This I Mention As A Necessary Piece Of Information To
Those Who May Be Inclined To Follow The Same Route.
We likewise
found it convenient to lay in store of l'eau de vie, or brandy,
for the use of the rowers, who always expect to share your
comforts.
On a meagre day, however, those ragamuffins will
rather die of hunger than suffer the least morsel of flesh-meat
to enter their mouths. I have frequently tried the experiment, by
pressing them to eat something gras, on a Friday or Saturday: but
they always declined it with marks of abhorrence, crying, Dio me
ne libere! God deliver me from it! or some other words to that
effect. I moreover observed, that not one of those fellows ever
swore an oath, or spoke an indecent word. They would by no means
put to sea, of a morning, before they had heard mass; and when
the wind was unfavourable, they always set out with a hymn to the
Blessed Virgin, or St. Elmo, keeping time with their oars as they
sung. I have indeed remarked all over this country, that a man
who transgresses the institutions of the church in these small
matters, is much more infamous than one who has committed the
most flagrant crimes against nature and morality. A murderer,
adulterer, or s - m - te, will obtain easy absolution from the
church, and even find favour with society; but a man who eats a
pidgeon on a Saturday, without express licence, is avoided and
abhorred, as a monster of reprobation.
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