Toward Noon
We Procured Horses, And Rode Out To The Carmel Mission, Which Is
About A League From The Town,
Where we got something in the way
of a dinner - beef, eggs, frijoles, tortillas, and some middling
wine - from the
Mayordomo, who, of course, refused to make any
charge, as it was the Lord's gift, yet received our present,
as a gratuity, with a low bow, a touch of the hat, and "Dios
se lo pague!"
After this repast, we had a fine run, scouring the whole country
on our fleet horses, and came into town soon after sundown.
Here we found our companions who had refused to go to ride
with us, thinking that a sailor has no more business with a horse
than a fish has with a balloon. They were moored, stem and stern,
in a grog-shop, making a great noise, with a crowd of Indians and
hungry half-breeds about them, and with a fair prospect of being
stripped and dirked, or left to pass the night in the calabozo.
With a great deal of trouble, we managed to get them down to the
boats, though not without many angry looks and interferences from
the Spaniards, who had marked them out for their prey. The Diana's
crew, - a set of worthless outcasts, who had been picked up at the
islands from the refuse of whale-ships, - were all as drunk as beasts,
and had a set-to, on the beach, with their captain, who was in no
better state than themselves.
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