The Principal City
Is Evora, One Of The Most Ancient In Portugal, And Formerly The
Seat Of A Branch Of The Inquisition, Yet More Cruel And Baneful
Than The Terrible One Of Lisbon.
Evora lies about sixty miles from
Lisbon, and to Evora I determined on going with twenty Testaments
and two Bibles.
How I fared there will presently be seen.
CHAPTER II
Boatmen of the Tagus - Dangers of the Stream - Aldea Gallega - The
Hostelry - Robbers - Sabocha - Adventure of a Muleteer - Estalagem de
Ladroes - Don Geronimo - Vendas Novas - Royal Residence - Swine of the
Alemtejo - Monto Moro - Swayne Vonved - Singular Goatherd - Children of
the Fields - Infidels and Sadducees.
On the afternoon of the sixth of December I set out for Evora,
accompanied by my servant. I had been informed that the tide would
serve for the regular passage-boats, or felouks, as they are
called, at about four o'clock, but on reaching the side of the
Tagus opposite to Aldea Gallega, between which place and Lisbon the
boats ply, I found that the tide would not permit them to start
before eight o'clock. Had I waited for them I should have probably
landed at Aldea Gallega about midnight, and I felt little
inclination to make my entree in the Alemtejo at that hour;
therefore, as I saw small boats which can push off at any time
lying near in abundance, I determined upon hiring one of them for
the passage, though the expense would be thus considerably
increased. I soon agreed with a wild-looking lad, who told me that
he was in part owner of one of the boats, to take me over. I was
not aware of the danger in crossing the Tagus at its broadest part,
which is opposite Aldea Gallega, at any time, but especially at
close of day in the winter season, or I should certainly not have
ventured. The lad and his comrade, a miserable looking object,
whose only clothing, notwithstanding the season, was a tattered
jerkin and trousers, rowed until we had advanced about half a mile
from the land; they then set up a large sail, and the lad, who
seemed to direct everything and to be the principal, took the helm
and steered. The evening was now setting in; the sun was not far
from its bourne in the horizon, the air was very cold, the wind was
rising, and the waves of the noble Tagus began to be crested with
foam. I told the boy that it was scarcely possible for the boat to
carry so much sail without upsetting, upon which he laughed, and
began to gabble in a most incoherent manner. He had the most harsh
and rapid articulation that has ever come under my observation in
any human being; it was the scream of the hyena blended with the
bark of the terrier, though it was by no means an index of his
disposition, which I soon found to be light, merry, and anything
but malevolent, for when I, in order to show him that I cared
little about him, began to hum "Eu que sou Contrabandista," he
laughed heartily and said, clapping me on the shoulder, that he
would not drown us if he could help it. The other poor fellow
seemed by no means averse to go to the bottom; he sat at the fore
part of the boat looking the image of famine, and only smiled when
the waters broke over the weather side and soaked his scanty
habiliments. In a little time I had made up my mind that our last
hour was come; the wind was getting higher, the short dangerous
waves were more foamy, the boat was frequently on its beam, and the
water came over the lee side in torrents; but still the wild lad at
the helm held on laughing and chattering, and occasionally yelling
out part of the Miguelite air, "Quando el Rey chegou" the singing
of which in Lisbon is imprisonment.
The stream was against us, but the wind was in our favour, and we
sprang along at a wonderful rate, and I saw that our only chance of
escape was in speedily passing the farther bank of the Tagus where
the bight or bay at the extremity of which stands Aldea Gallega
commences, for we should not then have to battle with the waves of
the stream, which the adverse wind lashed into fury. It was the
will of the Almighty to permit us speedily to gain this shelter,
but not before the boat was nearly filled with water, and we were
all wet to the skin. At about seven o'clock in the evening we
reached Aldea Gallega, shivering with cold and in a most deplorable
plight.
Aldea Gallega, or the Galician Village (for the two words are
Spanish, and have that signification), it a place containing, I
should think, about four thousand inhabitants. It was pitchy dark
when we landed, but rockets soon began to fly about in all
directions, illuming the air far and wide. As we passed along the
dirty unpaved street which leads to the Largo, or square in which
the inn is situated, a horrible uproar of drums and voices assailed
our ears. On inquiring the cause of all this bustle, I was
informed that it was the eve of the Conception of the Virgin.
As it was not the custom of the people at the inn to furnish
provisions for the guests, I wandered about in search of food; and
at last seeing some soldiers eating and drinking in a species of
wine-house, I went in and asked the people to let me have some
supper, and in a short time they furnished me with a tolerable
meal, for which, however, they charged three crowns.
Having engaged with a person for mules to carry us to Evora, which
were to be ready at five next morning, I soon retired to bed, my
servant sleeping in the same apartment, which was the only one in
the house vacant.
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