I Dismounted And Went Up To The Place, And Saw The Vestiges Of A
Fire And A Broken Bottle.
The sons of plunder had been there very
lately.
I left a New Testament and some tracts amongst the ruins,
and hastened away.
The sun had dispelled the mists and was beaming very hot; we rode
on for about an hour, when I heard the neighing of a horse in our
rear, and our guide said there was a party of horsemen behind; our
mules were good, and they did not overtake us for at least twenty
minutes. The headmost rider was a gentleman in a fashionable
travelling dress; a little way behind were an officer, two
soldiers, and a boy in livery. I heard the principal horseman, on
overtaking my servant, inquiring who I was, and whether French or
English. He was told I was an English gentleman, travelling. He
then asked whether I understood Portuguese; the man said I
understood it, but he believed that I spoke French and Italian
better. The gentleman then spurred on his horse and accosted me,
not in Portuguese, nor in French or Italian, but in the purest
English that I ever heard spoken by a foreigner; it had, indeed,
nothing of foreign accent or pronunciation in it; and had I not
known, by the countenance of the speaker, that he was no
Englishman, (for there is a peculiarity in the countenance, as
everybody knows, which, though it cannot be described, is sure to
betray the Englishman), I should have concluded that I was in
company with a countryman.
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