his, had just arrived, who, a few days before, had been stopped by robbers, on the very road which I was to travel; and though they had two lancers with them, as an escort, and were all mounted, yet their arms, horses, and money had all been taken from them, when they were led away into the woods, where they found forty other persons tied to the trees, who had just been taken and treated in the same manner with themselves. Warned by this, and a multitude of other robber stories, I took with me only such articles of clothing as a small valise would contain, together with an umbrella, and an old and trusty cane, which had long been my stay and support when bowed with fatigue, and more than once had defended me from injury and lawless aggression. A merchant in Lisbon, with whom the smugglers trade, had bargained with them to furnish me a mule, and give me a safe convoy as far as Badajoz, in Spain, for eight dollars. A letter of credit on the different places through which we were to pass, secured me from losing much money, in case I should be robbed, and thus equipped I left Lisbon. The first eighteen miles of our journey we were to sail up the Tagus; and on reaching the felucca in which we were to go, I first met a party of my future companions. They were putting on board their bales of goods; and the wharf, and the vessels around it, were covered with sailors and porters, all bawling at the top of their voices, as the lower classes among the lively nations of Southern Europe are wont to do, when business collects them together in crowds. The same habit prevails among the higher classes, too, in Naples, and other large cities where the constant rattling of carriages over the paved streets entirely drowns the voice, if raised only to its ordinary key. - Το Our little vessel, as is common in these countries, was decked with divers emblems of the Catholic faith. say nothing of pictures of the saints, and rudely painted figures of groups of ballet dancers, tossing themselves in the air in no very decent manner, there was, also, near the stern, the following inscription, "May our Lady of Attalia assist and accompany us." This lady is the Virgin Mary, or rather one of the thousands of images of that saint, each one of which has its peculiar merits, its distinct miracles, ascribed to it, and its separate train of worshippers; yet we are gravely told, that this is not idolatry. Of "our Lady of Attalia" I know nothing, save that the next day a chapel de voted to her was pointed out to me on an eminence at some distance from the road, while, by the wayside, there was a strong iron-bound box, secured by a large padlock, and fastened to a post, having, in the top of it, a small hole, through which such devout travellers as might wish a special interest in her favor, might drop the money necessary to pay her for her kindness. When we put off from the wharf at Lisbon, there were two porters so busily engaged in disputing with one of the passengers, who, they claimed, wished to defraud them of their just dues, that they did not notice that the vessel was in motion until it was too late for them to leave it. In vain they shouted to the boatmen to come and take them off, and after retorting as best they could, the rude and noisy gibes and jokes of those on board, at length, like good philosophers, they took possession of a quiet corner, drew from their pockets a paper cigar, struck fire with a flint and steel, and were soon enveloped in a cloud of smoke which seemed to wrap them in forgetfulness, and shut out every worldly care. Thus we passed on, until the dashing of the spray and the keen evening air, drove us all into the cabin. We lowered ourselves into it through a hatchway; and there, in a place about three feet high, and ten feet square, twenty or more were stowed, with only a faint and feeble light from a single lamp, while the savage faces, and the rude dress of those around, dimly seen through clouds of tobacco smoke, combined with the loud wrangling, and jesting, and boisterous laughter of a dozen voices tuned to the highest key, all formed a kind of floating Pandemonium such as I have no desire ever to meet with again. A change from such a place, even to the rude Posada where we spent the night, was truly desirable. As these resting-places of the weary traveller are different from any thing to be met with in our own country, it may not be amiss briefly to describe them. The Posadas, or rude inns which are met with in the more unfrequented parts of Spain and Portugal, are intended for the accommodation of the lower classes, such as smugglers and the like, who transport articles of merchandise upon mules or donkeys, or in rude carts. The few "Royal Roads," as they are called, which there are in Portugal, are paved with large round stones, and this, together with the fact that they are often sadly out of repair, makes them almost impassable for wheel-carriages. Hence stages or diligences are unknown there, and the few travellers, who venture to cross the country, use either mules or horses, and are obliged to content themselves with such fare and lodgings as they may chance to meet with. Even in Spain, too, beds are so frequently carried by passengers in the diligences as to be put down in the printed bills of the rates paid for baggage, and also in the receipts for fare, which are given to the traveller. The Posadas referred to above, like all other structures in these countries, are built of stone, plastered and whitewashed, and have roofs of tile. They are commonly but one story high, with large folding-doors in front, which open into a spacious apartment with a floor of earth, where the carts, goods, and pack-saddles of those who stop for the night are placed, and where, too, the smugglers and those akin to them eat, drink, and sleep. In one corner is a huge chimney, such as may still be seen in some parts of New England, among the remnants of days gone by. Within the fireplace there is room enough for eight or ten persons, and a small tea-party might be held at each end of the back-log. In the kitchens the chimneys often extend the whole width of the room, with a fire made on the stone pavement in the centre, so that in the evening there is often an entire circle of chairs and benches occupied by travellers, which enclose the fire on all sides, while within the mistress and maids are busily engaged in cooking and other household matters. In front of the fire, in the room first spoken of, are a long rude table and benches where the eating is done, and there my companions the smugglers took the only meal which they eat during the day. Though we started at from three to five o'clock each morning, we did not stop until night except for a few minutes to water the mules, so that whatever was eaten must be taken on the wing. This commonly consisted of bread, on which, in place of butter, slices of raw pork were spread, of which each man carried a supply in a vessel made of the large end of an ox-horn, stopped at each end with wood. They ate sitting upon their mules, or running along beside them, and washed down their food with free potations of wine, which they carried in leather bottles. When these were empty they filled them at some wine-shop, or where they saw a house with a leaf-covered bough hanging on the outer walls, which is the common sign to show that wine is sold there. At night, however, all troubles were forgotten. The mules were put in a stable adjoining the room occupied by their masters, or at the inner extremity of the same apartment, and there, from long rows of cribs attached to the walls, they quietly ate their straw and provender. The family apartments, and the room allotted to such travellers as do not sleep upon the floor or benches, with its single bed of wool, which had not always a bedstead under it, commonly occupied opposite corners of the main building, and were mere appendages to it. Sometimes our own party would be joined for the night by another who were travelling in an opposite direction, and then some forty or fifty would sit down at the table together. They disposed of no small quantity of soup made of bread and vegetables, followed by huge dishes of boiled peas or beans, and divers stews composed of a mixture of salt pork, fowl, sausage, and other meats, seasoned with garlic and various nameless abominations. The aqua-ardente, or fire-water, too, made its rounds, — a vile potation, manufactured from bad wine, or from grapes after the wine is extracted, and perfumed with anise-seed. Then they gambled, smoked, and sung, shouted, wrangled, told stories, caroused, and sent forth peals of boisterous laughter, until sleep overtook them, when each one, wrapped in his blanket, took his rest stretched out upon the hearth or ground, or on a bench or bales of goods, and thus remained until aroused to commence the journey of the coming day. Some of these evening scenes, when the smugglers were all in their glory, with their rude clothing, their wild savage faces shaded by their broad-brimmed slouched hats, while all was dimly lighted up by the inconstant blaze of the fire, and a single lamp which hung upon the wall, now drawing their knives in the height of angry dispute, and then laughing and carousing with the utmost glee, all formed a scene wild and exciting enough for the most romantic fancy, and furnished a subject worthy of the pen of Scott or of Byron, or the bold and graphic pencil of Salvator Rosa. Still, there was something novel and pleasant in such excitement, and it seemed aptly to harmonize with the untamed rudeness of surrounding nature, and the free and gladsome revellings of the healthful mountain breezes. The mule on which I rode had a huge pack-saddle without stirrups, so that to rest myself it was necessary sometimes to ride sideways, taking special care to preserve the balance of trade, so as not to fall off backwards upon my head; then, leaping upon the ground and joining some of the smugglers, draw from them the history of their past adventures, or, asking them of their families and their homes, witness with pleasure how domestic affection softened their hearts, and for the time changed to an air of mildness and humanity the rude, unpolished roughness of their natures. Again, strolling off alone, I would fill my pockets with the nuts of the cork-tree, or, pausing on the summit of a hill, watch the descent of our long train of mules; while, winding along the rude steep path of an opposite hill, another company approached us, and, meeting at the wild stream which flowed through the intervening valley, the hasty greeting of the muleteers, their laughter, and their noisy jokes, were echoed back by surrounding rocks and trees. There was, too, no fear of danger, for each man beside other arms had a trusty gun hanging by his saddle, and knew well how to use it. The smugglers, also, as they told me, were acquainted with many of the robbers, and while these latter would probably be worsted, were they to make an attack, they might also expose themselves to the danger of being denounced to the officers of justice by those who knew more of their character and deeds than they would like to have disclosed. The patriarch of the party whose mule I rode, and whose son acted as my man Friday, had seen near sixty years, and was an old offender in the way of smuggling. He was rather a mild, still man, but with those small quick eyes which show great shrewdness and cunning. He seemed also to have grown tougher as he grew older, and rarely mounted his mule, but like a skilful navigator, who is ever intent on trimming the sails and squaring the yards of his ship, he was now behind and then before, looking carefully to see if the burdens on the opposite sides of his mules hung so as to balance each other, and when they did not, lifting up one and pulling down another, until all was right. The wag of the company was a young man of sixteen or eighteen years old, of a short full form, but well made, with a broad face, and one of those wide oddly formed mouths, which look as if they were made on purpose to say droll things and to laugh with. Like most of the lower classes in Portugal and a large part of Spain, he wore a jacket, small clothes, and leather leggins, reaching from the knee down, while on his head was a broad-brimmed hat, with a low round crown. He was in his dress a laughable burlesque on the fashions |