The Bible in Spain Volume I Part 6

CHAPTER VIII.

Elvas-Extraordinary Longevity-The English Nation-Portuguese Ingrat.i.tude-Illiberality-Fortifications-Spanish Beggar-Badajoz-The Custom-House.

Arrived at the gate of Elvas, an officer came out of a kind of guard-house, and, having asked me some questions, despatched a soldier with me to the police-office, that my pa.s.sport might be _vise_, as upon the frontier they are much more particular with respect to pa.s.sports than in other parts. This matter having been settled, I entered an hostelry near the same gate, which had been recommended to me by my host at Vendas Novas, and which was kept by a person of the name of Joze Rosado. It was the best in the town, though, for convenience and accommodation, inferior to a hedge alehouse in England. The cold still pursued me, and I was glad to take refuge in an inner kitchen, which, when the door was not open, was only lighted by a fire burning somewhat dimly on the hearth.

An elderly female sat beside it in her chair, telling her beads: there was something singular and extraordinary in her look, as well as I could discern by the imperfect light of the apartment. I put a few unimportant questions to her, to which she replied, but seemed to be afflicted to a slight degree with deafness. Her hair was becoming grey, and I said that I believed she was older than myself, but that I was confident she had less snow on her head.

"How old may you be, cavalier?" said she, giving me that t.i.tle which in Spain is generally used when an extraordinary degree of respect is wished to be exhibited. I answered that I was near thirty. "Then," said she, "you were right in supposing that I am older than yourself; I am older than your mother, or your mother's mother: it is more than a hundred years since I was a girl, and sported with the daughters of the town on the hillside." "In that case," said I, "you doubtless remember the earthquake." "Yes," she replied, "if there is any occurrence in my life that I remember, it is that: I was in the church of Elvas at the moment, hearing the Ma.s.s of the king, and the priest fell on the ground, and let fall the Host from his hands. I shall never forget how the earth shook; it made us all sick; and the houses and walls reeled like drunkards.

Since that happened I have seen fourscore years pa.s.s by me, yet I was older then than you are now."

I looked with wonder at this surprising female, and could scarcely believe her words. I was, however, a.s.sured that she was in fact upwards of a hundred and ten years of age, and was considered the oldest person in Portugal. She still retained the use of her faculties in as full a degree as the generality of people who have scarcely attained the half of her age. She was related to the people of the house.

As the night advanced, several persons entered for the purpose of enjoying the comfort of the fire, and for the sake of conversation, for the house was a kind of news-room, where the princ.i.p.al speaker was the host, a man of some shrewdness and experience, who had served as a soldier in the British army. Amongst others was the officer who commanded at the gate. After a few observations, this gentleman, who was a good-looking young man of five and twenty, began to burst forth in violent declamation against the English nation and government, who, he said, had at all times proved themselves selfish and deceitful, but that their present conduct in respect to Spain was particularly infamous, for though it was in their power to put an end to the war at once, by sending a large army thither, they preferred sending a handful of troops, in order that the war might be prolonged, for no other reason than that it was of advantage to them. Having paid him an ironical compliment for his politeness and urbanity, I asked whether he reckoned amongst the selfish actions of the English government and nation, their having expended hundreds of millions of pounds sterling, and an ocean of precious blood, in fighting the battles of Spain and Portugal against Napoleon.

"Surely," said I, "the fort of Elvas above our heads, and still more the castle of Badajoz {96} over the water, speak volumes respecting English selfishness, and must, every time you view them, confirm you in the opinion which you have just expressed. And then, with respect to the present combat in Spain, the grat.i.tude which that country evinced to England after the French, by means of English armies, had been expelled,-grat.i.tude evinced by discouraging the trade of England on all occasions, and by offering up ma.s.ses in thanksgiving when the English heretics quitted the Spanish sh.o.r.es, ought now to induce England to exhaust and ruin herself, for the sake of hunting Don Carlos out of his mountains. In deference to your superior judgment," continued I to the officer, "I will endeavour to believe that it would be for the advantage of England were the war prolonged for an indefinite period; nevertheless, you would do me a particular favour by explaining by what process in chemistry blood shed in Spain will find its way into the English treasury in the shape of gold."

As he was not ready with his answer, I took up a plate of fruit which stood on the table beside me, and said, "What do you call these fruits?"

"Pomegranates and _bolotas_," he replied. "Right," said I, "a homebred Englishman could not have given me that answer; yet he is as much acquainted with pomegranates and _bolotas_ as your lords.h.i.+p is with the line of conduct which it is inc.u.mbent upon England to pursue in her foreign and domestic policy."

This answer of mine, I confess, was not that of a Christian, and proved to me how much of the leaven of the ancient man still pervaded me; yet I must be permitted to add that I believe no other provocation would have elicited from me a reply so full of angry feeling: but I could not command myself when I heard my own glorious land traduced in this unmerited manner. By whom? A Portuguese! A native of a country which has been twice liberated from horrid and detestable thraldom by the hands of Englishmen. But for Wellington and his heroes, Portugal would have been French at this day; but for Napier and his marines, Miguel would now be lording it in Lisbon. To return, however, to the officer: every one laughed at him, and he presently went away.

The next day I became acquainted with a respectable tradesman, of the name of Almeida, a man of talent, though rather rough in his manners. He expressed great abhorrence of the papal system, which had so long spread a darkness, like that of death, over his unfortunate country; and I had no sooner informed him that I had brought with me a certain quant.i.ty of Testaments, which it was my intention to leave for sale at Elvas, than he expressed a great desire to undertake the charge, and said that he would do the utmost in his power to procure a sale for them amongst his numerous customers. Upon showing him a copy, I remarked, "Your name is upon the t.i.tle-page;" the Portuguese version of the Holy Scriptures, {98} circulated by the Bible Society, having been executed by a Protestant, of the name of Almeida, and first published in the year 1712; whereupon he smiled, and observed that he esteemed it an honour to be connected in name at least with such a man. He scoffed at the idea of receiving any remuneration, and a.s.sured me that the feeling of being permitted to co-operate in so holy and useful a cause as the circulation of the Scriptures was quite a sufficient reward.

After having accomplished this matter, I proceeded to survey the environs of the place, and strolled up the hill to the fort on the north side of the town. The lower part of the hill is planted with _azinheiras_, which give it a picturesque appearance, and at the bottom is a small brook, which I crossed by means of stepping-stones. Arrived at the gate of the fort, I was stopped by the sentry, who, however, civilly told me that if I sent in my name to the commanding officer, he would make no objection to my visiting the interior. I accordingly sent in my card by a soldier who was lounging about, and, sitting down on a stone, waited his return.

He presently appeared, and inquired whether I was an Englishman; to which having replied in the affirmative, he said, "In that case, sir, you cannot enter; indeed, it is not the custom to permit any foreigners to visit the fort." I answered that it was perfectly indifferent to me whether I visited it or not; and, having taken a survey of Badajoz from the eastern side of the hill, descended by the way I came.

This is one of the beneficial results of protecting a nation, and squandering blood and treasure in its defence. The English, who have never been at war with Portugal, who have fought for its independence on land and sea, and always with success, who have forced themselves, by a treaty of commerce, {99} to drink its coa.r.s.e and filthy wines, which no other nation cares to taste, are the most unpopular people who visit Portugal. The French have ravaged the country with fire and sword, and shed the blood of its sons like water; the French buy not its fruits, and loathe its wines, yet there is no bad spirit in Portugal towards the French. The reason of this is no mystery; it is the nature not of the Portuguese only, but of corrupt and unregenerate man, to dislike his benefactors, who, by conferring benefits upon him, mortify in the most generous manner his miserable vanity.

There is no country in which the English are so popular as in France; {100} but, though the French have been frequently roughly handled by the English, and have seen their capital occupied by an English army, they have never been subjected to the supposed ignominy of receiving a.s.sistance from them.

The fortifications of Elvas are models of their kind, and, at the first view, it would seem that the town, if well garrisoned, might bid defiance to any hostile power; but it has its weak point: the western side is commanded by a hill, at the distance of half a mile, from which an experienced general would cannonade it, and probably with success. It is the last town in this part of Portugal, the distance to the Spanish frontier being barely two leagues. It was evidently built as a rival to Badajoz, upon which it looks down from its height across a sandy plain and over the sullen waters of the Guadiana; but, though a strong town, it can scarcely be called a defence to the frontier, which is open on all sides, so that there would not be the slightest necessity for an invading army to approach within a dozen leagues of its walls, should it be disposed to avoid them. Its fortifications are so extensive that ten thousand men at least would be required to man them, who, in the event of an invasion, might be far better employed in meeting the enemy in the open field. The French, during their occupation of Portugal, kept a small force in this place, who, at the approach of the British, retreated to the fort, where they shortly after capitulated.

Having nothing farther to detain me at Elvas, I proceeded to cross the frontier into Spain. My idiot guide was on his way back to Aldea Gallega; and, on the fifth of January, I mounted a sorry mule, without bridle or stirrups, which I guided by a species of halter, and followed by a lad who was to attend me on another, I spurred down the hill of Elvas to the plain, eager to arrive in old chivalrous, romantic Spain.

But I soon found that I had no need to quicken the beast which bore me, for, though covered with sores, wall-eyed, and with a kind of halt in its gait, it cantered along like the wind.

In little more than half an hour we arrived at a brook, whose waters ran vigorously between steep banks. A man who was standing on the side directed me to the ford in the squeaking dialect of Portugal; but whilst I was yet splas.h.i.+ng through the water, a voice from the other bank hailed me, in the magnificent language of Spain, in this guise: "_O_! _Senor Caballero_, _que me de usted una limosna por amor de Dios_, _una limosnita para que yo me compre un traguillo __de vino tinto_." {102a} In a moment I was on Spanish ground, as the brook, which is called Acaia, is the boundary here of the two kingdoms, and, having flung the beggar a small piece of silver, I cried in ecstasy, "_Santiago y cierra Espana_!"

{102b} and scoured on my way with more speed than before, paying, as Gil Blas says, little heed to the torrent of blessings which the mendicant poured forth in my rear: {102c} yet never was charity more unwisely bestowed, for I was subsequently informed that the fellow was a confirmed drunkard, who took his station every morning at the ford, where he remained the whole day for the purpose of extorting money from the pa.s.sengers, which he regularly spent every night in the wine-shops of Badajoz. To those who gave him money he returned blessings, and to those who refused, curses; being equally skilled and fluent in the use of either.

Badajoz was now in view, at the distance of little more than half a league. We soon took a turn to the left, towards a bridge of many arches across the Guadiana, which, though so famed in song and ballad, is a very unpicturesque stream, shallow and sluggish, though tolerably wide; its banks were white with linen which the washerwomen had spread out to dry in the sun, which was s.h.i.+ning brightly; I heard their singing at a great distance, and the theme seemed to be the praises of the river where they were toiling, for as I approached I could distinguish "Guadiana, Guadiana," which reverberated far and wide, p.r.o.nounced by the clear and strong voices in chorus of many a dark-cheeked maid and matron. I thought there was some a.n.a.logy between their employment and my own: I was about to tan my northern complexion by exposing myself to the hot sun of Spain, in the humble hope of being able to cleanse some of the foul stains of Popery from the minds of its children, with whom I had little acquaintance; whilst they were bronzing themselves on the banks of the river in order to make white the garments of strangers. The words of an Eastern poet returned forcibly to my mind-

"I'll weary myself each night and each day, To aid my unfortunate brothers; As the laundress tans her own face in the ray, To cleanse the garments of others."

Having crossed the bridge, {103a} we arrived at the northern gate, when out rushed from a species of sentry-box a fellow wearing on his head a high-peaked Andalusian hat, with his figure wrapped up in one of these immense cloaks {103b} so well known to those who have travelled in Spain, and which none but a Spaniard can wear in a becoming manner. Without saying a word, he laid hold of the halter of the mule, and began to lead it through the gate up a dirty street, crowded with long-cloaked people like himself. I asked him what he meant, but he deigned not to return an answer; the boy, however, who waited upon me, said that it was one of the gate-keepers, and that he was conducting us to the custom-house or _Alfandega_, where the baggage would be examined. Having arrived there, the fellow, who still maintained a dogged silence, began to pull the trunks off the sumpter-mule, and commenced uncording them. I was about to give him a severe reproof for his brutality; but before I could open my mouth a stout elderly personage appeared at the door, who I soon found was the princ.i.p.al officer. He looked at me for a moment, and then asked me, in the English language, if I was an Englishman. On my replying in the affirmative, he demanded of the fellow how he dared to have the insolence to touch the baggage without orders, and sternly bade him cord up the trunks again and place them on the mule, which he performed without uttering a word. The gentleman then asked what the trunks contained: I answered clothes and linen; when he begged pardon for the insolence of the subordinate, and informed me that I was at liberty to proceed where I thought proper. I thanked him for his exceeding politeness; and, under guidance of the boy, made the best of my way to the Inn of the Three Nations, {104} to which I had been recommended at Elvas.

CHAPTER IX.

Badajoz-Antonio the Gypsy-Antonio's Proposal-The Proposal accepted-Gypsy Breakfast-Departure from Badajoz-The Gypsy Donkey-Merida-The Ruined Wall-The Crone-The Land of the Moor-The Black Men-Life in the Desert-The Supper.

I was now at Badajoz in Spain, a country which for the next four years was destined to be the scene of my labours: but I will not antic.i.p.ate.

The neighbourhood of Badajoz did not prepossess me much in favour of the country which I had just entered. It consists chiefly of brown moors, which bear little but a species of brushwood, called in Spanish _carrasco_; blue mountains are, however, seen towering up in the far distance, which relieve the scene from the monotony which would otherwise pervade it.

It was at this town of Badajoz, the capital of Estremadura, that I first fell in with those singular people, the _Zincali_, _Gitanos_, or Spanish gypsies. It was here I met with the wild Paco, {105a} the man with the withered arm, who wielded the _cachas_ {105b} with his left hand; his shrewd wife, Antonia, skilled in _hokkano __baro_, or the great trick {106a}; the fierce gypsy, Antonio Lopez, their father-in-law; and many other almost equally singular individuals of the _Errate_, or gypsy blood. It was here that I first preached the gospel to the gypsy people, and commenced that translation of the New Testament in the Spanish gypsy tongue, a portion of which I subsequently printed at Madrid.

After a stay of three weeks at Badajoz, I prepared to depart for Madrid: late one afternoon, as I was arranging my scanty baggage, the gypsy Antonio entered my apartment, dressed in his _zamarra_ and high-peaked Andalusian hat.

_Antonio_.-Good evening, brother; they tell me that on the _callicaste_ you intend to set out for _Madrilati_.

_Myself_.-Such is my intention; I can stay here no longer.

_Antonio_.-The way is far to _Madrilati_, there are, moreover, wars in the land, and many _chories_ walk about; are you not afraid to journey?

_Myself_.-I have no fears; every man must accomplish his destiny: what befalls my body or soul was written in a _gabicote_ a thousand years before the foundation of the world.

_Antonio_.-I have no fears myself, brother; the dark night is the same to me as the fair day, and the wild _carrascal_ as the market-place or the _chardi_; I have got the _bar lachi_ in my bosom, the precious stone to which sticks the needle. {106b}

_Myself_.-You mean the loadstone, I suppose. Do you believe that a lifeless stone can preserve you from the dangers which occasionally threaten your life?

_Antonio_.-Brother, I am fifty years old, and you see me standing before you in life and strength; how could that be unless the _bar lachi_ had power? I have been soldier and _contrabandista_, and I have likewise slain and robbed the _Busne_. The bullets of the _Gabine_ and of the _jara ca.n.a.llis_ have hissed about my ears without injuring me, for I carried the _bar lachi_. I have twenty times done that which by _Busne_ law should have brought me to the _filimicha_, yet my neck has never yet been squeezed by the cold _garrote_. Brother, I trust in the _bar lachi_, like the _Calore_ of old: were I in the midst of the gulph of _Bombardo_ without a plank to float upon, I should feel no fear; for if I carried the precious stone, it would bring me safe to sh.o.r.e. The _bar lachi_ has power, brother.

_Myself_.-I shall not dispute the matter with you, more especially as I am about to depart from Badajoz: I must speedily bid you farewell, and we shall see each other no more.

_Antonio_.-Brother, do you know what brings me hither?

_Myself_.-I cannot tell, unless it be to wish me a happy journey: I am not gypsy enough to interpret the thoughts of other people.

_Antonio_.-All last night I lay awake, thinking of the affairs of Egypt; and when I arose in the morning I took the _bar lachi_ from my bosom, and sc.r.a.ping it with a knife, swallowed some of the dust in _aguardiente_, as I am in the habit of doing when I have made up my mind; and I said to myself, I am wanted on the frontiers of _Castumba_ on a certain matter.

The strange _Caloro_ is about to proceed to _Madrilati_; the journey is long, and he may fall into evil hands, peradventure into those of his own blood; for let me tell you, brother, the _Cales_ are leaving their towns and villages, and forming themselves into troops to plunder the _Busne_, for there is now but little law in the land, and now or never is the time for the _Calore_ to become once more what they were in former times. So I said, the strange _Caloro_ may fall into the hands of his own blood and be ill-treated by them, which were shame: I will therefore go with him through the _Chim del Manro_ as far as the frontiers of _Castumba_, and upon the frontiers of _Castumba_ I will leave the London _Caloro_ to find his own way to _Madrilati_, for there is less danger in _Castumba_ than in the _Chim del Manro_, and I will then betake me to the affairs of Egypt which call me from hence.

_Myself_.-This is a very hopeful plan of yours, my friend; and in what manner do you propose that we shall travel?

_Antonio_.-I will tell you, brother. I have a _gras_ in the stall, even the one which I purchased at Olivencas, as I told you on a former occasion; {108} it is good and fleet, and cost me, who am a gypsy, fifty _chule_; upon that _gras_ you shall ride. As for myself, I will journey upon the _macho_.

_Myself_.-Before I answer you, I shall wish you to inform me what business it is which renders your presence necessary in _Castumba_; your son-in-law, Paco, told me that it was no longer the custom of the gypsies to wander.

_Antonio_.-It is an affair of Egypt, brother, and I shall not acquaint you with it; peradventure it relates to a horse or an a.s.s, or peradventure it relates to a mule or a _macho_; it does not relate to yourself, therefore I advise you not to inquire about it-_Dosta_. With respect to my offer, you are free to decline it; there is a _drungruje_ between here and _Madrilati_, and you can travel it in the _birdoche_, or with the _dromalis_; but I tell you, as a brother, that there are _chories_ upon the _drun_, and some of them are of the _Errate_.

Certainly few people in my situation would have accepted the offer of this singular gypsy. It was not, however, without its allurements for me; I was fond of adventure, and what more ready means of gratifying my love of it than by putting myself under the hands of such a guide? There are many who would have been afraid of treachery, but I had no fears on this point, as I did not believe that the fellow harboured the slightest ill intention towards me; I saw that he was fully convinced that I was one of the _Errate_, and his affection for his own race, and his hatred for the _Busne_, were his strongest characteristics. I wished, moreover, to lay hold of every opportunity of making myself acquainted with the ways of the Spanish gypsies, and an excellent one here presented itself on my first entrance into Spain. In a word, I determined to accompany the gypsy. "I will go with you," I exclaimed; "as for my baggage, I will despatch it to Madrid by the _birdoche_." "Do so, brother," he replied, "and the _gras_ will go lighter. Baggage, indeed!-what need of baggage have you? How the _Busne_ on the road would laugh if they saw two _Cales_ with baggage behind them!"

During my stay at Badajoz I had but little intercourse with the Spaniards, my time being chiefly devoted to the gypsies, with whom, from long intercourse with various sections of their race in different parts of the world, I felt myself much more at home than with the silent, reserved men of Spain, with whom a foreigner might mingle for half a century without having half a dozen words addressed to him, unless he himself made the first advances to intimacy, which, after all, might be rejected with a shrug and a _no entiendo_; {110} for among the many deeply-rooted prejudices of these people is the strange idea that no foreigner can speak their language, an idea to which they will still cling though they hear him conversing with perfect ease; for in that case the utmost that they will concede to his attainments is, _Habla quatro palabras y nada mas_ (he can speak four words, and no more).

Early one morning, before sunrise, I found myself at the house of Antonio; it was a small mean building, situated in a dirty street. The morning was quite dark; the street, however, was partially illumined by a heap of lighted straw, round which two or three men were busily engaged, apparently holding an object over the flames. Presently the gypsy's door opened, and Antonio made his appearance; and, casting his eye in the direction of the light, exclaimed, "The swine have killed their brother; would that every _Busno_ was served as yonder hog is. Come in, brother, and we will eat the heart of that hog." I scarcely understood his words, but following him, he led me into a low room, in which was a _brasero_, or small pan full of lighted charcoal; beside it was a rude table, spread with a coa.r.s.e linen cloth, upon which was bread and a large pipkin full of a mess which emitted no disagreeable savour. "The heart of the _balicho_ is in that _puchera_," said Antonio; "eat, brother." We both sat down and ate-Antonio voraciously. When we had concluded he arose:-"Have you got your _li_?" he demanded. "Here it is," said I, showing him my pa.s.sport. "Good," said he; "you may want it. I want none; my pa.s.sport is the _bar lachi_. Now for a gla.s.s of _repani_, and then for the road."

We left the room, the door of which he locked, hiding the key beneath a loose brick in a corner of the pa.s.sage. "Go into the street, brother, whilst I fetch the _caballerias_ from the stable." I obeyed him. The sun had not yet risen, and the air was piercingly cold; the grey light, however, of dawn enabled me to distinguish objects with tolerable accuracy; I soon heard the clattering of the animals' feet, and Antonio presently stepped forth, leading the horse by the bridle; the _macho_ followed behind. I looked at the horse, and shrugged my shoulders. As far as I could scan it, it appeared the most uncouth animal I had ever beheld. It was of a spectral white, short in the body, but with remarkably long legs. I observed that it was particularly high in the _cruz_, or withers. "You are looking at the _grasti_," said Antonio; "it is eighteen years old, but it is the very best in the _Chim del Manro_; I have long had my eye upon it; I bought it for my own use for the affairs of Egypt. Mount, brother, mount, and let us leave the _foros_-the gate is about being opened."