About Five Next Morning He Came To My Bedside To Take
Leave, As His Muleteers Were Preparing To Depart.
I gave him the
usual Spanish valediction (Vaya usted con Dios), and saw no more of
him.
At nine, after having paid a most exorbitant sum for slight
accommodation, I started from Arroyolos, which is a town or large
village situated on very elevated ground, and discernible afar off.
It can boast of the remains of a large ancient and seemingly
Moorish castle, which stands on a hill on the left as you take the
road to Estremoz.
About a mile from Arroyolos I overtook a train of carts escorted by
a number of Portuguese soldiers, conveying stores and ammunition
into Spain. Six or seven of these soldiers marched a considerable
way in front; they were villainous looking ruffians upon whose
livid and ghastly countenances were written murder, and all the
other crimes which the decalogue forbids. As I passed by, one of
them, with a harsh, croaking voice, commenced cursing all
foreigners. "There," said he, "is this Frenchman riding on
horseback" (I was on a mule), "with a man" (the idiot) "to take
care of him, and all because he is rich; whilst I, who am a poor
soldier, am obliged to tramp on foot. I could find it in my heart
to shoot him dead, for in what respect is he better than I? But he
is a foreigner, and the devil helps foreigners and hates the
Portuguese." He continued shouting his remarks until I got about
forty yards in advance, when I commenced laughing; but it would
have been more prudent in me to have held my peace, for the next
moment, with bang - bang, two bullets, well aimed, came whizzing
past my ears. A small river lay just before me, though the bridge
was a considerable way on my left. I spurred my animal through it,
closely followed by my terrified guide, and commenced galloping
along a sandy plain on the other side, and so escaped with my life.
These fellows, with the look of banditti, were in no respect
better; and the traveller who should meet them in a solitary place
would have little reason to bless his good fortune. One of the
carriers (all of whom were Spaniards from the neighbourhood of
Badajoz, and had been despatched into Portugal for the purpose of
conveying the stores), whom I afterwards met in the aforesaid town,
informed me that the whole party were equally bad, and that he and
his companions had been plundered by them of various articles, and
threatened with death if they attempted to complain. How frightful
to figure to oneself an army of such beings in a foreign land, sent
thither either to invade or defend; and yet Spain, at the time I am
writing this, is looking forward to armed assistance from Portugal.
May the Lord in his mercy grant that the soldiers who proceed to
her assistance may be of a different stamp: and yet, from the lax
state of discipline which exists in the Portuguese army, in
comparison with that of England and France, I am afraid that the
inoffensive population of the disturbed provinces will say that
wolves have been summoned to chase away foxes from the sheepfold.
O! may I live to see the day when soldiery will no longer be
tolerated in any civilized, or at least Christian, country!
I pursued my route to Estremoz, passing by Monte Moro Novo, which
is a tall dusky hill, surmounted by an ancient edifice, probably
Moorish. The country was dreary and deserted, but offering here
and there a valley studded with cork trees and azinheiras. After
midday the wind, which during the night and morning had much
abated, again blew with such violence as nearly to deprive me of my
senses, though it was still in our rear.
I was heartily glad when, on ascending a rising ground, at about
four o'clock, I saw Estremoz on its hill at something less than a
league's distance. Here the view became wildly interesting; the
sun was sinking in the midst of red and stormy clouds, and its rays
were reflected on the dun walls of the lofty town to which we were
wending. Nor far distant to the south-west rose Serra Dorso, which
I had seen from Evora, and which is the most beautiful mountain in
the Alemtejo. My idiot guide turned his uncouth visage towards it,
and becoming suddenly inspired, opened his mouth for the first time
during the day, I might almost say since we had left Aldea Gallega,
and began to tell me what rare hunting was to be obtained in that
mountain. He likewise described with great minuteness a wonderful
dog, which was kept in the neighbourhood for the purpose of
catching the wolves and wild boars, and for which the proprietor
had refused twenty moidores.
At length we reached Estremoz, and took up our quarters at the
principal inn, which looks upon a large plain or market-place
occupying the centre of the town, and which is so extensive that I
should think ten thousand soldiers at least might perform their
evolutions there with case.
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.
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