Good-Bye, I Trow, To Bull
Funcions, And Novillos, And The Opera.
Good-bye to the hope of a
horse for the young gentleman.
Cavalier, I grow desperate: hold
your tongue, for God's sake! for I can talk no more."
On hearing this history I no longer wondered that the receiver-
general was eager to save a cuarto in the purchase of the oil for
the gaspacho of himself and family of eleven daughters, one son,
and a domestic.
We staid one week at Lugo, and then directed our steps to Coruna,
about twelve leagues distant. We arose before daybreak in order to
avail ourselves of the escort of the general post, in whose company
we travelled upwards of six leagues. There was much talk of
robbers, and flying parties of the factious, on which account our
escort was considerable. At the distance of five or six leagues
from Lugo, our guard, in lieu of regular soldiers, consisted of a
body of about fifty Miguelets. They had all the appearance of
banditti, but a finer body of ferocious fellows I never saw. They
were all men in the prime of life, mostly of tall stature, and of
Herculean brawn and limbs. They wore huge whiskers, and walked
with a fanfaronading air, as if they courted danger, and despised
it. In every respect they stood in contrast to the soldiers who
had hitherto escorted us, who were mere feeble boys from sixteen to
eighteen years of age, and possessed of neither energy nor
activity. The proper dress of the Miguelet, if it resembles
anything military, is something akin to that anciently used by the
English marines. They wear a peculiar kind of hat, and generally
leggings, or gaiters, and their arms are the gun and bayonet. The
colour of their dress is mostly dark brown. They observe little or
no discipline whether on a march or in the field of action. They
are excellent irregular troops, and when on actual service are
particularly useful as skirmishers. Their proper duty, however, is
to officiate as a species of police, and to clear the roads of
robbers, for which duty they are in one respect admirably
calculated, having been generally robbers themselves at one period
of their lives. Why these people are called Miguelets it is not
easy to say, but it is probable that they have derived this
appellation from the name of their original leader. I regret that
the paucity of my own information will not allow me to enter into
farther particulars with respect to this corps, concerning which I
have little doubt that many remarkable things might be said.
Becoming weary of the slow travelling of the post, I determined to
brave all risk, and to push forward. In this, however, I was
guilty of no slight imprudence, as by so doing I was near falling
into the hands of robbers. Two fellows suddenly confronted me with
presented carbines, which they probably intended to discharge into
my body, but they took fright at the noise of Antonio's horse, who
was following a little way behind.
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