He Seemed To Have But One Theme, "The Robbers,"
And The Atrocities They Were In The Habit Of Practising In The Very
Spots We Were Passing.
The tales he told were truly horrible, and
to avoid them I mounted again, and rode on considerably in front.
In about an hour and a half we emerged from the forest, and entered
upon a savage, wild, broken ground, covered with mato, or
brushwood. The mules stopped to drink at a shallow pool, and on
looking to the right I saw a ruined wall. This, the guide informed
me, was the remains of Vendas Velhas, or the Old Inn, formerly the
haunt of the celebrated robber Sabocha. This Sabocha, it seems,
had, some sixteen years ago, a band of about forty ruffians at his
command, who infested these wilds, and supported themselves by
plunder. For a considerable time Sabocha pursued his atrocious
trade unsuspected, and many an unfortunate traveller was murdered
in the dead of night at the solitary inn by the wood-side, which he
kept; indeed, a more fit situation for plunder and murder I never
saw. The gang were in the habit of watering their horses at the
pool, and perhaps of washing therein their hands stained with the
blood of their victims; the lieutenant of the troop was the brother
of Sabocha, a fellow of great strength and ferocity, particularly
famous for the skill he possessed in darting a long knife, with
which he was in the habit of transfixing his opponents. Sabocha's
connection with the gang at length became known, and he fled, with
the greater part of his associates, across the Tagus to the
northern provinces. Himself and his brothers eventually lost their
lives on the road to Coimbra, in an engagement with the military.
His house was razed by order of the government.
The ruins are still frequently visited by banditti, who eat and
drink amidst them, and look out for prey, as the place commands a
view of the road. The old man assured me, that about two months
previous, on returning to Aldea Gallega with his mules from
accompanying some travellers, he had been knocked down, stripped
naked, and all his money taken from him, by a fellow whom he
believed came from this murderers' nest. He said that he was an
exceedingly powerful young man, with immense moustaches and
whiskers, and was armed with an espingarda, or musket. About ten
days subsequently he saw the robber at Vendas Novas, where we
should pass the night. The fellow on recognising him took him
aside, and, with horrid imprecations, threatened that he should
never be permitted to return home if he attempted to discover him;
he therefore held his peace, as there was little to be gained and
everything to be risked in apprehending him, as he would have been
speedily set at liberty for want of evidence to criminate him, and
then he would not have failed to have had his revenge, or would
have been anticipated therein by his comrades.
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