As For The Man,
No Tenga Usted Cuidao, He Is The Best Guide In All Galicia, Speaks
English And French, And Will Bear You Pleasant Company."
By this time I had reflected that by returning to Padron I should
indeed be only wasting time, and that
By endeavouring to have the
fellow punished, no benefit would accrue to me; moreover, as he
seemed to be a scoundrel in every sense of the word, I might as
well proceed in the company of any person as in his. I therefore
signified my intention of proceeding, and told him to go back in
the Lord's name, and repent of his sins. But having gained one
point, he thought he had best attempt another; so placing himself
about a yard before the jaco, he said that the price which I had
agreed to pay him for the loan of his horse (which by the by was
the full sum he had demanded) was by no means sufficient, and that
before I proceeded I must promise him two dollars more, adding that
he was either drunk or mad when he had made such a bargain. I was
now thoroughly incensed, and without a moment's reflection, spurred
the jaco, which flung him down in the dust, and passed over him.
Looking back at the distance of a hundred yards, I saw him standing
in the same place, his hat on the ground, gazing after us, and
crossing himself most devoutly. His servant, or whatever he was,
far from offering any assistance to his principal, no sooner saw
the jaco in motion than he ran on by its side, without word or
comment, farther than striking himself lustily on the thigh with
his right palm. We soon passed the Esclavitud, and presently
afterwards turned to the left into a stony broken path leading to
fields of maze. We passed by several farm-houses, and at last
arrived at a dingle, the sides of which were plentifully overgrown
with dwarf oaks, and which slanted down to a small dark river
shaded with trees, which we crossed by a rude bridge. By this time
I had had sufficient time to scan my odd companion from head to
foot. His utmost height, had he made the most of himself, might
perhaps have amounted to five feet one inch; but he seemed somewhat
inclined to stoop. Nature had gifted him with an immense head and
placed it clean upon his shoulders, for amongst the items of his
composition it did not appear that a neck had been included. Arms
long and brawny swung at his sides, and the whole of his frame was
as strong built and powerful as a wrestler's; his body was
supported by a pair of short but very nimble legs. His face was
very long, and would have borne some slight resemblance to a human
countenance, had the nose been more visible, for its place seemed
to have been entirely occupied by a wry mouth and large staring
eyes. His dress consisted of three articles: an old and tattered
hat of the Portuguese kind, broad at the crown and narrow at the
eaves, something which appeared to be a shirt, and dirty canvas
trousers. Willing to enter into conversation with him, and
remembering that the alquilador had informed me that he spoke
languages, I asked him, in English, if he had always acted in the
capacity of guide? Whereupon he turned his eyes with a singular
expression upon my face, gave a loud laugh, a long leap, and
clapped his hands thrice above his head. Perceiving that he did
not understand me, I repeated my demand in French, and was again
answered by the laugh, leap, and clapping. At last he said in
broken Spanish, "Master mine, speak Spanish in God's name, and I
can understand you, and still better if you speak Gallegan, but I
can promise no more. I heard what the alquilador told you, but he
is the greatest embustero in the whole land, and deceived you then
as he did when he promised to accompany you. I serve him for my
sins; but it was an evil hour when I left the deep sea and turned
guide." He then informed me that he was a native of Padron, and a
mariner by profession, having spent the greater part of his life in
the Spanish navy, in which service he had visited Cuba and many
parts of the Spanish Americas, adding, "when my master told you
that I should bear you pleasant company by the way, it was the only
word of truth that has come from his mouth for a month; and long
before you reach Finisterra you will have rejoiced that the
servant, and not the master, went with you: he is dull and heavy,
but I am what you see." He then gave two or three first-rate
summersets, again laughed loudly, and clapped his hands. "You
would scarcely think," he continued, "that I drove that little pony
yesterday heavily laden all the way from Coruna. We arrived at
Padron at two o'clock this morning; but we are nevertheless both
willing and able to undertake a fresh journey. No tenga usted
cuidao, as my master said, no one ever complains of that pony or of
me." In this kind of discourse we proceeded a considerable way
through a very picturesque country, until we reached a beautiful
village at the skirt of a mountain. "This village," said my guide,
"is called Los Angeles, because its church was built long since by
the angels; they placed a beam of gold beneath it, which they
brought down from heaven, and which was once a rafter of God's own
house. It runs all the way under the ground from hence to the
cathedral of Compostella."
Passing through the village, which he likewise informed me
possessed baths, and was much visited by the people of Santiago, we
shaped our course to the north-west, and by so doing doubled a
mountain which rose majestically over our heads, its top crowned
with bare and broken rocks, whilst on our right, on the other side
of a spacious valley, was a high range, connected with the
mountains to the northward of Saint James.
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