On all sides there was grandeur and sublimity. After gazing from
the summit of the Cape for nearly an hour we descended.
On reaching the house where we had taken up our temporary
habitation, we perceived that the portal was occupied by several
men, some of whom were reclining on the floor drinking wine out of
small earthen pans, which are much used in this part of Galicia.
With a civil salutation I passed on, and ascended the staircase to
the room in which we had taken our repast. Here there was a rude
and dirty bed, on which I flung myself, exhausted with fatigue. I
determined to take a little repose, and in the evening to call the
people of the place together, to read a few chapters of the
Scripture, and then to address them with a little Christian
exhortation. I was soon asleep, but my slumbers were by no means
tranquil. I thought I was surrounded with difficulties of various
kinds amongst rocks and ravines, vainly endeavouring to extricate
myself; uncouth visages showed themselves amidst the trees and in
the hollows, thrusting out cloven tongues and uttering angry cries.
I looked around for my guide, but could not find him; methought,
however, that I heard his voice down a deep dingle. He appeared to
be talking of me. How long I might have continued in these wild
dreams I know not. I was suddenly, however, seized roughly by the
shoulder and nearly dragged from the bed. I looked up in
amazement, and by the light of the descending sun I beheld hanging
over me a wild and uncouth figure; it was that of an elderly man,
built as strong as a giant, with much beard and whiskers, and huge
bushy eyebrows, dressed in the habiliments of a fisherman; in his
hand was a rusty musket.
Myself. - Who are you and what do you want?
Figure. - Who I am matters but little. Get up and follow me; it is
you I want.
Myself. - By what authority do you thus presume to interfere with
me?
Figure. - By the authority of the justicia of Finisterra. Follow me
peaceably, Calros, or it will be the worse for you.
"Calros," said I, "what does the person mean?" I thought it,
however, most prudent to obey his command, and followed him down
the staircase. The shop and the portal were now thronged with the
inhabitants of Finisterra, men, women, and children; the latter for
the most part in a state of nudity, and with bodies wet and
dripping, having been probably summoned in haste from their gambols
in the brine. Through this crowd the figure whom I have attempted
to describe pushed his way with an air of authority.
On arriving in the street, he laid his heavy hand upon my arm, not
roughly however. "It is Calros! it is Calros!" said a hundred
voices; "he has come to Finisterra at last, and the justicia have
now got hold of him." Wondering what all this could mean, I
attended my strange conductor down the street. As we proceeded,
the crowd increased every moment, following and vociferating. Even
the sick were brought to the door to obtain a view of what was
going forward and a glance at the redoubtable Calros. I was
particularly struck by the eagerness displayed by one man, a
cripple, who, in spite of the entreaties of his wife, mixed with
the crowd, and having lost his crutch, hopped forward on one leg,
exclaiming, - "Carracho! tambien voy yo!"
We at last reached a house of rather larger size than the rest; my
guide having led me into a long low room, placed me in the middle
of the floor, and then hurrying to the door, he endeavoured to
repulse the crowd who strove to enter with us. This he effected,
though not without considerable difficulty, being once or twice
compelled to have recourse to the butt of his musket, to drive back
unauthorized intruders. I now looked round the room. It was
rather scantily furnished: I could see nothing but some tubs and
barrels, the mast of a boat, and a sail or two. Seated upon the
tubs were three or four men coarsely dressed, like fishermen or
shipwrights. The principal personage was a surly ill-tempered-
looking fellow of about thirty-five, whom eventually I discovered
to be the alcalde of Finisterra, and lord of the house in which we
now were. In a corner I caught a glimpse of my guide, who was
evidently in durance, two stout fishermen standing before him, one
with a musket and the other with a boat-hook. After I had looked
about me for a minute, the alcalde, giving his whiskers a twist,
thus addressed me:-
"Who are you, where is your passport, and what brings you to
Finisterra?"
Myself. - I am an Englishman. Here is my passport, and I came to
see Finisterra.
This reply seemed to discomfit them for a moment. They looked at
each other, then at my passport. At length the alcalde, striking
it with his finger, bellowed forth:
"This is no Spanish passport; it appears to be written in French."
Myself. - I have already told you that I am a foreigner. I of
course carry a foreign passport.
Alcalde. - Then you mean to assert that you are not Calros Rey.
Myself. - I never heard before of such a king, nor indeed of such a
name.
Alcalde. - Hark to the fellow: he has the audacity to say that he
has never heard of Calros the pretender, who calls himself king.
Myself. - If you mean by Calros, the pretender Don Carlos, all I can
reply is, that you can scarcely be serious.
