as to the +course which I should take, I invariably allowed the animal on which I +was mounted to decide. At length the moon shone out faintly, when +suddenly by its beams I beheld a figure moving before me at a slight +distance. I quickened the pace of the burra, and was soon close at its +side. It went on, neither altering its pace nor looking round for a +moment. It was the figure of a man, the tallest and bulkiest that I had +hitherto seen in Spain, dressed in a manner strange and singular for the +country. On his head was a hat with a low crown and broad brim, very +much resembling that of an English waggoner; about his body was a long +loose tunic or slop, seemingly of coarse ticken, open in front, so as to +allow the interior garments to be occasionally seen; these appeared to +consist of a jerkin and short velveteen pantaloons. I have said that the +brim of the hat was broad, but broad as it was, it was insufficient to +cover an immense bush of coal-black hair, which, thick and curly, +projected on either side; over the left shoulder was flung a kind of +satchel, and in the right hand was held a long staff or pole. + +There was something peculiarly strange about the figure, but what struck +me the most was the tranquillity with which it moved along, taking no +heed of me, though of course aware of my proximity, but looking straight +forward along the road, save when it occasionally raised a huge face and +large eyes towards the moon, which was now shining forth in the eastern +quarter. + +“A cold night,” said I at last. “Is this the way to Talavera?” + +“It is the way to Talavera, and the night is cold.” + +“I am going to Talavera,” said I, “as I suppose you are yourself.” + +“I am going thither, so are you, _Bueno_.” + +The tones of the voice which delivered these words were in their way +quite as strange and singular as the figure to which the voice belonged; +they were not exactly the tones of a Spanish voice, and yet there was +something in them that could hardly be foreign; the pronunciation also +was correct; and the language, though singular, faultless. But I was +most struck with the manner in which the last word, _bueno_, was spoken. +I had heard something like it before, but where or when I could by no +means remember. A pause now ensued; the figure stalking on as before +with the most perfect indifference, and seemingly with no disposition +either to seek or avoid conversation. + +“Are you not afraid,” said I at last, “to travel these roads in the dark? +It is said that there are robbers abroad.” + +“Are you not rather afraid,” replied the figure, “to travel these roads +in the dark?—you who are ignorant of the country, who are a foreigner, an +Englishman!” + +“How is it that you know me to be an Englishman?” demanded I, much +surprised. + +“That is no difficult matter,” replied the figure; “the sound of your +voice was enough to tell me that.” + +“You speak of voices,” said I; “suppose the tone of your own voice were +to tell me who you are?” + +“That it will not do,” replied my companion; “you know nothing about +me—you can know nothing about me.” + +“Be not sure of that, my friend; I am acquainted with many things of +which you have little idea.” + +“Por exemplo,” said the figure. + +“For example,” said I; “you speak two languages.” + +The figure moved on, seemed to consider a moment, and then said slowly +_bueno_. + +“You have two names,” I continued; “one for the house and the other for +the street; both are good, but the one by which you are called at home is +the one which you like best.” + +The man walked on about ten paces, in the same manner as he had +previously done; all of a sudden he turned, and taking the bridle of the +burra gently in his hand, stopped her. I had now a full view of his face +and figure, and those huge features and Herculean form still occasionally +revisit me in my dreams. I see him standing in the moonshine, staring me +in the face with his deep calm eyes. At last he said: + +“Are you then one of us?” + + * * * * * + +It was late at night when we arrived at Talavera. We went to a large +gloomy house, which my companion informed me was the principal posada of +the town. We entered the kitchen, at the extremity of which a large fire +was blazing. “Pepita,” said my companion to a handsome girl, who +advanced smiling towards us; “a brasero and a private apartment; this +cavalier is a friend of mine, and we shall sup together.” We were shown +to an apartment in which were two alcoves containing beds. After supper, +which consisted of the very best, by the order of my companion, we sat +over the brasero and commenced talking. + +_Myself_.—Of course you have conversed with Englishmen before, else you +could not have recognized me by the tone of my voice. + +_Abarbenel_.—I was a young lad when the war of the Independence broke +out, and there came to the village in which our family lived an English +officer in order to teach discipline to the new levies. He was quartered +in my father’s house, where he conceived a great affection for me. On +his departure, with the consent of my father, I attended him through the +Castiles, partly as companion, partly as domestic. I was with him nearly +a year, when he was suddenly summoned to return to his own country. He +would fain have taken me with him, but to that my father would by no +means consent. It is now five-and-twenty years since I last saw an +Englishman; but you have seen how I recognized you even in the dark +night. + +_Myself_.—And what kind of life do you pursue, and by what means do you +obtain support? + +_Abarbenel_.—I experience no difficulty. I live much in the same way as +I believe my forefathers lived; certainly as my father did, for his +course has been mine. At his death I took possession of the herencia, +for I was his only child. It was not requisite that I should follow any +business, for my wealth was great; yet, to avoid remark, I followed that +of my father, who was a longanizero. I have occasionally dealt in wool: +but lazily, lazily—as I had no stimulus for exertion. I was, however, +successful in many instances, strangely so; much more than many others +who toiled day and night, and whose whole soul was in the trade. + +_Myself_.—Have you any children? Are you married? + +_Abarbenel_.—I have no children though I am married. I have a wife and +an amiga, or I should rather say two wives, for I am wedded to both. I +however call one my amiga, for appearance sake, for I wish to live in +quiet, and am unwilling to offend the prejudices of the surrounding +people. + +_Myself_.—You say you are wealthy. In what does your wealth consist? + +_Abarbenel_.—In gold and silver, and stones of price; for I have +inherited all the hoards of my forefathers. The greater part is buried +under ground; indeed, I have never examined the tenth part of it. I have +coins of silver and gold older than the times of Ferdinand the Accursed +and Jezebel; I have also large sums employed in usury. We keep ourselves +close, however, and pretend to be poor, miserably so; but on certain +occasions, at our festivals, when our gates are barred, and our savage +dogs are let loose in the court, we eat our food off services such as the +Queen of Spain cannot boast of, and wash our feet in ewers of silver, +fashioned and wrought before the Americas were discovered, though our +garments are at all times coarse, and our food for the most part of the +plainest description. + +_Myself_.—Are there more of you than yourself and your two wives? + +_Abarbenel_.—There are my two servants, who are likewise of us; the one +is a youth, and is about to leave, being betrothed to one at some +distance; the other is old; he is now upon the road, following me with a +mule and car. + +_Myself_.—And whither are you bound at present? + +_Abarbenel_.—To Toledo, where I ply my trade occasionally of longanizero. +I love to wander about, though I seldom stray far from home. Since I +left the Englishman my feet have never once stepped beyond the bounds of +New Castile. I love to visit Toledo, and to think of the times which +have long since departed; I should establish myself there, were there not +so many accursed ones, who look upon me with an evil eye. + +_Myself_.—Are you known for what you are? Do the authorities molest you? + +_Abarbenel_.—People of course suspect me to be what I am; but as I +conform outwardly in most respects to their ways, they do not interfere +with me. True it is that sometimes, when I enter the church to hear the +mass, they glare at me over the left shoulder, as much as to say—“What do +you here?” And sometimes they cross themselves as I pass by; but as they +go no further, I do not trouble myself on that account. With respect to +the authorities, they are not bad friends of mine. Many of the higher +class have borrowed money from me on usury, so that I have them to a +certain extent in my power, and as for the low alguazils and corchetes, +they would do any thing to oblige me in consideration of a few dollars, +which I occasionally give them; so that matters upon the whole go on +remarkably well. Of old, indeed, it was far otherwise; yet, I know not +how it was, though other families suffered much, ours always enjoyed a +tolerable share of tranquillity. The truth is, that our family has +always known how to guide itself wonderfully. I may say there is much of +the wisdom of the snake amongst us. We have always possessed friends; +and with respect to enemies, it is by no means safe to meddle with us; +for it is a rule of our house never to forgive an injury, and to spare +neither trouble nor expense in bringing ruin and destruction upon the +heads of our evil doers. + +_Myself_.—Do the priests interfere with you? + +_Abarbenel_.—They let me alone, especially in our own neighbourhood. +Shortly after the death of my father, one hot-headed individual +endeavoured to do me an evil turn, but I soon requited him, causing him +to be imprisoned on a charge of blasphemy, and in prison he remained a +long time, till he went mad and died. + +_Myself_.—Have you a head in Spain, in whom is rested the chief +authority? + +_Abarbenel_.—Not exactly. There are, however, certain holy families who +enjoy much consideration; my own is one of these—the chiefest, I may say. +My grandsire was a particularly holy man; and I have heard my father say, +that one night an archbishop came to his house secretly, merely to have +the satisfaction of kissing his head. + +_Myself_.—How can that be; what reverence could an archbishop entertain +for one like yourself or your grandsire? + +_Abarbenel_.—More than you imagine. He was one of us, at least his +father was, and he could never forget what he had learned with reverence +in his infancy. He said he had tried to forget it, but he could not; +that the _ruah_ was continually upon him, and that even from his +childhood he had borne its terrors with a troubled mind, till at last he +could bear himself no longer; so he went to my grandsire, with whom he +remained one whole night; he then returned to his diocese, where he +shortly afterwards died, in much renown for sanctity. + +_Myself_.—What you say surprises me. Have you reason to suppose that +many of you are to be found amongst the priesthood? + +_Abarbenel_.—Not to suppose, but to know it. There are many such as I +amongst the priesthood, and not amongst the inferior priesthood either; +some of the most learned and famed of them in Spain have been of us, or +of our blood at least, and many of them at this day think as I do. There +is one particular festival of the year at which four dignified +ecclesiastics are sure to visit me; and then, when all is made close and +secure, and the fitting ceremonies have been gone through, they sit down +upon the floor and curse. + +_Myself_.—Are you numerous in the large towns? + +_Abarbenel_.—By no means; our places of abode are seldom the large towns; +we prefer the villages, and rarely enter the large towns but on business. +Indeed we are not a numerous people, and there are few provinces of Spain +which contain more than twenty families. None of us are poor, and those +among us who serve, do so more from choice than necessity, for by serving +each other we acquire different trades. Not unfrequently the time of +service is that of courtship also, and the servants eventually marry the +daughters of the house. + +We continued in discourse the greater part of the night; the next morning +I prepared to depart. My companion, however, advised me to remain where +I was for that day. “And if you respect my counsel,” said he, “you will +not proceed farther in this manner. To-night the diligence will arrive +from Estremadura, on its way to Madrid. Deposit yourself therein; it is +the safest and most speedy mode of travelling. As for your animal, I +will myself purchase her. My servant is here, and has informed me that +she will be of service to us. Let us, therefore, pass the day together +in communion, like brothers, and then proceed on our separate journeys.” +We did pass the day together; and when the diligence arrived I deposited +myself within, and on the morning of the second day arrived at Madrid. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + + +Lodging at Madrid—My Hostess—British +Ambassador—Mendizabal—Baltasar—Duties of a National—Young Blood—The +Execution—Population of Madrid—The Higher Orders—The Lower Classes—The +Bull-fighter—The Crabbed Gitáno. + +It was the commencement of February when I reached Madrid. After staying +a few days at a posada, I removed to a lodging which I engaged at No. 3, +in the Calle de la Zarza, a dark dirty street, which, however, was close +to the Puerta del Sol, the most central point of Madrid, into which four +or five of the principal streets debouche, and which is, at all times of +the year, the great place of assemblage for the idlers of the capital, +poor or rich. + +It was rather a singular house in which I had taken up my abode. I +occupied the front part of the first floor; my apartments consisted of an +immense parlour, and a small chamber on one side in which I slept; the +parlour, notwithstanding its size, contained very little furniture: a few +chairs, a table, and a species of sofa, constituted the whole. It was +very cold and airy, owing to the draughts which poured in from three +large windows, and from sundry doors. The mistress of the house, +attended by her two daughters, ushered me in. “Did you ever see a more +magnificent apartment?” demanded the former; “is it not fit for a king’s +son? Last winter it was occupied by the great General Espartero.” + +The hostess was an exceedingly fat woman, a native of Valladolid, in Old +Castile. “Have you any other family,” I demanded, “besides these +daughters?” “Two sons,” she replied; “one of them an officer in the +army, father of this urchin,” pointing to a wicked but clever looking boy +of about twelve, who at that moment bounded into the room; “the other is +the most celebrated national in Madrid: he is a tailor by trade, and his +name is Baltasar. He has much influence with the other nationals, on +account of the liberality of his opinions, and a word from him is +sufficient to bring them all out armed and furious to the Puerta del Sol. +He is, however, at present confined to his bed, for he is very dissipated +and fond of the company of bull-fighters and people still worse.” + +As my principal motive for visiting the Spanish capital was the hope of +obtaining permission from the government to print the New Testament in +the Castilian language, for circulation in Spain, I lost no time, upon my +arrival, in taking what I considered to be the necessary steps. + +I was an entire stranger at Madrid, and bore no letters of introduction +to any persons of influence, who might have assisted me in this +undertaking, so that, notwithstanding I entertained a hope of success, +relying on the assistance of the Almighty, this hope was not at all times +very vivid, but was frequently overcast with the clouds of despondency. + +Mendizabal was at this time prime minister of Spain, and was considered +as a man of almost unbounded power, in whose hands were placed the +destinies of the country. I therefore considered that if I could by any +means induce him to favour my views, I should have no reason to fear +interruption from other quarters, and I determined upon applying to him. + +Before talking this step, however, I deemed it advisable to wait upon Mr. +Villiers, the British ambassador at Madrid; and with the freedom +permitted to a British subject, to ask his advice in this affair. I was +received with great kindness, and enjoyed a conversation with him on +various subjects before I introduced the matter which I had most at +heart. He said that if I wished for an interview with Mendizabal, he +would endeavour to procure me one, but, at the same time, told me frankly +that he could not hope that any good would arise from it, as he knew him +to be violently prejudiced against the British and Foreign Bible Society, +and was far more likely to discountenance than encourage any efforts +which they might be disposed to make for introducing the Gospel into +Spain. I, however, remained resolute in my desire to make the trial, and +before I left him, obtained a letter of introduction to Mendizabal. + +Early one morning I repaired to the palace, in a wing of which was the +office of the Prime Minister; it was bitterly cold, and the Guadarama, of +which there is a noble view from the palace-plain, was covered with snow. +For at least three hours I remained shivering with cold in an ante-room, +with several other aspirants for an interview with the man of power. At +last his private secretary made his appearance, and after putting various +questions to the others, addressed himself to me, asking who I was and +what I wanted. I told him that I was an Englishman, and the bearer of a +letter from the British Minister. “If you have no objection, I will +myself deliver it to His Excellency,” said he; whereupon I handed it to +him and he withdrew. Several individuals were admitted before me; at +last, however, my own turn came, and I was ushered into the presence of +Mendizabal. + +He stood behind a table covered with papers, on which his eyes were +intently fixed. He took not the slightest notice when I entered, and I +had leisure enough to survey him: he was a huge athletic man, somewhat +taller than myself, who measure six feet two without my shoes; his +complexion was florid, his features fine and regular, his nose quite +aquiline, and his teeth splendidly white: though scarcely fifty years of +age, his hair was remarkably grey; he was dressed in a rich morning gown, +with a gold chain round his neck, and morocco slippers on his feet. + +His secretary, a fine intellectual looking man, who, as I was +subsequently informed, had acquired a name both in English and Spanish +literature, stood at one end of the table with papers in his hands. + +After I had been standing about a quarter of an hour, Mendizabal suddenly +lifted up a pair of sharp eyes, and fixed them upon me with a peculiarly +scrutinizing glance. + +“I have seen a glance very similar to that amongst the Beni Israel,” +thought I to myself. . . . + + * * * * * + +My interview with him lasted nearly an hour. Some singular discourse +passed between us: I found him, as I had been informed, a bitter enemy to +the Bible Society, of which he spoke in terms of hatred and contempt, and +by no means a friend to the Christian religion, which I could easily +account for. I was not discouraged, however, and pressed upon him the +matter which brought me thither, and was eventually so far successful, as +to obtain a promise, that at the expiration of a few months, when he +hoped the country would be in a more tranquil state, I should be allowed +to print the Scriptures. + +As I was going away he said, “Yours is not the first application I have +had; ever since I have held the reins of government I have been pestered +in this manner, by English calling themselves Evangelical Christians, who +have of late come flocking over into Spain. Only last week a hunchbacked +fellow found his way into my cabinet whilst I was engaged in important +business, and told me that Christ was coming. . . . And now you have made +your appearance, and almost persuaded me to embroil myself yet more with +the priesthood, as if they did not abhor me enough already. What a +strange infatuation is this which drives you over lands and waters with +Bibles in your hands. My good sir, it is not Bibles we want, but rather +guns and gunpowder, to put the rebels down with, and above all, money, +that we may pay the troops; whenever you come with these three things you +shall have a hearty welcome, if not, we really can dispense with your +visits, however great the honour.” + +_Myself_.—There will be no end to the troubles of this afflicted country +until the gospel have free circulation. + +_Mendizabal_.—I expected that answer, for I have not lived thirteen years +in England without forming some acquaintance with the phraseology of you +good folks. Now, now, pray go; you see how engaged I am. Come again +whenever you please, but let it not be within the next three months. + +“Don Jorge,” said my hostess, coming into my apartment one morning, +whilst I sat at breakfast with my feet upon the brasero, “here is my son +Baltasarito, the national; he has risen from his bed, and hearing that +there is an Englishman in the house, he has begged me to introduce him, +for he loves Englishmen on account of the liberality of their opinions; +there he is, what do you think of him?” + +I did not state to his mother what I thought; it appeared to me, however, +that she was quite right calling him Baltasarito, which is the diminutive +of Baltasar, forasmuch as that ancient and sonorous name had certainly +never been bestowed on a more diminutive personage: he might measure +about five feet one inch, though he was rather corpulent for his height; +his face looked yellow and sickly, he had, however, a kind of +fanfaronading air, and his eyes, which were of dark brown, were both +sharp and brilliant. His dress, or rather his undress, was somewhat +shabby: he had a foraging cap on his head, and in lieu of a morning gown, +he wore a sentinel’s old great coat. + +“I am glad to make your acquaintance, señor nacional,” said I to him, +after his mother had departed, and Baltasar had taken his seat, and of +course lighted a paper cigar at the brasero. “I am glad to have made +your acquaintance, more especially as your lady mother has informed me +that you have great influence with the nationals. I am a stranger in +Spain, and may want a friend; fortune has been kind to me in procuring me +one who is a member of so powerful a body.” + +_Baltasar_.—Yes, I have a great deal to say with the other nationals; +there is none in Madrid better known than Baltasar, or more dreaded by +the Carlists. You say you may stand in need of a friend; there is no +fear of my failing you in any emergency. Both myself and any of the +other nationals will be proud to go out with you as padrinos, should you +have any affair of honour on your hands. But why do you not become one +of us? We would gladly receive you into our body. + +_Myself_.—Is the duty of a national particularly hard? + +_Baltasar_.—By no means; we have to do duty about once every fifteen +days, and then there is occasionally a review, which does not last long. +No! the duties of a national are by no means onerous, and the privileges +are great. I have seen three of my brother nationals walk up and down +the Prado of a Sunday, with sticks in their hands, cudgelling all the +suspicious characters, and it is our common practice to scour the streets +at night, and then if we meet any person who is obnoxious to us, we fall +upon him, and with a knife or a bayonet generally leave him wallowing in +his blood on the pavement: no one but a national would be permitted to do +that. + +_Myself_.—Of course none but persons of liberal opinions are to be found +amongst the nationals? + +_Baltasar_.—Would it were so! There are some amongst us, Don Jorge, who +are no better than they should be; they are few, however, and for the +most part well known. Theirs is no pleasant life, for when they mount +guard with the rest they are scouted, and not unfrequently cudgelled. +The law compels all of a certain age either to serve in the army or to +become national soldiers on which account some of these Godos are to be +found amongst us. + +_Myself_.—Are there many in Madrid of the Carlist opinion? + +_Baltasar_.—Not among the young people; the greater part of the +Madrilenian Carlists capable of bearing arms departed long ago to join +the ranks of the factious in the Basque provinces. Those who remain are +for the most part grey-beards and priests, good for nothing but to +assemble in private coffee-houses, and to prate treason together. Let +them prate, Don Jorge; let them prate; the destinies of Spain do not +depend on the wishes of ojalateros and pasteleros, but on the hands of +stout gallant nationals like myself and friends, Don Jorge. + +_Myself_.—I am sorry to learn from your lady mother, that you are +strangely dissipated. + +_Baltasar_.—Ho, ho, Don Jorge, she has told you that, has she; what would +you have, Don Jorge? I am young, and young blood will have its course. +I am called Baltasar the gay by all the other nationals, and it is on +account of my gaiety and the liberality of my opinions that I am so +popular among them. When I mount guard I invariably carry my guitar with +me, and then there is sure to be a function at the guard-house. We send +for wine, Don Jorge, and the nationals become wild, Don Jorge, dancing +and drinking through the night, whilst Baltasarito strums the guitar and +sings them songs of Germania: + + “Una romi sin pachi + Le peno á su chindomar,” &c., &c. + +That is Gitano, Don Jorge; I learnt it from the toreros of Andalusia, who +all speak Gitano, and are mostly of Gypsy blood. I learnt it from them; +they are all friends of mine, Montes Sevilla and Poquito Pan. I never +miss a function of bulls, Don Jorge. Baltasar is sure to be there with +his amiga. Don Jorge, there are no bull-functions in the winter, or I +would carry you to one, but happily to-morrow there is an execution, a +funcion de la horca; and there we will go, Don Jorge. + +We did go to see this execution, which I shall long remember. The +criminals were two young men, brothers; they suffered for a most +atrocious murder, having in the dead of night broke open the house of an +aged man, whom they put to death, and whose property they stole. +Criminals in Spain are not hanged as they are in England, or guillotined +as in France, but strangled upon a wooden stage. They sit down on a kind +of chair with a post behind, to which is affixed an iron collar with a +screw; this iron collar is made to clasp the neck of the prisoner, and on +a certain signal it is drawn tighter and tighter by means of the screw, +until life becomes extinct. After we had waited amongst the assembled +multitude a considerable time, the first of the culprits appeared; he was +mounted on an ass, without saddle or stirrups, his legs being allowed to +dangle nearly to the ground. He was dressed in yellow sulphur-coloured +robes, with a high-peaked conical red hat on his head, which was shaven. +Between his hands he held a parchment, on which was written something, I +believe the confession of faith. Two priests led the animal by the +bridle; two others walked on either side, chanting litanies, amongst +which I distinguished the words of heavenly peace and tranquillity, for +the culprit had been reconciled to the church, had confessed and received +absolution, and had been promised admission to heaven. He did not +exhibit the least symptom of fear, but dismounted from the animal and was +led, not supported, up the scaffold, where he was placed on the chair, +and the fatal collar put round his neck. One of the priests then in a +loud voice commenced saying the Belief, and the culprit repeated the +words after him. On a sudden, the executioner, who stood behind, +commenced turning the screw, which was of prodigious force, and the +wretched man—was almost instantly a corpse; but, as the screw went round, +the priest began to shout, “_pax et misericordia et tranquillitas_,” and +still as he shouted, his voice became louder and louder, till the lofty +walls of Madrid rang with it: then stooping down, he placed his mouth +close to the culprit’s ear, still shouting, just as if he would pursue +the spirit through its course to eternity, cheering it on its way. The +effect was tremendous. I myself was so excited that I involuntarily +shouted “_misericordia_,” and so did many others. God was not thought +of; Christ was not thought of; only the priest was thought of, for he +seemed at that moment to be the first being in existence, and to have the +power of opening and shutting the gates of heaven or of hell, just as he +should think proper. A striking instance of the successful working of +the Popish system, whose grand aim has ever been to keep people’s minds +as far as possible from God, and to centre their hopes and fears in the +priesthood. The execution of the second culprit was precisely similar; +he ascended the scaffold a few minutes after his brother had breathed his +last. + +I have visited most of the principal capitals of the world, but upon the +whole none has ever so interested me as this city of Madrid, in which I +now found myself. I will not dwell upon its streets, its edifices, its +public squares, its fountains, though some of these are remarkable +enough: but Petersburg has finer streets, Paris and Edinburgh more +stately edifices, London far nobler squares, whilst Shiraz can boast of +more costly fountains, though not cooler waters. But the population! +Within a mud wall, scarcely one league and a half in circuit, are +contained two hundred thousand human beings, certainly forming the most +extraordinary vital mass to be found in the entire world; and be it +always remembered that this mass is strictly Spanish. The population of +Constantinople is extraordinary enough, but to form it twenty nations +have contributed; Greeks, Armenians, Persians, Poles, Jews, the latter, +by the by, of Spanish origin, and speaking amongst themselves the old +Spanish language; but the huge population of Madrid, with the exception +of a sprinkling of foreigners, chiefly French tailors, glove-makers and +peruquiers, is strictly Spanish, though a considerable portion are not +natives of the place. Here are no colonies of Germans, as at Saint +Petersburg; no English factories, as at Lisbon; no multitudes of insolent +Yankees lounging through the streets as at the Havannah, with an air +which seems to say, the land is our own whenever we choose to take it; +but a population which, however strange and wild, and composed of various +elements, is Spanish, and will remain so as long as the city itself shall +exist. Hail, ye aguadores of Asturia! who, in your dress of coarse +duffel and leathern skull-caps, are seen seated in hundreds by the +fountain sides, upon your empty water-casks, or staggering with them +filled to the topmost stories of lofty houses. Hail, ye caleseros of +Valencia! who, lolling lazily against your vehicles, rasp tobacco for +your paper cigars whilst waiting for a fare. Hail to you, beggars of La +Mancha! men and women, who, wrapped in coarse blankets, demand charity +indifferently at the gate of the palace or the prison. Hail to you, +valets from the mountains, mayordomos and secretaries from Biscay and +Guipuscoa, toreros from Andalusia, riposteros from Galicia, shopkeepers +from Catalonia! Hail to ye, Castilians, Estremenians and Aragonese, of +whatever calling! And lastly, genuine sons of the capital, rabble of +Madrid, ye twenty thousand manolos, whose terrible knifes, on the second +morning of May, worked such grim havoc amongst the legions of Murat! + +And the higher orders—the ladies and gentlemen, the cavaliers and +señoras; shall I pass them by in silence? The truth is I have little to +say about them; I mingled but little in their society, and what I saw of +them by no means tended to exalt them in my imagination. I am not one of +those who, wherever they go, make it a constant practice to disparage the +higher orders, and to exalt the populace at their expense. There are +many capitals in which the high aristocracy, the lords and ladies, the +sons and daughters of nobility, constitute the most remarkable and the +most interesting part of the population. This is the case at Vienna, and +more especially at London. Who can rival the English aristocrat in lofty +stature, in dignified bearing, in strength of hand, and valour of heart? +Who rides a nobler horse? Who has a firmer seat? And who more lovely +than his wife, or sister, or daughter? But with respect to the Spanish +aristocracy, the ladies and gentlemen, the cavaliers and señoras, I +believe the less that is said of them on the points to which I have just +alluded the better. I confess, however, that I know little about them; +they have, perhaps, their admirers, and to the pens of such I leave their +panegyric. Le Sage has described them as they were nearly two centuries +ago. His description is anything but captivating, and I do not think +that they have improved since the period of the sketches of the immortal +Frenchman. I would sooner talk of the lower class, not only of Madrid +but of all Spain. The Spaniard of the lower class has much more interest +for me, whether manolo, labourer, or muleteer. He is not a common being; +he is an extraordinary man. He has not, it is true, the amiability and +generosity of the Russian mujik, who will give his only rouble rather +than the stranger shall want; nor his placid courage, which renders him +insensible to fear, and at the command of his Tsar, sends him singing to +certain death. {127} There is more hardness and less self-devotion in +the disposition of the Spaniard; he possesses, however, a spirit of proud +independence, which it is impossible but to admire. He is ignorant, of +course; but it is singular that I have invariably found amongst the low +and slightly educated classes far more liberality of sentiment than +amongst the upper. It has long been the fashion to talk of the bigotry +of the Spaniards, and their mean jealousy of foreigners. This is true to +a certain extent: but it chiefly holds good with respect to the upper +classes. If foreign valour or talent has never received its proper meed +in Spain, the great body of the Spaniards are certainly not in fault. I +have heard Wellington calumniated in this proud scene of his triumphs, +but never by the old soldiers of Aragon and the Asturias, who assisted to +vanquish the French at Salamanca and the Pyrenees. I have heard the +manner of riding of an English jockey criticized, but it was by the +idiotic heir of Medina Celi, and not by a picador of the Madrilenian bull +ring. + +Apropos of bull-fighters:—Shortly after my arrival, I one day entered a +low tavern in a neighbourhood notorious for robbery and murder, and in +which for the last two hours I had been wandering on a voyage of +discovery. I was fatigued, and required refreshment. I found the place +thronged with people, who had all the appearance of ruffians. I saluted +them, upon which they made way for me to the bar, taking off their +sombreros with great ceremony. I emptied a glass of val de peñas, and +was about to pay for it and depart, when a horrible looking fellow, +dressed in a buff jerkin, leather breeches, and jackboots, which came +half way up his thighs, and having on his head a white hat, the rims of +which were at least a yard and a half in circumference, pushed through +the crowd, and confronting me, roared:— + +“_Otra copita_! _vamos Inglesito_: _Otra copita_!” + +“Thank you, my good sir, you are very kind, you appear to know me, but I +have not the honour of knowing you.” + +“Not know me!” replied the being. “I am Sevilla, the torero. I know you +well; you are the friend of Baltasarito, the national, who is a friend of +mine, and a very good subject.” + +Then turning to the company, he said in a sonorous tone, laying a strong +emphasis on the last syllable of every word, according to the custom of +the gente rufianesca throughout Spain: + +“Cavaliers, and strong men, this cavalier is the friend of a friend of +mine. _Es mucho hombre_. There is none like him in Spain. He speaks +the crabbed Gitano though he is an Inglesito.” + +“We do not believe it,” replied several grave voices. “It is not +possible.” + +“It is not possible, say you? I tell you it is. Come forward, Balseiro, +you who have been in prison all your life, and are always boasting that +you can speak the crabbed Gitano, though I say you know nothing of +it—come forward and speak to his worship in the crabbed Gitano.” + +A low, slight, but active figure stepped forward. He was in his shirt +sleeves, and wore a montero cap; his features were handsome, but they +were those of a demon. + +He spoke a few words in the broken Gypsy slang of the prison, inquiring +of me whether I had ever been in the condemned cell, and whether I knew +what a Gitana {128} was? + +“Vamos Inglesito,” shouted Sevilla in a voice of thunder; “answer the +monro in the crabbed Gitano.” + +I answered the robber, for such he was, and one, too, whose name will +live for many a year in the ruffian histories of Madrid; I answered him +in a speech of some length, in the dialect of the Estremenian Gypsies. + +“I believe it is the crabbed Gitano,” muttered Balseiro. “It is either +that or English, for I understand not a word of it.” + +“Did I not say to you,” cried the bull-fighter, “that you knew nothing of +the crabbed Gitano? But this Inglesito does. I understood all he said. +Vaya, there is none like him for the crabbed Gitano. He is a good +ginete, too; next to myself, there is none like him, only he rides with +stirrup leathers too short. Inglesito, if you have need of money, I will +lend you my purse. All I have is at your service, and that is not a +little; I have just gained four thousand chulés by the lottery. Courage, +Englishman! Another cup. I will pay all. I, Sevilla!” + +And he clapped his hand repeatedly on his breast, reiterating “I, +Sevilla! I—” + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + + +Intrigues at Court—Quesada and Galiano—Dissolution of the Cortes—The +Secretary—Aragonese Pertinacity—The Council of Trent—The Asturian—The +Three Thieves—Benedict Mol—The Men of Lucerne—The Treasure. + +Mendizabal had told me to call upon him again at the end of three months, +giving me hopes that he would not then oppose himself to the publication +of the New Testament; before, however, the three months had elapsed, he +had fallen into disgrace, and had ceased to be prime minister. + +An intrigue had been formed against him, at the head of which were two +quondam friends of his, and fellow-townsmen, Gaditanians, Isturitz and +Alcala Galiano; both of them had been egregious liberals in their day, +and indeed principal members of those cortes which, on the Angouleme +invasion, had hurried Ferdinand from Madrid to Cadiz, and kept him +prisoner there until that impregnable town thought proper to surrender, +and both of them had been subsequently refugees in England, where they +had spent a considerable number of years. + +These gentlemen, however, finding themselves about this time exceedingly +poor, and not seeing any immediate prospect of advantage from supporting +Mendizabal; considering themselves, moreover, quite as good men as he, +and as capable of governing Spain in the present emergency; determined to +secede from the party of their friend, whom they had hitherto supported, +and to set up for themselves. + +They therefore formed an opposition to Mendizabal in the cortes; the +members of this opposition assumed the name of moderados, in +contradistinction to Mendizabal and his followers, who were ultra +liberals. The moderados were encouraged by the Queen Regent Christina, +who aimed at a little more power than the liberals were disposed to allow +her, and who had a personal dislike to the minister. They were likewise +encouraged by Cordova, who at that time commanded the army, and was +displeased with Mendizabal, inasmuch as the latter did not supply the +pecuniary demands of the general with sufficient alacrity, though it is +said that the greater part of what was sent for the payment of the troops +was not devoted to that purpose, but, was invested in the French funds in +the name and for the use and behoof of the said Cordova. + +It is, however, by no means my intention to write an account of the +political events which were passing around me at this period; suffice it +to say, that Mendizabal finding himself thwarted in all his projects by +the regent and the general, the former of whom would adopt no measure +which he recommended, whilst the latter remained inactive and refused to +engage the enemy, which by this time had recovered from the check caused +by the death of Zumalacarregui, and was making considerable progress, +resigned and left the field for the time open to his adversaries, though +he possessed an immense majority in the cortes, and had the voice of the +nation, at least the liberal part of it, in his favour. + +Thereupon, Isturitz became head of the cabinet, Galiano minister of +marine, and a certain Duke of Rivas minister of the interior. These were +the heads of the moderado government, but as they were by no means +popular at Madrid, and feared the nationals, they associated with +themselves one who hated the latter body and feared nothing, a man of the +name of Quesada, a very stupid individual, but a great fighter, who, at +one period of his life, had commanded a legion or body of men called the +Army of the Faith, whose exploits both on the French and Spanish side of +the Pyrenees are too well known to require recapitulation. This person +was made captain general of Madrid. + +By far the most clever member of this government was Galiano, whose +acquaintance I had formed shortly after my arrival. He was a man of +considerable literature, and particularly well versed in that of his own +country. He was, moreover, a fluent, elegant, and forcible speaker, and +was to the moderado party within the cortes what Quesada was without, +namely, their horses and chariots. Why he was made minister of marine is +difficult to say, as Spain did not possess any; perhaps, however, from +his knowledge of the English language, which he spoke and wrote nearly as +well as his own tongue, having indeed during his sojourn in England +chiefly supported himself by writing for reviews and journals, an +honourable occupation, but to which few foreign exiles in England would +be qualified to devote themselves. + +He was a very small and irritable man, and a bitter enemy to every person +who stood in the way of his advancement. He hated Mendizabal with +undisguised rancour, and never spoke of him but in terms of unmeasured +contempt. “I am afraid that I shall have some difficulty in inducing +Mendizabal to give me permission to print the Testament,” said I to him +one day. “Mendizabal is a jackass,” replied Galiano. “Caligula made his +horse consul, which I suppose induced Lord—to send over this huge burro +of the Stock Exchange to be our minister.” + +It would be very ungrateful on my part were I not to confess my great +obligations to Galiano, who assisted me to the utmost of his power in the +business which had brought me to Spain. Shortly after the ministry was +formed, I went to him and said, “that now or never was the time to make +an effort in my behalf.” “I will do so,” said he, in a waspish tone; for +he always spoke waspishly whether to friend or foe; “but you must have +patience for a few days, we are very much occupied at present. We have +been outvoted in the cortes, and this afternoon we intend to dissolve +them. It is believed that the rascals will refuse to depart, but Quesada +will stand at the door ready to turn them out, should they prove +refractory. Come along, and you will perhaps see a funcion.” + +After an hour’s debate, the cortes were dissolved without it being +necessary to call in the aid of the redoubtable Quesada, and Galiano +forthwith gave me a letter to his colleague the Duke of Rivas, in whose +department he told me was vested the power either of giving or refusing +the permission to print the book in question. The duke was a very +handsome young man, of about thirty, an Andalusian by birth, like his two +colleagues. He had published several works, tragedies, I believe, and +enjoyed a certain kind of literary reputation. He received me with the +greatest affability; and having heard what I had to say, he replied with +a most captivating bow, and a genuine Andalusian grimace: “Go to my +secretary; go to my secretary—_el hara por usted el gusio_.” So I went +to the secretary, whose name was Oliban, an Aragonese, who was not +handsome, and whose manners were neither elegant nor affable. “You want +permission to print the Testament?” “I do,” said I. “And you have come +to His Excellency about it,” continued Oliban. “Very true,” I replied. +“I suppose you intend to print it without notes.” “Yes.” “Then His +Excellency cannot give you permission,” said the Aragonese secretary: “it +was determined by the Council of Trent that no part of the Scripture +should be printed in any Christian country without the notes of the +church.” “How many years was that ago?” I demanded. “I do not know how +many years ago it was,” said Oliban; “but such was the decree of the +Council of Trent.” “Is Spain at present governed according to the +decrees of the Council of Trent?” I inquired. “In some points she is,” +answered the Aragonese, “and this is one. But tell me who are you? Are +you known to the British minister?” “O yes, and he takes a great +interest in the matter.” “Does he?” said Oliban; “that indeed alters the +case: if you can show me that His Excellency takes in interest in this +business, I certainly shall not oppose myself to it.” + +The British minister performed all I could wish, and much more than I +could expect; he had an interview with the Duke of Rivas, with whom he +had much discourse upon my affair: the duke was all smiles and courtesy. +He moreover wrote a private letter to the duke, which he advised me to +present when I next paid him a visit, and, to crown all, he wrote a +letter directed to myself, in which he did me the honour to say that he +had a regard for me, and that nothing would afford him greater pleasure +than to hear that I had obtained the permission which I was seeking. So +I went to the duke, and delivered the letter. He was ten times more kind +and affable than before: he read the letter, smiled most sweetly, and +then, as if seized with sudden enthusiasm, he extended his arms in a +manner almost theatrical, exclaiming, “_Al secretario_, _el hara por +usted el gusto_.” Away I hurried to the secretary, who received me with +all the coolness of an icicle: I related to him the words of his +principal, and then put into his hand the letter of the British minister +to myself. The secretary read it very deliberately, and then said that +it was evident His Excellency did take an interest in the matter. He +then asked me my name, and taking a sheet of paper, sat down as if for +the purpose of writing the permission. I was in ecstasy—all of a sudden, +however, he stopped, lifted up his head, seemed to consider a moment, and +then putting his pen behind his ear, he said, “Amongst the decrees of the +Council of Trent is one to the effect” . . . + +“Oh dear!” said I. + +“A singular person is this Oliban,” said I to Galiano; “you cannot +imagine what trouble he gives me: he is continually talking about the +Council of Trent.” + +“I wish he was in the Trent up to the middle,” said Galiano, who, as I +have observed already, spoke excellent English; “I wish he was there for +talking such nonsense. However,” said he, “we must not offend Oliban, he +is one of us, and has done us much service; he is, moreover, a very +clever man, but he is an Aragonese, and when one of that nation once gets +an idea into his head, it is the most difficult thing in the world to +dislodge it; however, we will go to him; he is an old friend of mine, and +I have no doubt but that we shall be able to make him listen to reason.” +So the next day I called upon Galiano, at his marine or admiralty office +(what shall I call it?), and from thence we proceeded to the bureau of +the interior, a magnificent edifice, which had formerly been the casa of +the Inquisition, where we had an interview with Oliban, whom Galiano took +aside to the window, and there held with him a long conversation, which, +as they spoke in whispers, and the room was immensely large, I did not +hear. At length Galiano came to me and said, “There is some difficulty +with respect to this business of yours, but I have told Oliban that you +are a friend of mine, and he says that that is sufficient; remain with +him now, and he will do anything to oblige you; your affair is +settled—farewell”; whereupon he departed and I remained with Oliban, who +proceeded forthwith to write something, which having concluded, he took +out a box of cigars, and having lighted one and offered me another, which +I declined as I do not smoke, he placed his feet against the table, and +thus proceeded to address me, speaking in the French language. + +“It is with great pleasure that I see you in this capital, and, I may +say, upon this business. I consider it a disgrace to Spain that there is +no edition of the Gospel in circulation, at least such a one as would be +within the reach of all classes of society, the highest or poorest; one +unencumbered with notes and commentaries, human devices, swelling it to +an unwieldy bulk. I have no doubt that such an edition as you propose to +print, would have a most beneficial influence on the minds of the people, +who, between ourselves, know nothing of pure religion; how should they? +seeing that the Gospel has always been sedulously kept from them, just as +if civilization could exist where the light of the Gospel beameth not. +The moral regeneration of Spain depends upon the free circulation of the +Scriptures; to which alone England, your own happy country, is indebted +for its high state of civilization, and the unmatched prosperity which it +at present enjoys; all this I admit, in fact, reason compels me to do so, +but—” + +“Now for it,” thought I. + +“But”—and then he began to talk once more of the wearisome Council of +Trent, and I found that his writing in the paper, the offer of the cigar, +and the long and prosy harangue were—what shall I call it?—mere φλυαρία. + +By this time the spring was far advanced, the sides though not the tops +of the Guadarama hills had long since lost their snows; the trees of the +Prado had donned their full foliage, and all the Campina in the +neighbourhood of Madrid smiled and was happy: the summer heats had not +commenced, and the weather was truly delicious. + +Towards the west, at the foot of the hill on which stands Madrid, is a +canal running parallel with the Manzanares for some leagues, from which +it is separated by pleasant and fertile meadows. The banks of this +canal, which was begun by Carlos Tercero, and has never been completed, +are planted with beautiful trees, and form the most delightful walk in +the neighbourhood of the capital. Here I would loiter for hours looking +at the shoals of gold and silver fish which basked on the surface of the +green sunny waters, or listening, not to the warbling of birds—for Spain +is not the land of feathered choristers—but to the prattle of the +narangero or man who sold oranges and water by a little deserted watch +tower just opposite the wooden bridge that crosses the canal, which +situation he had chosen as favourable for his trade, and there had placed +his stall. He was an Asturian by birth, about fifty years of age, and +about five feet high. As I purchased freely of his fruit, he soon +conceived a great friendship for me, and told me his history; it +contained, however, nothing very remarkable, the leading incident being +an adventure which had befallen him amidst the mountains of Granada, +where, falling into the hands of certain Gypsies, they stripped him +naked, and then dismissed him with a sound cudgelling. “I have wandered +throughout Spain,” said he, “and I have come to the conclusion that there +are but two places worth living in, Malaga and Madrid. At Malaga +everything is very cheap, and there is such an abundance of fish, that I +have frequently seen them piled in heaps on the sea-shore: and as for +Madrid, money is always stirring at the Corte, and I never go supperless +to bed; my only care is to sell my oranges, and my only hope that when I +die I shall be buried yonder.” + +And he pointed across the Manzanares, where, on the declivity of a gentle +hill, at about a league’s distance, shone brightly in the sunshine the +white walls of the Campo Santo, or common burying ground of Madrid. + +He was a fellow of infinite drollery, and, though he could scarcely read +or write, by no means ignorant of the ways of the world; his knowledge of +individuals was curious and extensive, few people passing his stall with +whose names, character, and history he was not acquainted. “Those two +gentry,” said he, pointing to a magnificently dressed cavalier and lady, +who had dismounted from a carriage, and arm in arm were coming across the +wooden bridge, followed by two attendants; “those gentry are the Infante +Francisco Paulo, and his wife the Neapolitana, sister of our Christina; +he is a very good subject, but as for his wife—vaya—the veriest scold in +Madrid; she can say carrajo with the most ill-conditioned carrier of La +Mancha, giving the true emphasis and genuine pronunciation. Don’t take +off your hat to her, amigo—she has neither formality nor politeness—I +once saluted her, and she took no more notice of me than if I had not +been what I am, an Asturian and a gentleman, of better blood than +herself. Good day, Señor Don Francisco. Que tal (_how goes it_)? very +fine weather this—_vaya su merced con Dios_. Those three fellows who +just stopped to drink water are great thieves, true sons of the prison; I +am always civil to them, for it would not do to be on ill terms; they pay +me or not, just as they think proper. I have been in some trouble on +their account: about a year ago they robbed a man a little farther on +beyond the second bridge. By the way, I counsel you, brother, not to go +there, as I believe you often do—it is a dangerous place. They robbed a +gentleman and ill-treated him, but his brother, who was an escribano, was +soon upon their trail, and had them arrested; but he wanted someone to +identify them, and it chanced that they had stopped to drink water at my +stall, just as they did now. This the escribano heard of, and forthwith +had me away to the prison to confront me with them. I knew them well +enough, but I had learnt in my travels when to close my eyes and when to +open them; so I told the escribano that I could not say that I had ever +seen them before. He was in a great rage and threatened to imprison me; +I told him he might and that I cared not. Vaya, I was not going to +expose myself to the resentment of those three and to that of their +friends; I live too near the Hay Market for that. Good day, my young +masters.—Murcian oranges, as you see; the genuine dragon’s blood. Water +sweet and cold. Those two boys are the children of Gabiria, comptroller +of the queen’s household, and the richest man in Madrid; they are nice +boys, and buy much fruit. It is said their father loves them more than +all his possessions. The old woman who is lying beneath yon tree is the +Tia Lucilla; she has committed murders, and as she owes me money, I hope +one day to see her executed. This man was of the Walloon guard;—Señor +Don Benito Mol, how do you do?” + +This last named personage instantly engrossed my attention; he was a +bulky old man, somewhat above the middle height, with white hair and +ruddy features; his eyes were large and blue, and whenever he fixed them +on any one’s countenance, were full of an expression of great eagerness, +as if he were expecting the communication of some important tidings. He +was dressed commonly enough, in a jacket and trousers of coarse cloth of +a russet colour, on his head was an immense sombrero, the brim of which +had been much cut and mutilated, so as in some places to resemble the +jags or denticles of a saw. He returned the salutation of the +orange-man, and bowing to me, forthwith produced two scented wash-balls +which he offered for sale in a rough dissonant jargon, intended for +Spanish, but which seemed more like the Valencian or Catalan. + +Upon my asking him who he was, the following conversation ensued between +us: + +“I am a Swiss of Lucerne, Benedict Mol by name, once a soldier in the +Walloon guard, and now a soap-boiler, at your service.” + +“You speak the language of Spain very imperfectly,” said I; “how long +have you been in the country?” + +“Forty-five years,” replied Benedict; “but when the guard was broken up, +I went to Minorca, where I lost the Spanish language without acquiring +the Catalan.” + +“You have been a soldier of the king of Spain,” said I; “how did you like +the service?” + +“Not so well, but that I should have been glad to leave it forty years +ago; the pay was bad, and the treatment worse. I will now speak Swiss to +you, for, if I am not much mistaken, you are a German man, and understand +the speech of Lucerne; I should soon have deserted from the service of +Spain, as I did from that of the Pope, whose soldier I was in my early +youth before I came here; but I had married a woman of Minorca, by whom I +had two children; it was this that detained me in those parts so long; +before, however, I left Minorca, my wife died, and as for my children, +one went east, the other west, and I know not what became of them; I +intend shortly to return to Lucerne, and live there like a duke.” + +“Have you, then, realized a large capital in Spain?” said I, glancing at +his hat and the rest of his apparel. + +“Not a cuart, not a cuart; these two wash-balls are all that I possess.” + +“Perhaps you are the son of good parents, and have lands and money in +your own country wherewith to support yourself.” + +“Not a heller, not a heller; my father was hangman of Lucerne, and when +he died, his body was seized to pay his debts.” + +“Then doubtless,” said I, “you intend to ply your trade of soap-boiling +at Lucerne; you are quite right, my friend, I know of no occupation more +honourable or useful.” + +“I have no thoughts of plying my trade at Lucerne,” replied Bennet; “and +now, as I see you are a German man, Lieber Herr, and as I like your +countenance and your manner of speaking, I will tell you in confidence +that I know very little of my trade, and have already been turned out of +several fabriques as an evil workman; the two wash-balls that I carry in +my pocket are not of my own making. _In kurtzen_, I know little more of +soap-boiling than I do of tailoring, horse-farriery, or shoe-making, all +of which I have practised.” + +“Then I know not how you can hope to live like a hertzog in your native +canton, unless you expect that the men of Lucerne, in consideration of +your services to the Pope and to the king of Spain, will maintain you in +splendour at the public expense.” + +“Lieber Herr,” said Benedict, “the men of Lucerne are by no means fond of +maintaining the soldiers of the Pope and the king of Spain at their own +expense; many of the guard who have returned thither beg their bread in +the streets, but when I go, it shall be in a coach drawn by six mules, +with a treasure, a mighty schatz which lies in the church of Saint James +of Compostella, in Galicia.” + +“I hope you do not intend to rob the church,” said I; “if you do, +however, I believe you will be disappointed. Mendizabal and the liberals +have been beforehand with you. I am informed that at present no other +treasure is to be found in the cathedrals of Spain than a few paltry +ornaments and plated utensils.” + +“My good German Herr,” said Benedict, “it is no church schatz, and no +person living, save myself, knows of its existence: nearly thirty years +ago, amongst the sick soldiers who were brought to Madrid, was one of my +comrades of the Walloon Guard, who had accompanied the French to +Portugal; he was very sick and shortly died. Before, however, he +breathed his last, he sent for me, and upon his deathbed told me that +himself and two other soldiers, both of whom had since been killed, had +buried in a certain church at Compostella a great booty which they had +made in Portugal: it consisted of gold moidores and of a packet of huge +diamonds from the Brazils; the whole was contained in a large copper +kettle. I listened with greedy ears, and from that moment, I may say, I +have known no rest, neither by day nor night, thinking of the schatz. It +is very easy to find, for the dying man was so exact in his description +of the place where it lies, that were I once at Compostella, I should +have no difficulty in putting my hand upon it; several times I have been +on the point of setting out on the journey, but something has always +happened to stop me. When my wife died, I left Minorca with a +determination to go to Saint James, but on reaching Madrid, I fell into +the hands of a Basque woman, who persuaded me to live with her, which I +have done for several years; she is a great hax, {138} and says that if I +desert her she will breathe a spell which shall cling to me for ever. +_Dem Got sey dank_,—she is now in the hospital, and daily expected to +die. This is my history, Lieber Herr.” + +I have been the more careful in relating the above conversation, as I +shall have frequent occasion to mention the Swiss in the course of these +journals; his subsequent adventures were highly extraordinary, and the +closing one caused a great sensation in Spain. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + + +State of Spain—Isturitz—Revolution of the Granja—The Disturbance—Signs of +Mischief—Newspaper Reporters—Quesada’s Onslaught—The Closing Scene—Flight +of the Moderados—The Coffee Bowl. + +In the meantime the affairs of the moderados did not proceed in a very +satisfactory manner; they were unpopular at Madrid, and still more so in +the other large towns of Spain, in most of which juntas had been formed, +which, taking the local administration into their own hands, declared +themselves independent of the queen and her ministers, and refused to pay +taxes; so that the government was within a short time reduced to great +straits for money; the army was unpaid, and the war languished; I mean on +the part of the Christinos, for the Carlists were pushing it on with +considerable vigour; parties of their guerillas scouring the country in +all directions, whilst a large division, under the celebrated Gomez, was +making the entire circuit of Spain. To crown the whole, an insurrection +was daily expected at Madrid, to prevent which the nationals were +disarmed, which measure tended greatly to increase their hatred against +the moderado government, and especially against Quesada, with whom it was +supposed to have originated. + +With respect to my own matters, I lost no opportunity of pushing forward +my application; the Aragonese secretary, however, still harped upon the +Council of Trent, and succeeded in baffling all my efforts. He appeared +to have inoculated his principal with his own ideas upon the subject, for +the duke, when he beheld me at his levees, took no farther notice of me +than by a contemptuous glance; and once, when I stepped up for the +purpose of addressing him, disappeared through a side door, and I never +saw him again, for I was disgusted with the treatment which I had +received, and forebore paying any more visits at the Casa de la +Inquisicion. Poor Galiano still proved himself my unshaken friend, but +candidly informed me that there was no hope of my succeeding in the above +quarter. “The duke,” said he, “says that your request cannot be granted; +and the other day, when I myself mentioned it in the council, began to +talk of the decision of Trent, and spoke of yourself as a plaguy +pestilent fellow; whereupon I answered him with some acrimony, and there +ensued a bit of a function between us, at which Isturitz laughed +heartily. By the by,” continued he, “what need have you of a regular +permission, which it does not appear that any one has authority to grant. +The best thing that you can do under all circumstances is to commit the +work to the press, with an understanding that you shall not be interfered +with when you attempt to distribute it. I strongly advise you to see +Isturitz himself upon the matter. I will prepare him for the interview, +and will answer that he receives you civilly.” + +In fact, a few days afterwards, I had an interview with Isturitz at the +palace, and for the sake of brevity I shall content myself with saying +that I found him perfectly well disposed to favour my views. “I have +lived long in England,” said he; “the Bible is free there, and I see no +reason why it should not be free in Spain also. I am not prepared to say +that England is indebted for her prosperity to the knowledge which all +her children, more or less, possess of the sacred writings; but of one +thing I am sure, namely, that the Bible has done no harm in that country, +nor do I believe that it will effect any in Spain; print it, therefore, +by all means, and circulate it as extensively as possible.” I retired, +highly satisfied with my interview, having obtained, if not a written +permission to print the sacred volume, what, under all circumstances, I +considered as almost equivalent, an understanding that my biblical +pursuits would be tolerated in Spain; and I had fervent hope that +whatever was the fate of the present ministry, no future one, +particularly a liberal one, would venture to interfere with me, more +especially as the English ambassador was my friend, and was privy to all +the steps I had taken throughout the whole affair. + +Two or three things connected with the above interview with Isturitz +struck me as being highly remarkable. First of all, the extreme facility +with which I obtained admission to the presence of the prime minister of +Spain. I had not to wait, or indeed to send in my name, but was +introduced at once by the door-keeper. Secondly, the air of loneliness +which pervaded the place, so unlike the bustle, noise, and activity which +I observed when I waited on Mendizabal. In this instance, there were no +eager candidates for an interview with the great man; indeed, I did not +behold a single individual, with the exception of Isturitz and the +official. But that which made the most profound impression upon me, was +the manner of the minister himself, who, when I entered, sat upon a sofa, +with his arms folded, and his eyes directed to the ground. When he spoke +there was extreme depression in the tones of his voice, his dark features +wore an air of melancholy, and he exhibited all the appearance of a +person meditating to escape from the miseries of this life by the most +desperate of all acts—suicide. + +And a few days showed that he had, indeed, cause for much melancholy +meditation: in less than a week occurred the revolution of the Granja, as +it is called. The Granja, or Grange, is a royal country seat, situated +amongst pine forests, on the other side of the Guadarama hills, about +twelve leagues distant from Madrid. To this place the queen regent +Christina had retired, in order to be aloof from the discontent of the +capital, and to enjoy rural air and amusements in this celebrated +retreat, a monument of the taste and magnificence of the first Bourbon +who ascended the throne of Spain. She was not, however, permitted to +remain long in tranquillity; her own guards were disaffected, and more +inclined to the principles of the constitution of 1823 than to those of +absolute monarchy, which the moderados were attempting to revive again in +the government of Spain. Early one morning, a party of these soldiers, +headed by a certain Sergeant Garcia, entered her apartment, and proposed +that she should subscribe her hand to this constitution, and swear +solemnly to abide by it. Christina, however, who was a woman of +considerable spirit, refused to comply with this proposal, and ordered +them to withdraw. A scene of violence and tumult ensued, but the regent +still continuing firm, the soldiers at length led her down to one of the +courts of the palace, where stood her well-known paramour, Muños, bound +and blindfolded. “Swear to the constitution, you she-rogue,” vociferated +the swarthy sergeant. “Never!” said the spirited daughter of the +Neapolitan Bourbons. “Then your cortejo shall die!” replied the +sergeant. “Ho! ho! my lads; get ready your arms, and send four bullets +through the fellow’s brain.” Muños was forthwith led to the wall, and +compelled to kneel down, the soldiers levelled their muskets and another +moment would have consigned the unfortunate wight to eternity, when +Christina, forgetting everything but the feelings of her woman’s heart, +suddenly started forward with a shriek, exclaiming: “Hold, hold! I sign, +I sign!” + +The day after this event I entered the Puerta del Sol at about noon. +There is always a crowd there about this hour, but it is generally a very +quiet motionless crowd, consisting of listless idlers calmly smoking +their cigars, or listening to or retailing the—in general—very dull news +of the capital; but on the day of which I am speaking the mass was no +longer inert. There was much gesticulation and vociferation, and several +people were running about shouting, “_Viva la constitucion_!”—a cry +which, a few days previously, would have been visited on the utterer with +death, the city having for some weeks past been subjected to the rigour +of martial law. I occasionally heard the words, “_La Granja_! _La +Granja_!” Which words were sure to be succeeded by the shout of “_Viva +la constitucion_!” Opposite the Casa de Postas were drawn up in a line +about a dozen mounted dragoons, some of whom were continually waving +their caps in the air and joining the common cry, in which they were +encouraged by their commander, a handsome young officer, who flourished +his sword, and more than once cried out with great glee, “Long live the +constitutional queen! Long live the constitution!” + +The crowd was rapidly increasing, and several nationals made their +appearance in their uniforms, but without their arms, of which they had +been deprived, as I have already stated. “What has become of the +moderado government?” said I to Baltasar, whom I suddenly observed +amongst the crowd, dressed as when I had first seen him, in his old +regimental great coat and foraging cap; “have the ministers been deposed +and others put in their place?” + +“Not yet, Don Jorge,” said the little soldier-tailor; “not yet; the +scoundrels still hold out, relying on the brute bull Quesada and a few +infantry, who still continue true to them; but there is no fear, Don +Jorge; the queen is ours, thanks to the courage of my friend Garcia, and +if the brute bull should make his appearance—ho! ho! Don Jorge, you shall +see something—I am prepared for him, ho! ho!” and thereupon he half +opened his great coat, and showed me a small gun, which he bore beneath +it in a sling, and then moving away with a wink and a nod, disappeared +amongst the crowd. + +Presently I perceived a small body of soldiers advancing up the Calle +Mayor, or principal street which runs from the Puerta del Sol in the +direction of the palace; they might be about twenty in number, and an +officer marched at their head with a drawn sword; the men appeared to +have been collected in a hurry, many of them being in fatigue dress, with +foraging caps on their heads. On they came, slowly marching; neither +their officer nor themselves paying the slightest attention to the cries +of the crowd which thronged about them, shouting “Long live the +constitution!” save and except by an occasional surly side glance: on +they marched with contracted brows and set teeth, till they came in front +of the cavalry, where they halted and drew up in a rank. + +“Those men mean mischief,” said I to my friend D---, of the _Morning +Chronicle_, who at this moment joined me; “and depend upon it, that if +they are ordered they will commence firing, caring nothing whom they +hit,—but what can those cavalry fellows behind them mean, who are +evidently of the other opinion by their shouting, why don’t they charge +at once this handful of foot people and overturn them? Once down, the +crowd would wrest from them their muskets in a moment. You are a +liberal, which I am not; why do you not go to that silly young man who +commands the horse and give him a word of counsel in time?” + +D--- turned upon me his broad red good-humoured English countenance, with +a peculiarly arch look, as much as to say—(whatever you think most +applicable, gentle reader), then taking me by the arm, “Let us get,” said +he, “out of this crowd and mount to some window, where I can write down +what is about to take place, for I agree with you that mischief is +meant.” Just opposite the post office was a large house, in the topmost +story of which we beheld a paper displayed, importing that apartments +were to let; whereupon we instantly ascended the common stair, and having +agreed with the mistress of the étage for the use of the front room for +the day, we bolted the door, and the reporter, producing his pocket-book +and pencil, prepared to take notes of the coming events, which were +already casting their shadow before. + +What most extraordinary men are these reporters of newspapers in general, +I mean English newspapers; surely if there be any class of individuals +who are entitled to the appellation of cosmopolites, it is these; who +pursue their avocation in all countries indifferently, and accommodate +themselves at will to the manners of all classes of society: their +fluency of style as writers is only surpassed by their facility of +language in conversation, and their attainments in classical and polite +literature only by their profound knowledge of the world, acquired by an +early introduction into its bustling scenes. The activity, energy, and +courage which they occasionally display in the pursuit of information are +truly remarkable. I saw them during the three days at Paris, mingled +with canaille and gamins behind the barriers, whilst the mitraille was +flying in all directions, and the desperate cuirassiers were dashing +their fierce horses against these seemingly feeble bulwarks. There stood +they, dotting down their observations in their pocket-books as +unconcernedly as if reporting the proceedings of a reform meeting in +Covent Garden or Finsbury Square; whilst in Spain, several of them +accompanied the Carlist and Christino guerillas in some of their most +desperate raids and expeditions, exposing themselves to the danger of +hostile bullets, the inclemency of winter, and the fierce heat of the +summer sun. + +We had scarcely been five minutes at the window, when we suddenly heard +the clattering of horses’ feet hastening down the street called the Calle +de Carretas. The house in which we had stationed ourselves was, as I +have already observed, just opposite to the post office, at the left of +which this street debouches from the north into the Puerta del Sol: as +the sounds became louder and louder, the cries of the crowd below +diminished, and a species of panic seemed to have fallen upon all: once +or twice, however, I could distinguish the words Quesada! Quesada! The +foot soldiers stood calm and motionless, but I observed that the cavalry, +with the young officer who commanded them, displayed both confusion and +fear, exchanging with each other some hurried words; all of a sudden that +part of the crowd which stood near the mouth of the Calle de Carretas +fell back in great disorder, leaving a considerable space unoccupied, and +the next moment Quesada, in complete general’s uniform, and mounted on a +bright bay thorough bred English horse, with a drawn sword in his hand, +dashed at full gallop into the area, in much the same manner as I have +seen a Manchegan bull rush into the amphitheatre when the gates of his +pen are suddenly flung open. + +He was closely followed by two mounted officers, and at a short distance +by as many dragoons. In almost less time than is sufficient to relate +it, several individuals in the crowd were knocked down and lay sprawling +upon the ground, beneath the horses of Quesada and his two friends, for +as to the dragoons, they halted as soon as they had entered the Puerta +del Sol. It was a fine sight to see three men, by dint of valour and +good horsemanship, strike terror into at least as many thousands: I saw +Quesada spur his horse repeatedly into the dense masses of the crowd, and +then extricate himself in the most masterly manner. The rabble were +completely awed and gave way, retiring by the Calle del Comercio and the +street of Alcala. All at once, Quesada singled out two nationals, who +were attempting to escape, and setting spurs to his horse, turned them in +a moment, and drove them in another direction, striking them in a +contemptuous manner with the flat of his sabre. He was crying out, “Long +live the absolute queen!” when, just beneath me, amidst a portion of the +crowd which had still maintained its ground, perhaps from not having the +means of escaping, I saw a small gun glitter for a moment, then there was +a sharp report, and a bullet had nearly sent Quesada to his long account, +passing so near to the countenance of the general as to graze his hat. I +had an indistinct view for a moment of a well-known foraging cap just +about the spot from whence the gun had been discharged, then there was a +rush of the crowd, and the shooter, whoever he was, escaped discovery +amidst the confusion which arose. + +As for Quesada, he seemed to treat the danger from which he had escaped +with the utmost contempt. He glared about him fiercely for a moment, +then leaving the two nationals, who sneaked away like whipped hounds, he +went up to the young officer who commanded the cavalry, and who had been +active in raising the cry of the constitution, and to him he addressed a +few words with an air of stern menace; the youth evidently quailed before +him, and probably in obedience to his orders, resigned the command of the +party, and rode slowly away with a discomfited air; whereupon Quesada +dismounted and walked slowly backwards and forwards before the Casa de +Postas with a mien which seemed to bid defiance to mankind. + +This was the glorious day of Quesada’s existence, his glorious and last +day. I call it the day of his glory, for he certainly never before +appeared under such brilliant circumstances, and he never lived to see +another sun set. No action of any conqueror or hero on record is to be +compared with this closing scene of the life of Quesada, for who, by his +single desperate courage and impetuosity, ever before stopped a +revolution in full course? Quesada did: he stopped the revolution at +Madrid for one entire day, and brought back the uproarious and hostile +mob of a huge city to perfect order and quiet. His burst into the Puerta +del Sol was the most tremendous and successful piece of daring ever +witnessed. I admired so much the spirit of the “brute bull” that I +frequently, during his wild onset, shouted “Viva Quesada!” for I wished +him well. Not that I am of any political party or system. No, no! I +have lived too long with Rommany Chals and Petulengres {145} to be of any +politics save Gypsy politics; and it is well known that, during +elections, the children of Roma side with both parties so long as the +event is doubtful, promising success to each; and then when the fight is +done, and the battle won, invariably range themselves in the ranks of the +victorious. But I repeat that I wished well to Quesada, witnessing, as I +did, his stout heart and good horsemanship. Tranquillity was restored to +Madrid throughout the remainder of the day; the handful of infantry +bivouacked in the Puerta del Sol. No more cries of long live the +constitution were heard; and the revolution in the capital seemed to have +been effectually put down. It is probable, indeed, that had the chiefs +of the moderado party but continued true to themselves for forty-eight +hours longer, their cause would have triumphed, and the revolutionary +soldiers at the Granja would have been glad to restore the Queen Regent +to liberty, and to have come to terms, as it was well known that several +regiments, who still continued loyal, were marching upon Madrid. The +moderados, however, were not true to themselves; that very night their +hearts failed them, and they fled in various directions. Isturitz and +Galiano to France; and the Duke of Rivas to Gibraltar: the panic of his +colleagues even infected Quesada, who, disguised as a civilian, took to +flight. He was not, however, so successful as the rest, but was +recognised at a village about three leagues from Madrid, and cast into +prison by some friends of the constitution. Intelligence of his capture +was instantly transmitted to the capital, and a vast mob of the +nationals, some on foot, some on horseback, and others in cabriolets, +instantly set out. “The nationals are coming,” said a paisano to +Quesada. “Then,” said he, “I am lost,” and forthwith prepared himself +for death. + +There is a celebrated coffee-house in the Calle d’Alcala at Madrid, +capable of holding several hundred individuals. On the evening of the +day in question, I was seated there, sipping a cup of the brown beverage, +when I heard a prodigious noise and clamour in the street; it proceeded +from the nationals, who were returning from their expedition. In a few +minutes I saw a body of them enter the coffee-house marching arm in arm, +two by two, stamping on the ground with their feet in a kind of measure, +and repeating in loud chorus as they walked round the spacious apartment, +the following grisly stanza:— + + “Que es lo que abaja + Por aquel cerro? + Ta ra ra ra ra. + Son los huesos de Quesada, + Que los trae un perro— + Ta ra ra ra ra.” {146} + +A huge bowl of coffee was then called for, which was placed upon a table, +around which gathered the national soldiers: there was silence for a +moment, which was interrupted by a voice roaring out, “_el panuelo_!” A +blue kerchief was forthwith produced, which appeared to contain a +substance of some kind; it was untied, and a gory hand and three or four +dissevered fingers made their appearance, and with these the contents of +the bowl were stirred up. “Cups! cups!” cried the nationals. + +“Ho, ho, Don Jorge,” cried Baltasarito, coming up to me with a cup of +coffee, “pray do me the favour to drink upon this glorious occasion. +This is a pleasant day for Spain, and for the gallant nationals of +Madrid. I have seen many a bull funcion, but none which has given me so +much pleasure as this. Yesterday the brute had it all his own way, but +to-day the toreros have prevailed, as you see, Don Jorge. Pray drink; +for I must now run home to fetch my pajandi to play my brethren a tune, +and sing a copla. What shall it be? Something in Gitano? + + “Una noche sinava en tucue.” + +You shake your head, Don Jorge. Ha, ha; I am young, and youth is the +time for pleasure; well, well, out of compliment to you, who are an +Englishman and a monro, it shall not be that, but something liberal, +something patriotic, the Hymn of Riego—Hasta despues, Don Jorge!” + + + + +CHAPTER XV + + +The Steamer—Cape Finisterre—The Storm—Arrival at Cadiz—The New +Testament—Seville—Italica—The Amphitheatre—The Prisoners—The +Encounter—Baron Taylor—The Street and Desert. + +At the commencement of November, I again found myself on the salt water, +on my way to Spain. I had returned to England shortly after the events +which have been narrated in the last chapter, for the purpose of +consulting with my friends, and for planning the opening of a biblical +campaign in Spain. It was now determined by us to print the New +Testament, with as little delay as possible, at Madrid; and I was to be +entrusted with the somewhat arduous task of its distribution. My stay in +England was very short, for time was precious, and I was eager to return +to the field of action. + +I embarked in the Thames, on board the M--- steamer. We had a most +unpleasant passage to Falmouth; the ship was crowded with passengers, +most of them poor consumptive individuals, and other invalids fleeing +from the cold blasts of England’s winter to the sunny shores of Portugal +and Madeira. In a more uncomfortable vessel, especially steam ship, it +has never been my fate to make a voyage. The berths were small and +insupportably close, and of these wretched holes mine was amongst the +worst, the rest having been bespoken before I arrived on board; so that +to avoid the suffocation which seemed to threaten me should I enter it, I +lay upon the floor of one of the cabins throughout the voyage. We +remained at Falmouth twenty-four hours, taking in coal, and repairing the +engine, which had sustained considerable damage. + +On Monday, the seventh, we again started, and made for the Bay of Biscay. +The sea was high and the wind strong and contrary; nevertheless, on the +morning of the fourth day, we were in sight of the rocky coast to the +north of Cape Finisterre. I must here observe, that this was the first +voyage that the captain who commanded the vessel had ever made on board +of her, and that he knew little or nothing of the coast towards which we +were bearing. He was a person picked up in a hurry, the former captain +having resigned his command on the ground that the ship was not +seaworthy, and that the engines were frequently unserviceable. I was not +acquainted with these circumstances at the time, or perhaps I should have +felt more alarmed than I did, when I saw the vessel approaching nearer +and nearer the shore, till at last we were only a few hundred yards +distant. As it was, however, I felt very much surprised; for having +passed it twice before, both times in steam vessels, and having seen with +what care the captains endeavoured to maintain a wide offing, I could not +conceive the reason of our being now so near this dangerous region. The +wind was blowing hard towards the shore, if that can be called a shore +which consists of steep abrupt precipices, on which the surf was breaking +with the noise of thunder, tossing up clouds of spray and foam to the +height of a cathedral. We coasted slowly along, rounding several tall +forelands, some of them piled up by the hand of nature in the most +fantastic shapes. About nightfall Cape Finisterre was not far ahead,—a +bluff, brown, granite mountain, whose frowning head may be seen far away +by those who traverse the ocean. The stream which poured round its +breast was terrific, and though our engines plied with all their force, +we made little or no way. + +By about eight o’clock at night the wind had increased to a hurricane, +the thunder rolled frightfully, and the only light which we had to guide +us on our way was the red forked lightning, which burst at times from the +bosom of the big black clouds which lowered over our heads. We were +exerting ourselves to the utmost to weather the cape, which we could +descry by the lightning on our lee, its brow being frequently brilliantly +lighted up by the flashes which quivered around it, when suddenly, with a +great crash, the engine broke, and the paddles, on which depended our +lives, ceased to play. + +I will not attempt to depict the scene of horror and confusion which +ensued; it may be imagined, but never described. The captain, to give +him his due, displayed the utmost coolness and intrepidity; he and the +whole crew made the greatest exertions to repair the engine, and when +they found their labour in vain, endeavoured, by hoisting the sails, and +by practising all possible manœuvres, to preserve the ship from impending +destruction; but all was of no avail, we were hard on a lee shore, to +which the howling tempest was impelling us. About this time I was +standing near the helm, and I asked the steersman if there was any hope +of saving the vessel, or our lives. He replied, “Sir, it is a bad +affair, no boat could live for a minute in this sea, and in less than an +hour the ship will have her broadside on Finisterre, where the strongest +man-of-war ever built must go to shivers instantly—none of us will see +the morning.” The captain, likewise, informed the other passengers in +the cabin to the same effect, telling them to prepare themselves; and +having done so, he ordered the door to be fastened, and none to be +permitted to come on deck. I, however, kept my station, though almost +drowned with water, immense waves continually breaking over our windward +side and flooding the ship. The water casks broke from their lashings, +and one of them struck me down, and crushed the foot of the unfortunate +man at the helm, whose place was instantly taken by the captain. We were +now close to the rocks, when a horrid convulsion of the elements took +place. The lightning enveloped us as with a mantle, the thunders were +louder than the roar of a million cannon, the dregs of the ocean seemed +to be cast up, and in the midst of all this turmoil, the wind, without +the slightest intimation, _veered right about_, and pushed us from the +horrible coast faster than it had previously driven us towards it. + +The oldest sailors on board acknowledged that they had never witnessed so +providential an escape. I said, from the bottom of my heart, “Our +Father—hallowed be thy name.” + +The next day we were near foundering, for the sea was exceedingly high, +and our vessel, which was not intended for sailing, laboured terribly, +and leaked much. The pumps were continually working. She likewise took +fire, but the flames were extinguished. In the evening the steam-engine +was partially repaired, and we reached Lisbon on the thirteenth, where in +a few days we completed our repairs. + +I found my excellent friend W--- in good health. During my absence he +had been doing everything in his power to further the sale of the sacred +volume in Portuguese: his zeal and devotedness were quite admirable. The +distracted state of the country, however, during the last six months, had +sadly impeded his efforts. The minds of the people had been so engrossed +with politics, that they found scarcely any time to think of the welfare +of their souls. The political history of Portugal had of late afforded a +striking parallel to that of the neighbouring country. In both a +struggle for supremacy had arisen between the court and the democratic +party; in both the latter had triumphed, whilst two distinguished +individuals had fallen a sacrifice to the popular fury—Freire in +Portugal, and Quesada in Spain. The news which reached me at Lisbon from +the latter country was rather startling. The hordes of Gomez were +ravaging Andalusia, which I was about to visit on my way to Madrid; +Cordova had been sacked and abandoned after a three days’ occupation by +the Carlists. I was told that if I persisted in my attempt to enter +Spain in the direction which I proposed, I should probably fall into +their hands at Seville. I had, however, no fears, and had full +confidence that the Lord would open the path before me to Madrid. + +The vessel being repaired, we again embarked, and in two days arrived in +safety at Cadiz. I found great confusion reigning there; numerous bands +of the factious were reported to be hovering in the neighbourhood. An +attack was not deemed improbable, and the place had just been declared in +a state of siege. I took up my abode at the French hotel in the Calle de +la Niveria, and was allotted a species of cockloft, or garret, to sleep +in, for the house was filled with guests, being a place of much resort, +on account of the excellent table d’hote which is kept there. I dressed +myself and walked about the town. I entered several coffee-houses: the +din of tongues in all was deafening. In one no less than six orators +were haranguing at the same time on the state of the country, and the +probability of an intervention on the part of England and France. As I +was listening to one of them, he suddenly called upon me for my opinion, +as I was a foreigner, and seemingly just arrived. I replied that I could +not venture to guess what steps the two governments would pursue under +the present circumstances, but thought that it would be as well if the +Spaniards would exert themselves more and call less on Jupiter. As I did +not wish to engage in any political conversation, I instantly quitted the +house, and sought those parts of the town where the lower classes +principally reside. + +I entered into discourse with several individuals, but found them very +ignorant; none could read or write, and their ideas respecting religion +were anything but satisfactory,—most professing a perfect indifference. +I afterwards went into a bookseller’s shop and made inquiries respecting +the demand for literature, which, he informed me, was small. I produced +a London edition of the New Testament in Spanish, and asked the +bookseller whether he thought a book of that description would sell in +Cadiz. He said that both the type and paper were exceedingly beautiful, +but that it was a work not sought after, and very little known. I did +not pursue my inquiries in other shops, for I reflected that I was not +likely to receive a very favourable opinion from booksellers respecting a +publication in which they had no interest. I had, moreover, but two or +three copies of the New Testament with me, and could not have supplied +them had they even given me an order. + +Early on the twenty-fourth, I embarked for Seville in the small Spanish +steamer the _Betis_: the morning was wet, and the aspect of nature was +enveloped in a dense mist, which prevented my observing surrounding +objects. After proceeding about six leagues, we reached the +north-eastern extremity of the Bay of Cadiz, and passed by Saint Lucar, +an ancient town near to the spot where the Guadalquivir disembogues +itself. The mist suddenly disappeared, and the sun of Spain burst forth +in full brilliancy, enlivening all around, and particularly myself, who +had till then been lying on the deck in a dull melancholy stupor. We +entered the mouth of “The Great River,” for that is the English +translation of Oued al Kiber, as the Moors designated the ancient Betis. +We came to anchor for a few minutes at a little village called Bonança, +at the extremity of the first reach of the river, where we received +several passengers, and again proceeded. There is not much in the +appearance of the Guadalquivir to interest the traveller: the banks are +low and destitute of trees, the adjacent country is flat, and only in the +distance is seen a range of tall blue sierras. The water is turbid and +muddy, and in colour closely resembling the contents of a duck-pool; the +average width of the stream is from a hundred and fifty to two hundred +yards, but it is impossible to move along this river without remembering +that it has borne the Roman, the Vandal, and the Arab, and has been the +witness of deeds which have resounded through the world and been the +themes of immortal songs. I repeated Latin verses and fragments of old +Spanish ballads till we reached Seville, at about nine o’clock of a +lovely moonlight night. + +Seville contains ninety thousand inhabitants, and is situated on the +eastern bank of the Guadalquivir, about eighteen leagues from its mouth; +it is surrounded with high Moorish walls, in a good state of +preservation, and built of such durable materials that it is probable +they will for many centuries still bid defiance to the encroachments of +time. The most remarkable edifices are the cathedral and Alcazar, or +palace of the Moorish kings; the tower of the former, called La Giralda, +belongs to the period of the Moors, and formed part of the grand mosque +of Seville: it is computed to be one hundred ells in height, and is +ascended not by stairs or ladders but by a vaulted pathway, in the manner +of an inclined plane: this path is by no means steep, so that a cavalier +might ride up to the top, a feat which Ferdinand the Seventh is said to +have accomplished. The view from the summit is very extensive, and on a +fine clear day the mountain ridge, called the Sierra de Ronda, may be +discovered, though upwards of twenty leagues distant. The cathedral +itself is a noble Gothic structure, reputed the finest of the kind in +Spain. In the chapels allotted to the various saints are some of the +most magnificent paintings which Spanish art has produced; indeed the +Cathedral of Seville is at the present time far more rich in splendid +paintings than at any former period; possessing many very recently +removed from some of the suppressed convents, particularly from the +Capuchin and San Francisco. + +No one should visit Seville without paying particular attention to the +Alcazar, that splendid specimen of Moorish architecture. It contains +many magnificent halls, particularly that of the ambassadors, so called, +which is in every respect more magnificent than the one of the same name +within the Alhambra of Granada. This palace was a favourite residence of +Peter the Cruel, who carefully repaired it without altering its Moorish +character and appearance. It probably remains in much the same state as +at the time of his death. + +On the right side of the river is a large suburb, called Triana, +communicating with Seville by means of a bridge of boats; for there is no +permanent bridge across the Guadalquivir, owing to the violent +inundations to which it is subject. This suburb is inhabited by the +dregs of the populace, and abounds with Gitanos or Gypsies. About a +league and a half to the north-west stands the village of Santo Ponce: at +the foot and on the side of some elevated ground higher up are to be seen +vestiges of ruined walls and edifices, which once formed part of Italica, +the birth-place of Silius Italicus and Trajan, from which latter +personage Triana derives its name. + +One fine morning I walked thither, and having ascended the hill, I +directed my course northward. I soon reached what had once been bagnios, +and a little farther on, in a kind of valley between two gentle +declivities, the amphitheatre. This latter object is by far the most +considerable relic of ancient Italica; it is oval in its form, with two +gateways fronting the east and west. + +On all sides are to be seen the time-worn broken granite benches, from +whence myriads of human beings once gazed down on the area below, where +the gladiator shouted, and the lion and the leopard yelled: all around, +beneath these flights of benches, are vaulted excavations from whence the +combatants, part human part bestial, darted forth by their several doors. +I spent many hours in this singular place, forcing my way through the +wild fennel and brushwood into the caverns, now the haunts of adders and +other reptiles, whose hissings I heard. Having sated my curiosity, I +left the ruins, and returning by another way, reached a place where lay +the carcass of a horse half devoured; upon it, with lustrous eyes, stood +an enormous vulture, who, as I approached, slowly soared aloft till he +alighted on the eastern gate of the amphitheatre, from whence he uttered +a hoarse cry, as if in anger that I had disturbed him from his feast of +carrion. + +Gomez had not hitherto paid a visit to Seville: when I arrived he was +said to be in the neighbourhood of Ronda. The city was under watch and +ward: several gates had been blocked up with masonry, trenches dug, and +redoubts erected, but I am convinced that the place would not have held +out six hours against a resolute attack. Gomez had proved himself to be +a most extraordinary man, and with his small army of Aragonese and +Basques had, within the last four months, made the tour of Spain. He had +very frequently been hemmed in by forces three times the number of his +own, in places whence escape appeared impossible, but he had always +battled his enemies, whom he seemed to laugh at. The most absurd +accounts of victories gained over him were continually issuing from the +press at Seville; amongst others, it was stated that his army had been +utterly defeated, himself killed, and that twelve hundred prisoners were +on their way to Saville. I saw these prisoners: instead of twelve +hundred desperadoes, they consisted of about twenty poor lame ragged +wretches, many of them boys from fourteen to sixteen years of age. They +were evidently camp followers, who, unable to keep up with the army, had +been picked up straggling in the plains and amongst the hills. + +It subsequently appeared that no battle had occurred, and that the death +of Gomez was a fiction. The grand defect of Gomez consisted in not +knowing how to take advantage of circumstances: after defeating Lopez, he +might have marched to Madrid and proclaimed Don Carlos there, and after +sacking Cordova he might have captured Seville. + +There were several booksellers’ shops at Seville, in two of which I found +copies of the New Testament in Spanish, which had been obtained from +Gibraltar about two years before, since which time six copies had been +sold in one shop and four in the other. The person who generally +accompanied me in my walks about the town and the neighbourhood, was an +elderly Genoese, who officiated as a kind of valet de place in the Posada +del Turco, where I had taken up my residence. On learning from me that +it was my intention to bring out an edition of the New Testament at +Madrid, he observed that copies of the work might be extensively +circulated in Andalusia. “I have been accustomed to bookselling,” he +continued, “and at one time possessed a small shop of my own in this +place. Once having occasion to go to Gibraltar, I procured several +copies of the Scriptures; some, it is true, were seized by the officers +of the customs, but the rest I sold at a high price, and with +considerable profit to myself.” + +I had returned from a walk in the country, on a glorious sunshiny morning +of the Andalusian winter, and was directing my steps towards my lodging: +as I was passing by the portal of a large gloomy house near the gate of +Xeres, two individuals dressed in zamarras emerged from the archway, and +were about to cross my path, when one, looking in my face, suddenly +started back, exclaiming in the purest and most melodious French: “What +do I see? If my eyes do not deceive me—it is himself. Yes, the very +same as I saw him first at Bayonne; then long subsequently beneath the +brick wall at Novogorod; then beside the Bosphorus; and last at—at—Oh, my +respectable and cherished friend, where was it that I had last the +felicity of seeing your well-remembered and most remarkable physiognomy?” + +_Myself_.—It was in the south of Ireland, if I mistake not. Was it not +there that I introduced you to the sorcerer who tamed the savage horses +by a single whisper into their ear? But tell me what brings you to Spain +and Andalusia, the last place where I should have expected to find you? + +_Baron Taylor_.—And wherefore, my most respectable B---? Is not Spain +the land of the arts; and is not Andalusia of all Spain that portion +which has produced the noblest monuments of artistic excellence and +inspiration? Surely you know enough of me to be aware that the arts are +my passion; that I am incapable of imagining a more exalted enjoyment +than to gaze in adoration on a noble picture. O come with me! for you +too have a soul capable of appreciating what is lovely and exalted; a +soul delicate and sensitive. Come with me, and I will show you a +Murillo, such as ---. But first allow me to introduce you to your +compatriot. My dear Monsieur W., turning to his companion (an English +gentleman from whom and from his family I subsequently experienced +unbounded kindness and hospitality on various occasions, and at different +periods at Seville), allow me to introduce to you my most cherished and +respectable friend, one who is better acquainted with Gypsy ways than the +Chef des Bohémiens à Triana, one who is an expert whisperer and +horse-sorcerer, and who, to his honour I say it, can wield hammer and +tongs, and handle a horse-shoe with the best of the smiths amongst the +Alpujarras of Granada. + +In the course of my travels I have formed various friendships and +acquaintances, but no one has more interested me than Baron Taylor, and +there is no one for whom I entertain a greater esteem and regard. To +personal and mental accomplishments of the highest order he unites a +kindness of heart rarely to be met with, and which is continually +inducing him to seek for opportunities of doing good to his fellow +creatures, and of contributing to their happiness; perhaps no person in +existence has seen more of the world and life in its various phases than +himself. His manners are naturally to the highest degree courtly, yet he +nevertheless possesses a disposition so pliable that he finds no +difficulty in accommodating himself to all kinds of company, in +consequence of which he is a universal favourite. There is a mystery +about him, which, wherever he goes, serves not a little to increase the +sensation naturally created by his appearance and manner. Who he is, no +one pretends to assert with downright positiveness: it is whispered, +however, that he is a scion of royalty; and who can gaze for a moment +upon that most graceful figure, that most intelligent but singularly +moulded countenance, and those large and expressive eyes, without feeling +as equally convinced that he is of no common lineage, as that he is no +common man. Though possessed of talents and eloquence which would +speedily have enabled him to attain to an illustrious position in the +state, he has hitherto, and perhaps wisely, contented himself with +comparative obscurity, chiefly devoting himself to the study of the arts +and of literature, of both of which he is a most bounteous patron. + +He has, notwithstanding, been employed by the illustrious house to which +he is said to be related in more than one delicate and important mission, +both in the East and the West, in which his efforts have uniformly been +crowned with complete success. He was now collecting masterpieces of the +Spanish school of painting, which were destined to adorn the saloons of +the Tuileries. + +He has visited most portions of the earth, and it is remarkable enough +that we are continually encountering each other in strange places and +under singular circumstances. Whenever he descries me, whether in the +street or the desert, the brilliant hall or amongst Bedouin haimas, at +Novogorod or Stambul, he flings up his arms and exclaims, “O ciel! I +have again the felicity of seeing my cherished and most respectable +B---.” + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + + +Departure for Cordova—Carmona—German Colonies—Language—The Sluggish +Horse—Nocturnal Welcome—Carlist Landlord—Good Advice—Gomez—The Old +Genoese—The Two Opinions. + +After a sojourn of about fourteen days at Seville, I departed for +Cordova. The diligence had for some time past ceased running, owing to +the disturbed state of the province. I had therefore no resource but to +proceed thither on horseback. I hired a couple of horses, and engaged +the old Genoese, of whom I have already had occasion to speak, to attend +me as far as Cordova, and to bring them back. Notwithstanding we were +now in the depths of winter, the weather was beautiful, the days sunny +and brilliant, though the nights were rather keen. We passed by the +little town of Alcala, celebrated for the ruins of an immense Moorish +castle, which stand on a rocky hill, overhanging a picturesque river. +The first night we slept at Carmona, another Moorish town, distant about +seven leagues from Seville. Early in the morning we again mounted and +departed. Perhaps in the whole of Spain there is scarcely a finer +Moorish monument of antiquity than the eastern side of this town of +Carmona, which occupies the brow of a lofty hill, and frowns over an +extensive vega or plain, which extends for leagues unplanted and +uncultivated, producing nothing but brushwood and carasco. Here rise +tall and dusky walls, with square towers at short distances, of so +massive a structure that they would seem to bid defiance alike to the +tooth of time and the hand of man. This town, in the time of the Moors, +was considered the key to Seville, and did not submit to the Christian +arms till after a long and desperate siege: the capture of Seville +followed speedily after. The vega upon which we now entered forms a part +of the grand despoblado or desert of Andalusia, once a smiling garden, +but which became what it now is on the expulsion of the Moors from Spain, +when it was drained almost entirely of its population. The towns and +villages from hence to the Sierra Morena, which divides Andalusia from La +Mancha, are few and far between, and even of these several date from the +middle of the last century, when an attempt was made by a Spanish +minister to people this wilderness with the children of a foreign land. + +At about midday we arrived at a place called Moncloa, which consisted of +a venta, and a desolate-looking edifice which had something of the +appearance of a chateau: a solitary palm tree raised its head over the +outer wall. We entered the venta, tied our horses to the manger, and +having ordered barley for them, we sat down before a large fire, which +burned in the middle of the venta. The host and hostess also came and +sat down beside us. “They are evil people,” said the old Genoese to me +in Italian, “and this is an evil house; it is a harbouring place for +thieves, and murders have been committed here, if all tales be true.” I +looked at these two people attentively; they were both young, the man +apparently about twenty-five years of age. He was a short thick-made +churl, evidently of prodigious strength; his features were rather +handsome, but with a gloomy expression, and his eyes were full of sullen +fire. His wife somewhat resembled him, but had a countenance more open +and better tempered; but what struck me as most singular in connexion +with these people, was the colour of their hair and complexion; the +latter was fair and ruddy, and the former of a bright auburn, both in +striking contrast to the black hair and swarthy visages which in general +distinguish the natives of this province. “Are you an Andalusian?” said +I to the hostess. “I should almost conclude you to be a German.” + +_Hostess_.—And your worship would not be very wrong. It is true that I +am a Spaniard, being born in Spain, but it is equally true that I am of +German blood, for my grandparents came from Germany, even like those of +this gentleman, my lord and husband. + +_Myself_.—And what chance brought your grandparents into this country? + +_Hostess_.—Did your worship never hear of the German colonies? There are +many of them in these parts. In old times the land was nearly deserted, +and it was very dangerous for travellers to journey along the waste, +owing to the robbers. So along time ago, nearly a hundred years, as I am +told, some potent lord sent messengers to Germany, to tell the people +there what a goodly land there was in these parts uncultivated for want +of hands, and to promise every labourer who would consent to come and +till it, a house and a yoke of oxen, with food and provision for one +year. And in consequence of this invitation a great many poor families +left the German land and came hither, and settled down in certain towns +and villages which had been prepared for them, which places were called +German colonies, and this name they still retain. + +_Myself_.—And how many of these colonies may there be? + +_Hostess_.—There are several, both on this side of Cordova and the other. +The nearest is Luisiana, about two leagues from hence, from which place +both my husband and myself come; the next is Carlota, which is some ten +leagues distant, and these are the only colonies of our people which I +have seen; but there are others farther on, and some, as I have heard +say, in the very heart of the Sierra Morena. + +_Myself_.—And do the colonists still retain the language of their +forefathers? + +_Hostess_.—We speak Spanish, or rather Andalusian, and no other language. +A few, indeed, amongst the very old people, retain a few words of German, +which they acquired from their fathers, who were born in the other +country: but the last person amongst the colonists who could understand a +conversation in German, was the aunt of my mother, who came over when a +girl. When I was a child I remember her conversing with a foreign +traveller, a countryman of hers, in a language which I was told was +German, and they understood each other, though the old woman confessed +that she had lost many words: she has now been dead several years. + +_Myself_.—Of what religion are the colonists? + +_Hostess_.—They are Christians, like the Spaniards, and so were their +fathers before them. Indeed, I have heard that they came from a part of +Germany where the Christian religion is as much practised as in Spain +itself. + +_Myself_.—The Germans are the most honest people in the world: being +their legitimate descendants you have of course no thieves amongst you. + +The hostess glanced at me for a moment, then looked at her husband and +smiled: the latter, who had hitherto been smoking without uttering a +word, though with a peculiarly surly and dissatisfied countenance, now +flung the remainder of his cigar amongst the embers, then springing up he +muttered “Disparate!” and “Conversacion!” and went abroad. + +“You touched them in the sore place, Signor,” said the Genoese, after we +had left Moncloa some way behind us. “Were they honest people they would +not keep that venta; and as for the colonists, I know not what kind of +people they might be when they first came over, but at present their ways +are not a bit better than those of the Andalusians, but rather worse, if +there is any difference at all.” + +A short time before sunset of the third day after our departure from +Seville, we found ourselves at the Cuesta del Espinal, or hill of the +thorn tree, at about two leagues from Cordova;—we could just descry the +walls of the city, upon which the last beams of the descending luminary +were resting. As the neighbourhood in which we were was, according to +the account of my guide, generally infested with robbers, we used our +best endeavours to reach the town before the night should have entirely +closed in. We did not succeed, however, and before we had proceeded half +the distance, pitchy darkness overtook us. Throughout the journey we had +been considerably delayed by the badness of our horses, especially that +of my attendant, which appeared to pay no regard to whip or spur; his +rider also was no horseman, it being thirty years, as he at length +confessed to me, since he last mounted in a saddle. Horses soon become +aware of the powers of their riders, and the brute in question was +disposed to take great advantage of the fears and weakness of the old +man. There is a remedy, however, for most things in this world. I +became so wearied at last at the snail’s pace at which we were +proceeding, that I fastened the bridle of the sluggish horse to the +crupper of mine, then sparing neither spur nor cudgel, I soon forced my +own horse into a kind of trot, which compelled the other to make some use +of his legs. He twice attempted to fling himself down, to the great +terror of his aged rider, who frequently entreated me to stop and permit +him to dismount. I, however, took no notice of what he said, but +continued spurring and cudgelling with unabated activity, and with such +success, that in less than half an hour we saw lights close before us, +and presently came to a river and a bridge, which crossing, we found +ourselves at the gate of Cordova, without having broken either our +horses’ knees or our own necks. + +We passed through the entire length of the town ere we reached the +posada; the streets were dark and almost entirely deserted. The posada +was a large building, the windows of which were well fenced with rejas, +or iron grating: no light gleamed from them, and the silence of death not +only seemed to pervade the house, but the street in which it was +situated. We knocked for a long time at the gate without receiving any +answer; we then raised our voices and shouted. At last some one from +within inquired what we wanted. “Open the door and you will see,” we +replied. “I shall do no such thing,” answered the individual from +within, “until I know who you are.” “We are travellers,” said I, “from +Seville.” “Travellers, are you,” said the voice; “why did you not tell +me so before? I am not porter at this house to keep out travellers. +Jesus Maria knows we have not so many of them that we need repulse any. +Enter, cavalier, and welcome, you and your company.” + +He opened the gate and admitted us into a spacious courtyard, and then +forthwith again secured the gate with various bolts and bars. “Are you +afraid that the Carlists should pay you a visit,” I demanded, “that you +take so much precaution?” “It is not the Carlists we are afraid of,” +replied the porter; “they have been here already, and did us no damage +whatever. It is certain scoundrels of this town that we are afraid of, +who have a spite against the master of the house, and would murder both +him and his family, could they but find an opportunity.” + +I was about to inquire the cause of this enmity, when a thick bulky man, +bearing a light in his hand, came running down a stone staircase, which +led into the interior of the building. Two or three females, also +bearing lights, followed him. He stopped on the lowest stair. “Whom +have we here?” he exclaimed; then advancing the lamp which he bore, the +light fell full upon my face. “Ola!” he exclaimed; “Is it you? Only +think,” said he, turning to the female who stood next him, a +dark-featured person, stout as himself, and about his own age, which +might border upon fifty; “Only think, my dear, that at the very moment we +were wishing for a guest an Englishman should be standing before our +doors; for I should know an Englishman at a mile’s distance, even in the +dark. Juanito,” cried he to the porter, “open not the gate any more +to-night, whoever may ask for admission. Should the nationals come to +make any disturbance, tell them that the son of Belington (_Wellington_) +is in the house ready to attack them sword in hand unless they retire; +and should other travellers arrive, which is not likely, inasmuch as we +have seen none for a month past, say that we have no room, all our +apartments being occupied by an English gentleman and his company.” + +I soon found that my friend the posadero was a most egregious Carlist. +Before I had finished supper—during which both himself and all his family +were present, surrounding the little table at which I sat, and observing +my every motion, particularly the manner in which I handled my knife and +fork and conveyed the food to my mouth—he commenced talking politics: “I +am of no particular opinion, Don Jorge,” said he, for he had inquired my +name in order that he might address me in a suitable manner; “I am of no +particular opinion, and I hold neither for King Carlos nor for the Chica +Isabel: nevertheless, I lead the life of a dog in this accursed Christino +town, which I would have left long ago, had it not been the place of my +birth, and did I but know whither to betake myself. Ever since the +troubles have commenced, I have been afraid to stir into the street, for +no sooner do the canaille of the town see me turning round a corner, than +they forthwith exclaim, ‘Halloo, the Carlist!’ and then there is a run +and a rush, and stones and cudgels are in great requisition: so that +unless I can escape home, which is no easy matter, seeing that I weigh +eighteen stone, my life is poured out in the street, which is neither +decent nor convenient, as I think you will acknowledge, Don Jorge! You +see that young man,” he continued, pointing to a tall swarthy youth who +stood behind my chair, officiating as waiter; “he is my fourth son, is +married, and does not live in the house, but about a hundred yards down +the street. He was summoned in a hurry to wait upon your worship, as is +his duty: know, however, that he has come at the peril of his life: +before he leaves this house he must peep into the street to see if the +coast is clear, and then he must run like a partridge to his own door. +Carlists! why should they call my family and myself Carlists? It is true +that my eldest son was a friar, and when the convents were suppressed +betook himself to the royal ranks, in which he has been fighting upwards +of three years; could I help that? Nor was it my fault, I trow, that my +second son enlisted the other day with Gomez and the royalists when they +entered Cordova. God prosper him, I say; but I did not bid him go! So +far from being a Carlist, it was I who persuaded this very lad who is +present to remain here, though he would fain have gone with his brother, +for he is a brave lad and a true Christian. Stay at home, said I, for +what can I do without you? Who is to wait upon the guests when it +pleases God to send them. Stay at home, at least till your brother, my +third son, comes back, for, to my shame be it spoken, Don Jorge, I have a +son a soldier and a sergeant in the Christino armies, sorely against his +own inclination, poor fellow, for he likes not the military life, and I +have been soliciting his discharge for years; indeed, I have counselled +him to maim himself, in order that he might procure his liberty +forthwith; so I said to this lad, Stay at home, my child, till your +brother comes to take your place and prevent our bread being eaten by +strangers, who would perhaps sell me and betray me; so my son staid at +home as you see, Don Jorge, at my request, and yet they call me a +Carlist?” + +“Gomez and his bands have lately been in Cordova,” said I; “of course you +were present at all that occurred: how did they comport themselves?” + +“Bravely well,” replied the innkeeper, “bravely well, and I wish they +were here still. I hold with neither side, as I told you before, Don +Jorge, but I confess I never felt greater pleasure in my life than when +they entered the gate; and then to see the dogs of nationals flying +through the streets to save their lives—that was a sight, Don Jorge—those +who met me then at the corner forgot to shout ‘Halloo, Carlista!’ and I +heard not a word about cudgelling; some jumped from the wall and ran no +one knows where, whilst the rest retired to the house of the Inquisition, +which they had fortified, and there they shut themselves up. Now you +must know, Don Jorge, that all the Carlist chiefs lodged at my house, +Gomez, Cabrera, and the Sawyer; and it chanced that I was talking to my +Lord Gomez in this very room in which we are now, when in came Cabrera in +a mighty fury—he is a small man, Don Jorge, but he is as active as a wild +cat and as fierce. ‘The canaille,’ said he, ‘in the Casa of the +Inquisition refuse to surrender; give but the order, General, and I will +scale the walls with my men and put them all to the sword’; but Gomez +said, ‘No, we must not spill blood if we can avoid it; order a few +muskets to be fired at them, that will be sufficient!’ And so it proved, +Don Jorge, for after a few discharges their hearts failed them, and they +surrendered at discretion: whereupon their arms were taken from them and +they were permitted to return to their own houses; but as soon as ever +the Carlists departed, these fellows became as bold as ever, and it is +now once more, ‘Halloo, Carlista!’ when they see me turning the corner, +and it is for fear of them that my son must run like a partridge to his +own home, now that he has done waiting on your worship, lest they meet +him in the street and kill him with their knives!” + +“You tell me that you were acquainted with Gomez: what kind of man might +he be?” + +“A middle-sized man,” replied the innkeeper; “grave and dark. But the +most remarkable personage in appearance of them all was the Sawyer: he is +a kind of giant, so tall, that when he entered the doorway he invariably +struck his head against the lintel. The one I liked least of all was one +Palillos, who is a gloomy savage ruffian whom I knew when he was a +postillion. Many is the time that he has been at my house of old; he is +now captain of the Manchegan thieves, for though he calls himself a +royalist, he is neither more nor less than a thief: it is a disgrace to +the cause that such as he should be permitted to mix with honourable and +brave men; I hate that fellow, Don Jorge: it is owing to him that I have +so few customers. Travellers are, at present, afraid to pass through La +Mancha, lest they fall into his hands. I wish he were hanged, Don Jorge, +and whether by Christinos or Royalists, I care not.” + +“You recognized me at once for an Englishman,” said I, “do many of my +countrymen visit Cordova?” + +“_Toma_!” said the landlord, “they are my best customers; I have had +Englishmen in this house of all grades, from the son of Belington to a +young medico, who cured my daughter, the chica here, of the ear-ache. +How should I not know an Englishman? There were two with Gomez, serving +as volunteers. _Vaya que gente_; what noble horses they rode, and how +they scattered their gold about; they brought with them a Portuguese, who +was much of a gentleman but very poor; it was said that he was one of Don +Miguel’s people, and that these Englishmen supported him for the love +they bore to royalty; he was continually singing + + ‘El Rey chegou—El Rey chegou, + E en Belem desembarcou!’ {163} + +Those were merry days, Don Jorge. By the by, I forgot to ask your +worship of what opinion you are?” + +The next morning, whilst I was dressing, the old Genoese entered my room: +“Signore,” said he, “I am come to bid you farewell. I am about to return +to Seville forthwith with the horses.” + +“Wherefore in such a hurry,” I replied; “assuredly you had better tarry +till to-morrow; both the animals and yourself require rest; repose +yourselves to-day and I will defray the expense.” + +“Thank you, Signore, but we will depart forthwith, for there is no +tarrying in this house.” + +“What is the matter with the house?” I inquired. + +“I find no fault with the house,” replied the Genoese, “it is the people +who keep it of whom I complain. About an hour since, I went down to get +my breakfast, and there, in the kitchen, I found the master and all his +family: well, I sat down and called for chocolate, which they brought me, +but ere I could dispatch it, the master fell to talking politics. He +commenced by telling me that he held with neither side, but he is as rank +a Carlist as Carlos Quinto: for no sooner did he find that I was of the +other opinion, than he glared at me like a wild beast. You must know, +Signore, that in the time of the old constitution I kept a coffee-house +at Seville, which was frequented by all the principal liberals, and was, +indeed, the cause of my ruin: for as I admired their opinions, I gave my +customers whatever credit they required, both with regard to coffee and +liqueurs, so that by the time the constitution was put down and despotism +re-established, I had trusted them with all I had. It is possible that +many of them would have paid me, for I believe they harboured no evil +intention; but the persecution came, the liberals took to flight, and, as +was natural enough, thought more of providing for their own safety than +of paying me for my coffee and liqueurs; nevertheless, I am a friend to +their system, and never hesitate to say so. So the landlord, as I told +your worship before, when he found that I was of this opinion, glared at +me like a wild beast: ‘Get out of my house,’ said he, ‘for I will have no +spies here,’ and thereupon he spoke disrespectfully of the young Queen +Isabel and of Christina, who, notwithstanding she is a Neapolitan, I +consider as my countrywoman. Hearing this, your worship, I confess that +I lost my temper and returned the compliment, by saying that Carlos was a +knave and the Princess of Beira no better than she should be. I then +prepared to swallow the chocolate, but ere I could bring it to my lips, +the woman of the house, who is a still ranker Carlist than her husband, +if that be possible, coming up to me struck the cup into the air as high +as the ceiling, exclaiming, ‘Begone, dog of a negro, you shall taste +nothing more in my house; may you be hanged even as a swine is hanged.’ +So your worship sees that it is impossible for me to remain here any +longer. I forgot to say that the knave of a landlord told me that you +had confessed yourself to be of the same politics as himself, or he would +not have harboured you.” + +“My good man,” said I, “I am invariably of the politics of the people at +whose table I sit, or beneath whose roof I sleep, at least I never say +anything which can lead them to suspect the contrary; by pursuing which +system I have more than once escaped a bloody pillow, and having the wine +I drank spiced with sublimate.” + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + + +Cordova—Moors of Barbary—The English—An Old Priest—The Roman Breviary—The +Dovecote—The Holy Office—Judaism—Desecration of Dovecotes—The Innkeeper’s +Proposal. + +Little can be said with respect to the town of Cordova, which is a mean +dark gloomy place, full of narrow streets and alleys, without squares or +public buildings worthy of attention, save and except its far-famed +cathedral; its situation, however, is beautiful and picturesque. Before +it runs the Guadalquivir, which, though in this part shallow and full of +sandbanks, is still a delightful stream; whilst behind it rise the steep +sides of the Sierra Morena, planted up to the top with olive groves. The +town or city is surrounded on all sides by lofty Moorish walls, which may +measure about three quarters of a league in circumference; unlike +Seville, and most other towns in Spain, it has no suburbs. + +I have said that Cordova has no remarkable edifices, save its cathedral; +yet this is perhaps the most extraordinary place of worship in the world. +It was originally, as is well known, a mosque, built in the brightest +days of Arabian dominion in Spain; in shape it was quadrangular, with a +low roof, supported by an infinity of small and delicately rounded marble +pillars, many of which still remain, and present at first sight the +appearance of a marble grove; the greater part, however, were removed +when the Christians, after the expulsion of the Moslems, essayed to +convert the mosque into a cathedral, which they effected in part by the +erection of a dome, and by clearing an open space for a choir. As it at +present exists, the temple appears to belong partly to Mahomet, and +partly to the Nazarene; and though this jumbling together of massive +Gothic architecture with the light and delicate style of the Arabians +produces an effect somewhat bizarre, it still remains a magnificent and +glorious edifice, and well calculated to excite feelings of awe and +veneration within the bosoms of those who enter it. + +The Moors of Barbary seem to care but little for the exploits of their +ancestors: their minds are centred in the things of the present day, and +only so far as those things regard themselves individually. +Disinterested enthusiasm, that truly distinguishing mark of a noble mind, +and admiration for what is great, good, and grand, they appear to be +totally incapable of feeling. It is astonishing with what indifference +they stray amongst the relics of ancient Moorish grandeur in Spain. No +feelings of exultation seem to be excited by the proof of what the Moor +once was, nor of regret at the consciousness of what he now is. More +interesting to them are their perfumes, their papouches, their dates, and +their silks of Fez and Maraks, to dispose of which they visit Andalusia; +and yet the generality of these men are far from being ignorant, and have +both heard and read of what was passing in Spain in the old time. I was +once conversing with a Moor at Madrid, with whom I was very intimate, +about the Alhambra of Granada, which he had visited. “Did you not weep,” +said I, “when you passed through the courts, and thought of the, +Abencerrages?” “No,” said he, “I did not weep; wherefore should I weep?” +“And why did you visit the Alhambra?” I demanded. “I visited it,” he +replied, “because being at Granada on my own affairs, one of your +countrymen requested me to accompany him thither, that I might explain +some of the inscriptions. I should certainly not have gone of my own +accord, for the hill on which it stands is steep.” And yet this man +could compose verses, and was by no means a contemptible poet. Once at +Cordova, whilst I was in the cathedral, three Moors entered it, and +proceeded slowly across its floor in the direction of a gate, which stood +at the opposite side; they took no farther notice of what was around them +than by slightly glancing once or twice at the pillars, one of them +exclaiming, “_Huaije del Mselmeen_, _huaije del Mselmeen_” (things of the +Moors, things of the Moors); and showed no other respect for the place +where Abderrahman the Magnificent prostrated himself of old, than facing +about on arriving at the farther door and making their egress backwards; +yet these men were hajis and talebs, men likewise of much gold and +silver, men who had read, who had travelled, who had seen Mecca, and the +great city of Negroland. + +I remained in Cordova much longer than I had originally intended, owing +to the accounts which I was continually hearing of the unsafe state of +the roads to Madrid. I soon ransacked every nook and cranny of this +ancient town, formed various acquaintances amongst the populace, which is +my general practice on arriving at a strange place. I more than once +ascended the side of the Sierra Morena, in which excursions I was +accompanied by the son of my host,—the tall lad of whom I have already +spoken. The people of the house, who had imbibed the idea that I was of +the same way of thinking as themselves, were exceedingly courteous; it is +true, that in return I was compelled to listen to a vast deal of Carlism, +in other words, high treason against the ruling powers in Spain, to +which, however, I submitted with patience. “Don Jorgito,” said the +landlord to me one day, “I love the English; they are my best customers. +It is a pity that there is not greater union between Spain and England, +and that more English do not visit us. Why should there not be a +marriage? The king will speedily be at Madrid. Why should there not be +bodas between the son of Don Carlos and the heiress of England?” + +“It would certainly tend to bring a considerable number of English to +Spain,” said I, “and it would not be the first time that the son of a +Carlos has married a Princess of England.” + +The host mused for a moment, and then exclaimed, “Carracho, Don Jorgito, +if this marriage could be brought about, both the king and myself should +have cause to fling our caps in the air.” + +The house or posada in which I had taken up my abode was exceedingly +spacious, containing an infinity of apartments, both large and small, the +greater part of which were, however, unfurnished. The chamber in which I +was lodged stood at the end of an immensely long corridor, of the kind so +admirably described in the wondrous tale of Udolfo. For a day or two +after my arrival I believed myself to be the only lodger in the house. +One morning, however, I beheld a strange-looking old man seated in the +corridor, by one of the windows, reading intently in a small thick +volume. He was clad in garments of coarse blue cloth, and wore a loose +spencer over a waistcoat adorned with various rows of small buttons of +mother of pearl; he had spectacles upon his nose. I could perceive, +notwithstanding he was seated, that his stature bordered upon the +gigantic. “Who is that person?” said I to the landlord, whom I presently +met; “is he also a guest of yours?” “Not exactly, Don Jorge de mi alma,” +replied he, “I can scarcely call him a guest, inasmuch as I gain nothing +by him, though he is staying at my house. You must know, Don Jorge, that +he is one of two priests who officiate at a large village at some slight +distance from this place. So it came to pass, that when the soldiers of +Gomez entered the village, his reverence went to meet them, dressed in +full canonicals, with a book in his hand, and he, at their bidding, +proclaimed Carlos Quinto in the market-place. The other priest, however, +was a desperate liberal, a downright negro, and upon him the royalists +laid their hands, and were proceeding to hang him. His reverence, +however, interfered, and obtained mercy for his colleague, on condition +that he should cry _Viva Carlos Quinto_! which the latter did in order to +save his life. Well; no sooner had the royalists departed from these +parts than the black priest mounts his mule, comes to Cordova, and +informs against his reverence, notwithstanding that he had saved his +life. So his reverence was seized and brought hither to Cordova, and +would assuredly have been thrown into the common prison as a Carlist, had +I not stepped forward and offered to be surety that he should not quit +the place, but should come forward at any time to answer whatever charge +might be brought against him; and he is now in my house, though guest I +cannot call him, for he is not of the slightest advantage to me, as his +very food is daily brought from the country, and that consists only of a +few eggs and a little milk and bread. As for his money, I have never +seen the colour of it, notwithstanding they tell me that he has buenas +pesetas. However, he is a holy man, is continually reading and praying +and is, moreover, of the right opinion. I therefore keep him in my +house, and would be bail for him were he twenty times more of a skinflint +than he seems to be.” + +The next day, as I was again passing through the corridor, I observed the +old man in the same place, and saluted him. He returned my salutation +with much courtesy, and closing the book, placed it upon his knee as if +willing to enter into conversation. After exchanging a word or two, I +took up the book for the purpose of inspecting it. + +“You will hardly derive much instruction from that book, Don Jorge,” said +the old man; “you cannot understand it, for it is not written in +English.” + +“Nor in Spanish,” I replied. “But with respect to understanding the +book, I cannot see what difficulty there can be in a thing so simple; it +is only the Roman breviary written in the Latin tongue.” + +“Do the English understand Latin?” exclaimed he. “Vaya! Who would have +thought that it was possible for Lutherans to understand the language of +the church? Vaya! the longer one lives the more one learns.” + +“How old may your reverence be?” I inquired. + +“I am eighty years, Don Jorge; eighty years, and somewhat more.” + +Such was the first conversation which passed between his reverence and +myself. He soon conceived no inconsiderable liking for me, and favoured +me with no little of his company. Unlike our friend the landlord, I +found him by no means inclined to talk politics, which the more surprised +me, knowing, as I did, the decided and hazardous part which he had taken +on the late Carlist irruption into the neighbourhood. He took, however, +great delight in discoursing on ecclesiastical subjects and the writings +of the fathers. + +“I have got a small library at home, Don Jorge, which consists of all the +volumes of the fathers which I have been able to pick up, and I find the +perusal of them a source of great amusement and comfort. Should these +dark days pass by, Don Jorge, and you should be in these parts, I hope +you will look in upon me, and I will show you my little library of the +fathers, and likewise my dovecote, where I rear numerous broods of +pigeons, which are also a source of much solace and at the same time of +profit.” + +“I suppose by your dovecote,” said I, “you mean your parish, and by +rearing broods of pigeons, you allude to the care you take of the souls +of your people, instilling therein the fear of God, and obedience to his +revealed law, which occupation must of course afford you much solace and +spiritual profit.” + +“I was not speaking metaphorically, Don Jorge,” replied my companion; +“and by rearing doves, I mean neither more nor less than that I supply +the market of Cordova with pigeons, and occasionally that of Seville; for +my birds are very celebrated, and plumper or fatter flesh than theirs I +believe cannot be found in the whole kingdom. Should you come into my +village, you will doubtless taste them, Don Jorge, at the venta where you +will put up, for I suffer no dovecotes but my own within my district. +With respect to the souls of my parishioners, I trust I do my duty—I +trust I do, as far as in my power lies. I always took great pleasure in +these spiritual matters, and it was on that account that I attached +myself to the Santa Casa of Cordova, the duties of which I assisted to +perform for a long period.” + +“Your reverence has been an inquisitor?” I exclaimed, somewhat startled. + +“From my thirtieth year until the time of the suppression of the holy +office in these afflicted kingdoms.” + +“You both surprise and delight me,” I exclaimed. “Nothing could have +afforded me greater pleasure than to find myself conversing with a father +formerly attached to the holy house of Cordova.” + +The old man looked at me steadfastly; “I understand you, Don Jorge. I +have long seen that you are one of us. You are a learned and holy man; +and though you think fit to call yourself a Lutheran and an Englishman, I +have dived into your real condition. No Lutheran would take the interest +in church matters which you do, and with respect to your being an +Englishman, none of that nation can speak Castilian, much less Latin. I +believe you to be one of us—a missionary priest, and I am especially +confirmed in that idea by your frequent conversations and interviews with +the Gitanos; you appear to be labouring among them. Be, however, on your +guard, Don Jorge, trust not to Egyptian faith; they are evil penitents, +whom I like not. I would not advise you to trust them.” + +“I do not intend,” I replied; “especially with money. But to return to +more important matters:—of what crimes did this holy house of Cordova +take cognizance?” + +“You are of course aware of the matters on which the holy office +exercises its functions. I need scarcely mention sorcery, Judaism, and +certain carnal misdemeanours.” + +“With respect to sorcery,” said I, “what is your opinion of it? Is there +in reality such a crime?” + +“_Que se io_ {170}?” said the old man, shrugging up his shoulders. “How +should I know? The church has power, Don Jorge, or at least it had +power, to punish for anything, real or unreal; and as it was necessary to +punish in order to prove that it had the power of punishing, of what +consequence whether it punished for sorcery or any other crime.” + +“Did many cases of sorcery occur within your own sphere of knowledge?” + +“One or two, Don Jorge; they were by no means frequent. The last that I +remember was a case which occurred in a convent at Seville: a certain nun +was in the habit of flying through the windows and about the garden over +the tops of the orange trees; declarations of various witnesses were +taken, and the process was arranged with much formality; the fact, I +believe, was satisfactorily proved: of one thing I am certain, that the +nun was punished.” + +“Were you troubled with much Judaism in these parts?” + +“Wooh! Nothing gave so much trouble to the Santa Casa as this same +Judaism. Its shoots and ramifications are numerous, not only in these +parts, but in all Spain; and it is singular enough, that even among the +priesthood, instances of Judaism of both kinds were continually coming to +our knowledge, which it was of course our duty to punish.” + +“Is there more than one species of Judaism?” I demanded. + +“I have always arranged Judaism under two heads,” said the old man, “the +black and the white: by the black, I mean the observance of the law of +Moses in preference to the precepts of the church; then there is the +white Judaism, which includes all kinds of heresy, such as Lutheranism, +freemasonry, and the like.” + +“I can easily conceive,” said I, “that many of the priesthood favoured +the principles of the reformation, and that the minds of not a few had +been led astray by the deceitful lights of modern philosophy, but it is +almost inconceivable to me that there should be Jews amongst the +priesthood who follow in secret the rites and observances of the old law, +though I confess that I have been assured of the fact ere now.” + +“Plenty of Judaism amongst the priesthood, whether of the black or white +species; no lack of it, I assure you, Don Jorge; I remember once +searching the house of an ecclesiastic who was accused of the black +Judaism, and after much investigation, we discovered beneath the floor a +wooden chest, in which was a small shrine of silver, inclosing three +books in black hogskin, which, on being opened, were found to be books of +Jewish devotion, written in Hebrew characters, and of great antiquity; +and on being questioned, the culprit made no secret of his guilt, but +rather gloried in it, saying that there was no God but one, and +denouncing the adoration of Maria Santissima as rank idolatry.” + +“And between ourselves, what is your own opinion of the adoration of this +same Maria Santissima?” + +“What is my opinion! _Que se io_?” said the old man, shrugging up his +shoulders still higher than on the former occasion; “but I will tell you; +I think, on consideration, that it is quite right and proper; why not? +Let any one pay a visit to my church, and look at her as she stands +there, _tan bonita_, _tan guapita_—so well dressed and so genteel—with +such pretty colours, such red and white, and he would scarcely ask me why +Maria Santissima should not be adored. Moreover, Don Jorgito mio, this +is a church matter and forms an important part of the church system.” + +“And now, with respect to carnal misdemeanours. Did you take much +cognizance of them?” + +“Amongst the laity, not much; we, however, kept a vigilant eye upon our +own body, but, upon the whole, were rather tolerant in these matters, +knowing that the infirmities of human nature are very great indeed: we +rarely punished, save in cases where the glory of the church and loyalty +to Maria Santissima made punishment absolutely imperative.” + +“And what cases might those be?” I demanded. + +“I allude to the desecration of dovecotes, Don Jorge, and the +introduction therein of strange flesh, for purposes neither seemly nor +convenient.” + +“Your reverence will excuse me for not yet perfectly understanding.” + +“I mean, Don Jorge, certain acts of flagitiousness practised by the +clergy in lone and remote palomares (_dovecotes_) in olive grounds and +gardens; actions denounced, I believe, by the holy Pablo in his first +letter to Pope Sixtus. {171} You understand me now, Don Jorge, for you +are learned in church matters.” + +“I think I understand you,” I replied. + +After remaining several days more at Cordova, I determined to proceed on +my journey to Madrid, though the roads were still said to be highly +insecure. I, however, saw but little utility in tarrying and awaiting a +more tranquil state of affairs, which might never arrive. I therefore +consulted with the landlord respecting the best means of making the +journey. “Don Jorgito,” he replied, “I think I can tell you. You say +you are anxious to depart, and I never wish to keep guests in my house +longer than is agreeable to them; to do so, would not become a Christian +innkeeper: I leave such conduct to Moors, Christinos, and Negroes. I +will further you on your journey, Don Jorge: I have a plan in my head, +which I had resolved to propose to you before you questioned me. There +is my wife’s brother, who has two horses which he occasionally lets out +for hire; you shall hire them, Don Jorge, and he himself shall attend you +to take care of you, and to comfort you, and to talk to you, and you +shall pay him forty dollars for the journey. Moreover, as there are +thieves upon the route, and _malos sujetos_, such as Palillos and his +family, you shall make an engagement and a covenant, Don Jorge, that +provided you are robbed and stripped on the route, and the horses of my +wife’s brother are taken from him by the thieves, you shall, on arriving +at Madrid, make good any losses to which my wife’s brother may be subject +in following you. This is my plan, Don Jorge, which no doubt will meet +with your worship’s approbation, as it is devised solely for your +benefit, and not with any view of lucre or interest either to me or mine. +You will find my wife’s brother pleasant company on the route: he is a +very respectable man, and one of the right opinion, and has likewise +travelled much; for between ourselves, Don Jorge, he is something of a +Contrabandista and frequently smuggles diamonds and precious stones from +Portugal, which he disposes of sometimes in Cordova and sometimes at +Madrid. He is acquainted with all the short cuts, all the atajos, Don +Jorge, and is much respected in all the ventas and posadas on the way; so +now give me your hand upon the bargain, and I will forthwith repair to my +wife’s brother to tell him to get ready to set out with your worship the +day after to-morrow.” + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + + +Departure from Cordova—The Contrabandista—Jewish Cunning—Arrival at +Madrid. + +One fine morning, I departed from Cordova, in company with the +Contrabandista; the latter was mounted on a handsome animal, something +between a horse and a pony, which he called a jaca, of that breed for +which Cordova is celebrated. It was of a bright bay colour, with a star +in its forehead, with strong but elegant limbs, and a long black tail, +which swept the ground. The other animal, which was destined to carry me +to Madrid, was not quite so prepossessing in its appearance: in more than +one respect it closely resembled a hog, particularly in the curving of +its back, the shortness of its neck, and the manner in which it kept its +head nearly in contact with the ground: it had also the tail of a hog, +and meandered over the ground much like one. Its coat more resembled +coarse bristles than hair, and with respect to size, I have seen many a +Westphalian hog quite as tall. I was not altogether satisfied with the +idea of exhibiting myself on the back of this most extraordinary +quadruped, and looked wistfully on the respectable animal on which my +guide had thought proper to place himself; he interpreted my glances, and +gave me to understand that as he was destined to carry the baggage, he +was entitled to the best horse; a plea too well grounded on reason for me +to make any objection to it. + +I found the Contrabandista by no means such pleasant company on the road +as I had been led to suppose he would prove from the representation of my +host of Cordova. Throughout the day he sat sullen and silent, and rarely +replied to my questions, save by a monosyllable; at night, however, after +having eaten well and drank proportionably at my expense, he would +occasionally become more sociable and communicative. “I have given up +smuggling,” said he, on one of these occasions, “owing to a trick which +was played upon me the last time that I was at Lisbon: a Jew whom I had +been long acquainted with palmed upon me a false brilliant for a real +stone. He effected it in the most extraordinary manner, for I am not +such a novice as not to know a true diamond when I see one; but the Jew +appears to have had two, with which he played most adroitly, keeping the +valuable one for which I bargained, and substituting therefor another +which, though an excellent imitation, was not worth four dollars. I did +not discover the trick until I was across the border, and upon my +hurrying back, the culprit was not to be found; his priest, however, told +me that he was just dead and buried, which was of course false, as I saw +him laughing in the corners of his eyes. I renounced the contraband +trade from that moment.” + +It is not my intention to describe minutely the various incidents of this +journey. Leaving at our right the mountains of Jaen, we passed through +Andujar and Bailen, and on the third day reached Carolina, a small but +beautiful town on the skirts of the Sierra Morena, inhabited by the +descendants of German colonists. Two leagues from this place, we entered +the defile of Despeña Perros, which, even in quiet times, has an evil +name, on account of the robberies which are continually being perpetrated +within its recesses, but at the period of which I am speaking, it was +said to be swarming with banditti. We of course expected to be robbed, +perhaps stripped and otherwise ill-treated; but Providence here +manifested itself. It appeared that, the day before our arrival, the +banditti of the pass had committed a dreadful robbery and murder, by +which they gained forty thousand rials. This booty probably contented +them for a time; certain it is that we were not interrupted: we did not +even see a single individual in the pass, though we occasionally heard +whistles and loud cries. We entered La Mancha, where I expected to fall +into the hands of Palillos and Orejita. Providence again showed itself. +It had been delicious weather, suddenly the Lord breathed forth a frozen +blast, the severity of which was almost intolerable; no human beings but +ourselves ventured forth. We traversed snow-covered plains, and passed +through villages and towns to all appearance deserted. The robbers kept +close in their caves and hovels, but the cold nearly killed us. We +reached Aranjuez late on Christmas Day, and I got into the house of an +Englishman, where I swallowed nearly a pint of brandy; it affected me no +more than warm water. + +On the following day we arrived at Madrid, where we had the good fortune +to find everything tranquil and quiet. The Contrabandista continued with +me for two days, at the end of which time he returned to Cordova upon the +uncouth animal on which I had ridden throughout the journey. I had +myself purchased the jaca, whose capabilities I had seen on the route, +and which I imagined might prove useful in future journeys. The +Contrabandista was so satisfied with the price which I gave him for his +beast, and the general treatment which he had experienced at my hands +during the time of his attendance upon me, that he would fain have +persuaded me to retain him as a servant, assuring me that, in the event +of my compliance, he would forget his wife and children and follow me +through the world. I declined, however, to accede to his request, though +I was in need of a domestic; I therefore sent him back to Cordova, where, +as I subsequently learned, he died suddenly, about a week after his +return. + +The manner of his death was singular: one day he took out his purse, and, +after counting his money, said to his wife, “I have made ninety-five +dollars by this journey with the Englishman and by the sale of the jaca; +this I could easily double by one successful venture in the smuggling +lay. To-morrow I will depart for Lisbon to buy diamonds. I wonder if +the beast requires to be shod?” He then started up and made for the +door, with the intention of going to the stable; ere, however, his foot +had crossed the threshold, he fell dead on the floor. Such is the course +of the world. Well said the wise king: Let no one boast of the morrow. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + + +Arrival at Madrid—Maria Diaz—Printing of the Testament—My +Project—Andalusian Steed—Servant Wanted—An Application—Antonio +Buchini—General Cordova—Principles of Honour. + +On my arrival at Madrid I did not repair to my former lodgings in the +Calle de la Zarza, but took others in the Calle de Santiago, in the +vicinity of the palace. The name of the hostess (for there was, properly +speaking, no host) was Maria Diaz, of whom I shall take the present +opportunity of saying something in particular. + +She was a woman of about thirty-five years of age, rather good-looking, +and with a physiognomy every lineament of which bespoke intelligence of +no common order. Her eyes were keen and penetrating, though occasionally +clouded with a somewhat melancholy expression. There was a particular +calmness and quiet in her general demeanour, beneath which, however, +slumbered a firmness of spirit and an energy of action which were +instantly displayed whenever necessary. A Spaniard and, of course, a +Catholic, she was possessed of a spirit of toleration and liberality +which would have done honour to individuals much her superior in station. +In this woman, during the remainder of my sojourn in Spain, I found a +firm and constant friend, and occasionally a most discreet adviser: she +entered into all my plans, I will not say with enthusiasm, which, indeed, +formed no part of her character, but with cordiality and sincerity, +forwarding them to the utmost of her ability. She never shrank from me +in the hour of danger and persecution, but stood my friend, +notwithstanding the many inducements which were held out to her by my +enemies to desert or betray me. Her motives were of the noblest kind, +friendship and a proper feeling of the duties of hospitality; no +prospect, no hope of self-interest, however remote, influenced this +admirable woman in her conduct towards me. Honour to Maria Diaz, the +quiet, dauntless, clever Castilian female. I were an ingrate not to +speak well of her, for richly has she deserved an eulogy in the humble +pages of _The Bible in Spain_. + +She was a native of Villa Seca, a hamlet of New Castile, situated in what +is called the Sagra, at about three leagues’ distance from Toledo: her +father was an architect of some celebrity, particularly skilled in +erecting bridges. At a very early age she married a respectable yeoman +of Villa Seca, Lopez by name, by whom she had three sons. On the death +of her father, which occurred about five years previous to the time of +which I am speaking, she removed to Madrid, partly for the purpose of +educating her children, and partly in the hope of obtaining from the +government a considerable sum of money for which it stood indebted to her +father, at the time of his decease, for various useful and ornamental +works, principally in the neighbourhood of Aranjuez. The justness of her +claim was at once acknowledged; but, alas! no money was forthcoming, the +royal treasury being empty. Her hopes of earthly happiness were now +concentrated in her children. The two youngest were still of a very +tender age; but the eldest, Juan José Lopez, a lad of about sixteen, was +bidding fair to realize the warmest hopes of his affectionate mother; he +had devoted himself to the arts, in which he made such progress that he +had already become the favourite pupil of his celebrated namesake Lopez, +the best painter of modern Spain. Such was Maria Diaz, who, according to +a custom formerly universal in Spain, and still very prevalent, retained +the name of her maidenhood though married. Such was Maria Diaz and her +family. + +One of my first cares was to wait on Mr. Villiers, who received me with +his usual kindness. I asked him whether he considered that I might +venture to commence printing the Scriptures without any more applications +to government. His reply was satisfactory: “You obtained the permission +of the government of Isturitz,” said he, “which was a much less liberal +one than the present. I am a witness to the promise made to you by the +former ministers, which I consider sufficient. You had best commence and +complete the work as soon as possible, without any fresh application; and +should any one attempt to interrupt you, you have only to come to me, +whom you may command at any time.” So I went away with a light heart, +and forthwith made preparation for the execution of the object which had +brought me to Spain. + +I shall not enter here into unnecessary details, which could possess but +little interest for the reader; suffice it to say that, within three +months from this time, an edition of the New Testament, consisting of +five thousand copies, was published at Madrid. The work was printed at +the establishment of Mr. Borrego, a well-known writer on political +economy, and proprietor and editor of an influential newspaper called El +Español. To this gentleman I had been recommended by Isturitz himself, +on the day of my interview with him. That unfortunate minister had, +indeed, the highest esteem for Borrego, and had intended raising him to +the station of minister of finance, when the revolution of the Granja +occurring, of course rendered abortive this project, with perhaps many +others of a similar kind which he might have formed. + +The Spanish version of the New Testament which was thus published, had +been made many years before by a certain Padre Filipe Scio, confessor of +Ferdinand the Seventh, and had even been printed, but so encumbered by +notes and commentaries as to be unfitted for general circulation, for +which, indeed, it was never intended. In the present edition, the notes +were of course omitted, and the inspired word, and that alone, offered to +the public. It was brought out in a handsome octavo volume, and +presented, upon the whole, a rather favourable specimen of Spanish +typography. + +The mere printing, however, of the New Testament at Madrid could be +attended with no utility whatever, unless measures, and energetic ones, +were taken for the circulation of the sacred volume. + +In the case of the New Testament, it would not do to follow the usual +plan of publication in Spain, namely, to entrust the work to the +booksellers of the capital, and rest content with the sale which they and +their agents in the provincial towns might be able to obtain for it, in +the common routine of business; the result generally being, the +circulation of a few dozen copies in the course of the year; as the +demand for literature of every kind in Spain was miserably small. + +The Christians of England had already made considerable sacrifices in the +hope of disseminating the word of God largely amongst the Spaniards, and +it was now necessary to spare no exertion to prevent that hope becoming +abortive. Before the book was ready, I had begun to make preparations +for putting a plan into execution, which had occupied my thoughts +occasionally during my former visit to Spain, and which I had never +subsequently abandoned. I had mused on it when off Cape Finisterre in +the tempest; in the cut-throat passes of the Morena; and on the plains of +La Mancha, as I jogged along a little way ahead of the Contrabandista. + +I had determined, after depositing a certain number of copies in the +shops of the booksellers of Madrid, to ride forth, Testament in hand, and +endeavour to circulate the word of God amongst the Spaniards, not only of +the towns but of the villages; amongst the children not only of the +plains but of the hills and mountains. I intended to visit Old Castile, +and to traverse the whole of Galicia and the Asturias,—to establish +Scripture dépots in the principal towns, and to visit the people in +secret and secluded spots,—to talk to them of Christ, to explain to them +the nature of his book, and to place that book in the hands of those whom +I should deem capable of deriving benefit from it. I was aware that such +a journey would be attended with considerable danger, and very possibly +the fate of St. Stephen might overtake me; but does the man deserve the +name of a follower of Christ who would shrink from danger of any kind in +the cause of Him whom he calls his Master? “He who loses his life for my +sake, shall find it,” are words which the Lord himself uttered. These +words were fraught with consolation to me, as they doubtless are to every +one engaged in propagating the gospel in sincerity of heart, in savage +and barbarian lands. + +I now purchased another horse; for these animals, at the time of which I +am speaking, were exceedingly cheap. A royal requisition was about to be +issued for five thousand, the consequence being, that an immense number +were for sale, for, by virtue of this requisition, the horses of any +person not a foreigner could be seized for the benefit of the service. +It was probable that, when the number was made up, the price of horses +would be treble what it then was, which consideration induced me to +purchase this animal before I exactly wanted him. He was a black +Andalusian stallion of great power and strength, and capable of +performing a journey of a hundred leagues in a week’s time, but he was +unbroke, savage, and furious. A cargo of Bibles, however, which I hoped +occasionally to put on his back, would, I had no doubt, thoroughly tame +him, especially when labouring up the flinty hills of the north of Spain. +I wished to have purchased a mule, but, though I offered thirty pounds +for a sorry one, I could not obtain her; whereas the cost of both the +horses, tall powerful stately animals, scarcely amounted to that sum. + +The state of the surrounding country at this time was not very favourable +for venturing forth: Cabrera was within nine leagues of Madrid, with an +army nearly ten thousand strong; he had beaten several small detachments +of the queen’s troops, and had ravaged La Mancha with fire and sword, +burning several towns; bands of affrighted fugitives were arriving every +hour, bringing tidings of woe and disaster, and I was only surprised that +the enemy did not appear, and by taking Madrid, which was almost at his +mercy, put an end to the war at once. But the truth is, that the Carlist +generals did not wish the war to cease, for as long as the country was +involved in bloodshed and anarchy, they could plunder and exercise that +lawless authority so dear to men of fierce and brutal passions. Cabrera, +moreover, was a dastardly wretch, whose limited mind was incapable of +harbouring a single conception approaching to grandeur; whose heroic +deeds were confined to cutting down defenceless men, and to forcing and +disembowelling unhappy women; and yet I have seen this wretched fellow +termed by French journals (Carlist of course) the young, the heroic +general. Infamy on the cowardly assassin! The shabbiest corporal of +Napoleon would have laughed at his generalship, and half a battalion of +Austrian grenadiers would have driven him and his rabble army headlong +into the Ebro. + +I now made preparations for my journey into the north. I was already +provided with horses well calculated to support the fatigues of the road +and the burdens which I might deem necessary to impose upon them. One +thing, however, was still lacking, indispensable to a person about to +engage on an expedition of this description; I mean a servant to attend +me. Perhaps there is no place in the world where servants more abound +than at Madrid, or at least fellows eager to proffer their services in +the expectation of receiving food and wages, though, with respect to the +actual service which they are capable of performing, not much can be +said; but I was in want of a servant of no common description, a shrewd +active fellow, of whose advice, in cases of emergency, I could +occasionally avail myself; courageous withal, for it certainly required +some degree of courage to follow a master bent on exploring the greater +part of Spain, and who intended to travel, not under the protection of +muleteers and carmen, but on his own cabalgaduras. Such a servant, +perhaps, I might have sought for years without finding; chance, however, +brought one to my hand at the very time I wanted him, without it being +necessary for me to make any laborious perquisitions. I was one day +mentioning the subject to Mr. Borrego, at whose establishment I had +printed the New Testament, and inquiring whether he thought that such an +individual was to be found in Madrid, adding that I was particularly +anxious to obtain a servant who, besides Spanish, could speak some other +language, that occasionally we might discourse without being understood +by those who might overhear us. “The very description of person,” he +replied, “that you appear to be in need of, quitted me about half an hour +ago, and, it is singular enough, came to me in the hope that I might be +able to recommend him to a master. He has been twice in my service: for +his talent and courage I will answer; and I believe him to be +trustworthy, at least to masters who may chime in with his humour, for I +must inform you that he is a most extraordinary fellow, full of strange +likes and antipathies, which he will gratify at any expense, either to +himself or others. Perhaps he will attach himself to you, in which case +you will find him highly valuable; for if he please he can turn his hand +to any thing, and is not only acquainted with two but half a dozen +languages.” + +“Is he a Spaniard?” I inquired. + +“I will send him to you to-morrow,” said Borrego, “you will best learn +from his own mouth who and what he is.” + +The next day, as I had just sat down to my “sopa,” my hostess informed me +that a man wished to speak to me. “Admit him,” said I, and he almost +instantly made his appearance. He was dressed respectably in the French +fashion, and had rather a juvenile look, though I subsequently learned +that he was considerably above forty. He was somewhat above the middle +stature, and might have been called well made, had it not been for his +meagreness, which was rather remarkable. His arms were long and bony, +and his whole form conveyed an idea of great activity united with no +slight degree of strength: his hair was wiry, but of jetty blackness; his +forehead low; his eyes small and grey, expressive of much subtlety and no +less malice, strangely relieved by a strong dash of humour; the nose was +handsome, but the mouth was immensely wide, and his under jaw projected +considerably. A more singular physiognomy I had never seen, and I +continued staring at him for some time in silence. “Who are you?” I at +last demanded. + +“Domestic in search of a master,” answered the man in good French, but in +a strange accent. “I come recommended to you, my Lor, by Monsieur B.” + +_Myself_.—Of what nation may you be? Are you French or Spanish? + +_Man_.—God forbid that I should be either, mi Lor, _j’ai l’honneur d’etre +de la nation Grecque_, my name is Antonio Buchini, native of Pera the +Belle near to Constantinople. + +_Myself_.—And what brought you to Spain? + +_Buchini_.—_Mi Lor_, _je vais vous raconter mon histoire du commencement +jusqu’ici_:—my father was a native of Sceira in Greece, from whence at an +early age he repaired to Pera, where he served as janitor in the hotels +of various ambassadors, by whom he was much respected for his fidelity. +Amongst others of these gentlemen, he served him of your own nation: this +occurred at the time that there was war between England and the Porte. +{181} Monsieur the Ambassador had to escape for his life, leaving the +greater part of his valuables to the care of my father, who concealed +them at his own great risk, and when the dispute was settled, restored +them to Monsieur, even to the most inconsiderable trinket. I mention +this circumstance to show you that I am of a family which cherishes +principles of honour, and in which confidence may be placed. My father +married a daughter of Pera, _et moi je suis l’unique fruit de ce +mariage_. Of my mother I know nothing, as she died shortly after my +birth. A family of wealthy Jews took pity on my forlorn condition and +offered to bring me up, to which my father gladly consented; and with +them I continued several years, until I was a _beau garcon_; they were +very fond of me, and at last offered to adopt me, and at their death to +bequeath me all they had, on condition of my becoming a Jew. _Mais la +circoncision n’etoit guere a mon gout_; especially that of the Jews, for +I am a Greek, am proud, and have principles of honour. I quitted them, +therefore, saying that if ever I allowed myself to be converted, it +should be to the faith of the Turks, for they are men, are proud, and +have principles of honour like myself. I then returned to my father, who +procured me various situations, none of which were to my liking, until I +was placed in the house of Monsieur Zea. + +_Myself_.—You mean, I suppose, Zea Bermudez, who chanced to be at +Constantinople. + +_Buchini_.—Just so, mi Lor, and with him I continued during his stay. He +put great confidence in me, more especially as I spoke the pure Spanish +language, which I acquired amongst the Jews, who, as I have heard +Monsieur Zea say, speak it better than the present natives of Spain. + +I shall not follow the Greek step by step throughout his history, which +was rather lengthy: suffice it to say, that he was brought by Zea +Bermudez from Constantinople to Spain, where he continued in his service +for many years, and from whose house he was expelled for marrying a +Guipuscoan damsel, who was fille de chambre to Madame Zea; since which +time it appeared that he had served an infinity of masters; sometimes as +valet, sometimes as cook, but generally in the last capacity. He +confessed, however, that he had seldom continued more than three days in +the same service, on account of the disputes which were sure to arise in +the house almost immediately after his admission, and for which he could +assign no other reason than his being a Greek, and having principles of +honour. Amongst other persons whom he had served was General Cordova, +who he said was a bad paymaster, and was in the habit of maltreating his +domestics. “But he found his match in me,” said Antonio, “for I was +prepared for him; and once, when he drew his sword against me, I pulled +out a pistol and pointed it in his face. He grew pale as death, and from +that hour treated me with all kinds of condescension. It was only +pretence, however, for the affair rankled in his mind; he had determined +upon revenge, and on being appointed to the command of the army, he was +particularly anxious that I should attend him to the camp. _Mais je lui +ris au nez_, made the sign of the cortamanga—asked for my wages, and left +him; and well it was that I did so, for the very domestic whom he took +with him he caused to be shot upon a charge of mutiny.” + +“I am afraid,” said I, “that you are of a turbulent disposition, and that +the disputes to which you have alluded are solely to be attributed to the +badness of your temper.” + +“What would you have, Monsieur? _Moi je suis Grec_, _je suis fier et +j’ai des principes d’honneur_. I expect to be treated with a certain +consideration, though I confess that my temper is none of the best, and +that at times I am tempted to quarrel with the pots and pans in the +kitchen. I think, upon the whole, that it will be for your advantage to +engage me, and I promise you to be on my guard. There is one thing that +pleases me relating to you, you are unmarried. Now, I would rather serve +a young unmarried man for love and friendship, than a Benedict for fifty +dollars per month. Madame is sure to hate me, and so is her waiting +woman; and more particularly the latter, because I am a married man. I +see that mi Lor is willing to engage me.” + +“But you say you are a married man,” I replied; “how can you desert your +wife, for I am about to leave Madrid, and to travel into the remote and +mountainous parts of Spain.” + +“My wife will receive the moiety of my wages, while I am absent, mi Lor, +and therefore will have no reason to complain of being deserted. +Complain! did I say; my wife is at present too well instructed to +complain. She never speaks nor sits in my presence unless I give her +permission. Am I not a Greek, and do I not know how to govern my own +house? Engage me, mi Lor, I am a man of many capacities: a discreet +valet, an excellent cook, a good groom and light rider; in a word, I am +Ρωμαϊκός. What would you more?” + +I asked him his terms, which were extravagant, notwithstanding his +_principes d’honneur_. I found, however, that he was willing to take one +half. + +I had no sooner engaged him, than seizing the tureen of soup, which had +by this time become quite cold, he placed it on the top of his +forefinger, or rather on the nail thereof, causing it to make various +circumvolutions over his head, to my great astonishment, without spilling +a drop, then springing with it to the door, he vanished, and in another +moment made his appearance with the puchera, which, after a similar bound +and flourish, he deposited on the table; then suffering his hands to sink +before him, he put one over the other and stood at his ease with +half-shut eyes, for all the world as if he had been in my service twenty +years. + +And in this manner Antonio Buchini entered upon his duties. Many was the +wild spot to which he subsequently accompanied me; many the wild +adventure of which he was the sharer. His behaviour was frequently in +the highest degree extraordinary, but he served me courageously and +faithfully: such a valet, take him for all in all, + + “His like I ne’er expect to see again.” + + _Kosko bakh Anton_. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + + +Illness—Nocturnal Visit—A Master Mind—The Whisper—Salamanca—Irish +Hospitality—Spanish Soldiers—The Scriptures advertised. + +But I am anxious to enter upon the narrative of my journey, and shall +therefore abstain from relating to my readers a great many circumstances +which occurred previously to my leaving Madrid on this expedition. About +the middle of May I had got everything in readiness, and I bade farewell +to my friends. Salamanca was the first place which I intended to visit. + +Some days previous to my departure I was very much indisposed, owing to +the state of the weather, for violent and biting winds had long +prevailed. I had been attacked with a severe cold, which terminated in a +disagreeable cough, which the many remedies I successively tried seemed +unable to subdue. I had made preparations for departing on a particular +day, but, owing to the state of my health, I was apprehensive that I +should be compelled to defer my journey for a time. The last day of my +stay in Madrid, finding myself scarcely able to stand, I was fain to +submit to a somewhat desperate experiment, and by the advice of the +barber-surgeon who visited me, I determined to be bled. Late on the +night of that same day he took from me sixteen ounces of blood, and +having received his fee left me, wishing me a pleasant journey, and +assuring me, upon his reputation, that by noon the next day I should be +perfectly recovered. + +A few minutes after his departure, whilst I was sitting alone, meditating +on the journey which I was about to undertake, and on the ricketty state +of my health, I heard a loud knock at the street door of the house, on +the third floor of which I was lodged. In another minute Mr. S--- of the +British Embassy entered my apartment. After a little conversation, he +informed me that Mr. Villiers had desired him to wait upon me to +communicate a resolution which he had come to. Being apprehensive that, +alone and unassisted, I should experience great difficulty in propagating +the gospel of God to any considerable extent in Spain, he was bent upon +exerting to the utmost his own credit and influence to further my views, +which he himself considered, if carried into proper effect, extremely +well calculated to operate beneficially on the political and moral state +of the country. To this end it was his intention to purchase a very +considerable number of copies of the New Testament, and to dispatch them +forthwith to the various British consuls established in different parts +of Spain, with strict and positive orders to employ all the means which +their official situation should afford them to circulate the books in +question and to assure their being noticed. They were, moreover, to be +charged to afford me, whenever I should appear in their respective +districts, all the protection, encouragement, and assistance which I +should stand in need of. + +I was of course much rejoiced on receiving this information, for though I +had long been aware that Mr. Villiers was at all times willing to assist +me, he having frequently given me sufficient proof, I could never expect +that he would come forward in so noble, and, to say the least of it, +considering his high diplomatic situation, so bold and decided a manner. +I believe that this was the first instance of a British ambassador having +made the cause of the Bible Society a national one, or indeed of having +favoured it directly or indirectly. What renders the case of Mr. +Villiers more remarkable is, that on my first arrival at Madrid I found +him by no means well disposed towards the Society. The Holy Spirit had +probably illumined his mind on this point. I hoped that by his means our +institution would shortly possess many agents in Spain, who, with far +more power and better opportunities than I myself could ever expect to +possess, would scatter abroad the seed of the gospel, and make of a +barren and thirsty wilderness a green and smiling corn-field. + +A word or two about the gentleman who paid me this nocturnal visit. +Though he has probably long since forgotten the humble circulator of the +Bible in Spain, I still bear in mind numerous acts of kindness which I +experienced at his hands. Endowed with an intellect of the highest +order, master of the lore of all Europe, profoundly versed in the ancient +tongues, and speaking most of the modern dialects with remarkable +facility,—possessed, moreover, of a thorough knowledge of mankind,—he +brought with him into the diplomatic career advantages such as few, even +the most highly gifted, can boast of. During his sojourn in Spain he +performed many eminent services for the government which employed him; +services which, I believe, it had sufficient discernment to see, and +gratitude to reward. He had to encounter, however, the full brunt of the +low and stupid malignity of the party who, shortly after the time of +which I am speaking, usurped the management of the affairs of Spain. +This party, whose foolish manœuvres he was continually discomfiting, +feared and hated him as its evil genius, taking every opportunity of +showering on his head calumnies the most improbable and absurd. Amongst +other things, he was accused of having acted as an agent to the English +government in the affair of the Granja, bringing about that revolution by +bribing the mutinous soldiers, and more particularly the notorious +Sergeant Garcia. Such an accusation will of course merely extract a +smile from those who are at all acquainted with the English character, +and the general line of conduct pursued by the English government. It +was a charge, however, universally believed in Spain, and was even +preferred in print by a certain journal, the official organ of the silly +Duke of Frias, one of the many prime ministers of the moderado party who +followed each other in rapid succession towards the latter period of the +Carlist and Christino struggle. But when did a calumnious report ever +fall to the ground in Spain by the weight of its own absurdity? Unhappy +land, not until the pure light of the Gospel has illumined thee wilt thou +learn that the greatest of all gifts is charity. + +The next day verified the prediction of the Spanish surgeon; I had to a +considerable degree lost my cough and fever, though, owing to the loss of +blood, I was somewhat feeble. Precisely at twelve o’clock the horses +were led forth before the door of my lodging in the Calle de Santiago, +and I prepared to mount: but my black entero of Andalusia would not +permit me to approach his side, and whenever I made the attempt, +commenced wheeling round with great rapidity. + +“_C’est un mauvais signe_, _mon maitre_,” said Antonio, who, dressed in a +green jerkin, a Montero cap, booted and spurred, stood ready to attend +me, holding by the bridle the horse which I had purchased from the +contrabandista. “It is a bad sign, and in my country they would defer +the journey till to-morrow.” + +“Are there whisperers in your country?” I demanded; and taking the horse +by the mane, I performed the ceremony after the most approved fashion: +the animal stood still, and I mounted the saddle, exclaiming— + + “The Rommany Chal to his horse did cry, + As he placed the bit in his horse’s jaw; + Kosko gry! Rommany gry! + Muk man kistur tute knaw.” + +We then rode forth from Madrid by the gate of San Vincente, directing our +course to the lofty mountains which separate Old from New Castile. That +night we rested at Guadarama, a large village at their foot, distant from +Madrid about seven leagues. Rising early on the following morning, we +ascended the pass and entered into Old Castile. + +After crossing the mountains, the route to Salamanca lies almost entirely +over sandy and arid plains, interspersed here and there with thin and +scanty groves of pine. No adventure worth relating occurred during this +journey. We sold a few Testaments in the villages through which we +passed, more especially at Peñaranda. About noon of the third day, on +reaching the brow of a hillock, we saw a huge dome before us, upon which +the fierce rays of the sun striking, produced the appearance of burnished +gold. It belonged to the cathedral of Salamanca, and we flattered +ourselves that we were already at our journey’s end; we were deceived, +however, being still four leagues distant from the town, whose churches +and convents, towering up in gigantic masses, can be distinguished at an +immense distance, flattering the traveller with an idea of propinquity +which does not in reality exist. It was not till long after nightfall +that we arrived at the city gate, which we found closed and guarded, in +apprehension of a Carlist attack; and having obtained admission with some +difficulty, we led our horses along dark, silent, and deserted streets, +till we found an individual who directed us to a large, gloomy, and +comfortless posada, that of the Bull, which we, however, subsequently +found was the best which the town afforded. + +A melancholy town is Salamanca; the days of its collegiate glory are long +since past by, never more to return: a circumstance, however, which is +little to be regretted; for what benefit did the world ever derive from +scholastic philosophy? And for that alone was Salamanca ever famous. +Its halls are now almost silent, and grass is growing in its courts, +which were once daily thronged by at least eight thousand students; a +number to which, at the present day, the entire population of the city +does not amount. Yet, with all its melancholy, what an interesting, nay, +what a magnificent place is Salamanca! How glorious are its churches, +how stupendous are its deserted convents, and with what sublime but +sullen grandeur do its huge and crumbling walls, which crown the +precipitous bank of the Tormes, look down upon the lovely river and its +venerable bridge. + +What a pity that, of the many rivers in Spain, scarcely one is navigable. +The beautiful but shallow Tormes, instead of proving a source of blessing +and wealth to this part of Castile, is of no further utility than to turn +the wheels of various small water mills, standing upon weirs of stone, +which at certain distances traverse the river. + +My sojourn at Salamanca was rendered particularly pleasant by the kind +attentions and continual acts of hospitality which I experienced from the +inmates of the Irish College, to the rector of which I bore a letter of +recommendation from my kind and excellent friend Mr. O’Shea, the +celebrated banker of Madrid. It will be long before I forget these +Irish, more especially their head, Dr. Gartland, a genuine scion of the +good Hibernian tree, an accomplished scholar, and a courteous and +high-minded gentleman. Though fully aware who I was, he held out the +hand of friendship to the wandering heretic missionary, although by so +doing he exposed himself to the rancorous remarks of the narrow-minded +native clergy, who, in their ugly shovel hats and long cloaks, glared at +me askance as I passed by their whispering groups beneath the piazzas of +the Plaza. But when did the fear of consequences cause an Irishman to +shrink from the exercise of the duties of hospitality? However attached +to his religion—and who is so attached to the Romish creed as the +Irishman?—I am convinced that not all the authority of the Pope or the +Cardinals would induce him to close his doors on Luther himself, were +that respectable personage at present alive and in need of food and +refuge. + +Honour to Ireland and her “hundred thousand welcomes!” Her fields have +long been the greenest in the world; her daughters the fairest; her sons +the bravest and most eloquent. May they never cease to be so. + +The posada where I had put up was a good specimen of the old Spanish inn, +being much the same as those described in the time of Philip the Third or +Fourth. The rooms were many and large, floored with either brick or +stone, generally with an alcove at the end, in which stood a wretched +flock bed. Behind the house was a court, and in the rear of this a +stable, full of horses, ponies, mules, machos, and donkeys, for there was +no lack of guests, who, however, for the most part slept in the stable +with their caballerias, being either arrieros or small peddling merchants +who travelled the country with coarse cloth or linen. Opposite to my +room in the corridor lodged a wounded officer, who had just arrived from +San Sebastian on a galled broken-kneed pony; he was an Estrimenian, and +was returning to his own village to be cured. He was attended by three +broken soldiers, lame or maimed, and unfit for service: they told me that +they were of the same village as his worship, and on that account he +permitted them to travel with him. They slept amongst the litter, and +throughout the day lounged about the house smoking paper cigars. I never +saw them eating, though they frequently went to a dark cool corner, where +stood a bota or kind of water pitcher, which they held about six inches +from their black filmy lips, permitting the liquid to trickle down their +throats. They said they had no pay, and were quite destitute of money, +that _su merced_ the officer occasionally gave them a piece of bread, but +that he himself was poor and had only a few dollars. Brave guests for an +inn, thought I; yet, to the honour of Spain be it spoken, it is one of +the few countries in Europe where poverty is never insulted nor looked +upon with contempt. Even at an inn, the poor man is never spurned from +the door, and if not harboured, is at least dismissed with fair words, +and consigned to the mercies of God and his mother. This is as it should +be. I laugh at the bigotry and prejudices of Spain; I abhor the cruelty +and ferocity which have cast a stain of eternal infamy on her history; +but I will say for the Spaniards, that in their social intercourse no +people in the world exhibit a juster feeling of what is due to the +dignity of human nature, or better understand the behaviour which it +behoves a man to adopt towards his fellow beings. I have said that it is +one of the few countries in Europe where poverty is not treated with +contempt, and I may add, where the wealthy are not blindly idolized. In +Spain the very beggar does not feel himself a degraded being, for he +kisses no one’s feet, and knows not what it is to be cuffed or spitten +upon; and in Spain the duke or the marquis can scarcely entertain a very +overweening opinion of his own consequence, as he finds no one, with +perhaps the exception of his French valet, to fawn upon or flatter him. + +During my stay at Salamanca, I took measures that the word of God might +become generally known in this celebrated city. The principal bookseller +of the town, Blanco, a man of great wealth and respectability, consented +to become my agent here, and I in consequence deposited in his shop a +certain number of New Testaments. He was the proprietor of a small +printing press, where the official bulletin of the place was published. +For this bulletin I prepared an advertisement of the work, in which, +amongst other things, I said that the New Testament was the only guide to +salvation; I also spoke of the Bible Society, and the great pecuniary +sacrifices which it was making with the view of proclaiming Christ +crucified, and of making his doctrine known. This step will perhaps be +considered by some as too bold, but I was not aware that I could take any +more calculated to arouse the attention of the people—a considerable +point. I also ordered numbers of the same advertisement to be struck off +in the shape of bills, which I caused to be stuck up in various parts of +the town. I had great hope that by means of these a considerable number +of New Testaments would be sold. I intended to repeat this experiment in +Valladolid, Leon, St. Jago, and all the principal towns which I visited, +and to distribute them likewise as I rode along: the children of Spain +would thus be brought to know that such a work as the New Testament is in +existence, a fact of which not five in one hundred were then aware, +notwithstanding their so frequently-repeated boasts of their Catholicity +and Christianity. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + + +Departure from Salamanca—Reception at Pitiegua—The Dilemma—Sudden +Inspiration—The Good Presbyter—Combat of Quadrupeds—Irish +Christians—Plains of Spain—The Catalans—The Fatal +Pool—Valladolid—Circulation of the Scriptures—Philippine Missions—English +College—A Conversation—The Gaoleress. + +On Saturday, the tenth of June, I left Salamanca for Valladolid. As the +village where we intended to rest was only five leagues distant, we did +not sally forth till midday was past. There was a haze in the heavens +which overcast the sun, nearly hiding his countenance from our view. My +friend, Mr. Patrick Cantwell, of the Irish College, was kind enough to +ride with me part of the way. He was mounted on a most sorry-looking +hired mule, which, I expected would be unable to keep pace with the +spirited horses of myself and man, for he seemed to be twin brother of +the mule of Gil Perez, on which his nephew made his celebrated journey +from Oviedo to Peñaflor. I was, however, very much mistaken. The +creature on being mounted instantly set off at that rapid walk which I +have so often admired in Spanish mules, and which no horse can emulate. +Our more stately animals were speedily left in the rear, and we were +continually obliged to break into a trot to follow the singular +quadruped, who, ever and anon, would lift his head high in the air, curl +up his lip, and show his yellow teeth, as if he were laughing at us, as +perhaps he was. It chanced that none of us was well acquainted with the +road; indeed, I could see nothing which was fairly entitled to that +appellation. The way from Salamanca to Valladolid is amongst a medley of +bridle-paths and drift-ways, where discrimination is very difficult. It +was not long before we were bewildered, and travelled over more ground +than was strictly necessary. However, as men and women frequently passed +on donkeys and little ponies, we were not too proud to be set right by +them, and by dint of diligent inquiry we at length arrived at Pitiegua, +four leagues from Salamanca, a small village, containing about fifty +families, consisting of mud huts, and situated in the midst of dusty +plains, where corn was growing in abundance. We asked for the house of +the cura, an old man whom I had seen the day before at the Irish College, +and who, on being informed that I was about to depart for Valladolid, had +exacted from me a promise that I would not pass through his village +without paying him a visit and partaking of his hospitality. + +A woman directed us to a cottage somewhat superior in appearance to those +contiguous. It had a small portico, which, if I remember well, was +overgrown with a vine. We knocked loud and long at the door, but +received no answer; the voice of man was silent, and not even a dog +barked. The truth was, that the old curate was taking his siesta, and so +were his whole family, which consisted of one ancient female and a cat. +The good man was at last disturbed by our noise and vociferation, for we +were hungry, and consequently impatient. Leaping from his couch, he came +running to the door in great hurry and confusion, and perceiving us, he +made many apologies for being asleep at a period when, he said, he ought +to have been on the lookout for his invited guest. He embraced me very +affectionately and conducted me into his parlour, an apartment of +tolerable size, hung round with shelves, which were crowded with books. +At one end there was a kind of table or desk covered with black leather, +with a large easy chair, into which he pushed me, as I, with the true +eagerness of a bibliomaniac, was about to inspect his shelves; saying, +with considerable vehemence, that there was nothing there worthy of the +attention of an Englishman, for that his whole stock consisted of +breviaries and dry Catholic treatises on divinity. + +His care now was to furnish us with refreshments. In a twinkling, with +the assistance of his old attendant, he placed on the table several +plates of cakes and confectionery, and a number of large uncouth glass +bottles, which I thought bore a strong resemblance to those of Schiedam, +and indeed they were the very same. “There,” said he, rubbing his hands; +“I thank God that it is in my power to treat you in a way which will be +agreeable to you. In those bottles there is Hollands thirty years old”; +and producing two large tumblers, he continued, “fill, my friends, and +drink, drink it every drop if you please, for it is of little use to +myself, who seldom drink aught but water. I know that you islanders love +it, and cannot live without it; therefore, since it does you good, I am +only sorry that there is no more.” + +Observing that we contented ourselves with merely tasting it, he looked +at us with astonishment, and inquired the reason of our not drinking. We +told him that we seldom drank ardent spirits; and I added, that as for +myself, I seldom tasted even wine, but like himself, was content with the +use of water. He appeared somewhat incredulous, but told us to do +exactly what we pleased, and to ask for what was agreeable to us. We +told him that we had not dined, and should be glad of some substantial +refreshment. “I am afraid,” said he, “that I have nothing in the house +which will suit you; however, we will go and see.” + +Thereupon he led us through a small yard at the back part of his house, +which might have been called a garden, or orchard, if it had displayed +either trees or flowers; but it produced nothing but grass, which was +growing in luxuriance. At one end was a large pigeon-house, which we all +entered: “for,” said the curate, “if we could find some nice delicate +pigeons they would afford you an excellent dinner.” We were, however, +disappointed; for after rummaging the nests, we only found very young +ones, unfitted for our purpose. The good man became very melancholy, and +said he had some misgivings that we should have to depart dinnerless. +Leaving the pigeon-house, he conducted us to a place where there were +several skeps of bees, round which multitudes of the busy insects were +hovering, filling the air with their music. “Next to my fellow +creatures,” said he, “there is nothing which I love so dearly as these +bees; it is one of my delights to sit watching them, and listening to +their murmur.” We next went to several unfurnished rooms, fronting the +yard, in one of which were hanging several flitches of bacon, beneath +which he stopped, and looking up, gazed intently upon them. We told him +that if he had nothing better to offer, we should be very glad to eat +some slices of this bacon, especially if some eggs were added. “To tell +the truth,” said he, “I have nothing better, and if you can content +yourselves with such fare I shall be very happy; as for eggs you can have +as many as you wish, and perfectly fresh, for my hens lay every day.” + +So, after every thing was prepared and arranged to our satisfaction, we +sat down to dine on the bacon and eggs, in a small room, not the one to +which he had ushered us at first, but on the other side of the doorway. +The good curate, though he ate nothing, having taken his meal long +before, sat at the head of the table, and the repast was enlivened by his +chat. “There, my friends,” said he, “where you are now seated, once sat +Wellington and Crawford, after they had beat the French at Arapiles, and +rescued us from the thraldom of those wicked people. I never respected +my house so much as I have done since they honoured it with their +presence. They were heroes, and one was a demigod.” He then burst into +a most eloquent panegyric of El Gran Lord, as he termed him, which I +should be very happy to translate, were my pen capable of rendering into +English the robust thundering sentences of his powerful Castilian. I had +till then considered him a plain uninformed old man, almost simple, and +as incapable of much emotion as a tortoise within its shell; but he had +become at once inspired: his eyes were replete with a bright fire, and +every muscle of his face was quivering. The little silk skull-cap which +he wore, according to the custom of the Catholic clergy, moved up and +down with his agitation, and I soon saw that I was in the presence of one +of those remarkable men who so frequently spring up in the bosom of the +Romish church, and who to a child-like simplicity unite immense energy +and power of mind,—equally adapted to guide a scanty flock of ignorant +rustics in some obscure village in Italy or Spain, as to convert millions +of heathens on the shores of Japan, China, and Paraguay. + +He was a thin spare man, of about sixty-five, and was dressed in a black +cloak of very coarse materials, nor were his other garments of superior +quality. This plainness, however, in the appearance of his outward man +was by no means the result of poverty; quite the contrary. The benefice +was a very plentiful one, and placed at his disposal annually a sum of at +least eight hundred dollars, of which the eighth part was more than +sufficient to defray the expenses of his house and himself; the rest was +devoted entirely to the purest acts of charity. He fed the hungry +wanderer, and dispatched him singing on his way, with meat in his wallet +and a peseta in his purse, and his parishioners, when in need of money, +had only to repair to his study and were sure of an immediate supply. He +was, indeed, the banker of the village, and what he lent he neither +expected nor wished to be returned. Though under the necessity of making +frequent journeys to Salamanca, he kept no mule, but contented himself +with an ass, borrowed from the neighbouring miller. “I once kept a +mule,” said he, “but some years since it was removed without my +permission by a traveller whom I had housed for the night: for in that +alcove I keep two clean beds for the use of the wayfaring, and I shall be +very much pleased if yourself and friend will occupy them, and tarry with +me till the morning.” + +But I was eager to continue my journey, and my friend was no less anxious +to return to Salamanca. Upon taking leave of the hospitable curate, I +presented him with a copy of the New Testament. He received it without +uttering a single word, and placed it on one of the shelves of his study; +but I observed him nodding significantly to the Irish student, perhaps as +much as to say, “Your friend loses no opportunity of propagating his +book”; for he was well aware who I was. I shall not speedily forget the +truly good presbyter, Anthonio Garcia de Aguilar, Cura of Pitiegua. + +We reached Pedroso shortly before nightfall. It was a small village +containing about thirty houses, and intersected by a rivulet, or as it is +called a regata. On its banks women and maidens were washing their linen +and singing couplets; the church stood lone and solitary on the farther +side. We inquired for the posada, and were shown a cottage differing +nothing from the rest in general appearance. We called at the door in +vain, as it is not the custom of Castile for the people of these halting +places to go out to welcome their visitors: at last we dismounted and +entered the house, demanding of a sullen-looking woman where we were to +place the horses. She said there was a stable within the house, but we +could not put the animals there as it contained malos machos (_savage +mules_) belonging to two travellers who would certainly fight with our +horses, and then there would be a funcion, which would tear the house +down. She then pointed to an outhouse across the way, saying that we +could stable them there. We entered this place, which we found full of +filth and swine, with a door without a lock. I thought of the fate of +the cura’s mule, and was unwilling to trust the horses in such a place, +abandoning them to the mercy of any robber in the neighbourhood. I +therefore entered the house, and said resolutely, that I was determined +to place them in the stable. Two men were squatted on the ground, with +an immense bowl of stewed hare before them, on which they were supping; +these were the travelling merchants, the masters of the mutes. I passed +on to the stable, one of the men saying softly, “Yes, yes, go in and see +what will befall.” I had no sooner entered the stable than I heard a +horrid discordant cry, something between a bray and a yell, and the +largest of the machos, tearing his head from the manger to which he was +fastened, his eyes shooting flames, and breathing a whirlwind from his +nostrils, flung himself on my stallion. The horse, as savage as himself, +reared on his hind legs, and after the fashion of an English pugilist, +repaid the other with a pat on the forehead, which nearly felled him. A +combat instantly ensued, and I thought that the words of the sullen woman +would be verified by the house being torn to pieces. It ended by my +seizing the mute by the halter, at the risk of my limbs, and hanging upon +him with all my weight, whilst Antonio, with much difficulty, removed the +horse. The man who had been standing at the entrance now came forward, +saying, “This would not have happened if you had taken good advice.” +Upon my stating to him the unreasonableness of expecting that I would +risk horses in a place where they would probably be stolen before the +morning, he replied, “True, true, you have perhaps done right.” He then +refastened his macho, adding for additional security a piece of whipcord, +which he said rendered escape impossible. + +After supper I roamed about the village. I addressed two or three +labourers whom I found standing at their doors; they appeared, however, +exceedingly reserved, and with a gruff “_buenas noches_” turned into +their houses without inviting me to enter. I at last found my way to the +church porch, where I continued some time in meditation. At last I +bethought myself of retiring to rest; before departing, however, I took +out and affixed to the porch of the church an advertisement to the effect +that the New Testament was to be purchased at Salamanca. On returning to +the house, I found the two travelling merchants enjoying profound slumber +on various mantas or mule-cloths stretched on the floor. “You are a +French merchant, I suppose, Caballero,” said a man, who it seemed was the +master of the house, and whom I had not before seen. “You are a French +merchant, I suppose, and are on the way to the fair of Medina.” “I am +neither Frenchman nor merchant,” I replied, “and though I purpose passing +through Medina, it is not with the view of attending the fair.” “Then +you are one of the Irish Christians from Salamanca, Caballero,” said the +man; “I hear you come from that town.” “Why do you call them _Irish +Christians_?” I replied. “Are there pagans in their country?” “We call +them Christians,” said the man, “to distinguish them from the Irish +English, who are worse than pagans, who are Jews and heretics.” I made +no answer, but passed on to the room which had been prepared for me, and +from which, the door being ajar, I heard the following conversation +passing between the innkeeper and his wife:— + +_Innkeeper_.—Muger, it appears to me that we have evil guests in the +house. + +_Wife_.—You mean the last comers, the Caballero and his servant. Yes, I +never saw worse countenances in my life. + +_Innkeeper_.—I do not like the servant, and still less the master. He +has neither formality nor politeness: he tells me that he is not French, +and when I spoke to him of the Irish Christians, he did not seem to +belong to them. I more than suspect that he is a heretic or a Jew at +least. + +_Wife_.—Perhaps they are both. Maria Santissima! what shall we do to +purify the house when they are gone? + +_Innkeeper_.—O, as for that matter, we must of course charge it in the +cuenta. + +I slept soundly, and rather late in the morning arose and breakfasted, +and paid the bill, in which, by its extravagance, I found the +purification had not been forgotten. The travelling merchants had +departed at daybreak. We now led forth the horses, and mounted; there +were several people at the door staring at us. “What is the meaning of +this?” said I to Antonio. + +“It is whispered that we are no Christians,” said Antonio; “they have +come to cross themselves at our departure.” + +In effect, the moment that we rode forward a dozen hands at least were +busied in this evil-averting ceremony. Antonio instantly turned and +crossed himself in the Greek fashion,—much more complex and difficult +than the Catholic. + +“_Mirad que Santiguo_! _que Santiguo de los demonios_!” {196} exclaimed +many voices, whilst for fear of consequences we hastened away. + +The day was exceedingly hot, and we wended our way slowly along the +plains of Old Castile. With all that pertains to Spain, vastness and +sublimity are associated: grand are its mountains, and no less grand are +its plains, which seem of boundless extent, but which are not tame +unbroken flats, like the steppes of Russia. Rough and uneven ground is +continually occurring: here a deep ravine and gully worn by the wintry +torrent; yonder an eminence not unfrequently craggy and savage, at whose +top appears the lone solitary village. There is little that is +blithesome and cheerful, but much that is melancholy. A few solitary +rustics are occasionally seen toiling in the fields—fields without limit +or boundary, where the green oak, the elm or the ash are unknown; where +only the sad and desolate pine displays its pyramid-like form, and where +no grass is to be found. And who are the travellers of these districts? +For the most part arrieros, with their long trains of mules hung with +monotonous tinkling bells. Behold them with their brown faces, brown +dresses, and broad slouched hats;—the arrieros, the true lords of the +roads of Spain, and to whom more respect is paid in these dusty ways than +to dukes and condes;—the arrieros, sullen, proud, and rarely courteous, +whose deep voices may be sometimes heard at the distance of a mile, +either cheering the sluggish animals, or shortening the dreary way with +savage and dissonant songs. + +Late in the afternoon, we reached Medina del Campo, formerly one of the +principal cities of Spain, though at present an inconsiderable place. +Immense ruins surround it in every direction, attesting the former +grandeur of this “city of the plain.” The great square or market-place +is a remarkable spot, surrounded by a heavy massive piazza, over which +rise black buildings of great antiquity. We found the town crowded with +people awaiting the fair, which was to be held in a day or two. We +experienced some difficulty in obtaining admission into the posada, which +was chiefly occupied by Catalans from Valladolid. These people not only +brought with them their merchandise but their wives and children. Some +of them appeared to be people of the worst description: there was one in +particular, a burly savage-looking fellow, of about forty, whose conduct +was atrocious; he sat with his wife, or perhaps concubine, at the door of +a room which opened upon the court: he was continually venting horrible +and obscene oaths, both in Spanish and Catalan. The woman was remarkably +handsome, but robust and seemingly as savage as himself; her conversation +likewise was as frightful as his own. Both seemed to be under the +influence of an incomprehensible fury. At last, upon some observation +from the woman, he started up, and drawing a long knife from his girdle, +stabbed at her naked bosom; she, however, interposed the palm of her +hand, which was much cut. He stood for a moment viewing the blood +trickling upon the ground, whilst she held up her wounded hand, then with +an astounding oath he hurried up the court to the Plaza. I went up to +the woman and said, “What is the cause of this? I hope the ruffian has +not seriously injured you.” She turned her countenance upon me with the +glance of a demon, and at last with a sneer of contempt exclaimed, +“_Carals_, _que es eso_? Cannot a Catalan gentleman be conversing with +his lady upon their own private affairs without being interrupted by +you?” She then bound up her hand with a handkerchief, and going into the +room brought a small table to the door, on which she placed several +things as if for the evening’s repast, and then sat down on a stool: +presently returned the Catalan, and without a word took his seat on the +threshold; then, as if nothing had occurred, the extraordinary couple +commenced eating and drinking, interlarding their meal with oaths and +jests. + +We spent the night at Medina, and departing early next morning, passed +through much the same country as the day before, until about noon we +reached a small venta, distant half a league from the Duero; here we +reposed ourselves during the heat of the day, and then remounting, +crossed the river by a handsome stone bridge, and directed our course to +Valladolid. The banks of the Duero in this place have much beauty: they +abound with trees and brushwood, amongst which, as we passed along, +various birds were singing melodiously. A delicious coolness proceeded +from the water, which in some parts brawled over stones or rippled +fleetly over white sand, and in others glided softly over blue pools of +considerable depth. By the side of one of these last, sat a woman of +about thirty, neatly dressed as a peasant; she was gazing upon the water +into which she occasionally flung flowers and twigs of trees. I stopped +for a moment to ask a question; she, however, neither looked up nor +answered, but continued gazing at the water as if lost to consciousness +of all beside. “Who is that woman?” said I to a shepherd, whom I met the +moment after. “She is mad, _la pobrecita_,” said he; “she lost her child +about a month ago in that pool, and she has been mad ever since; they are +going to send her to Valladolid, to the Casa de los Locos. There are +many who perish every year in the eddies of the Duero; it is a bad river; +_vaya usted con la Virgen_, _Caballero_.” So I rode on through the +pinares, or thin scanty pine forests, which skirt the way to Valladolid +in this direction. + +Valladolid is seated in the midst of an immense valley, or rather hollow +which seems to have been scooped by some mighty convulsion out of the +plain ground of Castile. The eminences which appear in the neighbourhood +are not properly high grounds, but are rather the sides of this hollow. +They are jagged and precipitous, and exhibit a strange and uncouth +appearance. Volcanic force seems at some distant period to have been +busy in these districts. Valladolid abounds with convents, at present +deserted, which afford some of the finest specimens of architecture in +Spain. The principal church, though rather ancient, is unfinished: it +was intended to be a building of vast size, but the means of the founders +were insufficient to carry out their plan: it is built of rough granite. +Valladolid is a manufacturing town, but the commerce is chiefly in the +hands of the Catalans, of whom there is a colony of nearly three hundred +established here. It possesses a beautiful alameda, or public walk, +through which flows the river Escurva. The population is said to amount +to sixty thousand souls. + +We put up at the Posada de las Diligencias, a very magnificent edifice: +this posada, however, we were glad to quit on the second day after our +arrival, the accommodation being of the most wretched description, and +the incivility of the people great; the master of the house, an immense +tall fellow, with huge moustaches and an assumed military air, being far +too high a cavalier to attend to the wants of his guests, with whom, it +is true, he did not appear to be overburdened, as I saw no one but +Antonio and myself. He was a leading man amongst the national guards of +Valladolid, and delighted in parading about the city on a clumsy steed, +which he kept in a subterranean stable. + +Our next quarters were at the Trojan Horse, an ancient posada, kept by a +native of the Basque provinces, who at least was not above his business. +We found everything in confusion at Valladolid, a visit from the factious +being speedily expected. All the gates were blockaded, and various forts +had been built to cover the approaches to the city. Shortly after our +departure the Carlists actually did arrive, under the command of the +Biscayan chief, Zariategui. They experienced no opposition; the +staunchest nationals retiring to the principal fort, which they, however, +speedily surrendered, not a gun being fired throughout the affair. As +for my friend the hero of the inn, on the first rumour of the approach of +the enemy, he mounted his horse and rode off, and was never subsequently +heard of. On our return to Valladolid, we found the inn in other and +better hands, those of a Frenchman from Bayonne, from whom we received as +much civility as we had experienced rudeness from his predecessor. + +In a few days I formed the acquaintance of the bookseller of the place, a +kind-hearted simple man, who willingly undertook the charge of vending +the Testaments which I brought. + +I found literature of every description at the lowest ebb at Valladolid. +My newly-acquired friend merely carried on bookselling in connexion with +other business; it being, as he assured me, in itself quite insufficient +to afford him a livelihood. During the week, however, that I continued +in this city, a considerable number of copies were disposed of, and a +fair prospect opened that many more would be demanded. To call attention +to my books, I had recourse to the same plan which I had adopted at +Salamanca, the affixing of advertisements to the walls. Before leaving +the city, I gave orders that these should be renewed every week; from +pursuing which course I expected that much manifold good would accrue, as +the people would have continual opportunities of learning that a book +which contains the living word was in existence, and within their reach, +which might induce them to secure it and consult it even unto salvation. + + * * * * * + +In Valladolid I found both an English and Scotch College. From my +obliging friends, the Irish at Salamanca, I bore a letter of introduction +to the rector of the latter. I found this college an old gloomy edifice, +situated in a retired street. The rector was dressed in the habiliments +of a Spanish ecclesiastic, a character which he was evidently ambitious +of assuming. There was something dry and cold in his manner, and nothing +of that generous warmth and eager hospitality which had so captivated me +in the fine Irish rector of Salamanca; he was, however, civil and polite, +and offered to show me the curiosities of the place. He evidently knew +who I was, and on that account was, perhaps, more reserved than he +otherwise would have been: not a word passed between us on religious +matters, which we seemed to avoid by common consent. Under the auspices +of this gentleman, I visited the college of the Philippine Missions, +which stands beyond the gate of the city, where I was introduced to the +superior, a fine old man of seventy, very stout, in the habiliments of a +friar. There was an air of placid benignity on his countenance which +highly interested me: his words were few and simple, and he seemed to +have bid adieu to all worldly passions. One little weakness was, +however, still clinging to him. + +_Myself_.—This is a noble edifice in which you dwell, Father; I should +think it would contain at least two hundred students. + +_Rector_.—More, my son; it is intended for more hundreds than it now +contains single individuals. + +_Myself_.—I observe that some rude attempts have been made to fortify it; +the walls are pierced with loopholes in every direction. + +_Rector_.—The nationals of Valladolid visited us a few days ago, and +committed much useless damage; they were rather rude, and threatened me +with their clubs: poor men, poor men. + +_Myself_.—I suppose that even these missions, which are certainly +intended for a noble end, experience the sad effects of the present +convulsed state of Spain? + +_Rector_.—But too true: we at present receive no assistance from the +government, and are left to the Lord and ourselves. + +_Myself_.—How many aspirants for the mission are you at present +instructing? + +_Rector_.—Not one, my son; not one. They are all fled. The flock is +scattered and the shepherd left alone. + +_Myself_.—Your reverence has doubtless taken an active part in the +mission abroad? + +_Rector_.—I was forty years in the Philippines, my son, forty years +amongst the Indians. Ah me! how I love those Indians of the Philippines. + +_Myself_.—Can your reverence discourse in the language of the Indians? + +_Rector_.—No, my son. We teach the Indians Castilian. There is no +better language, I believe. We teach them Castilian, and the adoration +of the Virgin. What more need they know? + +_Myself_.—And what did your reverence think of the Philippines as a +country? + +_Rector_.—I was forty years in the Philippines, but I know little of the +country. I do not like the country. I love the Indians. The country is +not very bad; it is, however, not worth Castile. + +_Myself_.—Is your reverence a Castilian? + +_Rector_.—I am an _Old_ Castilian, my son. + +From the house of the Philippine Missions my friend conducted me to the +English college; this establishment seemed in every respect to be on a +more magnificent scale than its Scottish sister. In the latter there +were few pupils, scarcely six or seven, I believe, whilst in the English +seminary I was informed that between thirty and forty were receiving +their education. It is a beautiful building, with a small but splendid +church, and a handsome library. The situation is light and airy: it +stands by itself in an unfrequented part of the city, and, with genuine +English exclusiveness, is surrounded by a high wall, which encloses a +delicious garden. This is by far the most remarkable establishment of +the kind in the Peninsula, and I believe the most prosperous. From the +cursory view which I enjoyed of its interior, I of course cannot be +expected to know much of its economy. I could not, however, fail to be +struck with the order, neatness, and system which pervaded it. There +was, however, an air of severe monastic discipline, though I am far from +asserting that such actually existed. We were attended throughout by the +sub-rector, the principal being absent. Of all the curiosities of this +college, the most remarkable is the picture gallery, which contains +neither more nor less than the portraits of a variety of scholars of this +house who eventually suffered martyrdom in England, in the exercise of +their vocation in the angry times of the Sixth Edward and fierce +Elizabeth. Yes, in this very house were many of those pale smiling +half-foreign priests educated, who, like stealthy grimalkins, traversed +green England in all directions; crept into old halls beneath umbrageous +rookeries, fanning the dying embers of Popery, with no other hope nor +perhaps wish than to perish disembowelled by the bloody hands of the +executioner, amongst the yells of a rabble as bigoted as themselves: +priests like Bedingfield and Garnet, and many others who have left a name +in English story. Doubtless many a history, only the more wonderful for +being true, could be wrought out of the archives of the English Popish +seminary at Valladolid. + +There was no lack of guests at the Trojan Horse, where we had taken up +our abode at Valladolid. Amongst others who arrived during my sojourn +was a robust buxom dame, exceedingly well dressed in black silk, with a +costly mantilla. She was accompanied by a very handsome, but sullen and +malicious-looking urchin of about fifteen, who appeared to be her son. +She came from Toro, a place about a day’s journey from Valladolid, and +celebrated for its wine. One night, as we were seated in the court of +the inn enjoying the fresco, the following conversation ensued between +us. + +_Lady_.—Vaya, vaya, what a tiresome place is Valladolid! How different +from Toro. + +_Myself_.—I should have thought that it is at least as agreeable as Toro, +which is not a third part so large. + +_Lady_.—As agreeable as Toro! Vaya, vaya! Were you ever in the prison +of Toro, Sir Cavalier? + +_Myself_.—I have never had that honour; the prison is generally the last +place which I think of visiting. + +_Lady_.—See the difference of tastes: I have been to see the prison of +Valladolid, and it seems as tiresome as the town. + +_Myself_.—Of course, if grief and tediousness exist anywhere, you will +find them in the prison. + +_Lady_.—Not in that of Toro. + +_Myself_.—What does that of Toro possess to distinguish it from all +others? + +_Lady_.—What does it possess? Vaya! Am I not the carcelera? Is not my +husband the alcayde? Is not that son of mine a child of the prison? + +_Myself_.—I beg your pardon, I was not aware of that circumstance; it of +course makes much difference. + +_Lady_.—I believe you. I am a daughter of that prison, my father was +alcayde, and my son might hope to be so, were he not a fool. + +_Myself_.—His countenance then belies him strangely: I should be loth to +purchase that youngster for a fool. + +_Gaoleress_.—You would have a fine bargain if you did; he has more +picardias than any Calabozero in Toro. What I mean is, that he does not +take to the prison as he ought to do, considering what his fathers were +before him. He has too much pride—too many fancies; and he has at length +persuaded me to bring him to Valladolid, where I have arranged with a +merchant who lives in the Plaza to take him on trial. I wish he may not +find his way to the prison: if he do, he will find that being a prisoner +is a very different thing from being a son of the prison. + +_Myself_.—As there is so much merriment at Toro, you of course attend to +the comfort of your prisoners. + +_Gaoleress_.—Yes, we are very kind to them; I mean to those who are +caballeros; but as for those with vermin and miseria, what can we do? It +is a merry prison that of Toro; we allow as much wine to enter as the +prisoners can purchase and pay duty for. This of Valladolid is not half +so gay: there is no prison like Toro. I learned there to play on the +guitar. An Andalusian cavalier taught me to touch the guitar and to sing +à la Gitana. Poor fellow, he was my first novio. Juanito, bring me the +guitar, that I may play this gentleman a tune of Andalusia. + +The carcelera had a fine voice, and touched the favourite instrument of +the Spaniards in a truly masterly manner. I remained listening to her +performance for nearly an hour, when I retired to my apartment and my +repose. I believe that she continued playing and singing during the +greater part of the night, for as I occasionally awoke I could still hear +her; and, even in my slumbers, the strings were ringing in my ears. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + + +Dueñas—Children of Egypt—Jockeyism—The Baggage Pony—The +Fall—Palencia—Carlist Priests—The Lookout—Priestly Sincerity—Leon—Antonio +alarmed—Heat and Dust. + +After a sojourn of about ten days at Valladolid, we directed our course +towards Leon. We arrived about noon at Dueñas, a town at the distance of +six short leagues from Valladolid. It is in every respect a singular +place: it stands on a rising ground, and directly above it towers a steep +conical mountain of calcareous earth, crowned by a ruined castle. Around +Dueñas are seen a multitude of caves scooped in the high banks and +secured with strong doors. These are cellars, in which is deposited the +wine, of which abundance is grown in the neighbourhood, and which is +chiefly sold to the Navarrese and the mountaineers of Santander, who +arrive in cars drawn by oxen, and convey it away in large quantities. We +put up at a mean posada in the suburb for the purpose of refreshing our +horses. Several cavalry soldiers were quartered there, who instantly +came forth, and began, with the eyes of connoisseurs, to inspect my +Andalusian entero. “A capital horse that would be for our troop,” said +the corporal; “what a chest he has. By what right do you travel with +that horse, Señor, when so many are wanted for the Queen’s service? He +belongs to the requiso.” “I travel with him by right of purchase, and +being an Englishman,” I replied. “Oh, your worship is an Englishman,” +answered the corporal; “that, indeed, alters the matter; the English in +Spain are allowed to do what they please with their own, which is more +than the Spaniards are. Cavalier, I have seen your countrymen in the +Basque provinces; Vaya, what riders! what horses! They do not fight +badly either. But their chief skill is in riding: I have seen them dash +over barrancos to get at the factious, who thought themselves quite +secure, and then they would fall upon them on a sudden and kill them to a +man. In truth, your worship, this is a fine horse, I must look at his +teeth.” + +I looked at the corporal—his nose and eyes were in the horse’s mouth: the +rest of the party, who might amount to six or seven, were not less busily +engaged. One was examining his forefeet, another his hind; one fellow +was pulling at his tail with all his might, while another pinched the +windpipe, for the purpose of discovering whether the animal was at all +touched there. At last perceiving that the corporal was about to remove +the saddle that he might examine the back of the animal, I exclaimed:— + +“Stay, ye chabés of Egypt, ye forget that ye are hundunares, and are no +longer paruguing grastes in the chardy.” + +The corporal at these words turned his face full upon me, and so did all +the rest. Yes, sure enough, there were the countenances of Egypt, and +the fixed filmy stare of eye. We continued looking at each other for a +minute at least, when the corporal, a villainous-looking fellow, at last +said, in the richest gypsy whine imaginable, “the erray know us, the poor +Caloré! And he an Englishman! Bullati! I should not have thought that +there was e’er a Busno would know us in these parts, where Gitanos are +never seen. Yes, your worship is right; we are all here of the blood of +the Caloré; we are from Melegrana (Granada), your worship; they took us +from thence and sent us to the wars. Your worship is right, the sight of +that horse made us believe we were at home again in the mercado of +Granada; he is a countryman of ours, a real Andalou. Por dios, your +worship, sell us that horse; we are poor Caloré, but we can buy him.” + +“You forget that you are soldiers,” said I. “How should you buy my +horse?” + +“We are soldiers, your worship,” said the corporal, “but we are still +Caloré; we buy and sell bestis; the captain of our troop is in league +with us. We have been to the wars, but not to fight; we left that to the +Busné. We have kept together, and like true Caloré, have stood back to +back. We have made money in the wars, your worship. _No tenga usted +cuidao_ (be under no apprehension). We can buy your horse.” + +Here he pulled out a purse, which contained at least ten ounces of gold. + +“If I were willing to sell,” I replied, “what would you give me for that +horse?” + +“Then your worship wishes to sell your horse—that alters the matter. We +will give ten dollars for your worship’s horse. He is good for nothing.” + +“How is this?” said I. “You this moment told me he was a fine horse—an +Andalusian, and a countryman of yours.” + +“No, Señor! we did not say that he was an Andalou. We said he was an +Estremou, and the worst of his kind. He is eighteen years old, your +worship, short-winded and galled.” + +“I do not wish to sell my horse,” said I; “quite the contrary; I had +rather buy than sell.” + +“Your worship does not wish to sell your horse,” said the Gypsy. “Stay, +your worship, we will give sixty dollars for your worship’s horse.” + +“I would not sell him for two hundred and sixty. Meclis! Meclis! say no +more. I know your Gypsy tricks. I will have no dealings with you.” + +“Did I not hear your worship say that you wished to buy a horse?” said +the Gypsy. + +“I do not want to buy a horse,” said I; “if I need any thing, it is a +pony to carry our baggage; but it is getting late. Antonio, pay the +reckoning.” + +“Stay, your worship, do not be in a hurry,” said the Gypsy: “I have got +the very pony which will suit you.” + +Without waiting for my answer, he hurried into the stable, from whence he +presently returned, leading an animal by a halter. It was a pony of +about thirteen hands high, of a dark red colour; it was very much galled +all over, the marks of ropes and thongs being visible on its hide. The +figure, however, was good, and there was an extraordinary brightness in +its eye. + +“There, your worship,” said the Gypsy; “there is the best pony in all +Spain.” + +“What do you mean by showing me this wretched creature?” said I. + +“This wretched creature,” said the Gypsy, “is a better horse than your +Andalou!” + +“Perhaps you would not exchange,” said I, smiling. + +“Señor, what I say is, that he shall run with your Andalou, and beat +him!” + +“He looks feeble,” said I; “his work is well nigh done.” + +“Feeble as he is, Señor, you could not manage him; no, nor any Englishman +in Spain.” + +I looked at the creature again, and was still more struck with its +figure. I was in need of a pony to relieve occasionally the horse of +Antonio in carrying the baggage which we had brought from Madrid, and +though the condition of this was wretched, I thought that by kind +treatment I might possibly soon bring him round. + +“May I mount this animal?” I demanded. + +“He is a baggage pony, Señor, and is ill to mount. He will suffer none +but myself to mount him, who am his master. When he once commences +running, nothing will stop him but the sea. He springs over hills and +mountains, and leaves them behind in a moment. If you will mount him, +Señor, suffer me to fetch a bridle, for you can never hold him in with +the halter.” + +“This is nonsense,” said I. “You pretend that he is spirited in order to +enhance the price. I tell you his work is done.” + +I took the halter in my hand and mounted. I was no sooner on his back +than the creature, who had before stood stone still, without displaying +the slightest inclination to move, and who in fact gave no farther +indication of existence than occasionally rolling his eyes and pricking +up an ear, sprang forward like a racehorse, at a most desperate gallop. +I had expected that he might kick or fling himself down on the ground, in +order to get rid of his burden, but for this escapade I was quite +unprepared. I had no difficulty, however, in keeping on his back, having +been accustomed from my childhood to ride without a saddle. To stop him, +however, baffled all my endeavours, and I almost began to pay credit to +the words of the Gypsy, who had said that he would run on until he +reached the sea. I had, however, a strong arm, and I tugged at the +halter until I compelled him to turn slightly his neck, which from its +stiffness might almost have been of wood; he, however, did not abate his +speed for a moment. On the left side of the road down which he was +dashing was a deep trench, just where the road took a turn towards the +right, and over this he sprang in a sideward direction; the halter broke +with the effort, the pony shot forward like an arrow, whilst I fell back +into the dust. + +“Señor!” said the Gypsy, coming up with the most serious countenance in +the world, “I told you not to mount that animal unless well bridled and +bitted. He is a baggage pony, and will suffer none to mount his back, +with the exception of myself who feed him.” (Here he whistled, and the +animal, who was scurring over the field, and occasionally kicking up his +heels, instantly returned with a gentle neigh.) “Now, your worship, see +how gentle he is. He is a capital baggage pony, and will carry all you +have over the hills of Galicia.” + +“What do you ask for him?” said I. + +“Señor, as your worship is an Englishman, and a good ginete, and, +moreover, understands the ways of the Caloré, and their tricks and their +language also, I will sell him to you a bargain. I will take two hundred +and sixty dollars for him and no less.” + +“That is a large sum,” said I. + +“No, Señor, not at all, considering that he is a baggage pony, and +belongs to the troop, and is not mine to sell.” + +Two hours’ ride brought us to Palencia, a fine old town, beautifully +situated on the Carrion, and famous for its trade in wool. We put up at +the best posada which the place afforded, and I forthwith proceeded to +visit one of the principal merchants of the town, to whom I was +recommended by my banker in Madrid. I was told, however, that he was +taking his siesta. “Then I had better take my own,” said I, and returned +to the posada. In the evening I went again, when I saw him. He was a +short bulky man about thirty, and received me at first with some degree +of bluntness; his manner, however, presently became more kind, and at +last he scarcely appeared to know how to show me sufficient civility. +His brother had just arrived from Santander, and to him he introduced me. +This last was a highly-intelligent person, and had passed many years of +his life in England. They both insisted upon showing me the town, and, +indeed, led me all over it, and about the neighbourhood. I particularly +admired the cathedral, a light, elegant, but ancient Gothic edifice. +Whilst we walked about the aisles, the evening sun, pouring its mellow +rays through the arched windows, illumined some beautiful paintings of +Murillo, with which the sacred edifice is adorned. From the church my +friends conducted me to a fulling mill in the neighbourhood, by a +picturesque walk. There was no lack either of trees or water, and I +remarked, that the environs of Palencia were amongst the most pleasant +places that I had ever seen. + +Tired at last with rambling, we repaired to a coffee-house, where they +regaled me with chocolate and sweet-meats. Such was their hospitality; +and of hospitality of this simple and agreeable kind there is much in +Spain. + +On the next day we pursued our journey, a dreary one, for the most part, +over bleak and barren plains, interspersed with silent and cheerless +towns and villages, which stood at the distance of two or three leagues +from each other. About midday we obtained a dim and distant view of an +immense range of mountains, which are in fact those which bound Castile +on the north. The day, however, became dim and obscure, and we speedily +lost sight of them. A hollow wind now arose and blew over these desolate +plains with violence, wafting clouds of dust into our faces; the rays of +the sun were few, and those red and angry. I was tired of my journey, +and when about four we reached ---, a large village, half way between +Palencia and Leon, I declared my intention of stopping for the night. I +scarcely ever saw a more desolate place than this same town or village of +---. The houses were for the most part large, but the walls were of mud, +like those of barns. We saw no person in the long winding street to +direct us to the venta, or posada, till at last, at the farther end of +the place, we descried two black figures standing at a door, of whom, on +making inquiry, we learned that the door at which they stood was that of +the house we were in quest of. There was something strange in the +appearance of these two beings, who seemed the genii of the place. One +was a small slim man, about fifty, with sharp, ill-natured features. He +was dressed in coarse black worsted stockings, black breeches, and an +ample black coat with long trailing skirts. I should at once have taken +him for an ecclesiastic, but for his hat, which had nothing clerical +about it, being a pinched diminutive beaver. His companion was of low +stature, and a much younger man. He was dressed in similar fashion, save +that he wore a dark blue cloak. Both carried walking sticks in their +hands, and kept hovering about the door, now within and now without, +occasionally looking up the road, as if they expected some one. + +“Trust me, mon maître,” said Antonio to me, in French, “those two fellows +are Carlist priests, and are awaiting the arrival of the Pretender. _Les +imbeciles_!” + +We conducted our horses to the stable, to which we were shown by the +woman of the house. “Who are those men?” said I to her. + +“The eldest is head curate to our pueblo,” said she; “the other is +brother to my husband. Pobrecito! he was a friar in our convent before +it was shut up and the brethren driven forth.” + +We returned to the door. “I suppose, gentlemen,” said the curate, “that +you are Catalans. Do you bring any news from that kingdom?” + +“Why do you suppose we are Catalans?” I demanded. + +“Because I heard you this moment conversing in that language.” + +“I bring no news from Catalonia,” said I. “I believe, however, that the +greater part of that principality is in the hands of the Carlists.” + +“Ahem, brother Pedro! This gentleman says that the greater part of +Catalonia is in the hands of the royalists. Pray, sir, where may Don +Carlos be at present with his army?” + +“He may be coming down the road this moment,” said I, “for what I know;” +and, stepping out, I looked up the way. + +The two figures were at my side in a moment; Antonio followed, and we all +four looked intently up the road. + +“Do you see anything?” said I at last to Antonio. + +“_Non_, _mon maitre_.” + +“Do you see anything, sir?” said I to the curate. + +“I see nothing,” said the curate, stretching out his neck. + +“I see nothing,” said Pedro, the ex-friar; “I see nothing but the dust, +which is becoming every moment more blinding.” + +“I shall go in, then,” said I. “Indeed, it is scarcely prudent to be +standing here looking out for the Pretender: should the nationals of the +town hear of it, they might perhaps shoot us.” + +“Ahem,” said the curate, following me; “there are no nationals in this +place: I would fain see what inhabitant would dare become a national. +When the inhabitants of this place were ordered to take up arms as +nationals, they refused to a man, and on that account we had to pay a +mulet; therefore, friend, you may speak out if you have anything to +communicate; we are all of your opinion here.” + +“I am of no opinion at all,” said I, “save that I want my supper. I am +neither for Rey nor Roque. You say that I am a Catalan, and you know +that Catalans think only of their own affairs.” + +In the evening I strolled by myself about the village, which I found +still more forlorn and melancholy than it at first appeared; perhaps, +however, it had been a place of consequence in its time. In one corner +of it I found the ruins of a large clumsy castle, chiefly built of flint +stones: into these ruins I attempted to penetrate, but the entrance was +secured by a gate. From the castle I found my way to the convent, a sad +desolate place, formerly the residence of mendicant brothers of the order +of St. Francis. I was about to return to the inn, when I heard a loud +buzz of voices, and, following the sound, presently reached a kind of +meadow, where, upon a small knoll, sat a priest in full canonicals, +reading in a loud voice a newspaper, while around him, either erect or +seated on the grass, were assembled about fifty vecinos, for the most +part dressed in long cloaks, amongst whom I discovered my two friends the +curate and friar. A fine knot of Carlist quid-nuncs, said I to myself, +and turned away to another part of the meadow, where the cattle of the +village were grazing. The curate, on observing me, detached himself +instantly from the group, and followed. “I am told you want a pony,” +said he; “there now is mine feeding amongst those horses, the best in all +the kingdom of Leon.” He then began with all the volubility of a chalan +to descant on the points of the animal. Presently the friar joined us, +who, observing his opportunity, pulled me by the sleeve and whispered, +“Have nothing to do with the curate, master, he is the greatest thief in +the neighbourhood; if you want a pony, my brother has a much better, +which he will dispose of cheaper.” “I shall wait till I arrive at Leon,” +I exclaimed, and walked away, musing on priestly friendship and +sincerity. + +From --- to Leon, a distance of eight leagues, the country rapidly +improved: we passed over several small streams, and occasionally found +ourselves amongst meadows in which grass was growing in the richest +luxuriance. The sun shone out brightly, and I hailed his re-appearance +with joy, though the heat of his beams was oppressive. On arriving +within two leagues of Leon, we passed numerous cars and waggons, and +bands of people with horses and mules, all hastening to the celebrated +fair which is held in the city on St. John’s or Mid-summer day, and which +took place within three days after our arrival. This fair, though +principally intended for the sale of horses, is frequented by merchants +from many parts of Spain, who attend with goods of various kinds, and +amongst them I remarked many of the Catalans whom I had previously seen +at Medina and Valladolid. + +There is nothing remarkable in Leon, which is an old gloomy town, with +the exception of its cathedral, in many respects a counterpart of the +church of Palencia, exhibiting the same light and elegant architecture, +but, unlike its beautiful sister, unadorned with splendid paintings. The +situation of Leon is highly pleasant, in the midst of a blooming country, +abounding with trees, and watered by many streams, which have their +source in the mighty mountains in the neighbourhood. It is, however, by +no means a healthy place, especially in summer, when the heats raise +noxious exhalations from the waters, generating many kinds of disorders, +especially fevers. + +I had scarcely been at Leon three days when I was seized with a fever, +against which I thought the strength even of my constitution would have +yielded, for it wore me almost to a skeleton, and when it departed, at +the end of about a week, left me in such a deplorable state of weakness +that I was scarcely able to make the slightest exertion. I had, however, +previously persuaded a bookseller to undertake the charge of vending the +Testaments, and had published my advertisements as usual, though without +very sanguine hope of success, as Leon is a place where the inhabitants, +with very few exceptions, are furious Carlists, and ignorant and blinded +followers of the old papal church. It is, moreover, a bishop’s see, +which was once enjoyed by the prime counsellor of Don Carlos, whose +fierce and bigoted spirit still seems to pervade the place. Scarcely had +the advertisements appeared, when the clergy were in motion. They went +from house to house, banning and cursing, and denouncing misery to +whomsoever should either purchase or read “the accursed books,” which had +been sent into the country by heretics for the purpose of perverting the +innocent minds of the population. They did more; they commenced a +process against the bookseller in the ecclesiastical court. Fortunately +this court is not at present in the possession of much authority; and the +bookseller, a bold and determined man, set them at defiance, and went so +far as to affix an advertisement to the gate of the very cathedral. +Notwithstanding the cry raised against the book, several copies were sold +at Leon: two were purchased by ex-friars, and the same number by +parochial priests from neighbouring villages. I believe the whole number +disposed of during my stay amounted to fifteen; so that my visit to this +dark corner was not altogether in vain, as the seed of the gospel has +been sown, though sparingly. But the palpable darkness which envelops +Leon is truly lamentable, and the ignorance of the people is so great, +that printed charms and incantations against Satan and his host, and +against every kind of misfortune, are publicly sold in the shops, and are +in great demand. Such are the results of Popery, a delusion which, more +than any other, has tended to debase and brutalize the human mind. + +I had scarcely risen from my bed where the fever had cast me, when I +found that Antonio had become alarmed. He informed me that he had seen +several soldiers in the uniform of Don Carlos lurking at the door of the +posada, and that they had been making inquiries concerning me. + +It was indeed a singular fact connected with Leon, that upwards of fifty +of these fellows, who had on various accounts left the ranks of the +Pretender, were walking about the streets dressed in his livery, and with +all the confidence which the certainty of protection from the local +authorities could afford them should any one be disposed to interrupt +them. + +I learned moreover from Antonio, that the person in whose house we were +living was a notorious “alcahuete,” or spy to the robbers in the +neighbourhood, and that unless we took our departure speedily and +unexpectedly, we should to a certainty be plundered on the road. I did +not pay much attention to these hints, but my desire to quit Leon was +great, as I was convinced that as long as I continued there I should be +unable to regain my health and vigour. + +Accordingly, at three in the morning, we departed for Galicia. We had +scarcely proceeded half a league when we were overtaken by a +thunder-storm of tremendous violence. We were at that time in the midst +of a wood which extends to some distance in the direction in which we +were going. The trees were bowed almost to the ground by the wind or +torn up by the roots, whilst the earth was ploughed up by the lightning, +which burst all around and nearly blinded us. The spirited Andalusian on +which I rode became furious, and bounded into the air as if possessed. +Owing to my state of weakness, I had the greatest difficulty in +maintaining my seat, and avoiding a fall which might have been fatal. A +tremendous discharge of rain followed the storm, which swelled the brooks +and streams and flooded the surrounding country, causing much damage +amongst the corn. After riding about five leagues, we began to enter the +mountainous district which surrounds Astorga: the heat now became almost +suffocating; swarms of flies began to make their appearance, and settling +down upon the horses, stung them almost to madness, whilst the road was +very flinty and trying. It was with great difficulty that we reached +Astorga, covered with mud and dust, our tongues cleaving to our palates +with thirst. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + + +Astorga—The Inn—The Maragatos—The Habits of the Maragatos—The Statue. + +We went to a posada in the suburbs, the only one, indeed, which the place +afforded. The courtyard was full of arrieros and carriers, brawling +loudly; the master of the house was fighting with two of his customers, +and universal confusion reigned around. As I dismounted I received the +contents of a wineglass in my face, of which greeting, as it was probably +intended for another, I took no notice. Antonio, however, was not so +patient, for on being struck with a cudgel, he instantly returned the +salute with his whip, scarifying the countenance of a carman. In my +endeavours to separate these two antagonists, my horse broke loose, and +rushing amongst the promiscuous crowd, overturned several individuals and +committed no little damage. It was a long time before peace was +restored: at last we were shown to a tolerably decent chamber. We had, +however, no sooner taken possession of it, than the waggon from Madrid +arrived on its way to Coruña, filled with dusty travellers, consisting of +women, children, invalid officers and the like. We were now forthwith +dislodged, and our baggage flung into the yard. On our complaining of +this treatment, we were told that we were two vagabonds whom nobody knew; +who had come without an arriero, and had already set the whole house in +confusion. As a great favour, however, we were at length permitted to +take up our abode in a ruinous building down the yard, adjoining the +stable, and filled with rats and vermin. Here there was an old bed with +a tester, and with this wretched accommodation we were glad to content +ourselves, for I could proceed no farther, and was burnt with fever. The +heat of the place was intolerable, and I sat on the staircase with my +head between my hands, gasping for breath: soon appeared Antonio with +vinegar and water, which I drank and felt relieved. + +We continued in this suburb three days, during the greatest part of which +time I was stretched on the tester bed. I once or twice contrived to +make my way into the town, but found no bookseller, nor any person +willing to undertake the charge of disposing of my Testaments. The +people were brutal, stupid, and uncivil, and I returned to my tester bed +fatigued and dispirited. Here I lay listening from time to time to the +sweet chimes which rang from the clock of the old cathedral. The master +of the house never came near me, nor indeed, once inquired about me. +Beneath the care of Antonio, however, I speedily waxed stronger. “_Mon +maître_,” said he to me one evening, “I see you are better; let us quit +this bad town and worse posada to-morrow morning. _Allons_, _mon +maitre_! _Il est temps de nous mettre en chemin pour Lugo et Galice_.” + +Before proceeding, however, to narrate what befell us in this journey to +Lugo and Galicia, it will perhaps not be amiss to say a few words +concerning Astorga and its vicinity. It is a walled town, containing +about five or six thousand inhabitants, with a cathedral and college, +which last is, however, at present deserted. It is situated on the +confines, and may be called the capital of a tract of land called the +country of the Maragatos, which occupies about three square leagues, and +has for its north-western boundary a mountain called Telleno, the +loftiest of a chain of hills which have their origin near the mouth of +the river Minho, and are connected with the immense range which +constitutes the frontier of the Asturias and Guipuscoa. + +The land is ungrateful and barren, and niggardly repays the toil of the +cultivator, being for the most part rocky, with a slight sprinkling of +red brick earth. + +The Maragatos are perhaps the most singular caste to be found amongst the +chequered population of Spain. They have their own peculiar customs and +dress, and never intermarry with the Spaniards. Their name is a clue to +their origin, as it signifies, “Moorish Goths,” and at the present day +their garb differs but little from that of the Moors of Barbary, as it +consists of a long tight jacket, secured at the waist by a broad girdle, +loose short trousers which terminate at the knee, and boots and gaiters. +Their heads are shaven, a slight fringe of hair being only left at the +lower part. If they wore the turban or barret, they could scarcely be +distinguished from the Moors in dress, but in lieu thereof they wear the +sombrero, or broad slouching hat of Spain. There can be little doubt +that they are a remnant of those Goths who sided with the Moors on their +invasion of Spain, and who adopted their religion, customs, and manner of +dress, which, with the exception of the first, are still to a +considerable degree retained by them. It is, however, evident that their +blood has at no time mingled with that of the wild children of the +desert, for scarcely amongst the hills of Norway would you find figures +and faces more essentially Gothic than those of the Maragatos. They are +strong athletic men, but loutish and heavy, and their features, though +for the most part well formed, are vacant and devoid of expression. They +are slow and plain of speech, and those eloquent and imaginative sallies +so common in the conversation of other Spaniards, seldom or never escape +them; they have, moreover, a coarse thick pronunciation, and when you +hear them speak, you almost imagine that it is some German or English +peasant attempting to express himself in the language of the Peninsula. +They are constitutionally phlegmatic, and it is very difficult to arouse +their anger; but they are dangerous and desperate when once incensed; and +a person who knew them well, told me that he would rather face ten +Valencians, people infamous for their ferocity and blood-thirstiness, +than confront one angry Maragato, sluggish and stupid though he be on +other occasions. + +The men scarcely ever occupy themselves in husbandry, which they abandon +to the women, who plough the flinty fields and gather in the scanty +harvests. Their husbands and sons are far differently employed: for they +are a nation of arrieros or carriers, and almost esteem it a disgrace to +follow any other profession. On every road of Spain, particularly those +north of the mountains which divide the two Castiles, may be seen gangs +of fives and sixes of these people lolling or sleeping beneath the +broiling sun, on gigantic and heavily laden mutes and mules. In a word, +almost the entire commerce of nearly one half of Spain passes through the +hands of the Maragatos, whose fidelity to their trust is such, that no +one accustomed to employ them would hesitate to confide to them the +transport of a ton of treasure from the sea of Biscay to Madrid; knowing +well that it would not be their fault were it not delivered safe and +undiminished, even of a grain, and that bold must be the thieves who +would seek to wrest it from the far feared Maragatos, who would cling to +it whilst they could stand, and would cover it with their bodies when +they fell in the act of loading or discharging their long carbines. + +But they are far from being disinterested, and if they are the most +trustworthy of all the arrieros of Spain, they in general demand for the +transport of articles a sum at least double to what others of the trade +would esteem a reasonable recompense: by this means they accumulate large +sums of money, notwithstanding that they indulge themselves in far +superior fare to that which contents in general the parsimonious +Spaniard;—another argument in favour of their pure Gothic descent; for +the Maragatos, like true men of the north, delight in swilling liquors +and battening upon gross and luscious meats, which help to swell out +their tall and goodly figures. Many of them have died possessed of +considerable riches, part of which they have not unfrequently bequeathed +to the erection or embellishment of religious houses. + +On the east end of the cathedral of Astorga, which towers over the lofty +and precipitous wall, a colossal figure of lead may be seen on the roof. +It is the statue of a Maragato carrier who endowed the cathedral with a +large sum. He is in his national dress, but his head is averted from the +lands of his fathers, and whilst he waves in his hand a species of flag, +he seems to be summoning his race from their unfruitful region to other +climes, where a richer field is open to their industry and enterprise. + +I spoke to several of these men respecting the all-important subject of +religion; but I found “their hearts gross, and their ears dull of +hearing, and their eyes closed.” There was one in particular to whom I +showed the New Testament, and whom I addressed for a considerable time. +He listened or seemed to listen patiently, taking occasionally copious +draughts from an immense jug of whitish wine which stood between his +knees. After I had concluded he said, “To-morrow I set out for Lugo, +whither, I am told, yourself are going. If you wish to send your chest, +I have no objection to take it at so much (naming an extravagant price). +As for what you have told me, I understand little of it, and believe not +a word of it; but in respect to the books which you have shown me, I will +take three or four. I shall not read them, it is true, but I have no +doubt that I can sell them at a higher price than you demand.” + +So much for the Maragatos. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + + +Departure from Astorga—The Venta—The By-path—Narrow Escape—The Cup of +Water—Sun and Shade—Bembibre—Convent of the +Rocks—Sunset—Cacabelos—Midnight Adventure—Villafrancs. + +It was four o’clock of a beautiful morning when we sallied from Astorga, +or rather from its suburbs, in which we had been lodged: we directed our +course to the north, in the direction of Galicia. Leaving the mountain +Telleno on our left, we passed along the eastern skirts of the land of +the Maragatos, over broken uneven ground, enlivened here and there by +small green valleys and runnels of water. Several of the Maragatan +women, mounted on donkeys, passed us on their way to Astorga, whither +they were carrying vegetables. We saw others in the fields handling +their rude ploughs, drawn by lean oxen. We likewise passed through a +small village, in which we, however, saw no living soul. Near this +village we entered the high road which leads direct from Madrid to +Coruña, and at last, having travelled near four leagues, we came to a +species of pass, formed on our left by a huge lumpish hill (one of those +which descend from the great mountain Telleno), and on our right by one +of much less altitude. In the middle of this pass, which was of +considerable breadth, a noble view opened itself to us. Before us, at +the distance of about a league and a half, rose the mighty frontier +chain, of which I have spoken before; its blue sides and broken and +picturesque peaks still wearing a thin veil of the morning mist, which +the fierce rays of the sun were fast dispelling. It seemed an enormous +barrier, threatening to oppose our farther progress, and it reminded me +of the fables respecting the children of Magog, who are said to reside in +remotest Tartary, behind a gigantic wall of rocks, which can only be +passed by a gate of steel a thousand cubits in height. + +We shortly after arrived at Manzanal, a village consisting of wretched +huts, and exhibiting every sign of poverty and misery. It was now time +to refresh ourselves and horses, and we accordingly put up at a venta, +the last habitation in the village, where, though we found barley for the +animals, we had much difficulty in procuring anything for ourselves. I +was at length fortunate enough to obtain a large jug of milk, for there +were plenty of cows in the neighbourhood, feeding in a picturesque valley +which we had passed by, where was abundance of grass, and trees, and a +rivulet broken by tiny cascades. The jug might contain about half a +gallon, but I emptied it in a few minutes, for the thirst of fever was +still burning within me, though I was destitute of appetite. The venta +had something the appearance of a German baiting-house. It consisted of +an immense stable, from which was partitioned a kind of kitchen and a +place where the family slept. The master, a robust young man, lolled on +a large solid stone bench, which stood within the door. He was very +inquisitive respecting news, but I could afford him none; whereupon he +became communicative, and gave me the history of his life, the sum of +which was, that he had been a courier in the Basque provinces, but about +a year since had been dispatched to this village, where he kept the +post-house. He was an enthusiastic liberal, and spoke in bitter terms of +the surrounding population, who, he said, were all Carlists and friends +of the friars. I paid little attention to his discourse, for I was +looking at a Maragato lad of about fourteen, who served in the house as a +kind of ostler. I asked the master if we were still in the land of the +Maragatos; but he told me that we had left it behind nearly a league, and +that the lad was an orphan and was serving until he could rake up a +sufficient capital to become an arriero. I addressed several questions +to the boy, but the urchin looked sullenly in my face, and either +answered by monosyllables or was doggedly silent. I asked him if he +could read. “Yes,” said he, “as much as that brute of yours who is +tearing down the manger.” + +Quitting Manzanal, we continued our course. We soon arrived at the verge +of a deep valley amongst mountains, not those of the chain which we had +seen before us, and which we now left to the right, but those of the +Telleno range, just before they unite with that chain. Round the sides +of this valley, which exhibited something of the appearance of a +horse-shoe, wound the road in a circuitous manner; just before us, +however, and diverging from the road, lay a footpath which seemed, by a +gradual descent, to lead across the valley, and to rejoin the road on the +other side, at the distance of about a furlong; and into this we struck +in order to avoid the circuit. + +We had not gone far before we met two Galicians, on their way to cut the +harvests of Castile. One of them shouted, “Cavalier, turn back: in a +moment you will be amongst precipices, where your horses will break their +necks, for we ourselves could scarcely climb them on foot.” The other +cried, “Cavalier, proceed, but be careful, and your horses, if +sure-footed, will run no great danger: my comrade is a fool.” A violent +dispute instantly ensued between the two mountaineers, each supporting +his opinion with loud oaths and curses; but without stopping to see the +result, I passed on, but the path was now filled with stones and huge +slaty rocks, on which my horse was continually slipping. I likewise +heard the sound of water in a deep gorge, which I had hitherto not +perceived, and I soon saw that it would be worse than madness to proceed. +I turned my horse, and was hastening to regain the path which I had left, +when Antonio, my faithful Greek, pointed out to me a meadow by which, he +said, we might regain the high road much lower down than if we returned +on our steps. The meadow was brilliant with short green grass, and in +the middle there was a small rivulet of water. I spurred my horse on, +expecting to be in the high road in a moment; the horse, however, snorted +and stared wildly, and was evidently unwilling to cross the seemingly +inviting spot. I thought that the scent of a wolf, or some other wild +animal might have disturbed him, but was soon undeceived by his sinking +up to the knees in a bog. The animal uttered a shrill sharp neigh, and +exhibited every sign of the greatest terror, making at the same time +great efforts to extricate himself, and plunging forward, but every +moment sinking deeper. At last he arrived where a small vein of rock +showed itself: on this he placed his fore feet, and with one tremendous +exertion freed himself, from the deceitful soil, springing over the +rivulet and alighting on comparatively firm ground, where he stood +panting, his heaving sides covered with a foamy sweat. Antonio, who had +observed the whole scene, afraid to venture forward, returned by the path +by which we came, and shortly afterwards rejoined me. This adventure +brought to my recollection the meadow with its footpath which tempted +Christian from the straight road to heaven, and finally conducted him to +the dominions of the giant Despair. + +We now began to descend the valley by a broad and excellent carretera or +carriage road, which was cut out of the steep side of the mountain on our +right. On our left was the gorge, down which tumbled the runnel of water +which I have before mentioned. The road was tortuous, and at every turn +the scene became more picturesque. The gorge gradually widened, and the +brook at its bottom, fed by a multitude of springs, increased in volume +and in sound, but it was soon far beneath us, pursuing its headlong +course till it reached level ground, where it flowed in the midst of a +beautiful but confined prairie. There was something sylvan and savage in +the mountains on the farther side, clad from foot to pinnacle with trees, +so closely growing that the eye was unable to obtain a glimpse of the +hill sides, which were uneven with ravines and gulleys, the haunts of the +wolf, the wild boar, and the corso, or mountain-stag; the latter of +which, as I was informed by a peasant who was driving a car of oxen, +frequently descended to feed in the prairie, and were there shot for the +sake of their skins, for their flesh, being strong and disagreeable, is +held in no account. + +But notwithstanding the wildness of these regions, the handiworks of man +were visible. The sides of the gorge, though precipitous, were yellow +with little fields of barley, and we saw a hamlet and church down in the +prairie below, whilst merry songs ascended to our ears from where the +mowers were toiling with their scythes, cutting the luxuriant and +abundant grass. I could scarcely believe that I was in Spain, in general +so brown, so arid and cheerless, and I almost fancied myself in Greece, +in that land of ancient glory, whose mountain and forest scenery +Theocritus has so well described. + +At the bottom of the valley we entered a small village, washed by the +brook, which had now swelled almost to a stream. A more romantic +situation I had never witnessed. It was surrounded, and almost overhung +by mountains, and embowered in trees of various kinds; waters sounded, +nightingales sang, and the cuckoo’s full note boomed from the distant +branches, but the village was miserable. The huts were built of slate +stones, of which the neighbouring hills seemed to be principally +composed, and roofed with the same, but not in the neat tidy manner of +English houses, for the slates were of all sizes, and seemed to be flung +on in confusion. We were spent with heat and thirst, and sitting down on +a stone bench, I entreated a woman to give me a little water. The woman +said she would, but added that she expected to be paid for it. Antonio, +on hearing this, became highly incensed, and speaking Greek, Turkish, and +Spanish, invoked the vengeance of the Panhagia on the heartless woman, +saying, “If I were to offer a Mahometan gold for a draught of water he +would dash it in my face; and you are a Catholic, with the stream running +at your door.” I told him to be silent, and giving the woman two +cuartos, repeated my request, whereupon she took a pitcher, and going to +the stream filled it with water. It tasted muddy and disagreeable, but +it drowned the fever which was devouring me. + +We again remounted and proceeded on our way, which, for a considerable +distance, lay along the margin of the stream, which now fell in small +cataracts, now brawled over stones, and at other times ran dark and +silent through deep pools overhung with tall willows,—pools which seemed +to abound with the finny tribe, for large trout frequently sprang from +the water, catching the brilliant fly which skimmed along its deceitful +surface. The scene was delightful. The sun was rolling high in the +firmament, casting from its orb of fire the most glorious rays, so that +the atmosphere was flickering with their splendour, but their fierceness +was either warded off by the shadow of the trees or rendered innocuous by +the refreshing coolness which rose from the waters, or by the gentle +breezes which murmured at intervals over the meadows, “fanning the cheek +or raising the hair” of the wanderer. The hills gradually receded, till +at last we entered a plain where tall grass was waving, and mighty +chestnut trees, in full blossom, spread out their giant and umbrageous +boughs. Beneath many stood cars, the tired oxen prostrate on the ground, +the crossbar of the poll which they support pressing heavily on their +heads, whilst their drivers were either employed in cooking, or were +enjoying a delicious siesta in the grass and shade. I went up to one of +the largest of these groups and demanded of the individuals whether they +were in need of the Testament of Jesus Christ. They stared at one +another, and then at me, till at last a young man, who was dangling a +long gun in his hands as he reclined, demanded of me what it was, at the +same time inquiring whether I was a Catalan, “for you speak hoarse,” said +he, “and are tall and fair like that family.” I sat down amongst them +and said that I was no Catalan, but that I came from a spot in the +Western Sea, many leagues distant, to sell that book at half the price it +cost; and that their souls’ welfare depended on their being acquainted +with it. I then explained to them the nature of the New Testament, and +read to them the parable of the Sower. They stared at each other again, +but said that they were poor, and could not buy books. I rose, mounted, +and was going away, saying to them: “Peace bide with you.” Whereupon the +young man with the gun rose, and saying, “_Caspita_! this is odd,” +snatched the book from my hand and gave me the price I had demanded. + +Perhaps the whole world might be searched in vain for a spot whose +natural charms could rival those of this plain or valley of Bembibre, as +it is called, with its wall of mighty mountains, its spreading chestnut +trees, and its groves of oaks and willows, which clothe the banks of its +stream, a tributary to the Minho. True it is, that when I passed through +it, the candle of heaven was blazing in full splendour, and everything +lighted by its rays looked gay, glad, and blessed. Whether it would have +filled me with the same feelings of admiration if viewed beneath another +sky, I will not pretend to determine; but it certainly possesses +advantages which at no time could fail to delight, for it exhibits all +the peaceful beauties of an English landscape blended with something wild +and grand, and I thought within myself that he must be a restless +dissatisfied man, who, born amongst those scenes, would wish to quit +them. At the time I would have desired no better fate than that of a +shepherd on the prairies, or a hunter in the hills of Bembibre. + +Three hours passed away and we were in another situation. We had halted +and refreshed ourselves and horses at Bembibre, a village of mud and +slate, and which possessed little to attract attention: we were now +ascending, for the road was over one of the extreme ledges of those +frontier hills which I have before so often mentioned; but the aspect of +heaven had blackened, clouds were rolling rapidly from the west over the +mountains, and a cold wind was moaning dismally. “There is a storm +travelling through the air,” said a peasant, whom we overtook, mounted on +a wretched mule; “and the Asturians had better be on the lookout, for it +is speeding in their direction.” He had scarce spoken, when a light, so +vivid and dazzling that it seemed as if the whole lustre of the fiery +element were concentrated in it, broke around us, filling the whole +atmosphere, and covering rock, tree and mountain with a glare not to be +described. The mule of the peasant tumbled prostrate, while the horse I +rode reared himself perpendicularly, and turning round, dashed down the +hill at headlong speed, which for some time it was impossible to cheek. +The lightning was followed by a peal almost as terrible, but distant, for +it sounded hollow and deep; the hills, however, caught up its voice, +seemingly repeating it from summit to summit, till it was lost in +interminable space. Other flashes and peals succeeded, but slight in +comparison, and a few drops of rain descended. The body of the tempest +seemed to be over another region. “A hundred families are weeping where +that bolt fell,” said the peasant when I rejoined him, “for its blaze has +blinded my mule at six leagues’ distance.” He was leading the animal by +the bridle, as its sight was evidently affected. “Were the friars still +in their nest above there,” he continued, “I should say that this was +their doing, for they are the cause of all the miseries of the land.” + +I raised my eyes in the direction in which he pointed. Half way up the +mountain, over whose foot we were wending, jutted forth a black frightful +crag, which at an immense altitude overhung the road, and seemed to +threaten destruction. It resembled one of those ledges of the rocky +mountains in the picture of the Deluge, up to which the terrified +fugitives have scrambled from the eager pursuit of the savage and +tremendous billows, and from whence they gaze down in horror, whilst +above them rise still higher and giddier heights, to which they seem +unable to climb. Built on the very edge of this crag, stood an edifice, +seemingly devoted to the purposes of religion, as I could discern the +spire of a church rearing itself high over wall and roof. “That is the +house of the Virgin of the Rocks,” said the peasant, “and it was lately +full of friars, but they have been thrust out, and the only inmates now +are owls and ravens.” I replied, that their life in such a bleak exposed +abode could not have been very enviable, as in winter they must have +incurred great risk of perishing with cold. “By no means,” said he; +“they had the best of wood for their braseros and chimneys, and the best +of wine to warm them at their meals, which were not the most sparing. +Moreover, they had another convent down in the vale yonder, to which they +could retire at their pleasure.” On my asking him the reason of his +antipathy to the friars, he replied, that he had been their vassal, and +that they had deprived him every year of the flower of what he possessed. +Discoursing in this manner, we reached a village just below the convent, +where he left me, having first pointed out to me a house of stone, with +an image over the door, which, he said, once also belonged to the canalla +(_rabble_) above. + +The sun was setting fast, and eager to reach Villafranca, where I had +determined on resting, and which was still distant three leagues and a +half, I made no halt at this place. The road was now down a rapid and +crooked descent, which terminated in a valley, at the bottom of which was +a long and narrow bridge; beneath it rolled a river, descending from a +wide pass between two mountains, for the chain was here cleft, probably +by some convulsion of nature. I looked up the pass, and on the hills on +both sides. Far above, on my right, but standing forth bold and clear, +and catching the last rays of the sun, was the Convent of the Precipices, +whilst directly over against it, on the farther side of the valley, rose +the perpendicular side of the rival hill, which, to a considerable extent +intercepting the light, flung its black shadow over the upper end of the +pass, involving it in mysterious darkness. Emerging from the centre of +this gloom, with thundering sound, dashed a river, white with foam, and +bearing along with it huge stones and branches of trees, for it was the +wild Sil hurrying to the ocean from its cradle in the heart of the +Asturian hills, and probably swollen by the recent rains. + +Hours again passed away. It was now night, and we were in the midst of +woodlands, feeling our way, for the darkness was so great that I could +scarcely see the length of a yard before my horse’s head. The animal +seemed uneasy, and would frequently stop short, prick up his ears, and +utter a low mournful whine. Flashes of sheet lightning frequently +illumined the black sky, and flung a momentary glare over our path. No +sound interrupted the stillness of the night, except the slow tramp of +the horses’ hoofs, and occasionally the croaking of frogs from some pool +or morass. I now bethought me that I was in Spain, the chosen land of +the two fiends, assassination and plunder, and how easily two tired and +unarmed wanderers might become their victims. + +We at last cleared the woodlands, and after proceeding a short distance, +the horse gave a joyous neigh, and broke into a smart trot. A barking of +dogs speedily reached my ears, and we seemed to be approaching some town +or village. In effect we were close to Cacabelos, a town about five +miles distant from Villafranca. + +It was near eleven at night, and I reflected that it would be far more +expedient to tarry in this place till the morning than to attempt at +present to reach Villafranca, exposing ourselves to all the horrors of +darkness in a lonely and unknown road. My mind was soon made up on this +point; but I reckoned without my host, for at the first posada which I +attempted to enter, I was told that we could not be accommodated, and +still less our horses, as the stable was full of water. At the second, +and there were but two, I was answered from the window by a gruff voice, +nearly in the words of the Scripture: “Trouble me not; the door is now +shut, and my children are with me in bed; I cannot arise to let you in.” +Indeed, we had no particular desire to enter, as it appeared a wretched +hovel, though the poor horses pawed piteously against the door, and +seemed to crave admittance. + +We had now no choice but to resume our doleful way to Villafranca, which, +we were told, was a short league distant, though it proved a league and a +half. We found it no easy matter to quit the town, for we were +bewildered amongst its labyrinths, and could not find the outlet. A lad +about eighteen was, however, persuaded, by the promise of a peseta, to +guide us: whereupon he led us by many turnings to a bridge, which he told +us to cross, and to follow the road, which was that of Villafranca; he +then, having received his fee, hastened from us. + +We followed his directions, not, however, without a suspicion that he +might be deceiving us. The night had settled darker down upon us, so +that it was impossible to distinguish any object, however nigh. The +lightning had become more faint and rare. We heard the rustling of +trees, and occasionally the barking of dogs, which last sound, however, +soon ceased, and we were in the midst of night and silence. My horse, +either from weariness, or the badness of the road, frequently stumbled; +whereupon I dismounted, and leading him by the bridle, soon left Antonio +far in the rear. + +I had proceeded in this manner a considerable way, when a circumstance +occurred of a character well suited to the time and place. + +I was again amidst trees and bushes, when the horse stopping short, +nearly pulled me back. I know not how it was, but fear suddenly came +over me, which, though in darkness and in solitude, I had not felt +before. I was about to urge the animal forward, when I heard a noise at +my right hand, and listened attentively. It seemed to be that of a +person or persons forcing their way through branches and brushwood. It +soon ceased, and I heard feet on the road. It was the short staggering +kind of tread of people carrying a very heavy substance, nearly too much +for their strength, and I thought I heard the hurried breathing of men +over-fatigued. There was a short pause, during which I conceived they +were resting in the middle of the road; then the stamping recommenced, +until it reached the other side, when I again heard a similar rustling +amidst branches; it continued for some time and died gradually away. + +I continued my road, musing on what had just occurred, and forming +conjectures as to the cause. The lightning resumed its flashing, and I +saw that I was approaching tall black mountains. + +This nocturnal journey endured so long that I almost lost all hope of +reaching the town, and had closed my eyes in a doze, though I still +trudged on mechanically, leading the horse. Suddenly a voice at a slight +distance before me roared out, “_Quien vive_?” for I had at last found my +way to Villafranca. It proceeded from the sentry in the suburb, one of +those singular half soldiers half guerillas, called Miguelets, who are in +general employed by the Spanish government to clear the roads of robbers. +I gave the usual answer, “_Espana_,” and went up to the place where he +stood. After a little conversation, I sat down on a stone, awaiting the +arrival of Antonio, who was long in making his appearance. On his +arrival, I asked if any one had passed him on the road, but he replied +that he had seen nothing. The night, or rather the morning, was still +very dark, though a small corner of the moon was occasionally visible. +On our inquiring the way to the gate, the Miguelet directed us down a +street to the left, which we followed. The street was steep, we could +see no gate, and our progress was soon stopped by houses and wall. We +knocked at the gates of two or three of these houses (in the upper +stories of which lights were burning), for the purpose of being set +right, but we were either disregarded or not heard. A horrid squalling +of cats, from the tops of the houses and dark corners, saluted our ears, +and I thought of the night arrival of Don Quixote and his squire at +Toboso, and their vain search amongst the deserted streets for the palace +of Dulcinea. At length we saw light and heard voices in a cottage at the +other side of a kind of ditch. Leading the horses over, we called at the +door, which was opened by an aged man, who appeared by his dress to be a +baker, as indeed he proved, which accounted for his being up at so late +an hour. On begging him to show us the way into the town, he led us up a +very narrow alley at the end of his cottage, saying that he would +likewise conduct us to the posada. + +The alley led directly to what appeared to be the market-place, at a +corner house of which our guide stopped and knocked. After a long pause +an upper window was opened, and a female voice demanded who we were. The +old man replied, that two travellers had arrived who were in need of +lodging. “I cannot be disturbed at this time of night,” said the woman; +“they will be wanting supper, and there is nothing in the house; they +must go elsewhere.” She was going to shut the window, but I cried that +we wanted no supper, but merely resting place for ourselves and +horses—that we had come that day from Astorga, and were dying with +fatigue. “Who is that speaking?” cried the woman. “Surely that is the +voice of Gil, the German clock-maker from Pontevedra. Welcome, old +companion; you are come at the right time, for my own is out of order. I +am sorry I have kept you waiting, but I will admit you in a moment.” + +The window was slammed to, presently a light shone through the crevices +of the door, a key turned in the lock, and we were admitted. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + +Villafranca—The Pass—Gallegan Simplicity—The Frontier Guard—The +Horse-shoe—Gallegan Peculiarities—A Word on Language—The Courier—Wretched +Cabins—Host and Guests—Andalusians. + +“Ave Maria,” said the woman; “whom have we here? This is not Gil the +clock-maker.” “Whether it be Gil or Juan,” said I, “we are in need of +your hospitality, and can pay for it.” Our first care was to stable the +horses, who were much exhausted. We then went in search of some +accommodation for ourselves. The house was large and commodious, and +having tasted a little water, I stretched myself on the floor of one of +the rooms on some mattresses which the woman produced, and in less than a +minute was sound asleep. + +The sun was shining bright when I awoke. I walked forth into the +market-place, which was crowded with people, I looked up, and could see +the peaks of tall black mountains peeping over the tops of the houses. +The town lay in a deep hollow, and appeared to be surrounded by hills on +almost every side. “_Quel pays barbare_!” said Antonio, who now joined +me; “the farther we go, my master, the wilder everything looks. I am +half afraid to venture into Galicia; they tell me that to get to it we +must clamber up those hills: the horses will founder.” Leaving the +market-place I ascended the wall of the town, and endeavoured to discover +the gate by which we should have entered the preceding night; but I was +not more successful in the bright sunshine than in the darkness. The +town in the direction of Astorga appeared to be hermetically sealed. + +I was eager to enter Galicia, and finding that the horses were to a +certain extent recovered from the fatigue of the journey of the preceding +day, we again mounted and proceeded on our way. Crossing a bridge, we +presently found ourselves in a deep gorge amongst the mountains, down +which rushed an impetuous rivulet, overhung by the high road which leads +into Galicia. We were in the far-famed pass of Fuencebadon. + +It is impossible to describe this pass or the circumjacent region, which +contains some of the most extraordinary scenery in all Spain; a feeble +and imperfect outline is all that I can hope to effect. The traveller +who ascends it follows for nearly a league the course of the torrent, +whose banks are in some places precipitous, and in others slope down to +the waters, and are covered with lofty trees, oaks, poplars, and +chestnuts. Small villages are at first continually seen, with low walls, +and roofs formed of immense slates, the eaves nearly touching the ground; +these hamlets, however, gradually become less frequent as the path grows +more steep and narrow, until they finally cease at a short distance +before the spot is attained where the rivulet is abandoned, and is no +more seen, though its tributaries may yet be heard in many a gully, or +descried in tiny rills dashing down the steeps. Everything here is wild, +strange, and beautiful: the hill up which winds the path towers above on +the right, whilst on the farther side of a profound ravine rises an +immense mountain, to whose extreme altitudes the eye is scarcely able to +attain; but the most singular feature of this pass are the hanging fields +or meadows which cover its sides. In these, as I passed, the grass was +growing luxuriantly, and in many the mowers were plying their scythes, +though it seemed scarcely possible that their feet could find support on +ground so precipitous: above and below were drift-ways, so small as to +seem threads along the mountain side. A car, drawn by oxen, is creeping +round yon airy eminence; the nearer wheel is actually hanging over the +horrid descent; giddiness seizes the brain, and the eye is rapidly +withdrawn. A cloud intervenes, and when again you turn to watch their +progress, the objects of your anxiety have disappeared. Still more +narrow becomes the path along which you yourself are toiling, and its +turns more frequent. You have already come a distance of two leagues, +and still one-third of the ascent remains unsurmounted. You are not yet +in Galicia; and you still hear Castilian, coarse and unpolished, it is +true, spoken in the miserable cabins placed in the sequestered nooks +which you pass by in your route. + +Shortly before we reached the summit of the pass thick mists began to +envelop the tops of the hills, and a drizzling rain descended. “These +mists,” said Antonio, “are what the Gallegans call bretima; and it is +said there is never any lack of them in their country.” “Have you ever +visited the country before?” I demanded. “Non, mon maître; but I have +frequently lived in houses where the domestics were in part Gallegans, on +which account I know not a little of their ways, and even something of +their language.” “Is the opinion which you have formed of them at all in +their favour?” I inquired. “By no means, mon maître; the men in general +seem clownish and simple, yet they are capable of deceiving the most +clever filou of Paris; and as for the women, it is impossible to live in +the same house with them, more especially if they are Camareras, and wait +upon the Señora; they are continually breeding dissensions and disputes +in the house, and telling tales of the other domestics. I have already +lost two or three excellent situations in Madrid, solely owing to these +Gallegan chambermaids. We have now come to the frontier, mon maître, for +such I conceive this village to be.” + +We entered the village, which stood on the summit of the mountain, and as +our horses and ourselves were by this time much fatigued, we looked round +for a place in which to obtain refreshment. Close by the gate stood a +building which, from the circumstance of a mule or two and a wretched +pony standing before it, we concluded was the posada, as in effect it +proved to be. We entered: several soldiers were lolling on heaps of +coarse hay, with which the place, which much resembled a stable, was half +filled. All were exceedingly ill-looking fellows, and very dirty. They +were conversing with each other in a strange-sounding dialect, which I +supposed to be Gallegan. Scarcely did they perceive us when two or three +of them, starting from their couch, ran up to Antonio, whom they welcomed +with much affection, calling him _companheiro_. “How came you to know +these men?” I demanded in French. “_Ces messieurs sont presque tous de +ma connoissance_,” he replied, “_et_, _entre nous_, _ce sont des +veritables vauriens_; they are almost all robbers and assassins. That +fellow, with one eye, who is the corporal, escaped a little time ago from +Madrid, more than suspected of being concerned in an affair of poisoning; +but he is safe enough here in his own country, and is placed to guard the +frontier, as you see; but we must treat them civilly, mon maître; we must +give them wine, or they will be offended. I know them, mon maître—I know +them. Here, hostess, bring an azumbre of wine.” + +Whilst Antonio was engaged in treating his friends, I led the horses to +the stable; this was through the house, inn, or whatever it might be +called. The stable was a wretched shed, in which the horses sank to +their fetlocks in mud and puddle. On inquiring for barley, I was told +that I was now in Galicia, where barley was not used for provender, and +was very rare. I was offered in lieu of it Indian corn, which, however, +the horses ate without hesitation. There was no straw to be had; coarse +hay, half green, being the substitute. By trampling about in the mud of +the stable my horse soon lost a shoe, for which I searched in vain. “Is +there a blacksmith in the village?” I demanded of a shock-headed fellow +who officiated as ostler. + +_Ostler_.—Si, Senhor; but I suppose you have brought horse-shoes with +you, or that large beast of yours cannot be shod in this village. + +_Myself_.—What do you mean? Is the blacksmith unequal to his trade? +Cannot he put on a horse-shoe? + +_Ostler_.—Si, Senhor; he can put on a horse-shoe if you give it him; but +there are no horse-shoes in Galicia, at least in these parts. + +_Myself_.—Is it not customary then to shoe the horses in Galicia? + +_Ostler_.—Senhor, there are no horses in Galicia, there are only ponies; +and those who bring horses to Galicia, and none but madmen ever do, must +bring shoes to fit them; only shoes of ponies are to be found here. + +_Myself_.—What do you mean by saying that only madmen bring horses to +Galicia? + +_Ostler_.—Senhor, no horse can stand the food of Galicia and the +mountains of Galicia long, without falling sick; and then if he does not +die at once, he will cost you in farriers more than he is worth; besides, +a horse is of no use here, and cannot perform amongst the broken ground +the tenth part of the service which a little pony mare can. By the by, +Senhor, I perceive that yours is an entire horse; now out of twenty +ponies that you see on the roads of Galicia, nineteen are mares; the +males are sent down into Castile to be sold. Senhor, your horse will +become heated on our roads, and will catch the bad glanders, for which +there is no remedy. Senhor, a man must be mad to bring any horse to +Galicia, but twice mad to bring an entero, as you have done. + +“A strange country this of Galicia,” said I, and went to consult with +Antonio. + +It appeared that the information of the ostler was literally true with +regard to the horse-shoe; at least the blacksmith of the village, to whom +we conducted the animal, confessed his inability to shoe him, having none +that would fit his hoof: he said it was very probable that we should be +obliged to lead the animal to Lugo, which, being a cavalry station, we +might perhaps find there what we wanted. He added, however, that the +greatest part of the cavalry soldiers were mounted on the ponies of the +country, the mortality amongst the horses brought from the level ground +into Galicia being frightful. Lugo was ten leagues distant: there +seemed, however, to be no remedy at hand but patience, and, having +refreshed ourselves, we proceeded, leading our horses by the bridle. + +We were now on level ground, being upon the very top of one of the +highest mountains in Galicia. This level continued for about a league, +when we began to descend. Before we had crossed the plain, which was +overgrown with furze and brushwood, we came suddenly upon half a dozen +fellows armed with muskets and wearing a tattered uniform. We at first +supposed them to be banditti: they were, however, only a party of +soldiers who had been detached from the station we had just quitted to +escort one of the provincial posts or couriers. They were clamorous for +cigars, but offered us no farther incivility. Having no cigars to +bestow, I gave them in lieu thereof a small piece of silver. Two of the +worst looking were very eager to be permitted to escort us to Nogales, +the village where we proposed to spend the night. “By no means permit +them, mon maître,” said Antonio, “they are two famous assassins of my +acquaintance; I have known them at Madrid: in the first ravine they will +shoot and plunder us.” I therefore civilly declined their offer and +departed. “You seem to be acquainted with all the cut-throats in +Galicia,” said I to Antonio, as we descended the hill. + +“With respect to those two fellows,” he replied, “I knew them when I +lived as cook in the family of General Q---, who is a Gallegan: they were +sworn friends of the repostero. All the Gallegans in Madrid know each +other, whether high or low makes no difference; there, at least, they are +all good friends, and assist each other on all imaginable occasions; and +if there be a Gallegan domestic in a house, the kitchen is sure to be +filled with his countrymen, as the cook frequently knows to his cost, for +they generally contrive to eat up any little perquisites which he may +have reserved for himself and family.” + +Somewhat less than half way down the mountain we reached a small village. +On observing a blacksmith’s shop, we stopped, in the faint hope of +finding a shoe for the horse, who, for want of one, was rapidly becoming +lame. To our great joy we found that the smith was in possession of one +single horse-shoe, which some time previously he had found upon the way. +This, after undergoing much hammering and alteration, was pronounced by +the Gallegan vulcan to be capable of serving in lieu of a better; +whereupon we again mounted, and slowly continued our descent. + +Shortly ere sunset we arrived at Nogales, a hamlet situate in a narrow +valley at the foot of the mountain, in traversing which we had spent the +day. Nothing could be more picturesque than the appearance of this spot: +steep hills, thickly clad with groves and forests of chestnuts, +surrounded it on every side; the village itself was almost embowered in +trees, and close beside it ran a purling brook. Here we found a +tolerably large and commodious posada. + +I was languid and fatigued, but felt little desire to sleep. Antonio +cooked our supper, or rather his own, for I had no appetite. I sat by +the door, gazing on the wood-covered heights above me, or on the waters +of the rivulet, occasionally listening to the people who lounged about +the house, conversing in the country dialect. What a strange tongue is +the Gallegan, with its half singing half whining accent, and with its +confused jumble of words from many languages, but chiefly from the +Spanish and Portuguese. “Can you understand this conversation?” I +demanded of Antonio, who had by this time rejoined me. “I cannot, mon +maître,” he replied; “I have acquired at various times a great many words +amongst the Gallegan domestics in the kitchens where I have officiated as +cook, but am quite unable to understand any long conversation. I have +heard the Gallegans say that in no two villages is it spoken in one and +the same manner, and that very frequently they do not understand each +other. The worst of this language is, that everybody on first hearing it +thinks that nothing is more easy than to understand it, as words are +continually occurring which he has heard before: but these merely serve +to bewilder and puzzle him, causing him to misunderstand everything that +is said; whereas, if he were totally ignorant of the tongue, he would +occasionally give a shrewd guess at what was meant, as I myself +frequently do when I hear Basque spoken, though the only word which I +know of that language is _jaunguicoa_.” + +As the night closed in I retired to bed, where I remained four or five +hours, restless and tossing about; the fever of Leon still clinging to my +system. It was considerably past midnight when, just as I was sinking +into a slumber, I was aroused by a confused noise in the village, and the +glare of lights through the lattice of the window of the room where I +lay; presently entered Antonio, half dressed. “Mon maître,” said he, +“the grand post from Madrid to Coruña has just arrived in the village, +attended by a considerable escort, and an immense number of travellers. +The road they say, between here and Lugo, is infested with robbers and +Carlists, who are committing all kinds of atrocities; let us, therefore, +avail ourselves of the opportunity, and by midday to-morrow we shall find +ourselves safe in Lugo.” On hearing these words, I instantly sprang out +of bed and dressed myself, telling Antonio to prepare the horses with all +speed. + +We were soon mounted and in the street, amidst a confused throng of men +and quadrupeds. The light of a couple of flambeaux, which were borne +before the courier, shone on the arms of several soldiers, seemingly +drawn up on either side of the road; the darkness, however, prevented me +from distinguishing objects very clearly. The courier himself was +mounted on a little shaggy pony; before and behind him were two immense +portmanteaux, or leather sacks, the ends of which nearly touched the +ground. For about a quarter of an hour there was much hubbub, shouting, +and trampling, at the end of which period the order was given to proceed. +Scarcely had we left the village when the flambeaux were extinguished, +and we were left in almost total darkness; for some time we were amongst +woods and trees, as was evident from the rustling of leaves on every +side. My horse was very uneasy and neighed fearfully, occasionally +raising himself bolt upright. “If your horse is not more quiet, +cavalier, we shall be obliged to shoot him,” said a voice in an +Andalusian accent; “he disturbs the whole cavalcade.” “That would be a +pity, sergeant,” I replied, “for he is a Cordovese by the four sides; he +is not used to the ways of this barbarous country.” “Oh, he is a +Cordovese,” said the voice, “vaya, I did not know that; I am from Cordova +myself. Pobrecito! let me pat him—yes, I know by his coat that he is my +countryman—shoot him, indeed! vaya, I would fain see the Gallegan devil +who would dare to harm him. Barbarous country, _io lo creo_: neither oil +nor olives, bread nor barley. You have been at Cordova. Vaya; oblige +me, cavalier, by taking this cigar.” + +In this manner we proceeded for several hours, up hill and down dale, but +generally at a very slow pace. The soldiers who escorted us from time to +time sang patriotic songs, breathing love and attachment to the young +Queen Isabel, and detestation of the grim tyrant Carlos. One of the +stanzas which reached my ears, ran something in the following style:— + + “Don Carlos is a hoary churl, + Of cruel heart and cold; + But Isabel’s a harmless girl, + Of only six years old.” + +At last the day began to break, and I found myself amidst a train of two +or three hundred people, some on foot, but the greater part mounted, +either on mules or the pony mares: I could not distinguish a single horse +except my own and Antonio’s. A few soldiers were thinly scattered along +the road. The country was hilly, but less mountainous and picturesque +than the one which we had traversed the preceding day; it was for the +most part partitioned into small fields, which were planted with maize. +At the distance of every two or three leagues we changed our escort, at +some village where was stationed a detachment. The villages were mostly +an assemblage of wretched cabins; the roofs were thatched, dank, and +moist, and not unfrequently covered with rank vegetation. There were +dunghills before the doors, and no lack of pools and puddles. Immense +swine were stalking about, intermingled with naked children. The +interior of the cabins corresponded with their external appearance: they +were filled with filth and misery. + +We reached Lugo about two hours past noon: during the last two or three +leagues, I became so overpowered with weariness, the result of want of +sleep and my late illness, that I was continually dozing in my saddle, so +that I took but little notice of what was passing. We put up at a large +posada without the wall of the town, built upon a steep bank, and +commanding an extensive view of the country towards the east. Shortly +after our arrival, the rain began to descend in torrents, and continued +without intermission during the next two days, which was, however, to me +but a slight source of regret, as I passed the entire time in bed, and I +may almost say in slumber. On the evening of the third day I arose. + +There was much bustle in the house, caused by the arrival of a family +from Coruña; they came in a large jaunting car, escorted by four +carabineers. The family was rather numerous, consisting of a father, +son, and eleven daughters, the eldest of whom might be about eighteen. A +shabby-looking fellow, dressed in a jerkin and wearing a high-crowned +hat, attended as domestic. They arrived very wet and shivering, and all +seemed very disconsolate, especially the father, who was a well-looking +middle-aged man. “Can we be accommodated?” he demanded in a gentle voice +of the man of the house; “can we be accommodated in this fonda?” + +“Certainly, your worship,” replied the other; “our house is large. How +many apartments does your worship require for your family?” + +“One will be sufficient,” replied the stranger. + +The host, who was a gouty personage and leaned upon a stick, looked for a +moment at the traveller, then at every member of his family, not +forgetting the domestic, and, without any farther comment than a slight +shrug, led the way to the door of an apartment containing two or three +flock beds, and which on my arrival I had objected to as being small, +dark, and incommodious; this he flung open, and demanded whether it would +serve. + +“It is rather small,” replied the gentleman; “I think, however, that it +will do.” + +“I am glad of it,” replied the host. “Shall we make any preparations for +the supper of your worship and family?” + +“No, I thank you,” replied the stranger, “my own domestic will prepare +the slight refreshment we are in need of.” + +The key was delivered to the domestic, and the whole family ensconced +themselves in their apartment: before, however, this was effected, the +escort were dismissed, the principal carabineer being presented with a +peseta. The man stood surveying the gratuity for about half a minute, as +it glittered in the palm of his hand; then with an abrupt _Vamos_! he +turned upon his heel, and without a word of salutation to any person, +departed with the men under his command. + +“Who can these strangers be?” said I to the host, as we sat together in a +large corridor open on one side, and which occupied the entire front of +the house. + +“I know not,” he replied, “but by their escort I suppose they are people +holding some official situation. They are not of this province, however, +and I more than suspect them to be Andalusians.” + +In a few minutes the door of the apartment occupied by the strangers was +opened, and the domestic appeared bearing a cruse in his hand. “Pray, +Señor Patron,” demanded he, “where can I buy some oil?” + +“There is oil in the house,” replied the host, “if you want to purchase +any; but if, as is probable, you suppose that we shall gain a cuarto by +selling it, you will find some over the way. It is as I suspected,” +continued the host, when the man had departed on his errand, “they are +Andalusians, and are about to make what they call gaspacho, on which they +will all sup. Oh, the meanness of these Andalusians! they are come here +to suck the vitals of Galicia, and yet envy the poor innkeeper the gain +of a cuarto in the oil which they require for their gaspacho. I tell you +one thing, master, when that fellow returns, and demands bread and garlic +to mix with the oil, I will tell him there is none in the house: as he +has bought the oil abroad, so he may the bread and garlic; aye, and the +water too for that matter.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI + + +Lugo—The Baths—A Family History—Miguelets—The Three Heads—A +Farrier—English Squadron—Sale of Testaments—Coruna—The Recognition—Luigi +Piozzi—The Speculation—A Blank Prospect—John Moore. + +At Lugo I found a wealthy bookseller, to whom I brought a letter of +recommendation from Madrid. He willingly undertook the sale of my books. +The Lord deigned to favour my feeble exertions in his cause at Lugo. I +brought thither thirty Testaments, all of which were disposed of in one +day; the bishop of the place, for Lugo is an episcopal see, purchasing +two copies for himself, whilst several priests and ex-friars, instead of +following the example of their brethren at Leon, by persecuting the work, +spoke well of it and recommended its perusal. I was much grieved that my +stock of these holy books was exhausted, there being a great demand; and +had I been able to supply them, quadruple the quantity might have been +sold during the few days that I continued at Lugo. + +Lugo contains about six thousand inhabitants. It is situated on lofty +ground, and is defended by ancient walls. It possesses no very +remarkable edifice, and the cathedral church itself is a small mean +building. In the centre of the town is the principal square, a light +cheerful place, not surrounded by those heavy cumbrous buildings with +which the Spaniards both in ancient and modern times have encircled their +plazas. It is singular enough that Lugo, at present a place of very +little importance, should at one period have been the capital of Spain: +yet such it was in the time of the Romans, who, as they were a people not +much guided by caprice, had doubtless very excellent reasons for the +preference which they gave to the locality. + +There are many Roman remains in the vicinity of this place, the most +remarkable of which are the ruins of the ancient medicinal baths, which +stand on the southern side of the river Minho, which creeps through the +valley beneath the town. The Minho in this place is a dark and sullen +stream, with high, precipitous, and thickly wooded banks. + +One evening I visited the baths, accompanied by my friend the bookseller. +They had been built over warm springs which flow into the river. +Notwithstanding their ruinous condition, they were crowded with sick, +hoping to derive benefit from the waters, which are still famed for their +sanative power. These patients exhibited a strange spectacle as, wrapped +in flannel gowns much resembling shrouds, they lay immersed in the tepid +waters amongst disjointed stones, and overhung with steam and reek. + +Three or four days after my arrival I was seated in the corridor which, +as I have already observed, occupied the entire front of the house. The +sky was unclouded, and the sun shone most gloriously, enlivening every +object around. Presently the door of the apartment in which the +strangers were lodged opened, and forth walked the whole family, with the +exception of the father, who, I presumed, was absent on business. The +shabby domestic brought up the rear, and on leaving the apartment, +carefully locked the door, and secured the key in his pocket. The one +son and the eleven daughters were all dressed remarkably well: the boy +something after the English fashion, in jacket and trousers, the young +ladies in spotless white: they were, upon the whole, a very good-looking +family, with dark eyes and olive complexions, but the eldest daughter was +remarkably handsome. They arranged themselves upon the benches of the +corridor, the shabby domestic sitting down amongst them without any +ceremony whatever. They continued for some time in silence, gazing with +disconsolate looks upon the houses of the suburb and the dark walls of +the town, until the eldest daughter, or señorita as she was called, broke +silence with an “_Ay Dios mio_!” + +_Domestic_.—_Ay Dios mio_! we have found our way to a pretty country. + +_Myself_.—I really can see nothing so very bad in the country, which is +by nature the richest in all Spain, and the most abundant. True it is +that the generality of the inhabitants are wretchedly poor, but they +themselves are to blame, and not the country. + +_Domestic_.—Cavalier, the country is a horrible one, say nothing to the +contrary. We are all frightened, the young ladies, the young gentleman, +and myself; even his worship is frightened, and says that we are come to +this country for our sins. It rains every day, and this is almost the +first time that we have seen the sun since our arrival, it rains +continually, and one cannot step out without being up to the ankles in +fango; and then, again, there is not a house to be found. + +_Myself_.—I scarcely understand you. There appears to be no lack of +houses in this neighbourhood. + +_Domestic_.—Excuse me, sir. His worship hired yesterday a house, for +which he engaged to pay fourteen pence daily; but when the señorita saw +it, she wept, and said it was no house, but a hog-sty, so his worship +paid one day’s rent and renounced his bargain. Fourteen pence a day! +why, in our country, we can have a palace for that money. + +_Myself_.—From what country do you come? + +_Domestic_.—Cavalier, you appear to be a decent gentleman, and I will +tell you our history. We are from Andalusia, and his worship was last +year receiver-general for Granada: his salary was fourteen thousand +rials, with which we contrived to live very commodiously—attending the +bull funcions regularly, or if there were no bulls, we went to see the +novillos, and now and then to the opera. In a word, sir, we had our +diversions and felt at our ease; so much so, that his worship was +actually thinking of purchasing a pony for the young gentleman, who is +fourteen, and must learn to ride now or never. Cavalier, the ministry +was changed, and the new comers, who were no friends to his worship, +deprived him of his situation. Cavalier, they removed us from that +blessed country of Granada, where our salary was fourteen thousand rials, +and sent us to Galicia, to this fatal town of Lugo, where his worship is +compelled to serve for ten thousand, which is quite insufficient to +maintain us in our former comforts. Good-bye, I trow, to bull funcions, +and novillos, and the opera. Good-bye to the hope of a horse for the +young gentleman. Cavalier, I grow desperate: hold your tongue, for God’s +sake! for I can talk no more. + +On hearing this history I no longer wondered that the receiver-general +was eager to save a cuarto in the purchase of the oil for the gaspacho of +himself and family of eleven daughters, one son, and a domestic. + +We staid one week at Lugo, and then directed our steps to Coruña, about +twelve leagues distant. We arose before daybreak in order to avail +ourselves of the escort of the general post, in whose company we +travelled upwards of six leagues. There was much talk of robbers, and +flying parties of the factious, on which account our escort was +considerable. At the distance of five or six leagues from Lugo, our +guard, in lieu of regular soldiers, consisted of a body of about fifty +Miguelets. They had all the appearance of banditti, but a finer body of +ferocious fellows I never saw. They were all men in the prime of life, +mostly of tall stature, and of Herculean brawn and limbs. They wore huge +whiskers, and walked with a fanfaronading air, as if they courted danger, +and despised it. In every respect they stood in contrast to the soldiers +who had hitherto escorted us, who were mere feeble boys from sixteen to +eighteen years of age, and possessed of neither energy nor activity. The +proper dress of the Miguelet, if it resembles anything military, is +something akin to that anciently used by the English marines. They wear +a peculiar kind of hat, and generally leggings, or gaiters, and their +arms are the gun and bayonet. The colour of their dress is mostly dark +brown. They observe little or no discipline whether on a march or in the +field of action. They are excellent irregular troops, and when on actual +service are particularly useful as skirmishers. Their proper duty, +however, is to officiate as a species of police, and to clear the roads +of robbers, for which duty they are in one respect admirably calculated, +having been generally robbers themselves at one period of their lives. +Why these people are called Miguelets it is not easy to say, but it is +probable that they have derived this appellation from the name of their +original leader. I regret that the paucity of my own information will +not allow me to enter into farther particulars with respect to this +corps, concerning which I have little doubt that many remarkable things +might be said. + +Becoming weary of the slow travelling of the post, I determined to brave +all risk, and to push forward. In this, however, I was guilty of no +slight imprudence, as by so doing I was near falling into the hands of +robbers. Two fellows suddenly confronted me with presented carbines, +which they probably intended to discharge into my body, but they took +fright at the noise of Antonio’s horse, who was following a little way +behind. The affair occurred at the bridge of Castellanos, a spot +notorious for robbery and murder, and well adapted for both, for it +stands at the bottom of a deep dell surrounded by wild desolate hills. +Only a quarter of an hour previous I had passed three ghastly heads stuck +on poles standing by the wayside; they were those of a captain of +banditti and two of his accomplices, who had been seized and executed +about two months before. Their principal haunt was the vicinity of the +bridge, and it was their practice to cast the bodies of the murdered into +the deep black water which runs rapidly beneath. Those three heads will +always live in my remembrance, particularly that of the captain, which +stood on a higher pole than the other two: the long hair was waving in +the wind, and the blackened, distorted features were grinning in the sun. +The fellows whom I met were the relics of the band. + +We arrived at Betanzos late in the afternoon. This town stands on a +creek at some distance from the sea, and about three leagues from Coruña. +It is surrounded on three sides by lofty hills. The weather during the +greater part of the day had been dull and lowering, and we found the +atmosphere of Betanzos insupportably close and heavy. Sour and +disagreeable odours assailed our olfactory organs from all sides. The +streets were filthy—so were the houses, and especially the posada. We +entered the stable; it was strewed with rotten sea-weeds and other +rubbish, in which pigs were wallowing; huge and loathsome flies were +buzzing around. “What a pest-house!” I exclaimed. But we could find no +other stable, and were therefore obliged to tether the unhappy animals to +the filthy mangers. The only provender that could be obtained was Indian +corn. At nightfall I led them to drink at a small river which passes +through Betanzos. My entero swallowed the water greedily; but as we +returned towards the inn, I observed that he was sad, and that his head +drooped. He had scarcely reached the stall, when a deep hoarse cough +assailed him. I remembered the words of the ostler in the mountains, +“the man must be mad who brings a horse to Galicia, and doubly so he who +brings an entero.” During the greater part of the day the animal had +been much heated, walking amidst a throng of at least a hundred pony +mares. He now began to shiver violently. I procured a quart of anise +brandy, with which, assisted by Antonio, I rubbed his body for nearly an +hour, till his coat was covered with a white foam; but his cough +increased perceptibly, his eyes were becoming fixed, and his members +rigid. “There is no remedy but bleeding,” said I. “Run for a farrier.” +The farrier came. “You must bleed the horse,” I shouted; “take from him +an azumbre of blood.” The farrier looked at the animal, and made for the +door. “Where are you going?” I demanded. “Home,” he replied. “But we +want you here.” “I know you do,” was his answer; “and on that account I +am going.” “But you must bleed the horse, or he will die.” “I know he +will,” said the farrier, “but I will not bleed him.” “Why?” I demanded. +“I will not bleed him, but under one condition.” “What is that?” “What +is it!—that you pay me an ounce of gold.” “Run for the red morocco +case,” said I to Antonio. It was brought; I took out a large fleam, and +with the assistance of a stone, drove it into the principal artery +horse’s leg. The blood at first refused to flow; with much rubbing, it +began to trickle, and then to stream; it continued so for half an hour. +“The horse is fainting, mon maître,” said Antonio. “Hold him up,” said +I, “and in another ten minutes we will stop the vein.” + +I closed the vein, and whilst doing so I looked up into the farrier’s +face, arching my eyebrows. + +“Carracho! what an evil wizard,” muttered the farrier, as he walked away. +“If I had my knife here I would stick him.” We bled the horse again, +during the night, which second bleeding I believe saved him. Towards +morning he began to eat his food. + +The next day we departed for Coruña, leading our horses by the bridle: +the day was magnificent, and our walk delightful. We passed along +beneath tall umbrageous trees, which skirted the road from Betanzos to +within a short distance of Coruña. Nothing could be more smiling and +cheerful than the appearance of the country around. Vines were growing +in abundance in the vicinity of the villages through which we passed, +whilst millions of maize plants upreared their tall stalks and displayed +their broad green leaves in the fields. After walking about three hours, +we obtained a view of the bay of Coruña, in which, even at the distance +of a league, we could distinguish three or four immense ships riding at +anchor. “Can these vessels belong to Spain?” I demanded of myself. In +the very next village, however, we were informed that the preceding +evening an English squadron had arrived, for what reason nobody could +say. “However,” continued our informant, “they have doubtless some +design upon Galicia. These foreigners are the ruin of Spain.” + +We put up in what is called the Calle Real, in an excellent fonda, or +posada, kept by a short, thick, comical-looking person, a Genoese by +birth. He was married to a tall, ugly, but good-tempered Basque woman, +by whom he had been blessed with a son and daughter. His wife, however, +had it seems of late summoned all her female relations from Guipuscoa, +who now filled the house to the number of nine, officiating as +chambermaids, cooks, and scullions: they were all very ugly, but +good-natured, and of immense volubility of tongue. Throughout the whole +day the house resounded with their excellent Basque and very bad +Castilian. The Genoese, on the contrary, spoke little, for which he +might have assigned a good reason; he had lived thirty years in Spain, +and had forgotten his own language without acquiring Spanish, which he +spoke very imperfectly. + +We found Coruña full of bustle and life, owing to the arrival of the +English squadron. On the following day, however, it departed, being +bound for the Mediterranean on a short cruise, whereupon matters +instantly returned to their usual course. + +I had a dépot of five hundred Testaments at Coruña, from which it was my +intention to supply the principal towns of Galicia. Immediately on my +arrival I published advertisements, according to my usual practice, and +the book obtained a tolerable sale—seven or eight copies per day on the +average. Some people, perhaps, on perusing these details, will be +tempted to exclaim, “These are small matters, and scarcely worthy of +being mentioned.” But let such bethink them, that till within a few +months previous to the time of which I am speaking, the very existence of +the gospel was almost unknown in Spain, and that it must necessarily be a +difficult task to induce a people like the Spaniards, who read very +little, to purchase a work like the New Testament, which, though of +paramount importance to the soul, affords but slight prospect of +amusement to the frivolous and carnally minded. I hoped that the present +was the dawning of better and more enlightened times, and rejoiced in the +idea that Testaments, though but few in number, were being sold in +unfortunate benighted Spain, from Madrid to the furthermost parts of +Galicia, a distance of nearly four hundred miles. + +Coruña stands on a peninsula, having on one side the sea, and on the +other the celebrated bay, generally called the Groyne. It is divided +into the old and new town, the latter of which was at one time probably a +mere suburb. The old town is a desolate ruinous place, separated from +the new by a wide moat. The modern town is a much more agreeable spot, +and contains one magnificent street, the Calle Real, where the principal +merchants reside. One singular feature of this street is, that it is +laid entirely with flags of marble, along which troop ponies and cars as +if it were a common pavement. + +It is a saying amongst the inhabitants of Coruña, that in their town +there is a street so clean, that puchera may be eaten off it without the +slightest inconvenience. This may certainly be the fact after one of +those rains which so frequently drench Galicia, when the appearance of +the pavement of the street is particularly brilliant. Coruña was at one +time a place of considerable commerce, the greater part of which has +latterly departed to Santander, a town which stands a considerable +distance down the Bay of Biscay. + +“Are you going to Saint James, Giorgio? If so, you will perhaps convey a +message to my poor countryman,” said a voice to me one morning in broken +English, as I was standing at the door of my posada, in the royal street +of Coruña. + +I looked round and perceived a man standing near me at the door of a shop +contiguous to the inn. He appeared to be about sixty-five, with a pale +face and remarkably red nose. He was dressed in a loose green great +coat, in his mouth was a long clay pipe, in his hand a long painted +stick. + +“Who are you, and who is your countryman?” I demanded; “I do not know +you.” + +“I know you, however,” replied the man; “you purchased the first knife +that I ever sold in the market-place of N---.” + +_Myself_.—Ah, I remember you now, Luigi Piozzi; and well do I remember +also, how, when a boy, twenty years ago, I used to repair to your stall, +and listen to you and your countrymen discoursing in Milanese. + +_Luigi_.—Ah, those were happy times to me. Oh, how they rushed back on +my remembrance when I saw you ride up to the door of the posada. I +instantly went in, closed my shop, lay down upon my bed and wept. + +_Myself_.—I see no reason why you should so much regret those times. I +knew you formerly in England as an itinerant pedlar, and occasionally as +master of a stall in the market-place of a country town. I now find you +in a seaport of Spain, the proprietor, seemingly, of a considerable shop. +I cannot see why you should regret the difference. + +_Luigi_ (dashing his pipe on the ground).—Regret the difference! Do you +know one thing? England is the heaven of the Piedmontese and Milanese, +and especially those of Como. We never lie down to rest but we dream of +it, whether we are in our own country or in a foreign land, as I am now. +Regret the difference, Giorgio! Do I hear such words from your lips, and +you an Englishman? I would rather be the poorest tramper on the roads of +England, than lord of all within ten leagues of the shore of the lake of +Como, and much the same say all my countrymen who have visited England, +wherever they now be. Regret the difference! I have ten letters, from +as many countrymen in America, who say they are rich and thriving, and +principal men and merchants; but every night, when their heads are +reposing on their pillows, their souls _auslandra_, hurrying away to +England, and its green lanes and farm-yards. And there they are with +their boxes on the ground, displaying their looking-glasses and other +goods to the honest rustics and their dames and their daughters, and +selling away and chaffering and laughing just as of old. And there they +are again at nightfall in the hedge alehouses, eating their toasted +cheese and their bread, and drinking the Suffolk ale, and listening to +the roaring song and merry jest of the labourers. Now, if they regret +England so who are in America, which they own to be a happy country, and +good for those of Piedmont and of Como, how much more must I regret it, +when, after the lapse of so many years, I find myself in Spain, in this +frightful town of Coruña, driving a ruinous trade, and where months pass +by without my seeing a single English face, or hearing a word of the +blessed English tongue. + +_Myself_.—With such a predilection for England, what could have induced +you to leave it and come to Spain? + +_Luigi_.—I will tell you: about sixteen years ago a universal desire +seized our people in England to become something more than they had +hitherto been, pedlars and trampers; they wished, moreover, for mankind +are never satisfied, to see other countries: so the greater part forsook +England. Where formerly there had been ten, at present scarcely lingers +one. Almost all went to America, which, as I told you before, is a happy +country, and specially good for us men of Como. Well, all my comrades +and relations passed over the sea to the West. I, too, was bent on +travelling; but whither? Instead of going towards the West with the +rest, to a country where they have all thriven, I must needs come by +myself to this land of Spain; a country in which no foreigner settles +without dying of a broken heart sooner or later. I had an idea in my +head that I could make a fortune at once, by bringing a cargo of common +English goods, like those which I had been in the habit of selling +amongst the villagers of England. So I freighted half a ship with such +goods, for I had been successful in England in my little speculations, +and I arrived at Coruña. Here at once my vexations began: disappointment +followed disappointment. It was with the utmost difficulty that I could +obtain permission to land my goods, and this only at a considerable +sacrifice in bribes and the like; and when I had established myself here, +I found that the place was one of no trade, and that my goods went off +very slowly, and scarcely at prime cost. I wished to remove to another +place, but was informed that, in that case, I must leave my goods behind, +unless I offered fresh bribes, which would have ruined me; and in this +way I have gone on for fourteen years, selling scarcely enough to pay for +my shop and to support myself. And so I shall doubtless continue till I +die, or my goods are exhausted. In an evil day I left England and came +to Spain. + +_Myself_.—Did you not say that you had a countryman at St. James? + +_Luigi_.—Yes, a poor honest fellow, who, like myself, by some strange +chance found his way to Galicia. I sometimes contrive to send him a few +goods, which he sells at St. James at a greater profit than I can here. +He is a happy fellow, for he has never been in England, and knows not the +difference between the two countries. Oh, the green English hedgerows! +and the alehouses! and, what is much more, the fair dealing and security. +I have travelled all over England and never met with ill usage, except +once down in the north amongst the Papists, upon my telling them to leave +all their mummeries and go to the parish church as I did, and as all my +countrymen in England did; for know one thing, Signor Giorgio, not one of +us who have lived in England, whether Piedmontese or men of Como, but +wished well to the Protestant religion, if he had not actually become a +member of it. + +_Myself_.—What do you propose to do at present, Luigi? What are your +prospects? + +_Luigi_.—My prospects are a blank, Giorgio; my prospects are a blank. I +propose nothing but to die in Coruña, perhaps in the hospital, if they +will admit me. Years ago I thought of fleeing, even if I left all behind +me, and either returning to England, or betaking myself to America; but +it is too late now, Giorgio, it is too late. When I first lost all hope, +I took to drinking, to which I was never before inclined, and I am now +what I suppose you see. + +“There is hope in the Gospel,” said I, “even for you. I will send you +one.” + +There is a small battery of the old town which fronts the east, and whose +wall is washed by the waters of the bay. It is a sweet spot, and the +prospect which opens from it is extensive. The battery itself may be +about eighty yards square; some young trees are springing up about it, +and it is rather a favourite resort of the people of Coruña. + +In the centre of this battery stands the tomb of Moore, built by the +chivalrous French, in commemoration of the fall of their heroic +antagonist. It is oblong and surmounted by a slab, and on either side +bears one of the simple and sublime epitaphs for which our rivals are +celebrated, and which stand in such powerful contrast with the bloated +and bombastic inscriptions which deform the walls of Westminster Abbey: + + “JOHN MOORE, + LEADER OF THE ENGLISH ARMIES, + SLAIN IN BATTLE, + 1809.” + +The tomb itself is of marble, and around it is a quadrangular wall, +breast high, of rough Gallegan granite; close to each corner rises from +the earth the breech of an immense brass cannon, intended to keep the +wall compact and close. These outer erections are, however, not the work +of the French, but of the English government. + +Yes, there lies the hero, almost within sight of the glorious hill where +he turned upon his pursuers like a lion at bay and terminated his career. +Many acquire immortality without seeking it, and die before its first ray +has gilded their name; of these was Moore. The harassed general, flying +through Castile with his dispirited troops before a fierce and terrible +enemy, little dreamed that he was on the point of attaining that for +which many a better, greater, though certainly not braver man, had sighed +in vain. His very misfortunes were the means which secured him immortal +fame; his disastrous route, bloody death, and finally his tomb on a +foreign strand, far from kin and friends. There is scarcely a Spaniard +but has heard of this tomb, and speaks of it with a strange kind of awe. +Immense treasures are said to have been buried with the heretic general, +though for what purpose no one pretends to guess. The demons of the +clouds, if we may trust the Gallegans, followed the English in their +flight, and assailed them with water-spouts as they toiled up the steep +winding paths of Fuencebadon; whilst legends the most wild are related of +the manner in which the stout soldier fell. Yes, even in Spain, +immortality has already crowned the head of Moore;—Spain, the land of +oblivion, where the Guadalete {245} flows. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII + + +Compostella—Rey Romero—The Treasure-seeker—Hopeful Project—The Church of +Refuge—Hidden Riches—The Canon—Spirit of Localism—The Leper—Bones of St. +James. + +At the commencement of August, I found myself at St. James of +Compostella. To this place I travelled from Coruña with the courier or +weekly post, who was escorted by a strong party of soldiers, in +consequence of the distracted state of the country, which was overrun +with banditti. From Coruña to St. James, the distance is but ten +leagues; the journey, however, endured for a day and a half. It was a +pleasant one, through a most beautiful country, with a rich variety of +hill and dale; the road was in many places shaded with various kinds of +trees clad in most luxuriant foliage. Hundreds of travellers, both on +foot and on horseback, availed themselves of the security which the +escort afforded: the dread of banditti was strong. During the journey +two or three alarms were given; we, however, reached Saint James without +having been attacked. + +Saint James stands on a pleasant level amidst mountains: the most +extraordinary of these is a conical hill, called the Pico Sacro, or +Sacred Peak, connected with which are many wonderful legends. A +beautiful old town is Saint James, containing about twenty thousand +inhabitants. Time has been when, with the single exception of Rome, it +was the most celebrated resort of pilgrims in the world; its cathedral +being said to contain the bones of Saint James the elder, the child of +the thunder, who, according to the legend of the Romish church, first +preached the Gospel in Spain. Its glory, however, as a place of +pilgrimage is rapidly passing away. + +The cathedral, though a work of various periods, and exhibiting various +styles of architecture, is a majestic venerable pile, in every respect +calculated to excite awe and admiration; indeed, it is almost impossible +to walk its long dusky aisles, and hear the solemn music and the noble +chanting, and inhale the incense of the mighty censers, which are at +times swung so high by machinery as to smite the vaulted roof, whilst +gigantic tapers glitter here and there amongst the gloom, from the shrine +of many a saint, before which the worshippers are kneeling, breathing +forth their prayers and petitions for help, love, and mercy, and +entertain a doubt that we are treading the floor of a house where God +delighteth to dwell. Yet the Lord is distant from that house; he hears +not, he sees not, or if he do, it is with anger. What availeth that +solemn music, that noble chanting, that incense of sweet savour? What +availeth kneeling before that grand altar of silver, surmounted by that +figure with its silver hat and breast-plate, the emblem of one who, +though an apostle and confessor, was at best an unprofitable servant? +What availeth hoping for remission of sin by trusting in the merits of +one who possessed none, or by paying homage to others who were born and +nurtured in sin, and who alone, by the exercise of a lively faith granted +from above, could hope to preserve themselves from the wrath of the +Almighty? + +Rise from your knees, ye children of Compostella, or if ye bend, let it +be to the Almighty alone, and no longer on the eve of your patron’s day +address him in the following strain, however sublime it may sound: + + “Thou shield of that faith which in Spain we revere, + Thou scourge of each foeman who dares to draw near; + Whom the Son of that God who the elements tames, + Called child of the thunder, immortal Saint James! + + “From the blessed asylum of glory intense, + Upon us thy sovereign influence dispense; + And list to the praises our gratitude aims + To offer up worthily, mighty Saint James. + + “To thee fervent thanks Spain shall ever outpour; + In thy name though she glory, she glories yet more + In thy thrice-hallowed corse, which the sanctuary claims + Of high Compostella, O, blessed Saint James. + + “When heathen impiety, loathsome and dread, + With a chaos of darkness our Spain overspread, + Thou wast the first light which dispell’d with its flames + The hell-born obscurity, glorious Saint James! + + “And when terrible wars had nigh wasted our force, + All bright ’midst the battle we saw thee on horse, + Fierce scattering the hosts, whom their fury proclaims + To be warriors of Islam, victorious Saint James. + + “Beneath thy direction, stretch’d prone at thy feet, + With hearts low and humble, this day we intreat + Thou wilt strengthen the hope which enlivens our frames, + The hope of thy favour and presence, Saint James. + + “Then praise to the Son and the Father above, + And to that Holy Spirit which springs from their love; + To that bright emanation whose vividness shames + The sun’s burst of splendour, and praise to Saint James.” + +At Saint James I met with a kind and cordial coadjutor in my biblical +labours in the bookseller of the place, Rey Romero, a man of about sixty. +This excellent individual, who was both wealthy and respected, took up +the matter with an enthusiasm which doubtless emanated from on high, +losing no opportunity of recommending my book to those who entered his +shop, which was in the Azabacheria, and was a very splendid and +commodious establishment. In many instances, when the peasants of the +neighbourhood came with an intention of purchasing some of the foolish +popular story-books of Spain, he persuaded them to carry home Testaments +instead, assuring them that the sacred volume was a better, more +instructive, and even far more entertaining book than those they came in +quest of. He speedily conceived a great fancy for me, and regularly came +to visit me every evening at my posada, and accompanied me in my walks +about the town and the environs. He was a man of considerable +information, and though of much simplicity, possessed a kind of +good-natured humour which was frequently highly diverting. + +I was walking late one night alone in the Alameda of Saint James, +considering in what direction I should next bend my course, for I had +been already ten days in this place; the moon was shining gloriously, and +illumined every object around to a considerable distance. The Alameda +was quite deserted; everybody, with the exception of myself, having for +some time retired. I sat down on a bench and continued my reflections, +which were suddenly interrupted by a heavy stumping sound. Turning my +eyes in the direction from which it proceeded, I perceived what at first +appeared a shapeless bulk slowly advancing: nearer and nearer it drew, +and I could now distinguish the outline of a man dressed in coarse brown +garments, a kind of Andalusian hat, and using as a staff the long peeled +branch of a tree. He had now arrived opposite the bench where I was +seated, when, stopping, he took off his hat and demanded charity in +uncouth tones and in a strange jargon, which had some resemblance to the +Catalan. The moon shone on grey locks and on a ruddy weather-beaten +countenance which I at once recognized: “Benedict Mol,” said I, “is it +possible that I see you at Compostella?” + +“Och, mein Gott, es ist der Herr!” replied Benedict. “Och, what good +fortune, that the Herr is the first person I meet at Compostella.” + +_Myself_.—I can scarcely believe my eyes. Do you mean to say that you +have just arrived at this place? + +_Benedict_.—Ow yes, I am this moment arrived. I have walked all the long +way from Madrid. + +_Myself_.—What motive could possibly bring you such a distance? + +_Benedict_.—Ow, I am come for the schatz—the treasure. I told you at +Madrid that I was coming; and now I have met you here, I have no doubt +that I shall find it, the schatz. + +_Myself_.—In what manner did you support yourself by the way? + +_Benedict_.—Ow, I begged, I bettled, and so contrived to pick up some +cuartos; and when I reached Toro, I worked at my trade of soap-making for +a time, till the people said I knew nothing about it, and drove me out of +the town. So I went on and begged and bettled till I arrived at Orense, +which is in this country of Galicia. Ow, I do not like this country of +Galicia at all. + +_Myself_.—Why not? + +_Benedict_.—Why! because here they all beg and bettle, and have scarce +anything for themselves, much less for me whom they know to be a foreign +man. O the misery of Galicia. When I arrive at night at one of their +pigsties, which they call posadas, and ask for bread to eat in the name +of God, and straw to lie down in, they curse me, and say there is neither +bread nor straw in Galicia; and sure enough, since I have been here I +have seen neither, only something that they call broa, and a kind of +reedy rubbish with which they litter the horses: all my bones are sore +since I entered Galicia. + +_Myself_.—And yet you have come to this country, which you call so +miserable, in search of treasure? + +_Benedict_.—Ow yaw, but the schatz is buried; it is not above ground; +there is no money above ground in Galicia. I must dig it up; and when I +have dug it up I will purchase a coach with six mules, and ride out of +Galicia to Lucerne; and if the Herr pleases to go with me, he shall be +welcome to go with me and the schatz. + +_Myself_.—I am afraid that you have come on a desperate errand. What do +you propose to do? Have you any money? + +_Benedict_.—Not a cuart; but I do not care now I have arrived at Saint +James. The schatz is nigh; and I have, moreover, seen you, which is a +good sign; it tells me that the schatz is still here. I shall go to the +best posada in the place, and live like a duke till I have an opportunity +of digging up the schatz, when I will pay all scores. + +“Do nothing of the kind,” I replied; “find out some place in which to +sleep, and endeavour to seek some employment. In the mean time, here is +a trifle with which to support yourself; but as for the treasure which +you have come to seek, I believe it only exists in your own imagination.” +I gave him a dollar and departed. + +I have never enjoyed more charming walks than in the neighbourhood of +Saint James. In these I was almost invariably accompanied by my friend +the good old bookseller. The streams are numerous, and along their +wooded banks we were in the habit of straying and enjoying the delicious +summer evenings of this part of Spain. Religion generally formed the +topic of our conversation, but we not unfrequently talked of the foreign +lands which I had visited, and at other times of matters which related +particularly to my companion. “We booksellers of Spain,” said he, “are +all liberals; we are no friends to the monkish system. How indeed should +we be friends to it? It fosters darkness, whilst we live by +disseminating light. We love our profession, and have all more or less +suffered for it; many of us, in the times of terror, were hanged for +selling an innocent translation from the French or English. Shortly +after the Constitution was put down by Angouleme and the French bayonets, +I was obliged to flee from Saint James and take refuge in the wildest +part of Galicia, near Corcuvion. Had I not possessed good friends, I +should not have been alive now; as it was, it cost me a considerable sum +of money to arrange matters. Whilst I was away, my shop was in charge of +the ecclesiastical officers. They frequently told my wife that I ought +to be burnt for the books which I had sold. Thanks be to God, those +times are past, and I hope they will never return.” + +Once, as we were walking through the streets of Saint James, he stopped +before a church and looked at it attentively. As there was nothing +remarkable in the appearance of this edifice, I asked him what motive he +had for taking such notice of it. “In the days of the friars,” said he, +“this church was one of refuge, to which if the worst criminals escaped, +they were safe. All were protected there save the negros, as they called +us liberals.” “Even murderers, I suppose?” said I. “Murderers!” he +answered, “far worse criminals than they. By the by, I have heard that +you English entertain the utmost abhorrence of murder. Do you in reality +consider it a crime of very great magnitude?” “How should we not,” I +replied; “for every other crime some reparation can be made; but if we +take away life, we take away all. A ray of hope with respect to this +world may occasionally enliven the bosom of any other criminal, but how +can the murderer hope?” “The friars were of another way of thinking,” +replied the old man; “they always looked upon murder as a friolera; but +not so the crime of marrying your first cousin without dispensation, for +which, if we believe them, there is scarcely any atonement either in this +world or the next.” + +Two or three days after this, as we were seated in my apartment in the +posada, engaged in conversation, the door was opened by Antonio, who, +with a smile on his countenance, said that there was a foreign +_gentleman_ below, who desired to speak with me. “Show him up,” I +replied; whereupon almost instantly appeared Benedict Mol. + +“This is a most extraordinary person,” said I to the bookseller. “You +Galicians, in general, leave your country in quest of money; he, on the +contrary, is come hither to find some.” + +_Rey Romero_.—And he is right. Galicia is by nature the richest province +in Spain, but the inhabitants are very stupid, and know not how to turn +the blessings which surround them to any account; but as a proof of what +may be made out of Galicia, see how rich the Catalans become who have +settled down here and formed establishments. There are riches all around +us, upon the earth and in the earth. + +_Benedict_.—Ow yaw, in the earth, that is what I say. There is much more +treasure below the earth than above it. + +_Myself_.—Since I last saw you, have you discovered the place in which +you say the treasure is deposited? + +_Benedict_.—O yes, I know all about it now. It is buried ’neath the +sacristy in the church of San Roque. + +Myself.—How have you been able to make that discovery? + +_Benedict_.—I will tell you: the day after my arrival I walked about all +the city in quest of the church, but could find none which at all +answered to the signs which my comrade who died in the hospital gave me. +I entered several, and looked about, but all in vain; I could not find +the place which I had in my mind’s eye. At last the people with whom I +lodge, and to whom I told my business, advised me to send for a meiga. + +_Myself_.—A meiga! What is that? + +_Benedict_.—Ow! a haxweib, a witch; the Gallegos call them so in their +jargon, of which I can scarcely understand a word. So I consented, and +they sent for the meiga. Och! what a weib is that meiga! I never saw +such a woman; she is as large as myself, and has a face as round and red +as the sun. She asked me a great many questions in her Gallegan, and +when I had told her all she wanted to know, she pulled out a pack of +cards and laid them on the table in a particular manner, and then she +said that the treasure was in the church of San Roque; and sure enough, +when I went to that church, it answered in every respect to the signs of +my comrade who died in the hospital. O she is a powerful hax, that +meiga; she is well known in the neighbourhood, and has done much harm to +the cattle. I gave her half the dollar I had from you for her trouble. + +_Myself_.—Then you acted like a simpleton; she has grossly deceived you. +But even suppose that the treasure is really deposited in the church you +mention, it is not probable that you will be permitted to remove the +floor of the sacristy to search for it. + +_Benedict_.—Ow, the matter is already well advanced. Yesterday I went to +one of the canons to confess myself and to receive absolution and +benediction; not that I regard these things much, but I thought this +would be the best means of broaching the matter, so I confessed myself, +and then I spoke of my travels to the canon, and at last I told him of +the treasure, and proposed that if he assisted me we should share it +between us. Ow, I wish you had seen him; he entered at once into the +affair, and said that it might turn out a very profitable speculation: +and he shook me by the hand, and said that I was an honest Swiss and a +good Catholic. And I then proposed that he should take me into his house +and keep me there till we had an opportunity of digging up the treasure +together. This he refused to do. + +_Rey Romero_.—Of that I have no doubt: trust one of our canons for not +committing himself so far until he sees very good reason. These tales of +treasure are at present rather too stale: we have heard of them ever +since the time of the Moors. + +_Benedict_.—He advised me to go to the Captain General and obtain +permission to make excavations, in which case he promised to assist me to +the utmost of his power. + +Thereupon the Swiss departed, and I neither saw nor heard anything +farther of him during the time that I continued at Saint James. + +The bookseller was never weary of showing me about his native town, of +which he was enthusiastically fond. Indeed, I have never seen the spirit +of localism, which is so prevalent throughout Spain, more strong than at +Saint James. If their town did but flourish, the Santiagians seemed to +care but little if all others in Galicia perished. Their antipathy to +the town of Coruña was unbounded, and this feeling had of late been not a +little increased from the circumstance that the seat of the provincial +government had been removed from Saint James to Coruña. Whether this +change was advisable or not, it is not for me, who am a foreigner, to +say; my private opinion, however, is by no means favourable to the +alteration. Saint James is one of the most central towns in Galicia, +with large and populous communities on every side of it, whereas Coruña +stands in a corner, at a considerable distance from the rest. “It is a +pity that the vecinos of Coruña cannot contrive to steal away from us our +cathedral, even as they have done our government,” said a Santiagian; +“then, indeed, they would be able to cut some figure. As it is, they +have not a church fit to say mass in.” “A great pity, too, that they +cannot remove our hospital,” would another exclaim; “as it is, they are +obliged to send us their sick, poor wretches. I always think that the +sick of Coruña have more ill-favoured countenances than those from other +places; but what good can come from Coruña?” + +Accompanied by the bookseller, I visited this hospital, in which, +however, I did not remain long; the wretchedness and uncleanliness which +I observed speedily driving me away. Saint James, indeed, is the grand +lazar-house for all the rest of Galicia, which accounts for the +prodigious number of horrible objects to be seen in its streets, who have +for the most part arrived in the hope of procuring medical assistance, +which, from what I could learn, is very scantily and inefficiently +administered. Amongst these unhappy wretches I occasionally observed the +terrible leper, and instantly fled from him with a “God help thee,” as if +I had been a Jew of old. Galicia is the only province of Spain where +cases of leprosy are still frequent; a convincing proof this, that the +disease is the result of foul feeding, and an inattention to cleanliness, +as the Gallegans, with regard to the comforts of life and civilized +habits, are confessedly far behind all the other natives of Spain. + +“Besides a general hospital we have likewise a leper-house,” said the +bookseller. “Shall I show it you? We have everything at Saint James. +There is nothing lacking; the very leper finds an inn here.” “I have no +objection to your showing me the house,” I replied, “but it must be at a +distance, for enter it I will not.” Thereupon he conducted me down the +road which leads towards Padron and Vigo, and pointing to two or three +huts, exclaimed “That is our leper-house.” “It appears a miserable +place,” I replied: “what accommodation may there be for the patients, and +who attends to their wants?” “They are left to themselves,” answered the +bookseller, “and probably sometimes perish from neglect: the place at one +time was endowed and had rents which were appropriated to its support, +but even these have been sequestered during the late troubles. At +present, the least unclean of the lepers generally takes his station by +the road side, and begs for the rest. See there he is now.” + +And sure enough the leper in his shining scales, and half naked, was +seated beneath a ruined wall. We dropped money into the hat of the +unhappy being, and passed on. + +“A bad disorder that,” said my friend. “I confess that I, who have seen +so many of them, am by no means fond of the company of lepers. Indeed, I +wish that they would never enter my shop, as they occasionally do to beg. +Nothing is more infectious, as I have heard, than leprosy: there is one +very virulent species, however, which is particularly dreaded here, the +elephantine: those who die of it should, according to law, be burnt, and +their ashes scattered to the winds: for if the body of such a leper be +interred in the field of the dead, the disorder is forthwith communicated +to all the corses even below the earth. Such, at least, is our idea in +these parts. Lawsuits are at present pending from the circumstance of +elephantides having been buried with the other dead. Sad is leprosy in +all its forms, but most so when elephantine.” + +“Talking of corses,” said I, “do you believe that the bones of St. James +are veritably interred at Compostella?” + +“What can I say,” replied the old man; “you know as much of the matter as +myself. Beneath the high altar is a large stone slab or lid, which is +said to cover the mouth of a profound well, at the bottom of which it is +believed that the bones of the saint are interred; though why they should +be placed at the bottom of a well, is a mystery which I cannot fathom. +One of the officers of the church told me that at one time he and another +kept watch in the church during the night, one of the chapels having +shortly before been broken open and a sacrilege committed. At the dead +of night, finding the time hang heavy on their hands, they took a crowbar +and removed the slab and looked down into the abyss below; it was dark as +the grave; whereupon they affixed a weight to the end of a long rope and +lowered it down. At a very great depth it seemed to strike against +something dull and solid like lead: they supposed it might be a coffin; +perhaps it was, but whose is the question.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII + + +Skippers of Padron—Caldas de los Reyes—Pontevedra—The Notary +Public—Insane Barber—An Introduction—Gallegan Language—Afternoon +Ride—Vigo—The Stranger—Jews of the Desert—Bay of Vigo—Sudden +Interruption—The Governor. + +After a stay of about a fortnight at Saint James, we again mounted our +horses and proceeded in the direction of Vigo. As we did not leave Saint +James till late in the afternoon, we travelled that day no farther than +Padron, a distance of only three leagues. This place is a small port, +situate at the extremity of a firth which communicates with the sea. It +is called for brevity’s sake, Padron, but its proper appellation is Villa +del Padron, or the town of the patron saint; it having been, according to +the legend, the principal residence of Saint James during his stay in +Galicia. By the Romans it was termed Iria Flavia. It is a flourishing +little town, and carries on rather an extensive commerce, some of its +tiny barks occasionally finding their way across the Bay of Biscay, and +even so far as the Thames and London. + +There is a curious anecdote connected with the skippers of Padron, which +can scarcely be considered as out of place here, as it relates to the +circulation of the Scriptures. I was one day in the shop of my friend +the bookseller at Saint James, when a stout good-humoured-looking priest +entered. He took up one of my Testaments, and forthwith burst into a +violent fit of laughter. “What is the matter?” demanded the bookseller. +“The sight of this book reminds me of a circumstance”: replied the other, +“about twenty years ago, when the English first took it into their heads +to be very zealous in converting us Spaniards to their own way of +thinking, they distributed a great number of books of this kind amongst +the Spaniards who chanced to be in London; some of them fell into the +hands of certain skippers of Padron, and these good folks, on their +return to Galicia, were observed to have become on a sudden exceedingly +opinionated and fond of dispute. It was scarcely possible to make an +assertion in their hearing without receiving a flat contradiction, +especially when religious subjects were brought on the carpet. ‘It is +false,’ they would say; ‘Saint Paul, in such a chapter and in such a +verse, says exactly the contrary.’ ‘What can you know concerning what +Saint Paul or any other saint has written?’ the priests would ask them. +‘Much more than you think,’ they replied; ‘we are no longer to be kept in +darkness and ignorance respecting these matters:’ and then they would +produce their books and read paragraphs, making such comments that every +person was scandalized; they cared nothing about the Pope, and even spoke +with irreverence of the bones of Saint James. However, the matter was +soon bruited about, and a commission was dispatched from our see to +collect the books and burn them. This was effected, and the skippers +were either punished or reprimanded, since which I have heard nothing +more of them. I could not forbear laughing when I saw these books; they +instantly brought to my mind the skippers of Padron and their religious +disputations.” + +Our next day’s journey brought us to Pontevedra. As there was no talk of +robbers in these parts, we travelled without any escort and alone. The +road was beautiful and picturesque, though somewhat solitary, especially +after we had left behind us the small town of Caldas. There is more than +one place of this name in Spain; the one of which I am speaking is +distinguished from the rest by being called Caldas de los Reyes, or the +warm baths of the kings. It will not be amiss to observe that the +Spanish _Caldas_ is synonymous with the Moorish _Alhama_, a word of +frequent occurrence both in Spanish and African topography. Caldas +seemed by no means undeserving of its name: it stands on a confluence of +springs, and the place when we arrived was crowded with people who had +come to enjoy the benefit of the waters. In the course of my travels I +have observed that wherever warm springs are found, vestiges of volcanoes +are sure to be nigh; the smooth black precipice, the divided mountain, or +huge rocks standing by themselves on the plain or on the hill side, as if +Titans had been playing at bowls. This last feature occurs near Caldas +de los Reyes, the side of the mountain which overhangs it in the +direction of the south being covered with immense granite stones, +apparently at some ancient period eructed from the bowels of the earth. +From Caldas to Pontevedra the route was hilly and fatiguing, the heat was +intense, and those clouds of flies, which constitute one of the pests of +Galicia, annoyed our horses to such a degree that we were obliged to cut +down branches from the trees to protect their heads and necks from the +tormenting stings of these bloodthirsty insects. Whilst travelling in +Galicia at this period of the year on horseback, it is always advisable +to carry a fine net for the protection of the animal, a sure and +commodious means of defence, which appears, however, to be utterly +unknown in Galicia, where, perhaps, it is more wanted than in any other +part of the world. + +Pontevedra, upon the whole, is certainly entitled to the appellation of a +magnificent town, some of its public edifices, especially the convents, +being such as are nowhere to be found but in Spain and Italy. It is +surrounded by a wall of hewn stone, and stands at the end of a creek into +which the river Levroz disembogues. It is said to have been founded by a +colony of Greeks, whose captain was no less a personage than Teucer the +Telemonian. It was in former times a place of considerable commerce; and +near its port are to be seen the ruins of a farol, or lighthouse, said to +be of great antiquity. The port, however, is at a considerable distance +from the town, and is shallow and incommodious. The whole country in the +neighbourhood of Pontevedra is inconceivably delicious, abounding with +fruits of every description, especially grapes, which in the proper +season are seen hanging from the “parras” in luscious luxuriance. An old +Andalusian author has said that it produces as many oranges and citron +trees as the neighbourhood of Cordova. Its oranges are, however, by no +means good, and cannot compete with those of Andalusia. The +Pontevedrians boast that their land produces two crops every year, and +that whilst they are gathering in one they may be seen ploughing and +sowing another. They may well be proud of their country, which is +certainly a highly favoured spot. + +The town itself is in a state of great decay, and notwithstanding the +magnificence of its public edifices, we found more than the usual amount +of Galician filth and misery. The posada was one of the most wretched +description, and to mend the matter, the hostess was a most intolerable +scold and shrew. Antonio having found fault with the quality of some +provision which she produced, she cursed him most immoderately in the +country language, which was the only one she spoke, and threatened, if he +attempted to breed any disturbance in her house, to turn the horses, +himself, and his master forthwith out of doors. Socrates himself, +however, could not have conducted himself on this occasion with greater +forbearance than Antonio, who shrugged his shoulders, muttered something +in Greek, and then was silent. + +“Where does the notary public live?” I demanded. Now the notary public +vended books, and to this personage I was recommended by my friend at +Saint James. A boy conducted me to the house of Señor Garcia, for such +was his name. I found him a brisk, active, talkative little man of +forty. He undertook with great alacrity the sale of my Testaments, and +in a twinkling sold two to a client who was waiting in the office, and +appeared to be from the country. He was an enthusiastic patriot, but of +course in a local sense, for he cared for no other country than +Pontevedra. + +“Those fellows of Vigo,” said he, “say their town is a better one than +ours, and that it is more deserving to be the capital of this part of +Galicia. Did you ever hear such folly? I tell you what, friend, I +should not care if Vigo were burnt, and all the fools and rascals within +it. Would you ever think of comparing Vigo with Pontevedra?” + +“I don’t know,” I replied; “I have never been at Vigo, but I have heard +say that the bay of Vigo is the finest in the world.” + +“Bay! my good sir. Bay! yes, the rascals have a bay, and it is that bay +of theirs which has robbed us all our commerce. But what needs the +capital of a district with a bay? It is public edifices that it wants, +where the provincial deputies can meet to transact their business; now, +so far from there being a commodious public edifice, there is not a +decent house in all Vigo. Bay! yes, they have a bay, but have they water +fit to drink? Have they a fountain? Yes, they have, and the water is so +brackish that it would burst the stomach of a horse. I hope, my dear +sir, that you have not come all this distance to take the part of such a +gang of pirates as those of Vigo.” + +“I am not come to take their part,” I replied; “indeed, I was not aware +that they wanted my assistance in this dispute. I am merely carrying to +them the New Testament, of which they evidently stand in much need, if +they are such knaves and scoundrels as you represent them.” + +“Represent them, my dear sir. Does not the matter speak for itself? Do +they not say that their town is better than ours, more fit to be the +capital of a district, _que disparate_! _que briboneria_! (what folly! +what rascality!)” + +“Is there a bookseller’s shop at Vigo?” I inquired. + +“There was one,” he replied, “kept by an insane barber. I am glad, for +your sake, that it is broken up, and the fellow vanished; he would have +played you one of two tricks; he would either have cut your throat with +his razor, under pretence of shaving you, or have taken your books and +never have accounted to you for the proceeds. Bay! I never could see +what right such an owl’s nest as Vigo has to a bay.” + +No person could exhibit greater kindness to another, than did the notary +public to myself, as soon as I had convinced him that I had no intention +of siding with the men of Vigo against Pontevedra. It was now six +o’clock in the evening, and he forthwith conducted me to a confectioner’s +shop, where he treated me with an iced cream and a small cup of +chocolate. From hence we walked about the city, the notary showing the +various edifices, especially, the Convent of the Jesuits: “See that +front,” said he, “what do you think of it?” + +I expressed to him the admiration which I really felt, and by so doing +entirely won the good notary’s heart: “I suppose there is nothing like +that at Vigo?” said I. He looked at me for a moment, winked, gave a +short triumphant chuckle, and then proceeded on his way, walking at a +tremendous rate. The Señor Garcia was dressed in all respects as an +English notary might be: he wore a white hat, brown frock coat, drab +breeches buttoned at the knees, white stockings, and well blacked shoes. +But I never saw an English notary walk so fast: it could scarcely be +called walking: it seemed more like a succession of galvanic leaps and +bounds. I found it impossible to keep up with him: “Where are you +conducting me?” I at last demanded, quite breathless. + +“To the house of the cleverest man in Spain,” he replied, “to whom I +intend to introduce you; for you must not think that Pontevedra has +nothing to boast of but its splendid edifices and its beautiful country; +it produces more illustrious minds than any other town in Spain. Did you +ever hear of the grand Tamerlane?” + +“Oh, yes,” said I, “but he did not come from Pontevedra or its +neighbourhood: he came from the steppes of Tartary, near the river Oxus.” + +“I know he did,” replied the notary, “but what I mean to say is, that +when Enrique the Third wanted an ambassador to send to that African, the +only man he could find suited to the enterprise was a knight of +Pontevedra, Don --- by name. Let the men of Vigo contradict that fact if +they can.” + +We entered a large portal and ascended a splendid staircase, at the top +of which the notary knocked at a small door: “Who is the gentleman to +whom you are about to introduce me?” demanded I. + +“It is the advocate ---,” replied Garcia; “he is the cleverest man in +Spain, and understands all languages and sciences.” + +We were admitted by a respectable-looking female, to all appearance a +housekeeper, who, on being questioned, informed us that the Advocate was +at home, and forthwith conducted us to an immense room, or rather +library, the walls being covered with books, except in two or three +places, where hung some fine pictures of the ancient Spanish school. +There was a rich mellow light in the apartment, streaming through a +window of stained glass, which looked to the west. Behind the table sat +the Advocate, on whom I looked with no little interest: his forehead was +high and wrinkled, and there was much gravity on his features, which were +quite Spanish. He was dressed in a long robe, and might be about sixty; +he sat reading behind a large table, and on our entrance half raised +himself and bowed slightly. + +The notary public saluted him most profoundly, and, in an under voice, +hoped that he might be permitted to introduce a friend of his, an English +gentleman, who was travelling through Galicia. + +“I am very glad to see him,” said the Advocate, “but I hope he speaks +Castilian, else we can have but little communication; for, although I can +read both French and Latin, I cannot speak them.” + +“He speaks, sir, almost as good Spanish,” said the notary, “as a native +of Pontevedra.” + +“The natives of Pontevedra,” I replied, “appear to be better versed in +Gallegan than in Castilian, for the greater part of the conversation +which I hear in the streets is carried on in the former dialect.” + +“The last gentleman which my friend Garcia introduced to me,” said the +Advocate, “was a Portuguese, who spoke little or no Spanish. It is said +that the Gallegan and Portuguese are very similar, but when we attempted +to converse in the two languages, we found it impossible. I understood +little of what he said, whilst my Gallegan was quite unintelligible to +him. Can you understand our country dialect?” he continued. + +“Very little of it,” I replied; “which I believe chiefly proceeds from +the peculiar accent and uncouth enunciation of the Gallegans, for their +language is certainly almost entirely composed of Spanish and Portuguese +words.” + +“So you are an Englishman,” said the Advocate. “Your countrymen have +committed much damage in times past in these regions, if we may trust our +histories.” + +“Yes,” said I, “they sank your galleons and burnt your finest men-of-war +in Vigo Bay, and, under old Cobham, levied a contribution of forty +thousand pounds sterling on this very town of Pontevedra.” + +“Any foreign power,” interrupted the notary public, “has a clear right to +attack Vigo, but I cannot conceive what plea your countrymen could urge +for distressing Pontevedra, which is a respectable town, and could never +have offended them.” + +“Señor Cavalier,” said the Advocate, “I will show you my library. Here +is a curious work, a collection of poems, written mostly in Gallegan, by +the curate of Fruime. He is our national poet, and we are very proud of +him.” + +We stopped upwards of an hour with the Advocate, whose conversation, if +it did not convince me that he was the cleverest man in Spain, was, upon +the whole, highly interesting, and who certainly possessed an extensive +store of general information, though he was by no means the profound +philologist which the notary had represented him to be. + +When I was about to depart from Pontevedra in the afternoon of the next +day, the Señor Garcia stood by the side of my horse, and having embraced +me, thrust a small pamphlet into my hand: “This book,” said he, “contains +a description of Pontevedra. Wherever you go, speak well of Pontevedra.” +I nodded. “Stay,” said he, “my dear friend, I have heard of your +society, and will do my best to further its views. I am quite +disinterested, but if at any future time you should have an opportunity +of speaking in print of Señor Garcia, the notary public of +Pontevedra,—you understand me,—I wish you would do so.” + +“I will,” said I. + +It was a pleasant afternoon’s ride from Pontevedra to Vigo, the distance +being only four leagues. As we approached the latter town, the country +became exceedingly mountainous, though scarcely anything could exceed the +beauty of the surrounding scenery. The sides of the hills were for the +most part clothed with luxuriant forests, even to the very summits, +though occasionally a flinty and naked peak would present itself, rising +to the clouds. As the evening came on, the route along which we advanced +became very gloomy, the hills and forests enwrapping it in deep shade. +It appeared, however, to be well frequented: numerous cars were creaking +along it, and both horsemen and pedestrians were continually passing us. +The villages were frequent. Vines, supported on parras, were growing, if +possible, in still greater abundance than in the neighbourhood of +Pontevedra. Life and activity seemed to pervade everything. The hum of +insects, the cheerful bark of dogs, the rude songs of Galicia, were +blended together in pleasant symphony. So delicious was my ride, that I +almost regretted when we entered the gate of Vigo. + +The town occupies the lower part of a lofty hill, which, as it ascends, +becomes extremely steep and precipitous, and the top of which is crowned +with a strong fort or castle. It is a small compact place, surrounded +with low walls, the streets are narrow, steep, and winding, and in the +middle of the town is a small square. + +There is rather an extensive faubourg extending along the shore of the +bay. We found an excellent posada, kept by a man and woman from the +Basque provinces, who were both civil and intelligent. The town seemed +to be crowded, and resounded with noise and merriment. The people were +making a wretched attempt at an illumination, in consequence of some +victory lately gained, or pretended to have been gained, over the forces +of the Pretender. Military uniforms were glancing about in every +direction. To increase the bustle, a troop of Portuguese players had +lately arrived from Oporto, and their first representation was to take +place this evening. “Is the play to be performed in Spanish?” I +demanded. “No,” was the reply; “and on that account every person is so +eager to go; which would not be the case if it were in a language which +they could understand.” + +On the morning of the next day I was seated at breakfast in a large +apartment which looked out upon the Plaza Mayor, or great square of the +good town of Vigo. The sun was shining very brilliantly, and all around +looked lively and gay. Presently a stranger entered, and bowing +profoundly, stationed himself at the window, where he remained a +considerable time in silence. He was a man of very remarkable +appearance, of about thirty-five. His features were of perfect symmetry, +and I may almost say, of perfect beauty. His hair was the darkest I had +ever seen, glossy and shining; his eyes large, black, and melancholy; but +that which most struck me was his complexion. It might be called olive, +it is true, but it was a livid olive. He was dressed in the very first +style of French fashion. Around his neck was a massive gold chain, while +upon his fingers were large rings, in one of which was set a magnificent +ruby. Who can that man be? thought I;—Spaniard or Portuguese, perhaps a +Creole. I asked him an indifferent question in Spanish, to which he +forthwith replied in that language, but his accent convinced me that he +was neither Spaniard nor Portuguese. + +“I presume I am speaking to an Englishman, sir?” said he, in as good +English as it was possible for one not an Englishman to speak. + +_Myself_.—You know me to be an Englishman; but I should find some +difficulty in guessing to what country you belong. + +_Stranger_.—May I take a seat? + +_Myself_.—A singular question. Have you not as much right to sit in the +public apartment of an inn as myself? + +_Stranger_.—I am not certain of that. The people here are not in general +very gratified at seeing me seated by their side. + +_Myself_.—Perhaps owing to your political opinions, or to some crime +which it may have been your misfortune to commit? + +_Stranger_.—I have no political opinions, and I am not aware that I ever +committed any particular crime,—I am hated for my country and my +religion. + +_Myself_.—Perhaps I am speaking to a Protestant, like myself? + +_Stranger_.—I am no Protestant. If I were, they would be cautious here +of showing their dislike, for I should then have a government and a +consul to protect me. I am a Jew—a Barbary Jew, a subject of +Abderrahman. + +_Myself_.—If that be the case, you can scarcely complain of being looked +upon with dislike in this country, since in Barbary the Jews are slaves. + +_Stranger_.—In most parts, I grant you, but not where I was born, which +was far up the country, near the deserts. There the Jews are free, and +are feared, and are as valiant men as the Moslems themselves; as able to +tame the steed, or to fire the gun. The Jews of our tribe are not +slaves, and I like not to be treated as a slave either by Christian or +Moor. + +_Myself_.—Your history must be a curious one, I would fain hear it. + +_Stranger_.—My history I shall tell to no one. I have travelled much, I +have been in commerce and have thriven. I am at present established in +Portugal, but I love not the people of Catholic countries, and least of +all these of Spain. I have lately experienced the most shameful +injustice in the Aduana of this town, and when I complained, they laughed +at me and called me Jew. Wherever he turns, the Jew is reviled, save in +your country, and on that account my blood always warms when I see an +Englishman. You are a stranger here. Can I do aught for you? You may +command me. + +_Myself_.—I thank you heartily, but I am in need of no assistance. + +_Stranger_.—Have you any bills, I will accept them if you have? + +_Myself_.—I have no need of assistance; but you may do me a favour by +accepting of a book. + +_Stranger_.—I will receive it with thanks. I know what it is. What a +singular people? The same dress, the same look, the same book. Pelham +gave me one in Egypt. Farewell! Your Jesus was a good man, perhaps a +prophet; but . . . farewell! + +Well may the people of Pontevedra envy the natives of Vigo their bay, +with which, in many respects, none other in the world can compare. On +every side it is defended by steep and sublime hills, save on the part of +the west, where is the outlet to the Atlantic; but in the midst of this +outlet, up towers a huge rocky wall, or island, which breaks the swell, +and prevents the billows of the western sea from pouring through in full +violence. On either side of this island is a passage, so broad, that +navies might pass through at all times in safety. The bay itself is +oblong, running far into the land, and so capacious, that a thousand sail +of the line might ride in it uncrowded. The waters are dark, still, and +deep, without quicksands or shallows, so that the proudest man-of-war +might lie within a stone’s throw of the town ramparts without any fear of +injuring her keel. + +Of many a strange event, and of many a mighty preparation has this bay +been the scene. It was here that the bulky dragons of the grand armada +were mustered, and it was from hence that, fraught with the pomp, power, +and terror of old Spain, the monster fleet, spreading its enormous sails +to the wind, and bent on the ruin of the Lutheran isle, proudly +steered;—that fleet, to build and man which half the forests of Galicia +had been felled, and all the mariners impressed from the thousand bays +and creeks of the stern Cantabrian shore. It was here that the united +flags of Holland and England triumphed over the pride of Spain and +France; when the burning timbers of exploded war-ships soared above the +tops of the Gallegan hills, and blazing galleons sank with their treasure +chests whilst drifting in the direction of Sampayo. It was on the shores +of this bay that the English guards first emptied Spanish bodegas, whilst +the bombs of Cobham were crushing the roofs of the castle of Castro, and +the vecinos of Pontevedra buried their doubloons in cellars, and flying +posts were conveying to Lugo and Orensee the news of the heretic invasion +and the disaster of Vigo. All these events occurred to my mind as I +stood far up the hill, at a short distance from the fort, surveying the +bay. + +“What are you doing there, Cavalier?” roared several voices. “Stay, +Carracho! if you attempt to run we will shoot you!” I looked round and +saw three or four fellows in dirty uniforms, to all appearance soldiers, +just above me, on a winding path, which led up the hill. Their muskets +were pointed at me. “What am I doing? Nothing, as you see,” said I, +“save looking at the bay; and as for running, this is by no means ground +for a course.” “You are our prisoner,” said they, “and you must come +with us to the fort.” “I was just thinking of going there,” I replied, +“before you thus kindly invited me. The fort is the very spot I was +desirous of seeing.” I thereupon climbed up to the place where they +stood, when they instantly surrounded me, and with this escort I was +marched into the fort, which might have been a strong place in its time, +but was now rather ruinous. “You are suspected of being a spy,” said the +corporal, who walked in front. “Indeed,” said I. “Yes,” replied the +corporal, “and several spies have lately been taken and shot.” + +Upon one of the parapets of the fort stood a young man, dressed as a +subaltern officer, and to this personage I was introduced. “We have been +watching you this half hour,” said he, “as you were taking observations.” +“Then you gave yourselves much useless trouble,” said I. “I am an +Englishman, and was merely looking at the bay. Have the kindness now to +show me the fort.” . . . + +After some conversation, he said, “I wish to be civil to people of your +nation, you may therefore consider yourself at liberty.” I bowed, made +my exit, and proceeded down the hill. Just before I entered the town, +however, the corporal, who had followed me unperceived, tapped me on the +shoulder. “You must go with me to the governor,” said he. “With all my +heart,” I replied. The governor was shaving, when we were shown up to +him. He was in his shirt sleeves, and held a razor in his hand. He +looked very ill-natured, which was perhaps owing to his being thus +interrupted in his toilet. He asked me two or three questions, and on +learning that I had a passport, and was the bearer of a letter to the +English consul, he told me that I was at liberty to depart. So I bowed +to the governor of the town, as I had done to the governor of the fort, +and making my exit proceeded to my inn. + +At Vigo I accomplished but little in the way of distribution, and after a +sojourn of a few days, I returned in the direction of Saint James. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX + + +Arrival at Padron—Projected Enterprise—The Alquilador—Breach of +Promise—An Odd Companion—A Plain Story—Rugged Paths—The Desertion—The +Pony—A Dialogue—Unpleasant Situation—The Estadea—Benighted—The Hut—The +Traveller’s Pillow. + +I arrived at Padron late in the evening, on my return from Pontevedra and +Vigo. It was my intention at this place to send my servant and horses +forward to Santiago, and to hire a guide to Cape Finisterra. It would be +difficult to assign any plausible reason for the ardent desire which I +entertained to visit this place; but I remembered that last year I had +escaped almost by a miracle from shipwreck and death on the rocky sides +of this extreme point of the Old World, and I thought that to convey the +Gospel to a place so wild and remote, might perhaps be considered an +acceptable pilgrimage in the eyes of my Maker. True it is that but one +copy remained of those which I had brought with me on this last journey, +but this reflection, far from discouraging me in my projected enterprise, +produced the contrary effect, as I called to mind that ever since the +Lord revealed himself to man, it has seemed good to him to accomplish the +greatest ends by apparently the most insufficient means; and I reflected +that this one copy might serve as an instrument of more good than the +four thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine copies of the edition of +Madrid. + +I was aware that my own horses were quite incompetent to reach +Finisterra, as the roads or paths lie through stony ravines, and over +rough and shaggy hills, and therefore determined to leave them behind +with Antonio, whom I was unwilling to expose to the fatigues of such a +journey. I lost no time in sending for an alquilador, or person who lets +out horses, and informing him of my intention. He said he had an +excellent mountain pony at my disposal, and that he himself would +accompany me, but at the same time observed, that it was a terrible +journey for man and horse, and that he expected to be paid accordingly. +I consented to give him what he demanded, but on the express condition +that he would perform his promise of attending me himself, as I was +unwilling to trust myself four or five days amongst the hills with any +low fellow of the town whom he might select, and who it was very possible +might play me some evil turn. He replied by the term invariably used by +the Spaniards when they see doubt or distrust exhibited. “_No tenga +usted cuidao_,” I will go myself. Having thus arranged the matter +perfectly satisfactorily, as I thought, I partook of a slight supper, and +shortly afterwards retired to repose. + +I had requested the alquilador to call me the next morning at three +o’clock; he however did not make his appearance till five, having, I +suppose, overslept himself, which was indeed my own case. I arose in a +hurry, dressed, put a few things in a bag, not forgetting the Testament +which I had resolved to present to the inhabitants of Finisterra. I then +sallied forth and saw my friend the alquilador, who was holding by the +bridle the pony or jaco which was destined to carry me in my expedition. +It was a beautiful little animal, apparently strong and full of life, +without one single white hair in its whole body, which was black as the +plumage of the crow. + +Behind it stood a strange-looking figure of the biped species, to whom, +however, at the moment, I paid little attention, but of whom I shall have +plenty to say in the sequel. + +Having asked the horse-lender whether he was ready to proceed, and being +answered in the affirmative, I bade adieu to Antonio, and putting the +pony in motion, we hastened out of the town, taking at first the road +which leads towards Santiago. Observing that the figure which I have +previously alluded to was following close at our heels, I asked the +alquilador who it was, and the reason of its following us; to which he +replied that it was a servant of his, who would proceed a little way with +us and then return. So on we went at a rapid rate, till we were within a +quarter of a mile of the Convent of the Esclavitud, a little beyond which +he had informed me that we should have to turn off from the high road; +but here he suddenly stopped short, and in a moment we were all at a +standstill. I questioned the guide as to the reason of this, but +received no answer. The fellow’s eyes were directed to the ground, and +he seemed to be counting with the most intense solicitude the prints of +the hoofs of the oxen, mules, and horses in the dust of the road. I +repeated my demand in a louder voice; when, after a considerable pause, +he somewhat elevated his eyes, without however looking me in the face, +and said that he believed that I entertained the idea that he himself was +to guide me to Finisterra, which if I did, he was very sorry for, the +thing being quite impossible, as he was perfectly ignorant of the way, +and, moreover, incapable of performing such a journey over rough and +difficult ground, as he was no longer the man he had been, and over and +above all that, he was engaged that day to accompany a gentleman to +Pontevedra, who was at that moment expecting him. “But,” continued he, +“as I am always desirous of behaving like a caballero to everybody, I +have taken measures to prevent your being disappointed. This person,” +pointing to the figure, “I have engaged to accompany you. He is a most +trustworthy person, and is well acquainted with the route to Finisterra, +having been thither several times with this very jaco on which you are +mounted. He will, besides, be an agreeable companion to you on the way, +as he speaks French and English very well, and has been all over the +world.” The fellow ceased speaking at last; and I was so struck with his +craft, impudence, and villainy, that some time elapsed before I could +find an answer. I then reproached him in the bitterest terms for his +breach of promise, and said that I was much tempted to return to the town +instantly, complain of him to the alcalde, and have him punished at any +expense. To which he replied, “Sir Cavalier, by so doing you will be +nothing nearer Finisterra, to which you seem so eager to get. Take my +advice, spur on the jaco, for you see it is getting late, and it is +twelve long leagues from hence to Corcuvion, where you must pass the +night; and from thence to Finisterra is no trifle. As for the man, _no +tenga usted cuidao_, he is the best guide in all Galicia, speaks English +and French, and will bear you pleasant company.” + +By this time I had reflected that by returning to Padron I should indeed +be only wasting time, and that by endeavouring to have the fellow +punished, no benefit would accrue to me; moreover, as he seemed to be a +scoundrel in every sense of the word, I might as well proceed in the +company of any person as in his. I therefore signified my intention of +proceeding, and told him to go back in the Lord’s name, and repent of his +sins. But having gained one point, he thought he had best attempt +another; so placing himself about a yard before the jaco, he said that +the price which I had agreed to pay him for the loan of his horse (which +by the by was the full sum he had demanded) was by no means sufficient, +and that before I proceeded I must promise him two dollars more, adding +that he was either drunk or mad when he had made such a bargain. I was +now thoroughly incensed, and without a moment’s reflection, spurred the +jaco, which flung him down in the dust, and passed over him. Looking +back at the distance of a hundred yards, I saw him standing in the same +place, his hat on the ground, gazing after us, and crossing himself most +devoutly. His servant, or whatever he was, far from offering any +assistance to his principal, no sooner saw the jaco in motion than he ran +on by its side, without word or comment, farther than striking himself +lustily on the thigh with his right palm. We soon passed the Esclavitud, +and presently afterwards turned to the left into a stony broken path +leading to fields of maize. We passed by several farm-houses, and at +last arrived at a dingle, the sides of which were plentifully overgrown +with dwarf oaks, and which slanted down to a small dark river shaded with +trees, which we crossed by a rude bridge. By this time I had had +sufficient time to scan my odd companion from head to foot. His utmost +height, had he made the most of himself, might perhaps have amounted to +five feet one inch; but he seemed somewhat inclined to stoop. Nature had +gifted him with an immense head and placed it clean upon his shoulders, +for amongst the items of his composition it did not appear that a neck +had been included. Arms long and brawny swung at his sides, and the +whole of his frame was as strong built and powerful as a wrestler’s; his +body was supported by a pair of short but very nimble legs. His face was +very long, and would have borne some slight resemblance to a human +countenance, had the nose been more visible, for its place seemed to have +been entirely occupied by a wry mouth and large staring eyes. His dress +consisted of three articles: an old and tattered hat of the Portuguese +kind, broad at the crown and narrow at the eaves, something which +appeared to be a shirt, and dirty canvas trousers. Willing to enter into +conversation with him, and remembering that the alquilador had informed +me that he spoke languages, I asked him, in English, if he had always +acted in the capacity of guide? Whereupon he turned his eyes with a +singular expression upon my face, gave a loud laugh, a long leap, and +clapped his hands thrice above his head. Perceiving that he did not +understand me, I repeated my demand in French, and was again answered by +the laugh, leap, and clapping. At last he said in broken Spanish, +“Master mine, speak Spanish in God’s name, and I can understand you, and +still better if you speak Gallegan, but I can promise no more. I heard +what the alquilador told you, but he is the greatest embustero in the +whole land, and deceived you then as he did when he promised to accompany +you. I serve him for my sins; but it was an evil hour when I left the +deep sea and turned guide.” He then informed me that he was a native of +Padron, and a mariner by profession, having spent the greater part of his +life in the Spanish navy, in which service he had visited Cuba and many +parts of the Spanish Americas, adding, “when my master told you that I +should bear you pleasant company by the way, it was the only word of +truth that has come from his mouth for a month; and long before you reach +Finisterra you will have rejoiced that the servant, and not the master, +went with you: he is dull and heavy, but I am what you see.” He then +gave two or three first-rate summersets, again laughed loudly, and +clapped his hands. “You would scarcely think,” he continued, “that I +drove that little pony yesterday heavily laden all the way from Coruña. +We arrived at Padron at two o’clock this morning; but we are nevertheless +both willing and able to undertake a fresh journey. _No tenga usted +cuidao_, as my master said, no one ever complains of that pony or of me.” +In this kind of discourse we proceeded a considerable way through a very +picturesque country, until we reached a beautiful village at the skirt of +a mountain. “This village,” said my guide, “is called Los Angeles, +because its church was built long since by the angels; they placed a beam +of gold beneath it, which they brought down from heaven, and which was +once a rafter of God’s own house. It runs all the way under the ground +from hence to the cathedral of Compostella.” + +Passing through the village, which he likewise informed me possessed +baths, and was much visited by the people of Santiago, we shaped our +course to the north-west, and by so doing doubled a mountain which rose +majestically over our heads, its top crowned with bare and broken rocks, +whilst on our right, on the other side of a spacious valley, was a high +range, connected with the mountains to the northward of Saint James. On +the summit of this range rose high embattled towers, which my guide +informed me were those of Altamira, an ancient and ruined castle, +formerly the principal residence in this province of the counts of that +name. Turning now due west, we were soon at the bottom of a steep and +rugged pass, which led to more elevated regions. The ascent cost us +nearly half an hour, and the difficulties of the ground were such, that I +more than once congratulated myself on having left my own horses behind, +and being mounted on the gallant little pony which, accustomed to such +paths, scrambled bravely forward, and eventually brought us in safety to +the top of the ascent. + +Here we entered a Gallegan cabin, or choza, for the purpose of refreshing +the animal and ourselves. The quadruped ate some maize, whilst we two +bipeds regaled ourselves on some broa and aguardiente, which a woman whom +we found in the hut placed before us. I walked out for a few minutes to +observe the aspect of the country, and on my return found my guide fast +asleep on the bench where I had left him. He sat bolt upright, his back +supported against the wall, and his legs pendulous, within three inches +of the ground, being too short to reach it. I remained gazing upon him +for at least five minutes, whilst he enjoyed slumbers seemingly as quiet +and profound as those of death itself. His face brought powerfully to my +mind some of those uncouth visages of saints and abbots which are +occasionally seen in the niches of the walls of ruined convents. There +was not the slightest gleam of vitality in his countenance, which for +colour and rigidity might have been of stone, and which was as rude and +battered as one of the stone heads at Icolmkill, which have braved the +winds of twelve hundred years. I continued gazing on his face till I +became almost alarmed, concluding that life might have departed from its +harassed and fatigued tenement. On my shaking him rather roughly by the +shoulder he slowly awoke, opening his eyes with a stare and then closing +them again. For a few moments he was evidently unconscious of where he +was. On my shouting to him, however, and inquiring whether he intended +to sleep all day instead of conducting me to Finisterra, he dropped upon +his legs, snatched up his hat, which lay on the table, and instantly ran +out of the door, exclaiming, “Yes, yes, I remember—follow me, captain, +and I will lead you to Finisterra in no time.” I looked after him, and +perceived that he was hurrying at a considerable pace in the direction in +which we had hitherto been proceeding. “Stop,” said I, “stop! will you +leave me here with the pony? Stop, we have not paid the reckoning. +Stop!” He, however, never turned his head for a moment, and in less than +a minute was out of sight. The pony, which was tied to a crib at one end +of the cabin, began now to neigh terrifically, to plunge, and to erect +its tail and mane in a most singular manner. It tore and strained at the +halter till I was apprehensive that strangulation would ensue. “Woman,” +I exclaimed, “where are you, and what is the meaning of all this?” But +the hostess had likewise disappeared, and though I ran about the choza, +shouting myself hoarse, no answer was returned. The pony still continued +to scream and to strain at the halter more violently than ever. “Am I +beset with lunatics?” I cried, and flinging down a peseta on the table, +unloosed the halter, and attempted to introduce the bit into the mouth of +the animal. This, however, I found impossible to effect. Released from +the halter, the pony made at once for the door, in spite of all the +efforts which I could make to detain it. “If you abandon me,” said I, “I +am in a pretty situation; but there is a remedy for everything!” with +which words I sprang into the saddle, and in a moment more the creature +was bearing me at a rapid gallop in the direction, as I supposed, of +Finisterra. My position, however diverting to the reader, was rather +critical to myself. I was on the back of a spirited animal, over which I +had no control, dashing along a dangerous and unknown path. I could not +discover the slightest vestige of my guide, nor did I pass anyone from +whom I could derive any information. Indeed, the speed of the animal was +so great, that even in the event of my meeting or overtaking a passenger, +I could scarcely have hoped to exchange a word with him. “Is the pony +trained to this work?” said I mentally. “Is he carrying me to some den +of banditti, where my throat will be cut, or does he follow his master by +instinct?” Both of these suspicions I however soon abandoned; the pony’s +speed relaxed, he appeared to have lost the road. He looked about +uneasily: at last, coming to a sandy spot, he put his nostrils to the +ground, and then suddenly flung himself down, and wallowed in true pony +fashion. I was not hurt, and instantly made use of this opportunity to +slip the bit into his mouth, which previously had been dangling beneath +his neck; I then remounted in quest of the road. + +This I soon found, and continued my way for a considerable time. The +path lay over a moor, patched heath and furze, and here and there strewn +with large stones, or rather rocks. The sun had risen high in the +firmament, and burned fiercely. I passed several people, men and women, +who gazed at me with surprise, wondering, probably, what a person of my +appearance could be about without a guide in so strange a place. I +inquired of two females whom I met whether they had seen my guide; but +they either did not or would not understand me, and exchanging a few +words with each other, in one of the hundred dialects of the Gallegan, +passed on. Having crossed the moor, I came rather abruptly upon a +convent, overhanging a deep ravine, at the bottom of which brawled a +rapid stream. + +It was a beautiful and picturesque spot: the sides of the ravine were +thickly clothed with wood, and on the other side a tall, black hill +uplifted itself. The edifice was large, and apparently deserted. +Passing by it, I presently reached a small village, as deserted, to all +appearance, as the convent, for I saw not a single individual, nor so +much as a dog to welcome me with his bark. I proceeded, however, until I +reached a fountain, the waters of which gushed from a stone pillar into a +trough. Seated upon this last, his arms folded, and his eyes fixed upon +the neighbouring mountain, I beheld a figure which still frequently +recurs to my thoughts, especially when asleep and oppressed by the +nightmare. This figure was my runaway guide. + +_Myself_.—Good day to you, my gentleman. The weather is hot, and yonder +water appears delicious. I am almost tempted to dismount and regale +myself with a slight draught. + +_Guide_.—Your worship can do no better. The day is, as you say, hot; you +can do no better than drink a little of this water. I have myself just +drunk. I would not, however, advise you to give that pony any, it +appears heated and blown. + +_Myself_.—It may well be so. I have been galloping at least two leagues +in pursuit of a fellow who engaged to guide me to Finisterra, but who +deserted me in a most singular manner, so much so, that I almost believe +him to be a thief, and no true man. You do not happen to have seen him? + +_Guide_.—What kind of a man might he be? + +_Myself_.—A short, thick fellow, very much like yourself, with a hump +upon his back, and, excuse me, of a very ill-favoured countenance. + +_Guide_.—Ha, ha! I know him. He ran with me to this fountain, where he +has just left me. That man, Sir Cavalier, is no thief. If he is any +thing at all, he is a Nuveiro,—a fellow who rides upon the clouds, and is +occasionally whisked away by a gust of wind. Should you ever travel with +that man again, never allow him more than one glass of anise at a time, +or he will infallibly mount into the clouds and leave you, and then he +will ride and run till he comes to a water brook, or knocks his head +against a fountain—then one draught, and he is himself again. So you are +going to Finisterra, Sir Cavalier. Now it is singular enough, that a +cavalier much of your appearance engaged me to conduct him there this +morning. I however lost him on the way. So it appears to me our best +plan to travel together until you find your own guide and I find my own +master. + +It might be about two o’clock in the afternoon, that we reached a long +and ruinous bridge, seemingly of great antiquity, and which, as I was +informed by my guide, was called the bridge of Don Alonzo. It crossed a +species of creek, or rather frith, for the sea was at no considerable +distance, and the small town of Noyo lay at our right. “When we have +crossed that bridge, captain,” said my guide, “we shall be in an unknown +country, for I have never been farther than Noyo, and as for Finisterra, +so far from having been there, I never heard of such a place; and though +I have inquired of two or three people since we have been upon this +expedition, they know as little about it as I do. Taking all things, +however, into consideration, it appears to me that the best thing we can +do is to push forward to Corcuvion, which is five mad leagues from hence, +and which we may perhaps reach ere nightfall, if we can find the way or +get any one to direct us; for, as I told you before, I know nothing about +it.” “To fine hands have I confided myself,” said I: “however, we had +best, as you say, push forward to Corcuvion, where, peradventure, we may +hear something of Finisterra, and find a guide to conduct us.” +Whereupon, with a hop, skip, and a jump, he again set forward at a rapid +pace, stopping occasionally at a choza, for the purpose, I suppose, of +making inquiries, though I understood scarcely anything of the jargon in +which he addressed the people, and in which they answered him. + +We were soon in an extremely wild and hilly country, scrambling up and +down ravines, wading brooks, and scratching our hands and faces with +brambles, on which grew a plentiful crop of wild mulberries, to gather +some of which we occasionally made a stop. Owing to the roughness of the +way we made no great progress. The pony followed close at the back of +the guide, so near, indeed, that its nose almost touched his shoulder. +The country grew wilder and wilder, and since we had passed a water mill, +we had lost all trace of human habitation. The mill stood at the bottom +of a valley shaded by large trees, and its wheels were turning with a +dismal and monotonous noise. “Do you think we shall reach Corcuvion +to-night?” said I to the guide, as we emerged from this valley to a +savage moor, which appeared of almost boundless extent. + +_Guide_.—I do not, I do not. We shall in no manner reach Corcuvion +to-night, and I by no means like the appearance of this moor. The sun is +rapidly sinking, and then, if there come on a haze, we shall meet the +Estadéa. + +_Myself_.—What do you mean by the Estadéa? + +_Guide_.—What do I mean by the Estadéa? My master asks me what I mean by +the Estadinha. {274} I have met the Estadinha but once, and it was upon +a moor something like this. I was in company with several women, and a +thick haze came on, and suddenly a thousand lights shone above our heads +in the haze, and there was a wild cry, and the women fell to the ground +screaming Estadéa! Estadéa! and I myself fell to the ground crying out +Estadinha! The Estadéa are the spirits of the dead which ride upon the +haze, bearing candles in their hands. I tell you frankly, my master, +that if we meet the assembly of the souls, I shall leave you at once, and +then I shall run and run till I drown myself in the sea, somewhere about +Muros. We shall not reach Corcuvion this night; my only hope is that we +may find some choza upon these moors, where we may hide our heads from +the Estadinha. + +The night overtook us ere we had traversed the moor; there was, however, +no haze, to the great joy of my guide, and a corner of the moon partially +illumined our steps. Our situation, however, was dreary enough: we were +upon the wildest heath of the wildest province of Spain, ignorant of our +way, and directing our course we scarcely knew whither, for my guide +repeatedly declared to me, that he did not believe that such a place as +Finisterra existed, or if it did exist, it was some bleak mountain +pointed out in a map. When I reflected on the character of this guide, I +derived but little comfort or encouragement: he was at best evidently +half witted, and was by his own confession occasionally seized with +paroxysms which differed from madness in no essential respect; his wild +escapade in the morning of nearly three leagues, without any apparent +cause, and lastly his superstitious and frantic fears of meeting the +souls of the dead upon this heath, in which event he intended, as he +himself said, to desert me and make for the sea, operated rather +powerfully upon my nerves. I likewise considered that it was quite +possible that we might be in the route neither of Finisterra nor +Corcuvion, and I therefore determined to enter the first cabin at which +we should arrive, in preference to running the risk of breaking our necks +by tumbling down some pit or precipice. No cabin, however, appeared in +sight: the moor seemed interminable, and we wandered on until the moon +disappeared, and we were left in almost total darkness. + +At length we arrived at the foot of a steep ascent, up which a rough and +broken pathway appeared to lead. + +“Can this be our way?” said I to the guide. + +“There appears to be no other for us, captain,” replied the man; “let us +ascend it by all means, and when we are at the top, if the sea be in the +neighbourhood we shall see it.” + +I then dismounted, for to ride up such a pass in such darkness would have +been madness. We clambered up in a line, first the guide, next the pony, +with his nose as usual on his master’s shoulder, of whom he seemed +passionately fond, and I bringing up the rear, with my left hand grasping +the animal’s tail. We had many a stumble, and more than one fall: once, +indeed, we were all rolling down the side of the hill together. In about +twenty minutes we reached the summit, and looked around us, but no sea +was visible: a black moor, indistinctly seen, seemed to spread on every +side. + +“We shall have to take up our quarters here till morning,” said I. + +Suddenly my guide seized me by the hand: “There is lume, Senhor,” said +he, “there is lume.” I looked in the direction in which he pointed, and, +after straining my eyes for some time, imagined that I perceived, far +below and at some distance, a faint glow. “That is lume,” shouted the +guide, “and it proceeds from the chimney of a choza.” + +On descending the eminence, we roamed about for a considerable time, +until we at last found ourselves in the midst of about six or eight black +huts. “Knock at the door of one of these,” said I to the guide, “and +inquire of the people whether they can shelter us for the night.” He did +so, and a man presently made his appearance, bearing in his hand a +lighted firebrand. + +“Can you shelter a Cavalheiro from the night and the Estadéa?” said my +guide. + +“From both, I thank God,” said the man, who was an athletic figure, +without shoes and stockings, and who, upon the whole, put me much in mind +of a Munster peasant from the bogs. “Pray enter, gentlemen, we can +accommodate you both and your cavalgadura besides.” + +We entered the choza, which consisted of three compartments; in the first +we found straw, in the second cattle and ponies, and in the third the +family, consisting of the father and mother of the man who admitted us, +and his wife and children. + +“You are a Catalan, sir Cavalier, and are going to your countryman at +Corcuvion,” said the man in tolerable Spanish. “Ah, you are brave +people, you Catalans, and fine establishments you have on the Gallegan +shores; pity that you take all the money out of the country.” + +Now, under all circumstances, I had not the slightest objection to pass +for a Catalan; and I rather rejoiced that these wild people should +suppose that I had powerful friends and countrymen in the neighbourhood +who were, perhaps, expecting me. I therefore favoured their mistake, and +began with a harsh Catalan accent to talk of the fish of Galicia, and the +high duties on salt. The eye of my guide was upon me for an instant, +with a singular expression, half serious, half droll; he however said +nothing, but slapped his thigh as usual, and with a spring nearly touched +the roof of the cabin with his grotesque head. Upon inquiry, I +discovered that we were still two long leagues distant from Corcuvion, +and that the road lay over moor and hill, and was hard to find. Our host +now demanded whether we were hungry, and upon being answered in the +affirmative, produced about a dozen eggs and some bacon. Whilst our +supper was cooking, a long conversation ensued between my guide and the +family, but as it was carried on in Gallegan, I tried in vain to +understand it. I believe, however, that it principally related to +witches and witchcraft, as the Estadéa was frequently mentioned. After +supper I demanded where I could rest: whereupon the host pointed to a +trap-door in the roof, saying that above there was a loft where I could +sleep by myself, and have clean straw. For curiosity’s sake, I asked +whether there was such a thing as a bed in the cabin. + +“No,” replied the man; “nor nearer than Corcuvion. I never entered one +in my life, nor any one of my family: we sleep around the hearth, or +among the straw with the cattle.” + +I was too old a traveller to complain, but forthwith ascended by a ladder +into a species of loft, tolerably large and nearly empty, where I placed +my cloak beneath my head, and lay down on the boards, which I preferred +to the straw, for more reasons than one. I heard the people below +talking in Gallegan for a considerable time, and could see the gleams of +the fire through the interstices of the floor. The voices, however, +gradually died away, the fire sank low and could no longer be +distinguished. I dozed, started, dozed again, and dropped finally into a +profound sleep, from which I was only roused by the crowing of the second +cock. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX + + +Autumnal Morning—The World’s End—Corcuvion—Duyo—The Cape—A Whale—The +Outer Bay—The Arrest—The Fisher-Magistrate—Calros Rey—Hard of +Belief—Where is your Passport?—The Beach—A Mighty Liberal—The +Handmaid—The Grand Baintham—Eccentric Book—Hospitality. + +It was a beautiful autumnal morning when we left the choza and pursued +our way to Corcuvion. I satisfied our host by presenting him with a +couple of pesetas, and he requested as a favour, that if on our return we +passed that way, and were overtaken by the night, we would again take up +our abode beneath his roof. This I promised, at the same time +determining to do my best to guard against the contingency; as sleeping +in the loft of a Gallegan hut, though preferable to passing the night on +a moor or mountain, is anything but desirable. + +So we again started at a rapid pace along rough bridle-ways and +footpaths, amidst furze and brushwood. In about an hour we obtained a +view of the sea, and directed by a lad, whom we found on the moor +employed in tending a few miserable sheep, we bent our course to the +north-west, and at length reached the brow of an eminence, where we +stopped for some time to survey the prospect which opened before us. + +It was not without reason that the Latins gave the name of Finnisterræ to +this district. We had arrived exactly at such a place as in my boyhood I +had pictured to myself as the termination of the world, beyond which +there was a wild sea, or abyss, or chaos. I now saw far before me an +immense ocean, and below me a long and irregular line of lofty and +precipitous coast. Certainly in the whole world there is no bolder coast +than the Gallegan shore, from the debouchement of the Minho to Cape +Finisterra. It consists of a granite wall of savage mountains, for the +most part serrated at the top, and occasionally broken, where bays and +firths like those of Vigo and Pontevedra intervene, running deep into the +land. These bays and firths are invariably of an immense depth, and +sufficiently capacious to shelter the navies of the proudest maritime +nations. + +There is an air of stern and savage grandeur in everything around, which +strongly captivates the imagination. This savage coast is the first +glimpse of Spain which the voyager from the north catches, or he who has +ploughed his way across the wide Atlantic: and well does it seem to +realize all his visions of this strange land. “Yes,” he exclaims, “this +is indeed Spain—stern flinty Spain—land emblematic of those spirits to +which she has given birth. From what land but that before me could have +proceeded those portentous beings, who astounded the Old World and filled +the New with horror and blood: Alba and Philip, Cortez and Pizarro: stern +colossal spectres looming through the gloom of bygone years, like yonder +granite mountains through the haze, upon the eye of the mariner. Yes, +yonder is indeed Spain; flinty, indomitable Spain; land emblematic of its +sons!” + +As for myself, when I viewed that wide ocean and its savage shore, I +cried, “Such is the grave, and such are its terrific sides; those moors +and wilds, over which I have passed, are the rough and dreary journey of +life. Cheered with hope, we struggle along through all the difficulties +of moor, bog, and mountain, to arrive at—what? The grave and its dreary +sides. Oh, may hope not desert us in the last hour: hope in the Redeemer +and in God!” + +We descended from the eminence, and again lost sight of the sea amidst +ravines and dingles, amongst which patches of pine were occasionally +seen. Continuing to descend, we at last came, not to the sea, but to the +extremity of a long narrow firth, where stood a village or hamlet; whilst +at a small distance, on the Western side of the firth, appeared one +considerably larger, which was indeed almost entitled to the appellation +of town. This last was Corcuvion; the first, if I forget not, was called +Ria de Silla. We hastened on to Corcuvion, where I bade my guide make +inquiries respecting Finisterra. He entered the door of a wine-house, +from which proceeded much noise and vociferation, and presently returned, +informing me that the village of Finisterra was distant about a league +and a half. A man, evidently in a state of intoxication, followed him to +the door: “Are you bound for Finisterra, Cavalheiros?” he shouted. + +“Yes, my friend,” I replied, “we are going thither.” + +“Then you are going amongst a flock of drunkards (_fato de barrachos_),” +he answered. “Take care that they do not play you a trick.” + +We passed on, and striking across a sandy peninsula at the back of the +town, soon reached the shore of an immense bay, the north-westernmost end +of which was formed by the far-famed cape of Finisterra, which we now saw +before us stretching far into the sea. + +Along a beach of dazzling white sand, we advanced towards the cape, the +bourne of our journey. The sun was shining brightly, and every object +was illumined by his beams. The sea lay before us like a vast mirror, +and the waves which broke upon the shore were so tiny as scarcely to +produce a murmur. On we sped along the deep winding bay, overhung by +gigantic hills and mountains. Strange recollections began to throng upon +my mind. It was upon this beach that, according to the tradition of all +ancient Christendom, Saint James, the patron saint of Spain, preached the +Gospel to the heathen Spaniards. Upon this beach had once stood an +immense commercial city, the proudest in all Spain. This now desolate +bay had once resounded with the voices of myriads, when the keels and +commerce of all the then known world were wafted to Duyo. + +“What is the name of this village?” said I to a woman, as we passed by +five or six ruinous houses at the bend of the bay, ere we entered upon +the peninsula of Finisterra. + +“This is no village,” said the Gallegan, “this is no village, Sir +Cavalier, this is a city, this is Duyo.” + +So much for the glory of the world! These huts were all that the roaring +sea and the tooth of time had left of Duyo, the great city! Onward now +to Finisterra. + +It was midday when we reached the village of Finisterra, consisting of +about one hundred houses, and built on the southern side of the +peninsula, just before it rises into the huge bluff head which is called +the Cape. We sought in vain for an inn or venta, where we might stable +our beast; at one moment we thought that we had found one, and had even +tied the animal to the manger. Upon our going out, however, he was +instantly untied and driven forth into the street. The few people whom +we saw appeared to gaze upon us in a singular manner. We, however, took +little notice of these circumstances, and proceeded along the straggling +street until we found shelter in the house of a Castilian shopkeeper, +whom some chance had brought to this corner of Galicia,—this end of the +world. Our first care was to feed the animal, who now began to exhibit +considerable symptoms of fatigue. We then requested some refreshment for +ourselves; and in about an hour a tolerably savoury fish, weighing about +three pounds, and fresh from the bay, was prepared for us by an old woman +who appeared to officiate as housekeeper. Having finished our meal, I +and my uncouth companion went forth and prepared to ascend the mountain. + +We stopped to examine a small dismantled fort or battery facing the bay; +and whilst engaged in this examination, it more than once occurred to me +that we were ourselves the objects of scrutiny and investigation: indeed +I caught a glimpse of more than one countenance peering upon us through +the holes and chasms of the walls. We now commenced ascending +Finisterra; and making numerous and long detours, we wound our way up its +flinty sides. The sun had reached the top of heaven, whence he showered +upon us perpendicularly his brightest and fiercest rays. My boots were +torn, my feet cut, and the perspiration streamed from my brow. To my +guide, however, the ascent appeared to be neither toilsome nor difficult. +The heat of the day for him had no terrors, no moisture was wrung from +his tanned countenance; he drew not one short breath; and hopped upon the +stones and rocks with all the provoking agility of a mountain goat. +Before we had accomplished one half of the ascent, I felt myself quite +exhausted. I reeled and staggered. “Cheer up, master mine, be of good +cheer, and have no care,” said the guide. “Yonder I see a wall of +stones; lie down beneath it in the shade.” He put his long and strong +arm round my waist, and though his stature compared with mine was that of +a dwarf, he supported me, as if I had been a child, to a rude wall which +seemed to traverse the greatest part of the hill, and served probably as +a kind of boundary. It was difficult to find a shady spot: at last he +perceived a small chasm, perhaps scooped by some shepherd as a couch, in +which to enjoy his siesta. In this he laid me gently down, and taking +off his enormous hat, commenced fanning me with great assiduity. By +degrees I revived, and after having rested for a considerable time, I +again attempted the ascent, which, with the assistance of my guide, I at +length accomplished. + +We were now standing at a great altitude between two bays: the wilderness +of waters before us. Of all the ten thousand barks which annually plough +those seas in sight of that old cape, not one was to be descried. It was +a blue shiny waste, broken by no object save the black head of a +spermaceti whale, which would occasionally show itself at the top, +casting up thin jets of brine. The principal bay, that of Finisterra, as +far as the entrance, was beautifully variegated by an immense shoal of +sardinhas, on whose extreme skirts the monster was probably feasting. +From the northern side of the cape we looked down upon a smaller bay, the +shore of which was overhung by rocks of various and grotesque shapes; +this is called the outer bay, or, in the language of the country, _Praia +do mar de fora_: a fearful place in seasons of wind and tempest, when the +long swell of the Atlantic pouring in, is broken into surf and foam by +the sunken rocks with which it abounds. Even in the calmest day there is +a rumbling and a hollow roar in that bay which fill the heart with uneasy +sensations. + +On all sides there was grandeur and sublimity. After gazing from the +summit of the Cape for nearly an hour we descended. + +On reaching the house where we had taken up our temporary habitation, we +perceived that the portal was occupied by several men, some of whom were +reclining on the floor drinking wine out of small earthen pans, which are +much used in this part of Galicia. With a civil salutation I passed on, +and ascended the staircase to the room in which we had taken our repast. +Here there was a rude and dirty bed, on which I flung myself, exhausted +with fatigue. I determined to take a little repose, and in the evening +to call the people of the place together, to read a few chapters of the +Scripture, and then to address them with a little Christian exhortation. +I was soon asleep, but my slumbers were by no means tranquil. I thought +I was surrounded with difficulties of various kinds amongst rocks and +ravines, vainly endeavouring to extricate myself; uncouth visages showed +themselves amidst the trees and in the hollows, thrusting out cloven +tongues and uttering angry cries. I looked around for my guide, but +could not find him; methought, however, that I heard his voice down a +deep dingle. He appeared to be talking of me. How long I might have +continued in these wild dreams I know not. I was suddenly, however, +seized roughly by the shoulder and nearly dragged from the bed. I looked +up in amazement, and by the light of the descending sun I beheld hanging +over me a wild and uncouth figure; it was that of an elderly man, built +as strong as a giant, with much beard and whiskers, and huge bushy +eyebrows, dressed in the habiliments of a fisherman; in his hand was a +rusty musket. + +_Myself_.—Who are you and what do you want? + +_Figure_.—Who I am matters but little. Get up and follow me; it is you I +want. + +_Myself_.—By what authority do you thus presume to interfere with me? + +_Figure_.—By the authority of the justicia of Finisterra. Follow me +peaceably, Calros, or it will be the worse for you. + +“Calros,” said I, “what does the person mean?” I thought it, however, +most prudent to obey his command, and followed him down the staircase. +The shop and the portal were now thronged with the inhabitants of +Finisterra, men, women, and children; the latter for the most part in a +state of nudity, and with bodies wet and dripping, having been probably +summoned in haste from their gambols in the brine. Through this crowd +the figure whom I have attempted to describe pushed his way with an air +of authority. + +On arriving in the street, he laid his heavy hand upon my arm, not +roughly however. “It is Calros! it is Calros!” said a hundred voices; +“he has come to Finisterra at last, and the justicia have now got hold of +him.” Wondering what all this could mean, I attended my strange +conductor down the street. As we proceeded, the crowd increased every +moment, following and vociferating. Even the sick were brought to the +door to obtain a view of what was going forward and a glance at the +redoubtable Calros. I was particularly struck by the eagerness displayed +by one man, a cripple, who, in spite of the entreaties of his wife, mixed +with the crowd, and having lost his crutch, hopped forward on one leg, +exclaiming,—“_Carracho_! _tambien voy yo_!” + +We at last reached a house of rather larger size than the rest; my guide +having led me into a long low room, placed me in the middle of the floor, +and then hurrying to the door, he endeavoured to repulse the crowd who +strove to enter with us. This he effected, though not without +considerable difficulty, being once or twice compelled to have recourse +to the butt of his musket, to drive back unauthorized intruders. I now +looked round the room. It was rather scantily furnished: I could see +nothing but some tubs and barrels, the mast of a boat, and a sail or two. +Seated upon the tubs were three or four men coarsely dressed, like +fishermen or shipwrights. The principal personage was a surly +ill-tempered-looking fellow of about thirty-five, whom eventually I +discovered to be the alcalde of Finisterra, and lord of the house in +which we now were. In a corner I caught a glimpse of my guide, who was +evidently in durance, two stout fishermen standing before him, one with a +musket and the other with a boat-hook. After I had looked about me for a +minute, the alcalde, giving his whiskers a twist, thus addressed me:— + +“Who are you, where is your passport, and what brings you to Finisterra?” + +_Myself_.—I am an Englishman. Here is my passport, and I came to see +Finisterra. + +This reply seemed to discomfit them for a moment. They looked at each +other, then at my passport. At length the alcalde, striking it with his +finger, bellowed forth: + +“This is no Spanish passport; it appears to be written in French.” + +_Myself_.—I have already told you that I am a foreigner. I of course +carry a foreign passport. + +_Alcalde_.—Then you mean to assert that you are not Calros Rey. + +_Myself_.—I never heard before of such a king, nor indeed of such a name. + +_Alcalde_.—Hark to the fellow: he has the audacity to say that he has +never heard of Calros the pretender, who calls himself king. + +_Myself_.—If you mean by Calros, the pretender Don Carlos, all I can +reply is, that you can scarcely be serious. You might as well assert +that yonder poor fellow, my guide, whom I see you have made prisoner, is +his nephew, the infante Don Sebastian. + +_Alcalde_.—See, you have betrayed yourself; that is the very person we +suppose him to be. + +_Myself_.—It is true that they are both hunchbacks. But how can I be +like Don Carlos? I have nothing the appearance of a Spaniard, and am +nearly a foot taller than the pretender. + +_Alcalde_.—That makes no difference; you of course carry many waistcoats +about you, by means of which you disguise yourself, and appear tall or +low according to your pleasure. + +This last was so conclusive an argument that I had of course nothing to +reply to it. The alcalde looked around him in triumph, as if he had made +some notable discovery. “Yes, it is Calros; it is Calros,” said the +crowd at the door. “It will be as well to have these men shot +instantly,” continued the alcalde; “if they are not the two pretenders, +they are at any rate two of the factious.” + +“I am by no means certain that they are either one or the other,” said a +gruff voice. + +The justicia of Finisterra turned their eyes in the direction from which +these words proceeded, and so did I. Our glances rested upon the figure +who held watch at the door. He had planted the barrel of his musket on +the floor, and was now leaning his chin against the butt. + +“I am by no means certain that they are either one or the other,” +repeated he, advancing forward. “I have been examining this man,” +pointing to myself, “and listening whilst he spoke, and it appears to me +that after all he may prove an Englishman; he has their very look and +voice. Who knows the English better than Antonio de la Trava, and who +has a better right? Has he not sailed in their ships; has he not eaten +their biscuit; and did he not stand by Nelson when he was shot dead?” + +Here the alcalde became violently incensed. “He is no more an Englishman +than yourself,” he exclaimed; “if he were an Englishman would he have +come in this manner, skulking across the land? Not so I trow. He would +have come in a ship, recommended to some of us, or to the Catalans. He +would have come to trade, to buy; but nobody knows him in Finisterra, nor +does he know anybody: and the first thing, moreover, that he does when he +reaches this place is to inspect the fort, and to ascend the mountain +where, no doubt, he has been marking out a camp. What brings him to +Finisterra if he is neither Calros nor a bribon of a faccioso?” + +I felt that there was a good deal of justice in some of these remarks, +and I was aware, for the first time, that I had, indeed, committed a +great imprudence in coming to this wild place, and among these barbarous +people, without being able to assign any motive which could appear at all +valid in their eyes. I endeavoured to convince the alcalde that I had +come across the country for the purpose of making myself acquainted with +the many remarkable objects which it contained, and of obtaining +information respecting the character and condition of the inhabitants. +He could understand no such motives. “What did you ascend the mountain +for?” “To see prospects.” “Disparate! I have lived at Finisterra forty +years and never ascended that mountain. I would not do it in a day like +this for two ounces of gold. You went to take altitudes, and to mark out +a camp.” I had, however, a staunch friend in old Antonio, who insisted, +from his knowledge of the English, that all I had said might very +possibly be true. “The English,” said he, “have more money than they +know what to do with, and on that account they wander all over the world, +paying dearly for what no other people care a groat for.” He then +proceeded, notwithstanding the frowns of the alcalde, to examine me in +the English language. His own entire knowledge of this tongue was +confined to two words—_knife_ and _fork_, which words I rendered into +Spanish by their equivalents, and was forthwith pronounced an Englishman +by the old fellow, who, brandishing his musket, exclaimed:— + +“This man is not Calros; he is what he declares himself to be, an +Englishman, and whosoever seeks to injure him, shall have to do with +Antonio de la Trava el valiente de Finisterra.” No person sought to +impugn this verdict, and it was at length determined that I should be +sent to Corcuvion, to be examined by the alcalde mayor of the district. +“But,” said the alcalde of Finisterra, “what is to be done with the other +fellow? He at least is no Englishman. Bring him forward, and let us +hear what he has to say for himself. Now, fellow, who are you, and what +is your master?” + +_Guide_.—I am Sebastianillo, a poor broken mariner of Padron, and my +master for the present is the gentleman whom you see, the most valiant +and wealthy of all the English. He has two ships at Vigo laden with +riches. I told you so when you first seized me up there in our posada. + +_Alcalde_.—Where is your passport? + +_Guide_.—I have no passport. Who would think of bringing a passport to +such a place as this, where I don’t suppose there are two individuals who +can read? I have no passport; my master’s passport of course includes +me. + +_Alcalde_.—It does not. And since you have no passport, and have +confessed that your name is Sebastian, you shall be shot. Antonio de la +Trava, do you and the musketeers lead this Sebastianillo forth, and shoot +him before the door. + +_Antonio de la Trava_.—With much pleasure, Señor Alcalde, since you order +it. With respect to this fellow, I shall not trouble myself to +interfere. He at least is no Englishman. He has more the look of a +wizard or nuveiro; one of those devils who raise storms and sink +launches. Moreover, he says he is from Padron, and those of that place +are all thieves and drunkards. They once played me a trick, and I would +gladly be at the shooting of the whole pueblo. + +I now interfered, and said that if they shot the guide they must shoot me +too; expatiating at the same time on the cruelty and barbarity of taking +away the life of a poor unfortunate fellow who, as might be seen at the +first glance, was only half witted; adding, moreover, that if any person +was guilty in this case it was myself, as the other could only be +considered in the light of a servant acting under my orders. + +“The safest plan after all,” said the alcalde, “appears to be, to send +you both prisoners to Corcuvion, where the head alcalde can dispose of +you as he thinks proper. You must, however, pay for your escort; for it +is not to be supposed that the housekeepers of Finisterra have nothing +else to do than to ramble about the country with every chance fellow who +finds his way to this town.” “As for that matter,” said Antonio, “I will +take charge of them both. I am the valiente of Finisterra, and fear no +two men living. Moreover, I am sure that the captain here will make it +worth my while, else he is no Englishman. Therefore let us be quick and +set out for Corcuvion at once, as it is getting late. First of all, +however, captain, I must search you and your baggage. You have no arms, +of course? But it is best to make all sure.” + +Long ere it was dark I found myself again on the pony, in company with my +guide, wending our way along the beach in the direction of Corcuvion. +Antonio de la Trava tramped heavily on before, his musket on his +shoulder. + +_Myself_.—Are you not afraid, Antonio, to be thus alone with two +prisoners, one of whom is on horseback? If we were to try, I think we +could overpower you. + +_Antonio de la Trava_.—I am the valiente de Finisterra, and I fear no +odds. + +_Myself_.—Why do you call yourself the valiente of Finisterra? + +_Antonio de la Trava_.—The whole district call me so. When the French +came to Finisterra, and demolished the fort, three perished by my hand. +I stood on the mountain, up where I saw you scrambling to-day. I +continued firing at the enemy, until three detached themselves in pursuit +of me. The fools! two perished amongst the rocks by the fire of this +musket, and as for the third, I beat his head to pieces with the stock. +It is on that account that they call me the valiente of Finisterra. + +_Myself_.—How came you to serve with the English fleet? I think I heard +you say that you were present when Nelson fell. + +_Antonio de la Trava_.—I was captured by your countrymen, captain; and as +I had been a sailor from my childhood, they were glad of my services. I +was nine months with them, and assisted at Trafalgar. I saw the English +admiral die. You have something of his face, and your voice, when you +spoke, sounded in my ears like his own. I love the English, and on that +account I saved you. Think not that I would toil along these sands with +you if you were one of my own countrymen. Here we are at Duyo, captain. +Shall we refresh? + +We did refresh, or rather Antonio de la Trava refreshed, swallowing pan +after pan of wine, with a thirst which seemed unquenchable. “That man +was a greater wizard than myself,” whispered Sebastian, my guide, “who +told us that the drunkards of Finisterra would play us a trick.” At +length the old hero of the Cape slowly rose, saying, that we must hasten +on to Corcuvion, or the night would overtake us by the way. + +“What kind of person is the alcalde to whom you are conducting me?” said +I. + +“Oh, very different from him of Finisterra,” replied Antonio. “This is a +young Señorito, lately arrived from Madrid. He is not even a Gallegan. +He is a mighty liberal, and it is owing chiefly to his orders that we +have lately been so much on the alert. It is said that the Carlists are +meditating a descent on these parts of Galicia. Let them only come to +Finisterra, we are liberals there to a man, and the old valiente is ready +to play the same part as in the time of the French. But, as I was +telling you before, the alcalde to whom I am conducting you is a young +man, and very learned, and if he thinks proper, he can speak English to +you, even better than myself, notwithstanding I was a friend of Nelson, +and fought by his side at Trafalgar.” + +It was dark night before we reached Corcuvion. Antonio again stopped to +refresh at a wine-shop, after which he conducted us to the house of the +alcalde. His steps were by this time not particularly steady, and on +arriving at the gate of the house, he stumbled over the threshold and +fell. He got up with an oath, and instantly commenced thundering at the +door with the stock of his musket. “Who is it?” at length demanded a +soft female voice in Gallegan. “The valiente of Finisterra,” replied +Antonio; whereupon the gate was unlocked, and we beheld before us a very +pretty female with a candle in her hand. “What brings you here so late, +Antonio?” she inquired. “I bring two prisoners, mi pulida,” replied +Antonio. “Ave Maria!” she exclaimed, “I hope they will do no harm.” “I +will answer for one,” replied the old man; “but, as for the other, he is +a nuveiro, and has sunk more ships than all his brethren in Galicia. But +be not afraid, my beauty,” he continued, as the female made the sign of +the cross: “first lock the gate, and then show me the way to the alcalde. +I have much to tell him.” The gate was locked, and bidding us stay below +in the courtyard, Antonio followed the young woman up a stone stair, +whilst we remained in darkness below. + +After the lapse of about a quarter of an hour we again saw the candle +gleam upon the staircase, and the young female appeared. Coming up to +me, she advanced the candle to my features, on which she gazed very +intently. After a long scrutiny she went to my guide, and having +surveyed him still more fixedly, she turned to me, and said, in her best +Spanish, “Senhor Cavalier, I congratulate you on your servant. He is the +best-looking mozo in all Galicia. Vaya! if he had but a coat to his +back, and did not go barefoot, I would accept him at once as a novio; but +I have unfortunately made a vow never to marry a poor man, but only one +who has got a heavy purse and can buy me fine clothes. So you are a +Carlist, I suppose? Vaya! I do not like you the worse for that. But, +being so, how went you to Finisterra, where they are all Christinos and +negros? Why did you not go to my village? None would have meddled with +you there. Those of my village are of a different stamp to the drunkards +of Finisterra. Those of my village never interfere with honest people. +Vaya! how I hate that drunkard of Finisterra who brought you, he is so +old and ugly; were it not for the love which I bear to the Senhor +Alcalde, I would at once unlock the gate and bid you go forth, you and +your servant, the buen mozo.” + +Antonio now descended. “Follow me,” said he; “his worship the alcalde +will be ready to receive you in a moment.” Sebastian and myself followed +him upstairs to a room where, seated behind a table, we beheld a young +man of low stature but handsome features and very fashionably dressed. +He appeared to be inditing a letter, which, when he had concluded, he +delivered to a secretary to be transcribed. He then looked at me for a +moment fixedly, and the following conversation ensued between us:— + +_Alcalde_.—I see that you are an Englishman, and my friend Antonio here +informs me that you have been arrested at Finisterra. + +_Myself_.—He tells you true; and but for him I believe that I should have +fallen by the hands of those savage fishermen. + +_Alcalde_.—The inhabitants of Finisterra are brave, and are all liberals. +Allow me to look at your passport? Yes, all in form. Truly it was very +ridiculous that they should have arrested you as a Carlist. + +_Myself_.—Not only as a Carlist, but as Don Carlos himself. + +_Alcalde_.—Oh! most ridiculous; mistake a countryman of the grand +Baintham for such a Goth! + +_Myself_.—Excuse me, Sir, you speak of the grand somebody. + +_Alcalde_.—The grand Baintham. He who has invented laws for all the +world. I hope shortly to see them adopted in this unhappy country of +ours. + +_Myself_.—Oh! you mean Jeremy Bentham. Yes! a very remarkable man in his +way. + +_Alcalde_.—In his way! In all ways. The most universal genius which the +world ever produced:—a Solon, a Plato, and a Lope de Vega. + +_Myself_.—I have never read his writings. I have no doubt that he was a +Solon; and as you say, a Plato. I should scarcely have thought, however, +that he could be ranked as a poet with Lope de Vega. + +_Alcalde_.—How surprising! I see, indeed, that you know nothing of his +writings, though an Englishman. Now, here am I, a simple alcalde of +Galicia, yet I possess all the writings of Baintham on that shelf, and I +study them day and night. + +_Myself_.—You doubtless, Sir, possess the English Language. + +_Alcalde_.—I do. I mean that part of it which is contained in the +writings of Baintham. I am most truly glad to see a countryman of his in +these Gothic wildernesses. I understand and appreciate your motives for +visiting them: excuse the incivility and rudeness which you have +experienced. But we will endeavour to make you reparation. You are this +moment free: but it is late; I must find you a lodging for the night. I +know one close by which will just suit you. Let us repair thither this +moment. Stay, I think I see a book in your hand. + +_Myself_.—The New Testament. + +_Alcalde_.—What book is that? + +_Myself_.—A portion of the sacred writings, the Bible. + +_Alcalde_.—Why do you carry such a book with you? + +_Myself_.—One of my principal motives in visiting Finisterra was to carry +this book to that wild place. + +_Alcalde_.—Ha, ha! how very singular. Yes, I remember. I have heard +that the English highly prize this eccentric book. How very singular +that the countrymen of the grand Baintham should set any value upon that +old monkish book. + +It was now late at night, and my new friend attended me to the lodging +which he had destined for me, and which was at the house of a respectable +old female, where I found a clean and comfortable room. On the way I +slipped a gratuity into the hand of Antonio, and on my arrival, formally, +and in the presence of the alcalde, presented him with the Testament, +which I requested he would carry back to Finisterra, and keep in +remembrance of the Englishman in whose behalf he had so effectually +interposed. + +_Antonio_.—I will do so, your worship; and when the winds blow from the +north-west, preventing our launches from putting to sea, I will read your +present. Farewell, my captain, and when you next come to Finisterra I +hope it will be in a valiant English bark, with plenty of contrabando on +board, and not across the country on a pony, in company with nuveiros and +men of Padron. + +Presently arrived the handmaid of the alcalde with a basket, which she +took into the kitchen, where she prepared an excellent supper for her +master’s friend. On its being served up the alcalde bade me farewell, +having first demanded whether he could in any way forward my plans. + +“I return to Saint James to-morrow,” I replied, “and I sincerely hope +that some occasion will occur which will enable me to acquaint the world +with the hospitality which I have experienced from so accomplished a +scholar as the Alcalde of Corcuvion.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI + + +Coruna—Crossing the Bay—Ferrol—The Dockyard—Where are we now?—Greek +Ambassador—Lantern-light—The Ravine—Viveiro—Evening—Marsh and +Quagmire—Fair Words and Fair Money—The Leathern Girth—Eyes of Lynx—The +Knavish Guide. + +From Corcuvion I returned to Saint James and Coruña, and now began to +make preparation for directing my course to the Asturias. In the first +place I parted with my Andalusian horse, which I considered unfit for the +long and mountainous journey I was about to undertake; his constitution +having become much debilitated from his Gallegan travels. Owing to +horses being exceedingly scarce at Coruña, I had no difficulty in +disposing of him at a far higher price than he originally cost me. A +young and wealthy merchant of Coruña, who was a national guardsman, +became enamoured of his glossy skin and long mane and tail. For my own +part, I was glad to part with him for more reasons than one; he was both +vicious and savage, and was continually getting me into scrapes in the +stables of the posadas where we slept or baited. An old Castilian +peasant, whose pony he had maltreated, once said to me, “Sir Cavalier, if +you have any love or respect for yourself, get rid I beseech you of that +beast, who is capable of proving the ruin of a kingdom.” So I left him +behind at Coruña, where I subsequently learned that he became glandered +and died. Peace to his memory! + +From Coruña I crossed the bay to Ferrol, whilst Antonio with our +remaining horse followed by land, a rather toilsome and circuitous +journey, although the distance by water is scarcely three leagues. I was +very sea-sick during the passage, and lay almost senseless at the bottom +of the small launch in which I had embarked, and which was crowded with +people. The wind was adverse, and the water rough. We could make no +sail, but were impelled along by the oars of five or six stout mariners, +who sang all the while Gallegan ditties. Suddenly the sea appeared to +have become quite smooth, and my sickness at once deserted me. I rose +upon my feet and looked around. We were in one of the strangest places +imaginable. A long and narrow passage overhung on either side by a +stupendous barrier of black and threatening rocks. The line of the coast +was here divided by a natural cleft, yet so straight and regular that it +seemed not the work of chance but design. The water was dark and sullen, +and of immense depth. This passage, which is about a mile in length, is +the entrance to a broad basin, at whose farther extremity stands the town +of Ferrol. + +Sadness came upon me as soon as I entered this place. Grass was growing +in the streets, and misery and distress stared me in the face on every +side. Ferrol is the grand naval arsenal of Spain, and has shared in the +ruin of the once splendid Spanish navy: it is no longer thronged with +those thousand shipwrights who prepared for sea the tremendous +three-deckers and long frigates, the greater part of which were destroyed +at Trafalgar. Only a few ill-paid and half-starved workmen still linger +about, scarcely sufficient to repair any guarda costa which may put in +dismantled by the fire of some English smuggling schooner from Gibraltar. +Half the inhabitants of Ferrol beg their bread; and amongst these, as it +is said, are not unfrequently found retired naval officers, many of them +maimed or otherwise wounded, who are left to pine in indigence; their +pensions or salaries having been allowed to run three or four years in +arrear, owing to the exigencies of the times. A crowd of importunate +beggars followed me to the posada, and even attempted to penetrate to the +apartment to which I was conducted. “Who are you?” said I to a woman who +flung herself at my feet, and who bore in her countenance evident marks +of former gentility. “A widow, sir,” she replied, in very good French; +“a widow of a brave officer, once admiral of this port.” The misery and +degradation of modern Spain are nowhere so strikingly manifested as at +Ferrol. + +Yet even here there is still much to admire. Notwithstanding its present +state of desolation, it contains some good streets, and abounds with +handsome houses. The alameda is planted with nearly a thousand elms, of +which almost all are magnificent trees, and the poor Ferrolese, with the +genuine spirit of localism so prevalent in Spain, boast that their town +contains a better public walk than Madrid, of whose prado, when they +compare the two, they speak in terms of unmitigated contempt. At one end +of this alameda stands the church, the only one in Ferrol. To this +church I repaired the day after my arrival, which was Sunday. I found it +quite insufficient to contain the number of worshippers who, chiefly from +the country, not only crowded the interior, but, bare-headed, were upon +their knees before the door to a considerable distance down the walk. + +Parallel with the alameda extends the wall of the naval arsenal and dock. +I spent several hours in walking about these places, to visit which it is +necessary to procure a written permission from the captain-general of +Ferrol. They filled me with astonishment. I have seen the royal +dockyards of Russia and England, but for grandeur of design and +costliness of execution, they cannot for a moment compare with these +wonderful monuments of the bygone naval pomp of Spain. I shall not +attempt to describe them, but content myself with observing, that the +oblong basin, which is surrounded with a granite mole, is capacious +enough to permit a hundred first-rates to lie conveniently in ordinary: +but instead of such a force, I saw only a sixty-gun frigate and two brigs +lying in this basin, and to this inconsiderable number of vessels is the +present war marine of Spain reduced. + +I waited for the arrival of Antonio two or three days at Ferrol, and +still he came not: late one evening, however, as I was looking down the +street, I perceived him advancing, leading our only horse by the bridle. +He informed me that, at about three leagues from Coruña, the heat of the +weather and the flies had so distressed the animal that it had fallen +down in a kind of fit, from which it had been only relieved by copious +bleeding, on which account he had been compelled to halt for a day upon +the road. The horse was evidently in a very feeble state; and had a +strange rattling in its throat, which alarmed me at first. I however +administered some remedies, and in a few days deemed him sufficiently +recovered to proceed. + +We accordingly started from Ferrol; having first hired a pony for myself, +and a guide who was to attend us as far as Rivadeo, twenty leagues from +Ferrol, and on the confines of the Asturias. The day at first was fine, +but ere we reached Novales, a distance of three leagues, the sky became +overcast, and a mist descended, accompanied by a drizzling rain. The +country through which we passed was very picturesque. At about two in +the afternoon we could descry through the mist the small fishing town of +Santa Marta on our left, with its beautiful bay. Travelling along the +summit of a line of hills, we presently entered a chestnut forest, which +appeared to be without limit: the rain still descended, and kept up a +ceaseless pattering among the broad green leaves. “This is the +commencement of the autumnal rains,” said the guide. “Many is the +wetting that you will get, my masters, before you reach Oviedo.” “Have +you ever been as far as Oviedo?” I demanded. “No,” he replied, “and once +only to Rivadeo, the place to which I am now conducting you, and I tell +you frankly that we shall soon be in wildernesses where the way is hard +to find, especially at night, and amidst rain and waters. I wish I were +fairly back to Ferrol, for I like not this route, which is the worst in +Galicia, in more respects than one; but where my master’s pony goes, +there must I go too; such is the life of us guides.” I shrugged my +shoulders at this intelligence, which was by no means cheering, but made +no answer. At length, about nightfall, we emerged from the forest, and +presently descended into a deep valley at the foot of lofty hills. + +“Where are we now?” I demanded of the guide, as we crossed a rude bridge +at the bottom of the valley, down which a rivulet swollen by the rain +foamed and roared. “In the valley of Coisa doiro,” he replied; “and it +is my advice that we stay here for the night, and do not venture among +those hills, through which lies the path to Viveiro; for as soon as we +get there, adios! I shall be bewildered, which will prove the +destruction of us all.” “Is there a village nigh?” “Yes, the village is +right before us, and we shall be there in a moment.” We soon reached the +village, which stood amongst some tall trees at the entrance of a pass +which led up amongst the hills. Antonio dismounted and entered two or +three of the cabins, but presently came to me, saying, “We cannot stay +here, mon maître, without being devoured by vermin; we had better be +amongst the hills than in this place; there is neither fire nor light in +these cabins, and the rain is streaming through the roofs.” The guide, +however, refused to proceed: “I could scarcely find my way amongst those +hills by daylight,” he cried, surlily, “much less at night, midst storm +and bretima.” We procured some wine and maize bread from one of the +cottages. Whilst we were partaking of these, Antonio said, “Mon maître, +the best thing we can do in our present situation, is to hire some fellow +of this village to conduct us through the hills to Viveiro. There are no +beds in this place, and if we lie down in the litter in our damp clothes +we shall catch a tertian of Galicia. Our present guide is of no service, +we must therefore find another to do his duty.” Without waiting for a +reply, he flung down the crust of broa which he was munching and +disappeared. I subsequently learned that he went to the cottage of the +alcalde, and demanded, in the Queen’s name, a guide for the Greek +ambassador, who was benighted on his way to the Asturias. In about ten +minutes I again saw him, attended by the local functionary, who, to my +surprise, made me a profound bow, and stood bare-headed in the rain. +“His excellency,” shouted Antonio, “is in need of a guide to Viveiro. +People of our description are not compelled to pay for any service which +they may require; however, as his excellency has bowels of compassion, he +is willing to give three pesetas to any competent person who will +accompany him to Viveiro, and as much bread and wine as he can eat and +drink on his arrival.” “His excellency shall be served,” said the +alcalde; “however, as the way is long and the path is bad, and there is +much bretima amongst the hills, it appears to me that, besides the bread +and wine, his excellency can do no less than offer four pesetas to the +guide who may be willing to accompany him to Viveiro; and I know no one +better than my own son-in-law, Juanito.” “Content, señor alcalde,” I +replied; “produce the guide, and the extra peseta shall be forthcoming in +due season.” + +Soon appeared Juanito with a lantern in his hand. We instantly set +forward. The two guides began conversing in Gallegan. “Mon maître,” +said Antonio, “this new scoundrel is asking the old one what he thinks we +have got in our portmanteaus.” Then, without awaiting my answer, he +shouted, “Pistols, ye barbarians! Pistols, as ye shall learn to your +cost, if you do not cease speaking in that gibberish and converse in +Castilian.” The Gallegans were silent, and presently the first guide +dropped behind, whilst the other with the lantern moved before. “Keep in +the rear,” said Antonio to the former, “and at a distance: know one thing +moreover, that I can see behind as well as before. Mon maître,” said he +to me, “I don’t suppose these fellows will attempt to do us any harm, +more especially as they do not know each other; it is well, however, to +separate them, for this is a time and place which might tempt any one to +commit robbery and murder too.” + +The rain still continued to fall uninterruptedly, the path was rugged and +precipitous, and the night was so dark that we could only see +indistinctly the hills which surrounded us. Once or twice our guide +seemed to have lost his way: he stopped, muttered to himself, raised his +lantern on high, and would then walk slowly and hesitatingly forward. In +this manner we proceeded for three or four hours, when I asked the guide +how far we were from Viveiro. “I do not know exactly where we are, your +worship,” he replied, “though I believe we are in the route. We can +scarcely, however, be less than two mad leagues from Viveiro.” “Then we +shall not arrive there before morning,” interrupted Antonio, “for a mad +league of Galicia means at least two of Castile; and perhaps we are +doomed never to arrive there, if the way thither leads down this +precipice.” As he spoke, the guide seemed to descend into the bowels of +the earth. “Stop,” said I, “where are you going?” “To Viveiro, Senhor,” +replied the fellow; “this is the way to Viveiro, there is no other; I now +know where we are.” The light of the lantern shone upon the dark red +features of the guide, who had turned round to reply, as he stood some +yards down the side of a dingle or ravine overgrown with thick trees, +beneath whose leafy branches a frightfully steep path descended. I +dismounted from the pony, and delivering the bridle to the other guide, +said, “Here is your master’s horse, if you please you may lead him down +that abyss, but as for myself I wash my hands of the matter.” The +fellow, without a word of reply, vaulted into the saddle, and with _a +vamos_, _Perico_! to the pony, impelled the creature to the descent. +“Come, Senhor,” said he with the lantern, “there is no time to be lost, +my light will be presently extinguished, and this is the worst bit in the +whole road.” I thought it very probable that he was about to lead us to +some den of cut-throats, where we might be sacrificed; but taking +courage, I seized our own horse by the bridle, and followed the fellow +down the ravine amidst rocks and brambles. The descent lasted nearly ten +minutes, and ere we had entirely accomplished it, the light in the +lantern went out, and we remained in nearly total darkness. + +Encouraged, however, by the guide, who assured us there was no danger, we +at length reached the bottom of the ravine; here we encountered a rill of +water, through which we were compelled to wade as high as the knee. In +the midst of the water I looked up and caught a glimpse of the heavens +through the branches of the trees, which all around clothed the shelving +sides of the ravine and completely embowered the channel of the stream: +to a place more strange and replete with gloom and horror no benighted +traveller ever found his way. After a short pause we commenced scaling +the opposite bank, which we did not find so steep as the other, and a few +minutes’ exertion brought us to the top. + +Shortly afterwards the rain abated, and the moon arising cast a dim light +through the watery mists; the way had become less precipitous, and in +about two hours we descended to the shore of an extensive creek, along +which we proceeded till we reached a spot where many boats and barges lay +with their keels upward upon the sand. Presently we beheld before us the +walls of Viveiro, upon which the moon was shedding its sickly lustre. We +entered by a lofty and seemingly ruinous archway, and the guide conducted +us at once to the posada. + +Every person in Viveiro appeared to be buried in profound slumber; not so +much as a dog saluted us with his bark. After much knocking we were +admitted into the posada, a large and dilapidated edifice. We had +scarcely housed ourselves and horses when the rain began to fall with yet +more violence than before, attended with much thunder and lightning. +Antonio and I, exhausted with fatigue, betook ourselves to flock beds in +a ruinous chamber, into which the rain penetrated through many a cranny, +whilst the guides ate bread and drank wine till the morning. + +When I arose I was gladdened by the sight of a fine day. Antonio +forthwith prepared a savoury breakfast of stewed fowl, of which we stood +in much need after the ten league journey of the preceding day over the +ways which I have attempted to describe. I then walked out to view the +town, which consists of little more than one long street, on the side of +a steep mountain thickly clad with forests and fruit trees. At about ten +we continued our journey, accompanied by our first guide, the other +having returned to Coisa doiro some hours previously. + +Our route throughout this day was almost constantly within sight of the +shores of the Cantabrian sea, whose windings we followed. The country +was barren, and in many parts covered with huge stones: cultivated spots, +however, were to be seen, where vines were growing. We met with but few +human habitations. We however journeyed on cheerfully, for the sun was +once more shining in full brightness, gilding the wild moors, and shining +upon the waters of the distant sea, which lay in unruffled calmness. + +At evening fall we were in the neighbourhood of the shore, with a range +of wood-covered hills on our right. Our guide led us towards a creek +bordered by a marsh, but he soon stopped and declared that he did not +know whither he was conducting us. + +“Mon maître,” said Antonio, “let us be our own guides; it is, as you see, +of no use to depend upon this fellow, whose whole science consists in +leading people into quagmires.” + +We therefore turned aside and proceeded along the marsh for a +considerable distance, till we reached a narrow path which led us into a +thick wood, where we soon became completely bewildered. On a sudden, +after wandering about a considerable time, we heard the noise of water, +and presently the clack of a wheel. Following the sound, we arrived at a +low stone mill, built over a brook; here we stopped and shouted, but no +answer was returned. “The place is deserted,” said Antonio; “here, +however, is a path, which, if we follow it, will doubtless lead us to +some human habitation.” So we went along the path, which, in about ten +minutes, brought us to the door of a cabin, in which we saw lights. +Antonio dismounted and opened the door: “Is there any one here who can +conduct us to Rivadeo?” he demanded. + +“Senhor,” answered a voice, “Rivadeo is more than five leagues from here, +and, moreover, there is a river to cross!” + +“Then to the next village,” continued Antonio. + +“I am a vecino of the next village, which is on the way to Rivadeo,” said +another voice, “and I will lead you thither, if you will give me fair +words, and, what is better, fair money.” + +A man now came forth, holding in his hand a large stick. He strode +sturdily before us, and in less than half an hour led us out of the wood. +In another half hour he brought us to a group of cabins situated near the +sea; he pointed to one of these, and having received a peseta, bade us +farewell. + +The people of the cottage willingly consented to receive us for the +night: it was much more cleanly and commodious than the wretched huts of +the Gallegan peasantry in general. The ground floor consisted of a +keeping room and stable, whilst above was a long loft, in which were some +neat and comfortable flock beds. I observed several masts and sails of +boats. The family consisted of two brothers with their wives and +families; one was a fisherman, but the other, who appeared to be the +principal person, informed me that he had resided for many years in +service at Madrid, and having amassed a small sum, he had at length +returned to his native village, where he had purchased some land which he +farmed. All the family used the Castilian language in their common +discourse, and on inquiry I learned that the Gallegan was not much spoken +in that neighbourhood. I have forgotten the name of this village, which +is situated on the estuary of the Foz, which rolls down from Mondonedo. +In the morning we crossed this estuary in a large boat with our horses, +and about noon arrived at Rivadeo. + +“Now, your worship,” said the guide who had accompanied us from Ferrol, +“I have brought you as far as I bargained, and a hard journey it has +been; I therefore hope you will suffer Perico and myself to remain here +to-night at your expense, and to-morrow we will go back; at present we +are both sorely tired.” + +“I never mounted a better pony than Perico,” said I, “and never met with +a worse guide than yourself. You appear to be perfectly ignorant of the +country, and have done nothing but bring us into difficulties. You may, +however, stay here for the night, as you say you are tired, and to-morrow +you may return to Ferrol, where I counsel you to adopt some other trade.” +This was said at the door of the posada of Rivadeo. + +“Shall I lead the horses to a stable?” said the fellow. + +“As you please,” said I. + +Antonio looked after him for a moment, as he was leading the animals +away, and then shaking his head followed slowly after. In about a +quarter of an hour he returned, laden with the furniture of our own +horse, and with a smile upon his countenance: “Mon maître,” said he, “I +have throughout the journey had a bad opinion of this fellow, and now I +have detected him: his motive in requesting permission to stay, was a +desire to purloin something from us. He was very officious in the stable +about our horse, and I now miss the new leathern girth which secured the +saddle, and which I observed him looking at frequently on the road. He +has by this time doubtless hid it somewhere; we are quite secure of him, +however, for he has not yet received the hire for the pony, nor the +gratuity for himself.” + +The guide returned just as he had concluded speaking. Dishonesty is +always suspicious. The fellow cast a glance upon us, and probably +beholding in our countenances something which he did not like, he +suddenly said, “Give me the horse-hire and my own propina, for Perico and +I wish to be off instantly.” + +“How is this?” said I; “I thought you and Perico were both fatigued, and +wished to rest here for the night; you have soon recovered from your +weariness.” + +“I have thought over the matter,” said the fellow, “and my master will be +angry if I loiter here: pay us, therefore, and let us go.” + +“Certainly,” said I, “if you wish it. Is the horse furniture all right?” + +“Quite so,” said he; “I delivered it all to your servant.” + +“It is all here,” said Antonio, “with the exception of the leathern +girth.” + +“I have not got it,” said the guide. + +“Of course not,” said I. “Let us proceed to the stable, we shall perhaps +find it there.” + +To the stable we went, which we searched through: no girth, however, was +forthcoming. “He has got it buckled round his middle beneath his +pantaloons, mon maître,” said Antonio, whose eyes were moving about like +those of a lynx; “I saw the protuberance as he stooped down. However, +let us take no notice: he is here surrounded by his countrymen, who, if +we were to seize him, might perhaps take his part. As I said before, he +is in our power, as we have not paid him.” + +The fellow now began to talk in Gallegan to the by-standers (several +persons having collected), wishing the Denho to take him if he knew +anything of the missing property. Nobody, however, seemed inclined to +take his part; and those who listened, only shrugged their shoulders. We +returned to the portal of the posada, the fellow following us, clamouring +for the horse-hire and propina. We made him no answer, and at length he +went away, threatening to apply to the justicia; in about ten minutes, +however, he came running back with the girth in his hand: “I have just +found it,” said he, “in the street: your servant dropped it.” + +I took the leather and proceeded very deliberately to count out the sum +to which the horse-hire amounted, and having delivered it to him in the +presence of witnesses, I said, “During the whole journey you have been of +no service to us whatever; nevertheless, you have fared like ourselves, +and have had all you could desire to eat and drink. I intended, on your +leaving us, to present you, moreover, with a propina of two dollars; but +since, notwithstanding our kind treatment, you endeavoured to pillage us, +I will not give you a cuarto: go, therefore, about your business.” + +All the audience expressed their satisfaction at this sentence, and told +him that he had been rightly served, and that he was a disgrace to +Galicia. Two or three women crossed themselves, and asked him if he was +not afraid that the Denho, whom he had invoked, would take him away. At +last, a respectable-looking man said to him: “Are you not ashamed to have +attempted to rob two innocent strangers?” + +“Strangers!” roared the fellow, who was by this time foaming with rage; +“Innocent strangers, carracho! they know more of Spain and Galicia too +than the whole of us. Oh, Denho, that servant is no man but a wizard, a +nuveiro.—Where is Perico?” + +He mounted Perico, and proceeded forthwith to another posada. The tale, +however, of his dishonesty had gone before him, and no person would house +him; whereupon he returned on his steps, and seeing me looking out of the +window of the house, he gave a savage shout, and shaking his fist at me, +galloped out of the town, the people pursuing him with hootings and +revilings. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII + + +Martin of Rivadeo—The Factious Mare—Asturians—Luarca—The Seven +Bellotas—Hermits—The Asturian’s Tale—Strange Guests—The Big +Servant—Batuschca. + +“What may your business be?” said I to a short, thick, merry-faced fellow +in a velveteen jerkin and canvas pantaloons, who made his way into my +apartment, in the dusk of the evening. + +“I am Martin of Rivadeo, your worship,” replied the man, “an alquilador +by profession; I am told that you want a horse for your journey into the +Asturias to-morrow, and of course a guide: now, if that be the case, I +counsel you to hire myself and mare.” + +“I am become tired of guides,” I replied; “so much so that I was thinking +of purchasing a pony, and proceeding without any guide at all. The last +which we had was an infamous character.” + +“So I have been told, your worship, and it was well for the bribon that I +was not in Rivadeo when the affair to which you allude occurred. But he +was gone with the pony Perico before I came back, or I would have bled +the fellow to a certainty with my knife. He is a disgrace to the +profession, which is one of the most honourable and ancient in the world. +Perico himself must have been ashamed of him, for Perico, though a pony, +is a gentleman, one of many capacities, and well known upon the roads. +He is only inferior to my mare.” + +“Are you well acquainted with the road to Oviedo?” I demanded. + +“I am not, your worship; that is, no farther than Luarca, which is the +first day’s journey. I do not wish to deceive you, therefore let me go +with you no farther than that place; though perhaps I might serve for the +whole journey, for though I am unacquainted with the country, I have a +tongue in my head, and nimble feet to run and ask questions. I will, +however, answer for myself no farther than Luarca, where you can please +yourselves. Your being strangers is what makes me wish to accompany you, +for I like the conversation of strangers, from whom I am sure to gain +information both entertaining and profitable. I wish, moreover, to +convince you that we guides of Galicia are not all thieves, which I am +sure you will not suppose if you only permit me to accompany you as far +as Luarca.” + +I was so much struck with the fellow’s good humour and frankness, and +more especially by the originality of character displayed in almost every +sentence which he uttered, that I readily engaged him to guide us to +Luarca; whereupon he left me, promising to be ready with his mare at +eight next morning. + +Rivadeo is one of the principal seaports of Galicia, and is admirably +situated for commerce, on a deep firth, into which the river Mirando +debouches. It contains many magnificent buildings, and an extensive +square or plaza, which is planted with trees. I observed several vessels +in the harbour; and the population, which is rather numerous, exhibited +none of those marks of misery and dejection which I had lately observed +among the Ferrolese. + +On the morrow Martin of Rivadeo made his appearance at the appointed hour +with his mare. It was a lean haggard animal, not much larger than a +pony; it had good points, however, and was very clean in its hinder legs, +and Martin insisted that it was the best animal of its kind in all Spain. +“It is a factious mare,” said he, “and I believe an Alavese. When the +Carlists came here it fell lame, and they left it behind, and I purchased +it for a dollar. It is not lame now, however, as you shall soon see.” + +We had now reached the firth which divides Galicia from the Asturias. A +kind of barge was lying about two yards from the side of the quay, +waiting to take us over. Towards this Martin led his mare, and giving an +encouraging shout, the creature without any hesitation sprang over the +intervening space into the barge. “I told you she was a facciosa,” said +Martin; “none but a factious animal would have taken such a leap.” + +We all embarked in the barge and crossed over the firth, which is in this +place nearly a mile broad, to Castro Pol, the first town in the Asturias. +I now mounted the factious mare, whilst Antonio followed on my own horse. +Martin led the way, exchanging jests with every person whom he met on the +road, and occasionally enlivening the way with an extemporaneous song. + +We were now in the Asturias, and about noon we reached Navias, a small +fishing town, situate on a ria or firth; in the neighbourhood are ragged +mountains, called the Sierra de Buron, which stand in the shape of a +semi-circle. We saw a small vessel in the harbour, which we subsequently +learned was from the Basque provinces, come for a cargo of cider or +sagadua, the beverage so dearly loved by the Basques. As we passed along +the narrow street, Antonio was hailed with an “Ola” from a species of +shop in which three men, apparently shoemakers, were seated. He stopped +for some time to converse with them, and when he joined us at the posada +where we halted, I asked him who they were: “Mon maître,” said he, “_ce +sont des messieurs de ma connoissance_. I have been fellow servant at +different times with all three; and I tell you beforehand, that we shall +scarcely pass through a village in this country where I shall not find an +acquaintance. All the Asturians, at some period of their lives, make a +journey to Madrid, where, if they can obtain a situation, they remain +until they have scraped up sufficient to turn to advantage in their own +country; and as I have served in all the great houses in Madrid, I am +acquainted with the greatest part of them. I have nothing to say against +the Asturians, save that they are close and penurious whilst at service; +but they are not thieves, neither at home nor abroad, and though we must +have our wits about us in their country, I have heard we may travel from +one end of it to the other without the slightest fear of being either +robbed or ill treated, which is not the case in Galicia, where we were +always in danger of having our throats cut.” + +Leaving Navias, we proceeded through a wild desolate country, till we +reached the pass of Baralla, which lies up the side of a huge wall of +rocks, which at a distance appear of a light green colour, though +perfectly bare of herbage or plants of any description. + +“This pass,” said Martin of Rivadeo, “bears a very evil reputation, and I +should not like to travel it after sunset. It is not infested by +robbers, but by things much worse, the duendes of two friars of Saint +Francis. It is said that in the old time, long before the convents were +suppressed, two friars of the order of Saint Francis left their convent +to beg; it chanced that they were very successful, but as they were +returning at nightfall, by this pass, they had a quarrel about what they +had collected, each insisting that he had done his duty better than the +other; at last, from high words they fell to abuse, and from abuse to +blows. What do you think these demons of friars did? They took off +their cloaks, and at the end of each they made a knot, in which they +placed a large stone, and with these they thrashed and belaboured each +other till both fell dead. Master, I know not which are the worst +plagues, friars, curates, or sparrows: + + “May the Lord God preserve us from evil birds three: + From all friars and curates and sparrows that be; + For the sparrows eat up all the corn that we sow, + The friars drink down all the wine that we grow, + Whilst the curates have all the fair dames at their nod: + From these three evil curses preserve us, Lord God.” + +In about two hours from this time we reached Luarca, the situation of +which is most singular. It stands in a deep hollow, whose sides are so +precipitous that it is impossible to descry the town until you stand just +above it. At the northern extremity of this hollow is a small harbour, +the sea entering it by a narrow cleft. We found a large and comfortable +posada, and by the advice of Martin, made inquiry for a fresh guide and +horse; we were informed, however, that all the horses of the place were +absent, and that if we waited for their return, we must tarry for two +days. “I had a presentiment,” said Martin, “when we entered Luarca, that +we were not doomed to part at present. You must now hire my mare and me +as far as Giyon, from whence there is a conveyance to Oviedo. To tell +you the truth, I am by no means sorry that the guides are absent, for I +am pleased with your company, as I make no doubt you are with mine. I +will now go and write a letter to my wife at Rivadeo, informing her that +she must not expect to see me back for several days.” He then went out +of the room singing the following stanza: + + “A handless man a letter did write, + A dumb dictated it word for word: + The person who read it had lost his sight, + And deaf was he who listened and heard.” + +Early the next morning we emerged from the hollow of Luarca; about an +hour’s riding brought us to Caneiro, a deep and romantic valley of rocks, +shaded by tall chestnut trees. Through the midst of this valley rushes a +rapid stream, which we crossed in a boat. “There is not such a stream +for trout in all the Asturias,” said the ferryman; “look down into the +waters and observe the large stones over which it flows; now in the +proper season and in fine weather, you cannot see those stones for the +multitude of fish which cover them.” + +Leaving the valley behind us, we entered into a wild and dreary country, +stony and mountainous. The day was dull and gloomy, and all around +looked sad and melancholy. “Are we in the way for Giyon and Oviedo?” +demanded Martin of an ancient female, who stood at the door of a cottage. + +“For Giyon and Oviedo!” replied the crone; “many is the weary step you +will have to make before you reach Giyon and Oviedo. You must first of +all crack the bellotas: you are just below them.” + +“What does she mean by cracking the bellotas?” demanded I of Martin of +Rivadeo. + +“Did your worship never hear of the seven bellotas?” replied our guide. +“I can scarcely tell you what they are, as I have never seen them; I +believe they are seven hills which we have to cross, and are called +bellotas from some resemblance to acorns which it is fancied they bear. +I have often heard of these acorns, and am not sorry that I have now an +opportunity of seeing them, though it is said that they are rather hard +things for horses to digest.” + +The Asturian mountains in this part rise to a considerable altitude. +They consist for the most part of dark granite, covered here and there +with a thin layer of earth. They approach very near to the sea, to which +they slope down in broken ridges, between which are deep and precipitous +defiles, each with its rivulet, the tribute of the hills to the salt +flood. The road traverses these defiles. There are seven of them, which +are called, in the language of the country, _Las siete bellotas_. Of all +these, the most terrible is the midmost, down which rolls an impetuous +torrent. At the upper end of it rises a precipitous wall of rock, black +as soot, to the height of several hundred yards; its top, as we passed, +was enveloped with a veil of bretima. From this gorge branch off, on +either side, small dingles or glens, some of them so overgrown with trees +and copse-wood, that the eye is unable to penetrate the obscurity beyond +a few yards. + +“Fine places would some of these dingles prove for hermitages,” said I to +Martin of Rivadeo. “Holy men might lead a happy life there on roots and +water, and pass many years absorbed in heavenly contemplation, without +ever being disturbed by the noise and turmoil of the world.” + +“True, your worship,” replied Martin; “and perhaps on that very account +there are no hermitages in the barrancos of the seven bellotas. Our +hermits had little inclination for roots and water, and had no kind of +objection to be occasionally disturbed in their meditations. Vaya! I +never yet saw a hermitage that was not hard by some rich town or village, +or was not a regular resort for all the idle people in the neighbourhood. +Hermits are not fond of living in dingles, amongst wolves and foxes; for +how in that case could they dispose of their poultry? A hermit of my +acquaintance left, when he died, a fortune of seven hundred dollars to +his niece, the greatest part of which he scraped up by fattening +turkeys.” + +At the top of this bellota we found a wretched venta, where we refreshed +ourselves, and then continued our journey. Late in the afternoon we +cleared the last of these difficult passes. The wind began now to rise, +bearing on its wings a drizzling rain. We passed by Soto Luino, and +shaping our course through a wild but picturesque country, we found +ourselves about nightfall at the foot of a steep hill, up which led a +narrow bridle-way, amidst a grove of lofty trees. Long before we had +reached the top it had become quite dark, and the rain had increased +considerably. We stumbled along in the obscurity, leading our horses, +which were occasionally down on their knees, owing to the slipperiness of +the path. At last we accomplished the ascent in safety, and pushing +briskly forward, we found ourselves, in about half an hour, at the +entrance of Muros, a large village situated just on the declivity of the +farther side of the hill. + +A blazing fire in the posada soon dried our wet garments, and in some +degree recompensed us for the fatigues which we had undergone in +scrambling up the bellotas. A rather singular place was this same posada +of Muros. It was a large rambling house, with a spacious kitchen, or +common room, on the ground floor. Above stairs was a large +dining-apartment, with an immense oak table, and furnished with cumbrous +leathern chairs with high backs, apparently three centuries old at least. +Communicating with this apartment was a wooden gallery, open to the air, +which led to a small chamber, in which I was destined to sleep, and which +contained an old-fashioned tester-bed with curtains. It was just one of +those inns which romance writers are so fond of introducing in their +descriptions, especially when the scene of adventure lies in Spain. The +host was a talkative Asturian. + +The wind still howled, and the rain descended in torrents. I sat before +the fire in a very drowsy state, from which I was presently aroused by +the conversation of the host. “Señor,” said he, “it is now three years +since I beheld foreigners in my house. I remember it was about this time +of the year, and just such a night as this, that two men on horseback +arrived here. What was singular, they came without any guide. Two more +strange-looking individuals I never yet beheld with eye-sight. I shall +never forget them. The one was as tall as a giant, with much tawny +moustache, like the coat of a badger, growing about his mouth. He had a +huge ruddy face, and looked dull and stupid, as he no doubt was, for when +I spoke to him, he did not seem to understand, and answered in a jabber, +valgame Dios! so wild and strange, that I remained staring at him with +mouth and eyes open. The other was neither tall nor red-faced, nor had +he hair about his mouth, and, indeed, he had very little upon his head. +He was very diminutive, and looked like a jorobado (_hunchback_); but, +valgame Dios! such eyes, like wild cats’, so sharp and full of malice. +He spoke as good Spanish as I myself do, and yet he was no Spaniard. A +Spaniard never looked like that man. He was dressed in a zamarra, with +much silver and embroidery, and wore an Andalusian hat, and I soon found +that he was master, and that the other was servant. + +“Valgame Dios! what an evil disposition had that same foreign jorobado, +and yet he had much grace, much humour, and said occasionally to me such +comical things, that I was fit to die of laughter. So he sat down to +supper in the room above, and I may as well tell you here, that he slept +in the same chamber where your worship will sleep to-night, and his +servant waited behind his chair. Well, I had curiosity, so I sat myself +down at the table too, without asking leave. Why should I? I was in my +own house, and an Asturian is fit company for a king, and is often of +better blood. Oh, what a strange supper was that. If the servant made +the slightest mistake in helping him, up would start the jorobado, jump +upon his chair, and seizing the big giant by the hair, would cuff him on +both sides of the face, till I was afraid his teeth would have fallen +out. The giant, however, did not seem to care about it much. He was +used to it, I suppose. Valgame Dios! if he had been a Spaniard, he would +not have submitted to it so patiently. But what surprised me most was, +that after beating his servant, the master would sit down, and the next +moment would begin conversing and laughing with him as if nothing had +happened, and the giant also would laugh and converse with his master, +for all the world as if he had not been beaten. + +“You may well suppose, Señor, that I understood nothing of their +discourse, for it was all in that strange unchristian tongue in which the +giant answered me when I spoke to him; the sound of it is still ringing +in my ears. It was nothing like other languages. Not like Bascuen, not +like the language in which your worship speaks to my namesake Signor +Antonio here. Valgame Dios! I can compare it to nothing but the sound a +person makes when he rinses his mouth with water. There is one word +which I think I still remember, for it was continually proceeding from +the giant’s lips, but his master never used it. + +“But the strangest part of the story is yet to be told. The supper was +ended, and the night was rather advanced, the rain still beat against the +windows, even as it does at this moment. Suddenly the jorobado pulled +out his watch. Valgame Dios! such a watch! I will tell you one thing, +Señor, that I could purchase all the Asturias, and Muros besides, with +the brilliants which shone about the sides of that same watch: the room +wanted no lamp, I trow, so great was the splendour which they cast. So +the jorobado looked at his watch, and then said to me, I shall go to +rest. He then took the lamp and went through the gallery to his room, +followed by his big servant. Well, Señor, I cleared away the things, and +then waited below for the servant, for whom I had prepared a comfortable +bed, close by my own. Señor, I waited patiently for an hour, till at +last my patience was exhausted, and I ascended to the supper apartment, +and passed through the gallery till I came to the door of the strange +guest. Señor, what do you think I saw at the door?” + +“How should I know?” I replied. “His riding boots perhaps.” + +“No, Señor, I did not see his riding boots; but, stretched on the floor +with his head against the door, so that it was impossible to open it +without disturbing him, lay the big servant fast asleep, his immense legs +reaching nearly the whole length of the gallery. I crossed myself, as +well I might, for the wind was howling even as it is now, and the rain +was rushing down into the gallery in torrents; yet there lay the big +servant fast asleep, without any covering, without any pillow, not even a +log, stretched out before his master’s door. + +“Señor, I got little rest that night, for I said to myself, I have evil +wizards in my house, folks who are not human. Once or twice I went up +and peeped into the gallery, but there still lay the big servant fast +asleep, so I crossed myself and returned to my bed again.” + +“Well,” said I, “and what occurred next day?” + +“Nothing particular occurred next day: the jorobado came down and said +comical things to me in good Spanish, and the big servant came down, but +whatever he said, and he did not say much, I understood not, for it was +in that disastrous jabber. They stayed with me throughout the day till +after supper-time, and then the jorobado gave me a gold ounce, and +mounting their horses, they both departed as strangely as they had come, +in the dark night, I know not whither.” + +“Is that all?” I demanded. + +“No, Señor, it is not all; for I was right in supposing them evil brujos: +the very next day an express arrived and a great search was made after +them, and I was arrested for having harboured them. This occurred just +after the present wars had commenced. It was said they were spies and +emissaries of I don’t know what nation, and that they had been in all +parts of the Asturias, holding conferences with some of the disaffected. +They escaped, however, and were never heard of more, though the animals +which they rode were found without their riders, wandering amongst the +hills; they were common ponies, and were of no value. As for the brujos, +it is believed that they embarked in some small vessel which was lying +concealed in one of the rias of the coast.” + +_Myself_.—What was the word which you continually heard proceeding from +the lips of the big servant, and which you think you can remember? + +_Host_.—Señor, it is now three years since I heard it, and at times I can +remember it and at others not; sometimes I have started up in my sleep +repeating it. Stay, Señor, I have it now at the point of my tongue: it +was Patusca. + +_Myself_.—Batuschca, you mean; the men were Russians. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII + + +Oviedo—The Ten Gentlemen—The Swiss again—Modest Request—The +Robbers—Episcopal Benevolence—The Cathedral—Portrait of Feijoo. + +I must now take a considerable stride in my journey, no less than from +Muros to Oviedo, contenting myself with observing, that we proceeded from +Muros to Velez, and from thence to Giyon, where our guide Martin bade us +farewell, and returned with his mare to Rivadeo. The honest fellow did +not part without many expressions of regret, indeed he even expressed a +desire that I should take him and his mare into my service; “for,” said +he, “I have a great desire to run through all Spain, and even the world; +and I am sure I shall never have a better opportunity than by attaching +myself to your worship’s skirts.” On my reminding him, however, of his +wife and family, for he had both, he said, “True, true, I had forgotten +them: happy the guide whose only wife and family are a mare and foal.” + +Oviedo is about three leagues from Giyon. Antonio rode the horse, whilst +I proceeded thither in a kind of diligence which runs daily between the +two towns. The road is good, but mountainous. I arrived safely at the +capital of the Asturias, although at a rather unpropitious season, for +the din of war was at the gate, and there was the cry of the captains and +the shouting. Castile, at the time of which I am writing, was in the +hands of the Carlists, who had captured and plundered Valladolid in much +the same manner as they had Segovia some time before. They were every +day expected to march on Oviedo, in which case they might perhaps have +experienced some resistance, a considerable body of troops being +stationed there, who had erected some redoubts, and strongly fortified +several of the convents, especially that of Santa Clara de la Vega. All +minds were in a state of feverish anxiety and suspense, more especially +as no intelligence arrived from Madrid, which by the last accounts was +said to be occupied by the bands of Cabrera and Palillos. + +So it came to pass that one night I found myself in the ancient town of +Oviedo, in a very large, scantily-furnished, and remote room in an +ancient posada, formerly a palace of the counts of Santa Cruz. It was +past ten, and the rain was descending in torrents. I was writing, but +suddenly ceased on hearing numerous footsteps ascending the creaking +stairs which led to my apartment. The door was flung open, and in walked +nine men of tall stature, marshalled by a little hunchbacked personage. +They were all muffled in the long cloaks of Spain, but I instantly knew +by their demeanour that they were caballeros, or gentlemen. They placed +themselves in a rank before the table where I was sitting. Suddenly and +simultaneously they all flung back their cloaks, and I perceived that +every one bore a book in his hand; a book which I knew full well. After +a pause, which I was unable to break, for I sat lost in astonishment, and +almost conceived myself to be visited by apparitions, the hunchback, +advancing somewhat before the rest, said in soft silvery tones, “Señor +Cavalier, was it you who brought this book to the Asturias?” I now +supposed that they were the civil authorities of the place come to take +me into custody, and, rising from my seat, I exclaimed, “It certainly was +I, and it is my glory to have done so; the book is the New Testament of +God: I wish it was in my power to bring a million.” “I heartily wish so +too,” said the little personage with a sigh. “Be under no apprehension, +Sir Cavalier, these gentlemen are my friends; we have just purchased +these books in the shop where you placed them for sale, and have taken +the liberty of calling upon you, in order to return you our thanks for +the treasure you have brought us. I hope you can furnish us with the Old +Testament also.” I replied that I was sorry to inform him that at +present it was entirely out of my power to comply with his wish, as I had +no Old Testaments in my possession, but did not despair of procuring some +speedily from England. He then asked me a great many questions +concerning my biblical travels in Spain, and my success, and the views +entertained by the Society, with respect to Spain, adding that he hoped +we should pay particular attention to the Asturias, which he assured me +was the best ground in the Peninsula for our labour. After about half an +hour’s conversation, he suddenly said, in the English language, “Good +night, Sir,” wrapped his cloak around him, and walked out as he had come. +His companions, who had hitherto not uttered a word, all repeated “Good +night, Sir,” and, adjusting their cloaks, followed him. + +In order to explain this strange scene, I must state that in the morning +I had visited the petty bookseller of the place, Longoria, and having +arranged preliminaries with him, I sent him in the evening a package of +forty Testaments, all I possessed, with some advertisements. At the time +he assured me that, though he was willing to undertake the sale, there +was, nevertheless, not a prospect of success, as a whole month had +elapsed since he had sold a book of any description, on account of the +uncertainty of the times, and the poverty which pervaded the land; I +therefore felt much dispirited. This incident, however, admonished me +not to be cast down when things look gloomiest, as the hand of the Lord +is generally then most busy; that men may learn to perceive, that +whatever good is accomplished is not their work but his. + +Two or three days after this adventure, I was once more seated in my +large scantily-furnished room; it was about ten, of a dark melancholy +morning, and the autumnal rain was again falling. I had just +breakfasted, and was about to sit down to my journal, when the door was +flung open and in bounded Antonio. + +“Mon maître,” said he, quite breathless, “who do you think has arrived?” + +“The pretender, I suppose,” said I, in some trepidation; “if so, we are +prisoners.” + +“Bah, bah!” said Antonio, “it is not the pretender, but one worth twenty +of him; it is the Swiss of Saint James.” + +“Benedict Mol, the Swiss!” said I, “What! has he found the treasure? But +how did he come? How is he dressed?” + +“Mon maître,” said Antonio, “he came on foot if we may judge by his +shoes, through which his toes are sticking; and as for his dress, he is +in most villainous apparel.” + +“There must be some mystery in this,” said I; “where is he at present?” + +“Below, mon maître,” replied Antonio; “he came in quest of us. But I no +sooner saw him, than I hurried away to let you know.” + +In a few minutes Benedict Mol found his way up stairs; he was, as Antonio +had remarked, in most villainous apparel, and nearly barefooted; his old +Andalusian hat was dripping with rain. + +“Och, lieber herr,” said Benedict, “how rejoiced I am to see you again. +Oh, the sight of your countenance almost repays me for all the miseries I +have undergone since I parted with you at Saint James.” + +_Myself_.—I can scarcely believe that I really see you here at Oviedo. +What motive can have induced you to come to such an out-of-the-way place +from such an immense distance? + +_Benedict_.—Lieber herr, I will sit down and tell you all that has +befallen me. Some few days after I saw you last, the canonigo persuaded +me to go to the captain-general to apply for permission to disinter the +schatz, and also to crave assistance. So I saw the captain-general, who +at first received me very kindly, asked me several questions, and told me +to come again. So I continued visiting him till he would see me no +longer, and do what I might I could not obtain a glance of him. The +canon now became impatient, more especially as he had given me a few +pesetas out of the charities of the church. He frequently called me a +bribon and impostor. At last, one morning I went to him, and said that I +had proposed to return to Madrid, in order to lay the matter before the +government, and requested that he would give me a certificate to the +effect that I had performed a pilgrimage to Saint James, which I imagined +would be of assistance to me upon the way, as it would enable me to beg +with some colour of authority. He no sooner heard this request, than, +without saying a word or allowing me a moment to put myself on my +defence, he sprang upon me like a tiger, grasping my throat so hard that +I thought he would have strangled me. I am a Swiss, however, and a man +of Lucerne, and when I had recovered myself a little, I had no difficulty +in flinging him off; I then threatened him with my staff and went away. +He followed me to the gate with the most horrid curses, saying that if I +presumed to return again, he would have me thrown at once into prison as +a thief and a heretic. So I went in quest of yourself, lieber herr, but +they told me that you were departed for Coruña; I then set out for Coruña +after you. + +_Myself_.—And what befell you on the road? + +_Benedict_.—I will tell you: about half-way between Saint James and +Coruña, as I was walking along, thinking of the schatz, I heard a loud +galloping, and looking around me I saw two men on horseback coming across +the field with the swiftness of the wind, and making directly for me. +Lieber Gott, said I, these are thieves, these are factious; and so they +were. They came up to me in a moment and bade me stand, so I flung down +my staff, took off my hat and saluted them. “Good day, caballeros,” said +I to them. “Good day, countryman,” said they to me, and then we stood +staring at each other for more than a minute. Lieber himmel, I never saw +such robbers; so finely dressed, so well armed, and mounted so bravely on +two fiery little hakkas, that looked as if they could have taken wing and +flown up into the clouds! So we continued staring at each other, till at +last one asked me who I was, whence I came, and where I was going. +“Gentlemen,” said I, “I am a Swiss, I have been to Saint James to perform +a religious vow, and am now returning to my own country.” I said not a +word about the treasure, for I was afraid that they would have shot me at +once, conceiving that I carried part of it about me. “Have you any +money?” they demanded. “Gentlemen,” I replied, “you see how I travel on +foot, with my shoes torn to pieces; I should not do so if I had money. I +will not deceive you, however, I have a peseta and a few cuartos,” and +thereupon I took out what I had and offered it to them. “Fellow,” said +they, “we are caballeros of Galicia, and do not take pesetas, much less +cuartos. Of what opinion are you? Are you for the queen?” “No, +gentlemen,” said I, “I am not for the queen, but, at the same time, allow +me to tell you that I am not for the king either; I know nothing about +the matter; I am a Swiss, and fight neither for nor against anybody +unless I am paid.” This made them laugh, and then they questioned me +about Saint James, and the troops there, and the captain-general; and not +to disoblige them, I told them all I knew and much more. Then one of +them, who looked the fiercest and most determined, took his trombone in +his hand, and pointing it at me, said, “Had you been a Spaniard, we would +have blown your head to shivers, for we should have thought you a spy, +but we see you are a foreigner, and believe what you have said; take, +therefore, this peseta and go your way, but beware that you tell nobody +any thing about us, for if you do, carracho!” He then discharged his +trombone just over my head, so that for a moment I thought myself shot, +and then with an awful shout, they both galloped away, their horses +leaping over the barrancos, as if possessed with many devils. + +_Myself_.—And what happened to you on your arrival at Coruña? + +_Benedict_.—When I arrived at Coruña, I inquired after yourself, lieber +herr, and they informed me that, only the day before my arrival, you had +departed for Oviedo: and when I heard that, my heart died within me, for +I was now at the far end of Galicia, without a friend to help me. For a +day or two I knew not what to do; at last I determined to make for the +frontier of France, passing through Oviedo in the way, where I hoped to +see you and ask counsel of you. So I begged and bettled among the +Germans of Coruña. I, however, got very little from them, only a few +cuarts, less than the thieves had given me on the road from Saint James, +and with these I departed for the Asturias by the way of Mondonedo. Och, +what a town is that, full of canons, priests, and pfaffen, all of them +more Carlist than Carlos himself. + +One day I went to the bishop’s palace and spoke to him, telling him I was +a pilgrim from Saint James, and requesting assistance. He told me, +however, that he could not relieve me, and as for my being a pilgrim from +Saint James, he was glad of it, and hoped that it would be of service to +my soul. So I left Mondonedo, and got amongst the wild mountains, +begging and bettling at the door of every choza that I passed, telling +all I saw that I was a pilgrim from Saint James, and showing my passport +in proof that I had been there. Lieber herr, no person gave me a cuart, +nor even a piece of broa, and both Gallegans and Asturians laughed at +Saint James, and told me that his name was no longer a passport in Spain. +I should have starved if I had not sometimes plucked an ear or two out of +the maize fields; I likewise gathered grapes from the parras and berries +from the brambles, and in this manner I subsisted till I arrived at the +bellotas, where I slaughtered a stray kid which I met, and devoured part +of the flesh raw, so great was my hunger. It made me, however, very ill, +and for two days I lay in a barranco half dead and unable to help myself; +it was a mercy that I was not devoured by the wolves. I then struck +across the country for Oviedo: how I reached it I do not know; I was like +one walking in a dream. Last night I slept in an empty hog-sty about two +leagues from here, and ere I left it, I fell down on my knees and prayed +to God that I might find you, lieber herr, for you were my last hope. + +_Myself_.—And what do you propose to do at present? + +_Benedict_.—What can I say, lieber herr? I know not what to do. I will +be guided in everything by your counsel. + +_Myself_.—I shall remain at Oviedo a few days longer, during which time +you can lodge at this posada, and endeavour to recover from the fatigue +of your disastrous journeys; perhaps before I depart, we may hit on some +plan to extricate you from your present difficulties. + +Oviedo contains about fifteen thousand inhabitants. It is picturesquely +situated between two mountains, Morcin and Naranco; the former is very +high and rugged, and during the greater part of the year is covered with +snow; the sides of the latter are cultivated and planted with vines. The +principal ornament of the town is the cathedral, the tower of which is +exceedingly lofty, and is perhaps one of the purest specimens of Gothic +architecture at present in existence. The interior of the cathedral is +neat and appropriate, but simple and unadorned. I observed but one +picture, the Conversion of Saint Paul. One of the chapels is a cemetery, +in which rest the bones of eleven Gothic kings; to whose souls be peace. + +I bore a letter of recommendation from Coruña to a merchant of Oviedo. +This person received me very courteously, and generally devoted some +portion of every day to showing me the remarkable things of Oviedo. + +One morning he thus addressed me: “You have doubtless heard of Feijoo, +the celebrated philosophic monk of the order of Saint Benedict, whose +writings have so much tended to remove the popular fallacies and +superstitions so long cherished in Spain; he is buried in one of our +convents, where he passed a considerable portion of his life. Come with +me and I will show you his portrait. Carlos Tercero, our great king, +sent his own painter from Madrid to execute it. It is now in the +possession of a friend of mine, Don Ramon Valdez, an advocate.” + +Thereupon he led me to the house of Don Ramon Valdez, who very politely +exhibited the portrait of Feijoo. It was circular in shape, about a foot +in diameter, and was surrounded by a little brass frame, something like +the rim of a barber’s basin. The countenance was large and massive but +fine, the eyebrows knit, the eyes sharp and penetrating, nose aquiline. +On the head was a silken skull-cap; the collar of the coat or vest was +just perceptible. The painting was decidedly good, and struck me as +being one of the very best specimens of modern Spanish art which I had +hitherto seen. + +A day or two after this I said to Benedict Mol, “to-morrow I start from +hence for Santander. It is therefore high time that you decide upon some +course, whether to return to Madrid or to make the best of your way to +France, and from thence proceed to your own country.” + +“Lieber herr,” said Benedict, “I will follow you to Santander by short +journeys, for I am unable to make long ones amongst these hills; and when +I am there, peradventure I may find some means of passing into France. +It is a great comfort, in my horrible journeys, to think that I am +travelling over the ground which yourself have trodden, and to hope that +I am proceeding to rejoin you once more. This hope kept me alive in the +bellotas, and without it I should never have reached Oviedo. I will quit +Spain as soon as possible, and betake me to Lucerne, though it is a hard +thing to leave the schatz behind me in the land of the Gallegans.” + +Thereupon I presented him with a few dollars. + +“A strange man is this Benedict,” said Antonio to me next morning, as, +accompanied by a guide, we sallied forth from Oviedo; “a strange man, mon +maître, is this same Benedict. A strange life has he led, and a strange +death he will die,—it is written on his countenance. That he will leave +Spain I do not believe, or if he leave it, it will be only to return, for +he is bewitched about this treasure. Last night he sent for a sorciere, +whom he consulted in my presence; and she told him that he was doomed to +possess it, but that first of all he must cross water. She cautioned him +likewise against an enemy, which he supposes must be the canon of Saint +James. I have often heard people speak of the avidity of the Swiss for +money, and here is a proof of it. I would not undergo what Benedict has +suffered in these last journeys of his, to possess all the treasures in +Spain.” + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV + + +Departure from Oviedo—Villa Viciosa—The Young Man of the Inn—Antonio’s +Tale—The General and his Family—Woful Tidings—To-morrow we Die—San +Vincente—Santander—An Harangue—Flinter the Irishman. + +So we left Oviedo and directed our course towards Santander. The man who +accompanied us as guide, and from whom I hired the pony on which I rode, +had been recommended to me by my friend the merchant of Oviedo. He +proved, however, a lazy indolent fellow; he was generally loitering two +or three hundred yards in our rear, and instead of enlivening the way +with song and tale, like our late guide, Martin of Rivadeo, he scarcely +ever opened his lips, save to tell us not to go so fast, or that I should +burst his pony if I spurred him so. He was thievish withal, and though +he had engaged to make the journey _seco_, that is, to defray the charges +of himself and beast, he contrived throughout to keep both at our +expense. When journeying in Spain, it is invariably the cheapest plan to +agree to maintain the guide and his horse or mule, for by so doing the +hire is diminished at least one third, and the bills upon the road are +seldom increased: whereas, in the other case, he pockets the difference, +and yet goes shot free, and at the expense of the traveller, through the +connivance of the innkeepers, who have a kind of fellow feeling with the +guides. + +Late in the afternoon we reached Villa Viciosa, a small dirty town, at +the distance of eight leagues from Oviedo: it stands beside a creek which +communicates with the Bay of Biscay. It is sometimes called La Capital +de las Avellanas, or the capital of the Filberts, from the immense +quantity of this fruit which is grown in the neighbourhood; and the +greatest part of which is exported to England. As we drew nigh we +overtook numerous cars laden with avellanas proceeding in the direction +of the town. I was informed that several small English vessels were +lying in the harbour. Singular as it may seem, however, notwithstanding +we were in the capital of the Avellanas, it was with the utmost +difficulty that I procured a scanty handful for my dessert, and of these +more than one half were decayed. The people of the house informed me +that the nuts were intended for exportation, and that they never dreamt +either of partaking of them themselves or of offering them to their +guests. + +At an early hour on the following day we reached Colunga, a beautiful +village on a rising ground, thickly planted with chestnut trees. It is +celebrated, at least in the Asturias, as being the birth-place of +Arguelles, the father of the Spanish constitution. + +As we dismounted at the door of the posada, where we intended to refresh +ourselves, a person who was leaning out of an upper window uttered an +exclamation and disappeared. We were yet at the door, when the same +individual came running forth and cast himself on the neck of Antonio. +He was a good-looking young man, apparently about five and twenty, +genteelly dressed, with a Montero cap on his head. Antonio looked at him +for a moment, and then with a _Ah_, _Monsieur_, _est ce bien vous_? shook +him affectionately by the hand. The stranger then motioned him to follow +him, and they forthwith proceeded to the room above. + +Wondering what this could mean, I sat down to my morning repast. Nearly +an hour elapsed, and still Antonio did not make his appearance; through +the boards, however, which composed the ceiling of the kitchen where I +sat, I could hear the voices of himself and his acquaintance, and thought +that I could occasionally distinguish the sound of broken sobs and +groans; at last there was a long pause. I became impatient, and was +about to summon Antonio, when he made his appearance, but unaccompanied +by the stranger. “What, in the name of all that is singular,” I +demanded, “have you been about? Who is that man?” “Mon maître,” said +Antonio, “_c’est un monsieur de ma connoissance_. With your permission I +will now take a mouthful, and as we journey along I will tell you all +that I know of him.” + +“Monsieur,” said Antonio, as we rode out of Colunga, “you are anxious to +know the history of the gentleman whom you saw embrace me at the inn. +Know, mon maître, that these Carlist and Christino wars have been the +cause of much misery and misfortune in this country, but a being so +thoroughly unfortunate as that poor young gentleman of the inn, I do not +believe is to be found in Spain, and his misfortunes proceed entirely +from the spirit of party and faction which for some time past has been so +prevalent. + +“Mon maître, as I have often told you, I have lived in many houses and +served many masters, and it chanced that about ten years ago I served the +father of this gentleman, who was then a mere boy. It was a very high +family, for monsieur the father was a general in the army, and a man of +large possessions. The family consisted of the general, his lady, and +two sons; the youngest of whom is the person you have just seen, the +other was several years older. Pardieu! I felt myself very comfortable +in that house, and every individual of the family had all kind of +complaisance for me. It is singular enough, that though I have been +turned out of so many families, I was never turned out of that; and +though I left it thrice, it was of my own free will. I became +dissatisfied with the other servants or with the dog or the cat. The +last time I left was on account of the quail which was hung out of the +window of madame, and which waked me in the morning with its call. _Eh +bien_, _mon maitre_, things went on in this way during the three years +that I continued in the family, out and in; at the end of which time it +was determined that the young gentleman should travel, and it was +proposed that I should attend him as valet; this I wished very much to +do. However, par malheur, I was at this time very much dissatisfied with +madame his mother about the quail, and I insisted that before I +accompanied him the bird should be slaughtered for the kitchen. To this +madame would by no means consent; and even the young gentleman, who had +always taken my part on other occasions, said that I was unreasonable: so +I left the house in a huff, and never entered it again. + +“_Eh bien_, _mon maitre_, the young gentleman went upon his travels, and +continued abroad several years; and from the time of his departure until +we met him at Colunga, I have not set eyes upon, nor indeed heard of him. +I have heard enough, however, of his family; of monsieur the father, of +madame, and of the brother, who was an officer of cavalry. A short time +before the troubles, I mean before the death of Ferdinand, monsieur the +father was appointed captain-general of Coruña. Now monsieur, though a +good master, was rather a proud man, and fond of discipline and all that +kind of thing, and of obedience. He was, moreover, no friend to the +populace, to the canaille, and he had a particular aversion to the +nationals. So when Ferdinand died, it was whispered about at Coruña, +that the general was no liberal, and that he was a better friend to +Carlos than to Christina. _Eh bien_, it chanced that there was a grand +fete, or festival at Coruña, on the water; and the nationals were there, +and the soldiers. And I know not how it befell, but there was an emeute, +and the nationals laid hands on monsieur the general, and tying a rope +round his neck, flung him overboard from the barge in which he was, and +then dragged him astern about the harbour until he was drowned. They +then went to his house and pillaged it, and so ill-treated madame, who at +that time happened to be enceinte, that in a few hours she expired. + +“I tell you what, mon maître, when I heard of the misfortune of madame +and the general, you would scarcely believe it, but I actually shed +tears, and was sorry that I had parted with them in unkindness on account +of that pernicious quail. + +“_Eh bien_, _mon maitre_, _nous poursuivrons notre histoire_. The eldest +son, as I told you before, was a cavalry officer and a man of resolution, +and when he heard of the death of his father and mother, he vowed +revenge. Poor fellow! but what does he do but desert, with two or three +discontented spirits of his troop, and going to the frontier of Galicia, +he raised a small faction, and proclaimed Don Carlos. For some little +time he did considerable damage to the liberals, burning and destroying +their possessions, and putting to death several nationals that fell into +his hands. However, this did not last long, his faction was soon +dispersed, and he himself taken and hanged, and his head stuck on a pole. + +“_Nous sommes deja presque au bout_. When we arrived at the inn, the +young man took me above, as you saw, and there for some time he could do +nothing but weep and sob. His story is soon told:—he returned from his +travels, and the first intelligence which awaited him on his arrival in +Spain was, that his father was drowned, his mother dead, and his brother +hanged, and, moreover, all the possessions of his family confiscated. +This was not all: wherever he went, he found himself considered in the +light of a factious and discontented person, and was frequently assailed +by the nationals with blows of sabres and cudgels. He applied to his +relations, and some of these, who were of the Carlist persuasion, advised +him to betake himself to the army of Don Carlos, and the Pretender +himself, who was a friend of his father, and remembered the services of +his brother, offered to give him a command in his army. But, mon maître, +as I told you before, he was a pacific young gentleman, and as mild as a +lamb, and hated the idea of shedding blood. He was, moreover, not of the +Carlist opinion, for during his studies he had read books written a long +time ago by countrymen of mine, all about republics and liberties, and +the rights of man, so that he was much more inclined to the liberal than +the Carlist system; he therefore declined the offer of Don Carlos, +whereupon all his relations deserted him, whilst the liberals hunted him +from one place to another like a wild beast. At last, he sold some +little property which still remained to him, and with the proceeds he +came to this remote place of Colunga, where no one knew him, and where he +has been residing for several months, in a most melancholy manner, with +no other amusement than that which he derives from a book or two, or +occasionally hunting a leveret with his spaniel. + +“He asked me for counsel, but I had none to give him, and could only weep +with him. At last he said, ‘Dear Antonio, I see there is no remedy. You +say your master is below, beg him, I pray, to stay till to-morrow, and we +will send for the maidens of the neighbourhood, and for a violin and a +bagpipe, and we will dance and cast away care for a moment.’ And then he +said something in old Greek, which I scarcely understood, but which I +think was equivalent to, ‘Let us eat, drink, and be merry, for to-morrow +we die!’ + +“_Eh bien_, _mon maitre_, I told him that you were a serious gentleman +who never took any amusement, and that you were in a hurry. Whereupon he +wept again, and embraced me and bade me farewell. And now, mon maître, I +have told you the history of the young man of the inn.” + +We slept at Ribida de Sela, and the next day, at noon, arrived at Llanes. +Our route lay between the coast and an immense range of mountains, which +rose up like huge ramparts at about a league’s distance from the sea. +The ground over which we passed was tolerably level, and seemingly well +cultivated. There was no lack of vines and trees, whilst at short +intervals rose the cortijos of the proprietors,—square stone buildings +surrounded with an outer wall. Llanes is an old town, formerly of +considerable strength. In its neighbourhood is the convent of San +Cilorio, one of the largest monastic edifices in all Spain. It is now +deserted, and stands lone and desolate upon one of the peninsulas of the +Cantabrian shore. Leaving Llanes, we soon entered one of the most dreary +and barren regions imaginable, a region of rock and stone, where neither +grass nor trees were to be seen. Night overtook us in these places. We +wandered on, however, until we reached a small village, termed Santo +Colombo. Here we passed the night, in the house of a carabineer of the +revenue, a tall athletic figure who met us at the gate armed with a gun. +He was a Castilian, and with all that ceremonious formality and grave +politeness for which his countrymen were at one time so celebrated. He +chid his wife for conversing with her handmaid about the concerns of the +house before us. “Barbara,” said he, “this is not conversation +calculated to interest the strange cavaliers; hold your peace, or go +aside with the muchacha.” In the morning he refused any remuneration for +his hospitality. “I am a caballero,” said he, “even as yourselves. It +is not my custom to admit people into my house for the sake of lucre. I +received you because you were benighted and the posada distant.” + +Rising early in the morning, we pursued our way through a country equally +stony and dreary as that which we had entered upon the preceding day. In +about four hours we reached San Vincente, a large dilapidated town, +chiefly inhabited by miserable fishermen. It retains, however, many +remarkable relics of former magnificence: the bridge, which bestrides the +broad and deep firth, on which stands the town, has no less than +thirty-two arches, and is built of grey granite. It is very ancient, and +in some part in so ruinous a condition as to be dangerous. + +Leaving San Vincente behind us, we travelled for some leagues on the +sea-shore, crossing occasionally a narrow inlet or firth. The country at +last began to improve, and in the neighbourhood of Santillana was both +beautiful and fertile. About a league before we reached the country of +Gil Blas, we passed through an extensive wood, in which were rocks and +precipices; it was exactly such a place as that in which the cave of +Rolando was situated, as described in the novel. This wood has an evil +name, and our guide informed us that robberies were occasionally +committed in it. No adventure, however, befell us, and we reached +Santillana at about six in the evening. + +We did not enter the town, but halted at a large venta or posada at the +entrance, before which stood an immense ash tree. We had scarcely housed +ourselves when a tremendous storm of rain and wind commenced, accompanied +with thunder and lightning, which continued without much interruption for +several hours, and the effects of which were visible in our journey of +the following day, the streams over which we passed being much swollen, +and several trees lying uptorn by the wayside. Santillana contains four +thousand inhabitants, and is six short leagues’ distance from Santander, +where we arrived early the next day. + +Nothing could exhibit a stronger contrast to the desolate tracts and the +half ruined towns through which we had lately passed, than the bustle and +activity of Santander, which, though it stands on the confines of the +Basque provinces, the stronghold of the Pretender, is almost the only +city in Spain which has not suffered by the Carlist wars. Till the close +of the last century it was little better than an obscure fishing town, +but it has of late years almost entirely engrossed the commerce of the +Spanish transatlantic possessions, especially of the Havannah. The +consequence of which has been, that whilst Santander has rapidly +increased in wealth and magnificence, both Coruña and Cadiz have been as +rapidly hastening to decay. At present it possesses a noble quay, on +which stands a line of stately edifices, far exceeding in splendour the +palaces of the aristocracy at Madrid. These are built in the French +style, and are chiefly occupied by the merchants. The population of +Santander is estimated at sixty thousand souls. + +On the day of my arrival I dined at the table d’hote of the principal +inn, kept by a Genoese. The company was very miscellaneous, French, +Germans, and Spaniards, all speaking in their respective languages, +whilst at the ends of the table, confronting each other, sat two Catalan +merchants, one of whom weighed nearly twenty stone, grunting across the +board in their harsh dialect. Long, however, before dinner was +concluded, the conversation was entirely engrossed and the attention of +all present directed to an individual who sat on one side of the bulky +Catalan. He was a thin man of about the middle height, with a remarkably +red face, and something in his eyes which, if not a squint, bore a +striking resemblance to it. He was dressed in a blue military frock, and +seemed to take much more pleasure in haranguing than in the fare which +was set before him. He spoke perfectly good Spanish, yet his voice +betrayed something of a foreign accent. For a long time he descanted +with immense volubility on war and all its circumstances, freely +criticising the conduct of the generals, both Carlists and Christinos, in +the present struggle, till at last he exclaimed, “Had I but twenty +thousand men allowed me by the government, I would bring the war to a +conclusion in six months.” + +“Pardon me, Sir,” said a Spaniard who sat at the table, “the curiosity +which induces me to request the favour of your distinguished name.” + +“I am Flinter,” replied the individual in the military frock, “a name +which is in the mouth of every man, woman, and child in Spain. I am +Flinter the Irishman, just escaped from the Basque provinces and the +claws of Don Carlos. On the decease of Ferdinand I declared for +Isabella, esteeming it the duty of every good cavalier and Irishman in +the Spanish service to do so. You have all heard of my exploits, and +permit me to tell you they would have been yet more glorious had not +jealousy been at work and cramped my means. Two years ago I was +despatched to Estremadura, to organize the militias. The bands of Gomez +and Cabrera entered the province and spread devastation around. They +found me, however, at my post; and had I been properly seconded by those +under my command, the two rebels would never have returned to their +master to boast of their success. I stood behind my intrenchments. A +man advanced and summoned us to surrender. ‘Who are you?’ I demanded. +‘I am Cabrera,’ he replied; ‘and I am Flinter,’ I retorted, flourishing +my sabre; ‘retire to your battalions or you will forthwith die the +death.’ He was awed and did as I commanded. In an hour we surrendered. +I was led a prisoner to the Basque provinces; and the Carlists rejoiced +in the capture they had made, for the name of Flinter had long sounded +amongst the Carlist ranks. I was flung into a loathsome dungeon, where I +remained twenty months. I was cold; I was naked; but I did not on that +account despond, my spirit was too indomitable for such weakness. My +keeper at last pitied my misfortunes. He said that ‘it grieved him to +see so valiant a man perish in inglorious confinement.’ We laid a plan +to escape together; disguises were provided, and we made the attempt. We +passed unobserved till we arrived at the Carlist lines above Bilbao; +there we were stopped. My presence of mind, however, did not desert me. +I was disguised as a carman, as a Catalan, and the coolness of my answers +deceived my interrogators. We were permitted to pass, and soon were safe +within the walls of Bilbao. There was an illumination that night in the +town, for the lion had burst his toils, Flinter had escaped, and was once +more returned to re-animate a drooping cause. I have just arrived at +Santander on my way to Madrid, where I intend to ask of the government a +command, with twenty thousand men.” + +Poor Flinter! a braver heart and a more gasconading mouth were surely +never united in the same body. He proceeded to Madrid, and through the +influence of the British ambassador, who was his friend, he obtained the +command of a small division, with which he contrived to surprise and +defeat, in the neighbourhood of Toledo, a body of the Carlists, commanded +by Orejita, whose numbers more than trebled his own. In reward for this +exploit he was persecuted by the government, which, at that time, was the +moderado or juste milieu, with the most relentless animosity; the prime +minister, Ofalia, supporting with all his influence numerous and +ridiculous accusations of plunder and robbery brought against the +too-successful general by the Carlist canons of Toledo. He was likewise +charged with a dereliction of duty, in having permitted, after the battle +of Valdepeñas, which he likewise won in the most gallant manner, the +Carlist force to take possession of the mines of Almaden, although the +government, who were bent on his ruin, had done all in their power to +prevent him from following up his successes by denying him the slightest +supplies and reinforcements. The fruits of victory thus wrested from +him, his hopes blighted, a morbid melancholy seized upon the Irishman; he +resigned his command, and in less than ten months from the period when I +saw him at Santander, afforded his dastardly and malignant enemies a +triumph which satisfied even them, by cutting his own throat with a +razor. + +Ardent spirits of foreign climes, who hope to distinguish yourselves in +the service of Spain, and to earn honours and rewards, remember the fate +of Columbus, and of another as brave and as ardent—Flinter! + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV + + +Departure from Santander—The Night Alarm—The Black Pass. + +I had ordered two hundred Testaments to be sent to Santander from Madrid: +I found, however, to my great sorrow, that they had not arrived, and I +supposed that they had either been seized on the way by the Carlists, or +that my letter had miscarried. I then thought of applying to England for +a supply, but I abandoned the idea for two reasons. In the first place, +I should have to remain idly loitering, at least a month, before I could +receive them, at a place where every article was excessively dear; and, +secondly, I was very unwell, and unable to procure medical advice at +Santander. Ever since I left Coruña, I had been afflicted with a +terrible dysentery, and latterly with an ophthalmia, the result of the +other malady. I therefore determined on returning to Madrid. To effect +this, however, seemed no very easy task. Parties of the army of Don +Carlos, which, in a partial degree, had been routed in Castile, were +hovering about the country through which I should have to pass, more +especially in that part called “The Mountains,” so that all communication +had ceased between Santander and the southern districts. Nevertheless, I +determined to trust as usual in the Almighty and to risk the danger. I +purchased, therefore, a small horse, and sallied forth with Antonio. + +Before departing, however, I entered into conference with the booksellers +as to what they should do in the event of my finding an opportunity of +sending them a stock of Testaments from Madrid; and, having arranged +matters to my satisfaction, I committed myself to Providence. I will not +dwell long on this journey of three hundred miles. We were in the midst +of the fire, yet, strange to say, escaped without a hair of our heads +being singed. Robberies, murders, and all kinds of atrocities were +perpetrated before, behind, and on both sides of us, but not so much as a +dog barked at us, though in one instance a plan had been laid to +intercept us. About four leagues from Santander, whilst we were baiting +our horses at a village hostelry, I saw a fellow run off after having +held a whispering conversation with a boy who was dealing out barley to +us. I instantly inquired of the latter what the man had said to him, but +only obtained an evasive answer. It appeared afterwards that the +conversation was about ourselves. Two or three leagues farther there was +an inn and village where we had proposed staying, and indeed had +expressed our intention of doing so; but on arriving there, finding that +the sun was still far from its bourne, I determined to proceed farther, +expecting to meet with a resting-place at the distance of a league; +though I was mistaken, as we found none until we reached Montaneda, nine +leagues and a half from Santander, where was stationed a small detachment +of soldiers. At the dead of night we were aroused from our sleep by a +cry that the factious were not far off. A messenger had arrived from the +alcalde of the village where we had previously intended staying, who +stated that a party of Carlists had just surprised that place, and were +searching for an English spy, whom they supposed to be at the inn. The +officer commanding the soldiers upon hearing this, not deeming his own +situation a safe one, instantly drew off his men, falling back on a +stronger party stationed in a fortified village near at hand. As for +ourselves, we saddled our horses and continued our way in the dark. Had +the Carlists succeeded in apprehending me, I should instantly have been +shot, and my body cast on the rocks to feed the vultures and wolves. But +“it was not so written,” said Antonio, who, like many of his countrymen, +was a fatalist. The next night we had another singular escape: we had +arrived near the entrance of a horrible pass called “El puerto de la +puente de las tablas,” or the pass of the bridge of planks, which wound +through a black and frightful mountain, on the farther side of which was +the town of Oñas, where we meant to tarry for the night. The sun had set +about a quarter of an hour. Suddenly a man, with his face covered with +blood, rushed out of the pass. “Turn back, sir,” he said, “in the name +of God; there are murderers in that pass; they have just robbed me of my +mule and all I possess, and I have hardly escaped with life from their +hands.” I scarcely know why, but I made him no answer and proceeded; +indeed I was so weary and unwell that I cared not what became of me. We +entered; the rocks rose perpendicularly, right and left, entirely +intercepting the scanty twilight, so that the darkness of the grave, or +rather the blackness of the valley of the shadow of death reigned around +us, and we knew not where we went, but trusted to the instinct of the +horses, who moved on with their heads close to the ground. The only +sound which we heard was the plash of a stream, which tumbled down the +pass. I expected every moment to feel a knife at my throat, but “_it was +not so written_.” We threaded the pass without meeting a human being, +and within three quarters of an hour after the time we entered it, we +found ourselves within the posada of the town of Oñas, which was filled +with troops and armed peasants expecting an attack from the grand Carlist +army, which was near at hand. + +Well, we reached Burgos in safety; we reached Valladolid in safety; we +passed the Guadarama in safety; and were at length safely housed in +Madrid. People said we had been very lucky; Antonio said, “It was so +written”; but I say, Glory be to the Lord for his mercies vouchsafed to +us. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI + + +State of Affairs at Madrid—The New Ministry—Pope of Rome—The Bookseller +of Toledo—Sword Blades—Houses of Toledo—The Forlorn Gypsy—Proceedings at +Madrid—Another Servant. + +During my journey in the northern provinces of Spain, which occupied a +considerable portion of the year 1837, I had accomplished but a slight +portion of what I proposed to myself to effect in the outset. +Insignificant are the results of man’s labours compared with the swelling +ideas of his presumption; something, however, had been effected by the +journey, which I had just concluded. The New Testament of Christ was now +enjoying a quiet sale in the principal towns of the north, and I had +secured the friendly interest and co-operation of the booksellers of +those parts, particularly of him the most considerable of them all, old +Rey of Compostella. I had, moreover, disposed of a considerable number +of Testaments with my own hands, to private individuals, entirely of the +lower class, namely, muleteers, carmen, contrabandistas, etc., so that +upon the whole I had abundant cause for gratitude and thanksgiving. + +I did not find our affairs in a very prosperous state at Madrid, few +copies having been sold in the booksellers’ shops, yet what could be +rationally expected during these latter times? Don Carlos, with a large +army, had been at the gates; plunder and massacre had been expected; so +that people were too much occupied in forming plans to secure their lives +and property, to give much attention to reading of any description. + +The enemy, however, had now retired to his strongholds in Alava and +Guipuscoa. I hoped that brighter days were dawning, and that the work, +under my own superintendence, would, with God’s blessing, prosper in the +capital of Spain. How far the result corresponded with my expectations +will be seen in the sequel. During my absence in the north, a total +change of ministers had occurred. The liberal party had been ousted from +the cabinet, and in their place had entered individuals attached to the +moderado or court party: unfortunately, however, for my prospects, they +consisted of persons with whom I had no acquaintance whatever, and with +whom my former friends, Galiano and Isturitz, had little or no influence. +These gentlemen were now regularly laid on the shelf, and their political +career appeared to be terminated for ever. + +From the present ministry I could expect but little; they consisted of +men, the greater part of whom had been either courtiers or employés of +the deceased King Ferdinand, who were friends to absolutism, and by no +means inclined to do or to favour anything calculated to give offence to +the court of Rome, which they were anxious to conciliate, hoping that +eventually it might be induced to recognize the young queen, not as the +constitutional but as the absolute Queen Isabella the Second. + +Such was the party which continued in power throughout the remainder of +my sojourn in Spain, and which persecuted me less from rancour and malice +than from policy. It was not until the conclusion of the war of the +succession that it lost the ascendancy, when it sank to the ground with +its patroness the queen-mother, before the dictatorship of Espartero. + +The first step which I took after my return to Madrid, towards +circulating the Scriptures, was a very bold one. It was neither more nor +less than the establishment of a shop for the sale of Testaments. This +shop was situated in the Calle del Principe, a respectable and +well-frequented street in the neighbourhood of the Square of Cervantes. +I furnished it handsomely with glass cases and chandeliers, and procured +an acute Gallegan of the name of Pepe Calzado, to superintend the +business, who gave me weekly a faithful account of the copies sold. + +“How strangely times alter,” said I, the second day subsequent to the +opening of my establishment, as I stood on the opposite side of the +street, leaning against the wall with folded arms, surveying my shop, on +the windows of which were painted in large yellow characters, _Despacho +de la Sociedad Biblica y Estrangera_; “how strangely times alter; here +have I been during the last eight months running about old Popish Spain, +distributing Testaments, as agent of what the Papists call an heretical +society, and have neither been stoned nor burnt; and here am I now in the +capital, doing that which one would think were enough to cause all the +dead inquisitors and officials buried within the circuit of the walls to +rise from their graves and cry abomination; and yet no one interferes +with me. Pope of Rome! Pope of Rome! look to thyself. That shop may be +closed; but oh! what a sign of the times, that it has been permitted to +exist for one day. It appears to me, my Father, that the days of your +sway are numbered in Spain; that you will not be permitted much longer to +plunder her, to scoff at her, and to scourge her with scorpions, as in +bygone periods. See I not the hand on the wall? See I not in yonder +letters a ‘Mene, mene, Tekel, Upharsin’? Look to thyself, Batuschca.” + +And I remained for two hours, leaning against the wall, staring at the +shop. + +A short time after the establishment of the despacho at Madrid, I once +more mounted the saddle, and, attended by Antonio, rode over to Toledo, +for the purpose of circulating the Scriptures, sending beforehand by a +muleteer a cargo of one hundred Testaments. I instantly addressed myself +to the principal bookseller of the place, whom from the circumstance of +his living in a town so abounding with canons, priests, and ex-friars as +Toledo, I expected to find a Carlist, or a _servile_ at least. I was +never more mistaken in my life; on entering the shop, which was very +large and commodious, I beheld a stout athletic man, dressed in a kind of +cavalry uniform, with a helmet on his head, and an immense sabre in his +hand: this was the bookseller himself, who I soon found was an officer in +the national cavalry. Upon learning who I was, he shook me heartily by +the hand, and said that nothing would give him greater pleasure than +taking charge of the books, which he would endeavour to circulate to the +utmost of his ability. + +“Will not your doing so bring you into odium with the clergy?” + +“Ca!” said he; “who cares? I am rich, and so was my father before me. I +do not depend on them, they cannot hate me more than they do already, for +I make no secret of my opinions. I have just returned from an +expedition,” said he; “my brother nationals and myself have, for the last +three days, been occupied in hunting down the factious and thieves of the +neighbourhood; we have killed three and brought in several prisoners. +Who cares for the cowardly priests? I am a liberal, Don Jorge, and a +friend of your countryman, Flinter. Many is the Carlist guerilla-curate +and robber-friar whom I have assisted him to catch. I am rejoiced to +hear that he has just been appointed captain-general of Toledo; there +will be fine doings here when he arrives, Don Jorge. We will make the +clergy shake between us, I assure you.” + +Toledo was formerly the capital of Spain. Its population at present is +barely fifteen thousand souls, though, in the time of the Romans, and +also during the Middle Ages, it is said to have amounted to between two +and three hundred thousand. It is situated about twelve leagues (forty +miles) westward of Madrid, and is built upon a steep rocky hill, round +which flows the Tagus, on all sides but the north. It still possesses a +great many remarkable edifices, notwithstanding that it has long since +fallen into decay. Its cathedral is the most magnificent of Spain, and +is the see of the primate. In the tower of this cathedral is the famous +bell of Toledo, the largest in the world with the exception of the +monster bell of Moscow, which I have also seen. It weighs 1,543 arrobes, +or 37,032 pounds. It has, however, a disagreeable sound, owing to a +cleft in its side. Toledo could once boast the finest pictures in Spain, +but many were stolen or destroyed by the French during the Peninsular +war, and still more have lately been removed by order of the government. +Perhaps the most remarkable one still remains; I allude to that which +represents the burial of the Count of Orgaz, the masterpiece of Domenico, +the Greek, a most extraordinary genius, some of whose productions possess +merit of a very high order. The picture in question is in the little +parish church of San Tome, at the bottom of the aisle, on the left side +of the altar. Could it be purchased, I should say it would be cheap at +five thousand pounds. + +Amongst the many remarkable things which meet the eye of the curious +observer at Toledo, is the manufactory of arms, where are wrought the +swords, spears, and other weapons intended for the army, with the +exception of fire-arms, which mostly come from abroad. + +In old times, as is well known, the sword-blades of Toledo were held in +great estimation, and were transmitted as merchandise throughout +Christendom. The present manufactory, or fabrica, as it is called, is a +handsome modern edifice, situated without the wall of the city, on a +plain contiguous to the river, with which it communicates by a small +canal. It is said that the water and the sand of the Tagus are essential +for the proper tempering of the swords. I asked some of the principal +workmen whether, at the present day, they could manufacture weapons of +equal value to those of former days, and whether the secret had been +lost. + +“Ca!” said they, “the swords of Toledo were never so good as those which +we are daily making. It is ridiculous enough to see strangers coming +here to purchase old swords, the greater part of which are mere rubbish, +and never made at Toledo, yet for such they will give a large price, +whilst they would grudge two dollars for this jewel, which was made but +yesterday”; thereupon putting into my hand a middle-sized rapier. “Your +worship,” said they, “seems to have a strong arm, prove its temper +against the stone wall;—thrust boldly and fear not.” + +I _have_ a strong arm and dashed the point with my utmost force against +the solid granite: my arm was numbed to the shoulder from the violence of +the concussion, and continued so for nearly a week, but the sword +appeared not to be at all blunted, or to have suffered in any respect. + +“A better sword than that,” said an ancient workman, a native of Old +Castile, “never transfixed Moor out yonder on the sagra.” + +During my stay at Toledo, I lodged at the Posada de los Caballeros, which +signifies the inn of the gentlemen, which name, in some respects, is +certainly well deserved, for there are many palaces far less magnificent +than this inn of Toledo. By magnificence it must not be supposed, +however, that I allude to costliness of furniture, or any kind of luxury +which pervaded the culinary department. The rooms were as empty as those +of Spanish inns generally are, and the fare, though good in its kind, was +plain and homely; but I have seldom seen a more imposing edifice. It was +of immense size, consisting of several stories, and was built something +in the Moorish taste, with a quadrangular court in the centre, beneath +which was an immense algibe or tank, serving as a reservoir for +rain-water. All the houses in Toledo are supplied with tanks of this +description, into which the waters in the rainy season flow from the +roofs through pipes. No other water is used for drinking; that of the +Tagus, not being considered salubrious, is only used for purposes of +cleanliness, being conveyed up the steep narrow streets on donkeys in +large stone jars. The city, standing on a rocky mountain, has no wells. +As for the rain-water, it deposits a sediment in the tank, and becomes +very sweet and potable: these tanks are cleaned out twice every year. +During the summer, at which time the heat in this part of Spain is +intense, the families spend the greater part of the day in the courts, +which are overhung with a linen awning, the heat of the atmosphere being +tempered by the coolness arising from the tank below, which answers the +same purpose as the fountain in the southern provinces of Spain. + +I spent about a week at Toledo, during which time several copies of the +Testament were disposed of in the shop of my friend the bookseller. +Several priests took it up from the mostrador on which it lay, examined +it, but made no remarks; none of them purchased it. My friend showed me +through his house, almost every apartment of which was lined from roof to +floor with books, many of which were highly valuable. He told me that he +possessed the best collection in Spain of the ancient literature of the +country. He was, however, less proud of his library than his stud; +finding that I had some acquaintance with horses, his liking for me and +also his respect considerably increased. “All I have,” said he, “is at +your service; I see you are a man after my own heart. When you are +disposed to ride out upon the sagra, you have only to apply to my groom, +who will forthwith saddle you my famed Cordovese entero; I purchased him +from the stables at Aranjuez, when the royal stud was broken up. There +is but one other man to whom I would lend him, and that man is Flinter.” + +At Toledo I met with a forlorn Gypsy woman and her son, a lad of about +fourteen years of age; she was not a native of the place, but had come +from La Mancha, her husband having been cast into the prison of Toledo on +a charge of mule-stealing: the crime had been proved against him, and in +a few days he was to depart for Malaga, with the chain of galley slaves. +He was quite destitute of money, and his wife was now in Toledo, earning +a few cuartos by telling fortunes about the streets, to support him in +prison. She told me that it was her intention to follow him to Malaga, +where she hoped to be able to effect his escape. What an instance of +conjugal affection; and yet the affection here was all on one side, as is +too frequently the case. Her husband was a worthless scoundrel, who had +previously abandoned her and betaken himself to Madrid, where he had long +lived in concubinage with the notorious she-thug Aurora, at whose +instigation he had committed the robbery for which he was now held in +durance. “Should your husband escape from Malaga, in what direction will +he fly?” I demanded. + +“To the chim of the Corahai, my son; to the land of the Moors, to be a +soldier of the Moorish king.” + +“And what will become of yourself?” I inquired; “think you that he will +take you with him?” + +“He will leave me on the shore, my son, and as soon as he has crossed the +black pawnee, he will forget me and never think of me more.” + +“And knowing his ingratitude, why should you give yourself so much +trouble about him?” + +“Am I not his romi, my son, and am I not bound by the law of the Cales to +assist him to the last? Should he return from the land of the Corahai at +the end of a hundred years, and should find me alive, and should say, I +am hungry, little wife, go forth and steal or tell bahi, I must do it, +for he is the rom and I the romi.” + +On my return to Madrid, I found the despacho still open: various +Testaments had been sold, though the number was by no means considerable: +the work had to labour under great disadvantage, from the ignorance of +the people at large with respect to its tenor and contents. It was no +wonder, then, that little interest was felt respecting it. To call, +however, public attention to the despacho, I printed three thousand +advertisements on paper, yellow, blue, and crimson, with which I almost +covered the sides of the streets, and besides this, inserted an account +of it in all the journals and periodicals; the consequence was, that in a +short time almost every person in Madrid was aware of its existence. +Such exertions in London or Paris would probably have ensured the sale of +the entire edition of the New Testament within a few days. In Madrid, +however, the result was not quite so flattering; for after the +establishment had been open an entire month, the copies disposed of +barely amounted to one hundred. + +These proceedings of mine did not fail to cause a great sensation: the +priests and their partisans were teeming with malice and fury, which, for +some time, however, they thought proper to exhibit only in words; it +being their opinion that I was favoured by the ambassador and by the +British government; but there was no attempt, however atrocious, that +might not be expected from their malignity; and were it right and seemly +for me, the most insignificant of worms, to make such a comparison, I +might say, like Paul at Ephesus, I was fighting with wild beasts. + +On the last day of the year 1837, my servant Antonio thus addressed me: +“Mon maître, it is necessary that I leave you for a time. Ever since we +have returned from our journeys, I have become unsettled and dissatisfied +with the house, the furniture, and with Donna Marequita. I have +therefore engaged myself as cook in the house of the Count of ---, where +I am to receive four dollars per month less than what your worship gives +me. I am fond of change, though it be for the worse. Adieu, mon maître, +may you be as well served as you deserve; should you chance, however, to +have any pressing need _de mes soins_, send for me without hesitation, +and I will at once give my new master warning, if I am still with him, +and come to you.” + +Thus was I deprived for a time of the services of Antonio. I continued +for a few days without a domestic, at the end of which time I hired a +certain Cantabrian or Basque, a native of the village of Hernani, in +Guipuscoa, who was strongly recommended to me. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVII + + +Euscarra—Basque not Irish—Sanskrit and Tartar Dialects—A Vowel +Language—Popular Poetry—The Basques—Their Persons—Basque Women. + +I now entered upon the year 1838, perhaps the most eventful of all those +which I passed in Spain. The despacho still continued open, with a +somewhat increasing sale. Having at this time little of particular +moment with which to occupy myself, I committed to the press two works, +which for some time past had been in the course of preparation. These +were the Gospel of St. Luke in the Spanish Gypsy and the Euscarra +languages. + +With respect to the Gypsy Gospel I have little to say, having already +spoken of it in a former work (_The Zincali_): it was translated by +myself, together with the greater part of the New Testament, during my +long intercourse with the Spanish Gypsies. Concerning the Luke in +Euscarra, however, it will be as well to be more particular, and to avail +myself of the present opportunity to say a few words concerning the +language in which it was written, and the people for whom it was +intended. + +The Euscarra, then, is the proper term for a certain speech or language, +supposed to have been at one time prevalent throughout Spain, but which +is at present confined to certain districts, both on the French and +Spanish side of the Pyrenees, which are laved by the waters of the +Cantabrian Gulf or Bay of Biscay. This language is commonly known as the +Basque or Biscayan, which words are mere modifications of the word +Euscarra, the consonant B having been prefixed for the sake of euphony. +Much that is vague, erroneous, and hypothetical, has been said and +written concerning this tongue. The Basques assert that it was not only +the original language of Spain, but also of the world, and that from it +all other languages are derived; but the Basques are a very ignorant +people, and know nothing of the philosophy of language. Very little +importance, therefore, need be attached to any opinion of theirs on such +a subject. A few amongst them, however, who affect some degree of +learning, contend, that it is neither more nor less than a dialect of the +Phoenician, and, that the Basques are the descendants of a Phoenician +colony, established at the foot of the Pyrenees at a very remote period. +Of this theory, or rather conjecture, as it is unsubstantiated by the +slightest proof, it is needless to take further notice than to observe +that, provided the Phoenician language, as many of the _truly learned_ +have supposed and almost proved, was a dialect of the Hebrew, or closely +allied to it, it were as unreasonable to suppose that the Basque is +derived from it, as that the Kamschatdale and Cherokee are dialects of +the Greek or Latin. + +There is, however, another opinion with respect to the Basque which +deserves more especial notice, from the circumstance of its being +extensively entertained amongst the literati of various countries of +Europe, more especially England. I allude to the Celtic origin of this +tongue, and its close connexion with the most cultivated of all the +Celtic dialects, the Irish. People who pretend to be well conversant +with the subject, have even gone so far as to assert, that so little +difference exists between the Basque and Irish tongues, that individuals +of the two nations, when they meet together, find no difficulty in +understanding each other, with no other means of communication than their +respective languages; in a word, that there is scarcely a greater +difference between the two than between the French and the Spanish +Basque. Such similarity, however, though so strongly insisted upon, by +no means exists in fact, and perhaps in the whole of Europe it would be +difficult to discover two languages which exhibit fewer points of mutual +resemblance than the Basque and Irish. + +The Irish, like most other European languages, is a dialect of the +Sanskrit, a _remote_ one, as may well be supposed. The corner of the +western world in which it is still preserved being, of all countries in +Europe, the most distant from the proper home of the parent tongue. It +is still, however, a dialect of that venerable and most original speech, +not so closely resembling it, it is true, as the English, Danish, and +those which belong to what is called the Gothic family, and far less than +those of the Sclavonian; for, the nearer we approach to the East, in +equal degree the assimilation of languages to this parent stock becomes +more clear and distinct; but still a dialect, agreeing with the Sanskrit +in structure, in the arrangement of words, and in many instances in the +words themselves, which, however modified, may still be recognized as +Sanskrit. But what is the Basque, and to what family does it properly +pertain? + +To two great Asiatic languages, all the dialects spoken at present in +Europe may be traced. These two, if not now spoken, still exist in +books, and are, moreover, the languages of two of the principal religions +of the East. I allude to the Tibetian and Sanskrit—the sacred languages +of the followers of Buddh and Bramah. These tongues, though they possess +many words in common, which is easily to be accounted for by their close +proximity, are properly distinct, being widely different in structure. +In what this difference consists, I have neither time nor inclination to +state; suffice it to say that the Celtic, Gothic, and Sclavonian dialects +in Europe belong to the Sanskrit family, even as in the East the Persian, +and to a less degree the Arabic, Hebrew, etc.; whilst to the Tibetian or +Tartar family in Asia pertain the Mandchou and Mongolian, the Calmuc and +the Turkish of the Caspian Sea; and in Europe, the Hungarian and the +Basque _partially_. + +Indeed this latter language is a strange anomaly, so that upon the whole +it is less difficult to say what it is not, than what it is. It abounds +with Sanskrit words to such a degree that its surface seems strewn with +them. Yet would it be wrong to term it a Sanskrit dialect, for in the +collocation of these words the Tartar form is most decidedly observable. +A considerable proportion of Tartar words is likewise to be found in this +language, though perhaps not in equal number to the terms derived from +the Sanskrit. Of these Tartar etymons I shall at present content myself +with citing one, though, if necessary, it were easy to adduce hundreds. +This word is _Jauna_, or as it is pronounced, _Khauna_, a word in +constant use amongst the Basques, and which is the _Khan_ of the Mongols +and Mandchous, and of the same signification—Lord. + +Having closely examined the subject in all its various bearings, and +having weighed what is to be said on one side against what is to be +advanced on the other, I am inclined to rank the Basque rather amongst +the Tartar than the Sanskrit dialects. Whoever should have an +opportunity of comparing the enunciation of the Basques and Tartars +would, from that alone, even if he understood them not, come to the +conclusion that their respective languages were formed on the same +principles. In both occur periods seemingly interminable, during which +the voice gradually ascends to a climax, and then gradually sinks down. + +I have spoken of the surprising number of Sanskrit words contained in the +Basque language, specimens of some of which will be found below. It is +remarkable enough, that in the greater part of the derivatives from the +Sanskrit the Basque has dropped the initial consonant, so that the word +commences with a vowel. The Basque, indeed, may be said to be almost a +vowel language; the number of consonants employed being comparatively +few: perhaps eight words out of ten commence and terminate with a vowel, +owing to which it is a language to the highest degree soft and melodious, +far excelling in this respect any other language in Europe, not even +excepting the Italian. + +Here follow a few specimens of Basque words with the Sanskrit roots in +juxtaposition:— + +BASQUE. SANSKRIT. +Ardoa Sandhána _Wine_. +Arratsa Ratri _Night_. +Beguia Akshi _Eye_. +Choria Chiria _Bird_. +Chacurra Cucura _Dog_. +Erreguiña Rani _Queen_. +Icusi Iksha _To see_. +Iru Treya _Three_. +Jan (Khan) Khana _To eat_. +Uria Puri _City_. +Urruti Dura _Far_. + +Such is the tongue in which I brought out Saint Luke’s Gospel at Madrid. +The translation I procured originally from a Basque physician of the name +of Oteiza. Previous to being sent to the press, the version had lain +nearly two years in my possession, during which time, and particularly +during my travels, I lost no opportunity of submitting it to the +inspection of those who were considered competent scholars in the +Euscarra. It did not entirely please me; but it was in vain to seek for +a better translation. + +In my early youth I had obtained a slight acquaintance with the Euscarra, +as it exists in books. This acquaintance I considerably increased during +my stay in Spain; and by occasionally mingling with Basques, was enabled +to understand the spoken language to a certain extent, and even to speak +it, but always with considerable hesitation; for to speak Basque, even +tolerably, it is necessary to have lived in the country from a very early +period. So great are the difficulties attending it, and so strange are +its peculiarities, that it is very rare to find a foreigner possessed of +any considerable skill in the oral language, and the Spaniards consider +the obstacles so formidable that they have a proverb to the effect that +Satan once lived seven years in Biscay, and then departed, finding +himself unable either to understand or to make himself understood. + +There are few inducements to the study of this language. In the first +place, the acquisition of it is by no means necessary even to those who +reside in the countries where it is spoken; the Spanish being generally +understood throughout the Basque provinces pertaining to Spain, and the +French in those pertaining to France. + +In the second place, neither dialect is in possession of any peculiar +literature capable of repaying the toil of the student. There are +various books extant both in French and Spanish Basque, but these consist +entirely of Popish devotion, and are for the most part translations. + +It will, perhaps, here be asked whether the Basques do not possess +popular poetry, like most other nations, however small and +inconsiderable. They have certainly no lack of songs, ballads, and +stanzas, but of a character by no means entitled to the appellation of +poetry. I have noted down from recitation a considerable portion of what +they call their poetry, but the only tolerable specimen of verse which I +ever discovered amongst them was the following stanza, which, after all, +is not entitled to very high praise:— + + “Ichasoa urac aundi, + Estu ondoric agueri— + Pasaco ninsaqueni andic + Maitea icustea gatic.” + +_i.e._ “The waters of the sea are vast, and their bottom cannot be seen: +but over them I will pass, that I may behold my love.” + +The Basques are a singing rather than a poetical people. Notwithstanding +the facility with which their tongue lends itself to the composition of +verse, they have never produced among them a poet with the slightest +pretensions to reputation; but their voices are singularly sweet, and +they are known to excel in musical composition. It is the opinion of a +certain author, the Abbé D’Ilharce, who has written about them, that they +derived the name _Cantabri_, by which they were known to the Romans, from +_Khantor-ber_, signifying sweet singers. They possess much music of +their own, some of which is said to be exceedingly ancient. Of this +music specimens were published at Donostian (San Sebastian) in the year +1826, edited by a certain Juan Ignacio Iztueta. These consist of wild +and thrilling marches, to the sound of which it is believed that the +ancient Basques were in the habit of descending from their mountains to +combat with the Romans, and subsequently with the Moors. Whilst +listening to them it is easy to suppose oneself in the close vicinity of +some desperate encounter. We seem to hear the charge of cavalry on the +sounding plain, the clash of swords, and the rushing of men down the +gorges of hills. This music is accompanied with words, but such words! +Nothing can be imagined more stupid, commonplace, and uninteresting. So +far from being martial, they relate to everyday incidents and appear to +have no connexion whatever with the music. They are evidently of modern +date. + +In person the Basques are of the middle size, and are active and +athletic. They are in general of fair complexions and handsome features, +and in appearance bear no slight resemblance to certain Tartar tribes of +the Caucasus. Their bravery is unquestionable, and they are considered +as the best soldiery belonging to the Spanish crown: a fact highly +corroborative of the supposition that they are of Tartar origin, the +Tartars being of all races the most warlike, and amongst whom the most +remarkable conquerors have been produced. They are faithful and honest, +and capable of much disinterested attachment; kind and hospitable to +strangers; all of which points are far from being at variance with the +Tartar character. But they are somewhat dull, and their capacities are +by no means of a high order, and in these respects they again resemble +the Tartars. + +No people on earth are prouder than the Basques, but theirs is a kind of +republican pride. They have no nobility amongst them, and no one will +acknowledge a superior. The poorest carman is as proud as the governor +of Tolosa. “He is more powerful than I,” he will say, “but I am of as +good blood; perhaps hereafter I may become a governor myself.” They +abhor servitude, at least out of their own country; and though +circumstances frequently oblige them to seek masters, it is very rare to +find them filling the places of common domestics; they are stewards, +secretaries, accountants, etc. True it is, that it was my own fortune to +obtain a Basque domestic; but then he always treated me more as an equal +than a master, would sit down in my presence, give me his advice unasked, +and enter into conversation with me at all times and occasions. Did I +check him! Certainly not! For in that case he would have left me, and a +more faithful creature I never knew. His fate was a mournful one, as +will appear in the sequel. + +I have said that the Basques abhor servitude, and are rarely to be found +serving as domestics amongst the Spaniards. I allude, however, merely to +the males. The females, on the contrary, have no objection whatever to +enter houses as servants. Women, indeed, amongst the Basques are not +looked upon with all the esteem which they deserve, and are considered as +fitted for little else than to perform menial offices, even as in the +East, where they are viewed in the light of servants and slaves. The +Basque females differ widely in character from the men; they are quick +and vivacious, and have in general much more talent. They are famous for +their skill as cooks, and in most respectable houses of Madrid a Biscayan +female may be found in the kitchen, queen supreme of the culinary +department. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVIII + + +The Prohibition—Gospel Persecuted—Charge of Sorcery—Ofalia. + +About the middle of January a swoop was made upon me by my enemies, in +the shape of a peremptory prohibition from the political governor of +Madrid to sell any more New Testaments. This measure by no means took me +by surprise, as I had for some time previously been expecting something +of the kind, on account of the political sentiments of the ministers then +in power. I forthwith paid a visit to Sir George Villiers, informing him +of what had occurred. He promised to do all he could to cause the +prohibition to be withdrawn. Unfortunately at this time he had not much +influence, having opposed with all his might the entrance of the moderado +ministry to power, and the nomination of Ofalia to the presidency of the +cabinet. I, however, never lost confidence in the Almighty, in whose +cause I was engaged. + +Matters were going on very well before this check. The demand for +Testaments was becoming considerable, so much so, that the clergy were +alarmed, and this step was the consequence. But they had previously +recourse to another, well worthy of them, they attempted to act upon my +fears. One of the ruffians of Madrid, called Manolos, came up to me one +night, in a dark street, and told me that unless I discontinued selling +my “Jewish books,” I should have a knife “_nailed in my heart_”; but I +told him to go home, say his prayers, and tell his employers that I +pitied them; whereupon he turned away with an oath. A few days after, I +received an order to send two copies of the Testament to the office of +the political governor, with which I complied, and in less than +twenty-four hours an alguazil arrived at the shop with a notice +prohibiting the further sale of the work. + +One circumstance rejoiced me. Singular as it may appear, the authorities +took no measures to cause my little despacho to be closed, and I received +no prohibition respecting the sale of any work but the New Testament, and +as the Gospel of Saint Luke, in Romany and Basque, would within a short +time be ready for delivery, I hoped to carry on matters in a small way +till better times should arrive. + +I was advised to erase from the shop windows the words “Despacho of the +British and Foreign Bible Society.” This, however, I refused to do. +Those words had tended very much to call attention, which was my grand +object. Had I attempted to conduct things in an underhand manner, I +should, at the time of which I am speaking, scarcely have sold thirty +copies in Madrid, instead of nearly three hundred. People who know me +not, may be disposed to call me rash; but I am far from being so, as I +never adopt a venturous course when any other is open to me. I am not, +however, a person to be terrified by any danger, when I see that braving +it is the only way to achieve an object. + +The booksellers were unwilling to sell my work; I was compelled to +establish a shop of my own. Every shop in Madrid has a name. What name +could I give it but the true one? I was not ashamed of my cause or my +colours. I hoisted them, and fought beneath them not without success. + +The priestly party in Madrid, in the meantime, spared no effort to vilify +me. They started a publication called _The Friend of the Christian +Religion_, in which a stupid but furious attack upon me appeared, which +I, however, treated with the contempt it deserved. But not satisfied +with this, they endeavoured to incite the populace against me, by telling +them that I was a sorcerer, and a companion of Gypsies and witches, and +their agents even called me so in the streets. That I was an associate +of Gypsies and fortune-tellers I do not deny. Why should I be ashamed of +their company when my Master mingled with publicans and thieves? Many of +the Gypsy race came frequently to visit me; received instruction, and +heard parts of the Gospel read to them in their own language, and when +they were hungry and faint, I gave them to eat and drink. This might be +deemed sorcery in Spain, but I am not without hope that it will be +otherwise estimated in England, and had I perished at this period, I +think there are some who would have been disposed to acknowledge that I +had not lived altogether in vain (always as an instrument of the “Most +Highest”), having been permitted to turn one of the most valuable books +of God into the speech of the most degraded of his creatures. + +In the meantime I endeavoured to enter into negotiations with the +ministry, for the purpose of obtaining permission to sell the New +Testament in Madrid, and the nullification of the prohibition. I +experienced, however, great opposition, which I was unable to surmount. +Several of the ultra-popish bishops, then resident in Madrid, had +denounced the Bible, the Bible Society, and myself. Nevertheless, +notwithstanding their powerful and united efforts, they were unable to +effect their principal object, namely, my expulsion from Madrid and +Spain. The Count Ofalia, notwithstanding he had permitted himself to be +made the instrument, to a certain extent, of these people, would not +consent to be pushed to such a length. Throughout this affair, I cannot +find words sufficiently strong to do justice to the zeal and interest +which Sir George Villiers displayed in the cause of the Testament. He +had various interviews with Ofalia on the subject, and in these he +expressed to him his sense of the injustice and tyranny which had been +practised in this instance towards his countryman. + +Ofalia had been moved by these remonstrances, and more than once promised +to do all in his power to oblige Sir George; but then the bishops again +beset him, and playing upon his political if not religious fears, +prevented him from acting a just, honest, and honourable part. At the +desire of Sir George Villiers, I drew up a brief account of the Bible +Society, and an exposition of its views, especially in respect to Spain, +which he presented with his own hands to the Count. I shall not trouble +the reader by inserting this memorial, but content myself with observing, +that I made no attempts to flatter and cajole, but expressed myself +honestly and frankly, as a Christian ought. Ofalia, on reading it, said, +“What a pity that this is a Protestant society, and that all its members +are not Catholics.” + +A few days subsequently, to my great astonishment, he sent a message to +me by a friend, requesting that I would send him a copy of my Gypsy +Gospel. I may as well here state, that the fame of this work, though not +yet published, had already spread like wildfire through Madrid, and every +person was passionately eager to possess a copy; indeed, several grandees +of Spain sent messages with similar requests, all of which I however +denied. I instantly resolved to take advantage of this overture on the +part of Count Ofalia, and to call on him myself. I therefore caused a +copy of the Gospel to be handsomely bound, and proceeding to the palace, +was instantly admitted to him. He was a dusky, diminutive person, +between fifty and sixty years of age, with false hair and teeth, but +exceedingly gentlemanly manners. He received me with great affability, +and thanked me for my present; but on my proceeding to speak of the New +Testament, he told me that the subject was surrounded with difficulties, +and that the great body of the clergy had taken up the matter against me; +he conjured me, however, to be patient and peaceable, in which case he +said he would endeavour to devise some plan to satisfy me. Amongst other +things, he observed that the bishops hated a sectarian more than an +Atheist. Whereupon I replied, that, like the Pharisees of old, they +cared more for the gold of the temple than the temple itself. Throughout +the whole of our interview he evidently laboured under great fear, and +was continually looking behind and around him, seemingly in dread of +being overheard, which brought to my mind an expression of a friend of +mine, that if there be any truth in metempsychosis, the soul of Count +Ofalia must have originally belonged to a mouse. We parted in kindness, +and I went away, wondering by what strange chance this poor man had +become prime minister of a country like Spain. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIX + + +The Two Gospels—The Alguazil—The Warrant—The Good Maria—The Arrest—Sent +to Prison—Reflections—The Reception—The Prison Room—Redress Demanded. + +At length the Gospel of Saint Luke in the Gypsy language was in a state +of readiness. I therefore deposited a certain number of copies in the +despacho, and announced them for sale. The Basque, which was by this +time also printed, was likewise advertised. For this last work there was +little demand. Not so, however, for the Gypsy Luke, of which I could +have easily disposed of the whole edition in less than a fortnight. +Long, however, before this period had expired, the clergy were up in +arms. “Sorcery!” said one bishop. “There is more in this than we can +dive into,” exclaimed a second. “He will convert all Spain by means of +the Gypsy language,” cried a third. And then came the usual chorus on +such occasions, of _Que infamia_! _Que picardia_! At last, having +consulted together, away they hurried to their tool the corregidor, or, +according to the modern term, the gefe politico of Madrid. I have +forgotten the name of this worthy, of whom I had myself no personal +knowledge whatever. Judging from his actions, however, and from common +report, I should say that he was a stupid wrong-headed creature, savage +withal—a melange of borrico, mule, and wolf. Having an inveterate +antipathy to all foreigners, he lent a willing ear to the complaint of my +accusers, and forthwith gave orders to make a seizure of all the copies +of the Gypsy Gospel which could be found in the despacho. The +consequence was, that a numerous body of alguazils directed their steps +to the Calle del principe; some thirty copies of the book in question +were pounced upon, and about the same number of Saint Luke in Basque. +With this spoil these satellites returned in triumph to the gefatura +politica, where they divided the copies of the Gypsy volume amongst +themselves, selling subsequently the greater number at a large price, the +book being in the greatest demand, and thus becoming unintentionally +agents of an heretical society. But every one must live by his trade, +say these people, and they lose no opportunity of making their words +good, by disposing to the best advantage of any booty which falls into +their hands. As no person cared about the Basque Gospel, it was safely +stowed away, with other unmarketable captures, in the warehouses of the +office. + +The Gypsy Gospels had now been seized, at least as many as were exposed +for sale in the despacho. The corregidor and his friends, however, were +of opinion that many more might be obtained by means of a little +management. Fellows, therefore, hangers-on of the police office, were +daily dispatched to the shop in all kinds of disguises, inquiring, with +great seeming anxiety, for “Gypsy books,” and offering high prices for +copies. They, however, returned to their employers empty-handed. My +Gallegan was on his guard, informing all who made inquiries, that books +of no description would be sold at the establishment for the present. +Which was in truth the case, as I had given him particular orders to sell +no more under any pretence whatever. + +I got no credit, however, for my frank dealing. The corregidor and his +confederates could not persuade themselves but that by some means +mysterious and unknown to them, I was daily selling hundreds of these +Gypsy books, which were to revolutionize the country, and annihilate the +power of the Father of Rome. A plan was therefore resolved upon, by +means of which they hoped to have an opportunity of placing me in a +position which would incapacitate me for some time from taking any active +measures to circulate the Scriptures, either in Gypsy or in any other +language. + +It was on the morning of the first of May, if I forget not, that an +unknown individual made his appearance in my apartment as I was seated at +breakfast; he was a mean-looking fellow, about the middle stature, with a +countenance on which knave was written in legible characters. The +hostess ushered him in, and then withdrew. I did not like the appearance +of my visitor, but assuming some degree of courtesy, I requested him to +sit down, and demanded his business. “I come from his excellency the +political chief of Madrid,” he replied, “and my business is to inform you +that his excellency is perfectly aware of your proceedings, and is at any +time able to prove that you are still disposing of in secret those evil +books which you have been forbidden to sell.” “Is he so,” I replied; +“pray let him do so forthwith, but what need of giving me information?” +“Perhaps,” continued the fellow, “you think his worship has no witnesses; +know, however, that he has many, and respectable ones too.” “Doubtless,” +I replied, “and from the respectability of your own appearance, you are +perhaps one of them. But you are occupying my time unprofitably; begone, +therefore, and tell whoever sent you, that I have by no means a high +opinion of his wisdom.” “I shall go when I please,” retorted the fellow; +“do you know to whom you are speaking? Are you aware that if I think fit +I can search your apartment, yes, even below your bed? What have we +here,” he continued; and commenced with his stick poking a heap of papers +which lay upon a chair; “what have we here; are these also papers of the +Gypsies?” I instantly determined upon submitting no longer to this +behaviour, and taking the fellow by the arm, led him out of the +apartment, and then still holding him, conducted him downstairs from the +third floor in which I lived, into the street, looking him steadfastly in +the face the whole while. + +The fellow had left his sombrero on the table, which I dispatched to him +by the landlady, who delivered it into his hand as he stood in the street +staring with distended eyes at the balcony of my apartment. + +“A trampa has been laid for you, Don Jorge,” said Maria Diaz, when she +had reascended from the street; “that corchete came here with no other +intention than to have a dispute with you; out of every word you have +said he will make a long history, as is the custom with these people: +indeed he said, as I handed him his hat, that ere twenty-four hours were +over, you should see the inside of the prison of Madrid.” + +In effect, during the course of the morning, I was told that a warrant +had been issued for my apprehension. The prospect of incarceration, +however, did not fill me with much dismay; an adventurous life and +inveterate habits of wandering having long familiarized me to situations +of every kind, so much so as to feel myself quite as comfortable in a +prison as in the gilded chamber of palaces; indeed more so, as in the +former place I can always add to my store of useful information, whereas +in the latter, ennui frequently assails me. I had, moreover, been +thinking for some time past of paying a visit to the prison, partly in +the hope of being able to say a few words of Christian instruction to the +criminals, and partly with the view of making certain investigations in +the robber language of Spain, a subject about which I had long felt much +curiosity; indeed, I had already made application for admittance into the +Carcel de la Corte, but had found the matter surrounded with +difficulties, as my friend Ofalia would have said. I rather rejoiced +then in the opportunity which was now about to present itself of entering +the prison, not in the character of a visitor for an hour, but as a +martyr, and as one suffering in the holy cause of religion. I was +determined, however, to disappoint my enemies for that day at least, and +to render null the threat of the alguazil, that I should be imprisoned +within twenty-four hours. I therefore took up my abode for the rest of +the day in a celebrated French tavern in the Calle del Caballero de +Gracia, which, as it was one of the most fashionable and public places in +Madrid, I naturally concluded was one of the last where the corregidor +would think of seeking me. + +About ten at night, Maria Diaz, to whom I had communicated the place of +my retreat, arrived with her son, Juan Lopez. “O señor,” said she on +seeing me, “they are already in quest of you; the alcalde of the barrio, +with a large comitiva of alguazils and such like people, have just been +at our house with a warrant for your imprisonment from the corregidor. +They searched the whole house, and were much disappointed at not finding +you. Wo is me, what will they do when they catch you?” “Be under no +apprehensions, good Maria,” said I; “you forget that I am an Englishman, +and so it seems does the corregidor. Whenever he catches me, depend upon +it he will be glad enough to let me go. For the present, however, we +will permit him to follow his own course, for the spirit of folly seems +to have seized him.” + +I slept at the tavern, and in the forenoon of the following day repaired +to the embassy, where I had an interview with Sir George, to whom I +related every circumstance of the affair. He said that he could scarcely +believe that the corregidor entertained any serious intentions of +imprisoning me: in the first place, because I had committed no offence; +and in the second, because I was not under the jurisdiction of that +functionary, but under that of the captain-general, who was alone +empowered to decide upon matters which relate to foreigners, and before +whom I must be brought in the presence of the consul of my nation. +“However,” said he, “there is no knowing to what length these jacks in +office may go. I therefore advise you, if you are under any +apprehension, to remain as my guest at the embassy for a few days, for +here you will be quite safe.” I assured him that I was under no +apprehension whatever, having long been accustomed to adventures of this +kind. From the apartment of Sir George, I proceeded to that of the first +secretary of embassy, Mr. Southern, with whom I entered into +conversation. I had scarcely been there a minute when my servant +Francisco rushed in, much out of breath, and in violent agitation, +exclaiming in Basque, “Niri jauna (_master mine_), the alguaziloac and +the corchetoac, and all the other lapurrac (_thieves_) are again at the +house. They seem half mad, and not being able to find you, are searching +your papers, thinking, I suppose, that you are hid among them.” Mr. +Southern here interrupting him, inquired of me what all this meant. +Whereupon I told him, saying at the same time, that it was my intention +to proceed at once to my lodgings. “But perhaps these fellows will +arrest you,” said Mr. S., “before we can interfere.” “I must take my +chance as to that,” I replied, and presently afterwards departed. + +Ere, however, I had reached the middle of the street of Alcala, two +fellows came up to me, and telling me that I was their prisoner, +commanded me to follow them to the office of the corregidor. They were +in fact alguazils, who, suspecting that I might enter or come out of the +embassy, had stationed themselves in the neighbourhood. I instantly +turned round to Francisco, and told him in Basque to return to the +embassy and to relate there to the secretary what had just occurred. The +poor fellow set off like lightning, turning half round, however, to shake +his fist, and to vent a Basque execration at the two lapurrac, as he +called the alguazils. + +They conducted me to the gefatura or office of the corregidor, where they +ushered me into a large room, and motioned me to sit down on a wooden +bench. They then stationed themselves on each side of me: there were at +least twenty people in the apartment beside ourselves, evidently from +their appearance officials of the establishment. They were all well +dressed, for the most part in the French fashion, in round hats, coats, +and pantaloons, and yet they looked what in reality they were, Spanish +alguazils, spies, and informers, and Gil Blas, could he have waked from +his sleep of two centuries, would, notwithstanding the change of fashion, +have had no difficulty in recognizing them. They glanced at me as they +stood lounging about the room; they gathered themselves together in a +circle and began conversing in whispers. I heard one of them say, “he +understands the seven Gypsy jargons.” Then presently another, evidently +from his language an Andalusian, said, “_Es muy diestro_ (he is very +skilful), and can ride a horse and dart a knife full as well as if he +came from my own country.” Thereupon they all turned round and regarded +me with a species of interest, evidently mingled with respect, which most +assuredly they would not have exhibited had they conceived that I was +merely an honest man bearing witness in a righteous cause. + +I waited patiently on the bench at least one hour, expecting every moment +to be summoned before my lord the corregidor. I suppose, however, that I +was not deemed worthy of being permitted to see so exalted a personage, +for at the end of that time, an elderly man, one however evidently of the +alguazil genus, came into the room and advanced directly towards me. +“Stand up,” said he. I obeyed. “What is your name?” he demanded. I +told him. “Then,” he replied, exhibiting a paper which he held in his +hand, “Señor, it is the will of his excellency the corregidor that you be +forthwith sent to prison.” + +He looked at me steadfastly as he spoke, perhaps expecting that I should +sink into the earth at the formidable name of prison; I however only +smiled. He then delivered the paper, which I suppose was the warrant for +my committal, into the hand of one of my two captors, and obeying a sign +which they made, I followed them. + +I subsequently learned that the secretary of legation, Mr. Southern, had +been dispatched by Sir George, as soon as the latter had obtained +information of my arrest, and had been waiting at the office during the +greater part of the time that I was there. He had demanded an audience +of the corregidor, in which he had intended to have remonstrated with +him, and pointed out to him the danger to which he was subjecting himself +by the rash step which he was taking. The sullen functionary, however, +had refused to see him, thinking, perhaps, that to listen to reason would +be a dereliction of dignity: by this conduct, however, he most +effectually served me, as no person, after such a specimen of +uncalled-for insolence, felt disposed to question the violence and +injustice which had been practised towards me. + +The alguazils conducted me across the Plaza Mayor to the Carcel de la +Corte, or prison of the court, as it is called. Whilst going across the +square, I remembered that this was the place where, in “the good old +times,” the Inquisition of Spain was in the habit of holding its solemn +_Autos da fe_, and I cast my eye to the balcony of the city hall, where +at the most solemn of them all, the last of the Austrian line in Spain +sat, and after some thirty heretics, of both sexes, had been burnt by +fours and by fives, wiped his face, perspiring with heat, and black with +smoke, and calmly inquired, “No hay mas?” for which exemplary proof of +patience he was much applauded by his priests and confessors, who +subsequently poisoned him. “And here am I,” thought I, “who have done +more to wound Popery, than all the poor Christian martyrs that ever +suffered in this accursed square, merely sent to prison, from which I am +sure to be liberated in a few days, with credit and applause. Pope of +Rome! I believe you to be as malicious as ever, but you are sadly +deficient in power. You are become paralytic, Batuschca, and your club +has degenerated to a crutch.” + +We arrived at the prison, which stands in a narrow street not far from +the great square. We entered a dusky passage, at the end of which was a +wicket door. My conductors knocked, a fierce visage peered through the +wicket; there was an exchange of words, and in a few moments I found +myself within the prison of Madrid, in a kind of corridor which +overlooked at a considerable altitude what appeared to be a court, from +which arose a hubbub of voices, and occasionally wild shouts and cries. +Within the corridor which served as a kind of office, were several +people; one of them sat behind a desk, and to him the alguazils went up, +and after discoursing with him some time in low tones, delivered the +warrant into his hands. He perused it with attention, then rising he +advanced to me. What a figure! He was about forty years of age, and his +height might have amounted to some six feet two inches, had he not been +curved much after the fashion of the letter S. No weazel ever appeared +lanker, and he looked as if a breath of air would have been sufficient to +blow him away; his face might certainly have been called handsome, had it +not been for its extraordinary and portentous meagreness; his nose was +like an eagle’s bill, his teeth white as ivory, his eyes black (Oh how +black!) and fraught with a strange expression, his skin was dark, and the +hair of his head like the plumage of the raven. A deep quiet smile dwelt +continually on his features; but with all the quiet it was a cruel smile, +such a one as would have graced the countenance of a Nero. “_Mais en +revanche personne n’etoit plus honnete_.” “Caballero,” said he, “allow +me to introduce myself to you as the alcayde of this prison. I perceive +by this paper that I am to have the honour of your company for a time, a +short time doubtless, beneath this roof; I hope you will banish every +apprehension from your mind. I am charged to treat you with all the +respect which is due to the illustrious nation to which you belong, and +which a cavalier of such exalted category as yourself is entitled to +expect. A needless charge, it is true, as I should only have been too +happy of my own accord to have afforded you every comfort and attention. +Caballero, you will rather consider yourself here as a guest than a +prisoner; you will be permitted to roam over every part of this house +whenever you think proper. You will find matters here not altogether +below the attention of a philosophic mind! Pray, issue whatever commands +you may think fit to the turnkeys and officials, even as if they were +your own servants. I will now have the honour of conducting you to your +apartment—the only one at present unoccupied. We invariably reserve it +for cavaliers of distinction. I am happy to say that my orders are again +in consonance with my inclination. No charge whatever will be made for +it to you, though the daily hire of it is not unfrequently an ounce of +gold. I entreat you, therefore, to follow me, cavalier, who am at all +times and seasons the most obedient and devoted of your servants.” Here +he took off his hat and bowed profoundly. + +Such was the speech of the alcayde of the prison of Madrid; a speech +delivered in pure sonorous Castilian, with calmness, gravity, and almost +with dignity; a speech which would have done honour to a gentleman of +high birth, to Monsieur Basompierre, of the Old Bastile, receiving an +Italian prince, or the high constable of the Tower an English duke +attainted of high treason. Now, who in the name of wonder was this +alcayde? + +One of the greatest rascals in all Spain. A fellow who had more than +once by his grasping cupidity, and by his curtailment of the miserable +rations of the prisoners, caused an insurrection in the court below only +to be repressed by bloodshed, and by summoning military aid; a fellow of +low birth, who, only five years previous, had been _drummer_ to a band of +royalist volunteers! + +But Spain is the land of extraordinary characters. + +I followed the alcayde to the end of the corridor, where was a massive +grated door, on each side of which sat a grim fellow of a turnkey. The +door was opened, and turning to the right we proceeded down another +corridor, in which were many people walking about, whom I subsequently +discovered to be prisoners like myself, but for political offences. At +the end of this corridor, which extended the whole length of the patio, +we turned into another, and the first apartment in this was the one +destined for myself. It was large and lofty, but totally destitute of +every species of furniture, with the exception of a huge wooden pitcher, +intended to hold my daily allowance of water. “Caballero,” said the +alcayde, “the apartment is without furniture, as you see. It is already +the third hour of the tarde, I therefore advise you to lose no time in +sending to your lodgings for a bed and whatever you may stand in need of, +the llavero here shall do your bidding. Caballero, adieu till I see you +again.” + +I followed his advice, and writing a note in pencil to Maria Diaz, I +dispatched it by the llavero, and then sitting down on the wooden +pitcher, I fell into a reverie, which continued for a considerable time. + +Night arrived, and so did Maria Diaz, attended by two porters and +Francisco, all loaded with furniture. A lamp was lighted, charcoal was +kindled in the brasero, and the prison gloom was to a certain degree +dispelled. + +I now left my seat on the pitcher, and sitting down on a chair, proceeded +to dispatch some wine and viands, which my good hostess had not forgotten +to bring with her. Suddenly Mr. Southern entered. He laughed heartily +at finding me engaged in the manner I have described. “B---,” said he, +“you are the man to get through the world, for you appear to take all +things coolly, and as matters of course. That, however, which most +surprises me with respect to you is, your having so many friends; here +you are in prison, surrounded by people ministering to your comforts. +Your very servant is your friend, instead of being your worst enemy, as +is usually the case. That Basque of yours is a noble fellow. I shall +never forget how he spoke for you, when he came running to the embassy to +inform us of your arrest. He interested both Sir George and myself in +the highest degree: should you ever wish to part with him, I hope you +will give me the refusal of his services. But now to other matters.” He +then informed me that Sir George had already sent in an official note to +Ofalia, demanding redress for such a wanton outrage on the person of a +British subject. “You must remain in prison,” said he, “to-night, but +depend upon it that to-morrow, if you are disposed, you may quit in +triumph.” “I am by no means disposed for any such thing,” I replied. +“They have put me in prison for their pleasure, and I intend to remain +here for my own.” “If the confinement is not irksome to you,” said Mr. +Southern, “I think, indeed, it will be your wisest plan; the government +have committed themselves sadly with regard to you; and, to speak +plainly, we are by no means sorry for it. They have on more than one +occasion treated ourselves very cavalierly, and we have now, if you +continue firm, an excellent opportunity of humbling their insolence. I +will instantly acquaint Sir George with your determination, and you shall +hear from us early on the morrow.” He then bade me farewell; and +flinging myself on my bed, I was soon asleep in the prison of Madrid. + + + + +CHAPTER XL + + +Ofalia—The Juez—Carcel de la Corte—Sunday in Prison—Robber Dress—Father +and Son—Characteristic Behaviour—The Frenchman—Prison Allowance—Valley of +the Shadow—Pure Castilian—Balseiro—The Cave—Robber Glory. + +Ofalia quickly perceived that the imprisonment of a British subject in a +manner so illegal as that which had attended my own, was likely to be +followed by rather serious consequences. Whether he himself had at all +encouraged the corregidor in his behaviour towards me, it is impossible +to say; the probability is that he had not: the latter, however, was an +officer of his own appointing, for whose actions himself and the +government were to a certain extent responsible. Sir George had already +made a very strong remonstrance upon the subject, and had even gone so +far as to state in an official note that he should desist from all +farther communication with the Spanish government until full and ample +reparation had been afforded me for the violence to which I had been +subjected. Ofalia’s reply was, that immediate measures should be taken +for my liberation, and that it would be my own fault if I remained in +prison. He forthwith ordered a juez de la primera instancia, a kind of +solicitor-general, to wait upon me, who was instructed to hear my account +of the affair, and then to dismiss me with an admonition to be cautious +for the future. My friends of the embassy, however, had advised me how +to act in such a case. Accordingly, when the juez on the second night of +my imprisonment made his appearance at the prison, and summoned me before +him, I went, but on his proceeding to question me, I absolutely refused +to answer. “I deny your right to put any questions to me,” said I; “I +entertain, however, no feelings of disrespect to the government or to +yourself, Caballero Juez; but I have been illegally imprisoned. So +accomplished a jurist as yourself cannot fail to be aware that, according +to the laws of Spain, I, as a foreigner, could not be committed to prison +for the offence with which I had been charged, without previously being +conducted before the captain-general of this royal city, whose duty it is +to protect foreigners, and see that the laws of hospitality are not +violated in their persons.” + +_Juez_.—Come, come, Don Jorge, I see what you are aiming at; but listen +to reason: I will not now speak to you as a juez but as a friend who +wishes you well, and who entertains a profound reverence for the British +nation. This is a foolish affair altogether; I will not deny that the +political chief acted somewhat hastily on the information of a person not +perhaps altogether worthy of credit. No great damage, however, has been +done to you, and to a man of the world like yourself, a little adventure +of this kind is rather calculated to afford amusement than anything else. +Now be advised, forget what has happened; you know that it is the part +and duty of a Christian to forgive; so, Don Jorge, I advise you to leave +this place forthwith. I dare say you are getting tired of it. You are +this moment free to depart; repair at once to your lodgings, where, I +promise you, that no one shall be permitted to interrupt you for the +future. It is getting late, and the prison doors will speedily be closed +for the night. _Vamos_, _Don Jorge_, _a la casa_, _a la posada_! + +_Myself_.—“But Paul said unto them, they have beaten us openly +uncondemned, being Romans, and have cast us into prison; and now do they +thrust us out privily? Nay, verily: but let them come themselves and +fetch us out.” + +I then bowed to the juez, who shrugged his shoulders and took snuff. On +leaving the apartment I turned to the alcayde, who stood at the door: +“Take notice,” said I, “that I will not quit this prison till I have +received full satisfaction for being sent hither uncondemned. You may +expel me if you please, but any attempt to do so shall be resisted with +all the bodily strength of which I am possessed.” + +“Your worship is right,” said the alcayde with a bow, but in a low voice. + +Sir George, on hearing of this affair, sent me a letter in which he +highly commended my resolution not to leave the prison for the present, +at the same time begging me to let him know if there were anything that +he could send me from the embassy to render my situation more tolerable. + +I will now leave for the present my own immediate affairs, and proceed to +give some account of the prison of Madrid and its inmates. + +The Carcel de la Corte, where I now was, though the principal prison of +Madrid, is one which certainly in no respect does credit to the capital +of Spain. Whether it was originally intended for the purpose to which it +is at present applied, I have no opportunity of knowing. The chances, +however, are, that it was not; indeed it was not till of late years that +the practice of building edifices expressly intended and suited for the +incarceration of culprits came at all into vogue. Castles, convents, and +deserted palaces, have in all countries, at different times, been +converted into prisons, which practice still holds good upon the greater +part of the continent, and more particularly in Spain and Italy, which +accounts, to a certain extent, for the insecurity of the prisons, and the +misery, want of cleanliness, and unhealthiness which in general pervade +them. + +I shall not attempt to enter into a particular description of the prison +of Madrid, indeed it would be quite impossible to describe so irregular +and rambling an edifice. Its principal features consisted of two courts, +the one behind the other, intended for the great body of the prisoners to +take air and recreation in. Three large vaulted dungeons or calabozos +occupied three sides of this court, immediately below the corridors of +which I have already spoken. These dungeons were roomy enough to contain +respectively from one hundred to one hundred and fifty prisoners, who +were at night secured therein with lock and bar, but during the day were +permitted to roam about the courts as they thought fit. The second court +was considerably larger than the first, though it contained but two +dungeons, horribly filthy and disgusting places; this second court being +used for the reception of the lower grades of thieves. Of the two +dungeons one was, if possible, yet more horrible than the other; it was +called the gallineria, or chicken coop, and within it every night were +pent up the young fry of the prison, wretched boys from seven to fifteen +years of age, the greater part almost in a state of nudity. The common +bed of all the inmates of these dungeons was the ground, between which +and their bodies nothing intervened, save occasionally a manta or +horse-cloth, or perhaps a small mattress; this latter luxury was, +however, of exceedingly rare occurrence. + +Besides the calabozos connected with the courts, were other dungeons in +various parts of the prison; some of them quite dark, intended for the +reception of those whom it might be deemed expedient to treat with +peculiar severity. There was likewise a ward set apart for females. +Connected with the principal corridor were many small apartments, where +resided prisoners confined for debt or for political offences. And, +lastly, there was a small capilla or chapel, in which prisoners cast for +death passed the last three days of their existence in company of their +ghostly advisers. + +I shall not soon forget my first Sunday in prison. Sunday is the gala +day of the prison, at least of that of Madrid, and whatever robber finery +is to be found within it, is sure to be exhibited on that day of +holiness. There is not a set of people in the world more vain than +robbers in general, more fond of cutting a figure whenever they have an +opportunity, and of attracting the eyes of their fellow creatures by the +gallantry of their appearance. The famous Sheppard of olden times +delighted in sporting a suit of Genoese velvet, and when he appeared in +public generally wore a silver-hilted sword at his side; whilst Vaux and +Hayward, heroes of a later day, were the best dressed men on the pavé of +London. Many of the Italian bandits go splendidly decorated, and the +very Gypsy robber has a feeling for the charms of dress; the cap alone of +the Haram Pasha, or leader of the cannibal Gypsy band which infested +Hungary towards the conclusion of the last century, was adorned with gold +and jewels to the value of four thousand guilders. Observe, ye vain and +frivolous, how vanity and crime harmonize. The Spanish robbers are as +fond of this species of display as their brethren of other lands, and, +whether in prison or out of it, are never so happy as when, decked out in +a profusion of white linen, they can loll in the sun, or walk jauntily up +and down. + +Snow-white linen, indeed, constitutes the principal feature in the robber +foppery of Spain. Neither coat nor jacket is worn over the shirt, the +sleeves of which are wide and flowing, only a waistcoat of green or blue +silk, with an abundance of silver buttons, which are intended more for +show than use, as the vest is seldom buttoned. Then there are wide +trousers, something after the Turkish fashion; around the waist is a +crimson faja or girdle, and about the head is tied a gaudily coloured +handkerchief from the loom of Barcelona; light pumps and silk stockings +complete the robber’s array. This dress is picturesque enough, and well +adapted to the fine sunshiny weather of the Peninsula; there is a dash of +effeminacy about it, however, hardly in keeping with the robber’s +desperate trade. It must not, however, be supposed that it is every +robber who can indulge in all this luxury; there are various grades of +thieves, some poor enough, with scarcely a rag to cover them. Perhaps in +the crowded prison of Madrid, there were not more than twenty who +exhibited the dress which I have attempted to describe above; these were +_jente de reputacion_, tip-top thieves, mostly young fellows, who, though +they had no money of their own, were supported in prison by their majas +and amigas, females of a certain class, who form friendships with +robbers, and whose glory and delight it is to administer to the vanity of +these fellows with the wages of their own shame and abasement. These +females supplied their cortejos with the snowy linen, washed, perhaps, by +their own hands in the waters of the Manzanares, for the display of the +Sunday, when they would themselves make their appearance dressed à la +maja, and from the corridors would gaze with admiring eyes upon the +robbers vapouring about in the court below. + +Amongst those of the snowy linen who most particularly attracted my +attention, were a father and son; the former was a tall athletic figure +of about thirty, by profession a housebreaker, and celebrated throughout +Madrid for the peculiar dexterity which he exhibited in his calling. He +was now in prison for a rather atrocious murder committed in the dead of +night, in a house at Caramanchel, in which his only accomplice was his +son, a child under seven years of age. “The apple,” as the Danes say, +“had not fallen far from the tree”; the imp was in every respect the +counterpart of the father, though in miniature. He, too, wore the robber +shirt sleeves, the robber waistcoat with the silver buttons, the robber +kerchief round his brow, and, ridiculous enough, a long Manchegan knife +in the crimson faja. He was evidently the pride of the ruffian father, +who took all imaginable care of this chick of the gallows, would dandle +him on his knee, and would occasionally take the cigar from his own +moustached lips and insert it in the urchin’s mouth. The boy was the pet +of the court, for the father was one of the valientes of the prison, and +those who feared his prowess, and wished to pay their court to him, were +always fondling the child. What an enigma is this world of ours! How +dark and mysterious are the sources of what is called crime and virtue! +If that infant wretch become eventually a murderer like his father, is he +to blame? Fondled by robbers, already dressed as a robber, born of a +robber, whose own history was perhaps similar. Is it right? . . . + +O, man, man, seek not to dive into the mystery of moral good and evil; +confess thyself a worm, cast thyself on the earth, and murmur with thy +lips in the dust, Jesus, Jesus! + +What most surprised me with respect to the prisoners, was their good +behaviour; I call it good when all things are taken into consideration, +and when I compare it with that of the general class of prisoners in +foreign lands. They had their occasional bursts of wild gaiety, their +occasional quarrels, which they were in the habit of settling in a corner +of the inferior court with their long knives; the result not unfrequently +being death, or a dreadful gash in the face or the abdomen; but, upon the +whole, their conduct was infinitely superior to what might have been +expected from the inmates of such a place. Yet this was not the result +of coercion, or any particular care which was exercised over them; for +perhaps in no part of the world are prisoners so left to themselves and +so utterly neglected as in Spain: the authorities having no farther +anxiety about them, than to prevent their escape; not the slightest +attention being paid to their moral conduct and not a thought bestowed +upon their health, comfort or mental improvement, whilst within the +walls. Yet in this prison of Madrid, and I may say in Spanish prisons in +general, for I have been an inmate of more than one, the ears of the +visitor are never shocked with horrid blasphemy and obscenity, as in +those of some other countries, and more particularly in civilized France; +nor are his eyes outraged and himself insulted, as he would assuredly be, +were he to look down upon the courts from the galleries of the Bicetre. +And yet in this prison of Madrid were some of the most desperate +characters in Spain: ruffians who had committed acts of cruelly and +atrocity sufficient to make the flesh shudder. But gravity and +sedateness are the leading characteristics of the Spaniards, and the very +robber, except in those moments when he is engaged in his occupation, and +then no one is more sanguinary, pitiless, and wolfishly eager for booty, +is a being who can be courteous and affable, and who takes pleasure in +conducting himself with sobriety and decorum. + +Happily, perhaps, for me, that my acquaintance with the ruffians of Spain +commenced and ended in the towns about which I wandered, and in the +prisons into which I was cast for the Gospel’s sake, and that, +notwithstanding my long and frequent journeys, I never came in contact +with them on the road or in the despoblado. + +The most ill-conditioned being in the prison was a Frenchman, though +probably the most remarkable. He was about sixty years of age, of the +middle stature, but thin and meagre, like most of his countrymen; he had +a villainously-formed head, according to all the rules of craniology, and +his features were full of evil expression. He wore no hat, and his +clothes, though in appearance nearly new, were of the coarsest +description. He generally kept aloof from the rest, and would stand for +hours together leaning against the walls with his arms folded, glaring +sullenly on what was passing before him. He was not one of the professed +valientes, for his age prevented his assuming so distinguished a +character, and yet all the rest appeared to hold him in a certain awe: +perhaps they feared his tongue, which he occasionally exerted in pouring +forth withering curses on those who incurred his displeasure. He spoke +perfectly good Spanish, and to my great surprise excellent Basque, in +which he was in the habit of conversing with Francisco, who, lolling from +the window of my apartment, would exchange jests and witticisms with the +prisoners in the court below, with whom he was a great favourite. + +One day when I was in the patio, to which I had free admission whenever I +pleased, by permission of the alcayde, I went up to the Frenchman, who +stood in his usual posture, leaning against the wall, and offered him a +cigar. I do not smoke myself, but it will never do to mix among the +lower classes of Spain unless you have a cigar to present occasionally. +The man glared at me ferociously for a moment, and appeared to be on the +point of refusing my offer with perhaps a hideous execration. I repeated +it, however, pressing my hand against my heart, whereupon suddenly the +grim features relaxed, and with a genuine French grimace, and a low bow, +he accepted the cigar, exclaiming, “_Ah_, _Monsieur_, _pardon_, _mais +c’est faire trop d’honneur a un pauvre diable comme moi_.” + +“Not at all,” said I, “we are both fellow prisoners in a foreign land, +and being so we ought to countenance each other. I hope that whenever I +have need of your co-operation in this prison you will afford it me.” + +“Ah, Monsieur,” exclaimed the Frenchman in rapture, “_vous avez bien +raison_; _il faut que les étrangers se donnent la main dans ce . . . pays +de barbares_. _Tenez_,” he added, in a whisper, “if you have any plan +for escaping, and require my assistance, I have an arm and a knife at +your service: you may trust me, and that is more than you could any of +these _sacres gens ici_,” glancing fiercely round at his fellow +prisoners. + +“You appear to be no friend to Spain and the Spaniards,” said I. “I +conclude that you have experienced injustice at their hands. For what +have they immured you in this place?” + +“_Pour rien du tout_, _c’est a dire pour une bagatelle_; but what can you +expect from such animals? For what are you imprisoned? Did I not hear +say for Gypsyism and sorcery?” + +“Perhaps you are here for your opinions?” + +“_Ah_, _mon Dieu_, _non_; _je ne suis pas homme a semblable betise_. I +have no opinions. _Je faisois . . . mais ce n’importe_; _je me trouve +ici_, _ou je creve de faim_.” + +“I am sorry to see a brave man in such a distressed condition,” said I; +“have you nothing to subsist upon beyond the prison allowance? Have you +no friends?” + +“Friends in this country, you mock me; here one has no friends, unless +one buy them. I am bursting with hunger; since I have been here I have +sold the clothes off my back, that I might eat, for the prison allowance +will not support nature, and of half of that we are robbed by the Batu, +as they call the barbarian of a governor. _Les haillons_ which now cover +me were given by two or three devotees who sometimes visit here. I would +sell them if they would fetch aught. I have not a sou, and for want of a +few crowns I shall be garroted within a month unless I can escape, +though, as I told you before, I have done nothing, a mere bagatelle; but +the worst crimes in Spain are poverty and misery.” + +“I have heard you speak Basque, are you from French Biscay?” + +“I am from Bordeaux, Monsieur; but I have lived much on the Landes and in +Biscay, _travaillant a mon metier_. I see by your look that you wish to +know my history. I shall not tell it you. It contains nothing that is +remarkable. See, I have smoked out your cigar; you may give me another, +and add a dollar if you please, _nous sommes creves ici de faim_. I +would not say as much to a Spaniard, but I have a respect for your +countrymen; I know much of them; I have met them at Maida and the other +place.” {359} + +“Nothing remarkable in his history!” Why, or I greatly err, one chapter +of his life, had it been written, would have unfolded more of the wild +and wonderful than fifty volumes of what are in general called adventures +and hairbreadth escapes by land and sea. A soldier! what a tale could +that man have told of marches and retreats, of battles lost and won, +towns sacked, convents plundered; perhaps he had seen the flames of +Moscow ascending to the clouds, and had “tried his strength with nature +in the wintry desert,” pelted by the snow-storm, and bitten by the +tremendous cold of Russia: and what could he mean by plying his trade in +Biscay and the Landes, but that he had been a robber in those wild +regions, of which the latter is more infamous for brigandage and crime +than any other part of the French territory. Nothing remarkable in his +history! then what history in the world contains aught that is +remarkable? + +I gave him the cigar and dollar: he received them, and then once more +folding his arms, leaned back against the wall and appeared to sink +gradually into one of his reveries. I looked him in the face and spoke +to him, but he did not seem either to hear or see me. His mind was +perhaps wandering in that dreadful valley of the shadow, into which the +children of earth, whilst living, occasionally find their way; that +dreadful region where there is no water, where hope dwelleth not, where +nothing lives but the undying worm. This valley is the facsimile of +hell, and he who has entered it, has experienced here on earth for a time +what the spirits of the condemned are doomed to suffer through ages +without end. + +He was executed about a month from this time. The bagatelle for which he +was confined was robbery and murder by the following strange device. In +concert with two others, he hired a large house in an unfrequented part +of the town, to which place he would order tradesmen to convey valuable +articles, which were to be paid for on delivery; those who attended paid +for their credulity with the loss of their lives and property. Two or +three had fallen into the snare. I wished much to have had some private +conversation with this desperate man, and in consequence begged of the +alcayde to allow him to dine with me in my own apartment; whereupon +Monsieur Basompierre, for so I will take the liberty of calling the +governor, his real name having escaped my memory, took off his hat, and, +with his usual smile and bow, replied in purest Castilian, “English +Cavalier, and I hope I may add friend, pardon me, that it is quite out of +my power to gratify your request, founded, I have no doubt, on the most +admirable sentiments of philosophy. Any of the other gentlemen beneath +my care shall, at any time you desire it, be permitted to wait upon you +in your apartment. I will even go so far as to cause their irons, if +irons they wear, to be knocked off in order that they may partake of your +refection with that comfort which is seemly and convenient: but to the +gentleman in question I must object; he is the most evil disposed of the +whole of this family, and would most assuredly breed a funcion either in +your apartment or in the corridor, by an attempt to escape. Cavalier, +_me pesa_, but I cannot accede to your request. But with respect to any +other gentleman, I shall be most happy, even Balseiro, who, though +strange things are told of him, still knows how to comport himself, and +in whose behaviour there is something both of formality and politeness, +shall this day share your hospitality if you desire it, Cavalier.” + +Of Balseiro I have already had occasion to speak in the former part of +this narrative. He was now confined in an upper story of the prison, in +a strong room, with several other malefactors. He had been found guilty +of aiding and assisting one Pepe Candelas, a thief of no inconsiderable +renown, in a desperate robbery perpetrated in open daylight upon no less +a personage than the queen’s milliner, a Frenchwoman, whom they bound in +her own shop, from which they took goods and money to the amount of five +or six thousand dollars. Candelas had already expiated his crime on the +scaffold, but Balseiro, who was said to be by far the worst ruffian of +the two, had by dint of money, an ally which his comrade did not possess, +contrived to save his own life; the punishment of death, to which he was +originally sentenced, having been commuted to twenty years’ hard labour +in the presidio of Malaga. I visited this worthy and conversed with him +for some time through the wicket of the dungeon. He recognized me, and +reminded me of the victory which I had once obtained over him, in the +trial of our respective skill in the crabbed Gitano, at which Sevilla the +bull-fighter was umpire. + +Upon my telling him that I was sorry to see him in such a situation, he +replied that it was an affair of no manner of consequence, as within six +weeks he should be conducted to the presidio, from which, with the +assistance of a few ounces distributed among the guards, he could at any +time escape. “But whither would you flee?” I demanded. “Can I not flee +to the land of the Moors,” replied Balseiro, “or to the English in the +camp of Gibraltar; or, if I prefer it, cannot I return to this foro +(_city_), and live as I have hitherto done, choring the gachos (_robbing +the natives_); what is to hinder me? Madrid is large, and Balseiro has +plenty of friends, especially among the lumias (_women_),” he added with +a smile. I spoke to him of his ill-fated accomplice Candelas; whereupon +his face assumed a horrible expression. “I hope he is in torment,” +exclaimed the robber. The friendship of the unrighteous is never of long +duration; the two worthies had it seems quarrelled in prison; Candelas +having accused the other of bad faith and an undue appropriation to his +own use of the _corpus delicti_ in various robberies which they had +committed in company. + +I cannot refrain from relating the subsequent history of this Balseiro. +Shortly after my own liberation, too impatient to wait until the presidio +should afford him a chance of regaining his liberty, he in company with +some other convicts broke through the roof of the prison and escaped. He +instantly resumed his former habits, committing several daring robberies, +both within and without the walls of Madrid. I now come to his last, I +may call it his master crime, a singular piece of atrocious villainy. +Dissatisfied with the proceeds of street robbery and house-breaking, he +determined upon a bold stroke, by which he hoped to acquire money +sufficient to support him in some foreign land in luxury and splendour. + +There was a certain comptroller of the queen’s household, by name +Gabiria, a Basque by birth, and a man of immense possessions: this +individual had two sons, handsome boys, between twelve and fourteen years +of age, whom I had frequently seen, and indeed conversed with, in my +walks on the bank of the Manzanares, which was their favourite promenade. +These children, at the time of which I am speaking, were receiving their +education at a certain seminary in Madrid. Balseiro, being well +acquainted with the father’s affection for his children, determined to +make it subservient to his own rapacity. He formed a plan which was +neither more nor less than to steal the children, and not to restore them +to their parent until he had received an enormous ransom. This plan was +partly carried into execution: two associates of Balseiro well dressed +drove up to the door of the seminary, where the children were, and, by +means of a forged letter, purporting to be written by the father, induced +the schoolmaster to permit the boys to accompany them for a country +jaunt, as they pretended. About five leagues from Madrid, Balseiro had a +cave in a wild unfrequented spot between the Escurial and a village +called Torre Lodones: to this cave the children were conducted, where +they remained in durance under the custody of the two accomplices; +Balseiro in the meantime remaining in Madrid for the purpose of +conducting negotiations with the father. The father, however, was a man +of considerable energy, and instead of acceding to the terms of the +ruffian, communicated in a letter, instantly took the most vigorous +measures for the recovery of his children. Horse and foot were sent out +to scour the country, and in less than a week the children were found +near the cave, having been abandoned by their keepers, who had taken +fright on hearing of the decided measures which had been resorted to; +they were, however, speedily arrested and identified by the boys as their +ravishers. Balseiro perceiving that Madrid was becoming too hot to hold +him, attempted to escape, but whether to the camp of Gibraltar or to the +land of the Moor, I know not; he was recognized, however, at a village in +the neighbourhood of Madrid, and being apprehended, was forthwith +conducted to the capital, where he shortly after terminated his existence +on the scaffold, with his two associates; Gabiria and his children being +present at the ghastly scene, which they surveyed from a chariot at their +ease. + +Such was the end of Balseiro, of whom I should certainly not have said so +much, but for the affair of the crabbed Gitano. Poor wretch! he acquired +that species of immortality which is the object of the aspirations of +many a Spanish thief, whilst vapouring about in the patio, dressed in the +snowy linen; the rape of the children of Gabiria made him at once the pet +of the fraternity. A celebrated robber, with whom I was subsequently +imprisoned at Seville, spoke his eulogy in the following manner.— + +“Balseiro was a very good subject, and an honest man. He was the head of +our family, Don Jorge; we shall never see his like again; pity that he +did not sack the parné (_money_), and escape to the camp of the Moor, Don +Jorge.” + + + + +CHAPTER XLI + + +Maria Diaz—Priestly Vituperation—Antonio’s Visit—Antonio at Service—A +Scene—Benedict Mol—Wandering in Spain—The Four Evangiles. + +“Well,” said I to Maria Diaz on the third morning after my imprisonment, +“what do the people of Madrid say to this affair of mine?” + +“I do not know what the people of Madrid in general say about it, +probably they do not take much interest in it; indeed, imprisonments at +the present time are such common matters that people seem to be quite +indifferent to them; the priests, however, are in no slight commotion, +and confess that they have committed an imprudent thing in causing you to +be arrested by their friend the corregidor of Madrid.” + +“How is that?” I inquired. “Are they afraid that their friend will be +punished?” + +“Not so, Señor,” replied Maria; “slight grief indeed would it cause them, +however great the trouble in which he had involved himself on their +account; for this description of people have no affection, and would not +care if all their friends were hanged, provided they themselves escaped. +But they say that they have acted imprudently in sending you to prison, +inasmuch as by so doing they have given you an opportunity of carrying a +plan of yours into execution. ‘This fellow is a bribon,’ say they, ‘and +has commenced tampering with the prisoners; they have taught him their +language, which he already speaks as well as if he were a son of the +prison. As soon as he comes out he will publish a thieves’ gospel, which +will still be a more dangerous affair than the Gypsy one, for the Gypsies +are few, but the thieves! woe is us; we shall all be Lutheranized. What +infamy, what rascality! It was a trick of his own. He was always eager +to get into prison, and now in evil hour we have sent him there, _el +bribonazo_; there will be no safety for Spain until he is hanged; he +ought to be sent to the four hells, where at his leisure he might +translate his fatal gospels into the language of the demons.’” + +“I but said three words to the alcayde of the prison,” said I, “relative +to the jargon used by the children of the prison.” + +“Three words! Don Jorge; and what may not be made out of three words? +You have lived amongst us to little purpose if you think we require more +than three words to build a system with: those three words about the +thieves and their tongue were quite sufficient to cause it to be reported +throughout Madrid that you had tampered with the thieves, had learnt +their language, and had written a book which was to overturn Spain, open +to the English the gates of Cadiz, give Mendizabal all the church plate +and jewels, and to Don Martin Luther the archiepiscopal palace of +Toledo.” + +Late in the afternoon of a rather gloomy day, as I was sitting in the +apartment which the alcayde had allotted me, I heard a rap at the door. +“Who is that?” I exclaimed. “_C’est moi_, _mon maitre_,” cried a +well-known voice, and presently in walked Antonio Buchini, dressed in the +same style as when I first introduced him to the reader, namely, in a +handsome but rather faded French surtout, vest and pantaloons, with a +diminutive hat in one hand, and holding in the other a long and slender +cane. + +“_Bon jour_, _mon maitre_,” said the Greek; then glancing around the +apartment, he continued, “I am glad to find you so well lodged. If I +remember right, mon maître, we have slept in worse places during our +wanderings in Galicia and Castile.” + +“You are quite right, Antonio,” I replied; “I am very comfortable. Well, +this is kind of you to visit your ancient master, more especially now he +is in the toils; I hope, however, that by so doing you will not offend +your present employer. His dinner hour must be at hand; why are not you +in the kitchen?” + +“Of what employer are you speaking, mon maître?” demanded Antonio. + +“Of whom should I speak but Count ---, to serve whom you abandoned me, +being tempted by an offer of a monthly salary less by four dollars than +that which I was giving you.” + +“Your worship brings an affair to my remembrance which I had long since +forgotten. I have at present no other master than yourself, Monsieur +Georges, for I shall always consider you as my master, though I may not +enjoy the felicity of waiting upon you.” + +“You have left the Count, then,” said I, “after remaining three days in +the house, according to your usual practice.” + +“Not three hours, mon maître,” replied Antonio; “but I will tell you the +circumstances. Soon after I left you I repaired to the house of Monsieur +le Comte; I entered the kitchen, and looked about me. I cannot say that +I had much reason to be dissatisfied with what I saw; the kitchen was +large and commodious, and every thing appeared neat and in its proper +place, and the domestics civil and courteous; yet I know not how it was, +the idea at once rushed into my mind that the house was by no means +suited to me, and that I was not destined to stay there long; so hanging +my haversac upon a nail, and sitting down on the dresser, I commenced +singing a Greek song, as I am in the habit of doing when dissatisfied. +The domestics came about me asking questions; I made them no answer, +however, and continued singing till the hour for preparing the dinner +drew nigh, when I suddenly sprang on the floor and was not long in +thrusting them all out of the kitchen, telling them that they had no +business there at such a season; I then at once entered upon my +functions. I exerted myself, mon maître, I exerted myself, and was +preparing a repast which would have done me honour; there was, indeed, +some company expected that day, and I therefore determined to show my +employer that nothing was beyond the capacity of his Greek cook. _Eh +bien_, mon maître, all was going on remarkably well, and I felt almost +reconciled to my new situation, when who should rush into the kitchen but +_le fils de la maison_, my young master, an ugly urchin of thirteen years +or thereabouts; he bore in his hand a manchet of bread, which, after +prying about for a moment, he proceeded to dip in the pan where some +delicate woodcocks were in the course of preparation. You know, mon +maître, how sensitive I am on certain points, for I am no Spaniard but a +Greek, and have principles of honour. Without a moment’s hesitation I +took my young master by the shoulders, and hurrying him to the door, +dismissed him in the manner which he deserved; squalling loudly, he +hurried away to the upper part of the house. I continued my labours, but +ere three minutes had elapsed, I heard a dreadful confusion above stairs, +_on faisoit une horrible tintamarre_, and I could occasionally +distinguish oaths and execrations: presently doors were flung open, and +there was an awful rushing downstairs, a gallopade. It was my lord the +count, his lady, and my young master, followed by a regular bevy of women +and filles de chambre. Far in advance of all, however, was my lord with +a drawn sword in his hand, shouting, ‘Where is the wretch who has +dishonoured my son, where is he? He shall die forthwith.’ I know not +how it was, mon maître, but I just then chanced to spill a large bowl of +garbanzos, which were intended for the puchera of the following day. +They were uncooked, and were as hard as marbles; these I dashed upon the +floor, and the greater part of them fell just about the doorway. _Eh +bien_, mon maître, in another moment in bounded the count, his eyes +sparkling like coals, and, as I have already said, with a rapier in his +hand. ‘_Tenez_, _gueux enrage_,’ he screamed, making a desperate lunge +at me, but ere the words were out of his mouth, his foot slipping on the +pease, he fell forward with great violence at his full length, and his +weapon flew out of his hand, _comme une fleche_. You should have heard +the outcry which ensued—there was a terrible confusion: the count lay +upon the floor to all appearance stunned; I took no notice, however, +continuing busily employed. They at last raised him up, and assisted him +till he came to himself, though very pale and much shaken. He asked for +his sword: all eyes were now turned upon me, and I saw that a general +attack was meditated. Suddenly I took a large caserolle from the fire in +which various eggs were frying; this I held out at arm’s length peering +at it along my arm as if I were curiously inspecting it; my right foot +advanced and the other thrown back as far as possible. All stood still, +imagining, doubtless, that I was about to perform some grand operation, +and so I was; for suddenly the sinister leg advancing, with one rapid +_coup de pied_, I sent the caserolle and its contents flying over my +head, so that they struck the wall far behind me. This was to let them +know that I had broken my staff and had shaken the dust off my feet; so +casting upon the count the peculiar glance of the Sceirote cooks when +they feel themselves insulted, and extending my mouth on either side +nearly as far as the ears, I took down my haversac and departed, singing +as I went the song of the ancient Demos, who, when dying, asked for his +supper, and water wherewith to lave his hands: + + Ό ηλιος έβασίλευε, κι ό Δημος διατάζε. + Σύρτε, παιδιά μου, ’σ τό νερόν ψωμι να φάτ' απόψε. + +And in this manner, mon maître, I left the house of the Count of ---.” + +_Myself_.—And a fine account you have given of yourself; by your own +confession, your behaviour was most atrocious. Were it not for the many +marks of courage and fidelity which you have exhibited in my service, I +would from this moment hold no farther communication with you. + +_Antonio_.—_Mais qu’est ce que vous voudriez_, _mon maitre_? Am I not a +Greek, full of honour and sensibility? Would you have the cooks of +Sceira and Stambul submit to be insulted here in Spain by the sons of +counts rushing into the temple with manchets of bread. Non, non, mon +maître, you are too noble to require that, and what is more, _too just_. +But we will talk of other things. Mon maître, I came not alone; there is +one now waiting in the corridor anxious to speak to you. + +_Myself_.—Who is it? + +_Antonio_.—One whom you have met, mon maître, in various and strange +places. + +_Myself_.—But who is it? + +_Antonio_.—One who will come to a strange end, _for so it is written_. +The most extraordinary of all the Swiss, he of Saint James,—_Der schatz +graber_. + +_Myself_.—Not Benedict Mol? + +“_Yaw_, _mein lieber herr_,” said Benedict, pushing open the door which +stood ajar; “it is myself. I met Herr Anton in the street, and hearing +that you were in this place, I came with him to visit you.” + +_Myself_.—And in the name of all that is singular, how is it that I see +you in Madrid again? I thought that by this time you were returned to +your own country. + +_Benedict_.—Fear not, lieber herr, I shall return thither in good time; +but not on foot, but with mules and coach. The schatz is still yonder, +waiting to be dug up, and now I have better hope than ever: plenty of +friends, plenty of money. See you not how I am dressed, lieber herr? + +And verily his habiliments were of a much more respectable appearance +than any which he had sported on former occasions. His coat and +pantaloons, which were of light green, were nearly new. On his head he +still wore an Andalusian hat, but the present one was neither old nor +shabby, but fresh and glossy, and of immense altitude of cone: whilst in +his hand, instead of the ragged staff which I had observed at Saint James +and Oviedo, he now carried a huge bamboo rattan, surmounted by the grim +head of either a bear or lion, curiously cut out of pewter. + +“You have all the appearance of a treasure seeker returned from a +successful expedition,” I exclaimed. + +“Or rather,” interrupted Antonio, “of one who has ceased to trade on his +own bottom, and now goes seeking treasures at the cost and expense of +others.” + +I questioned the Swiss minutely concerning his adventures since I last +saw him, when I left him at Oviedo to pursue my route to Santander. From +his answers I gathered that he had followed me to the latter place; he +was, however, a long time in performing the journey, being weak from +hunger and privation. At Santander he could hear no tidings of me, and +by this time the trifle which he had received from me was completely +exhausted. He now thought of making his way into France, but was afraid +to venture through the disturbed provinces, lest he should fall into the +hands of the Carlists, who he conceived might shoot him as a spy. No one +relieving him at Santander, he departed and begged his way till he found +himself in some part of Aragon, but where he scarcely knew. “My misery +was so great,” said Bennet, “that I nearly lost my senses. Oh, the +horror of wandering about the savage hills and wide plains of Spain, +without money and without hope! Sometimes I became desperate, when I +found myself amongst rocks and barrancos, perhaps after having tasted no +food from sunrise to sunset, and then I would raise my staff towards the +sky and shake it, crying, lieber herr Gott, ach lieber herr Gott, you +must help me now or never; if you tarry, I am lost; you must help me now, +now! And once when I was raving in this manner, methought I heard a +voice, nay I am sure I heard it, sounding from the hollow of a rock, +clear and strong; and it cried, ‘Der schatz, der schatz, it is not yet +dug up; to Madrid, to Madrid. The way to the schatz is through Madrid.’ +And then the thought of the schatz once more rushed into my mind, and I +reflected how happy I might be, could I but dig up the schatz. No more +begging, then, no more wandering amidst horrid mountains and deserts; so +I brandished my staff, and my body and my limbs became full of new and +surprising strength, and I strode forward, and was not long before I +reached the high road; and then I begged and bettled as I best could, +until I reached Madrid.” + +“And what has befallen you since you reached Madrid?” I inquired. “Did +you find the treasure in the streets?” + +On a sudden Bennet became reserved and taciturn, which the more surprised +me, as, up to the present moment, he had at all times been remarkably +communicative with respect to his affairs and prospects. From what I +could learn from his broken hints and innuendoes, it appeared that, since +his arrival at Madrid, he had fallen into the hands of certain people who +had treated him with kindness, and provided him with both money and +clothes; not from disinterested motives, however, but having an eye to +the treasure. “They expect great things from me,” said the Swiss; “and +perhaps, after all, it would have been more profitable to have dug up the +treasure without their assistance, always provided that were possible.” +Who his new friends were, he either knew not or would not tell me, save +that they were people in power. He said something about Queen Christina +and an oath which he had taken in the presence of a bishop on the +crucifix and “the four Evangiles.” I thought that his head was turned, +and forbore questioning. Just before taking his departure, he observed +“Lieber herr, pardon me for not being quite frank towards you, to whom I +owe so much, but I dare not; I am not now my own man. It is, moreover, +an evil thing at all times to say a word about treasure before you have +secured it. There was once a man in my own country, who dug deep into +the earth until he arrived at a copper vessel which contained a schatz. +Seizing it by the handle, he merely exclaimed in his transport, ‘I have +it’; that was enough, however: down sank the kettle, though the handle +remained in his grasp. That was all he ever got for his trouble and +digging. Farewell, lieber herr, I shall speedily be sent back to Saint +James to dig up the schatz; but I will visit you ere I go—farewell.” + + + + +CHAPTER XLII + + +Liberation from Prison—The Apology—Human Nature—The Greek’s Return—Church +of Rome—Light of Scripture—Archbishop of Toledo—An Interview—Stones of +Price—A Resolution—The Foreign Language—Benedict’s Farewell—Treasure Hunt +at Compostella—Truth and Fiction. + +I remained about three weeks in the prison of Madrid, and then left it. +If I had possessed any pride, or harboured any rancour against the party +who had consigned me to durance, the manner in which I was restored to +liberty would no doubt have been highly gratifying to those evil +passions; the government having acknowledged, by a document transmitted +to Sir George, that I had been incarcerated on insufficient grounds, and +that no stigma attached itself to me from the imprisonment I had +undergone; at the same time agreeing to defray all the expenses to which +I had been subjected throughout the progress of this affair. + +It moreover expressed its willingness to dismiss the individual owing to +whose information I had been first arrested, namely, the corchete or +police officer who had visited me in my apartments in the Calle de +Santiago, and behaved himself in the manner which I have described in a +former chapter. I declined, however, to avail myself of this +condescension of the government, more especially as I was informed that +the individual in question had a wife and family, who, if he were +disgraced, would be at once reduced to want. I moreover considered that, +in what he had done and said, he had probably only obeyed some private +orders which he had received; I therefore freely forgave him, and if he +does not retain his situation at the present moment, it is certainly no +fault of mine. + +I likewise refused to accept any compensation for my expenses, which were +considerable. It is probable that many persons in my situation would +have acted very differently in this respect, and I am far from saying +that herein I acted discreetly or laudably; but I was averse to receive +money from people such as those of which the Spanish government was +composed, people whom I confess I heartily despised, and I was unwilling +to afford them an opportunity of saying that after they had imprisoned an +Englishman unjustly, and without a cause, he condescended to receive +money at their hands. In a word, I confess my own weakness; I was +willing that they should continue my debtors, and have little doubt that +they had not the slightest objection to remain so; they kept their money, +and probably laughed in their sleeves at my want of common sense. + +The heaviest loss which resulted from my confinement, and for which no +indemnification could be either offered or received, was in the death of +my affectionate and faithful Basque Francisco, who having attended me +during the whole time of my imprisonment, caught the pestilential typhus +or gaol fever, which was then raging in the Carcel de la Corte, of which +he expired within a few days subsequent to my liberation. His death +occurred late one evening; the next morning as I was lying in bed +ruminating on my loss, and wondering of what nation my next servant would +be, I heard a noise which seemed to be that of a person employed +vigorously in cleaning boots or shoes, and at intervals a strange +discordant voice singing snatches of a song in some unknown language: +wondering who it could be, I rang the bell. + +“Did you ring, mon maître,” said Antonio, appearing at the door with one +of his arms deeply buried in a boot. + +“I certainly did ring,” said I, “but I scarcely expected that you would +have answered the summons.” + +“_Mais pourquoi non_, _mon maitre_?” cried Antonio. “Who should serve +you now but myself? _N’est pas que le sieur Francois est mort_? And did +I not say, as soon as I heard of his departure, I shall return to my +functions _chez mon maitre_, Monsieur Georges?” + +“I suppose you had no other employment, and on that account you came.” + +“_Au contraire_, _mon maitre_,” replied the Greek, “I had just engaged +myself at the house of the Duke of Frias, from whom I was to receive ten +dollars per month more than I shall accept from your worship; but on +hearing that you were without a domestic, I forthwith told the Duke, +though it was late at night, that he would not suit me, and here I am.” + +“I shall not receive you in this manner,” said I; “return to the Duke, +apologize for your behaviour, request your dismission in a regular way; +and then if his grace is willing to part with you, as will most probably +be the case, I shall be happy to avail myself of your services.” + +It is reasonable to expect that after having been subjected to an +imprisonment which my enemies themselves admitted to be unjust, I should +in future experience more liberal treatment at their hands than that +which they had hitherto adopted towards me. The sole object of my +ambition at this time was to procure toleration for the sale of the +Gospel in this unhappy and distracted kingdom, and to have attained this +end I would not only have consented to twenty such imprisonments in +succession, as that which I had undergone, but would gladly have +sacrificed life itself. I soon perceived, however, that I was likely to +gain nothing by my incarceration; on the contrary, I had become an object +of personal dislike to the government since the termination of this +affair, which it was probable I had never been before; their pride and +vanity were humbled by the concessions which they had been obliged to +make in order to avoid a rupture with England. This dislike they were +now determined to gratify, by thwarting my views as much as possible. I +had an interview with Ofalia on the subject uppermost in my mind: I found +him morose and snappish. “It will be for your interest to be still,” +said he; “beware! you have already thrown the whole corte into confusion; +beware, I repeat; another time you may not escape so easily.” “Perhaps +not,” I replied, “and perhaps I do not wish it; it is a pleasant thing to +be persecuted for the Gospel’s sake. I now take the liberty of inquiring +whether, if I attempt to circulate the word of God, I am to be +interrupted.” “Of course,” exclaimed Ofalia; “the church forbids such +circulation.” “I shall make the attempt, however,” I exclaimed. “Do you +mean what you say?” demanded Ofalia, arching his eyebrows and elongating +his mouth. “Yes,” I continued, “I shall make the attempt in every +village in Spain to which I can penetrate.” + +Throughout my residence in Spain the clergy were the party from which I +experienced the strongest opposition; and it was at their instigation +that the government originally adopted those measures which prevented any +extensive circulation of the sacred volume through the land. I shall not +detain the course of my narrative with reflections as to the state of a +church, which, though it pretends to be founded on Scripture, would yet +keep the light of Scripture from all mankind, if possible. But Rome is +fully aware that she is not a Christian church, and having no desire to +become so, she acts prudently in keeping from the eyes of her followers +the page which would reveal to them the truths of Christianity. Her +agents and minions throughout Spain exerted themselves to the utmost to +render my humble labours abortive, and to vilify the work which I was +attempting to disseminate. All the ignorant and fanatical clergy (the +great majority) were opposed to it, and all those who were anxious to +keep on good terms with the court of Rome were loud in their cry against +it. There was, however, one section of the clergy, a small one, it is +true, rather favourably disposed towards the circulation of the Gospel +though by no means inclined to make any particular sacrifice for the +accomplishment of such an end: these were such as professed liberalism, +which is supposed to mean a disposition to adopt any reform both in civil +and church matters, which may be deemed conducive to the weal of the +country. Not a few amongst the Spanish clergy were supporters of this +principle, or at least declared themselves so, some doubtless for their +own advancement, hoping to turn the spirit of the times to their own +personal profit; others, it is to be hoped, from conviction, and a pure +love of the principle itself. Amongst these were to be found, at the +time of which I am speaking, several bishops. It is worthy of remark, +however, that of all these not one but owed his office, not to the Pope, +who disowned them one and all, but to the Queen Regent, the professed +head of liberalism throughout all Spain. It is not, therefore, +surprising that men thus circumstanced should feel rather disposed than +not to countenance any measure or scheme at all calculated to favour the +advancement of liberalism; and surely such an one was a circulation of +the Scriptures. I derived but little assistance from their good will, +however, supposing that they entertained some, as they never took any +decided stand nor lifted up their voices in a bold and positive manner, +denouncing the conduct of those who would withhold the light of Scripture +from the world. At one time I hoped by their instrumentality to +accomplish much in Spain in the Gospel cause; but I was soon undeceived, +and became convinced that reliance on what they would effect, was like +placing the hand on a staff of reed which will only lacerate the flesh. +More than once some of them sent messages to me, expressive of their +esteem, and assuring me how much the cause of the Gospel was dear to +their hearts. I even received an intimation that a visit from me would +be agreeable to the Archbishop of Toledo, the Primate of Spain. + +Of this personage I can say but little, his early history being entirely +unknown to me. At the death of Ferdinand, I believe, he was Bishop of +Mallorca, a small insignificant see, of very scanty revenues, which +perhaps he had no objection to exchange for one more wealthy; it is +probable, however, that had he proved a devoted servant of the Pope, and +consequently a supporter of legitimacy, he would have continued to the +day of his death to fill the episcopal chair of Mallorca; but he was said +to be a liberal, and the Queen Regent thought fit to bestow upon him the +dignity of Archbishop of Toledo, by which he became the head of the +Spanish church. The Pope, it is true, had refused to ratify the +nomination, on which account all good Catholics were still bound to +consider him as Bishop of Mallorca, and not as Primate of Spain. He +however received the revenues belonging to the see, which, though only a +shadow of what they originally were, were still considerable, and lived +in the primate’s palace at Madrid, so that if he were not archbishop _de +jure_, he was what many people would have considered much better, +archbishop _de facto_. + +Hearing that this personage was a personal friend of Ofalia, who was said +to entertain a very high regard for him, I determined upon paying him a +visit, and accordingly one morning betook myself to the palace in which +he resided. I experienced no difficulty in obtaining an interview, being +forthwith conducted to his presence by a common kind of footman, an +Asturian, I believe, whom I found seated on a stone bench in the entrance +hall. When I was introduced the Archbishop was alone, seated behind a +table in a large apartment, a kind of drawing-room; he was plainly +dressed, in a black cassock and silken cap; on his finger, however, +glittered a superb amethyst, the lustre of which was truly dazzling. He +rose for a moment as I advanced, and motioned me to a chair with his +hand. He might be about sixty years of age; his figure was very tall, +but he stooped considerably, evidently from feebleness, and the pallid +hue of ill health overspread his emaciated features. When he had +reseated himself, he dropped his head, and appeared to be looking on the +table before him. + +“I suppose your lordship knows who I am?” said I, at last breaking +silence. + +The Archbishop bent his head towards the right shoulder, in a somewhat +equivocal manner, but said nothing. + +“I am he whom the Manolos of Madrid call Don Jorgito el Ingles; I am just +come out of prison, whither I was sent for circulating my Lord’s Gospel +in this kingdom of Spain?” + +The Archbishop made the same equivocal motion with his head, but still +said nothing. + +“I was informed that your lordship was desirous of seeing me, and on that +account I have paid you this visit.” + +“I did not send for you,” said the Archbishop, suddenly raising his head +with a startled look. + +“Perhaps not: I was, however, given to understand that my presence would +be agreeable; but as that does not seem to be the case, I will leave.” + +“Since you are come, I am very glad to see you.” + +“I am very glad to hear it,” said I, reseating myself; “and since I am +here, we may as well talk of an all-important matter, the circulation of +the Scripture. Does your lordship see any way by which an end so +desirable might be brought about?” + +“No,” said the Archbishop faintly. + +“Does not your lordship think that a knowledge of the Scripture would +work inestimable benefit in these realms?” + +“I don’t know.” + +“Is it probable that the government may be induced to consent to the +circulation?” + +“How should I know?” and the Archbishop looked me in the face. + +I looked in the face of the Archbishop; there was an expression of +helplessness in it, which almost amounted to dotage. “Dear me,” thought +I, “whom have I come to on an errand like mine? Poor man, you are not +fitted to play the part of Martin Luther, and least of all in Spain. I +wonder why your friends selected you to be Archbishop of Toledo; they +thought perhaps that you would do neither good nor harm, and made choice +of you, as they sometimes do primates in my own country, for your +incapacity. You do not seem very happy in your present situation; no +very easy stall this of yours. You were more comfortable, I trow, when +you were the poor Bishop of Mallorca; could enjoy your puchera then +without fear that the salt would turn out sublimate. No fear then of +being smothered in your bed. A siesta is a pleasant thing when one is +not subject to be disturbed by ‘the sudden fear.’ I wonder whether they +have poisoned you already,” I continued, half aloud, as I kept my eyes +fixed on his countenance, which methought was becoming ghastly. + +“Did you speak, Don Jorge?” demanded the Archbishop. + +“That is a fine brilliant on your lordship’s hand,” said I. + +“You are fond of brilliants, Don Jorge,” said the Archbishop, his +features brightening up; “vaya! so am I; they are pretty things. Do you +understand them?” + +“I do,” said I, “and I never saw a finer brilliant than your own, one +excepted; it belonged to an acquaintance of mine, a Tartar Khan. He did +not bear it on his finger, however; it stood in the frontlet of his +horse, where it shone like a star. He called it Daoud Scharr, which, +being interpreted, meaneth _light of war_.” + +“Vaya!” said the Archbishop, “how very extraordinary; I am glad you are +fond of brilliants, Don Jorge. Speaking of horses, reminds me that I +have frequently seen you on horseback. Vaya! how you ride; it is +dangerous to be in your way.” + +“Is your lordship fond of equestrian exercise?” + +“By no means, Don Jorge; I do not like horses; it is not the practice of +the church to ride on horseback. We prefer mules: they are the quieter +animals; I fear horses, they kick so violently.” + +“The kick of a horse is death,” said I, “if it touches a vital part. I +am not, however, of your lordship’s opinion with respect to mules: a good +ginete may retain his seat on a horse however vicious, but a mule—vaya! +when a false mule _tira por detras_, I do not believe that the Father of +the Church himself could keep the saddle a moment, however sharp his +bit.” + +As I was going away, I said, “And with respect to the Gospel, your +lordship; what am I to understand?” + +“_No se_,” said the Archbishop, again bending his head towards the right +shoulder, whilst his features resumed their former vacant expression. +And thus terminated my interview with the Archbishop of Toledo. + +“It appears to me,” said I to Maria Diaz, on returning home; “it appears +to me, Marequita mia, that if the Gospel in Spain is to wait for +toleration until these liberal bishops and archbishops come forward +boldly in its behalf, it will have to tarry a considerable time.” + +“I am much of your worship’s opinion,” answered Maria; “a fine thing, +truly, it would be to wait till they exerted themselves in its behalf. +Ca! the idea makes me smile: was your worship ever innocent enough to +suppose that they cared one tittle about the Gospel or its cause? Vaya! +they are true priests, and had only self-interest in view in their +advances to you. The Holy Father disowns them, and they would now fain, +by awaking his fears and jealousy, bring him to some terms; but let him +once acknowledge them and see whether they would admit you to their +palaces or hold any intercourse with you: ‘Forth with the fellow,’ they +would say; ‘vaya! is he not a Lutheran? Is he not an enemy to the +Church? _A la horca_, _a la horca_!’ I know this family better than you +do, Don Jorge.” + +“It is useless tarrying,” said I; “nothing, however, can be done in +Madrid. I cannot sell the work at the despacho, and I have just received +intelligence that all the copies exposed for sale in the libraries in the +different parts of Spain which I visited, have been sequestrated by order +of the government. My resolution is taken: I shall mount my horses, +which are neighing in the stable, and betake myself to the villages and +plains of dusty Spain. _Al campo_, _al campo_: ‘Ride forth because of +the word of righteousness, and thy right hand shall show thee terrible +things.’ I will ride forth, Maria.” + +“Your worship can do no better; and allow me here to tell you, that for +every single book you might sell in a despacho in the city, you may +dispose of one hundred amongst the villages, always provided you offer +them cheap: for in the country money is rather scant. Vaya! should I not +know? am I not a villager myself, a villana from the Sagra? Ride forth, +therefore; your horses are neighing in the stall, as your worship says, +and you might almost have added that the Señor Antonio is neighing in the +house. He says he has nothing to do, on which account he is once more +dissatisfied and unsettled. He finds fault with everything, but more +particularly with myself. This morning I saluted him, and he made me no +reply, but twisted his mouth in a manner very uncommon in this land of +Spain.” + +“A thought strikes me,” said I; “you have mentioned the Sagra; why should +not I commence my labours amongst the villages of that district?” + +“Your worship can do no better,” replied Maria; “the harvest is just over +there, and you will find the people comparatively unemployed, with +leisure to attend and listen to you; and if you follow my advice, you +will establish yourself at Villa Seca, in the house of my fathers, where +at present lives my lord and husband. Go, therefore, to Villa Seca in +the first place, and from thence you can sally forth with the Señor +Antonio upon your excursions. Peradventure, my husband will accompany +you; and if so, you will find him highly useful. The people of Villa +Seca are civil and courteous, your worship; when they address a foreigner +they speak to him at the top of their voice and in Gallegan.” + +“In Gallegan!” I exclaimed. + +“They all understand a few words of Gallegan, which they have acquired +from the mountaineers, who occasionally assist them in cutting the +harvest, and as Gallegan is the only foreign language they know, they +deem it but polite to address a foreigner in that tongue. Vaya! it is +not a bad village, that of Villa Seca, nor are the people; the only +ill-conditioned person living there is his reverence the curate.” + +I was not long in making preparations for my enterprise. A considerable +stock of Testaments were sent forward by an arriero, I myself followed +the next day. Before my departure, however, I received a Benedict Mol. + +“I am come to bid you farewell, lieber herr; I return to Compostella.” + +“On what errand?” + +“To dig up the schatz, lieber herr. For what else should I go? For what +have I lived until now, but that I may dig up the schatz in the end?” + +“You might have lived for something better,” I exclaimed. “I wish you +success, however. But on what grounds do you hope? Have you obtained +permission to dig? Surely you remember your former trials in Galicia?” + +“I have not forgotten them, lieber herr, nor the journey to Oviedo, nor +‘the seven acorns,’ nor the fight with death in the barranco. But I must +accomplish my destiny. I go now to Galicia, as is becoming a Swiss, at +the expense of the government, with coach and mule, I mean in the galera. +I am to have all the help I require, so that I can dig down to the +earth’s centre if I think fit. I—but I must not tell your worship, for I +am sworn on ‘the four Evangiles’ not to tell.” + +“Well, Benedict, I have nothing to say, save that I hope you will succeed +in your digging.” + +“Thank you, lieber herr, thank you; and now farewell. Succeed! I shall +succeed!” Here he stopped short, started, and looking upon me with an +expression of countenance almost wild, he exclaimed: “Heiliger Gott! I +forgot one thing. Suppose I should not find the treasure after all.” + +“Very rationally said; pity, though, that you did not think of that +contingency till now. I tell you, my friend, that you have engaged in a +most desperate undertaking. It is true that you may find a treasure. +The chances are, however, a hundred to one that you do not, and in that +event, what will be your situation? You will be looked upon as an +impostor, and the consequences may be horrible to you. Remember where +you are, and amongst whom you are. The Spaniards are a credulous people, +but let them once suspect that they have been imposed upon, and above all +laughed at, and their thirst for vengeance knows no limit. Think not +that your innocence will avail you. That you are no impostor I feel +convinced; but they would never believe it. It is not too late. Return +your fine clothes and magic rattan to those from whom you had them. Put +on your old garments, grasp your ragged staff, and come with me to the +Sagra, to assist in circulating the illustrious Gospel amongst the +rustics on the Tagus’ bank.” + +Benedict mused for a moment, then shaking his head, he cried, “No, no, I +must accomplish my destiny. The schatz is not yet dug up. So said the +voice in the barranco. To-morrow to Compostella. I shall find it—the +schatz—it is still there—it _must_ be there.” + +He went, and I never saw him more. What I heard, however, was +extraordinary enough. It appeared that the government had listened to +his tale, and had been so struck with Bennet’s exaggerated description of +the buried treasure, that they imagined that, by a little trouble and +outlay, gold and diamonds might be dug up at Saint James sufficient to +enrich themselves and to pay off the national debt of Spain. The Swiss +returned to Compostella “like a duke,” to use his own words. The affair, +which had at first been kept a profound secret, was speedily divulged. +It was, indeed, resolved that the investigation, which involved +consequences of so much importance, should take place in a manner the +most public and imposing. A solemn festival was drawing nigh, and it was +deemed expedient that the search should take place on that day. The day +arrived. All the bells in Compostella pealed. The whole populace +thronged from their houses, a thousand troops were drawn up in the +square, the expectation of all was wound up to the highest pitch. A +procession directed its course to the church of San Roque; at its head +was the captain-general and the Swiss, brandishing in his hand the magic +rattan, close behind walked the _meiga_, the Gallegan witch-wife, by whom +the treasure-seeker had been originally guided in the search; numerous +masons brought up the rear, bearing implements to break up the ground. +The procession enters the church, they pass through it in solemn march, +they find themselves in a vaulted passage. The Swiss looks around. “Dig +here,” said he suddenly. “Yes, dig here,” said the meiga. The masons +labour, the floor is broken up,—a horrible and fetid odour arises. . . . + +Enough; no treasure was found, and my warning to the unfortunate Swiss +turned out but too prophetic. He was forthwith seized and flung into the +horrid prison of Saint James, amidst the execrations of thousands, who +would have gladly torn him limb from limb. + +The affair did not terminate here. The political opponents of the +government did not allow so favourable an opportunity to escape for +launching the shafts of ridicule. The Moderados were taunted in the +cortes for their avarice and credulity, whilst the liberal press wafted +on its wings through Spain the story of the treasure-hunt at Saint James. + +“After all, it was a _trampa_ of Don Jorge’s,” said one of my enemies. +“That fellow is at the bottom of half the picardias which happen in +Spain.” + +Eager to learn the fate of the Swiss, I wrote to my old friend Rey +Romero, at Compostella. In his answer he states: “I saw the Swiss in +prison, to which place he sent for me, craving my assistance, for the +sake of the friendship which I bore to you. But how could I help him? +He was speedily after removed from Saint James, I know not whither. It +is said that he disappeared on the road.” + +Truth is sometimes stranger than fiction. Where in the whole cycle of +romance shall we find anything more wild, grotesque, and sad, than the +easily-authenticated history of Benedict Mol, the treasure-digger of +Saint James? + + + + +CHAPTER XLIII + + +Villa Seca—Moorish House—The Puchera—The Rustic Council—Polite +Ceremonial—The Flower of Spain—The Bridge of Azeca—The Ruined +Castle—Taking the Field—Demand for the Word—The Old Peasant—The Curate +and Blacksmith—Cheapness of the Scriptures. + +It was one of the most fiercely hot days in which I ever braved the sun, +when I arrived at Villa Seca. The heat in the shade must have amounted +at least to one hundred degrees, and the entire atmosphere seemed to +consist of flickering flame. At a place called Leganez, six leagues from +Madrid, and about half way to Toledo, we diverged from the highway, +bending our course seemingly towards the south-east. We rode over what +are called plains in Spain, but which, in any other part of the world, +would be called undulating and broken ground. The crops of corn and +barley had already disappeared. The last vestiges discoverable being +here and there a few sheaves, which the labourers were occupied in +removing to their garners in the villages. The country could scarcely be +called beautiful, being perfectly naked, exhibiting neither trees nor +verdure. It was not, however, without its pretensions to grandeur and +magnificence, like every part of Spain. The most prominent objects were +two huge calcareous hills or rather one cleft in twain, which towered up +on high; the summit of the nearest being surmounted by the ruins of an +ancient castle, that of Villaluenga. About an hour past noon we reached +Villa Seca. + +We found it a large village, containing about seven hundred inhabitants, +and surrounded by a mud wall. A plaza, or market-place, stood in the +midst, one side of which is occupied by what is called a palace, a clumsy +quadrangular building of two stories, belonging to some noble family, the +lords of the neighbouring soil. It was deserted, however, being only +occupied by a kind of steward, who stored up in its chambers the grain +which he received as rent from the tenants and villanos who farmed the +surrounding district. + +The village stands at the distance of about a quarter of a league from +the bank of the Tagus, which even here, in the heart of Spain, is a +beautiful stream, not navigable, however, on account of the sandbanks, +which in many places assume the appearance of small islands, and are +covered with trees and brushwood. The village derives its supply of +water entirely from the river, having none of its own; such at least as +is potable, the water of its wells being all brackish, on which account +it is probably termed Villa Seca, which signifies “the dry hamlet.” The +inhabitants are said to have been originally Moors; certain it is, that +various customs are observable here highly favourable to such a +supposition. Amongst others, a very curious one; it is deemed infamous +for a woman of Villa Seca to go across the market-place, or to be seen +there, though they have no hesitation in showing themselves in the +streets and lanes. A deep-rooted hostility exists between the +inhabitants of this place and those of a neighbouring village, called +Vargas; they rarely speak when they meet, and never intermarry. There is +a vague tradition that the people of the latter place are old Christians, +and it is highly probable that these neighbours were originally of widely +different blood; those of Villa Seca being of particularly dark +complexions, whilst the indwellers of Vargas are light and fair. Thus +the old feud between Moor and Christian is still kept up in the +nineteenth century in Spain. + +Drenched in perspiration, which fell from our brows like rain, we arrived +at the door of Juan Lopez, the husband of Maria Diaz. Having heard of +our intention to pay him a visit, he was expecting us, and cordially +welcomed us to his habitation, which, like a genuine Moorish house, +consisted only of one story. It was amply large, however, with a court +and stable. All the apartments were deliciously cool. The floors were +of brick or stone, and the narrow and trellised windows, which were +without glass, scarcely permitted a ray of sun to penetrate into the +interior. + +A puchera had been prepared in expectation of our arrival; the heat had +not taken away my appetite, and it was not long before I did full justice +to this the standard dish of Spain. Whilst I ate, Lopez played upon the +guitar, singing occasionally snatches of Andalusian songs. He was a +short, merry-faced, active fellow, whom I had frequently seen at Madrid, +and was a good specimen of the Spanish labrador or yeoman. Though far +from possessing the ability and intellect of his wife, Maria Diaz, he was +by no means deficient in shrewdness and understanding. He was, moreover, +honest and disinterested, and performed good service in the Gospel cause, +as will presently appear. + +When the repast was concluded, Lopez thus addressed me:—“Señor Don Jorge, +your arrival in our village has already caused a sensation, more +especially as these are times of war and tumult, and every person is +afraid of another, and we dwell here close on the confines of the +factious country; for, as you well know, the greater part of La Mancha is +in the hands of the Carlinos and thieves, parties of whom frequently show +themselves on the other side of the river: on which account the alcalde +of this city, with the other grave and notable people thereof, are +desirous of seeing your worship, and conversing with you, and of +examining your passport.” “It is well,” said I; “let us forthwith pay a +visit to these worthy people.” Whereupon he conducted me across the +plaza, to the house of the alcalde, where I found the rustic dignitary +seated in the passage, enjoying the refreshing coolness of a draught of +air which rushed through. He was an elderly man, of about sixty, with +nothing remarkable in his appearance or his features, which latter were +placid and good-humoured. There were several people with him, amongst +whom was the surgeon of the place, a tall and immensely bulky man, an +Alavese by birth, from the town of Vitoria. There was also a red +fiery-faced individual, with a nose very much turned on one side, who was +the blacksmith of the village, and was called in general El Tuerto, from +the circumstance of his having but one eye. Making the assembly a low +bow, I pulled out my passport, and thus addressed them:— + +“Grave men and cavaliers of this city of Villa Seca, as I am a stranger, +of whom it is not possible that you should know anything, I have deemed +it my duty to present myself before you, and to tell you who I am. Know, +then, that I am an Englishman of good blood and fathers, travelling in +these countries for my own profit and diversion, and for that of other +people also. I have now found my way to Villa Seca, where I propose to +stay some time, doing that which may be deemed convenient; sometimes +riding across the plain, and sometimes bathing myself in the waters of +the river, which are reported to be of advantage in times of heat, I +therefore beg that, during my sojourn in this capital, I may enjoy such +countenance and protection from its governors as they are in the habit of +affording to those who are of quiet and well-ordered life, and are +disposed to be buxom and obedient to the customs and laws of the +republic.” + +“He speaks well,” said the alcalde, glancing around. + +“Yes, he speaks well,” said the bulky Alavese; “there is no denying it.” + +“I never heard any one speak better,” cried the blacksmith, starting up +from a stool on which he was seated. “Vaya! he is a big man and a fair +complexioned like myself. I like him, and have a horse that will just +suit him; one that is the flower of Spain, and is eight inches above the +mark.” + +I then, with another bow, presented my passport to the alcalde, who, with +a gentle motion of his hand, appeared to decline taking it, at the same +time saying, “It is not necessary.” “Oh, not at all,” exclaimed the +surgeon. “The housekeepers of Villa Seca know how to comport themselves +with formality,” observed the blacksmith. “They would be very loth to +harbour any suspicion against a cavalier so courteous and well spoken.” +Knowing, however, that this refusal amounted to nothing, and that it +merely formed part of a polite ceremonial, I proffered the passport a +second time, whereupon it was instantly taken, and in a moment the eyes +of all present were bent upon it with intense curiosity. It was examined +from top to bottom, and turned round repeatedly, and though it is not +probable that an individual present understood a word of it, it being +written in French, it gave nevertheless universal satisfaction; and when +the alcalde, carefully folding it up, returned it to me, they all +observed that they had never seen a better passport in their lives, or +one which spake in higher terms of the bearer. + +Who was it said that “Cervantes sneered Spain’s chivalry away?” I know +not; and the author of such a line scarcely deserves to be remembered. +How the rage for scribbling tempts people at the present day to write +about lands and nations of which they know nothing, or worse than +nothing. Vaya! It is not from having seen a bull-fight at Seville or +Madrid, or having spent a handful of ounces at a posada in either of +those places, kept perhaps by a Genoese or a Frenchman, that you are +competent to write about such a people as the Spaniards, and to tell the +world how they think, how they speak, and how they act! Spain’s chivalry +sneered away! Why, there is every probability that the great body of the +Spanish nation speak, think, and live precisely as their forefathers did +six centuries ago. + +In the evening the blacksmith, or, as he would be called in Spanish, El +Herrador, made his appearance at the door of Lopez on horseback. “Vamos, +Don Jorge,” he shouted. “Come with me, if your worship is disposed for a +ride. I am going to bathe my horse in the Tagus by the bridge of Azeca.” +I instantly saddled my jaca Cordovesa, and joining him, we rode out of +the village, directing our course across the plain towards the river. +“Did you ever see such a horse as this of mine, Don Jorge?” he demanded. +“Is he not a jewel—an alaja?” And in truth the horse was a noble and +gallant creature, in height at least sixteen hands, broad-chested, but of +clean and elegant limbs. His neck was superbly arched, and his head +towered on high like that of a swan. In colour he was a bright chestnut, +save his flowing mane and tail, which were almost black. I expressed my +admiration, whereupon the herrador, in high spirits, pressed his heels to +the creature’s sides, and flinging the bridle on its neck, speeded over +the plain with prodigious swiftness, shouting the old Spanish cry, +Cierra! I attempted to keep up with him, but had not a chance. “I call +him the flower of Spain,” said the herrador, rejoining me. “Purchase +him, Don Jorge, his price is but three thousand reals. {384} I would not +sell him for double that sum, but the Carlist thieves have their eyes +upon him, and I am apprehensive that they will some day make a dash +across the river and break into Villa Seca, all to get possession of my +horse, ‘The Flower of Spain.’” + +It may be as well to observe here, that within a month from this period, +my friend the herrador, not being able to find a regular purchaser for +his steed, entered into negotiations with the aforesaid thieves +respecting him, and finally disposed of the animal to their leader, +receiving not the three thousand reals he demanded, but an entire herd of +horned cattle, probably driven from the plains of La Mancha. For this +transaction, which was neither more nor less than high treason, he was +cast into the prison of Toledo, where, however, he did not continue long; +for during a short visit to Villa Seca, which I made in the spring of the +following year, I found him alcalde of that “republic.” + +We arrived at the bridge of Azeca, which is about half a league from +Villa Seca; close beside it is a large water-mill, standing upon a dam +which crosses the river. Dismounting from his steed, the herrador +proceeded to divest it of the saddle, then causing it to enter the +mill-pool, he led it by means of a cord to a particular spot, where the +water reached half way up its neck, then fastening a cord to a post on +the bank, he left the animal standing in the pool. I thought I could do +no better than follow his example, and accordingly procuring a rope from +the mill, I led my own horse into the water. “It will refresh their +blood, Don Jorge,” said the herrador; “let us leave them there for an +hour, whilst we go and divert ourselves.” + +Near the bridge, on the side of the river on which we were, was a kind of +guard-house, where were three carbineers of the revenue, who collected +the tolls of the bridge; we entered into conversation with them: “Is not +this a dangerous position of yours,” said I to one of them, who was a +Catalan; “close beside the factious country? Surely it would not be +difficult for a body of the Carlinos or bandits to dash across the bridge +and make prisoners of you all.” + +“It would be easy enough at any moment, Cavalier,” replied the Catalan; +“we are, however, all in the hands of God, and he has preserved us +hitherto, and perhaps still will. True it is that one of our number, for +there were four of us originally, fell the other day into the hands of +the canaille: he had wandered across the bridge amongst the thickets with +his gun in search of a hare or rabbit, when three or four of them fell +upon him and put him to death in a manner too horrible to relate. But +patience! every man who lives must die. I shall not sleep the worse +to-night because I may chance to be hacked by the knives of these +malvados to-morrow. Cavalier, I am from Barcelona, and have seen there +mariners of your nation; this is not so good a country as Barcelona. +Paciencia! Cavalier, if you will step into our house, I will give you a +glass of water; we have some that is cool, for we dug a deep hole in the +earth and buried there our pitcher; it is cool, as I told you, but the +water of Castile is not like that of Catalonia.” + +The moon had arisen when we mounted our horses to return to the village, +and the rays of the beauteous luminary danced merrily on the rushing +waters of the Tagus, silvered the plain over which we were passing, and +bathed in a flood of brightness the bold sides of the calcareous hill of +Villaluenga and the antique ruins which crowned its brow. “Why is that +place called the Castle of Villaluenga?” I demanded. + +“From a village of that name, which stands on the other side of the hill, +Don Jorge,” replied the herrador. “Vaya! it is a strange place, that +castle; some say it was built by the Moors in the old times, and some by +the Christians when they first laid siege to Toledo. It is not inhabited +now, save by rabbits, which breed there in abundance amongst the long +grass and broken stones, and by eagles and vultures, which build on the +tops of the towers; I occasionally go there with my gun to shoot a +rabbit. On a fine day you may descry both Toledo and Madrid from its +walls. I cannot say I like the place, it is so dreary and melancholy. +The hill on which it stands is all of chalk, and is very difficult of +ascent. I heard my grandame say that once, when she was a girl, a cloud +of smoke burst from that hill, and that flames of fire were seen, just as +if it contained a volcano, as perhaps it does, Don Jorge.” + +The grand work of Scripture circulation soon commenced in the Sagra. +Notwithstanding the heat of the weather, I rode about in all directions. +It was well that heat agrees with my constitution, otherwise it would +have been impossible to effect anything in this season, when the very +arrieros frequently fall dead from their mules, smitten by sun-stroke. I +had an excellent assistant in Antonio, who, disregarding the heat like +myself, and afraid of nothing, visited several villages with remarkable +success. “Mon maître,” said he, “I wish to show you that nothing is +beyond my capacity.” But he who put the labours of us both to shame, was +my host, Juan Lopez, whom it had pleased the Lord to render favourable to +the cause. “Don Jorge,” said he, “_io quiero engancharme con usted_ (I +wish to enlist with you); I am a liberal, and a foe to superstition; I +will take the field, and, if necessary, will follow you to the end of the +world; _Viva Ingalaterra_; _viva el Evangelio_.” Thus saying, he put a +large bundle of Testaments into a satchel, and springing upon the crupper +of his grey donkey, he cried “_Arrhe burra_,” and hastened away. I sat +down to my journal. + +Ere I had finished writing, I heard the voice of the burra in the +courtyard, and going out, I found my host returned. He had disposed of +his whole cargo of twenty Testaments at the village of Vargas, distant +from Villa Seca about a league. Eight poor harvest men, who were +refreshing themselves at the door of a wine-house, purchased each a copy, +whilst the village schoolmaster secured the rest for the little ones +beneath his care, lamenting, at the same time, the great difficulty he +had long experienced in obtaining religious books, owing to their +scarcity and extravagant price. Many other persons were also anxious to +purchase Testaments, but Lopez was unable to supply them: at his +departure, they requested him to return within a few days. + +I was aware that I was playing rather a daring game, and that it was very +possible that, when I least expected it, I might be seized, tied to the +tail of a mule, and dragged either to the prison of Toledo or Madrid. +Yet such a prospect did not discourage me in the least, but rather urged +me to persevere; for at this time, without the slightest wish to gratify +myself, I could say that I was eager to lay down my life for the cause, +and whether a bandit’s bullet, or the gaol fever brought my career to a +close, was a matter of indifference to me; I was not then a stricken man: +“Ride on because of the word of righteousness,” was my cry. + +The news of the arrival of the book of life soon spread like wildfire +through the villages of the Sagra of Toledo, and wherever my people and +myself directed our course we found the inhabitants disposed to receive +our merchandize; it was even called for where not exhibited. One night +as I was bathing myself and horse in the Tagus, a knot of people gathered +on the bank, crying, “Come out of the water, Englishman, and give us +books; we have got our money in our hands.” The poor creatures then held +out their hands, filled with cuartos, a copper coin of the value of the +farthing, but unfortunately I had no Testaments to give them. Antonio, +however, who was at a short distance, having exhibited one, it was +instantly torn from his hands by the people, and a scuffle ensued to +obtain possession of it. It very frequently occurred, that the poor +labourers in the neighbourhood, being eager to obtain Testaments, and +having no money to offer us in exchange, brought various articles to our +habitation as equivalents; for example, rabbits, fruit and barley, and I +made a point never to disappoint them, as such articles were of utility +either for our own consumption or that of the horses. + +In Villa Seca there was a school in which fifty-seven children were +taught the first rudiments of education. One morning the schoolmaster, a +tall slim figure of about sixty, bearing on his head one of the peaked +hats of Andalusia, and wrapped, notwithstanding the excessive heat of the +weather, in a long cloak, made his appearance; and having seated himself, +requested to be shown one of our books. Having delivered it to him, he +remained examining it for nearly half an hour, without uttering a word. +At last he laid it down with a sigh, and said that he should be very +happy to purchase some of these books for his school, but from their +appearance, especially from the quality of the paper and binding, he was +apprehensive that to pay for them would exceed the means of the parents +of his pupils, as they were almost destitute of money, being poor +labourers. He then commenced blaming the government, which he said +established schools without affording the necessary books, adding that in +his school there were but two books for the use of all his pupils, and +these he confessed contained but little good. I asked him what he +considered the Testaments were worth? He said, “Señor Cavalier, to speak +frankly, I have in other times paid twelve reals for books inferior to +yours in every respect, but I assure you that my poor pupils would be +utterly unable to pay the half of that sum.” I replied, “I will sell you +as many as you please for three reals each, I am acquainted with the +poverty of the land, and my friends and myself, in affording the people +the means of spiritual instruction have no wish to curtail their scanty +bread.” He replied: “Bendito sea Dios,” (_blessed be God_,) and could +scarcely believe his ears. He instantly purchased a dozen, expending, as +he said, all the money he possessed, with the exception of a few cuartos. +The introduction of the word of God into the country schools of Spain is +therefore begun, and I humbly hope that it will prove one of those +events, which the Bible Society, after the lapse of years, will have most +reason to remember with joy and gratitude to the Almighty. + +An old peasant is reading in the portico. Eighty-four years have passed +over his head, and he is almost entirely deaf; nevertheless he is reading +aloud the second of Matthew: three days since he bespoke a Testament, but +not being able to raise the money, he has not redeemed it until the +present moment. He has just brought thirty farthings; as I survey the +silvery hair which overshadows his sunburnt countenance, the words of the +song occurred to me, “Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace +according to thy word, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation.” + +I experienced much grave kindness and simple hospitality from the good +people of Villa Seca during my sojourn amongst them. I had at this time +so won their hearts by the “formality” of my behaviour and language, that +I firmly believe they would have resisted to the knife any attempt which +might have been made to arrest or otherwise maltreat me. He who wishes +to become acquainted with the genuine Spaniard, must seek him not in +seaports and large towns, but in lone and remote villages, like those of +the Sagra. There he will find all that gravity of deportment and +chivalry of disposition which Cervantes is said to have sneered away; and +there he will hear, in everyday conversation, those grandiose +expressions, which, when met with in the romances of chivalry, are +scoffed at as ridiculous exaggerations. + +I had one enemy in the village—it was the curate. + +“The fellow is a heretic and a scoundrel,” said he one day in the +conclave. “He never enters the church, and is poisoning the minds of the +people with his Lutheran books. Let him be bound and sent to Toledo, or +turned out of the village at least.” + +“I will have nothing of the kind,” said the alcalde, who was said to be a +Carlist. “If he has his opinions, I have mine too. He has conducted +himself with politeness. Why should I interfere with him? He has been +courteous to my daughter, and has presented her with a volume. Que viva! +and with respect to his being a Lutheran, I have heard say that amongst +the Lutherans there are sons of as good fathers as here. He appears to +me a caballero. He speaks well.” + +“There is no denying it,” said the surgeon. + +“Who speaks _so_ well?” shouted the herrador. “And, who has more +formality? Vaya! did he not praise my horse, ‘The Flower of Spain’? Did +he not say that in the whole of Ingalaterra there was not a better? Did +he not assure me, moreover, that if he were to remain in Spain he would +purchase it, giving me my own price? Turn him out, indeed! Is he not of +my own blood, is he not fair-complexioned? Who shall turn him out when +I, ‘the one-eyed,’ say no?” + +In connection with the circulation of the Scriptures I will now relate an +anecdote not altogether divested of singularity. I have already spoken +of the water-mill by the bridge of Azeca. I had formed acquaintance with +the tenant of this mill, who was known in the neighbourhood by the name +of Don Antero. One day, taking me into a retired place, he asked me, to +my great astonishment, whether I would sell him a thousand Testaments at +the price at which I was disposing of them to the peasantry; saying, if I +would consent he would pay me immediately. In fact, he put his hand into +his pocket, and pulled it out filled with gold ounces. I asked him what +was his reason for wishing to make so considerable a purchase. Whereupon +he informed me that he had a relation in Toledo whom he wished to +establish, and that he was of opinion that his best plan would be to hire +him a shop there and furnish it with Testaments. I told him that he must +think of nothing of the kind, as probably the books would be seized on +the first attempt to introduce them into Toledo, as the priests and +canons were much averse to their distribution. + +He was not disconcerted, however, and said his relation could travel, as +I myself was doing, and dispose of them to the peasants with profit to +himself. I confess I was inclined at first to accept his offer, but at +length declined it, as I did not wish to expose a poor man to the risk of +losing money, goods, and perhaps liberty and life. I was likewise averse +to the books being offered to the peasantry at an advanced price, being +aware that they could not afford it, and the books, by such an attempt, +would lose a considerable part of that influence which they then enjoyed; +for their cheapness struck the minds of the people, and they considered +it almost as much in the light of a miracle as the Jews the manna which +dropped from heaven at the time they were famishing, or the spring which +suddenly gushed from the flinty rocks to assuage their thirst in the +wilderness. + +At this time a peasant was continually passing and repassing between +Villa Seca and Madrid, bringing us cargoes of Testaments on a burrico. +We continued our labours until the greater part of the villages of the +Sagra were well supplied with books, more especially those of Vargas, +Coveja, Mocejon, Villaluenga, Villa Seca, and Yungler. Hearing at last +that our proceedings were known at Toledo, and were causing considerable +alarm, we returned to Madrid. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIV + + +Aranjuez—A Warning—A Night Adventure—A Fresh +Expedition—Segovia—Abades—Factious Curas—Lopez in Prison—Rescue of Lopez. + +The success which had attended our efforts in the Sagra of Toledo +speedily urged me on to a new enterprise. I now determined to direct my +course to La Mancha, and to distribute the word amongst the villages of +that province. Lopez, who had already performed such important services +in the Sagra, had accompanied us to Madrid, and was eager to take part in +this new expedition. We determined in the first place to proceed to +Aranjuez, where we hoped to obtain some information which might prove of +utility in the further regulation of our movements; Aranjuez being but a +slight distance from the frontier of La Mancha and the high road into +that province passing directly through it. We accordingly sallied forth +from Madrid, selling from twenty to forty Testaments in every village +which lay in our way, until we arrived at Aranjuez, to which place we had +forwarded a large supply of books. + +A lovely spot is Aranjuez, though in desolation: here the Tagus flows +through a delicious valley, perhaps the most fertile in Spain; and here +upsprang, in Spain’s better days, a little city, with a small but +beautiful palace shaded by enormous trees, where royalty delighted to +forget its cares. Here Ferdinand the Seventh spent his latter days, +surrounded by lovely señoras and Andalusian bull-fighters: but as the +German Schiller has it in one of his tragedies: + + “The happy days in fair Aranjuez, + Are past and gone.” + +When the sensual king went to his dread account, royalty deserted it, and +it soon fell into decay. Intriguing courtiers no longer crowd its halls; +its spacious circus, where Manchegan bulls once roared in rage and agony, +is now closed, and the light tinkling of guitars is no longer heard +amidst its groves and gardens. + +At Aranjuez I made a sojourn of three days, during which time Antonio, +Lopez, and myself visited every house in the town. We found a vast deal +of poverty and ignorance amongst the inhabitants, and experienced some +opposition: nevertheless it pleased the Almighty to permit us to dispose +of about eighty Testaments, which were purchased entirely by the very +poor people; those in easier circumstances paying no attention to the +word of God, but rather turning it to scoff and ridicule. + +One circumstance was very gratifying and cheering to me, namely, the +ocular proof which I possessed that the books which I had disposed of +were read, and with attention, by those to whom I sold them; and that +many others participated in their benefit. In the streets of Aranjuez, +and beneath the mighty cedars and gigantic elms and plantains which +compose its noble woods, I have frequently seen groups assembled +listening to individuals who, with the New Testament in their hands, were +reading aloud the comfortable words of salvation. + +It is probable that, had I remained a longer period at Aranjuez, I might +have sold many more of these divine books, but I was eager to gain La +Mancha and its sandy plains, and to conceal myself for a season amongst +its solitary villages, for I was apprehensive that a storm was gathering +around me; but when once through Ocaña, the frontier town, I knew well +that I should have nothing to fear from the Spanish authorities, as their +power ceased there, the rest of La Mancha being almost entirely in the +hands of the Carlists, and overrun by small parties of banditti, from +whom, however, I trusted that the Lord would preserve me. I therefore +departed for Ocaña, distant three leagues from Aranjuez. + +I started with Antonio at six in the evening, having early in the morning +sent forward Lopez with between two and three hundred Testaments. We +left the high road, and proceeded by a shorter way through wild hills and +over very broken and precipitous ground: being well mounted we found +ourselves just after sunset opposite Ocaña, which stands on a steep hill. +A deep valley lay between us and the town: we descended, and came to a +small bridge, which traverses a rivulet at the bottom of the valley, at a +very small distance from a kind of suburb. We crossed the bridge, and +were passing by a deserted house on our left hand, when a man appeared +from under the porch. + +What I am about to state will seem incomprehensible, but a singular +history and a singular people are connected with it: the man placed +himself before my horse so as to bar the way, and said “_Schophon_,” +which, in the Hebrew tongue, signifies a rabbit. I knew this word to be +one of the Jewish countersigns, and asked the man if he had any thing to +communicate? He said, “You must not enter the town, for a net is +prepared for you. The corregidor of Toledo, on whom may all evil light, +in order to give pleasure to the priests of Maria, in whose face I spit, +has ordered all the alcaldes of these parts, and the escribanos and the +corchetes to lay hands on you wherever they may find you, and to send +you, and your books, and all that pertains to you to Toledo. Your +servant was seized this morning in the town above, as he was selling the +writings in the streets, and they are now awaiting your arrival in the +posada; but I knew you from the accounts of my brethren, and I have been +waiting here four hours to give you warning in order that your horse may +turn his tail to your enemies, and neigh in derision of them. Fear +nothing for your servant, for he is known to the alcalde, and will be set +at liberty, but do you flee, and may God attend you.” Having said this, +he hurried towards the town. + +I hesitated not a moment to take his advice, knowing full well that, as +my books had been taken possession of, I could do no more in that +quarter. We turned back in the direction of Aranjuez, the horses, +notwithstanding the nature of the ground, galloping at full speed; but +our adventures were not over. Midway, and about half a league from the +village of Antigola, we saw close to us on our left hand three men on a +low bank. As far as the darkness would permit us to distinguish, they +were naked, but each bore in his hand a long gun. These were rateros, or +the common assassins and robbers of the roads. We halted and cried out, +“Who goes there?” They replied, “What’s that to you? pass by.” Their +drift was to fire at us from a position from which it would be impossible +to miss. We shouted, “If you do not instantly pass to the right side of +the road, we will tread you down between the horses’ hoofs.” They +hesitated and then obeyed, for all assassins are dastards, and the least +show of resolution daunts them. As we galloped past, one cried, with an +obscene oath, “Shall we fire?” But another said, “No, no! there’s +danger.” We reached Aranjuez, where early next morning Lopez rejoined +us, and we returned to Madrid. + +I am sorry to state that two hundred Testaments were seized at Ocaña, +from whence, after being sealed up, they were despatched to Toledo. +Lopez informed me, that in two hours he could have sold them all, the +demand was so great. As it was, twenty-seven were disposed of in less +than ten minutes. + +“Ride on because of the word of righteousness.” Notwithstanding the +check which we had experienced at Ocaña, we were far from being +discouraged, and forthwith prepared ourselves for another expedition. As +we returned from Aranjeuz to Madrid, my eyes had frequently glanced +towards the mighty wall of mountains dividing the two Castiles, and I +said to myself, “Would it not be well to cross those hills, and commence +operations on the other side, even in Old Castile? There I am unknown, +and intelligence of my proceedings can scarcely have been transmitted +thither. Peradventure the enemy is asleep, and before he has roused +himself, I may have sown much of the precious seed amongst the villages +of the Old Castilians. To Castile, therefore, to Castile la Vieja!” +Accordingly, on the day after my arrival, I despatched several cargoes of +books to various places which I proposed to visit, and sent forward Lopez +and his donkey, well laden, with directions to meet me on a particular +day beneath a particular arch of the aqueduct of Segovia. I likewise +gave him orders to engage any persons willing to co-operate with us in +the circulation of the Scriptures, and who might be likely to prove of +utility in the enterprise. A more useful assistant than Lopez in an +expedition of this kind it was impossible to have. He was not only well +acquainted with the country, but had friends, and even connexions on the +other side of the hills, in whose houses he assured me that we should at +all times find a hearty welcome. He departed in high spirits, +exclaiming, “Be of good cheer, Don Jorge; before we return we will have +disposed of every copy of your evangelic library. Down with the friars! +Down with superstition! Viva Ingalaterra, viva el Evangelio!” + +In a few days I followed with Antonio. We ascended the mountains by the +pass called Peña Cerrada, which lies about three leagues to the eastward +of that of Guadarama. It is very unfrequented, the high road between the +two Castiles passing through Guadarama. It has, moreover, an evil name, +being, according to common report, infested with banditti. The sun was +just setting when we reached the top of the hills, and entered a thick +and gloomy pine forest, which entirely covers the mountains on the side +of Old Castile. The descent soon became so rapid and precipitous, that +we were fain to dismount from our horses and to drive them before us. +Into the woods we plunged deeper and deeper still; night-birds soon began +to hoot and cry, and millions of crickets commenced their shrill chirping +above, below, and around us. Occasionally, amidst the trees at a +distance, we could see blazes, as if from immense fires. “They are those +of the charcoal-burners, mon maître!” said Antonio; “we will not go near +them, however, for they are savage people, and half bandits. Many is the +traveller whom they have robbed and murdered in these horrid +wildernesses.” + +It was blackest night when we arrived at the foot of the mountains; we +were still, however, amidst woods and pine forests, which extended for +leagues in every direction. “We shall scarcely reach Segovia to-night, +mon maître,” said Antonio. And so indeed it proved, for we became +bewildered, and at last arrived where two roads branched off in different +directions, we took not the left hand road, which would have conducted us +to Segovia, but turned to the right, in the direction of La Granja, where +we arrived at midnight. + +We found the desolation of La Granja far greater than that of Aranjuez; +both had suffered from the absence of royalty, but the former to a degree +which was truly appalling. Nine-tenths of the inhabitants had left this +place, which, until the late military revolution, had been the favourite +residence of Christina. So great is the solitude of La Granja, that wild +boars from the neighbouring forests, and especially from the beautiful +pine-covered mountain which rises like a cone directly behind the palace, +frequently find their way into the streets and squares, and whet their +tusks against the pillars of the porticos. + +“Ride on because of the word of righteousness.” After a stay of +twenty-four hours at La Granja, we proceeded to Segovia. The day had +arrived on which I had appointed to meet Lopez. I repaired to the +aqueduct, and sat down beneath the hundred and seventh arch, where I +waited the greater part of the day, but he came not, whereupon I rose and +went into the city. + +At Segovia I tarried two days in the house of a friend, still I could +hear nothing of Lopez. At last, by the greatest chance in the world, I +heard from a peasant that there were men in the neighbourhood of Abades +selling books. + +Abades is about three leagues distant from Segovia, and upon receiving +this intelligence, I instantly departed for the former place, with three +donkeys laden with Testaments. I reached Abades at nightfall, and found +Lopez, with two peasants whom he had engaged, in the house of the surgeon +of the place, where I also took up my residence. He had already disposed +of a considerable number of Testaments in the neighbourhood, and had that +day commenced selling at Abades itself; he had, however, been interrupted +by two of the three curas of the village, who, with horrid curses +denounced the work, threatening eternal condemnation to Lopez for selling +it, and to any person who should purchase it; whereupon Lopez, terrified, +forbore until I should arrive. The third cura, however, exerted himself +to the utmost to persuade the people to provide themselves with +Testaments, telling them that his brethren were hypocrites and false +guides, who, by keeping them in ignorance of the word and will of Christ, +were leading them to the abyss. Upon receiving this information, I +instantly sallied forth to the market-place, and that same night +succeeded in disposing of upwards of thirty Testaments. The next morning +the house was entered by the two factious curas, but upon my rising to +confront them, they retreated, and I heard no more of them, except that +they publicly cursed me in the church more than once, an event which, as +no ill resulted from it, gave me little concern. + +I will not detail the events of the next week; suffice it to say that +arranging my forces in the most advantageous way, I succeeded, by God’s +assistance, in disposing of from five to six hundred Testaments amongst +the villages from one to seven leagues’ distance from Abades. At the +expiration of that period I received information that my proceedings were +known in Segovia, in which province Abades is situated, and that an order +was about to be sent to the alcalde to seize all books in my possession. +Whereupon, notwithstanding that it was late in the evening, I decamped +with all my people, and upwards of three hundred Testaments, having a few +hours previously received a fresh supply from Madrid. That night we +passed in the fields, and next morning proceeded to Labajos, a village on +the high road from Madrid to Valladolid. In this place we offered no +books for sale, but contented ourselves with supplying the neighbouring +villages with the word of God: we likewise sold it in the highways. + +We had not been at Labajos a week, during which time we were remarkably +successful, when the Carlist chieftain, Balmaseda, at the head of his +cavalry, made his desperate inroad into the southern part of Old Castile, +dashing down like an avalanche from the pine-woods of Soria. I was +present at all the horrors which ensued,—the sack of Arrevalo, and the +forcible entry into Martin Muñoz. Amidst these terrible scenes we +continued our labours. Suddenly I lost Lopez for three days, and +suffered dreadful anxiety on his account, imagining that he had been shot +by the Carlists; at last I heard that he was in prison at Villallos, +three leagues distant. The steps which I took to rescue him will be +found detailed in a communication, which I deemed it my duty to transmit +to Lord William Hervey, who, in the absence of Sir George Villiers, now +became Earl of Clarendon, fulfilled the duties of minister at Madrid:— + + LABAJOS, PROVINCE OF SEGOVIA, + _August_ 23, 1838. + + MY LORD,—I beg leave to call your attention to the following facts. + On the 21st inst. I received information that a person in my employ, + of the name of Juan Lopez, had been thrown into the prison of + Villallos, in the province of Avila, by order of the cura of that + place. The crime with which he was charged was selling the New + Testament. I was at that time at Labajos, in the province of + Segovia, and the division of the factious chieftain Balmaseda was in + the immediate neighbourhood. On the 22nd, I mounted my horse and + rode to Villallos, a distance of three leagues. On my arrival there, + I found that Lopez had been removed from the prison to a private + house. An order had arrived from the corregidor of Avila, commanding + that the person of Lopez should be set at liberty, and that the books + which had been found in his possession should be alone detained. + Nevertheless, in direct opposition to this order, (a copy of which I + herewith transmit,) the alcalde of Villallos, at the instigation of + the cura, refused to permit the said Lopez to quit the place, either + to proceed to Avila or in any other direction. It had been hinted to + Lopez that as the factious were expected, it was intended on their + arrival to denounce him to them as a liberal, and to cause him to be + sacrificed. Taking these circumstances into consideration, I deemed + it my duty as a Christian and a gentleman, to rescue my unfortunate + servant from such lawless hands, and in consequence, defying + opposition, I bore him off, though entirely unarmed, through a crowd + of at least one hundred peasants. On leaving the place I shouted, + “_Viva Isabel Segunda_.” + + As it is my belief that the cura of Villallos is a person capable of + any infamy, I beg leave humbly to intreat your Lordship to cause a + copy of the above narration to be forwarded to the Spanish + government.—I have the honour to remain, My Lord, Your Lordship’s + most obedient, + + GEORGE BORROW. + + To the Right Honourable + LORD WILLIAM HERVEY. + +After the rescue of Lopez we proceeded in the work of distribution. +Suddenly, however, the symptoms of an approaching illness came over me, +which compelled us to return in all haste to Madrid. Arrived there, I +was attacked by a fever which confined me to my bed for several weeks; +occasional fits of delirium came over me, during one of which, I imagined +myself in the market-place of Martin Muños, engaged in deadly struggle +with the chieftain Balmaseda. + +The fever had scarcely departed, when a profound melancholy took +possession of me, which entirely disqualified me for active exertion. +Change of scene and air was recommended; I therefore returned to England. + + + + +CHAPTER XLV + + +Return to Spain—Seville—A Hoary Persecutor—Manchegan Prophetess—Antonio’s +Dream. + +On the 31st of December, 1838, I again visited Spain for the third time. +After staying a day or two at Cadiz I repaired to Seville, from which +place I proposed starting for Madrid with the mail post. Here I tarried +about a fortnight, enjoying the delicious climate of this terrestrial +Paradise, and the balmy breezes of the Andalusian winter, even as I had +done two years previously. Before leaving Seville, I visited the +bookseller, my correspondent, who informed me that seventy-six copies of +the hundred Testaments entrusted to his care had been placed in embargo +by the government last summer, and that they were at the present time in +the possession of the ecclesiastical governor, whereupon I determined to +visit this functionary also, with the view of making inquiries concerning +the property. + +He lived in a large house in the Pajaria, or straw-market. He was a very +old man, between seventy and eighty, and, like the generality of those +who wear the sacerdotal habit in this city, was a fierce persecuting +Papist. I imagine that he scarcely believed his ears when his two +grand-nephews, beautiful black-haired boys who were playing in the +courtyard, ran to inform him that an Englishman was waiting to speak with +him, as it is probable that I was the first heretic who ever ventured +into his habitation. I found him in a vaulted room, seated on a lofty +chair, with two sinister-looking secretaries, also in sacerdotal habits, +employed in writing at a table before him. He brought powerfully to my +mind the grim old inquisitor who persuaded Philip the Second to slay his +own son as an enemy to the church. + +He rose as I entered, and gazed upon me with a countenance dark with +suspicion and dissatisfaction. He at last condescended to point me to a +sofa, and I proceeded to state to him my business. He became much +agitated when I mentioned the Testaments to him; but I no sooner spoke of +the Bible Society and told him who I was, than he could contain himself +no longer: with a stammering tongue, and with eyes flashing fire like hot +coals, he proceeded to rail against the society and myself, saying that +the aims of the first were atrocious, and that, as to myself, he was +surprised that, being once lodged in the prison of Madrid, I had ever +been permitted to quit it; adding, that it was disgraceful in the +government to allow a person of my character to roam about an innocent +and peaceful country, corrupting the minds of the ignorant and +unsuspicious. Far from allowing myself to be disconcerted by his rude +behaviour, I replied to him with all possible politeness, and assured him +that in this instance he had no reason to alarm himself, as my sole +motive in claiming the books in question, was to avail myself of an +opportunity which at present presented itself, of sending them out of the +country, which, indeed, I had been commanded to do by an official notice. +But nothing would soothe him, and he informed me that he should not +deliver up the books on any condition, save by a positive order of the +government. As the matter was by no means an affair of consequence, I +thought it wise not to persist, and also prudent to take my leave before +he requested me. I was followed even down into the street by his niece +and grand-nephews, who, during the whole of the conversation, had +listened at the door of the apartment and heard every word. + +In passing through La Mancha, we staid for four hours at Manzanares, a +large village. I was standing in the market-place conversing with a +curate, when a frightful ragged object presented itself; it was a girl +about eighteen or nineteen, perfectly blind, a white film being spread +over her huge staring eyes. Her countenance was as yellow as that of a +Mulatto. I thought at first that she was a Gypsy, and addressing myself +to her, inquired in Gitano if she were of that race; she understood me, +but shaking her head, replied, that she was something better than a +Gitana, and could speak something better than that jargon of witches; +whereupon she commenced asking me several questions in exceedingly good +Latin. I was of course very much surprised, but summoning all my +Latinity, I called her Manchegan Prophetess, and expressing my admiration +for her learning, begged to be informed by what means she became +possessed of it. I must here observe that a crowd instantly gathered +around us, who, though they understood not one word of our discourse, at +every sentence of the girl shouted applause, proud in the possession of a +prophetess who could answer the Englishman. + +She informed me that she was born blind, and that a Jesuit priest had +taken compassion on her when she was a child, and had taught her the holy +language, in order that the attention and hearts of Christians might be +more easily turned towards her. I soon discovered that he had taught her +something more than Latin, for upon telling her that I was an Englishman, +she said that she had always loved Britain, which was once the nursery of +saints and sages, for example Bede and Alcuin, Columba and Thomas of +Canterbury; but she added those times had gone by since the re-appearance +of Semiramis (Elizabeth). Her Latin was truly excellent, and when I, +like a genuine Goth, spoke of Anglia and Terra Vandalica (Andalusia), she +corrected me by saying, that in her language those places were called +Britannia and Terra Betica. When we had finished our discourse, a +gathering was made for the prophetess, the very poorest contributing +something. + +After travelling four days and nights, we arrived at Madrid, without +having experienced the slightest accident, though it is but just to +observe, and always with gratitude to the Almighty, that the next mail +was stopped. A singular incident befell me immediately after my arrival; +on entering the arch of the posada called La Reyna, where I intended to +put up, I found myself encircled in a person’s arms, and on turning round +in amazement, beheld my Greek servant, Antonio. He was haggard and +ill-dressed, and his eyes seemed starting from their sockets. + +As soon as we were alone he informed that since my departure he had +undergone great misery and destitution, having, during the whole period, +been unable to find a master in need of his services, so that he was +brought nearly to the verge of desperation; but that on the night +immediately preceding my arrival he had a dream, in which he saw me, +mounted on a black horse, ride up to the gate of the posada, and that on +that account he had been waiting there during the greater part of the +day. I do not pretend to offer an opinion concerning this narrative, +which is beyond the reach of my philosophy, and shall content myself with +observing that only two individuals in Madrid were aware of my arrival in +Spain. I was very glad to receive him again into my service, as, +notwithstanding his faults, he had in many instances proved of no slight +assistance to me in my wanderings and biblical labours. + +I was soon settled in my former lodgings, when one my first cares was to +pay a visit to Lord Clarendon. Amongst other things, he informed me that +he had received an official notice from the government, stating the +seizure of the New Testaments at Ocaña, the circumstances relating to +which I have described on a former occasion, and informing him that +unless steps were instantly taken to remove them from the country, they +would be destroyed at Toledo, to which place they had been conveyed. I +replied that I should give myself no trouble about the matter; and that +if the authorities of Toledo, civil or ecclesiastic, determined upon +burning these books, my only hope was that they would commit them to the +flames with all possible publicity, as by so doing they would but +manifest their own hellish rancour and their hostility to the word of +God. + +Being eager to resume my labours, I had no sooner arrived at Madrid than +I wrote to Lopez at Villa Seca, for the purpose of learning whether he +was inclined to co-operate in the work, as on former occasions. In +reply, he informed me that he was busily employed in his agricultural +pursuits: to supply his place, however, he sent over an elderly villager, +Victoriano Lopez by name, a distant relation of his own. + +What is a missionary in the heart of Spain without a horse? Which +consideration induced me now to purchase an Arabian of high caste, which +had been brought from Algiers by an officer of the French legion. The +name of this steed, the best I believe that ever issued from the desert, +was Sidi Habismilk. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVI + + +Work of Distribution resumed—Adventure at Cobenna—Power of the +Clergy—Rural Authorities—Fuente la Higuera—Victoriano’s Mishap—Village +Prison—The Rope—Antonio’s Errand—Antonio at Mass. + +In my last chapter, I stated that, immediately after my arrival at +Madrid, I proceeded to get everything in readiness for commencing +operations in the neighbourhood; and I soon entered upon my labours in +reality. Considerable success attended my feeble efforts in the good +cause, for which at present, after the lapse of some years, I still look +back with gratitude to the Almighty. + +All the villages within the distance of four leagues to the east of +Madrid, were visited in less than a fortnight, and Testaments to the +number of nearly two hundred disposed of. These villages for the most +part are very small, some of them consisting of not more than a dozen +houses, or I should rather say miserable cabins. I left Antonio, my +Greek, to superintend matters in Madrid, and proceeded with Victoriano, +the peasant from Villa Seca, in the direction which I have already +mentioned. We, however, soon parted company, and pursued different +routes. + +The first village at which I made an attempt was Cobenna, about three +leagues from Madrid. I was dressed in the fashion of the peasants in the +neighbourhood of Segovia, in Old Castile; namely, I had on my head a +species of leather helmet or montera, with a jacket and trousers of the +same material. I had the appearance of a person between sixty and +seventy years of age, and drove before me a borrico with a sack of +Testaments lying across its back. On nearing the village, I met a +genteel-looking young woman leading a little boy by the hand: as I was +about to pass her with the customary salutation of _vaya usted con Dios_, +she stopped, and after looking at me for a moment, she said: “Uncle +(_Tio_), what is that you have got on your borrico? Is it soap?” + +“Yes,” I replied: “it is soap to wash souls clean.” + +She demanded what I meant; whereupon I told her that I carried cheap and +godly books for sale. On her requesting to see one, I produced a copy +from my pocket and handed it to her. She instantly commenced reading +with a loud voice, and continued so for at least ten minutes, +occasionally exclaiming: “_Que lectura tan bonita_, _que lectura tan +linda_! What beautiful, what charming readings!” At last, on my +informing her that I was in a hurry, and could not wait any longer, she +said, “true, true,” and asked me the price of the book: I told her “but +three reals,” whereupon she said, that though what I asked was very +little, it was more than she could afford to give, as there was little or +no money in those parts. I said I was sorry for it, but that I could not +dispose of the books for less than I had demanded, and accordingly, +resuming it, wished her farewell, and left her. I had not, however, +proceeded thirty yards, when the boy came running behind me, shouting, +out of breath: “Stop, uncle, the book, the book!” Upon overtaking me, he +delivered the three reals in copper, and seizing the Testament, ran back +to her, who I suppose was his sister, flourishing the book over his head +with great glee. + +On arriving at the village, I directed my steps to a house, around the +door of which I saw several people gathered, chiefly women. On my +displaying my books, their curiosity was instantly aroused, and every +person had speedily one in his hand, many reading aloud; however, after +waiting nearly an hour, I had disposed of but one copy, all complaining +bitterly of the distress of the times, and the almost total want of +money, though, at the same time, they acknowledged that the books were +wonderfully cheap, and appeared to be very good and Christian-like. I +was about to gather up my merchandise and depart, when on a sudden the +curate of the place made his appearance. After having examined the book +for some time with considerable attention, he asked me the price of a +copy, and upon my informing him that it was three reals, he replied that +the binding was worth more, and that he was much afraid that I had stolen +the books, and that it was perhaps his duty to send me to prison as a +suspicious character; but added, that the books were good books, however +they might be obtained, and concluded by purchasing two copies. The poor +people no sooner heard their curate recommend the volumes, than all were +eager to secure one, and hurried here and there for the purpose of +procuring money, so that between twenty and thirty copies were sold +almost in an instant. This adventure not only affords an instance of the +power still possessed by the Spanish clergy over the minds of the people, +but proves that such influence is not always exerted in a manner +favourable to the maintenance of ignorance and superstition. + +In another village, on my showing a Testament to a woman, she said that +she had a child at school for whom she would like to purchase one, but +that she must first know whether the book was calculated to be of service +to him. She then went away, and presently returned with the +schoolmaster, followed by all the children under his care; she then, +showing the schoolmaster a book, inquired if it would answer for her son. +The schoolmaster called her a simpleton for asking such a question, and +said that he knew the book well, and there was not its equal in the world +(_no hay otro en el mundo_). He instantly purchased five copies for his +pupils, regretting that he had no more money, “for if I had,” said he, “I +would buy the whole cargo.” Upon hearing this, the woman purchased four +copies, namely, one for her living son, another for her _deceased +husband_, a third for herself, and a fourth for her brother, whom she +said she was expecting home that night from Madrid. + +In this manner we proceeded; not, however, with uniform success. In some +villages the people were so poor and needy, that they had literally no +money; even in these, however, we managed to dispose of a few copies in +exchange for barley or refreshments. On entering one very small hamlet, +Victoriano was stopped by the curate, who, on learning what he carried, +told him that unless he instantly departed, he would cause him to be +imprisoned, and would write to Madrid in order to give information of +what was going on. The excursion lasted about eight days. Immediately +after my return, I dispatched Victoriano to Caramanchal, a village at a +short distance from Madrid, the only one towards the west which had not +been visited last year. He staid there about an hour, and disposed of +twelve copies, and then returned, as he was exceedingly timid, and was +afraid of being met by the thieves who swarm on that road in the evening. + +Shortly after these events, a circumstance occurred which will perhaps +cause the English reader to smile, whilst, at the same time, it will not +fail to prove interesting, as affording an example of the feeling +prevalent in some of the lone villages of Spain with respect to +innovation and all that savours thereof, and the strange acts which are +sometimes committed by the real authorities and the priests, without the +slightest fear of being called to account; for as they live quite apart +{403} from the rest of the world, they know no people greater than +themselves, and scarcely dream of a higher power than their own. + +I was about to make an excursion to Guadalajara, and the villages of +Alcarria, about seven leagues distant from Madrid; indeed I merely +awaited the return of Victoriano to sally forth; I having dispatched him +in that direction with a few Testaments, as a kind of explorer, in order +that, from his report as to the disposition manifested by the people for +purchasing, I might form a tolerably accurate opinion as to the number of +copies which it might be necessary to carry with me. However, I heard +nothing of him for a fortnight, at the end of which period a letter was +brought to me by a peasant, dated from the prison of Fuente la Higuera, a +village eight leagues from Madrid, in the Campiña of Alcala: this letter, +written, by Victoriano, gave me to understand that he had been already +eight days imprisoned, and that unless I could find some means to +extricate him, there was every probability of his remaining in durance +until he should perish with hunger, which he had no doubt would occur as +soon as his money was exhausted. From what I afterwards learned, it +appeared that, after passing the town of Alcala, he had commenced +distributing, and with considerable success. His entire stock consisted +of sixty-one Testaments, twenty-five of which he sold without the +slightest difficulty or interruption in the single village of Arganza; +the poor labourers showering blessings on his head for providing them +with such good books at an easy price. + +Not more than eighteen of his books remained, when he turned off the high +road towards Fuente la Higuera. This place was already tolerably well +known to him, he having visited it of old, when he travelled the country +in the capacity of a vendor of cacharras or earthen pans. He +subsequently stated that he felt some misgiving whilst on the way, as the +village had invariably borne a bad reputation. On his arrival, after +having put up his cavallejo or little pony at a posada, he proceeded to +the alcalde for the purpose of asking permission to sell the books, which +that dignitary immediately granted. He now entered a house and sold a +copy, and likewise a second. Emboldened by success, he entered a third, +which, it appeared, belonged to the barber-surgeon of the village. This +personage having just completed his dinner, was seated in an arm chair +within his doorway, when Victoriano made his appearance. He was a man +about thirty-five, of a savage truculent countenance. On Victoriano’s +offering him a Testament, he took it in his hand to examine it, but no +sooner did his eyes glance over the title-page than he burst out into a +loud laugh, exclaiming:—“Ha, ha, Don Jorge Borrow, the English heretic, +we have encountered you at last. Glory to the Virgin and the Saints! We +have long been expecting you here, and at length you are arrived.” He +then inquired the price of the book, and on being told three reals, he +flung down two, and rushed out of the house with the Testament in his +hand. + +Victoriano now became alarmed, and determined upon leaving the place as +soon as possible. He therefore hurried back to the posada, and having +paid for the barley which his pony had consumed, went into the stable, +and placing the packsaddle on the animal’s back, was about to lead it +forth, when the alcalde of the village, the surgeon, and twelve other +men, some of whom were armed with muskets, suddenly presented themselves. +They instantly made Victoriano prisoner, and after seizing the books and +laying an embargo on the pony, proceeded amidst much abuse to drag the +captive to what they denominated their prison, a low damp apartment with +a little grated window, where they locked him up and left him. At the +expiration of three quarters of an hour, they again appeared, and +conducted him to the house of the curate, where they sat down in +conclave; the curate, who was a man stone blind, presiding, whilst the +sacristan officiated as secretary. The surgeon having stated his +accusation against the prisoner, namely, that he had detected him in the +fact of selling a version of the Scriptures in the vulgar tongue, the +curate proceeded to examine Victoriano, asking him his name and place of +residence, to which he replied that his name was Victoriano Lopez, and +that he was a native of Villa Seca, in the Sagra of Toledo. The curate +then demanded what religion he professed? and whether he was a Mohometan, +or freemason? and received for answer that he was a Roman Catholic. I +must here state, that Victoriano, though sufficiently shrewd in his way, +was a poor old labourer of sixty-four; and until that moment had never +heard either of Mahometans or freemasons. The curate becoming now +incensed, called him a _tunante_ or scoundrel, and added, you have sold +your soul to a heretic; we have long been aware of your proceedings, and +those of your master. You are the same Lopez, whom he last year rescued +from the prison of Villallos, in the province of Avila; I sincerely hope +that he will attempt to do the same thing here. “Yes, yes,” shouted the +rest of the conclave, “let him but venture here, and we will shed his +heart’s blood on our stones.” In this manner they went on for nearly +half an hour. At last they broke up the meeting, and conducted +Victoriano once more to his prison. + +During his confinement he lived tolerably well, being in possession of +money. His meals were sent him twice a day from the posada, where his +pony remained in embargo. Once or twice he asked permission of the +alcalde, who visited him every night and morning with his armed guard, to +purchase pen and paper, in order that he might write to Madrid; but this +favour was peremptorily refused him, and all the inhabitants of the +village were forbidden under terrible penalties to afford him the means +of writing, or to convey any message from him beyond the precincts of the +place, and two boys were stationed before the window of his cell for the +purpose of watching everything which might be conveyed to him. + +It happened one day that Victoriano, being in need of a pillow, sent word +to the people of the posada to send him his alforjas or saddlebags, which +they did. In these bags there chanced to be a kind of rope, or, as it is +called in Spanish, _soga_, with which he was in the habit of fastening +his satchel to the pony’s back. The urchins seeing an end of this rope, +hanging from the alforjas, instantly ran to the alcalde to give him +information. Late at evening, the alcalde again visited the prisoner at +the head of his twelve men as usual. “_Buenas noches_,” said the +alcalde. “_Buenas noches tenga usted_,” replied Victoriano. “For what +purpose did you send for the soga this afternoon?” demanded the +functionary. “I sent for no soga,” said the prisoner, “I sent for my +alforjas to serve as a pillow, and it was sent in them by chance.” “You +are a false malicious knave,” retorted the alcalde; “you intend to hang +yourself, and by so doing ruin us all, as your death would be laid at our +door. Give me the soga.” No greater insult can be offered to a Spaniard +than to tax him with an intention of committing suicide. Poor Victoriano +flew into a violent rage, and after calling the alcalde several very +uncivil names, he pulled the soga from his bags, flung it at his head, +and told him to take it home and use it for his own neck. + +At length the people of the posada took pity on the prisoner, perceiving +that he was very harshly treated for no crime at all; they therefore +determined to afford him an opportunity of informing his friends of his +situation, and accordingly sent him a pen and inkhorn, concealed in a +loaf of bread, and a piece of writing paper, pretending that the latter +was intended for cigars. So Victoriano wrote the letter; but now ensued +the difficulty of sending it to its destination, as no person in the +village dare have carried it for any reward. The good people, however, +persuaded a disbanded soldier from another village, who chanced to be at +Fuente la Higuera in quest of work, to charge himself with it, assuring +him that I would pay him well for his trouble. The man, watching his +opportunity, received the letter from Victoriano at the window: and it +was he who, after travelling on foot all night, delivered it to me in +safety at Madrid. + +I was now relieved from my anxiety, and had no fears for the result. I +instantly went to a friend who is in possession of large estates about +Guadalajara, in which province Fuente la Higuera is situated, who +furnished me with letters to the civil governor of Guadalajara and all +the principal authorities; these I delivered to Antonio, whom, at his own +request, I despatched on the errand of the prisoner’s liberation. He +first directed his course to Fuente la Higuera, where, entering the +alcalde’s house, he boldly told him what he had come about. The alcalde +expecting that I was at hand, with an army of Englishmen, for the purpose +of rescuing the prisoner, became greatly alarmed, and instantly +despatched his wife to summon his twelve men; however, on Antonio’s +assuring him that there was no intention of having recourse to violence, +he became more tranquil. In a short time Antonio was summoned before the +conclave and its blind sacerdotal president. They at first attempted to +frighten him by assuming a loud bullying tone, and talking of the +necessity of killing all strangers, and especially the detested Don Jorge +and his dependents. Antonio, however, who was not a person apt to allow +himself to be easily terrified, scoffed at their threats, and showing +them his letters to the authorities of Guadalajara, said that he should +proceed there on the morrow and denounce their lawless conduct, adding +that he was a Turkish subject, and that should they dare to offer him the +slightest incivility, he would write to the sublime Porte, in comparison +with whom the best kings in the world were but worms, and who would not +fail to avenge the wrongs of any of his children, however distant, in a +manner too terrible to be mentioned. He then returned to his posada. +The conclave now proceeded to deliberate amongst themselves, and at last +determined to send their prisoner on the morrow to Guadalajara, and +deliver him into the hands of the civil governor. + +Nevertheless, in order to keep up a semblance of authority, they that +night placed two men armed at the door of the posada where Antonio was +lodged, as if he himself were a prisoner. These men, as often as the +clock struck the hour, shouted “Ave Maria! Death to the heretics.” +Early in the morning the alcalde presented himself at the posada, but +before entering he made an oration at the door to the people in the +street, saying, amongst other things, “Brethren, these are the fellows +who have come to rob us of our religion.” He then went into Antonio’s +apartment, and after saluting him with great politeness, said, that as a +royal or high mass was about to be celebrated that morning, he had come +to invite him to go to church with him. Whereupon Antonio, though by no +means a mass-goer, rose and accompanied him, and remained two hours, as +he told me, on his knees on the cold stones, to his great discomfort; the +eyes of the whole congregation being fixed upon him during the time. + +After mass and breakfast, he departed for Guadalajara, Victoriano having +been already despatched under a guard. On his arrival, he presented his +letters to the individuals for whom they were intended. The civil +governor was convulsed with merriment on hearing Antonio’s account of the +adventure. Victoriano was set at liberty, and the books were placed in +embargo at Guadalajara; the governor stating, however, that though it was +his duty to detain them at present, they should be sent to me whenever I +chose to claim them; he moreover said that he would do his best to cause +the authorities of Fuente la Higuera to be severely punished, as in the +whole affair they had acted in the most cruel tyrannical manner, for +which they had no authority. Thus terminated this affair, one of those +little accidents which chequer missionary life in Spain. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVII + + +Termination of our Rural Labours—Alarm of the Clergy—A New +Experiment—Success at Madrid—Goblin-Alguazil—Staff of Office—The +Corregidor—An Explanation—The Pope in England—New Testament +expounded—Works of Luther. + +We proceeded in our task of distributing the Scriptures with various +success, until the middle of March, when I determined upon starting for +Talavera, for the purpose of seeing what it was possible to accomplish in +that town and the neighbourhood. I accordingly bent my course in that +direction, accompanied by Antonio and Victoriano. On our way thither we +stopped at Naval Carnero, a large village five leagues to the west of +Madrid, where I remained three days, sending forth Victoriano to the +circumjacent hamlets with small cargoes of Testaments. Providence, +however, which had hitherto so remarkably favoured us in these rural +excursions, now withdrew from us its support, and brought them to a +sudden termination; for in whatever place the sacred writings were +offered for sale, they were forthwith seized by persons who appeared to +be upon the watch; which events compelled me to alter my intention of +proceeding to Talavera and to return forthwith to Madrid. + +I subsequently learned that our proceedings on the other side of Madrid +having caused alarm amongst the heads of the clergy, they had made a +formal complaint to the government, who immediately sent orders to all +the alcaldes of the villages, great and small, in New Castile, to seize +the New Testament wherever it might be exposed for sale; but at the same +time enjoining them to be particularly careful not to detain or maltreat +the person or persons who might be attempting to vend it. An exact +description of myself accompanied these orders, and the authorities both +civil and military were exhorted to be on their guard against me and my +arts and machinations; for, I as the document stated, was to-day in one +place, and to-morrow at twenty leagues’ distance. + +I was not much discouraged by this blow, which indeed did not come +entirely unexpected. I, however, determined to change the sphere of +action, and not expose the sacred volume to seizure at every step which I +should take to circulate it. In my late attempts, I had directed my +attention exclusively to the villages and small towns, in which it was +quite easy for the government to frustrate my efforts by means of +circulars to the local authorities, who would of course be on the alert, +and whose vigilance it would be impossible to baffle as every novelty +which occurs in a small place is forthwith bruited about. But the case +would be widely different amongst the crowds of the capital, where I +could pursue my labours with comparative secrecy. My present plan was to +abandon the rural districts, and to offer the sacred volume at Madrid, +from house to house, at the same low price as in the country. This plan +I forthwith put into execution. + +Having an extensive acquaintance amongst the lower orders, I selected +eight intelligent individuals to co-operate with me, amongst whom were +five women. All these I supplied with Testaments, and then sent them +forth to all the parishes in Madrid. The result of their efforts more +than answered my expectations. In less than fifteen days after my return +from Naval Carnero, nearly six hundred copies of the life and words of +Him of Nazareth had been sold in the streets and alleys of Madrid; a fact +which I hope I may be permitted to mention with gladness and with decent +triumph in the Lord. + +One of the richest streets is the Calle Montera, where reside the +principal merchants and shopkeepers of Madrid. It is, in fact, the +street of commerce, in which respect, and in being a favourite promenade, +it corresponds with the far-famed “Nefsky” of Saint Petersburg. Every +house in this street was supplied with its Testament, and the same might +be said with respect to the Puerto del Sol. Nay, in some instances, +every individual in the house, man and child, man-servant and +maid-servant, was furnished with a copy. My Greek, Antonio, made +wonderful exertions in this quarter; and it is but justice to say that, +but for his instrumentality, on many occasions, I might have been by no +means able to give so favourable an account of the spread of “the Bible +in Spain.” There was a time when I was in the habit of saying “dark +Madrid,” an expression which, I thank God, I could now drop. It were +scarcely just to call a city, “dark,” in which thirteen hundred +Testaments at least were in circulation, and in daily use. + +It was now that I turned to account a supply of Bibles which I had +received from Barcelona, in sheets, at the commencement of the preceding +year. The demand for the entire Scriptures was great; indeed far greater +than I could answer, as the books were disposed of faster than they could +be bound by the man whom I employed for that purpose. Eight-and-twenty +copies were bespoken and paid for before delivery. Many of these Bibles +found their way into the best houses in Madrid. The Marquis of --- had a +large family, but every individual of it, old and young, was in +possession of a Bible, and likewise a Testament, which, strange to say, +were recommended by the chaplain of the house. One of my most zealous +agents in the propagation of the Bible was an ecclesiastic. He never +walked out without carrying one beneath his gown, which he offered to the +first person he met whom he thought likely to purchase. Another +excellent assistant was an elderly gentleman of Navarre, enormously rich, +who was continually purchasing copies on his own account, which he, as I +was told, sent into his native province, for distribution amongst his +friends and the poor. + +On a certain night I had retired to rest rather more early than usual, +being slightly indisposed. I soon fell asleep, and had continued so for +some hours, when I was suddenly aroused by the opening of the door of the +small apartment in which I lay. I started up, and beheld Maria Diaz, +with a lamp in her hand, enter the room. I observed that her features, +which were in general peculiarly calm and placid, wore a somewhat +startled expression. “What is the hour, and what brings you here?” I +demanded. + +“Señor,” said she, closing the door, and coming up to the bedside. “It +is close upon midnight; but a messenger belonging to the police has just +entered the house and demanded to see you. I told him that it was +impossible, for that your worship was in bed. Whereupon he sneezed in my +face, and said that he would see you if you were in your coffin. He has +all the look of a goblin, and has thrown me into a tremor. I am far from +being a timid person, as you are aware, Don Jorge; but I confess that I +never cast my eyes on these wretches of the police, but my heart dies +away within me! I know them but too well, and what they are capable of.” + +“Pooh,” said I, “be under no apprehension, let him come in, I fear him +not, whether he be alguazil or hobgoblin. Stand, however, at the +doorway, that you may be a witness of what takes place, as it is more +than probable that he comes at this unreasonable hour to create a +disturbance, that he may have an opportunity of making an unfavourable +report to his principals, like the fellow on the former occasion.” + +The hostess left the apartment, and I heard her say a word or two to some +one in the passage, whereupon there was a loud sneeze, and in a moment +after a singular figure appeared at the doorway. It was that of a very +old man, with long white hair, which escaped from beneath the eaves of an +exceedingly high-peaked hat. He stooped considerably, and moved along +with a shambling gait. I could not see much of his face, which, as the +landlady stood behind him with the lamp, was consequently in deep shadow. +I could observe, however, that his eyes sparkled like those of a ferret. +He advanced to the foot of the bed, in which I was still lying, wondering +what this strange visit could mean; and there he stood gazing at me for a +minute, at least, without uttering a syllable. Suddenly, however, he +protruded a spare skinny hand from the cloak in which it had hitherto +been enveloped, and pointed with a short staff, tipped with metal, in the +direction of my face, as it he were commencing an exorcism. He appeared +to be about to speak, but his words, if he intended any, were stifled in +their birth by a sudden sternutation which escaped him, and which was so +violent that the hostess started back, exclaiming, “Ave Maria purissima!” +and nearly dropped the lamp in her alarm. + +“My good person,” said I, “what do you mean by this foolish hobgoblinry? +If you have anything to communicate do so at once, and go about your +business. I am unwell, and you are depriving me of my repose.” + +“By the virtue of this staff,” said the old man, “and the authority which +it gives me to do and say that which is convenient, I do command, order, +and summon you to appear to-morrow, at the eleventh hour at the office of +my lord the corregidor of this village of Madrid, in order that, standing +before him humbly, and with befitting reverence, you may listen to +whatever he may have to say, or if necessary, may yield yourself up to +receive the castigation of any crimes which you may have committed, +whether trivial or enormous. _Tenez_, _compere_,” he added, in most +villainous French, “_voila mon affaire_; _voila ce que je viens vous +dire_.” + +Thereupon he glared at me for a moment, nodded his head twice, and +replacing his staff beneath is cloak, shambled out of the room, and with +a valedictory sneeze in the passage left the house. + +Precisely at eleven on the following day, I attended at the office of the +corregidor. He was not the individual whose anger I had incurred on a +former occasion, and who had thought proper to imprison me, but another +person, I believe a Catalan, whose name I have also forgotten. Indeed, +these civil employments were at this period given to-day and taken away +to-morrow, so that the person who held one of them for a month might +consider himself a functionary of long standing. I was not kept waiting +a moment, but as soon as I had announced myself, was forthwith ushered +into the presence of the corregidor, a good-looking, portly, and +well-dressed personage, seemingly about fifty. He was writing at a desk +when I entered, but almost immediately arose and came towards me. He +looked me full in the face, and I, nothing abashed, kept my eyes fixed +upon his. He had, perhaps, expected a less independent bearing, and that +I should have quaked and crouched before him; but now, conceiving himself +bearded in his own den, his old Spanish leaven was forthwith stirred up. +He plucked his whiskers fiercely. “Escuchad,” said he, casting upon me a +ferocious glance, “I wish to ask you a question.” + +“Before I answer any question of your excellency,” said I, “I shall take +the liberty of putting one myself. What law or reason is there that I, a +peaceable individual and a foreigner, should have my rest disturbed by +_duendes_ and hobgoblins sent at midnight to summon me to appear at +public offices like a criminal?” + +“You do not speak the truth,” shouted the corregidor; “the person sent to +summon you was neither duende nor hobgoblin, but one of the most ancient +and respectable officers of this casa, and so far from being dispatched +at midnight, it wanted twenty-five minutes to that hour by my own watch +when he left this office, and as your lodging is not distant, he must +have arrived there at least ten minutes before midnight, so that you are +by no means accurate, and are found wanting in regard to truth.” + +“A distinction without a difference,” I replied. “For my own part, if I +am to be disturbed in my sleep, it is of little consequence whether at +midnight or ten minutes before that time; and with respect to your +messenger, although he might not be a hobgoblin, he had all the +appearance of one, and assuredly answered the purpose, by frightening the +woman of the house almost into fits by his hideous grimaces and sneezing +convulsions.” + +_Corregidor_.—You are a—I know not what. Do you know that I have the +power to imprison you? + +_Myself_.—You have twenty alguazils at your beck and call, and have of +course the power, and so had your predecessor, who nearly lost his +situation by imprisoning me; but you know full well that you have not the +right, as I am not under your jurisdiction, but that of the +captain-general. If I have obeyed your summons, it was simply because I +had a curiosity to know what you wanted with me, and from no other motive +whatever. As for imprisoning me, I beg leave to assure you, that you +have my full consent to do so; the most polite society in Madrid is to be +found in the prison, and as I am at present compiling a vocabulary of the +language of the Madrilenian thieves, I should have, in being imprisoned, +an excellent opportunity of completing it. There is much to be learnt +even in the prison, for, as the Gypsies say, “The dog that trots about +finds a bone.” + +_Corregidor_.—Your words are not those of a Caballero. Do you forget +where you are, and in whose presence? Is this a fitting place to talk of +thieves and Gypsies in? + +_Myself_.—Really I know of no place more fitting, unless it be the +prison. But we are wasting time, and I am anxious to know for what I +have been summoned; whether for crimes trivial or enormous, as the +messenger said. + +It was a long time before I could obtain the required information from +the incensed corregidor; at last, however, it came. It appeared that a +box of Testaments, which I had despatched to Naval Carnero, had been +seized by the local authorities, and having been detained there for some +time, was at last sent back to Madrid, intended as it now appeared, for +the hands of the corregidor. One day as it was lying at the +waggon-office, Antonio chanced to enter on some business of his own and +recognised the box, which he instantly claimed as my property, and having +paid the carriage, removed it to my warehouse. He had considered the +matter as of so little importance, that he had not as yet mentioned it to +me. The poor corregidor, however, had no doubt that it was a deep-laid +scheme to plunder and insult him. And now, working himself up into +almost a frenzy of excitement, he stamped on the ground, exclaiming, +“_Que picardia_! _Que infamia_!” + +The old system, thought I, of prejudging people and imputing to them +motives and actions of which they never dreamed. I then told him frankly +that I was entirely ignorant of the circumstance by which he had felt +himself aggrieved; but that if upon inquiry I found that the chest had +actually been removed by my servant from the office to which it had been +forwarded, I would cause it forthwith to be restored, although it was my +own property. “I have plenty more Testaments,” said I, “and can afford +to lose fifty or a hundred. I am a man of peace, and wish not to have +any dispute with the authorities for the sake of an old chest and a cargo +of books, whose united value would scarcely amount to forty dollars.” + +He looked at me for a moment, as if in doubt of my sincerity, then, again +plucking his whiskers, he forthwith proceeded to attack me in another +quarter: “_Pero que infamia_, _que picardia_! to come into Spain for the +purpose of overturning the religion of the country. What would you say +if the Spaniards were to go to England and attempt to overturn the +Lutheranism established there?” + +“They would be most heartily welcome,” I replied; “more especially if +they would attempt to do so by circulating the Bible, the book of +Christians, even as the English are doing in Spain. But your excellency +is not perhaps aware that the Pope has a fair field and fair play in +England, and is permitted to make as many converts from Lutheranism every +day in the week as are disposed to go over to him. He cannot boast, +however, of much success; the people are too fond of light to embrace +darkness, and would smile at the idea of exchanging their gospel +privileges for the superstitious ceremonies and observances of the church +of Rome.” + +On my repeating my promise that the books and chest should be forthwith +restored, the corregidor declared himself satisfied, and all of a sudden +became excessively polite and condescending: he even went so far as to +say that he left it entirely with myself, whether to return the books or +not; “and,” continued he, “before you go, I wish to tell you that my +private opinion is, that it is highly advisable in all countries to allow +full and perfect tolerance in religious matters, and to permit every +religious system to stand or fall according to its own merits.” + +Such were the concluding words of the corregidor of Madrid, which, +whether they expressed his private opinion or not, were certainly +grounded on sense and reason. I saluted him respectfully and retired, +and forthwith performed my promise with regard to the books; and thus +terminated this affair. + +It almost appeared to me at this time, that a religious reform was +commencing in Spain; indeed, matters had of late come to my knowledge, +which, had they been prophesied only a year before, I should have +experienced much difficulty in believing. + +The reader will be surprised when I state that in two churches of Madrid +the New Testament was regularly expounded every Sunday evening by the +respective curates, to about twenty children who attended, and who were +all provided with copies of the Society’s edition of Madrid, 1837. The +churches which I allude to, were those of San Gines and Santo Cruz. Now +I humbly conceive that this fact alone is more than equivalent to all the +expense which the Society had incurred in the efforts which it had been +making to introduce the Gospel into Spain; but be this as it may, I am +certain that it amply recompensed me for all the anxiety and unhappiness +which I had undergone. I now felt that whenever I should be compelled to +discontinue my labours in the Peninsula, I should retire without the +slightest murmur, my heart being filled with gratitude to the Lord for +having permitted me, useless vessel as I was, to see at least some of the +seed springing up, which during two years I had been casting on the stony +ground of the interior of Spain. + +When I recollected the difficulties which had encompassed our path, I +could sometimes hardly credit all that the Almighty had permitted us to +accomplish within the last year. A large edition of the New Testament +had been almost entirely disposed of in the very centre of Spain, in +spite of the opposition and the furious cry of the sanguinary priesthood +and the edicts of a deceitful government, and a spirit of religious +inquiry excited, which I had fervent hope would sooner or later lead to +blessed and most important results. Till of late the name most abhorred +and dreaded in these parts of Spain, was that of Martin Luther, who was +in general considered as a species of demon, a cousin-german to Belial +and Beelzebub, who, under the guise of a man, wrote and preached +blasphemy against the Highest; yet, now strange to say, this once +abominated personage was spoken of with no slight degree of respect. +People with Bibles in their hands not unfrequently visited me, inquiring +with much earnestness, and with no slight degree of simplicity, for the +writings of the great Doctor Martin, whom, indeed, some supposed to be +still alive. + +It will be as well here to observe, that of all the names connected with +the Reformation, that of Luther is the only one known in Spain; and let +me add, that no controversial writings but his are likely to be esteemed +as possessing the slightest weight or authority, however great their +intrinsic merit may be. The common description of tracts, written with +the view of exposing the errors of popery, are therefore not calculated +to prove of much benefit in Spain, though it is probable that much good +might be accomplished by well-executed translations of judicious +selections from the works of Luther. + + + + +CHAPTER XLVIII + + +Projected Journey—A Scene of Blood—The Friar—Seville—Beauties of +Seville—Orange Trees and Flowers—Murillo—The Guardian Angel—Dionysius—My +Coadjutors—Demand for the Bible. + +By the middle of April I had sold as many Testaments as I thought Madrid +would bear; I therefore called in my people, for I was afraid to +overstock the market, and to bring the book into contempt by making it +too common. I had, indeed, by this time, barely a thousand copies +remaining of the edition which I had printed two years previously; and +with respect to Bibles, every copy was by this time disposed of, though +there was still a great demand for them, which, of course, I was unable +to satisfy. + +With the remaining copies of the Testament, I now determined to betake +myself to Seville, where little had hitherto been effected in the way of +circulation: my preparations were soon made. The roads were at this time +in a highly dangerous state, on which account I thought to go along with +a convoy, which was about to start for Andalusia. Two days, however, +before its departure, understanding that the number of people who +likewise proposed to avail themselves of it was likely to be very great, +and reflecting on the slowness of this way of travelling, and moreover +the insults to which civilians were frequently subjected from the +soldiers and petty officers, I determined to risk the journey with the +mail. This resolutions I carried into effect. Antonio, whom I had +resolved to take with me, and my two horses, departed with the convoy, +whilst in a few days I followed with the mail courier. We travelled all +the way without the slightest accident, my usual wonderful good fortune +accompanying us. I might well call it wonderful, for I was running into +the den of the lion; the whole of La Mancha, with the exception of a few +fortified places, being once more in the hands of Palillos and his +banditti, who, whenever it pleased them, stopped the courier, burnt the +vehicle and letters, murdered the paltry escort, and carried away any +chance passenger to the mountains, where an enormous ransom was demanded, +the alternative being four shots through the head, as the Spaniards say. + +The upper part of Andalusia was becoming rapidly nearly as bad as La +Mancha. The last time the mail had passed, it was attacked at the defile +of La Rumblar by six mounted robbers; it was guarded by an escort of as +many soldiers, but the former suddenly galloped from behind a solitary +venda, and dashed the soldiers to the ground, who were taken quite by +surprise, the hoofs of the robbers’ horses making no noise on account of +the sandy nature of the ground. The soldiers were instantly disarmed and +bound to olive trees, with the exception of two, who escaped amongst the +rocks; they were then mocked and tormented by the robbers, or rather +fiends, for nearly half an hour, when they were shot; the head of the +corporal who commanded being blown to fragments with a blunderbuss. The +robbers then burned the coach, which they accomplished by igniting the +letters by means of the tow with which they light their cigars. The life +of the courier was saved by one of them, who had formerly been his +postillion; he was, however, robbed and stripped. As we passed by the +scene of the butchery, the poor fellow wept, and, though a Spaniard, +cursed Spain and the Spaniards, saying that he intended shortly to pass +over to the Moreria, to confess Mahomet, and to learn the law of the +Moors, for that any country and religion were better than his own. He +pointed to the tree where the corporal had been tied; though much rain +had fallen since, the ground around was still saturated with blood, and a +dog was gnawing a piece of the unfortunate wretch’s skull. A friar +travelled with us the whole way from Madrid to Seville; he was of the +missionaries, and was going to the Philippine islands, to conquer (_para +conquistar_), for such was his word, by which I suppose he meant +preaching to the Indians. During the whole journey he exhibited every +symptom of the most abject fear, which operated upon him so that he +became deadly sick, and we were obliged to stop twice in the road and lay +him amongst the green corn. He said that if he fell into the hands of +the factious, he was a lost priest, for that they would first make him +say mass, and then blow him up with gunpowder. He had been professor of +philosophy, as he told me, in one of the convents (I think it was San +Thomas) of Madrid before their suppression, but appeared to be grossly +ignorant of the Scriptures, which he confounded with the works of Virgil. + +We stopped at Manzanares as usual; it was Sunday morning, and the +market-place was crowded with people. I was recognised in a moment, and +twenty pair of legs instantly hurried away in quest of the prophetess, +who presently made her appearance in the house to which we had retired to +breakfast. After many greetings on both sides, she proceeded, in her +Latin, to give me an account of all that had occurred in the village +since I had last been there, and of the atrocities of the factious in the +neighbourhood. I asked her to breakfast, and introduced her to the +friar, whom she addressed in this manner: “_Anne Domine Reverendissime +facis adhuc sacrificium_?” But the friar did not understand her, and +waxing angry, anathematized her for a witch, and bade her begone. She +was, however, not to be disconcerted, and commenced singing, in +extemporary Castilian verse, the praises of friars and religious houses +in general. On departing I gave her a peseta, upon which she burst into +tears, and intreated that I would write to her if I reached Seville in +safety. + +We did arrive at Seville in safety, and I took leave of the friar, +telling him that I hoped to meet him again at Philippi. As it was my +intention to remain at Seville for some months, I determined to hire a +house, in which I conceived I could live with more privacy, and at the +same time more economically than in a posada. It was not long before I +found one in every respect suited to me. It was situated in the Plazuela +de la Pila Seca, a retired part of the city, in the neighbourhood of the +cathedral, and at a short distance from the gate of Xeres; and in this +house, on the arrival of Antonio and the horses, which occurred within a +few days, I took up my abode. + +I was now once more in beautiful Seville and had soon ample time and +leisure to enjoy its delights and those of the surrounding country; +unfortunately, at the time of my arrival, and indeed for the next ensuing +fortnight, the heaven of Andalusia, in general so glorious, was overcast +with black clouds, which discharged tremendous showers of rain, such as +few of the Sevillians, according to their own account, had ever seen +before. This extraordinary weather had wrought no little damage in the +neighbourhood, causing the Guadalquivir, which, during the rainy season, +is a rapid and furious stream, to overflow its banks and to threaten an +inundation. It is true that intervals were occurring when the sun made +his appearance from his cloudy tabernacle, and with his golden rays +caused everything around to smile, enticing the butterfly forth from the +bush, and the lizard from the hollow tree, and I invariably availed +myself of these intervals to take a hasty promenade. + +O how pleasant it is, especially in springtide, to stray along the shores +of the Guadalquivir. Not far from the city, down the river, lies a grove +called Las Delicias, or the Delights. It consists of trees of various +kinds, but more especially of poplars and elms, and is traversed by long +shady walks. This grove is the favourite promenade of the Sevillians, +and there one occasionally sees assembled whatever the town produces of +beauty or gallantry. There wander the black-eyed Andalusian dames and +damsels, clad in their graceful silken mantillas; and there gallops the +Andalusian cavalier, on his long-tailed thick-maned steed of Moorish +ancestry. As the sun is descending, it is enchanting to glance back from +this place in the direction of the city; the prospect is inexpressibly +beautiful. Yonder in the distance, high and enormous, stands the Golden +Tower, now used as a toll-house, but the principal bulwark of the city in +the time of the Moors. It stands on the shore of the river, like a giant +keeping watch, and is the first edifice which attracts the eye of the +voyager as he moves up the stream to Seville. On the other side, +opposite the tower, stands the noble Augustine convent, the ornament of +the faubourg of Triana, whilst between the two edifices rolls the broad +Guadalquivir, bearing on its bosom a flotilla of barks from Catalonia and +Valencia. Farther up is seen the bridge of boats which traverses the +water. The principal object of this prospect, however, is the Golden +Tower, where the beams of the setting sun seem to be concentrated as in a +focus, so that it appears built of pure gold, and probably from that +circumstance received the name which it now bears. Cold, cold must the +heart be which can remain insensible to the beauties of this magic scene, +to do justice to which the pencil of Claude himself were barely equal. +Often have I shed tears of rapture whilst I beheld it, and listened to +the thrush and the nightingale piping forth their melodious songs in the +woods, and inhaled the breeze laden with the perfume of the thousand +orange gardens of Seville: + + “Kennst du das land wo die citronen bluhen?” + +The interior of Seville scarcely corresponds with the exterior: the +streets are narrow, badly paved, and full of misery and beggary. The +houses are for the most part built in the Moorish fashion, with a +quadrangular patio or court in the centre, where stands a marble +fountain, constantly distilling limpid water. These courts, during the +time of the summer heats, are covered over with a canvas awning, and +beneath this the family sit during the greater part of the day. In many, +especially those belonging to the houses of the wealthy, are to be found +shrubs, orange trees, and all kinds of flowers, and perhaps a small +aviary, so that no situation can be conceived more delicious than to lie +here in the shade, hearkening to the song of the birds and the voice of +the fountain. + +Nothing is more calculated to interest the stranger as he wanders through +Seville, than a view of these courts obtained from the streets, through +the iron-grated door. Oft have I stopped to observe them, and as often +sighed that my fate did not permit me to reside in such an Eden for the +remainder of my days. On a former occasion, I have spoken of the +cathedral of Seville, but only in a brief and cursory manner. It is +perhaps the most magnificent cathedral in all Spain, and though not so +regular in its architecture as those of Toledo and Burgos, is far more +worthy of admiration when considered as a whole. It is utterly +impossible to wander through the long aisles, and to raise one’s eyes to +the richly inlaid roof, supported by colossal pillars, without +experiencing sensations of sacred awe, and deep astonishment. It is true +that the interior, like those of the generality of the Spanish +cathedrals, is somewhat dark and gloomy; yet it loses nothing by this +gloom, which, on the contrary, rather increases the solemnity of the +effect. Notre Dame of Paris is a noble building, yet to him who has seen +the Spanish cathedrals, and particularly this of Seville, it almost +appears trivial and mean, and more like a town-hall than a temple of the +Eternal. The Parisian cathedral is entirely destitute of that solemn +darkness and gloomy pomp which so abound in the Sevillian, and is thus +destitute of the principal requisite to a cathedral. + +In most of the chapels are to be found some of the very best pictures of +the Spanish school; and in particular many of the masterpieces of +Murillo, a native of Seville. Of all the pictures of this extraordinary +man, one of the least celebrated is that which has always wrought on me +the most profound impression. I allude to the Guardian Angel (_Angel de +la Guardia_), a small picture which stands at the bottom of the church, +and looks up the principal aisle. The angel, holding a flaming sword in +his right hand, is conducting the child. This child is, in my opinion, +the most wonderful of all the creations of Murillo; the form is that of +an infant about five years of age, and the expression of the countenance +is quite infantine, but the tread—it is the tread of a conqueror, of a +God, of the Creator of the universe; and the earthly globe appears to +tremble beneath its majesty. + +The service of the cathedral is in general well attended, especially when +it is known that a sermon is to be preached. All these sermons are +extemporaneous; some of them are edifying and faithful to the Scriptures. +I have often listened to them with pleasure, though I was much surprised +to remark, that when the preachers quoted from the Bible, their +quotations were almost invariably taken from the apocryphal writings. +There is in general no lack of worshippers at the principal shrines—women +for the most part—many of whom appear to be animated with the most +fervent devotion. + +I had flattered myself, previous to my departure from Madrid, that I +should experience but little difficulty in the circulation of the Gospel +in Andalusia, at least for a time, as the field was new, and myself and +the object of my mission less known and dreaded than in New Castile. It +appeared, however, that the government at Madrid had fulfilled its +threat, transmitting orders throughout Spain for the seizure of my books +wherever found. The Testaments that arrived from Madrid were seized at +the custom-house, to which place all goods on their arrival, even from +the interior, are carried, in order that a duty be imposed upon them. +Through the management of Antonio, however, I procured one of the two +chests, whilst the other was sent down to San Lucar, to be embarked for a +foreign land as soon as I could make arrangements for that purpose. + +I did not permit myself to be discouraged by this slight _contretemps_, +although I heartily regretted the loss of the books which had been +seized, and which I could no longer hope to circulate in these parts, +where they were so much wanted; but I consoled myself with the +reflection, that I had still several hundred at my disposal, from the +distribution of which, if it pleased the Lord, a blessed harvest might +still proceed. + +I did not commence operations for some time, for I was in a strange +place, and scarcely knew what course to pursue. I had no one to assist +me but poor Antonio, who was as ignorant of the place as myself. +Providence, however, soon sent me a coadjutor, in rather a singular +manner. I was standing in the courtyard of the Reyna Posada, where I +occasionally dined, when a man, singularly dressed and gigantically tall, +entered. My curiosity was excited, and I inquired of the master of the +house who he was. He informed me that he was a foreigner, who had +resided a considerable time in Seville, and he believed a Greek. Upon +hearing this, I instantly went up to the stranger, and accosted him in +the Greek language, in which, though I speak it very ill, I can make +myself understood. He replied in the same idiom, and, flattered by the +interest which I, a foreigner, expressed for his nation, was not slow in +communicating to me his history. He told me that his name was Dionysius, +that he was a native of Cephalonia, and had been educated for the church, +which, not suiting his temper, he had abandoned, in order to follow the +profession of the sea, for which he had an early inclination. That after +many adventures and changes of fortune, he found himself one morning on +the coast of Spain, a shipwrecked mariner, and that, ashamed to return to +his own country in poverty and distress, he had remained in the +Peninsula, residing chiefly at Seville, where he now carried on a small +trade in books. He said that he was of the Greek religion, to which he +professed strong attachment, and soon discovering that I was a +Protestant, spoke with unbounded abhorrence of the papal system; nay of +its followers in general, whom he called Latins, and whom he charged with +the ruin of his own country, inasmuch as they sold it to the Turk. It +instantly struck me, that this individual would be an excellent assistant +in the work which had brought me to Seville, namely, the propagation of +the eternal Gospel, and accordingly, after some more conversation, in +which he exhibited considerable learning, I explained myself to him. He +entered into my views with eagerness, and in the sequel I had no reason +to regret my confidence, he having disposed of a considerable number of +New Testaments, and even contrived to send a certain number of copies to +two small towns at some distance from Seville. + +Another helper in the circulation of the Gospel I found in an aged +professor of music, who, with much stiffness and ceremoniousness, united +much that was excellent and admirable. This venerable individual, only +three days after I had made his acquaintance, brought me the price of six +Testaments and a Gypsy Gospel, which he had sold under the heat of an +Andalusian sun. What was his motive? A Christian one truly. He said +that his unfortunate countrymen, who were then robbing and murdering each +other, might probably be rendered better by the reading of the Gospel, +but could never be injured. Adding, that many a man had been reformed by +the Scriptures, but that no one ever yet became a thief or assassin from +its perusal. + +But my most extraordinary agent, was one whom I occasionally employed in +circulating the Scriptures amongst the lower classes. I might have +turned the services of this individual to far greater account had the +quantity of books at my disposal been greater; but they were now +diminishing rapidly, and as I had no hopes of a fresh supply, I was +almost tempted to be niggard of the few which remained. This agent was a +Greek bricklayer, by name Johannes Chrysostom, who had been introduced to +me by Dionysius. He was a native of the Morea, but had been upwards of +thirty-five years in Spain, so that he had almost entirely lost his +native language. Nevertheless, his attachment to his own country was so +strong that he considered whatever was not Greek as utterly barbarous and +bad. Though entirely destitute of education, he had, by his strength of +character, and by a kind of rude eloquence which he possessed, obtained +such a mastery over the minds of the labouring classes of Seville, that +they assented to almost everything he said, notwithstanding the shocks +which their prejudices were continually receiving. So that, although he +was a foreigner, he could at any time have become the Massaniello of +Seville. A more honest creature I never saw, and I soon found that if I +employed him, notwithstanding his eccentricities, I might entertain +perfect confidence that his actions would be no disparagement to the book +he vended. + +We were continually pressed for Bibles, which of course we could not +supply. Testaments were held in comparatively little esteem. I had by +this time made the discovery of a fact which it would have been well had +I been aware of three years before; but we live and learn. I mean the +inexpediency of printing Testaments, and Testaments alone, for Catholic +countries. The reason is plain: the Catholic, unused to Scripture +reading, finds a thousand things which he cannot possibly understand in +the New Testament, the foundation of which is the Old. “Search the +Scriptures, for they bear witness of me,” may well be applied to this +point. It may be replied, that New Testaments separate are in great +demand, and of infinite utility in England, but England, thanks be to the +Lord, is not a papal country; and though an English labourer may read a +Testament, and derive from it the most blessed fruit, it does not follow +that a Spanish or Italian peasant will enjoy similar success, as he will +find many dark things with which the other is well acquainted, and +competent to understand, being versed in the Bible history from his +childhood. I confess, however, that in my summer campaign of the +preceding year, I could not have accomplished with Bibles what Providence +permitted me to effect with Testaments, the former being far too bulky +for rural journeys. + + + + +CHAPTER XLIX + + +The Solitary House—The Dehesa—Johannes Chrysostom—Manuel—Bookselling at +Seville—Dionysius and the Priests—Athens and Rome—Proselytism—Seizure of +Testaments—Departure from Seville. + +I have already stated, that I had hired an empty house in Seville, +wherein I proposed to reside for some months. It stood in a solitary +situation, occupying one side of a small square. It was built quite in +the beautiful taste of Andalusia, with a court paved with small slabs of +white and blue marble. In the middle of this court was a fountain well +supplied with the crystal lymph, the murmur of which, as it fell from its +slender pillar into an octangular basin, might be heard in every +apartment. The house itself was large and spacious, consisting of two +stories, and containing room sufficient for at least ten times the number +of inmates which now occupied it. I generally kept during the day in the +lower apartments, on account of the refreshing coolness which pervaded +them. In one of these was an immense stone water-trough, ever +overflowing with water from the fountain, in which I immersed myself +every morning. Such were the premises to which, after having provided +myself with a few indispensable articles of furniture, I now retreated +with Antonio and my two horses. + +I was fortunate in the possession of these quadrupeds, inasmuch as it +afforded me an opportunity of enjoying to a greater extent the beauties +of the surrounding country. I know of few things in this life more +delicious than a ride in the spring or summer season in the neighbourhood +of Seville. My favourite one was in the direction of Xerez, over the +wide Dehesa, as it is called, which extends from Seville to the gates of +the former town, a distance of nearly fifty miles, with scarcely a town +or village intervening. The ground is irregular and broken, and is for +the most part covered with that species of brushwood called carrasco, +amongst which winds a bridle-path, by no means well defined, chiefly +trodden by the arrieros, with their long train of mules and borricos. It +is here that the balmy air of beautiful Andalusia is to be inhaled in +full perfection. Aromatic herbs and flowers are growing in abundance, +diffusing their perfume around. Here dark and gloomy cares are dispelled +as if by magic from the bosom, as the eyes wander over the prospect, +lighted by unequalled sunshine, in which gaily-painted butterflies +wanton, and green and golden Salamanquesas lie extended, enjoying the +luxurious warmth, and occasionally startling the traveller, by springing +up and making off with portentous speed to the nearest coverts, whence +they stare upon him with their sharp and lustrous eyes. I repeat, that +it is impossible to continue melancholy in regions like these, and the +ancient Greeks and Romans were right in making them the site of their +Elysian fields. Most beautiful they are even in their present +desolation, for the hand of man has not cultivated them since the fatal +era of the expulsion of the Moors, which drained Andalusia of at least +two thirds of its population. + +Every evening it was my custom to ride along the Dedesa, until the +topmost towers of Seville were no longer in sight. I then turned about, +and pressing my knees against the sides of Sidi Habismilk, my Arabian, +the fleet creature, to whom spur or lash had never been applied, would +set off in the direction of the town with the speed of a whirlwind, +seeming in his headlong course to devour the ground of the waste, until +he had left it behind, then dashing through the elm-covered road of the +Delicias, his thundering hoofs were soon heard beneath the vaulted +archway of the Puerta de Xerez, and in another moment he would stand +stone still before the door of my solitary house in the little silent +square of the Pila Seca. + +It is eight o’clock at night, I am returned from the Dehesa, and am +standing on the sotea, or flat roof of my house, enjoying the cool +breeze. Johannes Chrysostom has just arrived from his labour. I have +not spoken to him, but I hear him below in the courtyard, detailing to +Antonio the progress he has made in the last two days. He speaks +barbarous Greek, plentifully interlarded with Spanish words; but I gather +from his discourse, that he has already sold twelve Testaments among his +fellow labourers. I hear copper coin falling on the pavement, and +Antonio, who is not of a very Christian temper, reproving him for not +having brought the proceeds of the sale in silver. He now asks for +fifteen more, as he says the demand is becoming great, and that he shall +have no difficulty in disposing of them in the course of the morrow, +whilst pursuing his occupations. Antonio goes to fetch them, and he now +stands alone by the marble fountain, singing a wild song, which I believe +to be a hymn of his beloved Greek church. Behold one of the helpers +which the Lord has sent me in my Gospel labours on the shores of the +Guadalquivir. + +I lived in the greatest retirement during the whole time that I passed at +Seville, spending the greater part of each day in study, or in that +half-dreamy state of inactivity which is the natural effect of the +influence of a warm climate. There was little in the character of the +people around to induce me to enter much into society. The higher class +of the Andalusians are probably upon the whole the most vain and foolish +of human beings, with a taste for nothing but sensual amusements, foppery +in dress, and ribald discourse. Their insolence is only equalled by +their meanness, and their prodigality by their avarice. The lower +classes are a shade or two better than their superiors in station: +little, it is true, can be said for the tone of their morality; they are +overreaching, quarrelsome, and revengeful, but they are upon the whole +more courteous, and certainly not more ignorant. + +The Andalusians are in general held in the lowest estimation by the rest +of the Spaniards, even those in opulent circumstances finding some +difficulty at Madrid in procuring admission into respectable society, +where, if they find their way, they are invariably the objects of +ridicule, from the absurd airs and grimaces in which they indulge,—their +tendency to boasting and exaggeration, their curious accent, and the +incorrect manner in which they speak and pronounce the Castilian +language. + +In a word, the Andalusians, in all estimable traits of character, are as +far below the other Spaniards as the country which they inhabit is +superior in beauty and fertility to the other provinces of Spain. + +Yet let it not for a moment be supposed that I have any intention of +asserting, that excellent and estimable individuals are not to be found +amongst the Andalusians; it was amongst _them_ that I myself discovered +one, whom I have no hesitation in asserting to be the most extraordinary +character that has ever come within my sphere of knowledge; but this was +no scion of a noble or knightly house, “no wearer of soft clothing,” no +sleek highly-perfumed personage, none of the romanticos who walk in +languishing attitudes about the streets of Seville, with long black hair +hanging upon their shoulders in luxuriant curls; but one of those whom +the proud and unfeeling style the dregs of the populace, a haggard, +houseless, penniless man, in rags and tatters: I allude to Manuel, +the—what shall I call him?—seller of lottery tickets, driver of death +carts, or poet laureate in Gypsy songs? I wonder whether thou art still +living, my friend Manuel; thou gentleman of Nature’s forming—honest, +pure-minded, humble, yet dignified being! Art thou still wandering +through the courts of beautiful Safacoro, or on the banks of the Len +Baro, thine eyes fixed in vacancy, and thy mind striving to recall some +half-forgotten couplet of Luis Lobo; or art thou gone to thy long rest, +out beyond the Xeres gate within the wall of the Campo Santo, to which in +times of pest and sickness thou wast wont to carry so many, Gypsy and +Gentile, in thy cart of the tinkling bell? Oft in the _reunions_ of the +lettered and learned in this land of universal literature, when weary of +the display of pedantry and egotism, have I recurred with yearning to our +Gypsy recitations at the old house in the Pila Seca. Oft, when sickened +by the high-wrought professions of those who bear the cross in gilded +chariots, have I thought on thee, thy calm faith, without pretence,—thy +patience in poverty, and fortitude in affliction; and as oft, when +thinking of my speedily approaching end, have I wished that I might meet +thee once again, and that thy hands might help to bear me to “the dead +man’s acre” yonder on the sunny plain, O Manuel! + +My principal visitor was Dionysius, who seldom failed to make his +appearance every forenoon: the poor fellow came for sympathy and +conversation. It is difficult to imagine a situation more forlorn and +isolated than that of this man,—a Greek at Seville, with scarcely a +single acquaintance, and depending for subsistence on the miserable +pittance to be derived from selling a few books, for the most part hawked +about from door to door. “What could have first induced you to commence +bookselling in Seville?” said I to him, as he arrived one sultry day, +heated and fatigued, with a small bundle of books secured together by a +leather strap. + +_Dionysius_.—For want of a better employment, Kyrie, I have adopted this +most unprofitable and despised one. Oft have I regretted not having been +bred up as a shoe-maker, or having learnt in my youth some other useful +handicraft, for gladly would I follow it now. Such, at least, would +procure me the respect of my fellow-creatures inasmuch as they needed me; +but now all avoid me and look upon me with contempt; for what have I to +offer in this place that any one cares about? Books in Seville! where no +one reads, or at least nothing but new romances, translated from the +French, and obscenity. Books! Would I were a Gypsy and could trim +donkeys, for then I were at least independent and were more respected +than I am at present. + +_Myself_.—Of what kind of books does your stock in trade consist? + +_Dionysius_.—Of those not likely to suit the Seville market, Kyrie; books +of sterling and intrinsic value; many of them in ancient Greek, which I +picked up upon the dissolution of the convents, when the contents of the +libraries were hurled into the courtyards, and there sold by the arrobe. +I thought at first that I was about to make a fortune, and in fact my +books would be so in any other place; but here I have offered an Elzevir +for half a dollar in vain. I should starve were it not for the strangers +who occasionally purchase of me. + +_Myself_.—Seville is a large cathedral city, abounding with priests and +canons; surely one of these occasionally visit you to make purchases of +classic works, and books connected with ecclesiastical literature. + +_Dionysius_.—If you think so, Kyrie, you know little respecting the +ecclesiastics of Seville. I am acquainted with many of them, and can +assure you that a tribe of beings can scarcely be found with a more +confirmed aversion to intellectual pursuits of every kind. Their reading +is confined to newspapers, which they take up in the hope of seeing that +their friend Don Carlos is at length reinstated at Madrid; but they +prefer their chocolate and biscuits, and nap before dinner, to the wisdom +of Plato and the eloquence of Tully. They occasionally visit me, but it +is only to pass away a heavy hour in chattering nonsense. Once on a +time, three of them came, in the hope of making me a convert to their +Latin superstition. “Signior Donatio,” said they, (for so they called +me,) “how is it that an unprejudiced person like yourself, a man really +with some pretension to knowledge, can still cling to this absurd +religion of yours? Surely, after having resided so many years in a +civilised country like this of Spain, it is high time to abandon your +half-pagan form of worship, and to enter the bosom of the church; now +pray be advised, and you shall be none the worse for it.” “Thank you, +gentlemen,” I replied, “for the interest you take in my welfare; I am +always open to conviction; let us proceed to discuss the subject. What +are the points of my religion which do not meet your approbation? You +are of course well acquainted with all our dogmas and ceremonies.” “We +know nothing about your religion, Signior Donatio, save that it is a very +absurd one, and therefore it is incumbent upon you, as an unprejudiced +and well-informed man, to renounce it.” “But, gentlemen, if you know +nothing of my religion, why call it absurd? Surely it is not the part of +unprejudiced people to disparage that of which they are ignorant.” “But, +Signior Donatio, it is not the Catholic Apostolic Roman religion, is it?” +“It may be, gentlemen, for what you appear to know of it; for your +information, however, I will tell you that it is not; it is the Greek +Apostolic religion. I do not call it catholic, for it is absurd to call +that catholic which is not universally acknowledged.” “But, Signior +Donatio, does not the matter speak for itself? What can a set of +ignorant Greek barbarians know about religion? If they set aside the +authority of Rome, whence should they derive any rational ideas of +religion? whence should they get the gospel?” “The Gospel, gentlemen? +Allow me to show you a book, here it is, what is your opinion of it?” +“Signior Donatio, what does this mean? What characters of the devil are +these, are they Moorish? Who is able to understand them?” “I suppose +your worships, being Roman priests, know something of Latin; if you +inspect the title-page to the bottom, you will find, in the language of +your own church, the Gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ,’ in the +original Greek, of which your vulgate is merely a translation, and not a +very correct one. With respect to the barbarism of Greece, it appears +that you are not aware that Athens was a city, and a famed one, centuries +before the first mud cabin of Rome was thatched, and the Gypsy vagabonds +who first peopled it, had escaped from the hands of justice.” “Signior +Donatio, you are an ignorant heretic, and insolent withal, _what nonsense +is this_! . . . ” But I will not weary your ears, Kyrie, with all the +absurdities which the poor Latin _Papas_ poured into mine; the burden of +their song being invariably, _what nonsense is this_! which was certainly +applicable enough to what they themselves were saying. Seeing, however, +that I was more than their match in religious controversy, they fell foul +of my country. “Spain is a better country than Greece,” said one. “You +never tasted bread before you came to Spain,” cried another. “And little +enough since,” thought I. “You never before saw such a city as Seville,” +said the third. But then ensued the best part of the comedy: my visitors +chanced to be natives of three different places; one was of Seville, +another of Utrera, and the third of Miguel Turra, a miserable village in +La Mancha. At the mention of Seville, the other two instantly began to +sing the praises of their respective places of birth; this brought on +comparisons, and a violent dispute was the consequence. Much abuse +passed between them, whilst I stood by, shrugged my shoulders, and said +_tipotas_. {429} At last, as they were leaving the house, I said, “Who +would have thought, gentlemen, that the polemics of the Greek and Latin +churches were so closely connected with the comparative merits of +Seville, Utrera, and Miguel Turra?” + +_Myself_.—Is the spirit of proselytism very prevalent here? Of what +description of people do their converts generally consist? + +_Dionysius_.—I will tell you, Kyrie: the generality of their converts +consist of German or English Protestant adventurers, who come here to +settle, and in course of time take to themselves wives from among the +Spanish, prior to which it is necessary to become members of the Latin +church. A few are vagabond Jews, from Gibraltar or Tangier, who have +fled for their crimes into Spain, and who renounce their faith to escape +from starvation. These gentry, however, it is necessary to pay, on which +account the priests procure for them padrinos or godfathers; these +generally consist of rich devotees over whom the priests have influence, +and who esteem it a glory and a meritorious act to assist in bringing +back lost souls to the church. The neophyte allows himself to be +convinced on the promise of a peseta a day, which is generally paid by +the godfathers for the first year, but seldom for a longer period. About +forty years ago, however, they made a somewhat notable convert. A civil +war arose in Morocco, caused by the separate pretensions of two brothers +to the throne. One of these being worsted, fled over to Spain, imploring +the protection of Charles the Fourth. He soon became an object of +particular attention to the priests, who were not slow in converting him, +and induced Charles to settle upon him a pension of a dollar per day. He +died some few years since in Seville, a despised vagabond. He left +behind him a son, who is at present a notary, and outwardly very devout, +but a greater hypocrite and picaroon does not exist. I would you could +see his face, Kyrie, it is that of Judas Iscariot. I think you would say +so, for you are a physiognomist. He lives next door to me, and +notwithstanding his pretensions to religion, is permitted to remain in a +state of great poverty. + +And now nothing farther for the present about Dionysius. + +About the middle of July our work was concluded at Seville, and for the +very efficient reason, that I had no more Testaments to sell; somewhat +more than two hundred having been circulated since my arrival. + +About ten days before the time of which I am speaking, I was visited by +various alguazils, accompanied by a kind of headborough, who made a small +seizure of Testaments and Gypsy Gospels, which happened to be lying +about. This visit was far from being disagreeable to me, as I considered +it to be a very satisfactory proof of the effect of our exertions in +Seville. I cannot help here relating an anecdote—A day or two +subsequent, having occasion to call at the house of the headborough +respecting my passport, I found him lying on his bed, for it was the hour +of siesta, reading intently one of the Testaments which he had taken +away, all of which, if he had obeyed his orders, would have been +deposited in the office of the civil governor. So intently, indeed, was +he engaged in reading, that he did not at first observe my entrance; when +he did, however, he sprang up in great confusion, and locked the book up +in his cabinet, whereupon I smiled, and told him to be under no alarm, as +I was glad to see him so usefully employed. Recovering himself, he said +that he had read the book nearly through, and that he had found no harm +in it, but, on the contrary, everything to praise. Adding, he believed +that the clergy must be possessed with devils (_endemoniados_) to +persecute it in the manner they did. + +It was Sunday when the seizure was made, and I happened to be reading the +Liturgy. One of the alguazils, when going away, made an observation +respecting the very different manner in which the Protestants and +Catholics keep the Sabbath; the former being in their own houses reading +good books, and the latter abroad in the bull-ring, seeing the wild bulls +tear out the gory bowels of the poor horses. The bull amphitheatre at +Seville is the finest in all Spain, and is invariably on a Sunday (the +only day on which it is open) filled with applauding multitudes. + +I now made preparations for leaving Seville for a few months, my +destination being the coast of Barbary. Antonio, who did not wish to +leave Spain, in which were his wife and children, returned to Madrid, +rejoicing in a handsome gratuity with which I presented him. As it was +my intention to return to Seville, I left my house and horses in charge +of a friend in whom I could confide, and departed. The reasons which +induced me to visit Barbary will be seen in the following chapters. + + + + +CHAPTER L + + +Night on the Guadalquivir—Gospel Light—Bonanza—Strand of San +Lucar—Andalusian Scenery—History of a Chest—Cosas de los Ingleses—The Two +Gypsies—The Driver—The Red Nightcap—The Steam Boat—Christian Language. + +On the night of the 31st of July I departed from Seville upon my +expedition, going on board one of the steamers which ply on the +Guadalquivir between Seville and Cadiz. + +It was my intention to stop at San Lucar, for the purpose of recovering +the chest of Testaments which had been placed in embargo there, until +such time as they could be removed from the kingdom of Spain. These +Testaments I intended for distribution amongst the Christians whom I +hoped to meet on the shores of Barbary. San Lucar is about fifteen +leagues distant from Seville, at the entrance of the bay of Cadiz, where +the yellow waters of the Guadalquivir unite with the brine. The steamer +shot from the little quay, or wharf, at about half-past nine, and then +arose a loud cry,—it was the voices of those on board and on shore +wishing farewell to their friends. Amongst the tumult I thought I could +distinguish the accents of some friends of my own who had accompanied me +to the bank, and I instantly raised my own voice louder than all. The +night was very dark, so much so, indeed, that as we passed along we could +scarcely distinguish the trees which cover the eastern shore of the river +until it takes its first turn. A calmazo had reigned during the day at +Seville, by which is meant, exceedingly sultry weather, unenlivened by +the slightest breeze. The night likewise was calm and sultry. As I had +frequently made the voyage of the Guadalquivir, ascending and descending +this celebrated river, I felt nothing of that restlessness and curiosity +which people experience in a strange place, whether in light or darkness, +and being acquainted with none of the other passengers, who were talking +on the deck, I thought my best plan would be to retire to the cabin and +enjoy some rest, if possible. The cabin was solitary and tolerably cool, +all its windows on either side being open for the admission of air. +Flinging myself on one of the cushioned benches, I was soon asleep, in +which state I continued for about two hours, when I was aroused by the +curious biting of a thousand bugs, which compelled me to seek the deck, +where, wrapping myself in my cloak, I again fell asleep. It was near +daybreak when I awoke; we were then about two leagues from San Lucar. I +arose and looked towards the east, watching the gradual progress of dawn, +first the dull light, then the streak, then the tinge, then the bright +flush, till at last the golden disk of that orb which giveth day emerged +from the abyss of immensity, and in a moment the whole prospect was +covered with brightness and glory. The land smiled, the waters sparkled, +the birds sang, and men arose from their resting places and rejoiced: for +it was day, and the sun was gone forth on the errand of its Creator, the +diffusion of light and gladness, and the dispelling of darkness and +sorrow. + + “Behold the morning sun + Begins his glorious way; + His beams through all the nations run, + And life and light convey. + + “But where the Gospel comes, + It spreads diviner light; + It calls dead sinners from their tombs, + And gives the blind their sight.” + +We now stopped before Bonanza: this is properly speaking the port of San +Lucar, although it is half a league distant from the latter place. It is +called Bonanza on account of its good anchorage, and its being secured +from the boisterous winds of the ocean; its literal meaning is “fair +weather.” It consists of several large white buildings, principally +government store-houses, and is inhabited by the coast-guard, dependents +on the custom-house, and a few fishermen. A boat came off to receive +those passengers whose destination was San Lucar, and to bring on board +about half a dozen who were bound for Cadiz: I entered with the rest. A +young Spaniard of very diminutive stature addressed some questions to me +in French as to what I thought of the scenery and climate of Andalusia. +I replied that I admired both, which evidently gave him great pleasure. +The boatman now came demanding two reals for conveying me on shore. I +had no small money, and offered him a dollar to change. He said that it +was impossible. I asked him what was to be done; whereupon he replied +uncivilly that he knew not, but could not lose time, and expected to be +paid instantly. The young Spaniard, observing my embarrassment, took out +two reals and paid the fellow. I thanked him heartily for this act of +civility, for which I felt really grateful; as there are few situations +more unpleasant than to be in a crowd in want of change, whilst you are +importuned by people for payment. A loose character once told me that it +was far preferable to be without money at all, as you then knew what +course to take. I subsequently met the young Spaniard at Cadiz, and +repaid him with thanks. + +A few cabriolets were waiting near the wharf, in order to convey us to +San Lucar. I ascended one, and we proceeded slowly along the Playa or +strand. This place is famous in the ancient novels of Spain, of that +class called Picaresque, or those devoted to the adventures of notorious +scoundrels, the father of which, as also of all others of the same kind, +in whatever language, is Lazarillo de Tormes. Cervantes himself has +immortalized this strand in the most amusing of his smaller tales, La +Ilustre Fregona. In a word, the strand of San Lucar in ancient times, if +not in modern, was a rendezvous for ruffians, contrabandistas, and +vagabonds of every, description, who nested there in wooden sheds, which +have now vanished. San Lucar itself was always noted for the thievish +propensities of its inhabitants—the worst in all Andalusia. The roguish +innkeeper in _Don Quixote_ perfected his education at San Lucar. All +these recollections crowded into my mind as we proceeded along the +strand, which was beautifully gilded by the Andalusian sun. We at last +arrived nearly opposite to San Lucar, which stands at some distance from +the water side. Here a lively spectacle presented itself to us: the +shore was covered with a multitude of females either dressing or +undressing themselves, while (I speak within bounds) hundreds were in the +water sporting and playing; some were close by the beach, stretched at +their full length on the sand and pebbles, allowing the little billows to +dash over their heads and bosoms; whilst others were swimming boldly out +into the firth. There was a confused hubbub of female cries, thin +shrieks and shrill laughter; couplets likewise were being sung, on what +subject it is easy to guess, for we were in sunny Andalusia, and what can +its black-eyed daughters think, speak, or sing of but _amor_, _amor_, +which now sounded from the land and the waters. Farther on along the +beach we perceived likewise a crowd of men bathing; we passed not by +them, but turned to the left up an alley or avenue which leads to San +Lucar, and which may be a quarter of a mile long. The view from hence +was truly magnificent; before us lay the town, occupying the side and top +of a tolerably high hill, extending from east to west. It appeared to be +of considerable size, and I was subsequently informed that it contained +at least twenty thousand inhabitants. Several immense edifices and walls +towered up in a style of grandeur, which can be but feebly described by +words; but the principal object was an ancient castle towards the left. +The houses were all white, and would have shone brilliantly in the sun +had it been higher, but at this early hour they lay comparatively in +shade. The _tout ensemble_ was very Moorish and oriental, and indeed in +ancient times San Lucar was a celebrated stronghold of the Moors, and +next to Almeria, the most frequented of their commercial places in Spain. +Everything, indeed, in these parts of Andalusia, is perfectly oriental. +Behold the heavens, as cloudless and as brightly azure as those of Ind; +the fiery sun which tans the fairest cheek in a moment, and which fills +the air with flickering flame; and O, remark the scenery and the +vegetable productions. The alley up which we were moving was planted on +each side with that remarkable tree or plant, for I know not which to +call it, the giant aloe, which is called in Spanish, _pita_, and in +Moorish, _gurséan_. It rises here to a height almost as magnificent as +on the African shore. Need I say that the stem, which springs up from +the middle of the bush of green blades, which shoot out from the root on +all sides, is as high as a palm-tree; and need I say, that those blades, +which are of an immense thickness at the root, are at the tip sharper +than the point of a spear, and would inflict a terrible wound on any +animal which might inadvertently rush against them? + +One of the first houses at San Lucar was the posada at which we stopped. +It confronted, with some others, the avenue up which we had come. As it +was still early, I betook myself to rest for a few hours, at the end of +which time I went out to visit Mr. Phillipi, the British vice-consul, who +was already acquainted with me by name, as I had been recommended to him +in a letter from a relation of his at Seville. Mr. Phillipi was at home +in his counting-house, and received me with much kindness and civility. +I told him the motive of my visit to San Lucar, and requested his +assistance towards obtaining the books from the custom-house, in order to +transport them out of the country, as I was very well acquainted with the +difficulties which every one has to encounter in Spain, who has any +business to transact with the government authorities. He assured me that +he should be most happy to assist me, and accordingly despatched with me +to the custom-house his head clerk, a person well known and much +respected at San Lucar. + +It may be as well here at once to give the history of these books, which +might otherwise tend to embarrass the narrative. They consisted of a +chest of Testaments in Spanish, and a small box of Saint Luke’s Gospel in +the Gitano or language of the Spanish Gypsies. I obtained them from the +custom-house at San Lucar, with a pass for that of Cadiz. At Cadiz I was +occupied two days, and also a person whom I employed, in going through +all the formalities, and in procuring the necessary papers. The expense +was great, as money was demanded at every step I had to take, though I +was simply complying in this instance with the orders of the Spanish +government in removing prohibited books from Spain. The farce did not +end until my arrival at Gibraltar, where I paid the Spanish consul a +dollar for certifying on the back of the pass, which I had to return to +Cadiz, that the books were arrived at the former place. It is true that +he never saw the books nor inquired about them, but he received the +money, for which he alone seemed to be anxious. + +Whilst at the custom-house of San Lucar I was asked one or two questions +respecting the books contained in the chests: this afforded me some +opportunity of speaking of the New Testaments and the Bible Society. +What I said excited attention, and presently all the officers and +dependents of the house, great and small, were gathered around me, from +the governor to the porter. As it was necessary to open the boxes to +inspect their contents, we all proceeded to the courtyard, where, holding +a Testament in my hand, I recommended my discourse. I scarcely know what +I said; for I was much agitated, and hurried away by my feelings, when I +bethought me of the manner in which the word of God was persecuted in +this unhappy kingdom. My words evidently made impression, and to my +astonishment every person present pressed me for a copy. I sold several +within the walls of the custom-house. The object, however, of most +attention was the Gypsy Gospel, which was minutely examined amidst smiles +and exclamations of surprise; an individual every now and then crying, +“_Cosas de los Ingleses_.” A bystander asked me whether I could speak +the Gitano language. I replied that I could not only speak it, but write +it, and instantly made a speech of about five minutes in the Gypsy +tongue, which I had no sooner concluded than all clapped their hands and +simultaneously shouted, “_Cosas de Ingalaterra_,” “_Cosas de los +Ingleses_.” I disposed of several copies of the Gypsy Gospel likewise, +and having now settled the business which had brought me to the +custom-house, I saluted my new friends and departed with my books. + +I now revisited Mr. Phillipi, who, upon learning that it was my intention +to proceed to Cadiz next morning by the steamer, which would touch at +Bonanza at four o’clock, despatched the chests and my little luggage to +the latter place, where he likewise advised me to sleep, in order that I +might be in readiness to embark at that early hour. He then introduced +me to his family, his wife an English woman, and his daughter an amiable +and beautiful girl of about eighteen years of age, whom I had previously +seen at Seville; three or four other ladies from Seville were likewise +there on a visit, and for the purpose of sea-bathing. After a few words +in English between the lady of the house and myself, we all commenced +chatting in Spanish, which seemed to be the only language understood or +cared for by the rest of the company; indeed, who would be so +unreasonable as to expect Spanish females to speak any language but their +own, which, flexible and harmonious as it is, (far more so I think than +any other,) seemed at times quite inadequate to express the wild sallies +of their luxuriant imagination. Two hours fled rapidly away in +discourse, interrupted occasionally by music and song, when I bade +farewell to this delightful society, and strolled out to view the town. + +It was now past noon, and the heat was exceedingly fierce: I saw scarcely +a living being in the streets, the stones of which burnt my feet through +the soles of my boots. I passed through the square of the Constitution, +which presents nothing particular to the eye of the stranger, and +ascended the hill to obtain a nearer view of the castle. It is a strong +heavy edifice of stone, with round towers, and, though deserted, appears +to be still in a tolerable state of preservation. I became tired of +gazing, and was retracing my steps, when I was accosted by two Gypsies, +who by some means had heard of my arrival. We exchanged some words in +Gitano, but they appeared to be very ignorant of the dialect, and utterly +unable to maintain a conversation in it. They were clamorous for a +gabicote, or book in the Gypsy tongue. I refused it them, saying that +they could turn it to no profitable account; but finding that they could +read, I promised them each a Testament in Spanish. This offer, however, +they refused with disdain, saying that they cared for nothing written in +the language of the Busné or Gentiles. They then persisted in their +demand, to which I at last yielded, being unable to resist their +importunity; whereupon they accompanied me to the inn, and received what +they so ardently desired. + +In the evening I was visited by Mr. Phillipi, who informed me that he had +ordered a cabriolet to call for me at the inn at eleven at night, for the +purpose of conveying me to Bonanza, and that a person there who kept a +small wine-house, and to whom the chests and other things had been +forwarded, would receive me for the night, though it was probable that I +should have to sleep on the floor. We then walked to the beach, where +there were a great number of bathers, all men. Amongst them were some +good swimmers; two, in particular, were out at a great distance in the +firth of the Guadalquivir, I should say at least a mile; their heads +could just be descried with the telescope. I was told that they were +friars. I wondered at what period of their lives they had acquired their +dexterity at natation. I hoped it was not at a time when, according to +their vows, they should have lived for prayer, fasting, and mortification +alone. Swimming is a noble exercise, but it certainly does not tend to +mortify either the flesh or the spirit. As it was becoming dusk, we +returned to the town, when my friend bade me a kind farewell. I then +retired to my apartment, and passed some hours in meditation. + +It was night, ten o’clock;—eleven o’clock, and the cabriolet was at the +door. I got in, and we proceeded down the avenue and along the shore, +which was quite deserted. The waves sounded mournfully; everything +seemed to have changed since the morning. I even thought that the +horse’s feet sounded differently, as it trotted slowly over the moist +firm sand. The driver, however, was by no means mournful, nor inclined +to be silent long: he soon commenced asking me an infinity of questions +as to whence I came and whither I was bound. Having given him what +answers I thought most proper, I, in return, asked him whether he was not +afraid to drive along that beach, which had always borne so bad a +character, at so unseasonable an hour. Whereupon, he looked around him, +and seeing no person, he raised a shout of derision, and said that a +fellow with his whiskers feared not all the thieves that ever walked the +playa, and that no dozen men in San Lucar dare to waylay any traveller +whom they knew to be beneath his protection. He was a good specimen of +the Andalusian braggart. We soon saw a light or two shining dimly before +us; they proceeded from a few barks and small vessels stranded on the +sand close below Bonanza: amongst them I distinguished two or three dusky +figures. We were now at our journey’s end, and stopped before the door +of the place where I was to lodge for the night. The driver, +dismounting, knocked loud and long, until the door was opened by an +exceedingly stout man of about sixty years of age; he held a dim light in +his hand, and was dressed in a red nightcap and dirty striped shirt. He +admitted us, without a word, into a very large long room with a clay +floor. A species of counter stood on one side near the door; behind it +stood a barrel or two, and against the wall, on shelves, many bottles of +various sizes. The smell of liquors and wine was very powerful. I +settled with the driver and gave him a gratuity, whereupon he asked me +for something to drink to my safe journey. I told him he could call for +whatever he pleased; whereupon he demanded a glass of aguardiente, which +the master of the house, who had stationed himself behind the counter, +handed him without saying a word. The fellow drank it off at once, but +made a great many wry faces after having swallowed it, and, coughing, +said that he made no doubt it was good liquor, as it burnt his throat +terribly. He then embraced me, went out, mounted his cabriolet, and +drove off. + +The old man with the red nightcap now moved slowly to the door, which he +bolted and otherwise secured; he then drew forward two benches, which he +placed together, and pointed to them as if to intimate to me that there +was my bed: he then blew out the candle and retired deeper into the +apartment, where I heard him lay himself down sighing and snorting. +There was now no farther light than what proceeded from a small earthen +pan on the floor, filled with water and oil, on which floated a small +piece of card with a lighted wick in the middle, which simple species of +lamp is called “mariposa.” I now laid my carpet bag on the bench as a +pillow, and flung myself down. I should have been asleep instantly, but +he of the red nightcap now commenced snoring awfully, which brought to my +mind that I had not yet commended myself to my friend and Redeemer: I +therefore prayed, and then sank to repose. + +I was awakened more than once during the night by cats, and I believe +rats, leaping upon my body. At the last of these interruptions I arose, +and, approaching the mariposa, looked at my watch; it was half-past three +o’clock. I opened the door and looked out; whereupon some fishermen +entered clamouring for their morning draught: the old man was soon on his +feet serving them. One of the men said to me that, if I was going by the +steamer, I had better order my things to the wharf without delay, as he +had heard the vessel coming down the river. I dispatched my luggage, and +then demanded of the red nightcap what I owed him. He replied “One +real.” These were the only two words which I heard proceed from his +mouth: he was certainly addicted to silence, and perhaps to philosophy, +neither of which are much practised in Andalusia. I now hurried to the +wharf; the steamer was not yet arrived, but I heard its thunder up the +river every moment becoming more distinct: there was mist and darkness +upon the face of the waters, and I felt awe as I listened to the approach +of the invisible monster booming through the stillness of the night. It +came at last in sight, plashed its way forward, stopped, and I was soon +on board. It was the Peninsula, the best boat on the Guadalquivir. + +What a wonderful production of art is a steamboat; and yet why should we +call it wonderful, if we consider its history. More than five hundred +years have elapsed since the idea of making one first originated; but it +was not until the close of the last century that the first, worthy of the +name, made its appearance on a Scottish river. + +During this long period of time, acute minds and skilful hands were +occasionally busied in attempting to remove those imperfections in the +machinery, which alone prevented a vessel being made capable of +propelling itself against wind and tide. All these attempts were +successively abandoned in despair, yet scarcely one was made which was +perfectly fruitless; each inventor leaving behind him some monument of +his labour, of which those who succeeded him took advantage, until at +last a fortunate thought or two, and a few more perfect arrangements, +were all that were wanting. The time arrived, and now, at length, the +very Atlantic is crossed by haughty steamers. Much has been said of the +utility of steam in spreading abroad civilization, and I think justly. +When the first steam vessels were seen on the Guadalquivir, about ten +years ago, the Sevillians ran to the banks of the river, crying “sorcery, +sorcery,” which idea was not a little favoured by the speculation being +an English one, and the boats, which were English built, being provided +with English engineers, as, indeed, they still are; no Spaniard having +been found capable of understanding the machinery. They soon however, +became accustomed to them, and the boats are in general crowded with +passengers. Fanatic and vain as the Sevillians still are, and bigoted as +they remain to their own customs, they know that good, in one instance at +least, can proceed from a foreign land, and that land a land of heretics; +inveterate prejudice has been shaken, and we will hope that this is the +dawn of their civilization. + +Whilst passing over the bay of Cadiz, I was reclining on one of the +benches on the deck, when the captain walked by in company with another +man; they stopped a short distance from me, and I heard the captain ask +the other, in a low voice, how many languages he spoke; he replied “only +one.” “That one,” said the captain, “is of course the Christian”; by +which name the Spaniards style their own language in contradistinction to +all others. “That fellow,” continued the captain, “who is lying on the +deck, can speak Christian too, when it serves his purpose, but he speaks +others, which are by no means Christian: he can talk English, and I +myself have heard him chatter in Gitano with the Gypsies of Triana; he is +now going amongst the Moors, and when he arrives in their country, you +will hear him, should he be there, converse as fluently in their +gibberish as in Christiano, nay, better, for he is no Christian himself. +He has been several times on board my vessel already, but I do not like +him, as I consider that he carries something about with him which is not +good.” + +This worthy person, on my coming aboard the boat, had shaken me by the +hand and expressed his joy at seeing me again. + + + + +CHAPTER LI + + +Cadiz—The Fortifications—The Consul-General—Characteristic +Anecdote—Catalan Steamer—Trafalgar—Alonzo Guzman—Gibil Muza—Orestes +Frigate—The Hostile Lion—Works of the Creator—Lizard of the Rock—The +Concourse—Queen of the Waters—Broken Prayer. + +Cadiz stands, as is well known, upon a long narrow neck of land +stretching out into the ocean, from whose bosom the town appears to rise, +the salt waters laving its walls on all sides save the east, where a +sandy isthmus connects it with the coast of Spain. The town, as it +exists at the present day, is of modern construction, and very unlike any +other town which is to be found in the Peninsula, being built with great +regularity and symmetry. The streets are numerous, and intersect each +other, for the most part, at right angles. They are very narrow in +comparison to the height of the houses, so that they are almost +impervious to the rays of the sun, except when at its midday altitude. +The principal street, however, is an exception, it being of some width. +This street, in which stands the Bolsa, or exchange, and which contains +the houses of the chief merchants and nobility, is the grand resort of +loungers as well as men of business during the early part of the day, and +in that respect resembles the Puerta del Sol at Madrid. It is connected +with the great square, which, though not of very considerable extent, has +many pretensions to magnificence, it being surrounded with large imposing +houses, and planted with fine trees, with marble seats below them for the +accommodation of the public. There are few public edifices worthy of +much attention: the chief church, indeed, might be considered a fine +monument of labour in some other countries, but in Spain, the land of +noble and gigantic cathedrals, it can be styled nothing more than a +decent place of worship; it is still in an unfinished state. There is a +public walk or alameda on the northern ramparts, which is generally +thronged in summer evenings: the green of its trees, when viewed from the +bay, affords an agreeable relief to the eye, dazzled with the glare of +the white buildings, for Cadiz is also a bright city. It was once the +wealthiest place in all Spain, but its prosperity has of late years sadly +diminished, and its inhabitants are continually lamenting its ruined +trade; on which account many are daily abandoning it for Seville, where +living at least is cheaper. There is still, however, much life and +bustle in the streets, which are adorned with many splendid shops, +several of which are in the style of Paris and London. The present +population is said to amount to eighty thousand souls. + +It is not without reason that Cadiz has been called a strong town: the +fortifications on the land side, which were partly the work of the French +during the sway of Napoleon, are perfectly admirable, and seem +impregnable: towards the sea it is defended as much by nature as by art, +water and sunken rocks being no contemptible bulwarks. The defences of +the town, however, except the landward ones, afford melancholy proofs of +Spanish apathy and neglect, even when allowance is made for the present +peculiarly unhappy circumstances of the country. Scarcely a gun, except +a few dismounted ones, is to be seen on the fortifications, which are +rapidly falling to decay, so that this insulated stronghold is at present +almost at the mercy of any foreign nation which, upon any pretence, or +none at all, should seek to tear it from the grasp of its present +legitimate possessors, and convert it into a foreign colony. + +A few hours after my arrival, I waited upon Mr. B., the British +consul-general at Cadiz. His house, which is the corner one at the +entrance of the alameda, commands a noble prospect of the bay, and is +very large and magnificent. I had of course long been acquainted with +Mr. B. by reputation; I knew that for several years he had filled, with +advantage to his native country and with honour to himself, the +distinguished and highly responsible situation which he holds in Spain. +I knew, likewise, that he was a good and pious Christian, and, moreover, +the firm and enlightened friend of the Bible Society. Of all this I was +aware, but I had never yet enjoyed the advantage of being personally +acquainted with him. I saw him now for the first time, and was much +struck with his appearance. He is a tall, athletic, finely built man, +seemingly about forty-five or fifty; there is much dignity in his +countenance, which is, however, softened by an expression of good humour +truly engaging. His manner is frank and affable in the extreme. I am +not going to enter into minute details of our interview, which was to me +a very interesting one. He knew already the leading parts of my history +since my arrival in Spain, and made several comments upon it, which +displayed his intimate knowledge of the situation of the country as +regards ecclesiastical matters, and the state of opinion respecting +religious innovation. + +I was pleased to find that his ideas in many points accorded with my own, +and we were both decidedly of opinion that, notwithstanding the great +persecution and outcry which had lately been raised against the Gospel, +the battle was by no means lost, and that the holy cause might yet +triumph in Spain, if zeal united with discretion and Christian humility +were displayed by those called upon to uphold it. + +During the greater part of this and the following day, I was much +occupied at the custom-house, endeavouring to obtain the documents +necessary for the exportation of the Testaments. On the afternoon of +Saturday, I dined with Mr. B. and his family, an interesting group,—his +lady, his beautiful daughters, and his son, a fine intelligent young man. +Early the next morning, a steamer, the _Balear_, was to quit Cadiz for +Marseilles, touching on the way at Algeciras, Gibraltar, and various +other ports of Spain. I had engaged my passage on board her as far as +Gibraltar, having nothing farther to detain me at Cadiz; my business with +the custom-house having been brought at last to a termination, though I +believe I should never have got through it but for the kind assistance of +Mr. B. I quitted this excellent man and my other charming friends at a +late hour with regret. I believe that I carried with me their very best +wishes; and, in whatever part of the world I, a poor wanderer in the +Gospel’s cause, may chance to be, I shall not unfrequently offer up +sincere prayers for their happiness and well-being. + +Before taking leave of Cadiz, I shall relate an anecdote of the British +consul, characteristic of him and the happy manner in which he contrives +to execute the most disagreeable duties of his situation. I was in +conversation with him in a parlour of his house, when we were interrupted +by the entrance of two very unexpected visitors: they were the captain of +a Liverpool merchant vessel and one of the crew. The latter was a rough +sailor, a Welshman, who could only express himself in very imperfect +English. They looked unutterable dislike and defiance at each other. It +appeared that the latter had refused to work, and insisted on leaving the +ship, and his master had in consequence brought him before the consul, in +order that, if he persisted, the consequences might be detailed to him, +which would be the forfeiture of his wages and clothes. This was done; +but the fellow became more and more dogged, refusing ever to tread the +same deck again with his captain, who, he said, had called him “Greek, +lazy lubberly Greek,” which he would not bear. The word Greek rankled in +the sailor’s mind, and stung him to the very core. Mr. B., who seemed to +be perfectly acquainted with the character of Welshmen in general, who +are proverbially obstinate when opposition is offered to them, and who +saw at once that the dispute had arisen on foolish and trivial grounds, +now told the man, with a smile, that he would inform him of a way by +which he might gain the weather-gage of every one of them, consul and +captain and all, and secure his wages and clothes; which was by merely +going on board a brig of war of her Majesty, which was then lying in the +bay. The fellow said he was aware of this, and intended to do so. His +grim features, however, instantly relaxed in some degree, and he looked +more humanely upon his captain. Mr. B. then, addressing himself to the +latter, made some observations on the impropriety of using the word Greek +to a British sailor; not forgetting, at the same time, to speak of the +absolute necessity of obedience and discipline on board every ship. His +words produced such an effect, that in a very little time the sailor held +out his hand towards his captain, and expressed his willingness to go on +board with him and perform his duty, adding, that the captain, upon the +whole, was the best man in the world. So they departed mutually pleased; +the consul making both of them promise to attend divine service at his +house on the following day. + +Sunday morning came, and I was on board the steamer by six o’clock. As I +ascended the side, the harsh sound of the Catalan dialect assailed my +ears. In fact, the vessel was Catalan built, and the captain and crew +were of that nation; the greater part of the passengers already on board, +or who subsequently arrived, appeared to be Catalans, and seemed to vie +with each other in producing disagreeable sounds. A burly merchant, +however, with a red face, peaked chin, sharp eyes, and hooked nose, +clearly bore off the palm; he conversed with astonishing eagerness on +seemingly the most indifferent subjects, or rather on no subject at all; +his voice would have sounded exactly like a coffee-mill but for a vile +nasal twang: he poured forth his Catalan incessantly till we arrived at +Gibraltar. Such people are never sea-sick, though they frequently +produce or aggravate the malady in others. We did not get under way +until past eight o’clock, for we waited for the Governor of Algeciras, +and started instantly on his coming on board. He was a tall, thin, rigid +figure of about seventy, with a long, grave, wrinkled countenance; in a +word, the very image of an old Spanish grandee. We stood out of the bay, +rounding the lofty lighthouse, which stands on a ledge of rocks, and then +bent our course to the south, in the direction of the straits. It was a +glorious morning, a blue sunny sky and blue sunny ocean; or, rather, as +my friend Oehlenschlæger has observed on a similar occasion, there +appeared two skies and two suns, one above and one below. + +Our progress was rather slow, notwithstanding the fineness of the +weather, probably owing to the tide being against us. In about two hours +we passed the Castle of Santa Petra, and at noon were in sight of +Trafalgar. The wind now freshened and was dead ahead; on which account +we hugged closely to the coast, in order to avoid as much as possible the +strong heavy sea which was pouring down from the Straits. We passed +within a very short distance of the Cape, a bold bluff foreland, but not +of any considerable height. + +It is impossible for an Englishman to pass by this place—the scene of the +most celebrated naval action on record—without emotion. Here it was that +the united navies of France and Spain were annihilated by a far inferior +force; but that force was British, and was directed by one of the most +remarkable men of the age, and perhaps the greatest hero of any time. +Huge fragments of wreck still frequently emerge from the watery gulf +whose billows chafe the rocky sides of Trafalgar: they are relics of the +enormous ships which were burnt and sunk on that terrible day, when the +heroic champion of Britain concluded his work and died. I never heard +but one individual venture to say a word in disparagement of Nelson’s +glory: it was a pert American, who observed, that the British admiral was +much overrated. “Can that individual be overrated,” replied a stranger, +“whose every thought was bent on his country’s honour, who scarcely ever +fought without leaving a piece of his body in the fray, and who, not to +speak of minor triumphs, was victorious in two such actions as Aboukir +and Trafalgar?” + +We were now soon in sight of the Moorish coast, Cape Spartel appearing +dimly through mist and vapour on our right. A regular Levanter had now +come on, and the vessel pitched and tossed to a very considerable degree. +Most of the passengers were sea-sick; the governor, however, and myself +held out manfully: we sat on a bench together, and entered into +conversation respecting the Moors and their country. Torquemada himself +could not have spoken of both with more abhorrence. He informed me that +he had been frequently in several of the principal Moorish towns of the +coast, which he described as heaps of ruins: the Moors themselves he +called Caffres and wild beasts. He observed that he had never been even +at Tangier, where the people were most civilised, without experiencing +some insult, so great was the abhorrence of the Moors to anything in the +shape of a Christian. He added, however, that they treated the English +with comparative civility, and that they had a saying among them to the +effect that Englishman and Mahometan were one and the same; he then +looked particularly grave for a moment, and, crossing himself, was +silent. I guessed what was passing in his mind: + + “From heretic boors, + And Turkish Moors, + Star of the sea, + Gentle Marie, + Deliver me!” + +At about three we were passing Tarifa, so frequently mentioned in the +history of the Moors and Christians. Who has not heard of Alonzo Guzman +the faithful, who allowed his only son to be crucified before the walls +of the town rather than submit to the ignominy of delivering up the keys +to the Moorish monarch, who, with a host which is said to have amounted +to nearly half a million of men, had landed on the shores of Andalusia, +and threatened to bring all Spain once more beneath the Moslem yoke? +Certainly if there be a land and a spot where the name of that good +patriot is not sometimes mentioned and sung, that land, that spot is +modern Spain and modern Tarifa. I have heard the ballad of Alonzo Guzman +chanted in Danish, by a hind in the wilds of Jutland; but once speaking +of “the Faithful” to some inhabitants of Tarifa, they replied that they +had never heard of Guzman the faithful of Tarifa, but were acquainted +with Alonzo Guzman, “the one-eyed” (_el tuerto_), and that he was one of +the most villainous arrieros on the Cadiz road. + +The voyage of these narrow seas can scarcely fail to be interesting to +the most apathetic individual, from the nature of the scenery which +presents itself to the eye on either side. The coasts are exceedingly +high and bold, especially that of Spain, which seems to overthrow the +Moorish; but opposite to Tarifa, the African continent, rounding towards +the south-west, assumes an air of sublimity and grandeur. A hoary +mountain is seen uplifting its summits above the clouds: it is Mount +Abyla, or as it is called in the Moorish tongue, Gibil Muza, or the hill +of Muza, from the circumstance of its containing the sepulchre of a +prophet of that name. This is one of the two excrescences of nature on +which the Old World bestowed the title of the Pillars of Hercules. Its +skirts and sides occupy the Moorish coast for many leagues in more than +one direction, but the broad aspect of its steep and stupendous front is +turned full towards that part of the European continent where Gibraltar +lies like a huge monster stretching far into the brine. Of the two hills +or pillars, the most remarkable, when viewed from afar, is the African +one, Gibil Muza. It is the tallest and bulkiest, and is visible at a +greater distance; but scan them both from near, and you feel that all +your wonder is engrossed by the European column. Gibil Muza is an +immense shapeless mass, a wilderness of rocks, with here and there a few +trees and shrubs nodding from the clefts of its precipices; it is +uninhabited, save by wolves, wild swine, and chattering monkeys, on which +last account it is called by the Spaniards, _Montana de las Monas_ (the +hill of the baboons); whilst, on the contrary, Gibraltar, not to speak of +the strange city which covers part of it, a city inhabited by men of all +nations and tongues, its batteries and excavations, all of them miracles +of art, is the most singular-looking mountain in the world—a mountain +which can neither be described by pen nor pencil, and at which the eye is +never satiated with gazing. + +It was near sunset, and we were crossing the bay of Gibraltar. We had +stopped at Algeciras, on the Spanish side, for the purpose of landing the +old governor and his suite, and delivering and receiving letters. + +Algeciras is an ancient Moorish town, as the name denotes, which is an +Arabic word, and signifies “the place of the islands.” It is situated at +the water’s edge, with a lofty range of mountains in the rear. It seemed +a sad deserted place, as far as I could judge at the distance of half a +mile. In the harbour, however, lay a Spanish frigate and French war +brig. As we passed the former, some of the Spaniards on board our +steamer became boastful at the expense of the English. It appeared that, +a few weeks before, an English vessel, suspected to be a contraband +trader, was seen by this frigate hovering about a bay on the Andalusian +coast, in company with an English frigate, the _Orestes_. The Spaniard +dogged them for some time, till one morning observing that the _Orestes_ +had disappeared, he hoisted English colours, and made a signal to the +trader to bear down; the latter, deceived by the British ensign, and +supposing that the Spaniard was the friendly _Orestes_, instantly drew +near, was fired at and boarded, and proving in effect to be a contraband +trader, she was carried into port and delivered over to the Spanish +authorities. In a few days the captain of the _Orestes_ hearing of this, +and incensed at the unwarrantable use made of the British flag, sent a +boat on board the frigate demanding that the vessel should be instantly +restored, as, if she was not, he would retake her by force; adding that +he had forty cannons on board. The captain of the Spanish frigate +returned for answer, that the trader was in the hands of the officers of +the customs, and was no longer at his disposal; that the captain of the +_Orestes_ however, could do what he pleased, and that if he had forty +guns, he himself had forty-four; whereupon the _Orestes_ thought proper +to bear away. Such at least was the Spanish account as related by the +journals. Observing the Spaniards to be in great glee at the idea of one +of their nation having frightened away the Englishman, I exclaimed, +“Gentlemen, all of you who suppose that an English sea captain has been +deterred from attacking a Spaniard, from an apprehension of a superior +force of four guns, remember, if you please, the fate of the _Santissima +Trinidad_, and be pleased also not to forget that we are almost within +cannon’s sound of Trafalgar.” + +It was neat sunset, I repeat, and we were crossing the bay of Gibraltar. +I stood on the prow of the vessel, with my eyes intently fixed on the +mountain fortress, which, though I had seen it several times before, +filled my mind with admiration and interest. Viewed from this situation, +it certainly, if it resembles any animate object in nature, has something +of the appearance of a terrible couchant lion, whose stupendous head +menaces Spain. Had I been dreaming, I should almost have concluded it to +be the genius of Africa, in the shape of its most puissant monster, who +had bounded over the sea from the clime of sand and sun, bent on the +destruction of the rival continent, more especially as the hue of its +stony sides, its crest and chine, is tawny even as that of the hide of +the desert king. A hostile lion has it almost invariably proved to +Spain, at least since it first began to play a part in history, which was +at the time when Tarik seized and fortified it. It has for the most part +been in the hands of foreigners: first the swarthy and turbaned Moor +possessed it, and it is now tenanted by a fair-haired race from a distant +isle. Though a part of Spain, it seems to disavow the connexion, and at +the end of a long narrow sandy isthmus, almost level with the sea, +raising its blasted and perpendicular brow to denounce the crimes which +deform the history of that fair and majestic land. + +It was near sunset, I say it for the third time, and we were crossing the +bay of Gibraltar. Bay! it seemed no bay, but an inland sea, surrounded +on all sides by enchanted barriers, so strange, so wonderful was the +aspect of its coasts. Before us lay the impregnable hill; on our right +the African continent, with its grey Gibil Muza, and the crag of Ceuta, +to which last a solitary bark seemed steering its way; behind us the town +we had just quitted, with its mountain wall; on our left the coast of +Spain. The surface of the water was unruffled by a wave, and as we +rapidly glided on, the strange object which we were approaching became +momentarily more distinct and visible. There, at the base of the +mountain, and covering a small portion of its side, lay the city, with +its ramparts garnished with black guns pointing significantly at its +moles and harbours; above, seemingly on every crag which could be made +available for the purpose of defence or destruction, peered batteries, +pale and sepulchral-looking, as if ominous of the fate which awaited any +intrusive foe; whilst east and west towards Africa and Spain, on the +extreme points, rose castles, towers, or atalaias which overcrowded the +whole, and all the circumjacent region, whether land or sea. Mighty and +threatening appeared the fortifications, and doubtless, viewed in any +other situation, would have alone occupied the mind and engrossed its +wonder; but the hill, the wondrous hill, was everywhere about them, +beneath them, or above them, overpowering their effect as a spectacle. +Who, when he beholds the enormous elephant, with his brandished trunk, +dashing impetuously to the war, sees the castle which he bears, or fears +the javelins of those whom he carries, however skilful and warlike they +may be? Never does God appear so great and powerful as when the works of +his hands stand in contrast with the labours of man. Survey the +Escurial, it is a proud work, but wonder if you can when you see the +mountain mocking it behind; survey that boast of Moorish kings, survey +Granada from its plain, and wonder if you can, for you see the Alpujarra +mocking it from behind. O what are the works of man compared with those +of the Lord? Even as man is compared with his creator. Man builds +pyramids, and God builds pyramids: the pyramids of man are heaps of +shingles, tiny hillocks on a sandy plain; the pyramids of the Lord are +Andes and Indian hills. Man builds walls and so does his Master; but the +walls of God are the black precipices of Gibraltar and Horneel, eternal, +indestructible, and not to be scaled; whilst those of man can be climbed, +can be broken by the wave or shattered by the lightning or the powder +blast. Would man display his power and grandeur to advantage, let him +flee far from the hills; for the broad pennants of God, even his clouds, +float upon the tops of the hills, and the majesty of God is most manifest +among the hills. Call Gibraltar the hill of Tarik or Hercules if you +will, but gaze upon it for a moment and you will call it the hill of God. +Tarik and the old giant may have built upon it; but not all the dark race +of whom Tarik was one, nor all the giants of old renown of whom the other +was one, could have built up its crags or chiseled the enormous mass to +its present shape. + +We dropped anchor not far from the mole. As we expected every moment to +hear the evening gun, after which no person is permitted to enter the +town, I was in trepidation lest I should be obliged to pass the night on +board the dirty Catalan steamer, which, as I had no occasion to proceed +farther in her, I was in great haste to quit. A boat now drew nigh, with +two individuals at the stern, one of whom, standing up, demanded, in an +authoritative voice, the name of the vessel, her destination and cargo. +Upon being answered, they came on board. After some conversation with +the captain, they were about to depart, when I inquired whether I could +accompany them on shore. The person I addressed was a tall young man, +with a fustian frock coat. He had a long face, long nose, and wide +mouth, with large restless eyes. There was a grin on his countenance +which seemed permanent, and had it not been for his bronzed complexion, I +should have declared him to be a cockney, and nothing else. He was, +however, no such thing, but what is called a rock lizard, that is, a +person born at Gibraltar of English parents. Upon hearing my question, +which was in Spanish, he grinned more than ever, and inquired, in a +strange accent, whether I was a son of Gibraltar. I replied that I had +not that honour, but that I was a British subject. Whereupon he said +that he should make no difficulty in taking me ashore. We entered the +boat, which was rapidly rowed towards the land by four Genoese sailors. +My two companions chattered in their strange Spanish, he of the fustian +occasionally turning his countenance full upon me, the last grin +appearing ever more hideous than the preceding ones. We soon reached the +quay, where my name was noted down by a person who demanded my passport, +and I was then permitted to advance. + +It was now dusk, and I lost no time in crossing the drawbridge and +entering the long low archway which, passing under the rampart, +communicates with the town. Beneath this archway paced with measured +tread, tall red-coated sentinels with shouldered guns. There was no +stopping, no sauntering in these men. There was no laughter, no exchange +of light conversation with the passers by, but their bearing was that of +British soldiers, conscious of the duties of their station. What a +difference between them and the listless loiterers who stand at guard at +the gate of a Spanish garrisoned town. + +I now proceeded up the principal street, which runs with a gentle ascent +along the base of the hill. Accustomed for some months past to the +melancholy silence of Seville, I was almost deafened by the noise and +bustle which reigned around. It was Sunday night, and of course no +business was going on, but there were throngs of people passing up and +down. Here was a military guard proceeding along; here walked a group of +officers, there a knot of soldiers stood talking and laughing. The +greater part of the civilians appeared to be Spaniards, but there was a +large sprinkling of Jews in the dress of those of Barbary, and here and +there a turbaned Moor. There were gangs of sailors likewise, Genoese, +judging from the patois which they were speaking, though I occasionally +distinguished the sound of “tou logou sas,” by which I knew there were +Greeks at hand, and twice or thrice caught a glimpse of the red cap and +blue silken petticoats of the mariner from the Romaic isles. On still I +hurried, till I arrived at a well known hostelry, close by a kind of +square, in which stands the little exchange of Gibraltar. Into this I +ran and demanded lodging, receiving a cheerful welcome from the genius of +the place, who stood behind the bar, and whom I shall perhaps have +occasion subsequently to describe. All the lower rooms were filled with +men of the rock, burly men in general, with swarthy complexions and +English features, with white hats, white jean jerkins, and white jean +pantaloons. They were smoking pipes and cigars, and drinking porter, +wine and various other fluids, and conversing in the rock Spanish, or +rock English as the fit took them. Dense was the smoke of tobacco, and +great the din of voices, and I was glad to hasten up stairs to an +unoccupied apartment, where I was served with some refreshment, of which +I stood much in need. + +I was soon disturbed by the sound of martial music close below my +windows. I went down and stood at the door. A military band was +marshalled upon the little square before the exchange. It was preparing +to beat the retreat. After the prelude, which was admirably executed, +the tall leader gave a flourish with his stick, and strode forward up the +street, followed by the whole company of noble looking fellows and a +crowd of admiring listeners. The cymbals clashed, the horns screamed, +and the kettle-drum emitted its deep awful note, till the old rock echoed +again, and the hanging terraces of the town rang with the stirring noise: + + “Dub-a-dub, dub-a-dub—thus go the drums, + Tantara, tantara, the Englishman comes.” + +O England! long, long may it be ere the sun of thy glory sink beneath the +wave of darkness! Though gloomy and portentous clouds are now gathering +rapidly around thee, still, still may it please the Almighty to disperse +them, and to grant thee a futurity longer in duration and still brighter +in renown than thy past! Or if thy doom be at hand, may that doom be a +noble one, and worthy of her who has been styled the Old Queen of the +waters! May thou sink, if thou dost sink, amidst blood and flame, with a +mighty noise, causing more than one nation to participate in thy +downfall! Of all fates, may it please the Lord to preserve thee from a +disgraceful and a slow decay; becoming, ere extinct, a scorn and a +mockery for those selfsame foes who now, though they envy and abhor thee, +still fear thee, nay, even against their will, honour and respect thee. + +Arouse thee, whilst yet there is time, and prepare thee for the combat of +life and death! Cast from thee the foul scurf which now encrusts thy +robust limbs, which deadens their force, and makes them heavy and +powerless! Cast from thee thy false philosophers, who would fain decry +what, next to the love of God, has hitherto been deemed most sacred, the +love of the mother land! Cast from thee thy false patriots, who, under +the pretext of redressing the wrongs of the poor and weak, seek to +promote internal discord, so that thou mayest become only terrible to +thyself! And remove from thee the false prophets, who have seen vanity +and divined lies; who have daubed thy wall with untempered mortar, that +it may fall; who see visions of peace where there is no peace; who have +strengthened the hands of the wicked, and made the heart of the righteous +sad. O, do this, and fear not the result, for either shall thy end be a +majestic and an enviable one, or God shall perpetuate thy reign upon the +waters, thou old Queen! + +The above was part of a broken prayer for my native land, which, after my +usual thanksgiving, I breathed to the Almighty ere retiring to rest that +Sunday night at Gibraltar. + + + + +CHAPTER LII + + +The Jolly Hosteler—Aspirants for Glory—A Portrait—Hamalos—Solomons—An +Expedition—The Yeoman Soldier—The Excavations—The Pull by the Skirt—Judah +and his Father—Judah’s Pilgrimage—The Bushy Beard—The False Moors—Judah +and the King’s Son—Premature Old Age. + +Perhaps it would have been impossible to have chosen a situation more +adapted for studying at my ease Gibraltar and its inhabitants, than that +which I found myself occupying about ten o’clock on the following +morning. Seated on a small bench just opposite the bar, close by the +door, in the passage of the hostelry at which I had taken up my temporary +abode, I enjoyed a view of the square of the exchange and all that was +going on there, and by merely raising my eyes, could gaze at my leisure +on the stupendous hill which towers above the town to an altitude of some +thousand feet. I could likewise observe every person who entered or left +the house, which is one of great resort, being situated in the +most-frequented place of the principal thoroughfare of the town. My eyes +were busy and so were my ears. Close beside me stood my excellent friend +Griffiths, the jolly hosteler, of whom I take the present opportunity of +saying a few words, though I dare say he has been frequently described +before, and by far better pens. Let those who know him not figure to +themselves a man of about fifty, at least six feet in height, and +weighing some eighteen stone, an exceedingly florid countenance and good +features, eyes full of quickness and shrewdness, but at the same time +beaming with good nature. He wears white pantaloons, white frock, and +white hat, and is, indeed, all white, with the exception of his polished +Wellingtons and rubicund face. He carries a whip beneath his arm, which +adds wonderfully to the knowingness of his appearance, which is rather +more that of a gentleman who keeps an inn on the Newmarket road, “purely +for the love of travellers, and the money which they carry about them,” +than of a native of the rock. Nevertheless, he will tell you himself +that he is a rock lizard; and you will scarcely doubt it when, besides +his English, which is broad and vernacular, you hear him speak Spanish, +ay, and Genoese too, when necessary, and it is no child’s play to speak +the latter, which I myself could never master. He is a good judge of +horse-flesh, and occasionally sells a “bit of a blood,” or a Barbary +steed to a young hand, though he has no objection to do business with an +old one; for there is not a thin, crouching, liver-faced lynx-eyed Jew of +Fez capable of outwitting him in a bargain: or cheating him out of one +single pound of the fifty thousand sterling which he possesses; and yet +ever bear in mind that he is a good-natured fellow to those who are +disposed to behave honourably to him, and know likewise that he will lend +you money, if you are a gentleman, and are in need of it; but depend upon +it, if he refuse you, there is something not altogether right about you, +for Griffiths knows _his world_, and is not to be made a fool of. + +There was a prodigious quantity of porter consumed in my presence during +the short hour that I sat on the bench of that hostelry of the rock. The +passage before the bar was frequently filled with officers, who lounged +in for a refreshment which the sultry heat of the weather rendered +necessary, or at least inviting; whilst not a few came galloping up to +the door on small Barbary horses, which are to be found in great +abundance at Gibraltar. All seemed to be on the best terms with the +host, with whom they occasionally discussed the merits of particular +steeds, and whose jokes they invariably received with unbounded +approbation. There was much in the demeanour and appearance of these +young men, for the greater part were quite young, which was highly +interesting and agreeable. Indeed, I believe it may be said of English +officers in general, that in personal appearance, and in polished +manners, they bear the palm from those of the same class over the world. +True it is, that the officers of the royal guard of Russia, especially of +the three noble regiments styled the Priberjensky, Simeonsky, and +Finlansky polks might fearlessly enter into competition in almost all +points with the flower of the British army; but it must be remembered, +that those regiments are officered by the choicest specimens of the +Sclavonian nobility, young men selected expressly for the splendour of +their persons, and for the superiority of their mental endowments; +whilst, probably, amongst all the fair-haired Anglo-Saxons youths whom I +now saw gathered near me, there was not a single one of noble ancestry, +nor of proud and haughty name; and certainly, so far from having been +selected to flatter the pride and add to the pomp of a despot, they had +been taken indiscriminately from a mass of ardent aspirants for military +glory, and sent on their country’s service to a remote and unhealthy +colony. Nevertheless, they were such as their country might be proud of, +for gallant boys they looked, with courage on their brows, beauty and +health on their cheeks, and intelligence in their hazel eyes. + +Who is he who now stops before the door without entering, and addresses a +question to my host, who advances with a respectful salute? He is no +common man, or his appearance belies him strangely. His dress is simple +enough; a Spanish hat, with a peaked crown and broad shadowy brim—the +veritable sombrero—jean pantaloons and blue hussar jacket;—but how well +that dress becomes one of the most noble-looking figures I ever beheld. +I gazed upon him with strange respect and admiration as he stood +benignantly smiling and joking in good Spanish with an impudent rock +rascal, who held in his hand a huge bogamante, or coarse carrion lobster, +which he would fain have persuaded him to purchase. He was almost +gigantically tall, towering nearly three inches above the burly host +himself, yet athletically symmetrical, and straight as the pine tree of +Dovrefeld. He must have counted eleven lustres, which cast an air of +mature dignity over a countenance which seemed to have been chiseled by +some Grecian sculptor, and yet his hair was black as the plume of the +Norwegian raven, and so was the moustache which curled above his +well-formed lip. In the garb of Greece, and in the camp before Troy, I +should have taken him for Agamemnon. “Is that man a general?” said I to +a short queer-looking personage, who sat by my side, intently studying a +newspaper. “That gentleman,” he whispered in a lisping accent, “is, sir, +the Lieutenant-Governor of Gibraltar.” + +On either side outside the door, squatting on the ground, or leaning +indolently against the walls, were some half dozen men of very singular +appearance. Their principal garment was a kind of blue gown, something +resembling the blouse worn by the peasants of the north of France, but +not so long; it was compressed around their waists by a leathern girdle, +and depended about half way down their thighs. Their legs were bare, so +that I had an opportunity of observing the calves, which appeared +unnaturally large. Upon the head they wore small skull-caps of black +wool. I asked the most athletic of these men, a dark-visaged fellow of +forty, who they were. He answered, “hamalos.” This word I knew to be +Arabic, in which tongue it signifies a porter; and, indeed, the next +moment, I saw a similar fellow staggering across the square under an +immense burden, almost sufficient to have broken the back of a camel. On +again addressing my swarthy friend, and enquiring whence he came, he +replied, that he was born at Mogadore, in Barbary, but had passed the +greatest part of his life at Gibraltar. He added, that he was the +“capitaz,” or head man of the “hamalos” near the door. I now addressed +him in the Arabic of the East, though with scarcely the hope of being +understood, more especially as he had been so long from his own country. +He however answered very pertinently, his lips quivering with eagerness, +and his eyes sparkling with joy, though it was easy to perceive that the +Arabic, or rather the Moorish, was not the language in which he was +accustomed either to think or speak. His companions all gathered round +and listened with avidity, occasionally exclaiming, when anything was +said which they approved of: “_Wakhud rajil shereef hada_, _min beled bel +scharki_.” (A holy man this from the kingdoms of the East.) At last I +produced the shekel, which I invariably carry about me as a pocket-piece, +and asked the capitaz whether he had ever seen that money before. He +surveyed the censer and olive-branch for a considerable time, and +evidently knew not what to make of it. At length he fell to inspecting +the characters round about it on both sides, and giving a cry, exclaimed +to the other hamalos: “Brothers, brothers, these are the letters of +Solomon. This silver is blessed. We must kiss this money.” He then put +it upon his head, pressed it to his eyes, and finally kissed it with +enthusiasm as did successively all his brethren. Then regaining it, he +returned it to me, with a low reverence. Griffiths subsequently informed +me, that the fellow refused to work during all the rest of the day, and +did nothing but smile, laugh, and talk to himself. + +“Allow me to offer you a glass of bitters, sir,” said the queer-looking +personage before mentioned; he was a corpulent man, very short, and his +legs particularly so. His dress consisted of a greasy snuff-coloured +coat, dirty white trousers, and dirtier stockings. On his head he wore a +rusty silk hat, the eaves of which had a tendency to turn up before and +behind. I had observed that, during my conversation with the hamalos, he +had several times uplifted his eyes from the newspaper, and on the +production of the shekel had grinned very significantly, and had +inspected it when in the hand of the capitaz. “Allow me to offer you a +glass of bitters,” said he; “I guessed you was one of our people before +you spoke to the hamalos. Sir, it does my heart good to see a gentleman +of your appearance not above speaking to his poor brethren. It is what I +do myself not unfrequently, and I hope God will blot out my name, and +that is Solomons, when I despise them. I do not pretend to much Arabic +myself, yet I understood you tolerably well, and I liked your discourse +much. You must have a great deal of shillam eidri, nevertheless you +startled me when you asked the hamalo if he ever read the Torah; of +course you meant with the meforshim; poor as he is, I do not believe him +becoresh enough to read the Torah without the commentators. So help me, +sir, I believe you to be a Salamancan Jew; I am told there are still some +of the old families to be found there. Ever at Tudela, sir? not very far +from Salamanca, I believe; one of my own kindred once lived there: a +great traveller, sir, like yourself; went over all the world to look for +the Jews,—went to the top of Sinai. Anything that I can do for you at +Gibraltar, sir? Any commission; will execute it as reasonably, and more +expeditiously than any one else. My name is Solomons. I am tolerably +well known at Gibraltar; yes, sir, and in the Crooked Friars, and, for +that matter, in the Neuen Stein Steg, at Hamburgh; so help me, sir, I +think I once saw your face at the fair at Bremen. Speak German, sir? +though of course you do. Allow me, sir, to offer you a glass of bitters. +I wish, sir, they were mayim, hayim for your sake, I do indeed, sir, I +wish they were living waters. Now, sir, do give me your opinion as to +this matter (lowering his voice and striking the newspaper). Do you not +think it is very hard that one Yudken should betray the other? When I +put my little secret beyad peluni,—you understand me, sir?—when I entrust +my poor secret to the custody of an individual, and that individual a +Jew, a Yudken, sir, I do not wish to be blown, indeed, I do not expect +it. In a word, what do you think of the _gold dust robbery_, and what +will be done to those unfortunate people, who I see are convicted?” + +That same day I made enquiry respecting the means of transferring myself +to Tangier, having no wish to prolong my stay at Gibraltar, where, though +it is an exceedingly interesting place to an observant traveller, I had +no particular business to detain me. In the evening I was visited by a +Jew, a native of Barbary, who informed me that he was secretary to the +master of a small Genoese bark which plied between Tangier and Gibraltar. +Upon his assuring me that the vessel would infallibly start for the +former place on the following evening, I agreed with him for my passage. +He said that as the wind was blowing from the Levant quarter, the voyage +would be a speedy one. Being desirous now of disposing to the most +advantage of the short time which I expected to remain at Gibraltar, I +determined upon visiting the excavations, which I had as yet never seen, +on the following morning, and accordingly sent for and easily obtained +the necessary permission. + +About six on Tuesday morning, I started on this expedition, attended by a +very intelligent good-looking lad of the Jewish persuasion, one of two +brothers who officiated at the inn in the capacity of valets de place. + +The morning was dim and hazy, yet sultry to a degree. We ascended a +precipitous street, and proceeding in an easterly direction, soon arrived +in the vicinity of what is generally known by the name of the Moorish +Castle, a large tower, but so battered by the cannon balls discharged +against it in the famous siege, that it is at present little better than +a ruin; hundreds of round holes are to be seen in its sides, in which, as +it is said, the shot are still imbedded; here, at a species of hut, we +were joined by an artillery sergeant, who was to be our guide. After +saluting us, he led the way to a huge rock, where he unlocked a gate at +the entrance of a dark vaulted passage which passed under it, emerging +from which passage we found ourselves in a steep path, or rather +staircase, with walls on either side. + +We proceeded very leisurely, for hurry in such a situation would have +been of little avail, as we should have lost our breath in a minute’s +time. The soldier, perfectly well acquainted with the locality, stalked +along with measured steps, his eyes turned to the ground. + +I looked fully as much at that man as at the strange place where we now +were, and which was every moment becoming stranger. He was a fine +specimen of the yeoman turned soldier; indeed, the corps to which he +belonged consists almost entirely of that class. There he paces along, +tall, strong, ruddy, and chestnut-haired, an Englishman every inch; +behold him pacing along, sober, silent, and civil, a genuine English +soldier. I prize the sturdy Scot, I love the daring and impetuous +Irishman; I admire all the various races which constitute the population +of the British isles; yet I must say that, upon the whole, none are so +well adapted to ply the soldier’s hardy trade as the rural sons of old +England, so strong, so cool, yet, at the same time, animated with so much +hidden fire. Turn to the history of England and you will at once +perceive of what such men are capable; even at Hastings, in the grey old +time, under almost every disadvantage, weakened by a recent and terrible +conflict, without discipline, comparatively speaking, and uncouthly +armed, they all but vanquished the Norman chivalry. Trace their deeds in +France, which they twice subdued; and even follow them to Spain, where +they twanged the yew and raised the battle-axe, and left behind them a +name of glory at Inglis Mendi, a name that shall last till fire consumes +the Cantabrian hills. And, oh, in modern times, trace the deeds of these +gallant men all over the world, and especially in France and Spain, and +admire them, even as I did that sober, silent, soldier-like man who was +showing me the wonders of a foreign mountain fortress, wrested by his +countrymen from a powerful and proud nation more than a century before, +and of which he was now a trusty and efficient guardian. + +We arrived close to the stupendous precipice, which rises abruptly above +the isthmus called the neutral ground, staring gauntly and horridly at +Spain, and immediately entered the excavations. They consist of +galleries scooped in the living rock at the distance of some twelve feet +from the outside, behind which they run the whole breadth of the hill in +this direction. In these galleries, at short distances, are ragged +yawning apertures, all formed by the hand of man, where stand the cannon +upon neat slightly-raised pavements of small flint stones, each with its +pyramid of bullets on one side, and on the other a box, in which is +stowed the gear which the gunner requires in the exercise of his craft. +Everything was in its place, everything in the nicest English order, +everything ready to scathe and overwhelm in a few moments the proudest +and most numerous host which might appear marching in hostile array +against this singular fortress on the land side. + +There is not much variety in these places, one cavern and one gun +resembling the other. As for the guns, they are not of large calibre, +indeed, such are not needed here, where a pebble discharged from so great +an altitude would be fraught with death. On descending a shaft, however, +I observed, in one cave of special importance, two enormous carronades +looking with peculiar wickedness and malignity down a shelving rock, +which perhaps, although not without tremendous difficulty, might be +scaled. The mere wind of one of these huge guns would be sufficient to +topple over a thousand men. What sensations of dread and horror must be +awakened in the breast of a foe when this hollow rock, in the day of +siege, emits its flame, smoke, and thundering wind from a thousand +yawning holes; horror not inferior to that felt by the peasant of the +neighbourhood when Mongibello belches forth from all its orifices its +sulphureous fires. + +Emerging from the excavations, we proceeded to view various batteries. I +asked the sergeant whether his companions and himself were dexterous at +the use of the guns. He replied that these cannons were to them what the +fowling-piece is to the fowler, that they handled them as easily, and, he +believed, pointed them with more precision, as they seldom or never +missed an object within range of the shot. This man never spoke until he +was addressed, and then the answers which he gave were replete with good +sense, and in general well worded. After our excursion, which lasted at +least two hours, I made him a small present, and took leave with a hearty +shake of the hand. + +In the evening I prepared to go on board the vessel bound for Tangier, +trusting in what the Jewish secretary had told me as to its sailing. +Meeting him, however, accidentally in the street, he informed me that it +would not start until the following morning, advising me at the same time +to be on board at an early hour. I now roamed about the streets until +night was beginning to set in, and becoming weary, I was just about to +direct my steps to the inn, when I felt myself gently pulled by the +skirt. I was amidst a concourse of people who were gathered around some +Irish soldiers who were disputing, and I paid no attention; but I was +pulled again more forcibly than before, and I heard myself addressed in a +language which I had half forgotten, and which I scarcely expected ever +to hear again. I looked round, and lo! a tall figure stood close to me +and gazed in my face with anxious inquiring eyes. On its head was the +kauk or furred cap of Jerusalem; depending from its shoulders, and almost +trailing on the ground, was a broad blue mantle, whilst kandrisa or +Turkish trousers enveloped its nether limbs. I gazed on the figure as +wistfully as it gazed upon me. At first the features appeared perfectly +strange, and I was about to exclaim, I know you not, when one or two +lineaments struck me, and I cried, though somewhat hesitatingly, “Surely +this is Judah Lib.” + +I was in a steamer in the Baltic in the year ’34, if I mistake not. +There was a drizzling rain and a high sea, when I observed a young man of +about two and twenty leaning in a melancholy attitude against the side of +the vessel. By his countenance I knew him to be one of the Hebrew race, +nevertheless there was something very singular in his appearance, +something which is rarely found amongst that people, a certain air of +nobleness which highly interested me. I approached him, and in a few +minutes we were in earnest conversation. He spoke Polish and Jewish +German indiscriminately. The story which he related to me was highly +extraordinary, yet I yielded implicit credit to all his words, which came +from his mouth with an air of sincerity which precluded doubt; and, +moreover, he could have no motive for deceiving me. One idea, one +object, engrossed him entirely: “My father,” said he, in language which +strongly marked his race, “was a native of Galatia, a Jew of high caste, +a learned man, for he knew Zohar, {459} and he was likewise skilled in +medicine. When I was a child of some eight years, he left Galatia, and +taking his wife, who was my mother, and myself with him, he bent his way +unto the East, even to Jerusalem; there he established himself as a +merchant, for he was acquainted with trade and the arts of getting money. +He was much respected by the Rabbins of Jerusalem, for he was a Polish +man, and he knew more Zohar and more secrets than the wisest of them. He +made frequent journeys, and was absent for weeks and for months, but he +never exceeded six moons. My father loved me, and he taught me part of +what he knew in the moments of his leisure. I assisted him in his trade, +but he took me not with him in his journeys. We had a shop at Jerusalem, +even a shop of commerce, where we sold the goods of the Nazarene, and my +mother and myself, and even a little sister who was born shortly after +our arrival at Jerusalem, all assisted my father in his commerce. At +length it came to pass, that on a particular time he told us that he was +going on a journey, and he embraced us and bade us farewell, and he +departed, whilst we continued at Jerusalem attending to the business. We +awaited his return, but months passed, even six months, and he came not, +and we wondered; and months passed, even other six passed, but still he +came not, nor did we hear any tidings of him, and our hearts were filled +with heaviness and sorrow. But when years, even two years, were expired, +I said to my mother, ‘I will go and seek my father’; and she said, ‘Do +so,’ and she gave me her blessing, and I kissed my little sister, and I +went forth as far as Egypt, and there I heard tidings of my father, for +people told me he had been there, and they named the time, and they said +that he had passed from thence to the land of the Turk; so I myself +followed to the land of the Turk, even unto Constantinople. And when I +arrived there I again heard of my father, for he was well known amongst +the Jews, and they told me the time of his being there, and they added +that he had speculated and prospered, and departed from Constantinople, +but whither he went they knew not. So I reasoned within myself and said, +perhaps he may have gone to the land of his fathers, even unto Galatia, +to visit his kindred; so I determined to go there myself, and I went, and +I found our kindred, and I made myself known to them, and they rejoiced +to see me; but when I asked them for my father, they shook their heads +and could give me no intelligence; and they would fain have had me tarry +with them, but I would not, for the thought of my father was working +strong within me, and I could not rest. So I departed and went to +another country, even unto Russia, and I went deep into that country, +even as far as Kazan, and of all I met, whether Jew, or Russ, or Tartar, +I inquired for my father; but no one knew him, nor had heard of him. So +I turned back and here thou seest me; and I now purpose going through all +Germany and France, nay, through all the world, until I have received +intelligence of my father, for I cannot rest until I know what is become +of my father, for the thought of him burneth in my brain like fire, even +like the fire of Jehinnim.” + +Such was the individual whom I now saw again, after a lapse of five +years, in the streets of Gibraltar, in the dusk of the evening. “Yes,” +he replied, “I am Judah, surnamed the Lib. Thou didst not recognise me, +but I knew thee at once. I should have known thee amongst a million, and +not a day has passed since I last saw thee, but I have thought on thee.” +I was about to reply, but he pulled me out of the crowd and led me into a +shop where, squatted on the floor, sat six or seven Jews cutting leather; +he said something to them which I did not understand, whereupon they +bowed their heads and followed their occupation, without taking any +notice of us. A singular figure had followed us to the door; it was a +man dressed in exceedingly shabby European garments, which exhibited +nevertheless the cut of a fashionable tailor. He seemed about fifty; his +face, which was very broad, was of a deep bronze colour; the features +were rugged, but exceedingly manly, and, notwithstanding they were those +of a Jew, exhibited no marks of cunning, but, on the contrary, much +simplicity and good nature. His form was about the middle height, and +tremendously athletic, the arms and back were literally those of a +Hercules squeezed into a modern surtout; the lower part of his face was +covered with a bushy beard, which depended half way down his breast. +This figure remained at the door, his eyes fixed upon myself and Judah. + +The first inquiry which I now addressed was “Have you heard of your +father?” + +“I have,” he replied. “When we parted, I proceeded through many lands, +and wherever I went I inquired of the people respecting my father, but +still they shook their heads, until I arrived at the land of Tunis; and +there I went to the head rabbi, and he told me that he knew my father +well, and that he had been there, even at Tunis, and he named the time, +and he said that from thence he departed for the land of Fez; and he +spoke much of my father and of his learning, and he mentioned the Zohar, +even that dark book which my father loved so well; and he spoke yet more +of my father’s wealth and his speculations, in all of which it seems he +had thriven. So I departed and I mounted a ship, and I went into the +land of Barbary, even unto Fez, and when I arrived there I heard much +intelligence of my father, but it was intelligence which perhaps was +worse than ignorance. For the Jews told me that my father had been +there, and had speculated and had thriven, and that from thence he +departed for Tafilaltz, which is the country of which the Emperor, even +Muley Abderrahman, is a native; and there he was still prosperous, and +his wealth in gold and silver was very great; and he wished to go to a +not far distant town, and he engaged certain Moors, two in number, to +accompany him and defend him and his treasures: and the Moors were strong +men, even makhasniah or soldiers; and they made a covenant with my +father, and they gave him their right hands, and they swore to spill +their blood rather than his should be shed. And my father was encouraged +and he waxed bold, and he departed with them, even with the two false +Moors. And when they arrived in the uninhabited place, they smote my +father, and they prevailed against him, and they poured out his blood in +the way, and they robbed him of all he had, of his silks and his +merchandise, and of the gold and silver which he had made in his +speculations, and they went to their own villages, and there they sat +themselves down and bought lands and houses, and they rejoiced and they +triumphed, and they made a merit of their deed, saying, ‘We have killed +an infidel, even an accursed Jew’; and these things were notorious in +Fez. And when I heard these tidings my heart was sad, and I became like +a child, and I wept; but the fire of Jehinnim burned no longer in my +brain, for I now knew what was become of my father. At last I took +comfort and I reasoned with myself, saying, ‘Would it not be wise to go +unto the Moorish king and demand of him vengeance for my father’s death, +and that the spoilers be despoiled, and the treasure, even my father’s +treasure, be wrested from their hands and delivered up to me who am his +son?’ And the king of the Moors was not at that time in Fez, but was +absent in his wars; and I arose and followed him, even unto Arbat, which +is a seaport, and when I arrived there, lo! I found him not, but his son +was there, and men said unto me that to speak unto the son was to speak +unto the king, even Muley Abderrahman; so I went in unto the king’s son, +and I kneeled before him, and I lifted up my voice and I said unto him +what I had to say, and he looked courteously upon me and said, ‘Truly thy +tale is a sorrowful one, and it maketh me sad; and what thou asketh, that +will I grant, and thy father’s death shall be avenged and the spoilers +shall be despoiled; and I will write thee a letter with my own hand unto +the Pasha, even the Pasha of Tafilaltz, and I will enjoin him to make +inquiry into thy matter, and that letter thou shalt thyself carry and +deliver unto him.’ And when I heard these words, my heart died within my +bosom for very fear, and I replied, ‘Not so, my lord; it is good that +thou write a letter unto the Pasha, even unto the Pasha of Tafilaltz, but +that letter will I not take, neither will I go to Tafilaltz, for no +sooner should I arrive there, and my errand be known, than the Moors +would arise and put me to death, either privily or publicly, for are not +the murderers of my father Moors; and am I aught but a Jew, though I be a +Polish man?’ And he looked benignantly, and he said, ‘Truly, thou +speakest wisely; I will write the letter, but thou shalt not take it, for +I will send it by other hands; therefore set thy heart at rest, and doubt +not that, if thy tale be true, thy father’s death shall be avenged, and +the treasure, or the value thereof, be recovered and given up to thee; +tell me, therefore, where wilt thou abide till then?’ And I said unto +him, ‘My lord, I will go into the land of Suz and will tarry there.’ And +he replied: ‘Do so, and thou shalt hear speedily from me.’ So I arose +and departed and went into the land of Suz, even unto Sweerah, which the +Nazarenes call Mogadore; and waited with a troubled heart for +intelligence from the son of the Moorish king, but no intelligence came, +and never since that day have I heard from him, and it is now three years +since I was in his presence. And I sat me down at Mogadore, and I +married a wife, a daughter of our nation, and I wrote to my mother, even +to Jerusalem, and she sent me money, and with that I entered into +commerce, even as my father had done, and I speculated, and I was not +successful in my speculations, and I speedily lost all I had. And now I +am come to Gibraltar to speculate on the account of another, a merchant +of Mogadore, but I like not my occupation, he has deceived me; I am going +back, when I shall again seek the presence of the Moorish king and demand +that the treasure of my father be taken from the spoilers and delivered +up to me, even to me his son.” + +I listened with mute attention to the singular tale of this singular man, +and when he had concluded I remained a considerable time without saying a +word; at last he inquired what had brought me to Gibraltar. I told him +that I was merely a passer through on my way to Tangier, for which place +I expected to sail the following morning. Whereupon he observed, that in +the course of a week or two he expected to be there also, when he hoped +that we should meet, as he had much more to tell me. “And peradventure,” +he added, “you can afford me counsel which will be profitable, for you +are a person of experience, versed in the ways of many nations; and when +I look in your countenance, heaven seems to open to me, for I think I see +the countenance of a friend, even of a brother.” He then bade me +farewell, and departed; the strange bearded man, who during our +conversation had remained patiently waiting at the door, following him. +I remarked that there was less wildness in his look than on the former +occasion, but at the same time, more melancholy, and his features were +wrinkled like those of an aged man, though he had not yet passed the +prime of youth. + + + + +CHAPTER LIII + + +Genoese Mariners—St. Michael’s Cave—Midnight Abysses—Young American—A +Slave Proprietor—The Fairy Man—Infidelity. + +Throughout the whole of that night it blew very hard, but as the wind was +in the Levant quarter, I had no apprehension of being detained longer at +Gibraltar on that account. I went on board the vessel at an early hour, +when I found the crew engaged in hauling the anchor close, and making +other preparations for sailing. They informed me that we should probably +start in an hour. That time however passed, and we still remained where +we were, and the captain continued on shore. We formed one of a small +flotilla of Genoese barks, the crews of which seemed in their leisure +moments to have no better means of amusing themselves than the exchange +of abusive language; a furious fusillade of this kind presently +commenced, in which the mate of our vessel particularly distinguished +himself; he was a grey-haired Genoese of sixty. Though not able to speak +their patois, I understood much of what was said; it was truly shocking, +and as they shouted it forth, judging from their violent gestures and +distorted features, you would have concluded them to be bitter enemies; +they were, however, nothing of the kind, but excellent friends all the +time, and indeed very good-humoured fellows at bottom. Oh, the +infirmities of human nature! When will man learn to become truly +Christian? + +I am upon the whole very fond of the Genoese; they have, it is true, much +ribaldry and many vices, but they are a brave and chivalrous people, and +have ever been so, and from them I have never experienced aught but +kindness and hospitality. + +After the lapse of another two hours, the Jew secretary arrived and said +something to the old mate, who grumbled much; then coming up to me, he +took off his hat and informed me that we were not to start that day, +saying at the same time that it was a shame to lose such a noble wind, +which would carry us to Tangier in three hours. “Patience,” said I, and +went on shore. + +I now strolled towards Saint Michael’s cave, in company with the Jewish +lad whom I have before mentioned. + +The way thither does not lie in the same direction as that which leads to +the excavations; these confront Spain, whilst the cave yawns in the face +of Africa. It lies nearly at the top of the mountain, several hundred +yards above the sea. We passed by the public walks, where there are +noble trees, and also by many small houses, situated delightfully in +gardens, and occupied by the officers of the garrison. It is wrong to +suppose Gibraltar a mere naked barren rock; it is not without its +beautiful spots—spots such as these, looking cool and refreshing, with +bright green foliage. The path soon became very steep, and we left +behind us the dwellings of man. The gale of the preceding night had +entirely ceased, and not a breath of air was stirring; the midday sun +shone in all its fierce glory, and the crags up which we clambered were +not unfrequently watered with the perspiration drops which rained from +our temples: at length we arrived at the cavern. + +The mouth is a yawning cleft in the side of the mountain, about twelve +feet high and as many wide; within there is a very rapid precipitous +descent for some fifty yards, where the cavern terminates in an abyss +which leads to unknown depths. The most remarkable object is a natural +column, which rises up something like the trunk of an enormous oak, as if +for the purpose of supporting the roof; it stands at a short distance +from the entrance, and gives a certain air of wildness and singularity to +that part of the cavern which is visible, which it would otherwise not +possess. The floor is exceedingly slippery, consisting of soil which the +continual drippings from the roof have saturated, so that no slight +precaution is necessary for him who treads it. It is very dangerous to +enter this place without a guide well acquainted with it, as, besides the +black pit at the extremity, holes which have never been fathomed present +themselves here and there, falling into which the adventurer would be +dashed to pieces. Whatever men may please to say of this cave, one thing +it seems to tell to all who approach it, namely, that the hand of man has +never been busy about it; there is many a cave of nature’s forming, old +as the earth on which we exist, which nevertheless exhibits indications +that man has turned it to some account, and that it has been subjected +more or less to his modifying power; not so this cave of Gibraltar, for, +judging from its appearance, there is not the slightest reason for +supposing that it ever served for aught else than a den for foul night +birds, reptiles, and beasts of prey. It has been stated by some to have +been used in the days of paganism as a temple to the god Hercules, who, +according to the ancient tradition, raised the singular mass of crags now +called Gibraltar, and the mountain which confronts it on the African +shores, as columns which should say to all succeeding times that he had +been there, and had advanced no farther. Sufficient to observe, that +there is nothing within the cave which would authorize the adoption of +such an opinion, not even a platform on which an altar could have stood, +whilst a narrow path passes before it, leading to the summit of the +mountain. As I have myself never penetrated into its depths, I can of +course not pretend to describe them. Numerous have been the individuals +who, instigated by curiosity, have ventured down to immense depths, +hoping to discover an end, and indeed scarcely a week passes without +similar attempts being made either by the officers or soldiers of the +garrison, all of which have proved perfectly abortive. No termination +has ever been reached, nor any discoveries made to repay the labour and +frightful danger incurred; precipice succeeds precipice, and abyss +succeeds abyss, in apparently endless succession, with ledges at +intervals, which afford the adventurers opportunities for resting +themselves and affixing their rope-ladders for the purpose of descending +yet farther. What is, however, most mortifying and perplexing is to +observe that these abysses are not only before, but behind you, and on +every side; indeed, close within the entrance of the cave, on the right, +there is a gulf almost equally dark and full as threatening as that which +exists at the nether end, and perhaps contains within itself as many +gulfs and horrid caverns branching off in all directions. Indeed, from +what I have heard, I have come to the opinion, that the whole hill of +Gibraltar is honeycombed, and I have little doubt that, were it cleft +asunder, its interior would be found full of such abysses of Erebus as +those to which Saint Michael’s cave conducts. Many valuable lives are +lost every year in these horrible places; and only a few weeks before my +visit, two sergeants, brothers, had perished in the gulf on the right +hand side of the cave, having, when at a great depth, slipped down a +precipice. The body of one of these adventurous men is even now rotting +in the bowels of the mountain, preyed upon by its blind and noisome +worms; that of his brother was extricated. Immediately after this +horrible accident, a gate was placed before the mouth of the cave, to +prevent individuals, and especially the reckless soldiers, from indulging +in their extravagant curiosity. The lock, however, was speedily forced, +and at the period of my arrival the gate swung idly upon its hinges. + +As I left the place, I thought that perhaps similar to this was the cave +of Horeb, where dwelt Elijah, when he heard the still small voice, after +the great and strong wind which rent the mountains and brake in pieces +the rocks before the Lord; the cave to the entrance of which he went out +and stood with his face wrapped in his mantle, when he heard the voice +say unto him, “What doest thou here, Elijah?” (1 Kings xix. 11–13.) + +And what am I doing here, I inquired of myself as, vexed at my detention, +I descended into the town. + +That afternoon I dined in the company of a young American, a native of +South Carolina. I had frequently seen him before, as he had been staying +for some time at the inn previous to my arrival at Gibraltar. His +appearance was remarkable: he was low of stature, and exceedingly +slightly made; his features were pale but very well formed; he had a +magnificent head of crispy black hair, and as superb a pair of whiskers +of the same colour as I ever beheld. He wore a white hat, with broad +brim and particularly shallow crown, and was dressed in a light yellow +gingham frock striped with black, and ample trousers of calico, in a +word, his appearance was altogether queer and singular. On my return +from my ramble to the cave, I found that he had himself just descended +from the mountain, having since a very early hour been absent exploring +its wonders. + +A man of the rock asked him how he liked the excavations. “Liked them,” +said he; “you might just as well ask a person who has just seen the +Niagara Falls how he liked them—like is not the word, mister.” The heat +was suffocating, as it almost invariably is in the town of Gibraltar, +where rarely a breath of air is to be felt, as it is sheltered from all +winds. This led another individual to inquire of him whether he did not +think it exceedingly hot? “Hot, sir,” he replied, “not at all: fine +cotton gathering weather as a man could wish for. We couldn’t beat it in +South Carolina, sir.” “You live in South Carolina, sir—I hope, sir, you +are not a slave proprietor,” said the short fat Jewish personage in the +snuff-coloured coat, who had offered me the bitters on a previous +occasion; “it is a terrible thing to make slaves of poor people, simply +because they happen to be black; don’t you think so, sir?” “Think so, +sir—no, sir, I don’t think so—I glory in being a slave proprietor; have +four hundred black niggers on my estate—own estate, sir, near +Charleston—flog half a dozen of them before breakfast, merely for +exercise. Niggers only made to be flogged, sir: try to escape sometimes; +set the blood-hounds in their trail, catch them in a twinkling; used to +hang themselves formerly: the niggers thought that a sure way to return +to their own country and get clear of me: soon put a stop to that: told +them that if any more hanged themselves I’d hang myself too, follow close +behind them, and flog them in their own country ten times worse than in +mine. What do you think of that, friend?” It was easy to perceive that +there was more of fun than malice in this eccentric little fellow, for +his large grey eyes were sparkling with good humour whilst he poured out +these wild things. He was exceedingly free of his money; and a dirty +Irish woman, a soldier’s wife, having entered with a basketful of small +boxes and trinkets, made of portions of the rock of Gibraltar, he +purchased the greatest part of her ware, giving her for every article the +price (by no means inconsiderable) which she demanded. He had glanced at +me several times, and at last I saw him stoop down and whisper something +to the Jew, who replied in an undertone, though with considerable +earnestness “O dear no, sir; perfectly mistaken, sir: is no American, +sir:—from Salamanca, sir; the gentleman is a Salamancan Spaniard.” The +waiter at length informed us that he had laid the table, and that perhaps +it would be agreeable to us to dine together: we instantly assented. I +found my new acquaintance in many respects a most agreeable companion: he +soon told me his history. He was a planter, and, from what he hinted, +just come to his property. He was part owner of a large vessel which +traded between Charleston and Gibraltar, and the yellow fever having just +broken out at the former place, he had determined to take a trip (his +first) to Europe in this ship; having, as he said, already visited every +state in the Union, and seen all that was to be seen there. He described +to me, in a very naïve and original manner, his sensations on passing by +Tarifa, which was the first walled town he had ever seen. I related to +him the history of that place, to which he listened with great attention. +He made divers attempts to learn from me who I was; all of which I +evaded, though he seemed fully convinced that I was an American; and +amongst other things asked me whether my father had not been American +consul at Seville. What, however, most perplexed him was my +understanding Moorish and Gaelic, which he had heard me speak +respectively to the hamalos and the Irish woman, the latter of whom, as +he said, had told him that I was a fairy man. At last he introduced the +subject of religion, and spoke with much contempt of revelation, avowing +himself a deist; he was evidently very anxious to hear my opinion, but +here again I evaded him, and contented myself with asking him, whether he +had ever read the Bible. He said he had not; but that he was well +acquainted with the writings of Volney and Mirabeau. I made no answer; +whereupon he added, that it was by no means his habit to introduce such +subjects, and that there were very few persons to whom he would speak so +unreservedly, but that I had very much interested him, though our +acquaintance had been short. I replied, that he would scarcely have +spoken at Boston in the manner that I had just heard him, and that it was +easy to perceive that he was not a New Englander. “I assure you,” said +he, “I should as little have thought of speaking so at Charleston, for if +I held such conversation there, I should soon have had to speak to +myself.” + +Had I known less of deists than it has been my fortune to know, I should +perhaps have endeavoured to convince this young man of the erroneousness +of the ideas which he had adopted; but I was aware of all that he would +have urged in reply, and as the believer has no carnal arguments to +address to carnal reason upon this subject, I thought it best to avoid +disputation, which I felt sure would lead to no profitable result. Faith +is the free gift of God, and I do not believe that ever yet was an +infidel converted by means of after-dinner polemics. This was the last +evening of my sojourn in Gibraltar. + + + + +CHAPTER LIV + + +Again on Board—The Strange Visage—The Hadji—Setting Sail—The Two +Jews—American Vessel—Tangier—Adun Oulem—The Struggle—The Forbidden Thing. + +On Thursday, the 8th of August, I was again on board the Genoese bark, at +as early an hour as on the previous morning. After waiting, however, two +or three hours without any preparation being made for departing, I was +about to return to the shore once more, but the old Genoese mate advised +me to stay, assuring me that he had no doubt of our sailing speedily, as +all the cargo was on board, and we had nothing further to detain us. I +was reposing myself in the little cabin, when I heard a boat strike +against the side of the vessel, and some people come on board. Presently +a face peered in at the opening, strange and wild. I was half asleep, +and at first imagined I was dreaming, for the face seemed more like that +of a goat or an orge than of a human being; its long beard almost +touching my face as I lay extended in a kind of berth. Starting up, +however, I recognised the singular-looking Jew whom I had seen in the +company of Judah Lib. He recognised me also, and nodding, bent his huge +features into a smile. I arose and went upon deck, where I found him in +company with another Jew, a young man in the dress of Barbary. They had +just arrived in the boat. I asked my friend of the beard who he was, +from whence he came, and where he was going? He answered, in broken +Portuguese, that he was returning from Lisbon, where he had been on +business, to Mogadore, of which place he was a native. He then looked me +in the face and smiled, and taking out a book from his pocket, in Hebrew +characters, fell to reading it; whereupon a Spanish sailor on board +observed that with such a beard and book he must needs be a sabio, or +sage. His companion was from Mequinez, and spoke only Arabic. + +A large boat now drew nigh, the stern of which was filled with Moors; +there might be about twelve, and the greater part evidently consisted of +persons of distinction, as they were dressed in all the pomp and +gallantry of the East, with snow-white turbans, jabadores of green silk +or scarlet cloth, and bedeyas rich with gold galloon. Some of them were +exceedingly fine men, and two amongst them, youths, were strikingly +handsome, and so far from exhibiting the dark swarthy countenance of +Moors in general, their complexions were of a delicate red and white. +The principal personage, and to whom all the rest paid much deference, +was a tall athletic man of about forty. He wore a vest of white quilted +cotton, and white kandrisa, whilst gracefully wound round his body, and +swathing the upper part of his head, was the haik, or white flannel +wrapping plaid always held in so much estimation by the Moors from the +earliest period of their history. His legs were bare and his feet only +protected from the ground by yellow slippers. He displayed no farther +ornament than one large gold ear-ring, from which depended a pearl, +evidently of great price. A noble black beard, about a foot in length, +touched his muscular breast. His features were good, with the exception +of the eyes, which were somewhat small; their expression, however, was, +evil; their glances were sullen; and malignity and ill-nature were +painted in every lineament of his countenance, which seemed never to have +been brightened with a smile. The Spanish sailor, of whom I have already +had occasion to speak, informed me in a whisper, that he was a santuron, +or big saint, and was so far back on his way from Mecca; adding, that he +was a merchant of immense wealth. It soon appeared that the other Moors +had merely attended him on board through friendly politeness, as they all +successively came to bid him adieu, with the exception of two blacks, who +were his attendants. I observed that these blacks, when the Moors +presented them their hands at departing, invariably made an effort to +press them to their lips, which effort was as uniformly foiled, the Moors +in every instance, by a speedy and graceful movement, drawing back their +hand locked in that of the black, which they pressed against their own +heart; as much as to say, “though a negro and a slave you are a Moslem, +and being so, you art our brother—Allah knows no distinctions.” The +boatman now went up to the hadji, demanding payment, stating, at the same +time, that he had been on board three times on his account, conveying his +luggage. The sum which he demanded appeared exorbitant to the hadji, +who, forgetting that he was a saint, and fresh from Mecca, fumed +outrageously, and in broken Spanish called the boatman thief. If there +be any term of reproach which stings a Spaniard (and such was the +boatman) more than another, it is that one; and the fellow no sooner +heard it applied to himself, than with eyes sparkling with fury, he put +his fist to the hadji’s nose, and repaid the one opprobrious name by at +least ten others equally bad or worse. He would perhaps have proceeded +to acts of violence had he not been pulled away by the other Moors, who +led him aside, and I suppose either said or gave him something which +pacified him, as he soon got into his boat, and returned with them on +shore. The captain now arrived with his Jewish secretary, and orders +were given for setting sail. + +At a little past twelve we were steering out of the bay of Gibraltar; the +wind was in the right quarter, but for some time we did not make much +progress, lying almost becalmed beneath the lee of the hill; by degrees, +however, our progress became brisker, and in about an hour we found +ourselves careering smartly towards Tarifa. + +The Jew secretary stood at the helm, and indeed appeared to be the person +who commanded the vessel, and who issued out all the necessary orders, +which were executed under the superintendence of the old Genoese mate. I +now put some questions to the hadji, but he looked at me askance with his +sullen eye, pouted with his lip, and remained silent; as much as to say, +“Speak not to me, I am holier than thou.” I found his negroes, however, +far more conversable. One of them was old and ugly, the other about +twenty, and as well looking as it is possible for a negro to be. His +colour was perfect ebony, his features exceedingly well formed and +delicate, with the exception of the lips, which were too full. The shape +of his eyes was peculiar; they were rather oblong than round, like those +of an Egyptian figure. Their expression was thoughtful and meditative. +In every respect he differed from his companion, even in colour, (though +both were negroes,) and was evidently a scion of some little known and +superior race. As he sat beneath the mast gazing at the sea, I thought +he was misplaced, and that he would have appeared to more advantage +amidst boundless sands, and beneath a date tree, and then he might have +well represented a Jhin. I asked him from whence he came, he replied +that he was a native of Fez, but that he had never known his parents. He +had been brought up, he added, in the family of his present master, whom +he had followed in the greater part of his travels, and with whom he had +thrice visited Mecca. I asked him if he liked being a slave? Whereupon +he replied, that he was a slave no longer, having been made free for some +time past, on account of his faithful services, as had likewise his +companion. He would have told me much more, but the hadji called him +away, and otherwise employed him, probably to prevent his being +contaminated by me. + +Thus avoided by the Moslems, I betook myself to the Jews, whom I found +nowise backward in cultivating an intimacy. The sage of the beard told +me his history, which in some respects reminded me of that of Judah Lib, +as it seemed that, a year or two previous, he had quitted Mogadore in +pursuit of his son, who had betaken himself to Portugal. On the arrival, +however, of the father at Lisbon, he discovered that the fugitive had, a +few days before, shipped himself for the Brazils. Unlike Judah in quest +of his father, he now became weary, and discontinued the pursuit. The +younger Jew from Mequinez was exceedingly gay and lively as soon as he +perceived that I was capable of understanding him, and made me smile by +his humorous account of Christian life, as he had observed it at +Gibraltar, where he had made a stay of about a month. He then spoke of +Mequinez, which, he said, was a Jennut, or Paradise, compared with which +Gibraltar was a sty of hogs. So great, so universal is the love of +country. I soon saw that both these people believed me to be of their +own nation; indeed, the young one, who was much the most familiar, taxed +me with being so, and spoke of the infamy of denying my own blood. +Shortly before our arrival off Tarifa, universal hunger seemed to prevail +amongst us. The hadji and his negroes produced their store, and feasted +on roast fowls, the Jews ate grapes and bread, myself bread and cheese, +whilst the crew prepared a mess of anchovies. Two of them speedily came, +with a large portion, which they presented to me with the kindness of +brothers: I made no hesitation in accepting their present, and found the +anchovies delicious. As I sat between the Jews, I offered them some, but +they turned away their heads with disgust, and cried _haloof_ +(hogsflesh). They at the same time, however, shook me by the hand, and, +uninvited, took a small portion of my bread. I had a bottle of Cognac, +which I had brought with me as a preventive to sea sickness, and I +presented it to them; but this they also refused, exclaiming, _Haram_ (it +is forbidden). I said nothing. + +We were now close to the lighthouse of Tarifa, and turning the head of +the bark towards the west, we made directly for the coast of Africa. The +wind was now blowing very fresh, and as we had it almost in our poop, we +sprang along at a tremendous rate, the huge lateen sails threatening +every moment to drive us beneath the billows, which an adverse tide +raised up against us. Whilst scudding along in this manner, we passed +close under the stern of a large vessel bearing American colours; she was +tacking up the straits, and slowly winning her way against the impetuous +Levanter. As we passed under her, I observed the poop crowded with +people gazing at us; indeed, we must have offered a singular spectacle to +those on board, who, like my young American friend at Gibraltar, were +visiting the Old World for the first time. At the helm stood the Jew; +his whole figure enveloped in a gabardine, the cowl of which, raised +above his head, gave him almost the appearance of a spectre in its +shroud; whilst upon the deck, mixed with Europeans in various kinds of +dresses, all of them picturesque with the exception of my own, trod the +turbaned Moors, the haik of the hadji flapping loosely in the wind. The +view they obtained of us, however, could have been but momentary, as we +bounded past them literally with the speed of a racehorses so that in +about an hour’s time we were not more than a mile’s distance from the +foreland on which stands the fortress Alminàr, and which constitutes the +boundary point of the bay of Tangier towards the east. There the wind +dropped and our progress was again slow. + +For a considerable time Tangier had appeared in sight. Shortly after +standing away from Tarifa, we had descried it in the far distance, when +it showed like a white dove brooding on its nest. The sun was setting +behind the town when we dropped anchor in its harbour, amidst half a +dozen barks and felouks about the size of our own, the only vessels which +we saw. There stood Tangier before us, and a picturesque town it was, +occupying the sides and top of two hills, one of which, bold and bluff, +projects into the sea where the coast takes a sudden and abrupt turn. +Frowning and battlemented were its walls, either perched on the top of +precipitous rocks, whose base was washed by the salt billows, or rising +from the narrow strand which separates the hill from the ocean. + +Yonder are two or three tiers of batteries, displaying heavy guns which +command the harbour; above them you see the terraces of the town rising +in succession like steps for giants. But all is white, perfectly white, +so that the whole seems cut out of an immense chalk rock, though true it +is that you behold here and there tall green trees springing up from +amidst the whiteness: perhaps they belong to Moorish gardens, and beneath +them even now peradventure is reclining many a dark-eyed Leila, akin to +the houries. Right before you is a high tower or minaret, not white but +curiously painted, which belongs to the principal mosque of Tangier; a +black banner waves upon it, for it is the feast of Ashor. A noble beach +of white sand fringes the bay from the town to the foreland of Alminàr. +To the east rise prodigious hills and mountains; they are Gibil Muza and +his chain; and yon tall fellow is the peak of Tetuan; the grey mists of +evening are enveloping their sides. Such was Tangier, such its vicinity, +as it appeared to me whilst gazing from the Genoese bark. + +A boat was now lowered from the vessel, in which the captain, who was +charged with the mail from Gibraltar, the Jew secretary, and the hadji +and his attendant negroes departed for the shore. I would have gone with +them, but I was told that I could not land that night, as ere my passport +and bill of health could be examined, the gates would be closed; so I +remained on board with the crew and the two Jews. The former prepared +their supper, which consisted simply of pickled tomatoes, the other +provisions having been consumed. The old Genoese brought me a portion, +apologizing at the same time, for the plainness of the fare. I accepted +it with thanks, and told him that a million better men than myself had a +worse super. I never ate with more appetite. As the night advanced, the +Jews sang Hebrew hymns, and when they had concluded, demanded of me why I +was silent, so I lifted up my voice and chanted Adun Oulem:— + + “Reigned the Universe’s Master, ere were earthly things begun; + When His mandate all created, Ruler was the name He won; + And alone He’ll rule tremendous when all things are past and gone, + He no equal has, nor consort, He, the singular and lone, + Has no end and no beginning; His the sceptre, might and throne. + He’s my God and living Saviour, rock to whom in need I run; + He’s my banner and my refuge, fount of weal when called upon; + In His hand I place my spirit at nightfall and rise of sun, + And therewith my body also; God’s my God—I fear no one.” + +Darkness had now fallen over land and sea; not a sound was heard save +occasionally the distant barking of a dog from the shore, or some +plaintive Genoese ditty, which arose from a neighbouring bark. The town +seemed buried in silence and gloom, no light, not even that of a taper, +could be descried. Turning our eyes in the direction of Spain, however, +we perceived a magnificent conflagration seemingly enveloping the side +and head of one of the lofty mountains northward of Tarifa; the blaze was +redly reflected in the waters of the strait; either the brushwood was +burning or the Carboneros were plying their dusky toil. The Jews now +complained, of weariness, and the younger, uncording a small mattress, +spread it on the deck and sought repose. The sage descended into the +cabin, but he had scarcely time to lie down ere the old mate, darting +forward, dived in after him, and pulled him out by the heels, for it was +very shallow, and the descent was effected by not more than two or three +steps. After accomplishing this, he called him many opprobrious names, +and threatened him with his foot, as he lay sprawling on the deck. +“Think you,” said he, “who are a dog and a Jew, and pay as a dog and a +Jew; think you to sleep in the cabin? Undeceive yourself, beast; that +cabin shall be slept in by none to-night but this Christian Cavallero.” +The sage made no reply, but arose from the deck and stroked his beard, +whilst the old Genoese proceeded in his philippic. Had the Jew been +disposed, he could have strangled the insulter in a moment, or crushed +him to death in his brawny arms, as I never remember to have seen a +figure so powerful and muscular; but he was evidently slow to anger, and +long-suffering; not a resentful word escaped him, and his features +retained their usual expression of benignant placidity. + +I now assured the mate that I had not the slightest objection to the +Jew’s sharing the cabin with me, but rather wished it, as there was room +for us both and for more. “Excuse me, Sir Cavalier,” replied the +Genoese, “but I swear to permit no such thing; you are young and do not +know this canaille as I do, who have been backward and forward to this +coast for twenty years; if the beast is cold, let him sleep below the +hatches as I and the rest shall, but that cabin he shall not enter.” +Observing that he was obstinate I retired, and in a few minutes was in a +sound sleep which lasted till daybreak. Twice or thrice, indeed, I +thought that a struggle was taking place near me, but I was so +overpowered with weariness, or “sleep drunken,” as the Germans call it, +that I was unable to arouse myself sufficiently to discover what was +going on; the truth is, that three times during the night, the sage +feeling himself uncomfortable in the open air by the side of his +companion, penetrated into the cabin, and was as many times dragged out +by his relentless old enemy, who, suspecting his intentions, kept his eye +upon him throughout the night. + +About five I arose; the sun was shining brightly and gloriously upon +town, bay, and mountain; the crew were already employed upon deck +repairing a sail which had been shivered in the wind of the preceding +day. The Jews sat disconsolate on the poop; they complained much of the +cold they had suffered in their exposed situation. Over the left eye of +the sage I observed a bloody cut, which he informed me he had received +from the old Genoese after he had dragged him out of the cabin for the +last time. I now produced my bottle of Cognac, begging that the crew +would partake of it as a slight return for their hospitality. They +thanked me, and the bottle went its round; it was last in the hands of +the old mate, who, after looking for a moment at the sage, raised it to +his mouth, where he kept it a considerable time longer than any of his +companions, after which he returned it to me with a low bow. The sage +now inquired what the bottle contained: I told him Cognac or aguardiente, +whereupon with some eagerness he begged that I would allow him to take a +draught. “How is this?” said I; “yesterday you told me that it was a +forbidden thing, an abomination.” “Yesterday,” said he, “I was not aware +that it was brandy; I thought it wine, which assuredly is an abomination, +and a forbidden thing.” “Is it forbidden in the Torah?” I inquired. “Is +it forbidden in the law of God?” “I know not,” said he, “but one thing I +know, that the sages have forbidden it.” “Sages like yourself,” cried I +with warmth; “sages like yourself, with long beards and short +understandings: the use of both drinks is permitted, but more danger +lurks in this bottle than in a tun of wine. Well said my Lord the +Nazarene, ‘ye strain at a gnat, and swallow a camel’; but as you are cold +and shivering, take the bottle and revive yourself with a small portion +of its contents.” He put it to his lips and found not a single drop. +The old Genoese grinned. + +“Bestia,” said he, “I saw by your looks that you wished to drink of that +bottle, and I said within me, even though I suffocate, yet will I not +leave one drop of the aguardiente of the Christian Cavalier to be wasted +on that Jew, on whose head may evil lightnings fall.” + +“Now, Sir Cavalier,” he continued, “you can go ashore; these two sailors +shall row you to the Mole, and convey your baggage where you think +proper; may the Virgin bless you wherever you go.” + + + + +CHAPTER LV + + +The Mole—The Two Moors—Djmah of Tangier—House of God—British +Consul—Curious Spectacle—The Moorish House—Joanna Correa—Ave Maria. + +So we rode to the Mole and landed. This Mole consists at present of +nothing more than an immense number of large loose stones, which run +about five hundred yards into the bay; they are part of the ruins of a +magnificent pier which the English, who were the last foreign nation +which held Tangier, destroyed when they evacuated the place. The Moors +have never attempted to repair it; the surf at high water breaks over it +with great fury. I found it a difficult task to pick my way over the +slippery stones, and should once or twice have fallen but for the +kindness of the Genoese mariners. At last we reached the beach, and were +proceeding towards the gate of the town, when two persons, Moors, came up +to us. I almost started at sight of the first; he was a huge old +barbarian with a white uncombed beard, dirty turban, haik, and trousers, +naked legs, and immense splay feet, the heels of which stood out a couple +of inches at least behind his rusty black slippers. + +“That is the captain of the port,” said one of the Genoese; “pay him +respect.” I accordingly doffed my hat and cried, “_Sba alkheir a sidi_” +(Good-morning, my lord). “Are you Englishmans?” shouted the old grisly +giant. “Englishmans, my lord,” I replied, and, advancing, presented him +my hand, which he nearly wrung off with his tremendous gripe. The other +Moor now addressed me in a jargon composed of English, Spanish, and +Arabic. A queer-looking personage was he also, but very different in +most respects from his companion, being shorter by a head at least, and +less complete by one eye, for the left orb of vision was closed, leaving +him, as the Spaniards style it, _tuerto_; he, however, far outshone the +other in cleanliness of turban, haik, and trousers. From what he +jabbered to me, I collected that he was the English consul’s mahasni or +soldier; that the consul, being aware of my arrival, had dispatched him +to conduct me to his house. He then motioned me to follow him, which I +did, the old port captain attending us to the gate, when he turned aside +into a building, which I judged to be a kind of custom-house from the +bales and boxes of every description piled up before it. We passed the +gate and proceeded up a steep and winding ascent; on our left was a +battery full of guns, pointing to the sea, and on our right a massive +wall, seemingly in part cut out of the hill; a little higher up we +arrived at an opening where stood the mosque which I have already +mentioned. As I gazed upon the tower I said to myself, “Surely we have +here a younger sister of the Giralda of Seville.” + +I know not whether the resemblance between the two edifices has been +observed by any other individual; and perhaps there are those who would +assert that no resemblance exists, especially if, in forming an opinion, +they were much swayed by size and colour: the hue of the Giralda is red, +or rather vermilion, whilst that which predominates in the Djmah of +Tangier is green, the bricks of which it is built being of that colour; +though between them, at certain intervals, are placed others of a light +red tinge, so that the tower is beautifully variegated. With respect to +size, standing beside the giant witch of Seville, the Tangerine Djmah +would show like a ten-year sapling in the vicinity of the cedar of +Lebanon, whose trunk the tempests of five hundred years have worn. And +yet I will assert that the towers in other respects are one and the same, +and that the same mind and the same design are manifested in both; the +same shape do they exhibit, and the same marks have they on their walls, +even those mysterious arches graven on the superficies of the bricks, +emblematic of I know not what. The two structures may, without any +violence, be said to stand in the same relation to each other as the +ancient and modern Moors. The Giralda is the world’s wonder, and the old +Moor was all but the world’s conqueror. The modern Moor is scarcely +known, and who ever heard of the Tower of Tangier? Yet examine it +attentively, and you will find in that tower much, very much, to admire, +and certainly, if opportunity enable you to consider the modern Moor as +minutely, you will discover in him, and in his actions, amongst much that +is wild, uncouth, and barbarous, not a little capable of amply rewarding +laborious investigation. + +As we passed the mosque I stopped for a moment before the door, and +looked in upon the interior: I saw nothing but a quadrangular court paved +with painted tiles and exposed to the sky; on all sides were arched +piazzas, and in the middle was a fountain, at which several Moors were +performing their ablutions. I looked around for the abominable thing, +and found it not; no scarlet strumpet with a crown of false gold sat +nursing an ugly changeling in a niche. “Come here,” said I, “papist, and +take a lesson; here is a house of God, in externals at least, such as a +house of God should be: four walls, a fountain, and the eternal firmament +above, which mirrors his glory. Dost thou build such houses to the God +who hast said, ‘Thou shalt make to thyself no graven image’? Fool, thy +walls are stuck with idols; thou callest a stone thy Father, and a piece +of rotting wood the Queen of Heaven. Fool, thou knowest not even the +Ancient of Days, and the very Moor can instruct thee. He at least knows +the Ancient of Days who has said, ‘Thou shalt have no other gods but +me.’” + +And as I said these words, I heard a cry like the roaring of a lion, and +an awful voice in the distance exclaim, “_Kapul Udbagh_” (there is no god +but one). + +We now turned to the left through a passage which passed under the tower, +and had scarcely proceeded a few steps, when I heard a prodigious hubbub +of infantine voices: I listened for a moment, and distinguished verses of +the Koran; it was a school. Another lesson for thee, papist. Thou +callest thyself a Christian, yet the book of Christ thou persecutest; +thou huntest it even to the sea-shore, compelling it to seek refuge upon +the billows of the sea. Fool, learn a lesson from the Moor, who teaches +his child to repeat with its first accents the most important portions of +the book of his law, and considers himself wise or foolish, according as +he is versed in or ignorant of that book; whilst thou, blind slave, +knowest not what the book of thy own law contains, nor wishest to know: +yet art thou not to be judged by thy own law? Idolmonger, learn +consistency from the Moor: he says that he shall be judged after his own +law, and therefore he prizes and gets by heart the entire book of his +law. + +We were now at the consul’s house, a large roomy habitation, built in the +English style. The soldier led me through a court into a large hall hung +with the skins of all kinds of ferocious animals, from the kingly lion to +the snarling jackal. Here I was received by a Jew domestic, who +conducted me at once to the consul, who was in his library. He received +me with the utmost frankness and genuine kindness, and informed me that, +having received a letter from his excellent friend Mr. B., in which I was +strongly recommended, he had already engaged me a lodging in the house of +a Spanish woman, who was, however, a British subject, and with whom he +believed that I should find myself as comfortable as it was possible to +be in such a place as Tangier. He then inquired if I had any particular +motive for visiting the place, and I informed him without any hesitation +that I came with the intention of distributing a certain number of copies +of the New Testament in the Spanish language amongst the Christian +residents of the place. He smiled, and advised me to proceed with +considerable caution, which I promised to do. We then discoursed on +other subjects, and it was not long before I perceived that I was in the +company of a most accomplished scholar, especially in the Greek and Latin +classics; he appeared likewise to be thoroughly acquainted with the +Barbary empire and with the Moorish character. + +After half an hour’s conversation, exceedingly agreeable and instructive +to myself, I expressed a wish to proceed to my lodging: whereupon he rang +the bell, and the same Jewish domestic entering who had introduced me, he +said to him in the English language, “Take this gentleman to the house of +Joanna Correa, the Mahonese widow, and enjoin her, in my name, to take +care of him and attend to his comforts; by doing which she will confirm +me in the good opinion which I at present entertain of her, and will +increase my disposition to befriend her.” + +So, attended by the Jew, I now bent my steps to the lodging prepared for +me. Having ascended the street in which the house of the consul was +situated, we entered a small square which stands about half way up the +hill. This, my companion informed me, was the soc, or market-place. A +curious spectacle here presented itself. All round the square were small +wooden booths, which very much resembled large boxes turned on their +sides, the lid being supported above by a string. Before each of these +boxes was a species of counter, or rather one long counter ran in front +of the whole line, upon which were raisins, dates, and small barrels of +sugar, soap, and butter, and various other articles. Within each box, in +front of the counter, and about three feet from the ground, sat a human +being, with a blanket on its shoulders, a dirty turban on its head, and +ragged trousers, which descended as far as the knee, though in some +instances, I believe, these were entirely dispensed with. In its hand it +held a stick, to the end of which was affixed a bunch of palm leaves, +which it waved incessantly as a fan, for the purpose of scaring from its +goods the million flies which, engendered by the Barbary sun, endeavoured +to settle upon them. Behind it, and on either side, were piles of the +same kind of goods. _Shrit hinai_, _shrit hinai_, (buy here, buy here), +was continually proceeding from its mouth. Such are the grocers of +Tangier, such their shops. + +In the middle of the soc, upon the stones, were pyramids of melons and +sandias, (the water species), and also baskets filled with other kinds of +fruit, exposed for sale, whilst round cakes of bread were lying here and +there upon the stones, beside which sat on their hams the wildest-looking +beings that the most extravagant imagination ever conceived, the head +covered with an enormous straw hat, at least two yards in circumference, +the eaves of which, flapping down, completely concealed the face, whilst +the form was swathed in a blanket, from which occasionally were thrust +skinny arms and fingers. These were Moorish women, who were, I believe, +in all instances, old and ugly, judging from the countenances of which I +caught a glimpse as they lifted the eaves of their hats to gaze on me as +I passed, or to curse me for stamping on their bread. The whole soc was +full of peoples and there was abundance of bustle, screaming, and +vociferation, and as the sun, though the hour was still early, was +shining with the greatest brilliancy, I thought that I had scarcely ever +witnessed a livelier scene. + +Crossing the soc we entered a narrow street with the same kind of +box-shops on each side, some of which, however, were either unoccupied or +not yet opened, the lid being closed. We almost immediately turned to +the left, up a street somewhat similar, and my guide presently entered +the door of a low house, which stood at the corner of a little alley, and +which he informed me was the abode of Joanna Correa. We soon stood in +the midst of this habitation. I say the midst, as all the Moorish houses +are built with a small court in the middle. This one was not more than +ten feet square. It was open at the top, and around it on three sides +were apartments; on the fourth a small staircase, which communicated with +the upper story, half of which consisted of a terrace looking down into +the court, over the low walls of which you enjoyed a prospect of the sea +and a considerable part of the town. The rest of the story was taken up +by a long room, destined for myself, and which opened upon the terrace by +a pair of folding-doors. At either end of this apartment stood a bed, +extending transversely from wall to wall, the canopy touching the +ceiling. A table and two or three chairs completed the furniture. + +I was so occupied in inspecting the house of Joanna Correa, that at first +I paid little attention to that lady herself. She now, however, came up +upon the terrace where my guide and myself were standing. She was a +woman about five and forty, with regular features, which had once been +handsome, but had received considerable injury from time, and perhaps +more from trouble. Two of her front teeth had disappeared, but she still +had fine black hair. As I looked upon her countenance, I said within +myself, if there be truth in physiognomy, thou art good and gentle, O +Joanna; and, indeed, the kindness I experienced from her during the six +weeks which I spent beneath her roof would have made me a convert to that +science had I doubted in it before. I believe no warmer and more +affectionate heart ever beat in human bosom than in that of Joanna +Correa, the Mahonese widow, and it was indexed by features beaming with +benevolence and good nature, though somewhat clouded with melancholy. + +She informed me that she had been married to a Genoese, the master of a +felouk which passed between Gibraltar and Tangier, who had been dead +about four years, leaving her with a family of four children, the eldest +of which was a lad of thirteen; that she had experienced great difficulty +in providing for her family and herself since the death of her husband, +but that Providence had raised her up a few excellent friends, especially +the British consul; that besides letting lodgings to such travellers as +myself, she made bread which was in high esteem with the Moors, and that +she was likewise in partnership in the sale of liquors with an old +Genoese. She added, that this last person lived below in one of the +apartments; that he was a man of great ability and much learning, but +that she believed he was occasionally somewhat touched here, pointing +with her finger to her forehead, and she therefore hoped that I would not +be offended at anything extraordinary in his language or behaviour. She +then left me, as she said, to give orders for my breakfast; whereupon the +Jewish domestic, who had accompanied me from the consul, finding that I +was established in the house, departed. + +I speedily sat down to breakfast in an apartment on the left side of the +little wustuddur, the fare was excellent; tea, fried fish, eggs, and +grapes, not forgetting the celebrated bread of Joanna Correa. I was +waited upon by a tall Jewish youth of about twenty years, who informed me +that his name was Haim Ben Atar, that he was a native of Fez, from whence +his parents brought him at a very early age to Tangier, where he had +passed the greater part of his life principally in the service of Joanna +Correa, waiting upon those who, like myself, lodged in the house. I had +completed my meal, and was seated in the little court, when I heard in +the apartment opposite to that in which I had breakfasted several sighs, +which were succeeded by as many groans, and then came “_Ave Maria_, +_gratia plena_, _ora pro me_,” and finally a croaking voice chanted:— + + “Gentem auferte perfidam + Credentium de finibus, + Ut Christo laudes debitas + Persolvamus alacriter.” + +“That is the old Genoese,” whispered Haim Ben Atar, “praying to his God, +which he always does with particular devotion when he happens to have +gone to bed the preceding evening rather in liquor. He has in his room a +picture of Maria Buckra, before which he generally burns a taper, and on +her account he will never permit me to enter his apartment. He once +caught me looking at her, and I thought he would have killed me, and +since then he always keeps his chamber locked, and carries the key in his +pocket when he goes out. He hates both Jew and Moor, and says that he is +now living amongst them for his sins.” + +“They do not place tapers before pictures,” said I, and strolled forth to +see the wonders of the land. + + + + +CHAPTER LVI + + +The Mahasni—Sin Samani—The Bazaar—Moorish Saints—See the Ayana!—The +Prickly Fig—Jewish Graves—The Place of Carcases—The Stable Boy—Horses of +the Moslem—Dar Dwag. + +I was standing in the market-place, a spectator of much the same scene as +I have already described, when a Moor came up to me and attempted to +utter a few words in Spanish. He was a tall elderly man, with sharp but +rather whimsical features, and might have been called good-looking, had +he not been one-eyed, a very common deformity in this country. His body +was swathed in an immense haik. Finding that I could understand Moorish, +he instantly began talking with immense volubility, and I soon learned +that he was a Mahasni. He expatiated diffusely on the beauties of +Tangier, of which he said he was a native, and at last exclaimed, “Come, +my sultan, come, my lord, and I will show you many things which will +gladden your eyes, and fill your heart with sunshine; it were a shame in +me, who have the advantage of being a son of Tangier, to permit a +stranger who comes from an island in the great sea, as you tell me you +do, for the purpose of seeing this blessed land, to stand here in the soc +with no one to guide him. By Allah, it shall not be so. Make room for +my sultan, make room for my lord,” he continued, pushing his way through +a crowd of men and children who had gathered round us; “it is his +highness’ pleasure to go with me. This way, my lord, this way”; and he +led the way up the hill, walking at a tremendous rate and talking still +faster. “This street,” said he, “is the Siarrin, and its like is not to +be found in Tangier; observe how broad it is, even half the breadth of +the soc itself; here are the shops of the most considerable merchants, +where are sold precious articles of all kinds. Observe those two men, +they are Algerines and good Moslems; they fled from Zair (_Algiers_) when +the Nazarenes conquered it, not by force of fighting, not by valour, as +you may well suppose, but by gold; the Nazarenes only conquer by gold. +The Moor is good, the Moor is strong, who so good and strong? but he +fights not with gold, and therefore he lost Zair. + +“Observe you those men seated on the benches by those portals: they are +Mahasniah, they are my brethren. See their haiks how white, see their +turbans how white. O that you could see their swords in the day of war, +for bright, bright are their swords. Now they bear no swords. Wherefore +should they? Is there not peace in the land? See you him in the shop +opposite? That is the Pasha of Tangier, that is the Hamed Sin Samani, +the under Pasha of Tangier; the elder Pasha, my lord, is away on a +journey; may Allah send him a safe return. Yes, that is Hamed; he sits +in his hanutz as were he nought more than a merchant, yet life and death +are in his hands. There he dispenses justice, even as he dispenses the +essence of the rose and cochineal, and powder of cannon and sulphur; and +these two last he sells on the account of Abderrahman, my lord and +sultan, for none can sell powder and the sulphur dust in his land but the +sultan. Should you wish to purchase atar del nuar, should you wish to +purchase the essence of the rose, you must go to the hanutz of Sin +Samani, for there only you will get it pure; you must receive it from no +common Moor, but only from Hamed. May Allah bless Hamed. The Mahasniah, +my brethren, wait to do his orders, for wherever sits the Pasha, there is +a hall of judgment. See, now we are opposite the bazaar; beneath yon +gate is the court of the bazaar; what will you not find in that bazaar? +Silks from Fez you will find there; and if you wish for sibat, if you +wish for slippers for your feet, you must seek them there, and there also +are sold curious things from the towns of the Nazarenes. Those large +houses on our left are habitations of Nazarene consuls; you have seen +many such in your own land, therefore why should you stay to look at +them? Do you not admire this street of the Siarrin? Whatever enters or +goes out of Tangier by the land passes through this street. Oh, the +riches that pass through this street! Behold those camels, what a long +train; twenty, thirty, a whole cafila descending the street. Wullah! I +know those camels, I know the driver. Good day, O Sidi Hassim, in how +many days from Fez? And now we are arrived at the wall, and we must pass +under this gate. This gate is called Bab del Faz; we are now in the Soc +de Barra.” + +The Soc de Barra is an open place beyond the upper wall of Tangier, on +the side of the hill. The ground is irregular and steep; there are, +however, some tolerably level spots. In this place, every Thursday and +Sunday morning, a species of mart is held, on which account it is called +Soc de Barra, or the outward market-place. Here and there, near the town +ditch, are subterranean pits with small orifices, about the circumference +of a chimney, which are generally covered with a large stone, or stuffed +with straw. These pits are granaries, in which wheat, barley, and other +species of grain intended for sale are stored. On one side are two or +three rude huts, or rather sheds, beneath which keep watch the guardians +of the corn. It is very dangerous to pass over this hill at night, after +the town gates are closed, as at that time numerous large and ferocious +dogs are let loose, who would to a certainty pull down, and perhaps +destroy, any stranger who should draw nigh. Half way up the hill are +seen four white walls, inclosing a spot about ten feet square, where rest +the bones of Sidi Mokhfidh, a saint of celebrity, who died some fifteen +years ago. Here terminates the soc; the remainder of the hill is called +El Kawar, or the place of graves, being the common burying ground of +Tangier; the resting places of the dead are severally distinguished by a +few stones arranged so as to form an oblong circle. Near Mokhfidh sleeps +Sidi Gali; but the principal saint of Tangier lies interred on the top of +the hill, in the centre of a small plain. A beautiful chapel or mosque, +with vaulted roof, is erected there in his honour, which is in general +adorned with banners of various dyes. The name of this saint is Mohammed +el Hadge, and his memory is held in the utmost veneration in Tangier and +its vicinity. His death occurred at the commencement of the present +century. + +These details I either gathered at the time or on subsequent occasions. +On the north side of the soc, close by the town, is a wall with a gate. +“Come,” said the old Mahasni, giving a flourish with his hand; “Come, and +I will show you the garden of a Nazarene consul.” I followed him through +the gate, and found myself in a spacious garden laid out in the European +taste, and planted with lemon and pear trees, and various kinds of +aromatic shrubs. It was, however, evident that the owner chiefly prided +himself on his flowers, of which there were numerous beds. There was a +handsome summerhouse, and art seemed to have exhausted itself in making +the place complete. + +One thing was wanting, and its absence was strangely remarkable in a +garden at this time of the year; scarcely a leaf was to be seen. The +direst of all the plagues which devastated Egypt was now busy in this +part of Africa—the locust was at work, and in no place more fiercely than +in the particular spot where I was now standing. All around looked +blasted. The trees were brown and bald as in winter. Nothing green save +the fruits, especially the grapes, huge clusters of which were depending +from the “parras”; for the locust touches not the fruit whilst a single +leaf remains to be devoured. As we passed along the walks these horrible +insects flew against us in every direction, and perished by hundreds +beneath our feet. “See the ayanas,” said the old Mahasni, “and hear them +eating. Powerful is the ayana, more powerful than the sultan or the +consul. Should the sultan send all his Mahasniah against the ayana, +should he send me with them, the ayana would say, ‘Ha! ha!’ Powerful is +the ayana! He fears not the consul. A few weeks ago the consul said, ‘I +am stronger than the ayana, and I will extirpate him from the land.’ So +he shouted through the city, ‘O Tangerines! speed forth to fight the +ayana,—destroy him in the egg; for know that whosoever shall bring me one +pound weight of the eggs of the ayana, unto him will I give five reals of +Spain; there shall be no ayanas this year.’ So all Tangier rushed forth +to fight the ayana, and to collect the eggs which the ayana had laid to +hatch beneath the sand on the sides of the hills, and in the roads, and +in the plains. And my own child, who is seven years old, went forth to +fight the ayana, and he alone collected eggs to the weight of five +pounds, eggs which the ayana had placed beneath the sand, and he carried +them to the consul, and the consul paid the price. And hundreds carried +eggs to the consul, more or less, and the consul paid them the price, and +in less than three days the treasure chest of the consul was exhausted. +And then he cried, ‘Desist, O Tangerines! perhaps we have destroyed the +ayana, perhaps we have destroyed them all.’ Ha! ha! Look around you, +and beneath you, and above you, and tell me whether the consul has +destroyed the ayana. Oh, powerful is the ayana! More powerful than the +consul, more powerful than the sultan and all his armies.” + +It will be as well to observe here, that within a week from this time all +the locusts had disappeared, no one knew how, only a few stragglers +remained. But for this providential deliverance, the fields and gardens +in the vicinity of Tangier would have been totally devastated. These +insects were of an immense size, and of a loathly aspect. + +We now passed over the soc to the opposite side, where stand the huts of +the guardians. Here a species of lane presents itself, which descends to +the sea-shore; it is deep and precipitous, and resembles a gully or +ravine. The banks on either side are covered with the tree which bears +the prickly fig, called in Moorish, _Kermous del Inde_. There is +something wild and grotesque in the appearance of this tree or plant, for +I know not which to call it. Its stem, though frequently of the +thickness of a man’s body, has no head, but divides itself, at a short +distance from the ground, into many crooked branches, which shoot in all +directions, and bear green and uncouth leaves, about half an inch in +thickness, and which, if they resemble anything, present the appearance +of the fore fins of a seal, and consist of multitudinous fibres. The +fruit, which somewhat resembles a pear, has a rough tegument covered with +minute prickles, which instantly enter the hand which touches them, +however slightly, and are very difficult to extract. I never remember to +have seen vegetation in ranker luxuriance than that which these fig-trees +exhibited, nor upon the whole a more singular spot. “Follow me,” said +the Mahasni, “and I will show you something which you will like to see.” +So he turned to the left, leading the way by a narrow path up the steep +bank, till we reached the summit of a hillock, separated by a deep ditch +from the wall of Tangier. The ground was thickly covered with the trees +already described, which spread their strange arms along the surface, and +whose thick leaves crushed beneath our feet as we walked along. Amongst +them I observed a large number of stone slabs lying horizontally; they +were rudely scrawled over with odd characters, which I stooped down to +inspect. “Are you Talib enough to read those signs?” exclaimed the old +Moor. “They are letters of the accursed Jews; this is their mearrah, as +they call it, and here they inter their dead. Fools, they trust in Muza, +when they might believe in Mohammed, and therefore their dead shall burn +everlastingly in Jehinnim. See, my sultan, how fat is the soil of this +mearrah of the Jews; see what kermous grow here. When I was a boy I +often came to the mearrah of the Jews to eat kermous in the season of +their ripeness. The Moslem boys of Tangier love the kermous of the +mearrah of the Jews; but the Jews will not gather them. They say that +the waters of the springs which nourish the roots of these trees, pass +among the bodies of their dead, and for that reason it is an abomination +to taste of these fruits. Be this true, or be it not, one thing is +certain, in whatever manner nourished, good are the kermous which grow in +the mearrah of the Jews.” + +We returned to the lane by the same path by which we had come: as we were +descending it he said, “Know, my sultan, that the name of the place where +we now are, and which you say you like much, is Dar Sinah (_the house of +the trades_). You will ask me why it bears that name, as you see neither +house nor man, neither Moslem, Nazarene, nor Jew, only our two selves; I +will tell you, my sultan, for who can tell you better than myself? +Learn, I pray you, that Tangier was not always what it is now, nor did it +occupy always the place which it does now. It stood yonder (pointing to +the east) on those hills above the shore, and ruins of houses are still +to be seen there, and the spot is called Old Tangier. So in the old +time, as I have heard say, this Dar Sinah was a street, whether without +or within the wall matters not, and there resided men of all trades; +smiths of gold and silver, and iron, and tin, and artificers of all +kinds: you had only to go to the Dar Sinah if you wished for anything +wrought, and there instantly you would find a master of the particular +craft. My sultan tells me he likes the look of Dar Sinah at the present +day; truly I know not why, especially as the kermous are not yet in their +ripeness nor fit to eat. If he likes Dar Sinah now, how would my sultan +have liked it in the olden time, when it was filled with gold and silver, +and iron and tin, and was noisy with the hammers, and the masters and the +cunning men? We are now arrived at the Chali del Bahar (sea-shore). +Take care, my sultan, we tread upon bones.” + +We had emerged from the Dar Sinah, and the sea-shore was before us; on a +sudden we found ourselves amongst a multitude of bones of all kinds of +animals, and seemingly of all dates; some being blanched with time and +exposure to sun and wind, whilst to others the flesh still partly clung; +whole carcases were here, horses, asses, and even the uncouth remains of +a camel. Gaunt dogs were busy here, growling, tearing, and gnawing; +amongst whom, unintimidated, stalked the carrion vulture, fiercely +battening and even disputing with the brutes the garbage; whilst the crow +hovered overhead and croaked wistfully, or occasionally perched upon some +upturned rib bone. “See,” said the Mahasni, “the kawar of the animals. +My sultan has seen the kawar of the Moslems and the mearrah of the Jews; +and he sees here the kawar of the animals. All the animals which die in +Tangier by the hand of God, horse, dog, or camel, are brought to this +spot, and here they putrefy or are devoured by the birds of the heaven or +the wild creatures that prowl on the chali. Come, my sultan, it is not +good to remain long in this place.” + +We were preparing to leave the spot, when we heard a galloping down the +Dar Sinah, and presently a horse and rider darted at full speed from the +mouth of the lane and appeared upon the strand; the horseman, when he saw +us, pulled up his steed with much difficulty, and joined us. The horse +was small but beautiful, a sorrel with long mane and tail; had he been +hoodwinked he might perhaps have been mistaken for a Cordovese jaca; he +was broad-chested, and rotund in his hind quarters, and possessed much of +the plumpness and sleekness which distinguish that breed, but looking in +his eyes you would have been undeceived in a moment; a wild savage fire +darted from the restless orbs, and so far from exhibiting the docility of +the other noble and loyal animal, he occasionally plunged desperately, +and could scarcely be restrained by a strong curb and powerful arm from +resuming his former headlong course. The rider was a youth, apparently +about eighteen, dressed as a European, with a Montero cap on his head: he +was athletically built, but with lengthy limbs, his feet, for he rode +without stirrups or saddle, reaching almost to the ground; his complexion +was almost as dark as that of a Mulatto; his features very handsome, the +eyes particularly so, but filled with an expression which was bold and +bad; and there was a disgusting look of sensuality about the mouth. He +addressed a few words to the Mahasni, with whom he seemed to be well +acquainted, inquiring who I was. The old man answered, “O Jew, my sultan +understands our speech, thou hadst better address thyself to him.” The +lad then spoke to me in Arabic, but almost instantly dropping that +language proceeded to discourse in tolerable French. “I suppose you are +French,” said he with much familiarity, “shall you stay long in Tangier?” +Having received an answer, he proceeded, “as you are an Englishman, you +are doubtless fond of horses, know, therefore, whenever you are disposed +for a ride, I will accompany you, and procure you horses. My name is +Ephraim Fragey: I am stable-boy to the Neapolitan consul, who prizes +himself upon possessing the best horses in Tangier; you shall mount any +you please. Would you like to try this little aoud (_stallion_)?” I +thanked him, but declined his offer for the present, asking him at the +same time how he had acquired the French language, and why he, a Jew, did +not appear in the dress of his brethren? “I am in the service of a +consul,” said he, “and my master obtained permission that I might dress +myself in this manner; and as to speaking French, I have been to +Marseilles and Naples, to which last place I conveyed horses, presents +from the Sultan. Besides French, I can speak Italian.” He then +dismounted, and holding the horse firmly by the bridle with one hand, +proceeded to undress himself, which having accomplished, he mounted the +animal and rode into the water. The skin of his body was much akin in +colour to that of a frog or toad, but the frame was that of a young +Titan. The horse took to the water with great unwillingness, and at a +small distance from the shore commenced struggling with his rider, whom +he twice dashed from his back; the lad, however, clung to the bridle, and +detained the animal. All his efforts, however, being unavailing to ride +him deeper in, he fell to washing him strenuously with his hands, then +leading him out, he dressed himself and returned by the way he came. + +“Good are the horses of the Moslems,” said my old friend, “where will you +find such? They will descend rocky mountains at full speed and neither +trip nor fall, but you must be cautious with the horses of the Moslems, +and treat them with kindness, for the horses of the Moslems are proud, +and they like not being slaves. When they are young and first mounted, +jerk not their mouths with your bit, for be sure if you do they will kill +you; sooner or later, you will perish beneath their feet. Good are our +horses; and good our riders, yea, very good are the Moslems at mounting +the horse; who are like them? I once saw a Frank rider compete with a +Moslem on this beach, and at first the Frank rider had it all his own +way, and he passed the Moslem, but the course was long, very long, and +the horse of the Frank rider, which was a Frank also, panted; but the +horse of the Moslem panted not, for he was a Moslem also, and the Moslem +rider at last gave a cry and the horse sprang forward and he overtook the +Frank horse, and then the Moslem rider stood up in his saddle. How did +he stand? Truly he stood on his head, and these eyes saw him; he stood +on his head in the saddle as he passed the Frank rider; and he cried ha! +ha! as he passed the Frank rider; and the Moslem horse cried ha! ha! as +he passed the Frank breed, and the Frank lost by a far distance. Good +are the Franks; good their horses; but better are the Moslems, and better +the horses of the Moslems.” + +We now directed our steps towards the town, but not by the path we came: +turning to the left under the hill of the mearrah, and along the strand, +we soon came to a rudely paved way with a steep ascent, which wound +beneath the wall of the town to a gate, before which, on one side, were +various little pits like graves, filled with water or lime. “This is Dar +Dwag,” said the Mahasni; “this is the house of the bark, and to this +house are brought the hides; all those which are prepared for use in +Tangier are brought to this house, and here they are cured with lime, and +bran, and bark, and herbs. And in this Dar Dwag there are one hundred +and forty pits; I have counted them myself; and there were more which +have now ceased to be, for the place is very ancient. And these pits are +hired not by one, nor by two, but by many people, and whosoever list can +rent one of these pits and cure the hides which he may need; but the +owner of all is one man, and his name is Cado Ableque. And now my sultan +has seen the house of the bark, and I will show him nothing more this +day; for to-day is Youm al Jumal (_Friday_), and the gates will be +presently shut whilst the Moslems perform their devotions. So I will +accompany my sultan to the guest house, and there I will leave him for +the present.” + +We accordingly passed through a gate, and ascending a street found +ourselves before the mosque where I had stood in the morning; in another +minute or two we were at the door of Joanna Correa. I now offered my +kind guide a piece of silver as a remuneration for his trouble, whereupon +he drew himself up and said:— + +“The silver of my sultan I will not take, for I consider that I have done +nothing to deserve it. We have not yet visited all the wonderful things +of this blessed town. On a future day I will conduct my sultan to the +castle of the governor, and to other places which my sultan will be glad +to see; and when we have seen all we can, and my sultan is content with +me, if at any time he see me in the soc of a morning, with my basket in +my hand, and he see nothing in that basket, then is my sultan at liberty +as a friend to put grapes in my basket, or bread in my basket, or fish or +meat in my basket. That will I not refuse of my sultan, when I shall +have done more for him than I have now. But the silver of my sultan will +I not take now nor at any time.” He then waved his hand gently and +departed. + + + + +CHAPTER LVII + + +Strange Trio—The Mulatto—The Peace-offering—Moors of Granada—Vive la +Guadeloupe—The Moors—Pascual Fava—Blind Algerine—The Retreat. + +Three men were seated in the wustuddur of Joanna Correa, when I entered; +singular-looking men they all were, though perhaps three were never +gathered together more unlike to each other in all points. The first on +whom I cast my eye was a man about sixty, dressed in a grey kerseymere +coat with short lappets, yellow waistcoat, and wide coarse canvas +trousers; upon his head was a very broad dirty straw hat, and in his hand +he held a thick cane with ivory handle; his eyes were bleared and +squinting, his face rubicund, and his nose much carbuncled. Beside him +sat a good-looking black, who perhaps appeared more negro than he really +was, from the circumstance of his being dressed in spotless white +jean—jerkin, waistcoat, and pantaloons being all of that material: his +head gear consisted of a blue Montero cap. His eyes sparkled like +diamonds, and there was an indescribable expression of good humour and +fun upon his countenance. The third man was a Mulatto, and by far the +most remarkable personage of the group: he might be between thirty and +forty; his body was very long, and though uncouthly put together, +exhibited every mark of strength and vigour; it was cased in a ferioul of +red wool, a kind of garment which descends below the hips. His long +muscular and hairy arms were naked from the elbow, where the sleeves of +the ferioul terminate; his under limbs were short in comparison with his +body and arms; his legs were bare, but he wore blue kandrisa as far as +the knee; every feature of his face was ugly, exceedingly and bitterly +ugly, and one of his eyes was sightless, being covered with a white film. +By his side on the ground was a large barrel, seemingly a water-cask, +which he occasionally seized with a finger and thumb, and waved over his +head as if it had been a quart pot. Such was the trio who now occupied +the wustuddur of Joanna Correa: and I had scarcely time to remark what I +have just recorded, when that good lady entered from a back court with +her handmaid Johar, or the pearl, an ugly fat Jewish girl with an immense +mole on her cheek. + +“_Que Dios remate tu nombre_,” exclaimed the Mulatto; “may Allah blot out +your name, Joanna, and may he likewise blot out that of your maid Johar. +It is more than fifteen minutes that I have been seated here, after +having poured out into the tinaja the water which I brought from the +fountain, and during all that time I have waited in vain for one single +word of civility from yourself or from Johar. _Usted no tiene modo_, you +have no manner with you, nor more has Johar. This is the only house in +Tangier where I am not received with fitting love and respect, and yet I +have done more for you than for any other person. Have I not filled your +tinaja with water when other people have gone without a drop? When even +the consul and the interpreter of the consul had no water to slake their +thirst, have you not had enough to wash your wustuddur? And what is my +return? When I arrive in the heat of the day, I have not one kind word +spoken to me, nor so much as a glass of makhiah offered to me; must I +tell you all that I do for you, Joanna? Truly I must, for you have no +manner with you. Do I not come every morning just at the third hour; and +do I not knock at your door; and do you not arise and let me in, and then +do I not knead your bread in your presence, whilst you lie in bed, and +because I knead it, is not yours the best bread in Tangier? For am I not +the strongest man in Tangier, and the most noble also?” Here he +brandished his barrel over his head, and his face looked almost +demoniacal. “Hear me, Joanna,” he continued, “you know that I am the +strongest man in Tangier, and I tell you again, for the thousandth time, +that I am the most noble. Who are the consuls? Who is the Pasha? They +are pashas and consuls now, but who were their fathers? I know not, nor +do they. But do I not know who my fathers were? Were they not Moors of +Garnata (_Granada_), and is it not on that account that I am the +strongest man in Tangier? Yes, I am of the old Moors of Garnata, and my +family has lived here, as is well known, since Garnata was lost to the +Nazarenes, and now I am the only one of my family of the blood of the old +Moors in all this land, and on that account I am of nobler blood than the +sultan, for the sultan is not of the blood of the Moors of Garnata. Do +you laugh, Joanna? Does your maid Johar laugh? Am I not Hammin Widdir, +_el hombre mas valido de Tanger_? And is it not true that I am of the +blood of the Moors of Garnata? Deny it, and I will kill you both, you +and your maid Johar.” + +“You have been eating hashish and majoon, Hammin,” said Joanna Correa, +“and the Shaitan has entered into you, as he but too frequently does. I +have been busy, and so has Johar, or we should have spoken to you before; +however, mai doorshee (_it does not signify_), I know how to pacify you +now and at all times, will you take some gin-bitters, or a glass of +common makhiah?” + +“May you burst, O Joanna,” said the Mulatto, “and may Johar also burst; I +mean, may you both live many years, and know neither pain nor sorrow. I +will take the gin-bitters, O Joanna, because they are stronger than the +makhiah, which always appears to me like water; and I like not water, +though I carry it. Many thanks to you, Joanna, here is health to you, +Joanna, and to this good company.” + +She had handed him a large tumbler filled to the brim; he put it to his +nostrils, snuffed in the flavour, and then applying it to his mouth, +removed it not whilst one drop of the fluid remained. His features +gradually relaxed from their former angry expression, and looking +particularly amiable at Joanna, he at last said: + +“I hope that within a little time, O Joanna, you will be persuaded that I +am the strongest man in Tangier, and that I am sprung from the blood of +the Moors of Garnata, as then you will no longer refuse to take me for a +husband, you and your maid Johar, and to become Moors. What a glory to +you, after having been married to a Genoui, and given birth to +Genouillos, to receive for a husband a Moor like me, and to bear him +children of the blood of Garnata. What a glory too for Johar, how much +better than to marry a vile Jew, even like Hayim Ben Atar, or your cook +Sabia, both of whom I could strangle with two fingers, for am I not +Hammin Widdir Moro de Garnata, _el hombre mas valido be Tanger_?” He +then shouldered his barrel and departed. + +“Is that Mulatto really what he pretends to be?” said I to Joanna; “is he +a descendant of the Moors of Granada?” + +“He always talks about the Moors of Granada when he is mad with majoon or +aguardiente,” interrupted, in bad French, the old man whom I have before +described, and in the same croaking voice which I had heard chanting in +the morning. “Nevertheless it may be true, and if he had not heard +something of the kind from his parents, he would never have imagined such +a thing, for he is too stupid. As I said before, it is by no means +impossible: many of the families of Granada settled down here when their +town was taken by the Christians, but the greater part went to Tunis. +When I was there, I lodged in the house of a Moor who called himself +Zegri, and was always talking of Granada and the things which his +forefathers had done there. He would moreover sit for hours singing +romances of which I understood not one word, praised be the mother of +God, but which he said all related to his family; there were hundreds of +that name in Tunis, therefore why should not this Hammin, this drunken +water-carrier, be a Moor of Granada also? He is ugly enough to be +emperor of all the Moors. O the accursed canaille, I have lived amongst +them for my sins these eight years, at Oran and here. Monsieur, do you +not consider it to be a hard case for an old man like myself, who am a +Christian, to live amongst a race who know not God, nor Christ, nor +anything holy?” + +“What do you mean,” said I, “by asserting that the Moors know not God? +There is no people in the world who entertain sublimer notions of the +uncreated eternal God than the Moors, and no people have ever shown +themselves more zealous for his honour and glory; their very zeal for the +glory of God has been and is the chief obstacle to their becoming +Christians. They are afraid of compromising his dignity by supposing +that he ever condescended to become man. And with respect to Christ, +their ideas even of him are much more just than those of the Papists, +they say he is a mighty prophet, whilst, according to the others, he is +either a piece of bread or a helpless infant. In many points of religion +the Moors are wrong, dreadfully wrong, but are the Papists less so? And +one of their practices sets them immeasurably below the Moors in the eyes +of any unprejudiced person: they bow down to idols, Christian idols if +you like, but idols still, things graven of wood and stone and brass, and +from these things, which can neither hear, nor speak, nor feel, they ask +and expect to obtain favours.” + +“_Vive la France_, _Vive la Guadeloupe_,” said the black, with a good +French accent. “In France and in Guadeloupe there is no superstition, +and they pay as much regard to the Bible as to the Koran; I am now +learning to read in order that I may understand the writings of Voltaire, +who, as I am told, has proved that both the one and the other were +written with the sole intention of deceiving mankind. _O vive la +France_! where will you find such an enlightened country as France; and +where will you find such a plentiful country as France? Only one in the +world, and that is Guadeloupe. Is it not so, Monsieur Pascual? Were you +ever at Marseilles? _Ah quel bon pays est celui-la pour les vivres_, +_pour les petits poulets_, _pour les poulardes_, _pour les perdrix_, +_pour les perdreaux_, _pour les alouettes_, _pour les becasses_, _pour +les becassines_, _enfin_, _pour tout_.” + +“Pray, sir, are you a cook?” demanded I. + +“_Monsieur_, _je le suis pour vous rendre service_, _mon nom c’est +Gerard_, _et j’ai l’honneur d’etre chef de cuisine chez monsieur le +consul Hollandois_. _A present je prie permission de vous saluer_; _il +faut que j’aille a la maison pour faire le diner de mon maitre_.” + +At four I went to dine with the British consul. Two other English +gentlemen were present, who had arrived at Tangier from Gibraltar about +ten days previously for a short excursion, and were now detained longer +than they wished by the Levant wind. They had already visited the +principal towns in Spain, and proposed spending the winter either at +Cadiz or Seville. One of them, Mr. ---, struck me as being one of the +most remarkable men I had ever conversed with; he travelled not for +diversion nor instigated by curiosity, but merely with the hope of doing +spiritual good, chiefly by conversation. The consul soon asked me what I +thought of the Moors and their country. I told him that what I had +hitherto seen of both highly pleased me. He said that were I to live +amongst them ten years, as he had done, he believed I should entertain a +very different opinion; that no people in the world were more false and +cruel; that their government was one of the vilest description, with +which it was next to an impossibility for any foreign power to hold +amicable relations, as it invariably acted with bad faith, and set at +nought the most solemn treaties. That British property and interests +were every day subjected to ruin and spoliation, and British subjects +exposed to unheard-of vexations, without the slightest hope of redress +being afforded, save recourse was had to force, the only argument to +which the Moors were accessible. He added, that towards the end of the +preceding year an atrocious murder had been perpetrated in Tangier: a +Genoese family of three individuals had perished, all of whom were +British subjects, and entitled to the protection of the British flag. +The murderers were known, and the principal one was even now in prison +for the fact, yet all attempts to bring him to condign punishment had +hitherto proved abortive, as he was a Moor, and his victims Christians. +Finally he cautioned me, not to take walks beyond the wall unaccompanied +by a soldier, whom he offered to provide for me should I desire it, as +otherwise I incurred great risk of being ill-treated by the Moors of the +interior whom I might meet, or perhaps murdered, and he instanced the +case of a British officer who not long since had been murdered on the +beach for no other reason than being a Nazarene, and appearing in a +Nazarene dress. He at length introduced the subject of the Gospel, and I +was pleased to learn that, during his residence in Tangier, he had +distributed a considerable quantity of Bibles amongst the natives in the +Arabic language, and that many of the learned men, or Talibs, had read +the holy volume with great interest, and that by this distribution, +which, it is true, was effected with much caution, no angry or unpleasant +feeling had been excited. He finally asked whether I had come with the +intention of circulating the Scripture amongst the Moors. + +I replied that I had no opportunity of doing so, as I had not one single +copy either in the Arabic language or character. That the few Testaments +which were in my possession were in the Spanish language, and were +intended for circulation amongst the Christians of Tangier, to whom they +might be serviceable, as they all understood the language. + +It was night, and I was seated in the wustuddur of Joanna Correa, in +company with Pascual Fava the Genoese. The old man’s favourite subject +of discourse appeared to be religion, and he professed unbounded love for +the Saviour, and the deepest sense of gratitude for his miraculous +atonement for the sins of mankind. I should have listened to him with +pleasure had he not smelt very strongly of liquor, and by certain +incoherence of language and wildness of manner given indications of being +in some degree the worse for it. Suddenly two figures appeared beneath +the doorway; one was that of a bare-headed and bare-legged Moorish boy of +about ten years of age, dressed in a gelaba; he guided by the hand an old +man, whom I at once recognised as one of the Algerines, the good Moslems +of whom the old Mahasni had spoken in terms of praise in the morning +whilst we ascended the street of the Siarrin. He was very short of +stature and dirty in his dress; the lower part of his face was covered +with a stubbly white beard; before his eyes he wore a large pair of +spectacles, from which he evidently received but little benefit, as he +required the assistance of the guide at every step. The two advanced a +little way into the wustuddur and there stopped. Pascual Fava no sooner +beheld them, than assuming a jovial air he started nimbly up, and leaning +on his stick, for he had a bent leg, limped to a cupboard, out of which +he took a bottle and poured out a glass of wine, singing in the broken +kind of Spanish used by the Moors of the coast: + + “Argelino, + Moro fino, + No beber vino, + Ni comer tocino.” + + (Algerine, + Moor so keen, + No drink wine, + No taste swine.) + +He then handed the wine to the old Moor, who drank it off, and then, led +by the boy, made for the door without saying a word. + +“_Hade mushe halal_,” (that is not lawful,) said I to him with a loud +voice. + +“_Cul shee halal_,” (everything is lawful,) said the old Moor, turning +his sightless and spectacled eyes in the direction from which my voice +reached him. “Of everything which God has given, it is lawful for the +children of God to partake.” + +“Who is that old man?” said I to Pascual Fava, after the blind and the +leader of the blind had departed. “Who is he!” said Pascual; “who is he! +He is a merchant now, and keeps a shop in the Siarrin, but there was a +time when no bloodier pirate sailed out of Algier. That old blind wretch +has cut more throats than he has hairs in his beard. Before the French +took the place he was the rais or captain of a frigate, and many was the +poor Sardinian vessel which fell into his hands. After that affair he +fled to Tangier, and it is said that he brought with him a great part of +the booty which he had amassed in former times. Many other Algerines +came hither also, or to Tetuan, but he is the strangest guest of them +all. He keeps occasionally very extraordinary company for a Moor, and is +rather over intimate with the Jews. Well, that’s no business of mine; +only let him look to himself. If the Moors should once suspect him, it +were all over with him. Moors and Jews, Jews and Moors! Oh my poor +sins, my poor sins, that brought me to live amongst them!— + + “‘Ave Maris stella, + Dei Mater alma, + Atque semper virgo, + Felix cœli porta!’” + +He was proceeding in this manner when I was startled by the sound of a +musket. + +“That is the retreat,” said Pascual Fava. “It is fired every night in +the soc at half-past eight, and it is the signal for suspending all +business, and shutting up. I am now going to close the doors, and +whosoever knocks, I shall not admit them till I know their voice. Since +the murder of the poor Genoese last year, we have all been particularly +cautious.” + +Thus had passed Friday, the sacred day of the Moslems, and the first +which I had spent in Tangier. I observed that the Moors followed their +occupations as if the day had nothing particular in it. Between twelve +and one, the hour of prayer in the mosque, the gates of the town were +closed, and no one permitted either to enter or go out. There is a +tradition, current amongst them, that on this day, and at this hour, +their eternal enemies, the Nazarenes, will arrive to take possession of +their country; on which account they hold themselves prepared against a +surprisal. + + * * * * * + + THE END. + + * * * * * + + Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON & CO. + Edinburgh & London + + + + +Footnotes + + +{8} “Om Frands Gonzales, og Rodrik Cid. +End siunges i Sierra Murene!” + +_Krönike Riim_. By Severin Grundtvig. Copenhagen, 1829. + +{90} Doing business, doing business—he has much business to do. + +{93a} The Gypsy word for Antonio. + +{93b} Devil. + +{97} “Say nothing to him, my lad, he is a hog of an alguazil.” + +{104} El Serrador, a Carlist partisan, who about this period was much +talked of in Spain. + +{127} At the last attack on Warsaw, when the loss of the Russians +amounted to upwards of twenty thousand men, the soldiery mounted the +breach, repeating in measured chant, one of their popular songs: “Come, +let us cut the cabbage,” &c. + +{128} Twelve ounces of bread, small pound, as given in the prison. + +{138} Witch. Ger. Hexe. + +{145} A compound of the modern Greek πέταλον, and the Sanskrit _kara_, +the literal meaning being _Lord_ of the horse-shoe (i.e. _maker_); it is +one of the private cognominations of “The Smiths,” an English Gypsy clan. + +{146} Of these lines the following translation, in the style of the old +English ballad, will, perhaps, not be unacceptable:— + + “What down the hill comes hurrying there?— + With a hey, with a ho, a sword, and a gun! + Quesada’s bones, which a hound doth bear.— + Hurrah, brave brothers!—the work is done.” + +{163} “The king arrived, the king arrived, and disembarked at +Belem.”—_Miguelite song_. + +{170} “How should I know?” + +{171} Qu. The Epistle to the Romans. + +{181} This was possibly the period when Admiral Duckworth attempted to +force the passage of the Dardanelles. + +{196} “See the crossing! see what devilish crossing!” + +{245} The ancient Lethe. + +{274} _Inha_, when affixed to words, serves as a diminutive. It is much +in use amongst the Gallegans. + +{359} Perhaps Waterloo. + +{384} About thirty pounds. + +{403} Κατα τόν τόπον και α τρόπος, as Antonio said. + +{429} Nothing at all. + +{459} A Rabbinical book, very difficult to be understood, though written +avowedly for the purpose of elucidating many points connected with the +religious ceremonies of the Hebrews. + + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIBLE IN SPAIN *** + +***** This file should be named 415-0.txt or 415-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/415/ + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will +be renamed. + +Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright +law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, +so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the +United States without permission and without paying copyright +royalties. 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