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.
CHAPTER IX
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.
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 carrasco; blue mountains are however
seen towering up in the far distance, which relieve the scene from
the monotony which would otherwise pervade it.
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 (shears) 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.
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.
Antonio. - Good evening, brother; they tell me that on the
callicaste (day after to-morrow) you intend to set out for
Madrilati.
Myself. - Such is my intention; I can stay here no longer.
Antonio. - The way is far to Madrilati: there are, moreover, wars
in the land and many chories (thieves) walk about; are you not
afraid to journey?
Myself. - I have no fears; every man must accomplish his destiny:
what befalls my body or soul was written in a gabicote (book) a
thousand years before the foundation of the world.
Antonio. - 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 (fair); I have got the bar lachi in my bosom,
the precious stone to which sticks the needle.
Myself. - You mean the loadstone, I suppose. Do you believe that a
lifeless stone can preserve you from the dangers which occasionally
threaten your life?
Antonio. - 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 Busne. The bullets of the
Gabine (French) and of the jara canallis (revenue officers) have
hissed about my ears without injuring me, for I carried the bar
lachi. I have twenty times done that which by Busnee law should
have brought me to the filimicha (gallows), yet my neck has never
yet been squeezed by the cold garrote. Brother, I trust in the bar
lachi, like the Calore of old: were I in the midst of the gulph of
Bombardo (Lyons), 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.
Myself. - 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.
Antonio. - Brother, do you know what brings me hither?
Myself. - I cannot tell, unless it be to wish me a happy journey: I
am not gypsy enough to interpret the thoughts of other people.
Antonio. - 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 (Castile) 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 Cales are leaving their towns and
villages, and forming themselves into troops to plunder the Busne,
for there is now but little law in the land, and now or never is
the time for the Calore 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:
