LETTER XXXIII.
Nismes.
Monsr Anglois having sent me back my passa-porte, signed by Don Philipe Cabine, the Captain-General of Barcelona, accompanied by a very kind and friendly letter, I determined to quit the only place in Spain which had afforded me pleasure, amusement, and delight. We accordingly sat off the next day for Martorel, and went to the Three Kings, where our Italian host, whose extortions I had complained of before, received us with a face of the utmost disdain; and though he had no company in his house, put us into much worse apartments than those we had been in before. I ordered something for supper, and left it to him, as he had given us a very good one before; but he was not only determined to punish us in lodging, but in eating also, and sent only four little mutton cutlets, so small, that they were not sufficient for one, instead of four persons; we pretended, however, not to perceive his insolence, that he might not enjoy our punishment; and the next day, as I was desirous of looking about me a little, we removed to another posada, where, about noon, a Canon of great ecclesiastical preferment arrived, with a coach, six mules, and a large retinue, to dinner: the Canon had no more the marks of a gentleman than a muleteer; and he had with him two or three persons, of no better appearance. While his dinner, a kind of olla, was preparing, I went into the kitchen, where the smell of the rancid oil with which it was dressed, would have dined two or three men of moderate or tender stomachs; nor had he any other dish. There was behind his coach a great quantity of bedding, bed-steads, &c. so you will perceive he travelled comme il faut. His livery servants were numerous, and had on very short livery coats, with large sleeves, and still shorter waists. After he had eat a dinner, enough to poison a pack of hounds, he sat off in great pomp for Barcelona, a city I passed the next day with infinite pleasure, without entering its inhospitable gates; which I could not have done, had not Mons. Anglois saved me that mortification by getting my passa porte refreshed. I confess, Sir, that while I passed under the fortifications of that city, which the high road made necessary, I felt, I knew not why, a terror about me, that my frame is in general a stranger to; and rather risqued two hours' night travelling, bad and dangerous as the roads were, than sleep within four leagues of it; so that it was ten o'clock before we got to Martereau, a little city by the sea side, where we had lodged on our way to Barcelona. The next day, we proceeded on the same delightful sea coast we had before passed, and through the same rich villages, on our way to Girone, Figuiere, &c. and avoided that horrid posada where the Frenchman died, by lying at a worse house, but better people: but having bought a brace of partridges, and some red fish on the road, we fared sumptuously, except in beds, which were straw mattrasses, very hard, and the room full of wet Indian corn; but we were no sooner out of our posada, than the climate and the beautiful country made ample amends for the town and posada grievances.
It is contrary to the law of Spain to bring more than a certain quantity of Spanish gold or silver out of the kingdom, and I had near an hundred pounds in gold duras, about the size of our quarter guineas. I endeavoured to change them at Figuiere, but I found some very artful, I may say roguish, schemes laid, to defraud me, by a pretended difficulty to get French money, and therefore determined to proceed with it to Jonquiere, the last village, where it was not probable I could find so much French money. I therefore had a very large French queue made up, within which the greater part of my Spanish gold was bound; and as the weight made me hold up my tete d'or, the custom-house officers there, who remembered my entrance into Spain, found half-a-crown put into their hands less trouble than examining my baggage gratis; they accordingly passed me on my way to Bellegarde, without even opening it; and we found the road up to that fortress, though in the month of December, full as good as when we had passed it in the summer; and after descending on the French side, and crossing the river, got to the little auberge at Boulon, the same we had held too bad when we went into Spain, even to eat our breakfast at; but upon our return, worthy of a place of rest, and we accordingly staid there a week: beds with curtains, rooms with chimnies, and paper windows, though tattered and torn, were luxuries we had been unaccustomed to.—But I must not omit to tell you, that on our road down on the French side of the Pyrenees, two men, both armed with guns, rushed suddenly out of the woods, and making towards us, asked, whether we wanted a guard? I was walking, perhaps fortunately at that time, with my fuzee in my hand, and my servant had a double barrelled pistol in his; and therefore forbid them to approach us, and told them, we had nothing else to lose but our lives, and that if they did not retire I should look upon them as people who meant to plunder, rather than protect us: they accordingly retired into the woods, and I began to believe they had no evil intent; but finding an Exempt of the Marechaussee at Boulon, I told him what had passed, and asked him whether his men attended upon that road, in coloured cloaths, or any others were allotted, to protect or guard travellers? He assured me there were no such people of any kind; that his men always moved on horseback, in their proper character, and suspected our guard would have been very troublesome, had they found us off our guard; but he did not offer, nor did I ask him, to send after them, though he was a very civil, sensible man, who had been three years on duty in Corsica; and, consequently, his company, for the week I staid in such a poor town, was very agreeable. And as Mons. Bernard, or some officer of the Marechaussee, is always in duty at this town, I would advise those who enter into Spain, by that route, to procure a couple of those men to escorte them up to Bellegarde—an attention that no officer in France will refuse to shew, when it is not incompatible with his duty.
The rapid water at this town, which I had passed going into Spain, was now lower than usual. Here too my horse, as well as his master, lived truly in clover; and though our habitation was humble, a habitation at the very foot of the Pyrenees could not but be very beautiful; no part of France is more so; it is indeed a beautiful and noble sight, to see the hanging plantations of vines, olives, and mulberry-trees, warmed by a hot sun on the sides of those mountains, the upper parts of which are covered with a perpetual snow. But beautiful as all that part of the country is, there was not a single gentleman's house in the environs.
After a compleat week's refreshment, we proceeded to Perpignan to spend our Christmas, where we found the Chevalier de Maigny and his Lady, who had given us the letter of recommendation to the French Consul at Barcelona; who shewed us those marks of civility and politeness, French officers in general shew to strangers. There we staid a fortnight; and Mons. de Maigny got me a considerable profit, in changing my Spanish gold for French.
In this town, I found an unfortunate young Irishman; he had been there three months, without a friend or a shilling in his pocket; and as he was a man of education and good breeding, I could not so soon forget my own situation at Barcelona, not to pity his: but what most induced me to assist him a little, was, what he feared might have had a contrary effect. When I asked him his name, he readily answered, "R—h; an unfortunate name!" said he;—"but, as it is my name, I will wear it."—He had a well-wisher in the town, a French watch-maker, to whom he imparted the little kindness I had shewn him; and as it was not enough to conduct him on foot to the north side of this kingdom, the generous, but poor watch-maker, gave him as much as I had done, and he sat off with a light heart, though a thin pair of breeches, for his own country. He had been to visit a rich relation at Madrid; and, I believe, did not meet with so cordial a reception there as he expected.
At this town I drank, at a private gentleman's house, part of a bottle of the wine made at a little village hard by, called Rios Alto; the most delicious wine I ever tasted: but as the spot produces but a small quantity, that which is really of the growth is very scarce, as well as dear: it has the strength of full port, with a flavour superior to burgundy.
Perpignan is the principal city of Rosillein; it is well fortified, but the works are in a ruinous condition: the streets are narrow and dirty, but the Governor's, and the botanic gardens are worthy of notice: the climate is remarkably fine, and the air pure. The Pyrenees, which are at least fifteen miles distant, appear to hang in a manner over the town: to see so much snow, and feel so much sun, is very singular. Wood is very scarce and dear in that town: I frequently saw mules and asses loaded with rosemary and lavender bushes, to sell for firing. The barbarous language of the common people of this province, is very convenient, as they understand French, and can make themselves understood thro' a great part of Spain: from which kingdom not a day passes but mules and carriages arrive, except when the heavy rains or snow obstruct the communication.—The mules and asses of Spain, and this part of France, are not only very useful but valuable beasts: the only way to get a valuable one of either sort from Spain, is, to fix upon the beast, and promise a round sum to one of the religious mendicants to smuggle it out of the kingdom, who covers the animal with bags, baskets, and a variety of trumpery, as if he was going into France to collect charity: and passes either by not being suspected, or by being a Religieux if he is suspected.
As we took exactly the same route from Perpignan to this town as we went, except leaving Cette a few leagues on our left; I shall say nothing of our return, but that we relished our reception at the French inns, and the good cheer we found there, infinitely more than as we went: and that we were benighted for some hours before we got into Montpellier, and caught in the most dreadful storm of rain, thunder and lightning I ever was exposed to. I was obliged for two hours to hold my horse's bridle on one side, as my man did on the other, and feel with sticks for the margin of the road, as it was elevated very high above the marshy lands, and if the heel had slipped over on either side, it must have overset the chaise into the lowlands: besides which, the roaring of the water-streams was so great, that I very often thought we were upon the margin of some river or high bridge: nor was my suffering quite over even after I got into the city: I could not find my former auberge, nor meet with any body to direct me: and the water-spouts which fell into the middle of those narrow streets almost deluged us.—My poor horse, too, found the steep streets, slippery pavement, and tons of water which fell upon him, as much as he could well bear: but, as the old song says,