There Was A Prodigious Quantity Of Porter Consumed In My Presence
During The Short Hour That I Sat On The Bench Of That Hostelry Of
The Rock.
The passage before the bar was frequently filled with
officers, who lounged in for a refreshment which the sultry
Heat of
the weather rendered necessary, or at least inviting; whilst not a
few came galloping up to the door on small Barbary horses, which
are to be found in great abundance at Gibraltar. All seemed to be
on the best terms with the host, with whom they occasionally
discussed the merits of particular steeds, and whose jokes they
invariably received with unbounded approbation. There was much in
the demeanour and appearance of these young men, for the greater
part were quite young, which was highly interesting and agreeable.
Indeed, I believe it may be said of English officers in general,
that in personal appearance, and in polished manners, they bear the
palm from those of the same class over the world. True it is, that
the officers of the royal guard of Russia, especially of the three
noble regiments styled the Priberjensky, Simeonsky, and Finlansky
polks might fearlessly enter into competition in almost all points
with the flower of the British army; but it must be remembered,
that those regiments are officered by the choicest specimens of the
Sclavonian nobility, young men selected expressly for the splendour
of their persons, and for the superiority of their mental
endowments; whilst, probably, amongst all the fair-haired Angle-
Saxons youths whom I now saw gathered near me, there was not a
single one of noble ancestry, nor of proud and haughty name; and
certainly, so far from having been selected to flatter the pride
and add to the pomp of a despot, they had been taken
indiscriminately from a mass of ardent aspirants for military
glory, and sent on their country's service to a remote and
unhealthy colony. Nevertheless, they were such as their country
might be proud of, for gallant boys they looked, with courage on
their brows, beauty and health on their cheeks, and intelligence in
their hazel eyes.
Who is he who now stops before the door without entering, and
addresses a question to my host, who advances with a respectful
salute? He is no common man, or his appearance belies him
strangely. His dress is simple enough; a Spanish hat, with a
peaked crown and broad shadowy brim - the veritable sombrero - jean
pantaloons and blue hussar jacket; - but how well that dress becomes
one of the most noble-looking figures I ever beheld. I gazed upon
him with strange respect and admiration as he stood benignantly
smiling and joking in good Spanish with an impudent rock rascal,
who held in his hand a huge bogamante, or coarse carrion lobster,
which he would fain have persuaded him to purchase. He was almost
gigantically tall, towering nearly three inches above the burly
host himself, yet athletically symmetrical, and straight as the
pine tree of Dovrefeld.
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