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diff --git a/415-h/415-h.htm b/415-h/415-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c5fa5d --- /dev/null +++ b/415-h/415-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,25003 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" +"http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Bible in Spain, by George Borrow</title> + +<style type="text/css"> + +body { margin-left: 20%; + margin-right: 20%; + text-align: justify; } + +p {text-indent: 1em; + margin-top: 0.25em; + margin-bottom: 0.25em; } + + P.gutsumm { margin-left: 5%; margin-bottom: 1em;} + +h1, h2, h3, h4, h5 {text-align: center; font-style: normal; font-weight: +normal; line-height: 1.5; margin-top: .5em; margin-bottom: .5em;} + +h1 {font-size: 300%; + margin-top: 0.6em; + margin-bottom: 0.6em; + letter-spacing: 0.12em; + word-spacing: 0.2em; + text-indent: 0em;} +h2 {font-size: 150%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 1em;} +h3 {font-size: 130%; margin-top: 1em;} +h4 {font-size: 120%;} +h5 {font-size: 110%;} + +hr {width: 80%; margin-top: 2em; margin-bottom: 2em;} + +div.chapter {page-break-before: always; margin-top: 4em;} + + table { border-collapse: collapse; } +table {margin-left:auto; margin-right:auto;} + td { vertical-align: top; border: 1px solid black;} + td p { margin: 0.2em; } + + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + div.gapspace { height: 0.8em; } + .citation {vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: none;} + +p.footnote {font-size: 90%; + text-indent: 0%; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-bottom: 1em; } + + </style> +</head> +<body> + +<div style='text-align:center; font-size:1.2em; font-weight:bold;'>The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Bible in Spain, by George Borrow</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +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 <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. 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. +</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Title: The Bible in Spain</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-top:1em; margin-bottom:1em; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Author: George Borrow</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Release Date: December 15, 1995 [eBook #415]<br /> +[Most recently updated: October 15, 2020]</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Language: English</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0'>Character set encoding: UTF-8</div> +<div style='display:block; margin-left:2em; text-indent:-2em'>Produced by: David Price</div> +<div style='margin-top:2em;margin-bottom:4em'>*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIBLE IN SPAIN ***</div> + +<h1>THE BIBLE IN SPAIN</h1> + +<p style="text-align: center">or The Journeys, Adventures, and +Imprisonments<br /> +of an Englishman, in an Attempt to<br /> +circulate the Scriptures in the Peninsula</p> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">by</span><br /> +GEORGE BORROW</p> +<div class="gapspace"></div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">cassell and +company</span>, <span class="smcap">ltd.</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">london</span>, <span +class="smcap">paris</span>, <span class="smcap">new +york</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">toronto & melbourne</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">mcmviii</span></p> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>EDITOR’S NOTE</h2> + +<p>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 <i>Lavengro</i>.</p> + +<p>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.” <i>The Bible in Spain</i> +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.</p> + +<p>George Henry Borrow was born July 5, 1803, and died July 26, +1881.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>AUTHOR’S PREFACE</h2> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The work now offered to the public, and which is styled <i>The +Bible in Spain</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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; <i>en revanche</i>, +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.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“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.”<a +name="citation8"></a><a href="#footnote8" +class="citation">[8]</a></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>La Verduga</i>, 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>cri de guerre</i>. 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.”</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Nov. 26, 1842.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>London Merchant</i> steamship. Truly wonderful are the +ways of Providence!</p> + +<p>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 <i>Rainha Nao</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>The <i>Rainha Nao</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>These English talk so +crabbedly</i>, <i>that Satan himself would not be able to +understand them</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Amelia</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>coisa que presta</i>). 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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 “<i>Eu que sou +Contrabandista</i>,” 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, “<i>Quando el Rey chegou</i>” the +singing of which in Lisbon is imprisonment.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>Estalagem de Ladroes</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tout +ensemble</i> 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:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>“A wild swine on his shoulders he kept,<br +/> +And upon his bosom a black bear slept;<br /> +And about his fingers with hair o’erhung,<br /> +The squirrel sported and weasel clung.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>“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.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<h3>THE CHARM</h3> + +<blockquote><p>“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.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Ruins of +Empires</i>. 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 <i>auto da fé</i> in the best +sense of the word.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>chicotito</i>) 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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>ellegren</i>), +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Vexatious Delays—Drunken +Driver—The Murdered Mule—The +Lamentation—Adventure on the Heath—Fear of +Darkness—Portuguese Fidalgo—The Escort—Return +to Lisbon.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Once of old upon a mountain, shepherds +overcome with sleep,<br /> +Near to Bethlem’s holy tower, kept at dead of night their +sheep;<br /> +Round about the trunk they nodded of a huge ignited oak,<br /> +Whence the crackling flame ascending bright and clear the +darkness broke.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Rendete</i>, <i>Picaro</i>! <i>Rendete</i>,<i> +Picaro</i>! (Surrender, scoundrel, surrender!) We, however, +passed unmolested, and, about a quarter of a mile before we +reached Pegoens, overtook the family of the Fidalgo.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">The College—The +Rector—Shibboleth—National Prejudices—Youthful +Sports—Jews of Lisbon—Bad Faith—Crime and +Superstition—Strange Proposal.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Rector</i>.—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?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Rector</i>.—Beneath the ceiling in every +apartment? I think I understood you so. How +delightful—how truly interesting; a picture of the +<i>Blessed</i> 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 <i>image</i> of the <i>Blessed</i> +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?</p> + +<p><i>Humanity Professor</i>.—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. . . .</p> +<div class="gapspace"></div> +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Rector</i>.—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?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I believe there is an Irish college in +this city?</p> + +<p><i>Rector</i>.—I believe there is; but it does not +flourish, there are few or no pupils. Oh!</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>We then went into the Rector’s room, where, above a +crucifix, was hanging a small portrait.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Rector</i>.—What do I hear? You an Englishman, +and a Protestant, and yet an admirer of Ignatius Loyola?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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. +. . .</p> +<div class="gapspace"></div> +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>amis reunis</i>. 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.</p> + +<p><i>Gibraltar Jew</i> (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.</p> + +<p><i>Swiri</i>.—Willingly, brother of Gibraltar; I will +pay the woman for the mantle; it does not appear a bad one.</p> + +<p>Thereupon he flung two cruzados to the woman, who forthwith +left the shop.</p> + +<p><i>Gibraltar Jew</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Swiri</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Jew</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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?</p> + +<p><i>Jew</i>.—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 . . .</p> + +<p>Such are Jews in Lisbon.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Cold of Portugal—Extortion +prevented—Sensation of Loneliness—The Dog—The +Convent—Enchanting Landscape—Moorish +Fortresses—Prayer for the Sick.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>must</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>“The hound he yowled and back he fled,<br /> +As struck with fairy charm.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">The Druids’ Stone—The Young +Spaniard—Ruffianly Soldiers—Evils of +War—Estremoz—The Brawl—Ruined Watch +Tower—Glimpse of Spain—Old Times and New.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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 (<i>Vaya +usted con Dios</i>), and saw no more of him.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>usted</i>, or your worthiness, instead of the +Portuguese high flowing <i>vossem se</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>atalaias</i>; 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Elvas—Extraordinary Longevity—The +English Nation—Portuguese +Ingratitude—Illiberality—Fortifications—Spanish +Beggar—Badajoz—The Custom House.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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: “<i>O Senor +Caballero</i>, <i>que me de usted una limosna por amor de +Dios</i>, <i>una limosnita para que io me compre un traguillo de +vino tinto</i>” (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 “<i>Santiago y cierra Espana</i>!” +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“I’ll weary myself each night and each +day,<br /> + To aid my unfortunate brothers;<br /> +As the laundress tans her own face in the ray,<br /> + To cleanse the garments of others.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>carrasco</i>; +blue mountains are however seen towering up in the far distance, +which relieve the scene from the monotony which would otherwise +pervade it.</p> + +<p>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 +(<i>shears</i>) 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—Good evening, brother; they tell me that +on the callicaste (<i>day after to-morrow</i>) you intend to set +out for Madrilati.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Such is my intention; I can stay here no +longer.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—The way is far to Madrilati: there are, +moreover, wars in the land and many chories (<i>thieves</i>) walk +about; are you not afraid to journey?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I have no fears; every man must +accomplish his destiny: what befalls my body or soul was written +in a gabicote (<i>book</i>) a thousand years before the +foundation of the world.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—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 (<i>fair</i>); I have +got the bar lachi in my bosom, the precious stone to which sticks +the needle.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—You mean the loadstone, I suppose. +Do you believe that a lifeless stone can preserve you from the +dangers which occasionally threaten your life?</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—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 +(<i>French</i>) and of the jara canallis (<i>revenue +officers</i>) 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 (<i>gallows</i>), 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 (<i>Lyons</i>), 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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—Brother, do you know what brings me +hither?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I cannot tell, unless it be to wish me a +happy journey: I am not gypsy enough to interpret the thoughts of +other people.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—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 (<i>Castile</i>) 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 +(<i>Estremadura</i>) 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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—This is a very hopeful plan of yours, my +friend; and in what manner do you propose that we shall +travel?</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—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 (<i>dollars</i>); +upon that gras you shall ride. As for myself, I will +journey upon the macho.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—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 (<i>enough</i>). With respect +to my offer, you are free to decline it; there is a drungruje +(<i>royal road</i>) between here and Madrilati, and you can +travel it in the birdoche (<i>stage-coach</i>) or with the +dromale (<i>muleteers</i>); but I tell you, as a brother, that +there are chories upon the drun, and some of them are of the +Errate.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>no intendo</i>; 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, +<i>Habla quatro palabras y nada mas</i> (he can speak four words, +and no more).</p> + +<p>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 <i>li</i>?” 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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“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 (<i>spirit of +the old man</i>) comes upon him and there is no holding him in +with bit or bridle. I bought that horse for the affairs of +Egypt, brother.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Those people seem no friends to the gypsies,” +said I to Antonio, when the two bullies had departed, “nor +to the Calo language either.”</p> + +<p>“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 +(<i>sneaking scoundrels</i>) may set the justicia upon +us.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Is your worship the London Caloro?” said a +strange voice close beside me.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Is your worship the London Caloro?” repeated +she.</p> + +<p>“I am he whom you seek,” said I; “where is +Antonio?”</p> + +<p>“<i>Curelando</i>, <i>curelando</i>, <i>baribustres +curelos terela</i>,” <a name="citation90"></a><a +href="#footnote90" class="citation">[90]</a> said the crone: +“come with me, Caloro of my garlochin, come with me to my +little ker, he will be there anon.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“And the gras?” I demanded.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Give me the solabarri (<i>bridle</i>),” 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: “<i>Grasti +terelamos</i>,” 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“How is this, mother,” said I, “have you +been in the land of the Moors?”</p> + +<p>“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 +(<i>Spaniards</i>), for my husband was a soldier of the Crallis +of Spain, and Oran at that time belonged to Spain.”</p> + +<p>“You were not then with the real Moors,” said I, +“but only with the Spaniards who occupied part of their +country.”</p> + +<p>“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 (<i>wine-shop</i>), he was dressed like a +Corahano, and yet he did not look like one, he looked like more a +callardo (<i>black</i>), 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 (<i>money</i>) I had, +and locking up the cachimani went with the strange man; the +sentinel challenged us at the gate, but I gave him repani +(<i>brandy</i>) 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 (<i>cheat</i>) 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.</p> + +<p>“O what a strange town it was that I found myself in, +full of people who had once been Candoré +(<i>Christians</i>) but had renegaded and become Corahai. +There were Sese and Laloré (<i>Portuguese</i>), 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 +(<i>widow</i>), 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.’</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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 (<i>mad</i>), 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“<i>No tenga usted cuidao</i>, my London Caloro,” +said the Gypsy mother, in an unearthly tone; “Pepindorio <a +name="citation93a"></a><a href="#footnote93a" +class="citation">[93a]</a> has been here some time.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Be not afraid, ’tis I, brother; we will have a +light anon, and then supper.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Now,” said Antonio to the youngest female, +“bring me the pajandi, and I will sing a +gachapla.”</p> + +<p>The girl brought the guitar, which, with some difficulty, the +Gypsy tuned, and then strumming it vigorously, he sang:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“I stole a plump and bonny fowl,<br /> + But ere I well had dined,<br /> +The master came with scowl and growl,<br /> + And me would captive bind.</p> + +<p>“My hat and mantle off I threw,<br /> + And scour’d across the lea,<br /> +Then cried the beng <a name="citation93b"></a><a +href="#footnote93b" class="citation">[93b]</a> with loud +halloo,<br /> + Where does the Gypsy flee?”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>“I see the London Caloro is weary; enough, enough, +to-morrow more thereof—we will now to the charipé +(<i>bed</i>).”</p> + +<p>“With all my heart,” said I; “where are we +to sleep?”</p> + +<p>“In the stable,” said he, “in the manger; +however cold the stable may be we shall be warm enough in the +bufa.”</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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 (<i>sorceress</i>).”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Have you been long acquainted with her?” said I; +“you appear to be quite at home in this house.”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Wherefore do you ask, O Dai de los +Cales?</p> + +<p><i>Gypsy Mother</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Gypsy Mother</i>.—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 (<i>lost</i>), 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 (<i>silk and gold</i>), +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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Gypsy Mother</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—And what should we do in the land of the +Corahai? It is a poor and wild country, I believe.</p> + +<p><i>Gypsy Mother</i>.—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 +(<i>simpleton</i>). 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Carracho,” reiterated the fellow, “how came +this companion here?”</p> + +<p>“<i>No le penela chi min chaboro</i>,” said the +black Callee to me, in an undertone; “<i>sin un balicho de +los chineles</i> <a name="citation97"></a><a href="#footnote97" +class="citation">[97]</a>;” 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.”</p> + +<p>“Then let him give me some tobacco,” said the +fellow, “I suppose he has brought some with him.”</p> + +<p>“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!”</p> + +<p>Thereupon she produced a cigar from out her shoe, which she +presented to the alguazil.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“The Busno will take us to prison,” said the black +Callee, “ha! ha! ha!”</p> + +<p>“The Chinel will take us to prison,” giggled the +young girl “he! he! he!”</p> + +<p>“The Bengui will carry us all to the estaripel,” +grunted the Gypsy grandmother, “ho! ho! ho!”</p> + +<p>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 <i>a su servicio</i>.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” mumbled the grandmother, “the +daughters of the baji have friends, my London Caloro, friends +among the Busnees, baributre, baribu (<i>plenty</i>, +<i>plenty</i>).”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +<i>ventre a terre</i>; 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.</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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 (<i>brother</i>) was garroted at +Trujillo.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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 (<i>houses</i>) in this place; it is doubtless a fire +made by durotunes (<i>shepherds</i>); let us go and join them, +for, as you say, it is doleful work wandering about at night +amidst rain and mire.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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 (<i>stealing a +donkey</i>); 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“That is Jaraicejo,” said Antonio; “a bad +place it is and a bad place it has ever been for the Calo +people.”</p> + +<p>“If it is such a bad place,” said I, “I hope +we shall not have to pass through it.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>Without waiting for my answer he hastened forward, and was +speedily out of sight.</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>“From Badajoz and Trujillo,” I replied; “why +do you ask?”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“Do I look a person,” said I, “likely to +keep company with Gypsies?”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Have you a passport?” at length demanded the +national.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>National</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I shall be very happy to afford so polite +and honourable a gentleman any information in my power.</p> + +<p><i>National</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>National</i>.—It appears to me that this Caballero +Balmerson must be a very honest man.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—There can be no doubt of it.</p> + +<p><i>National</i>.—I have heard that he is a great +general.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—There can be no doubt of it. In +some things neither Napoleon nor the sawyer <a +name="citation104"></a><a href="#footnote104" +class="citation">[104]</a> would stand a chance with him for a +moment. <i>Es mucho hombre</i>.</p> + +<p><i>National</i>.—I am glad to hear it. Does he +intend to head the legion himself?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>National</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>I showed him the signature, which he looked upon with profound +reverence, uncovering his head for a moment; we then embraced and +parted.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“You have tarried long, brother,” said he; +“I almost thought you had played me false.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“And what are you doing here yourself,” I +demanded, “in this wild place, amidst these +thickets?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Why do you not cook the game which I brought?” I +demanded; “in this place there is plenty of materials for a +fire.”</p> + +<p>“The smoke might discover us, brother,” said +Antonio, “I am desirous of lying escondido in this place +until the arrival of the messenger.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—Brother, I cannot imagine what business +brought you to this country.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Perhaps the same which brings you to this +moor—business of Egypt.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—And who sent you on this errand?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—Are they Caloré or +Busné?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—What matters it? Both Caloré +and Busné are sons of the same God.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—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!”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—And do you believe in this wild doctrine, +O Antonio?</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>“I see a distant object,” I replied; “like a +speck on the side of the hill.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“It is a woman,” said I, at length, “mounted +on a grey donkey.”</p> + +<p>“Then it is my messenger,” said Antonio, +“for it can be no other.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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!”</p> + +<p>“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 +(<i>fortune</i>).”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>The Gypsy appeared to reflect: “I want the horse, it is +true, brother,” he said, “and likewise the macho; but +you shall not go <i>en pindre</i> (on foot); you shall purchase +the burra of Antonia, which I presented her when I sent her upon +this expedition.”</p> + +<p>“The burra,” I replied, “appears both savage +and vicious.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>In less than an hour I was on the other side of the pass, +mounted on the savage burra.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>I crossed the river in a ferry-boat; the passage was rather +difficult, the current very rapid and swollen, owing to the +latter rains.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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, <i>deshonesta</i>, 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“I beg your pardon, Caballero,” said I, “but +I did not hear the commencement of your discourse. Who are +those who have been captured?”</p> + +<p>“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. <i>Todos estan +presos</i>.”</p> + +<p>“The mystery is now solved,” said I to myself, and +proceeded to despatch my supper, which was now ready.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“A cold night,” said I at last. “Is +this the way to Talavera?”</p> + +<p>“It is the way to Talavera, and the night is +cold.”</p> + +<p>“I am going to Talavera,” said I, “as I +suppose you are yourself.”</p> + +<p>“I am going thither, so are you, +<i>Bueno</i>.”</p> + +<p>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, <i>bueno</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>“Are you not afraid,” said I at last, “to +travel these roads in the dark? It is said that there are +robbers abroad.”</p> + +<p>“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!”</p> + +<p>“How is it that you know me to be an Englishman?” +demanded I, much surprised.</p> + +<p>“That is no difficult matter,” replied the figure; +“the sound of your voice was enough to tell me +that.”</p> + +<p>“You speak of voices,” said I; “suppose the +tone of your own voice were to tell me who you are?”</p> + +<p>“That it will not do,” replied my companion; +“you know nothing about me—you can know nothing about +me.”</p> + +<p>“Be not sure of that, my friend; I am acquainted with +many things of which you have little idea.”</p> + +<p>“Por exemplo,” said the figure.</p> + +<p>“For example,” said I; “you speak two +languages.”</p> + +<p>The figure moved on, seemed to consider a moment, and then +said slowly <i>bueno</i>.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>“Are you then one of us?”</p> +<div class="gapspace"></div> +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Of course you have conversed with +Englishmen before, else you could not have recognized me by the +tone of my voice.</p> + +<p><i>Abarbenel</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—And what kind of life do you pursue, and +by what means do you obtain support?</p> + +<p><i>Abarbenel</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Have you any children? Are you +married?</p> + +<p><i>Abarbenel</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—You say you are wealthy. In what +does your wealth consist?</p> + +<p><i>Abarbenel</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Are there more of you than yourself and +your two wives?</p> + +<p><i>Abarbenel</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—And whither are you bound at present?</p> + +<p><i>Abarbenel</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Are you known for what you are? Do +the authorities molest you?</p> + +<p><i>Abarbenel</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Do the priests interfere with you?</p> + +<p><i>Abarbenel</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Have you a head in Spain, in whom is +rested the chief authority?</p> + +<p><i>Abarbenel</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—How can that be; what reverence could an +archbishop entertain for one like yourself or your grandsire?</p> + +<p><i>Abarbenel</i>.—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 <i>ruah</i> +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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—What you say surprises me. Have you +reason to suppose that many of you are to be found amongst the +priesthood?</p> + +<p><i>Abarbenel</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Are you numerous in the large towns?</p> + +<p><i>Abarbenel</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“I have seen a glance very similar to that amongst the +Beni Israel,” thought I to myself. . . .</p> +<div class="gapspace"></div> +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—There will be no end to the troubles of +this afflicted country until the gospel have free +circulation.</p> + +<p><i>Mendizabal</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p><i>Baltasar</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Is the duty of a national particularly +hard?</p> + +<p><i>Baltasar</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Of course none but persons of liberal +opinions are to be found amongst the nationals?</p> + +<p><i>Baltasar</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Are there many in Madrid of the Carlist +opinion?</p> + +<p><i>Baltasar</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I am sorry to learn from your lady +mother, that you are strangely dissipated.</p> + +<p><i>Baltasar</i>.—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:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Una romi sin pachi<br /> +Le peno á su chindomar,” &c., &c.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, “<i>pax et misericordia et tranquillitas</i>,” +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 “<i>misericordia</i>,” 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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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. <a +name="citation127"></a><a href="#footnote127" +class="citation">[127]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>“<i>Otra copita</i>! <i>vamos Inglesito</i>: <i>Otra +copita</i>!”</p> + +<p>“Thank you, my good sir, you are very kind, you appear +to know me, but I have not the honour of knowing you.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>“Cavaliers, and strong men, this cavalier is the friend +of a friend of mine. <i>Es mucho hombre</i>. There is +none like him in Spain. He speaks the crabbed Gitano though +he is an Inglesito.”</p> + +<p>“We do not believe it,” replied several grave +voices. “It is not possible.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <a name="citation128"></a><a +href="#footnote128" class="citation">[128]</a> was?</p> + +<p>“Vamos Inglesito,” shouted Sevilla in a voice of +thunder; “answer the monro in the crabbed +Gitano.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“I believe it is the crabbed Gitano,” muttered +Balseiro. “It is either that or English, for I +understand not a word of it.”</p> + +<p>“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!”</p> + +<p>And he clapped his hand repeatedly on his breast, reiterating +“I, Sevilla! I—”</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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—<i>el hara por usted el gusio</i>.” +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.”</p> + +<p>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, “<i>Al secretario</i>, <i>el hara por usted el +gusto</i>.” 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” . . .</p> + +<p>“Oh dear!” said I.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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—”</p> + +<p>“Now for it,” thought I.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>how goes it</i>)? very fine weather +this—<i>vaya su merced con Dios</i>. 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?”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Upon my asking him who he was, the following conversation +ensued between us:</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“You speak the language of Spain very +imperfectly,” said I; “how long have you been in the +country?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“You have been a soldier of the king of Spain,” +said I; “how did you like the service?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Have you, then, realized a large capital in +Spain?” said I, glancing at his hat and the rest of his +apparel.</p> + +<p>“Not a cuart, not a cuart; these two wash-balls are all +that I possess.”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps you are the son of good parents, and have lands +and money in your own country wherewith to support +yourself.”</p> + +<p>“Not a heller, not a heller; my father was hangman of +Lucerne, and when he died, his body was seized to pay his +debts.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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. <i>In +kurtzen</i>, I know little more of soap-boiling than I do of +tailoring, horse-farriery, or shoe-making, all of which I have +practised.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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, <a name="citation138"></a><a +href="#footnote138" class="citation">[138]</a> and says that if I +desert her she will breathe a spell which shall cling to me for +ever. <i>Dem Got sey dank</i>,—she is now in the +hospital, and daily expected to die. This is my history, +Lieber Herr.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!”</p> + +<p>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, +“<i>Viva la constitucion</i>!”—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, +“<i>La Granja</i>! <i>La Granja</i>!” +Which words were sure to be succeeded by the shout of +“<i>Viva la constitucion</i>!” 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!”</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Those men mean mischief,” said I to my friend +D---, of the <i>Morning Chronicle</i>, 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?”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <a +name="citation145"></a><a href="#footnote145" +class="citation">[145]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Que es lo que abaja<br /> +Por aquel cerro?<br /> +Ta ra ra ra ra.<br /> +Son los huesos de Quesada,<br /> +Que los trae un perro—<br /> +Ta ra ra ra ra.” <a name="citation146"></a><a +href="#footnote146" class="citation">[146]</a></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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, “<i>el panuelo</i>!” 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.</p> + +<p>“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?</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Una noche sinava en tucue.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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!”</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>veered right about</i>, and pushed +us from the horrible coast faster than it had previously driven +us towards it.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Early on the twenty-fourth, I embarked for Seville in the +small Spanish steamer the <i>Betis</i>: 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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?</p> + +<p><i>Baron Taylor</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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---.”</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Departure for +Cordova—Carmona—German +Colonies—Language—The Sluggish Horse—Nocturnal +Welcome—Carlist Landlord—Good +Advice—Gomez—The Old Genoese—The Two +Opinions.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p><i>Hostess</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—And what chance brought your grandparents +into this country?</p> + +<p><i>Hostess</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—And how many of these colonies may there +be?</p> + +<p><i>Hostess</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—And do the colonists still retain the +language of their forefathers?</p> + +<p><i>Hostess</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Of what religion are the colonists?</p> + +<p><i>Hostess</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—The Germans are the most honest people in +the world: being their legitimate descendants you have of course +no thieves amongst you.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 +(<i>Wellington</i>) 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.”</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“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!”</p> + +<p>“You tell me that you were acquainted with Gomez: what +kind of man might he be?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“You recognized me at once for an Englishman,” +said I, “do many of my countrymen visit Cordova?”</p> + +<p>“<i>Toma</i>!” 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. <i>Vaya que gente</i>; 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</p> + +<blockquote><p>‘El Rey chegou—El Rey chegou,<br /> +E en Belem desembarcou!’ <a name="citation163"></a><a +href="#footnote163" class="citation">[163]</a></p> +</blockquote> + +<p>Those were merry days, Don Jorge. By the by, I forgot to +ask your worship of what opinion you are?”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Thank you, Signore, but we will depart forthwith, for +there is no tarrying in this house.”</p> + +<p>“What is the matter with the house?” I +inquired.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +“<i>Huaije del Mselmeen</i>, <i>huaije del +Mselmeen</i>” (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.</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>Viva Carlos Quinto</i>! 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“How old may your reverence be?” I inquired.</p> + +<p>“I am eighty years, Don Jorge; eighty years, and +somewhat more.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Your reverence has been an inquisitor?” I +exclaimed, somewhat startled.</p> + +<p>“From my thirtieth year until the time of the +suppression of the holy office in these afflicted +kingdoms.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“With respect to sorcery,” said I, “what is +your opinion of it? Is there in reality such a +crime?”</p> + +<p>“<i>Que se io</i> <a name="citation170"></a><a +href="#footnote170" class="citation">[170]</a>?” 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.”</p> + +<p>“Did many cases of sorcery occur within your own sphere +of knowledge?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Were you troubled with much Judaism in these +parts?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Is there more than one species of Judaism?” I +demanded.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“And between ourselves, what is your own opinion of the +adoration of this same Maria Santissima?”</p> + +<p>“What is my opinion! <i>Que se io</i>?” 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, <i>tan bonita</i>, <i>tan guapita</i>—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.”</p> + +<p>“And now, with respect to carnal misdemeanours. +Did you take much cognizance of them?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“And what cases might those be?” I demanded.</p> + +<p>“I allude to the desecration of dovecotes, Don Jorge, +and the introduction therein of strange flesh, for purposes +neither seemly nor convenient.”</p> + +<p>“Your reverence will excuse me for not yet perfectly +understanding.”</p> + +<p>“I mean, Don Jorge, certain acts of flagitiousness +practised by the clergy in lone and remote palomares +(<i>dovecotes</i>) in olive grounds and gardens; actions +denounced, I believe, by the holy Pablo in his first letter to +Pope Sixtus. <a name="citation171"></a><a href="#footnote171" +class="citation">[171]</a> You understand me now, Don +Jorge, for you are learned in church matters.”</p> + +<p>“I think I understand you,” I replied.</p> + +<p>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 <i>malos sujetos</i>, 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.”</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Departure from Cordova—The +Contrabandista—Jewish Cunning—Arrival at Madrid.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Arrival at Madrid—Maria +Diaz—Printing of the Testament—My +Project—Andalusian Steed—Servant Wanted—An +Application—Antonio Buchini—General +Cordova—Principles of Honour.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>The Bible in Spain</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“Is he a Spaniard?” I inquired.</p> + +<p>“I will send him to you to-morrow,” said Borrego, +“you will best learn from his own mouth who and what he +is.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Of what nation may you be? Are you +French or Spanish?</p> + +<p><i>Man</i>.—God forbid that I should be either, mi Lor, +<i>j’ai l’honneur d’etre de la nation +Grecque</i>, my name is Antonio Buchini, native of Pera the Belle +near to Constantinople.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—And what brought you to Spain?</p> + +<p><i>Buchini</i>.—<i>Mi Lor</i>, <i>je vais vous raconter +mon histoire du commencement jusqu’ici</i>:—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. <a name="citation181"></a><a +href="#footnote181" class="citation">[181]</a> 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, <i>et moi +je suis l’unique fruit de ce mariage</i>. 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 <i>beau +garcon</i>; 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. <i>Mais la circoncision +n’etoit guere a mon gout</i>; 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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—You mean, I suppose, Zea Bermudez, who +chanced to be at Constantinople.</p> + +<p><i>Buchini</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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. <i>Mais je lui ris au nez</i>, 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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“What would you have, Monsieur? <i>Moi je suis +Grec</i>, <i>je suis fier et j’ai des principes +d’honneur</i>. 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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>I asked him his terms, which were extravagant, notwithstanding +his <i>principes d’honneur</i>. I found, however, +that he was willing to take one half.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,</p> + +<blockquote><p>“His like I ne’er expect to see +again.”</p> + +<p><i>Kosko bakh Anton</i>.</p> +</blockquote> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Illness—Nocturnal Visit—A Master +Mind—The Whisper—Salamanca—Irish +Hospitality—Spanish Soldiers—The Scriptures +advertised.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“<i>C’est un mauvais signe</i>, <i>mon +maitre</i>,” 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.”</p> + +<p>“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—</p> + +<blockquote><p>“The Rommany Chal to his horse did cry,<br +/> +As he placed the bit in his horse’s jaw;<br /> +Kosko gry! Rommany gry!<br /> +Muk man kistur tute knaw.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>su merced</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXI</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +(<i>savage mules</i>) 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.</p> + +<p>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 +“<i>buenas noches</i>” 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 <i>Irish Christians</i>?” 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:—</p> + +<p><i>Innkeeper</i>.—Muger, it appears to me that we have +evil guests in the house.</p> + +<p><i>Wife</i>.—You mean the last comers, the Caballero and +his servant. Yes, I never saw worse countenances in my +life.</p> + +<p><i>Innkeeper</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Wife</i>.—Perhaps they are both. Maria +Santissima! what shall we do to purify the house when they are +gone?</p> + +<p><i>Innkeeper</i>.—O, as for that matter, we must of +course charge it in the cuenta.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“It is whispered that we are no Christians,” said +Antonio; “they have come to cross themselves at our +departure.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“<i>Mirad que Santiguo</i>! <i>que Santiguo de los +demonios</i>!” <a name="citation196"></a><a +href="#footnote196" class="citation">[196]</a> exclaimed many +voices, whilst for fear of consequences we hastened away.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, “<i>Carals</i>, <i>que es eso</i>? 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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>la pobrecita</i>,” 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; +<i>vaya usted con la Virgen</i>, <i>Caballero</i>.” +So I rode on through the pinares, or thin scanty pine forests, +which skirt the way to Valladolid in this direction.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> +<div class="gapspace"></div> +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—This is a noble edifice in which you +dwell, Father; I should think it would contain at least two +hundred students.</p> + +<p><i>Rector</i>.—More, my son; it is intended for more +hundreds than it now contains single individuals.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I observe that some rude attempts have +been made to fortify it; the walls are pierced with loopholes in +every direction.</p> + +<p><i>Rector</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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?</p> + +<p><i>Rector</i>.—But too true: we at present receive no +assistance from the government, and are left to the Lord and +ourselves.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—How many aspirants for the mission are +you at present instructing?</p> + +<p><i>Rector</i>.—Not one, my son; not one. They are +all fled. The flock is scattered and the shepherd left +alone.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Your reverence has doubtless taken an +active part in the mission abroad?</p> + +<p><i>Rector</i>.—I was forty years in the Philippines, my +son, forty years amongst the Indians. Ah me! how I love +those Indians of the Philippines.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Can your reverence discourse in the +language of the Indians?</p> + +<p><i>Rector</i>.—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?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—And what did your reverence think of the +Philippines as a country?</p> + +<p><i>Rector</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Is your reverence a Castilian?</p> + +<p><i>Rector</i>.—I am an <i>Old</i> Castilian, my son.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Lady</i>.—Vaya, vaya, what a tiresome place is +Valladolid! How different from Toro.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I should have thought that it is at least +as agreeable as Toro, which is not a third part so large.</p> + +<p><i>Lady</i>.—As agreeable as Toro! Vaya, +vaya! Were you ever in the prison of Toro, Sir +Cavalier?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I have never had that honour; the prison +is generally the last place which I think of visiting.</p> + +<p><i>Lady</i>.—See the difference of tastes: I have been +to see the prison of Valladolid, and it seems as tiresome as the +town.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Of course, if grief and tediousness exist +anywhere, you will find them in the prison.</p> + +<p><i>Lady</i>.—Not in that of Toro.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—What does that of Toro possess to +distinguish it from all others?</p> + +<p><i>Lady</i>.—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?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I beg your pardon, I was not aware of +that circumstance; it of course makes much difference.</p> + +<p><i>Lady</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—His countenance then belies him +strangely: I should be loth to purchase that youngster for a +fool.</p> + +<p><i>Gaoleress</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—As there is so much merriment at Toro, +you of course attend to the comfort of your prisoners.</p> + +<p><i>Gaoleress</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Dueñas—Children of +Egypt—Jockeyism—The Baggage Pony—The +Fall—Palencia—Carlist Priests—The +Lookout—Priestly Sincerity—Leon—Antonio +alarmed—Heat and Dust.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>“Stay, ye chabés of Egypt, ye forget that ye are +hundunares, and are no longer paruguing grastes in the +chardy.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“You forget that you are soldiers,” said I. +“How should you buy my horse?”</p> + +<p>“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. <i>No tenga usted cuidao</i> (be +under no apprehension). We can buy your horse.”</p> + +<p>Here he pulled out a purse, which contained at least ten +ounces of gold.</p> + +<p>“If I were willing to sell,” I replied, +“what would you give me for that horse?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“How is this?” said I. “You this +moment told me he was a fine horse—an Andalusian, and a +countryman of yours.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“I do not wish to sell my horse,” said I; +“quite the contrary; I had rather buy than sell.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Did I not hear your worship say that you wished to buy +a horse?” said the Gypsy.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Stay, your worship, do not be in a hurry,” said +the Gypsy: “I have got the very pony which will suit +you.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“There, your worship,” said the Gypsy; +“there is the best pony in all Spain.”</p> + +<p>“What do you mean by showing me this wretched +creature?” said I.</p> + +<p>“This wretched creature,” said the Gypsy, +“is a better horse than your Andalou!”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps you would not exchange,” said I, +smiling.</p> + +<p>“Señor, what I say is, that he shall run with +your Andalou, and beat him!”</p> + +<p>“He looks feeble,” said I; “his work is well +nigh done.”</p> + +<p>“Feeble as he is, Señor, you could not manage +him; no, nor any Englishman in Spain.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“May I mount this animal?” I demanded.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“This is nonsense,” said I. “You +pretend that he is spirited in order to enhance the price. +I tell you his work is done.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“What do you ask for him?” said I.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“That is a large sum,” said I.</p> + +<p>“No, Señor, not at all, considering that he is a +baggage pony, and belongs to the troop, and is not mine to +sell.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Trust me, mon maître,” said Antonio to me, +in French, “those two fellows are Carlist priests, and are +awaiting the arrival of the Pretender. <i>Les +imbeciles</i>!”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>We returned to the door. “I suppose, +gentlemen,” said the curate, “that you are +Catalans. Do you bring any news from that +kingdom?”</p> + +<p>“Why do you suppose we are Catalans?” I +demanded.</p> + +<p>“Because I heard you this moment conversing in that +language.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“He may be coming down the road this moment,” said +I, “for what I know;” and, stepping out, I looked up +the way.</p> + +<p>The two figures were at my side in a moment; Antonio followed, +and we all four looked intently up the road.</p> + +<p>“Do you see anything?” said I at last to +Antonio.</p> + +<p>“<i>Non</i>, <i>mon maitre</i>.”</p> + +<p>“Do you see anything, sir?” said I to the +curate.</p> + +<p>“I see nothing,” said the curate, stretching out +his neck.</p> + +<p>“I see nothing,” said Pedro, the ex-friar; +“I see nothing but the dust, which is becoming every moment +more blinding.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXIII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Astorga—The Inn—The +Maragatos—The Habits of the Maragatos—The Statue.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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. “<i>Mon +maître</i>,” said he to me one evening, “I see +you are better; let us quit this bad town and worse posada +to-morrow morning. <i>Allons</i>, <i>mon maitre</i>! +<i>Il est temps de nous mettre en chemin pour Lugo et +Galice</i>.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>So much for the Maragatos.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXIV</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +“<i>Caspita</i>! this is odd,” snatched the book from +my hand and gave me the price I had demanded.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 +(<i>rabble</i>) above.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>I had proceeded in this manner a considerable way, when a +circumstance occurred of a character well suited to the time and +place.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +“<i>Quien vive</i>?” 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, +“<i>Espana</i>,” 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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXV</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>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. +“<i>Quel pays barbare</i>!” 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>companheiro</i>. “How came +you to know these men?” I demanded in French. +“<i>Ces messieurs sont presque tous de ma +connoissance</i>,” he replied, “<i>et</i>, <i>entre +nous</i>, <i>ce sont des veritables vauriens</i>; 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Ostler</i>.—Si, Senhor; but I suppose you have +brought horse-shoes with you, or that large beast of yours cannot +be shod in this village.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—What do you mean? Is the blacksmith +unequal to his trade? Cannot he put on a horse-shoe?</p> + +<p><i>Ostler</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Is it not customary then to shoe the +horses in Galicia?</p> + +<p><i>Ostler</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—What do you mean by saying that only +madmen bring horses to Galicia?</p> + +<p><i>Ostler</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>“A strange country this of Galicia,” said I, and +went to consult with Antonio.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>jaunguicoa</i>.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>io lo creo</i>: neither oil nor +olives, bread nor barley. You have been at Cordova. +Vaya; oblige me, cavalier, by taking this cigar.”</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Don Carlos is a hoary churl,<br /> + Of cruel heart and cold;<br /> +But Isabel’s a harmless girl,<br /> + Of only six years old.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>“Certainly, your worship,” replied the other; +“our house is large. How many apartments does your +worship require for your family?”</p> + +<p>“One will be sufficient,” replied the +stranger.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“It is rather small,” replied the gentleman; +“I think, however, that it will do.”</p> + +<p>“I am glad of it,” replied the host. +“Shall we make any preparations for the supper of your +worship and family?”</p> + +<p>“No, I thank you,” replied the stranger, “my +own domestic will prepare the slight refreshment we are in need +of.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>Vamos</i>! he turned upon his +heel, and without a word of salutation to any person, departed +with the men under his command.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXVI</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 “<i>Ay Dios +mio</i>!”</p> + +<p><i>Domestic</i>.—<i>Ay Dios mio</i>! we have found our +way to a pretty country.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Domestic</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I scarcely understand you. There +appears to be no lack of houses in this neighbourhood.</p> + +<p><i>Domestic</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—From what country do you come?</p> + +<p><i>Domestic</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>I closed the vein, and whilst doing so I looked up into the +farrier’s face, arching my eyebrows.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Who are you, and who is your countryman?” I +demanded; “I do not know you.”</p> + +<p>“I know you, however,” replied the man; “you +purchased the first knife that I ever sold in the market-place of +N---.”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Luigi</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Luigi</i> (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 <i>auslandra</i>, 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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—With such a predilection for England, +what could have induced you to leave it and come to Spain?</p> + +<p><i>Luigi</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Did you not say that you had a countryman +at St. James?</p> + +<p><i>Luigi</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—What do you propose to do at present, +Luigi? What are your prospects?</p> + +<p><i>Luigi</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>“There is hope in the Gospel,” said I, “even +for you. I will send you one.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<blockquote><p style="text-align: center">“JOHN MOORE,<br +/> +<span class="smcap">leader of the english armies</span>,<br /> +<span class="smcap">slain in battle</span>,<br /> +1809.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <a name="citation245"></a><a +href="#footnote245" class="citation">[245]</a> flows.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXVII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Thou shield of that faith which in Spain we +revere,<br /> +Thou scourge of each foeman who dares to draw near;<br /> +Whom the Son of that God who the elements tames,<br /> +Called child of the thunder, immortal Saint James!</p> + +<p>“From the blessed asylum of glory intense,<br /> +Upon us thy sovereign influence dispense;<br /> +And list to the praises our gratitude aims<br /> +To offer up worthily, mighty Saint James.</p> + +<p>“To thee fervent thanks Spain shall ever outpour;<br /> +In thy name though she glory, she glories yet more<br /> +In thy thrice-hallowed corse, which the sanctuary claims<br /> +Of high Compostella, O, blessed Saint James.</p> + +<p>“When heathen impiety, loathsome and dread,<br /> +With a chaos of darkness our Spain overspread,<br /> +Thou wast the first light which dispell’d with its +flames<br /> +The hell-born obscurity, glorious Saint James!</p> + +<p>“And when terrible wars had nigh wasted our force,<br /> +All bright ’midst the battle we saw thee on horse,<br /> +Fierce scattering the hosts, whom their fury proclaims<br /> +To be warriors of Islam, victorious Saint James.</p> + +<p>“Beneath thy direction, stretch’d prone at thy +feet,<br /> +With hearts low and humble, this day we intreat<br /> +Thou wilt strengthen the hope which enlivens our frames,<br /> +The hope of thy favour and presence, Saint James.</p> + +<p>“Then praise to the Son and the Father above,<br /> +And to that Holy Spirit which springs from their love;<br /> +To that bright emanation whose vividness shames<br /> +The sun’s burst of splendour, and praise to Saint +James.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>“Och, mein Gott, es ist der Herr!” replied +Benedict. “Och, what good fortune, that the Herr is +the first person I meet at Compostella.”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I can scarcely believe my eyes. Do +you mean to say that you have just arrived at this place?</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—Ow yes, I am this moment arrived. +I have walked all the long way from Madrid.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—What motive could possibly bring you such +a distance?</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—In what manner did you support yourself +by the way?</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Why not?</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—And yet you have come to this country, +which you call so miserable, in search of treasure?</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I am afraid that you have come on a +desperate errand. What do you propose to do? Have you +any money?</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>gentleman</i> below, who desired to +speak with me. “Show him up,” I replied; +whereupon almost instantly appeared Benedict Mol.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p><i>Rey Romero</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—Ow yaw, in the earth, that is what I +say. There is much more treasure below the earth than above +it.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Since I last saw you, have you discovered +the place in which you say the treasure is deposited?</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—O yes, I know all about it now. +It is buried ’neath the sacristy in the church of San +Roque.</p> + +<p>Myself.—How have you been able to make that +discovery?</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—A meiga! What is that?</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Rey Romero</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>Thereupon the Swiss departed, and I neither saw nor heard +anything farther of him during the time that I continued at Saint +James.</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Talking of corses,” said I, “do you believe +that the bones of St. James are veritably interred at +Compostella?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXVIII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>Caldas</i> is synonymous with the +Moorish <i>Alhama</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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, <i>que +disparate</i>! <i>que briboneria</i>! (what folly! what +rascality!)”</p> + +<p>“Is there a bookseller’s shop at Vigo?” I +inquired.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“It is the advocate ---,” replied Garcia; +“he is the cleverest man in Spain, and understands all +languages and sciences.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“He speaks, sir, almost as good Spanish,” said the +notary, “as a native of Pontevedra.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“I will,” said I.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—You know me to be an Englishman; but I +should find some difficulty in guessing to what country you +belong.</p> + +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—May I take a seat?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—A singular question. Have you not +as much right to sit in the public apartment of an inn as +myself?</p> + +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—I am not certain of that. The +people here are not in general very gratified at seeing me seated +by their side.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Perhaps owing to your political opinions, +or to some crime which it may have been your misfortune to +commit?</p> + +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Perhaps I am speaking to a Protestant, +like myself?</p> + +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Your history must be a curious one, I +would fain hear it.</p> + +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I thank you heartily, but I am in need of +no assistance.</p> + +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—Have you any bills, I will accept them +if you have?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I have no need of assistance; but you may +do me a favour by accepting of a book.</p> + +<p><i>Stranger</i>.—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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.” . . .</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXIX</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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. +“<i>No tenga usted cuidao</i>,” 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>no tenga usted +cuidao</i>, he is the best guide in all Galicia, speaks English +and French, and will bear you pleasant company.”</p> + +<p>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. <i>No tenga +usted cuidao</i>, 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Guide</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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?</p> + +<p><i>Guide</i>.—What kind of a man might he be?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—A short, thick fellow, very much like +yourself, with a hump upon his back, and, excuse me, of a very +ill-favoured countenance.</p> + +<p><i>Guide</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Guide</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—What do you mean by the +Estadéa?</p> + +<p><i>Guide</i>.—What do I mean by the +Estadéa? My master asks me what I mean by the +Estadinha. <a name="citation274"></a><a href="#footnote274" +class="citation">[274]</a> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>At length we arrived at the foot of a steep ascent, up which a +rough and broken pathway appeared to lead.</p> + +<p>“Can this be our way?” said I to the guide.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“We shall have to take up our quarters here till +morning,” said I.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Can you shelter a Cavalheiro from the night and the +Estadéa?” said my guide.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXX</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!”</p> + +<p>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!”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Yes, my friend,” I replied, “we are going +thither.”</p> + +<p>“Then you are going amongst a flock of drunkards +(<i>fato de barrachos</i>),” he answered. “Take +care that they do not play you a trick.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“This is no village,” said the Gallegan, +“this is no village, Sir Cavalier, this is a city, this is +Duyo.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>Praia do mar de +fora</i>: 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.</p> + +<p>On all sides there was grandeur and sublimity. After +gazing from the summit of the Cape for nearly an hour we +descended.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Who are you and what do you want?</p> + +<p><i>Figure</i>.—Who I am matters but little. Get up +and follow me; it is you I want.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—By what authority do you thus presume to +interfere with me?</p> + +<p><i>Figure</i>.—By the authority of the justicia of +Finisterra. Follow me peaceably, Calros, or it will be the +worse for you.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>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,—“<i>Carracho</i>! <i>tambien voy +yo</i>!”</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>“Who are you, where is your passport, and what brings +you to Finisterra?”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I am an Englishman. Here is my +passport, and I came to see Finisterra.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>“This is no Spanish passport; it appears to be written +in French.”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I have already told you that I am a +foreigner. I of course carry a foreign passport.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—Then you mean to assert that you are not +Calros Rey.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—I never heard before of such a king, nor +indeed of such a name.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—Hark to the fellow: he has the audacity +to say that he has never heard of Calros the pretender, who calls +himself king.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—See, you have betrayed yourself; that is +the very person we suppose him to be.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“I am by no means certain that they are either one or +the other,” said a gruff voice.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>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—<i>knife</i> and <i>fork</i>, which words I rendered +into Spanish by their equivalents, and was forthwith pronounced +an Englishman by the old fellow, who, brandishing his musket, +exclaimed:—</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p><i>Guide</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—Where is your passport?</p> + +<p><i>Guide</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio de la Trava</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio de la Trava</i>.—I am the valiente de +Finisterra, and I fear no odds.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Why do you call yourself the valiente of +Finisterra?</p> + +<p><i>Antonio de la Trava</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—How came you to serve with the English +fleet? I think I heard you say that you were present when +Nelson fell.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio de la Trava</i>.—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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“What kind of person is the alcalde to whom you are +conducting me?” said I.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—I see that you are an Englishman, and my +friend Antonio here informs me that you have been arrested at +Finisterra.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—He tells you true; and but for him I +believe that I should have fallen by the hands of those savage +fishermen.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Not only as a Carlist, but as Don Carlos +himself.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—Oh! most ridiculous; mistake a +countryman of the grand Baintham for such a Goth!</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Excuse me, Sir, you speak of the grand +somebody.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Oh! you mean Jeremy Bentham. Yes! a +very remarkable man in his way.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—In his way! In all ways. The +most universal genius which the world ever produced:—a +Solon, a Plato, and a Lope de Vega.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—You doubtless, Sir, possess the English +Language.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—The New Testament.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—What book is that?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—A portion of the sacred writings, the +Bible.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—Why do you carry such a book with +you?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—One of my principal motives in visiting +Finisterra was to carry this book to that wild place.</p> + +<p><i>Alcalde</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXI</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>a vamos</i>, <i>Perico</i>! +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Senhor,” answered a voice, “Rivadeo is more +than five leagues from here, and, moreover, there is a river to +cross!”</p> + +<p>“Then to the next village,” continued Antonio.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“Shall I lead the horses to a stable?” said the +fellow.</p> + +<p>“As you please,” said I.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Certainly,” said I, “if you wish it. +Is the horse furniture all right?”</p> + +<p>“Quite so,” said he; “I delivered it all to +your servant.”</p> + +<p>“It is all here,” said Antonio, “with the +exception of the leathern girth.”</p> + +<p>“I have not got it,” said the guide.</p> + +<p>“Of course not,” said I. “Let us +proceed to the stable, we shall perhaps find it there.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Martin of Rivadeo—The Factious +Mare—Asturians—Luarca—The Seven +Bellotas—Hermits—The Asturian’s +Tale—Strange Guests—The Big +Servant—Batuschca.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Are you well acquainted with the road to Oviedo?” +I demanded.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +“<i>ce sont des messieurs de ma connoissance</i>. 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“May the Lord God preserve us from evil +birds three:<br /> +From all friars and curates and sparrows that be;<br /> +For the sparrows eat up all the corn that we sow,<br /> +The friars drink down all the wine that we grow,<br /> +Whilst the curates have all the fair dames at their nod:<br /> +From these three evil curses preserve us, Lord God.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“A handless man a letter did write,<br /> +A dumb dictated it word for word:<br /> +The person who read it had lost his sight,<br /> +And deaf was he who listened and heard.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“What does she mean by cracking the bellotas?” +demanded I of Martin of Rivadeo.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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, <i>Las siete +bellotas</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>hunchback</i>); 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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“How should I know?” I replied. “His +riding boots perhaps.”</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Well,” said I, “and what occurred next +day?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Is that all?” I demanded.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—What was the word which you continually +heard proceeding from the lips of the big servant, and which you +think you can remember?</p> + +<p><i>Host</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Batuschca, you mean; the men were +Russians.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXIII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Oviedo—The Ten Gentlemen—The Swiss +again—Modest Request—The Robbers—Episcopal +Benevolence—The Cathedral—Portrait of Feijoo.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Mon maître,” said he, quite breathless, +“who do you think has arrived?”</p> + +<p>“The pretender, I suppose,” said I, in some +trepidation; “if so, we are prisoners.”</p> + +<p>“Bah, bah!” said Antonio, “it is not the +pretender, but one worth twenty of him; it is the Swiss of Saint +James.”</p> + +<p>“Benedict Mol, the Swiss!” said I, “What! +has he found the treasure? But how did he come? How +is he dressed?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“There must be some mystery in this,” said I; +“where is he at present?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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?</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—And what befell you on the road?</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—And what happened to you on your arrival +at Coruña?</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—And what do you propose to do at +present?</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—What can I say, lieber herr? I +know not what to do. I will be guided in everything by your +counsel.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>Thereupon I presented him with a few dollars.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXIV</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>seco</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Ah</i>, <i>Monsieur</i>, <i>est ce +bien vous</i>? shook him affectionately by the hand. The +stranger then motioned him to follow him, and they forthwith +proceeded to the room above.</p> + +<p>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, “<i>c’est un +monsieur de ma connoissance</i>. With your permission I +will now take a mouthful, and as we journey along I will tell you +all that I know of him.”</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“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. <i>Eh bien</i>, <i>mon maitre</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>“<i>Eh bien</i>, <i>mon maitre</i>, 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. <i>Eh +bien</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>“<i>Eh bien</i>, <i>mon maitre</i>, <i>nous poursuivrons +notre histoire</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>“<i>Nous sommes deja presque au bout</i>. 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.</p> + +<p>“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!’</p> + +<p>“<i>Eh bien</i>, <i>mon maitre</i>, 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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“Pardon me, Sir,” said a Spaniard who sat at the +table, “the curiosity which induces me to request the +favour of your distinguished name.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXV</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Departure from Santander—The Night +Alarm—The Black Pass.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 “<i>it was not so +written</i>.” 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXVI</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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, <i>Despacho de la Sociedad +Biblica y Estrangera</i>; “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.”</p> + +<p>And I remained for two hours, leaning against the wall, +staring at the shop.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>servile</i> 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.</p> + +<p>“Will not your doing so bring you into odium with the +clergy?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>I <i>have</i> 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.</p> + +<p>“A better sword than that,” said an ancient +workman, a native of Old Castile, “never transfixed Moor +out yonder on the sagra.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“To the chim of the Corahai, my son; to the land of the +Moors, to be a soldier of the Moorish king.”</p> + +<p>“And what will become of yourself?” I +inquired; “think you that he will take you with +him?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“And knowing his ingratitude, why should you give +yourself so much trouble about him?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>de mes soins</i>, 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXVII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Euscarra—Basque not Irish—Sanskrit +and Tartar Dialects—A Vowel Language—Popular +Poetry—The Basques—Their Persons—Basque +Women.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>With respect to the Gypsy Gospel I have little to say, having +already spoken of it in a former work (<i>The Zincali</i>): 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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>truly learned</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The Irish, like most other European languages, is a dialect of +the Sanskrit, a <i>remote</i> 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?</p> + +<p>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 <i>partially</i>.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Jauna</i>, +or as it is pronounced, <i>Khauna</i>, a word in constant use +amongst the Basques, and which is the <i>Khan</i> of the Mongols +and Mandchous, and of the same signification—Lord.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>Here follow a few specimens of Basque words with the Sanskrit +roots in juxtaposition:—</p> +<table> +<tr> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Basque</span>.</p> +</td> +<td><p><span class="smcap">Sanskrit</span>.</p> +</td> +<td><p></p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Ardoa</p> +</td> +<td><p>Sandhána</p> +</td> +<td><p><i>Wine</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Arratsa</p> +</td> +<td><p>Ratri</p> +</td> +<td><p><i>Night</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Beguia</p> +</td> +<td><p>Akshi</p> +</td> +<td><p><i>Eye</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Choria</p> +</td> +<td><p>Chiria</p> +</td> +<td><p><i>Bird</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Chacurra</p> +</td> +<td><p>Cucura</p> +</td> +<td><p><i>Dog</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Erreguiña</p> +</td> +<td><p>Rani</p> +</td> +<td><p><i>Queen</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Icusi</p> +</td> +<td><p>Iksha</p> +</td> +<td><p><i>To see</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Iru</p> +</td> +<td><p>Treya</p> +</td> +<td><p><i>Three</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Jan (Khan)</p> +</td> +<td><p>Khana</p> +</td> +<td><p><i>To eat</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Uria</p> +</td> +<td><p>Puri</p> +</td> +<td><p><i>City</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +<tr> +<td><p>Urruti</p> +</td> +<td><p>Dura</p> +</td> +<td><p><i>Far</i>.</p> +</td> +</tr> +</table> +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Ichasoa urac aundi,<br /> +Estu ondoric agueri—<br /> +Pasaco ninsaqueni andic<br /> +Maitea icustea gatic.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p><i>i.e.</i> “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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>Cantabri</i>, by which they were known +to the Romans, from <i>Khantor-ber</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXVIII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">The Prohibition—Gospel +Persecuted—Charge of Sorcery—Ofalia.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +“<i>nailed in my heart</i>”; 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The priestly party in Madrid, in the meantime, spared no +effort to vilify me. They started a publication called +<i>The Friend of the Christian Religion</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XXXIX</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">The Two Gospels—The Alguazil—The +Warrant—The Good Maria—The Arrest—Sent to +Prison—Reflections—The Reception—The Prison +Room—Redress Demanded.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Que +infamia</i>! <i>Que picardia</i>! 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 (<i>master mine</i>), the alguaziloac +and the corchetoac, and all the other lapurrac (<i>thieves</i>) +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, “<i>Es muy diestro</i> (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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>Autos da fe</i>, 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.”</p> + +<p>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. +“<i>Mais en revanche personne n’etoit plus +honnete</i>.” “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.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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 <i>drummer</i> to a band +of royalist volunteers!</p> + +<p>But Spain is the land of extraordinary characters.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XL</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p><i>Juez</i>.—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. <i>Vamos</i>, <i>Don Jorge</i>, <i>a la casa</i>, +<i>a la posada</i>!</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—“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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“Your worship is right,” said the alcayde with a +bow, but in a low voice.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>jente de +reputacion</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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? . . .</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, “<i>Ah</i>, <i>Monsieur</i>, +<i>pardon</i>, <i>mais c’est faire trop d’honneur a +un pauvre diable comme moi</i>.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Ah, Monsieur,” exclaimed the Frenchman in +rapture, “<i>vous avez bien raison</i>; <i>il faut que les +étrangers se donnent la main dans ce . . . pays de +barbares</i>. <i>Tenez</i>,” 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 <i>sacres +gens ici</i>,” glancing fiercely round at his fellow +prisoners.</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“<i>Pour rien du tout</i>, <i>c’est a dire pour +une bagatelle</i>; but what can you expect from such +animals? For what are you imprisoned? Did I not hear +say for Gypsyism and sorcery?”</p> + +<p>“Perhaps you are here for your opinions?”</p> + +<p>“<i>Ah</i>, <i>mon Dieu</i>, <i>non</i>; <i>je ne suis +pas homme a semblable betise</i>. I have no opinions. +<i>Je faisois . . . mais ce n’importe</i>; <i>je me trouve +ici</i>, <i>ou je creve de faim</i>.”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“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. <i>Les haillons</i> 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.”</p> + +<p>“I have heard you speak Basque, are you from French +Biscay?”</p> + +<p>“I am from Bordeaux, Monsieur; but I have lived much on +the Landes and in Biscay, <i>travaillant a mon metier</i>. +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, <i>nous sommes creves +ici de faim</i>. 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.” <a +name="citation359"></a><a href="#footnote359" +class="citation">[359]</a></p> + +<p>“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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>me pesa</i>, 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>city</i>), and +live as I have hitherto done, choring the gachos (<i>robbing the +natives</i>); what is to hinder me? Madrid is large, and +Balseiro has plenty of friends, especially among the lumias +(<i>women</i>),” 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 +<i>corpus delicti</i> in various robberies which they had +committed in company.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.—</p> + +<p>“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 (<i>money</i>), and escape to the camp of the Moor, +Don Jorge.”</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XLI</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Maria Diaz—Priestly +Vituperation—Antonio’s Visit—Antonio at +Service—A Scene—Benedict Mol—Wandering in +Spain—The Four Evangiles.</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“How is that?” I inquired. “Are they +afraid that their friend will be punished?”</p> + +<p>“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, <i>el bribonazo</i>; 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.’”</p> + +<p>“I but said three words to the alcayde of the +prison,” said I, “relative to the jargon used by the +children of the prison.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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. +“<i>C’est moi</i>, <i>mon maitre</i>,” 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.</p> + +<p>“<i>Bon jour</i>, <i>mon maitre</i>,” 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.”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“Of what employer are you speaking, mon +maître?” demanded Antonio.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“You have left the Count, then,” said I, +“after remaining three days in the house, according to your +usual practice.”</p> + +<p>“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. +<i>Eh bien</i>, 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 <i>le fils de la maison</i>, 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, <i>on faisoit une horrible tintamarre</i>, 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. <i>Eh bien</i>, 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. +‘<i>Tenez</i>, <i>gueux enrage</i>,’ 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, +<i>comme une fleche</i>. 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 <i>coup +de pied</i>, 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:</p> + +<blockquote><p>Ό ηλιος +έβασίλευε, +κι ό Δημος +διατάζε.<br /> +Σύρτε, +παιδιά μου, +’σ τό νερόν +ψωμι να φάτ' +απόψε.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>And in this manner, mon maître, I left the house of the +Count of ---.”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—<i>Mais qu’est ce que vous +voudriez</i>, <i>mon maitre</i>? 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, <i>too just</i>. 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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Who is it?</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—One whom you have met, mon maître, +in various and strange places.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—But who is it?</p> + +<p><i>Antonio</i>.—One who will come to a strange end, +<i>for so it is written</i>. The most extraordinary of all +the Swiss, he of Saint James,—<i>Der schatz graber</i>.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Not Benedict Mol?</p> + +<p>“<i>Yaw</i>, <i>mein lieber herr</i>,” 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.”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Benedict</i>.—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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“You have all the appearance of a treasure seeker +returned from a successful expedition,” I exclaimed.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“And what has befallen you since you reached +Madrid?” I inquired. “Did you find the treasure +in the streets?”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XLII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Did you ring, mon maître,” said Antonio, +appearing at the door with one of his arms deeply buried in a +boot.</p> + +<p>“I certainly did ring,” said I, “but I +scarcely expected that you would have answered the +summons.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Mais pourquoi non</i>, <i>mon maitre</i>?” +cried Antonio. “Who should serve you now but +myself? <i>N’est pas que le sieur Francois est +mort</i>? And did I not say, as soon as I heard of his +departure, I shall return to my functions <i>chez mon maitre</i>, +Monsieur Georges?”</p> + +<p>“I suppose you had no other employment, and on that +account you came.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Au contraire</i>, <i>mon maitre</i>,” 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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>de jure</i>, he was what many people would have +considered much better, archbishop <i>de facto</i>.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“I suppose your lordship knows who I am?” said I, +at last breaking silence.</p> + +<p>The Archbishop bent his head towards the right shoulder, in a +somewhat equivocal manner, but said nothing.</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>The Archbishop made the same equivocal motion with his head, +but still said nothing.</p> + +<p>“I was informed that your lordship was desirous of +seeing me, and on that account I have paid you this +visit.”</p> + +<p>“I did not send for you,” said the Archbishop, +suddenly raising his head with a startled look.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Since you are come, I am very glad to see +you.”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“No,” said the Archbishop faintly.</p> + +<p>“Does not your lordship think that a knowledge of the +Scripture would work inestimable benefit in these +realms?”</p> + +<p>“I don’t know.”</p> + +<p>“Is it probable that the government may be induced to +consent to the circulation?”</p> + +<p>“How should I know?” and the Archbishop looked me +in the face.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“Did you speak, Don Jorge?” demanded the +Archbishop.</p> + +<p>“That is a fine brilliant on your lordship’s +hand,” said I.</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“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 <i>light of war</i>.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Is your lordship fond of equestrian +exercise?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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 <i>tira por detras</i>, I do +not believe that the Father of the Church himself could keep the +saddle a moment, however sharp his bit.”</p> + +<p>As I was going away, I said, “And with respect to the +Gospel, your lordship; what am I to understand?”</p> + +<p>“<i>No se</i>,” 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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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? <i>A la horca</i>, <i>a la +horca</i>!’ I know this family better than you do, +Don Jorge.”</p> + +<p>“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. <i>Al campo</i>, +<i>al campo</i>: ‘Ride forth because of the word of +righteousness, and thy right hand shall show thee terrible +things.’ I will ride forth, Maria.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“A thought strikes me,” said I; “you have +mentioned the Sagra; why should not I commence my labours amongst +the villages of that district?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“In Gallegan!” I exclaimed.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“I am come to bid you farewell, lieber herr; I return to +Compostella.”</p> + +<p>“On what errand?”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“Well, Benedict, I have nothing to say, save that I hope +you will succeed in your digging.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>must</i> be +there.”</p> + +<p>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 <i>meiga</i>, 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. . . .</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“After all, it was a <i>trampa</i> of Don +Jorge’s,” said one of my enemies. “That +fellow is at the bottom of half the picardias which happen in +Spain.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XLIII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“He speaks well,” said the alcalde, glancing +around.</p> + +<p>“Yes, he speaks well,” said the bulky Alavese; +“there is no denying it.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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. <a name="citation384"></a><a href="#footnote384" +class="citation">[384]</a> 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.’”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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, “<i>io quiero engancharme con usted</i> (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; <i>Viva Ingalaterra</i>; <i>viva el +Evangelio</i>.” Thus saying, he put a large bundle of +Testaments into a satchel, and springing upon the crupper of his +grey donkey, he cried “<i>Arrhe burra</i>,” and +hastened away. I sat down to my journal.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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,” (<i>blessed be God</i>,) 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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>I had one enemy in the village—it was the curate.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“There is no denying it,” said the surgeon.</p> + +<p>“Who speaks <i>so</i> 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?”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XLIV</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Aranjuez—A Warning—A Night +Adventure—A Fresh +Expedition—Segovia—Abades—Factious +Curas—Lopez in Prison—Rescue of Lopez.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“The happy days in fair Aranjuez,<br /> +Are past and gone.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +“<i>Schophon</i>,” 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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!”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<blockquote><p style="text-align: right"><span +class="smcap">Labajos</span>, <span class="smcap">Province of +Segovia</span>,<br /> +<i>August</i> 23, 1838.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">My Lord</span>,—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, “<i>Viva Isabel Segunda</i>.”</p> + +<p>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,</p> +<p style="text-align: right"><span class="smcap">George +Borrow</span>.</p> + +<p>To the Right Honourable<br /> + <span class="smcap">Lord William Hervey</span>.</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XLV</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Return to Spain—Seville—A Hoary +Persecutor—Manchegan Prophetess—Antonio’s +Dream.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XLVI</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>vaya +usted con Dios</i>, she stopped, and after looking at me for a +moment, she said: “Uncle (<i>Tio</i>), what is that you +have got on your borrico? Is it soap?”</p> + +<p>“Yes,” I replied: “it is soap to wash souls +clean.”</p> + +<p>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: +“<i>Que lectura tan bonita</i>, <i>que lectura tan +linda</i>! 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>no hay otro en el mundo</i>). 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 <i>deceased husband</i>, a third for herself, and a +fourth for her brother, whom she said she was expecting home that +night from Madrid.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <a +name="citation403"></a><a href="#footnote403" +class="citation">[403]</a> from the rest of the world, they know +no people greater than themselves, and scarcely dream of a higher +power than their own.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>tunante</i> 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, +<i>soga</i>, 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. “<i>Buenas noches</i>,” said the +alcalde. “<i>Buenas noches tenga usted</i>,” +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XLVII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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. +<i>Tenez</i>, <i>compere</i>,” he added, in most villainous +French, “<i>voila mon affaire</i>; <i>voila ce que je viens +vous dire</i>.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>“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 +<i>duendes</i> and hobgoblins sent at midnight to summon me to +appear at public offices like a criminal?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p><i>Corregidor</i>.—You are a—I know not +what. Do you know that I have the power to imprison +you?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.”</p> + +<p><i>Corregidor</i>.—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?</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>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, “<i>Que picardia</i>! <i>Que +infamia</i>!”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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: “<i>Pero que infamia</i>, +<i>que picardia</i>! 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?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XLVIII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>para conquistar</i>), 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.</p> + +<p>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: “<i>Anne +Domine Reverendissime facis adhuc sacrificium</i>?” +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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Kennst du das land wo die citronen +bluhen?”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>Angel de la +Guardia</i>), 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>I did not permit myself to be discouraged by this slight +<i>contretemps</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER XLIX</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +<i>them</i> 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 <i>reunions</i> 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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p><i>Dionysius</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Of what kind of books does your stock in +trade consist?</p> + +<p><i>Dionysius</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—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.</p> + +<p><i>Dionysius</i>.—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, <i>what nonsense is this</i>! . . . +” But I will not weary your ears, Kyrie, with all the +absurdities which the poor Latin <i>Papas</i> poured into mine; +the burden of their song being invariably, <i>what nonsense is +this</i>! 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 +<i>tipotas</i>. <a name="citation429"></a><a href="#footnote429" +class="citation">[429]</a> 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?”</p> + +<p><i>Myself</i>.—Is the spirit of proselytism very +prevalent here? Of what description of people do their +converts generally consist?</p> + +<p><i>Dionysius</i>.—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.</p> + +<p>And now nothing farther for the present about Dionysius.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 +(<i>endemoniados</i>) to persecute it in the manner they did.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER L</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Behold the morning sun<br /> + Begins his glorious way;<br /> +His beams through all the nations run,<br /> + And life and light convey.</p> + +<p>“But where the Gospel comes,<br /> + It spreads diviner light;<br /> +It calls dead sinners from their tombs,<br /> + And gives the blind their sight.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Don Quixote</i> +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 <i>amor</i>, <i>amor</i>, 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 +<i>tout ensemble</i> 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, <i>pita</i>, and in Moorish, +<i>gurséan</i>. 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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, “<i>Cosas de los +Ingleses</i>.” 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, +“<i>Cosas de Ingalaterra</i>,” “<i>Cosas de los +Ingleses</i>.” 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>This worthy person, on my coming aboard the boat, had shaken +me by the hand and expressed his joy at seeing me again.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER LI</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Balear</i>, 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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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?”</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“From heretic boors,<br /> +And Turkish Moors,<br /> +Star of the sea,<br /> +Gentle Marie,<br /> +Deliver me!”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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” (<i>el +tuerto</i>), and that he was one of the most villainous arrieros +on the Cadiz road.</p> + +<p>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, <i>Montana de las Monas</i> (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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>Orestes</i>. The +Spaniard dogged them for some time, till one morning observing +that the <i>Orestes</i> 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 <i>Orestes</i>, 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 <i>Orestes</i> 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 <i>Orestes</i> however, +could do what he pleased, and that if he had forty guns, he +himself had forty-four; whereupon the <i>Orestes</i> 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 <i>Santissima Trinidad</i>, and be pleased also not to forget +that we are almost within cannon’s sound of +Trafalgar.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Dub-a-dub, dub-a-dub—thus go the +drums,<br /> +Tantara, tantara, the Englishman comes.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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!</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER LII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>his world</i>, and is not to be +made a fool of.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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: +“<i>Wakhud rajil shereef hada</i>, <i>min beled bel +scharki</i>.” (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.</p> + +<p>“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 <i>gold dust robbery</i>, and what will +be done to those unfortunate people, who I see are +convicted?”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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, <a +name="citation459"></a><a href="#footnote459" +class="citation">[459]</a> 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>The first inquiry which I now addressed was “Have you +heard of your father?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER LIII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Genoese Mariners—St. Michael’s +Cave—Midnight Abysses—Young American—A Slave +Proprietor—The Fairy Man—Infidelity.</p> + +<p>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?</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>I now strolled towards Saint Michael’s cave, in company +with the Jewish lad whom I have before mentioned.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.)</p> + +<p>And what am I doing here, I inquired of myself as, vexed at my +detention, I descended into the town.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER LIV</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Again on Board—The Strange +Visage—The Hadji—Setting Sail—The Two +Jews—American Vessel—Tangier—Adun +Oulem—The Struggle—The Forbidden Thing.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 <i>haloof</i> (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, <i>Haram</i> +(it is forbidden). I said nothing.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Reigned the Universe’s Master, ere +were earthly things begun;<br /> +When His mandate all created, Ruler was the name He won;<br /> +And alone He’ll rule tremendous when all things are past +and gone,<br /> +He no equal has, nor consort, He, the singular and lone,<br /> +Has no end and no beginning; His the sceptre, might and +throne.<br /> +He’s my God and living Saviour, rock to whom in need I +run;<br /> +He’s my banner and my refuge, fount of weal when called +upon;<br /> +In His hand I place my spirit at nightfall and rise of sun,<br /> +And therewith my body also; God’s my God—I fear no +one.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER LV</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">The Mole—The Two Moors—Djmah of +Tangier—House of God—British Consul—Curious +Spectacle—The Moorish House—Joanna Correa—Ave +Maria.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“That is the captain of the port,” said one of the +Genoese; “pay him respect.” I accordingly +doffed my hat and cried, “<i>Sba alkheir a sidi</i>” +(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, <i>tuerto</i>; 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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.’”</p> + +<p>And as I said these words, I heard a cry like the roaring of a +lion, and an awful voice in the distance exclaim, “<i>Kapul +Udbagh</i>” (there is no god but one).</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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. <i>Shrit hinai</i>, <i>shrit hinai</i>, (buy +here, buy here), was continually proceeding from its mouth. +Such are the grocers of Tangier, such their shops.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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 “<i>Ave Maria</i>, <i>gratia +plena</i>, <i>ora pro me</i>,” and finally a croaking voice +chanted:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Gentem auferte perfidam<br /> +Credentium de finibus,<br /> +Ut Christo laudes debitas<br /> +Persolvamus alacriter.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“They do not place tapers before pictures,” said +I, and strolled forth to see the wonders of the land.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER LVI</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">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.</p> + +<p>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 (<i>Algiers</i>) 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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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, <i>Kermous del Inde</i>. 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.”</p> + +<p>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 (<i>the house of the trades</i>). +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.”</p> + +<p>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.”</p> + +<p>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 (<i>stallion</i>)?” 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.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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 +(<i>Friday</i>), 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.”</p> + +<p>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:—</p> + +<p>“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.</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>CHAPTER LVII</h2> + +<p class="gutsumm">Strange Trio—The Mulatto—The +Peace-offering—Moors of Granada—Vive la +Guadeloupe—The Moors—Pascual Fava—Blind +Algerine—The Retreat.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“<i>Que Dios remate tu nombre</i>,” 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. <i>Usted no +tiene modo</i>, 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 (<i>Granada</i>), 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, <i>el hombre mas valido de +Tanger</i>? 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.”</p> + +<p>“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 (<i>it does not signify</i>), I know how to pacify you +now and at all times, will you take some gin-bitters, or a glass +of common makhiah?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<p>“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, <i>el hombre +mas valido be Tanger</i>?” He then shouldered his +barrel and departed.</p> + +<p>“Is that Mulatto really what he pretends to be?” +said I to Joanna; “is he a descendant of the Moors of +Granada?”</p> + +<p>“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?”</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>“<i>Vive la France</i>, <i>Vive la +Guadeloupe</i>,” 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. <i>O vive la France</i>! 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? <i>Ah quel bon +pays est celui-la pour les vivres</i>, <i>pour les petits +poulets</i>, <i>pour les poulardes</i>, <i>pour les perdrix</i>, +<i>pour les perdreaux</i>, <i>pour les alouettes</i>, <i>pour les +becasses</i>, <i>pour les becassines</i>, <i>enfin</i>, <i>pour +tout</i>.”</p> + +<p>“Pray, sir, are you a cook?” demanded I.</p> + +<p>“<i>Monsieur</i>, <i>je le suis pour vous rendre +service</i>, <i>mon nom c’est Gerard</i>, <i>et j’ai +l’honneur d’etre chef de cuisine chez monsieur le +consul Hollandois</i>. <i>A present je prie permission de +vous saluer</i>; <i>il faut que j’aille a la maison pour +faire le diner de mon maitre</i>.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>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:</p> + +<blockquote><p>“Argelino,<br /> +Moro fino,<br /> +No beber vino,<br /> +Ni comer tocino.”</p> + +<p>(Algerine,<br /> +Moor so keen,<br /> +No drink wine,<br /> +No taste swine.)</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>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.</p> + +<p>“<i>Hade mushe halal</i>,” (that is not lawful,) +said I to him with a loud voice.</p> + +<p>“<i>Cul shee halal</i>,” (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.”</p> + +<p>“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!—</p> + +<blockquote><p>“‘Ave Maris stella,<br /> +Dei Mater alma,<br /> +Atque semper virgo,<br /> +Felix cœli porta!’”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p>He was proceeding in this manner when I was startled by the +sound of a musket.</p> + +<p>“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.”</p> + +<p>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.</p> +<div class="gapspace"></div> +<p style="text-align: center"><span class="smcap">the +end</span>.</p> +<div class="gapspace"></div> +<p style="text-align: center">Printed by <span +class="smcap">Ballantyne</span>, <span class="smcap">Hanson & +Co.</span><br /> +Edinburgh & London</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div class="chapter"> + +<h2>Footnotes</h2> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote8"></a><a href="#citation8">[8]</a> “Om Frands Gonzales, +og Rodrik Cid.<br /> +End siunges i Sierra Murene!”</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<i>Krönike Riim</i>. By Severin Grundtvig. Copenhagen, 1829.</p> + +<p class="footnote"><a name="footnote90"></a><a href="#citation90">[90]</a> +Doing business, doing business—he has much business to do.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote93a"></a><a href="#citation93a">[93a]</a> The Gypsy word for +Antonio.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote93b"></a><a href="#citation93b">[93b]</a> Devil.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote97"></a><a href="#citation97">[97]</a> “Say nothing to him, my +lad, he is a hog of an alguazil.”</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote104"></a><a href="#citation104">[104]</a> El Serrador, a Carlist partisan, +who about this period was much talked of in Spain.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote127"></a><a href="#citation127">[127]</a> 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.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote128"></a><a href="#citation128">[128]</a> Twelve ounces of bread, small +pound, as given in the prison.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote138"></a><a href="#citation138">[138]</a> Witch. Ger. Hexe.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote145"></a><a href="#citation145">[145]</a> A compound of the modern Greek +πέταλον, and the Sanskrit +<i>kara</i>, the literal meaning being <i>Lord</i> of the +horse-shoe (i.e. <i>maker</i>); it is one of the private +cognominations of “The Smiths,” an English Gypsy +clan.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote146"></a><a href="#citation146">[146]</a> Of these lines the following +translation, in the style of the old English ballad, will, +perhaps, not be unacceptable:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>“What down the hill comes hurrying +there?—<br /> + With a hey, with a ho, a sword, and a gun!<br /> +Quesada’s bones, which a hound doth bear.—<br /> + Hurrah, brave brothers!—the work is +done.”</p> +</blockquote> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote163"></a><a href="#citation163">[163]</a> “The king arrived, the +king arrived, and disembarked at Belem.”—<i>Miguelite +song</i>.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote170"></a><a href="#citation170">[170]</a> “How should I +know?”</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote171"></a><a href="#citation171">[171]</a> Qu. The Epistle to the +Romans.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote181"></a><a href="#citation181">[181]</a> This was possibly the period +when Admiral Duckworth attempted to force the passage of the +Dardanelles.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote196"></a><a href="#citation196">[196]</a> “See the crossing! see +what devilish crossing!”</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote245"></a><a href="#citation245">[245]</a> The ancient Lethe.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote274"></a><a href="#citation274">[274]</a> <i>Inha</i>, when affixed to +words, serves as a diminutive. It is much in use amongst +the Gallegans.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote359"></a><a href="#citation359">[359]</a> Perhaps Waterloo.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote384"></a><a href="#citation384">[384]</a> About thirty pounds.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote403"></a><a href="#citation403">[403]</a> +Κατα τόν τόπον +και α τρόπος, as Antonio +said.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote429"></a><a href="#citation429">[429]</a> Nothing at all.</p> + +<p class="footnote"> +<a name="footnote459"></a><a href="#citation459">[459]</a> 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. +</p> + +</div><!--end chapter--> + +<div style='display:block;margin-top:4em'>*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE BIBLE IN SPAIN ***</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This file should be named 415-h.htm or 415-h.zip</div> +<div style='display:block;margin:1em 0;'>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in https://www.gutenberg.org/4/1/415/</div> +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +Updated editions will replace the previous one—the old editions will +be renamed. +</div> + +<div style='display:block; margin:1em 0'> +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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