I Shall Not Attempt To Describe Them, But Content
Myself With Observing, That The Oblong Basin, Which Is Surrounded
With A Granite Mole, Is Capacious Enough To Permit A Hundred First-
Rates To Lie Conveniently In Ordinary:
But instead of such a
force, I saw only a sixty-gun frigate and two brigs lying in this
basin, and to this inconsiderable number of vessels is the present
war marine of Spain reduced.
I waited for the arrival of Antonio two or three days at Ferrol,
and still he came not: late one evening, however, as I was looking
down the street, I perceived him advancing, leading our only horse
by the bridle. He informed me that, at about three leagues from
Coruna, the heat of the weather and the flies had so distressed the
animal that it had fallen down in a kind of fit, from which it had
been only relieved by copious bleeding, on which account he had
been compelled to halt for a day upon the road. The horse was
evidently in a very feeble state; and had a strange rattling in its
throat, which alarmed me it first. I however administered some
remedies, and in a few days deemed him sufficiently recovered to
proceed.
We accordingly started from Ferrol; having first hired a pony for
myself, and a guide who was to attend us as far as Rivadeo, twenty
leagues from Ferrol, and on the confines of the Asturias. The day
at first was fine, but ere we reached Novales, a distance of three
leagues, the sky became overcast, and a mist descended, accompanied
by a drizzling rain. The country through which we passed was very
picturesque. At about two in the afternoon we could descry through
the mist the small fishing town of Santa Marta on our left, with
its beautiful bay. Travelling along the summit of a line of hills,
we presently entered a chestnut forest, which appeared to be
without limit: the rain still descended, and kept up a ceaseless
pattering among the broad green leaves. "This is the commencement
of the autumnal rains," said the guide. "Many is the wetting that
you will get, my masters, before you reach Oviedo." "Have you ever
been as far as Oviedo?" I demanded. "No," he replied, "and once
only to Rivadeo, the place to which I am now conducting you, and I
tell you frankly that we shall soon be in wildernesses where the
way is hard to find, especially at night, and amidst rain and
waters. I wish I were fairly back to Ferrol, for I like not this
route, which is the worst in Galicia, in more respects than one;
but where my master's pony goes, there must I go too; such is the
life of us guides." I shrugged my shoulders at this intelligence,
which was by no means cheering, but made no answer. At length,
about nightfall, we emerged from the forest, and presently
descended into a deep valley at the foot of lofty hills.
"Where are we now?" I demanded of the guide, as we crossed a rude
bridge at the bottom of the valley, down which a rivulet swollen by
the rain foamed and roared. "In the valley of Coisa doiro," he
replied; "and it is my advice that we stay here for the night, and
do not venture among those hills, through which lies the path to
Viveiro; for as soon as we get there, adios! I shall be
bewildered, which will prove the destruction of us all." "Is there
a village nigh?" "Yes, the village is right before us, and we
shall be there in a moment." We soon reached the village, which
stood amongst some tall trees at the entrance of a pass which led
up amongst the hills. Antonio dismounted and entered two or three
of the cabins, but presently came to me, saying, "We cannot stay
here, mon maitre, without being devoured by vermin; we had better
be amongst the hills than in this place; there is neither fire nor
light in these cabins, and the rain is streaming through the
roofs." The guide, however, refused to proceed: "I could scarcely
find my way amongst those hills by daylight," he cried, surlily,
"much less at night, midst storm and bretima." We procured some
wine and maize bread from one of the cottages. Whilst we were
partaking of these, Antonio said, "Mon maitre, the best thing we
can do in our present situation, is to hire some fellow of this
village to conduct us through the hills to Viveiro. There are no
beds in this place, and if we lie down in the litter in our damp
clothes we shall catch a tertian of Galicia. Our present guide is
of no service, we must therefore find another to do his duty."
Without waiting for a reply, he flung down the crust of broa which
he was munching and disappeared. I subsequently learned that he
went to the cottage of the alcalde, and demanded, in the Queen's
name, a guide for the Greek ambassador, who was benighted on his
way to the Asturias. In about ten minutes I again saw him,
attended by the local functionary, who, to my surprise, made me a
profound bow, and stood bare-headed in the rain. "His excellency,"
shouted Antonio, "is in need of a guide to Viveiro. People of our
description are not compelled to pay for any service which they may
require; however, as his excellency has bowels of compassion, he is
willing to give three pesetas to any competent person who will
accompany him to Viveiro, and as much bread and wine as he can eat
and drink on his arrival." "His excellency shall be served," said
the alcalde; "however, as the way is long and the path is bad, and
there is much bretima amongst the hills, it appears to me that,
besides the bread and wine, his excellency can do no less than
offer four pesetas to the guide who may be willing to accompany him
to Viveiro; and I know no one better than my own son-in-law,
Juanito." "Content, senor alcalde," I replied; "produce the guide,
and the extra peseta shall be forthcoming in due season."
Soon appeared Juanito with a lantern in his hand.
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