To Me There Was Nothing Interesting In Them And Their
Surroundings, As They Had No Family And No People But
The native peons
about them, and, above all, no plantation where birds could be seen.
They were typical English people
Of the lower middle class, who read
no books and conversed, with considerable misuse of the aspirate,
about nothing but their own and their neighbours' affairs. Physically
Mr. Blake was a very big man, being six feet three in height and
powerfully built. He had a round ruddy face, clean-shaved except for a
pair of side-whiskers, and pale-blue shallow eyes. He was invariably
dressed in black cloth, his garments being home-made and too large for
him, the baggy trousers thrust into his long boots. Mr. Blake was
nothing to us but a huge, serious, somewhat silent man who took no
notice of small boys, and was clumsy and awkward and spoke very bad
Spanish. He was well spoken of by his neighbours, and was regarded as
a highly respectable and dignified person, but he had no intimates and
was one of those unfortunate persons, not rare among the English, who
appear to stand behind a high wall and, whether they desire it or not,
have no power to approach and mix with their fellow-beings.
I think he was about forty-five to fifty years old when I was eight.
His wife looked older and was a short ungraceful woman with a stoop,
wearing a sun-bonnet and sack and a faded gown made by herself.
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