"He Is No More An
Englishman Than Yourself," He Exclaimed; "If He Were An Englishman
Would He Have Come In This Manner, Skulking Across The Land?
Not
so I trow.
He would have come in a ship, recommended to some of
us, or to the Catalans. He would have come to trade, to buy; but
nobody knows him in Finisterra, nor does he know anybody: and the
first thing, moreover, that he does when he reaches this place is
to inspect the fort, and to ascend the mountain where, no doubt, he
has been marking out a camp. What brings him to Finisterra if he
is neither Calros nor a bribon of a faccioso?"
I felt that there was a good deal of justice in some of these
remarks, and I was aware, for the first time, that I had, indeed,
committed a great imprudence in coming to this wild place, and
among these barbarous people, without being able to assign any
motive which could appear at all valid in their eyes. I
endeavoured to convince the alcalde that I had come across the
country for the purpose of making myself acquainted with the many
remarkable objects which it contained, and of obtaining information
respecting the character and condition of the inhabitants. He
could understand no such motives. "What did you ascend the
mountain for?" "To see prospects." "Disparate! I have lived at
Finisterra forty years and never ascended that mountain. I would
not do it in a day like this for two ounces of gold.
Enter page number
PreviousNext
Page 447 of 809
Words from 123261 to 123516
of 222596
