"Shall we make any
preparations for the supper of your worship and family?"
"No, I thank you," replied the stranger, "my own domestic will
prepare the slight refreshment we are in need of."
The key was delivered to the domestic, and the whole family
ensconced themselves in their apartment: before, however, this was
effected, the escort were dismissed, the principal carabineer being
presented with a peseta. The man stood surveying the gratuity for
about half a minute, as it glittered in the palm of his hand; then
with an abrupt Vamos! he turned upon his heel, and without a word
of salutation to any person, departed with the men under his
command.
"Who can these strangers be?" said I to the host, as we sat
together in a large corridor open on one side, and which occupied
the entire front of the house.
"I know not," he replied, "but by their escort I suppose they are
people holding some official situation. They are not of this
province, however, and I more than suspect them to be Andalusians."
In a few minutes the door of the apartment occupied by the
strangers was opened, and the domestic appeared bearing a cruse in
his hand. "Pray, Senor Patron," demanded he, "where can I buy some
oil?"
"There is oil in the house," replied the host, "if you want to
purchase any; but if, as is probable, you suppose that we shall
gain a cuarto by selling it, you will find some over the way. It
is as I suspected," continued the host, when the man had departed
on his errand, "they are Andalusians, and are about to make what
they call gaspacho, on which they will all sup. Oh, the meanness
of these Andalusians! they are come here to suck the vitals of
Galicia, and yet envy the poor innkeeper the gain of a cuarto in
the oil which they require for their gaspacho. I tell you one
thing, master, when that fellow returns, and demands bread and
garlic to mix with the oil, I will tell him there is none in the
house: as he has bought the oil abroad, so he may the bread and
garlic; aye, and the water too for that matter."
CHAPTER XXVI
Lugo - The Baths - A Family History - Miguelets - The Three Heads - A
Farrier - English Squadron - Sale of Testaments - Coruna - The
Recognition - Luigi Piozzi - The Speculation - A Blank Prospect - John
Moore.
At Lugo I found a wealthy bookseller, to whom I brought a letter of
recommendation from Madrid. He willingly undertook the sale of my
books. The Lord deigned to favour my feeble exertions in his cause
at Lugo. I brought thither thirty Testaments, all of which were
disposed of in one day; the bishop of the place, for Lugo is an
episcopal see, purchasing two copies for himself, whilst several
priests and ex-friars, instead of following the example of their
brethren at Leon, by persecuting the work, spoke well of it and
recommended its perusal. I was much grieved that my stock of these
holy books was exhausted, there being a great demand; and had I
been able to supply them, quadruple the quantity might have been
sold during the few days that I continued at Lugo.
Lugo contains about six thousand inhabitants. It is situated on
lofty ground, and is defended by ancient walls. It possesses no
very remarkable edifice, and the cathedral church itself is a small
mean building. In the centre of the town is the principal square,
a light cheerful place, not surrounded by those heavy cumbrous
buildings with which the Spaniards both in ancient and modern times
have encircled their plazas. It is singular enough that Lugo, at
present a place of very little importance, should at one period
have been the capital of Spain: yet such it was in the time of the
Romans, who, as they were a people not much guided by caprice, had
doubtless very excellent reasons for the preference which they gave
to the locality.
There are many Roman remains in the vicinity of this place, the
most remarkable of which are the ruins of the ancient medicinal
baths, which stand on the southern side of the river Minho, which
creeps through the valley beneath the town. The Minho in this
place is a dark and sullen stream, with high, precipitous, and
thickly wooded banks.
One evening I visited the baths, accompanied by my friend the
bookseller. They had been built over warm springs which flow into
the river. Notwithstanding their ruinous condition, they were
crowded with sick, hoping to derive benefit from the waters, which
are still famed for their sanative power. These patients exhibited
a strange spectacle as, wrapped in flannel gowns much resembling
shrouds, they lay immersed in the tepid waters amongst disjointed
stones, and overhung with steam and reek.
Three or four days after my arrival I was seated in the corridor
which, as I have already observed, occupied the entire front of the
house. The sky was unclouded, and the sun shone most gloriously,
enlivening every object around. Presently the door of the
apartment in which the strangers were lodged opened, and forth
walked the whole family, with the exception of the father, who, I
presumed, was absent on business. The shabby domestic brought up
the rear, and on leaving the apartment, carefully locked the door,
and secured the key in his pocket. The one son and the eleven
daughters were all dressed remarkably well: the boy something
after the English fashion, in jacket and trousers, the young ladies
in spotless white: they were, upon the whole, a very good-looking
family, with dark eyes and olive complexions, but the eldest
daughter was remarkably handsome. They arranged themselves upon
the benches of the corridor, the shabby domestic sitting down
amongst them without any ceremony whatever. They continued for
some time in silence, gazing with disconsolate looks upon the
houses of the suburb and the dark walls of the town, until the
eldest daughter, or senorita as she was called, broke silence with
an "Ay Dios mio!"
Domestic.
