第108章

Scarcely did they perceive us when two or three of them, starting from their couch, ran up to Antonio, whom they welcomed with much affection, calling him COMPANHEIRO."How came you to know these men?" I demanded in French."CESMESSIEURS SONT PRESQUE TOUS DE MA CONNOISSANCE," he replied, "ET, ENTRE NOUS, CE SONT DES VERITABLES VAURIENS; they are almost all robbers and assassins.That fellow, with one eye, who is the corporal, escaped a little time ago from Madrid, more than suspected of being concerned in an affair of poisoning; but he is safe enough here in his own country, and is placed to guard the frontier, as you see; but we must treat them civilly, mon maitre; we must give them wine, or they will be offended.I know them, mon maitre - I know them.Here, hostess, bring an azumbre of wine."Whilst Antonio was engaged in treating his friends, I led the horses to the stable; this was through the house, inn, or whatever it might be called.The stable was a wretched shed, in which the horses sank to their fetlocks in mud and puddle.

On inquiring for barley, I was told that I was now in Galicia, where barley was not used for provender, and was very rare.Iwas offered in lieu of it Indian corn, which, however, the horses ate without hesitation.There was no straw to be had;coarse hay, half green, being the substitute.By trampling about in the mud of the stable my horse soon lost a shoe, for which I searched in vain."Is there a blacksmith in the village?" I demanded of a shock-headed fellow who officiated as ostler.

OSTLER.- Si, Senhor; but I suppose you have brought horse-shoes with you, or that large beast of yours cannot be shod in this village.

MYSELF.- What do you mean? Is the blacksmith unequal to his trade? Cannot he put on a horse-shoe?

OSTLER.- Si, Senhor; he can put on a horse-shoe if you give it him; but there are no horse-shoes in Galicia, at least in these parts.

MYSELF.- Is it not customary then to shoe the horses in Galicia?

OSTLER.- Senhor, there are no horses in Galicia, there are only ponies; and those who bring horses to Galicia, and none but madmen ever do, must bring shoes to fit them; only shoes of ponies are to be found here.

MYSELF.- What do you mean by saying that only madmen bring horses to Galicia?

OSTLER.- Senhor, no horse can stand the food of Galicia and the mountains of Galicia long, without falling sick; and then if he does not die at once, he will cost you in farriers more than he is worth; besides, a horse is of no use here, and cannot perform amongst the broken ground the tenth part of the service which a little pony mare can.By the by, Senhor, Iperceive that yours is an entire horse; now out of twenty ponies that you see on the roads of Galicia, nineteen are mares; the males are sent down into Castile to be sold.

Senhor, your horse will become heated on our roads, and will catch the bad glanders, for which there is no remedy.Senhor, a man must be mad to bring any horse to Galicia, but twice mad to bring an entero, as you have done.

"A strange country this of Galicia," said I, and went to consult with Antonio.

It appeared that the information of the ostler was literally true with regard to the horse-shoe; at least the blacksmith of the village, to whom we conducted the animal, confessed his inability to shoe him, having none that would fit his hoof: he said it was very probable that we should be obliged to lead the animal to Lugo, which, being a cavalry station, we might perhaps find there what we wanted.He added, however, that the greatest part of the cavalry soldiers were mounted on the ponies of the country, the mortality amongst the horses brought from the level ground into Galicia being frightful.Lugo was ten leagues distant: there seemed, however, to be no remedy at hand but patience, and, having refreshed ourselves, we proceeded, leading our horses by the bridle.

We were now on level ground, being upon the very top of one of the highest mountains in Galicia.This level continued for about a league, when we began to descend.Before we had crossed the plain, which was overgrown with furze and brushwood, we came suddenly upon half a dozen fellows armed with muskets and wearing a tattered uniform.We at first supposed them to be banditti: they were, however, only a party of soldiers who had been detached from the station we had just quitted to escort one of the provincial posts or couriers.

They were clamorous for cigars, but offered us no farther incivility.Having no cigars to bestow, I gave them in lieu thereof a small piece of silver.Two of the worst looking were very eager to be permitted to escort us to Nogales, the village where we proposed to spend the night."By no means permit them, mon maitre," said Antonio, "they are two famous assassins of my acquaintance; I have known them at Madrid: in the first ravine they will shoot and plunder us." I therefore civilly declined their offer and departed."You seem to be acquainted with all the cut-throats in Galicia," said I to Antonio, as we descended the hill.

"With respect to those two fellows," he replied, "I knew them when I lived as cook in the family of General Q-, who is a Gallegan: they were sworn friends of the repostero.All the Gallegans in Madrid know each other, whether high or low makes no difference; there, at least, they are all good friends, and assist each other on all imaginable occasions; and if there be a Gallegan domestic in a house, the kitchen is sure to be filled with his countrymen, as the cook frequently knows to his cost, for they generally contrive to eat up any little perquisites which he may have reserved for himself and family."Somewhat less than half way down the mountain we reached a small village.On observing a blacksmith's shop, we stopped, in the faint hope of finding a shoe for the horse, who, for want of one, was rapidly becoming lame.To our great joy we found that the smith was in possession of one single horse-shoe, which some time previously he had found upon the way.