BRIGANDAGE AS A FINE ART.
HIGHWAY ROBBERY IN MODERN TIMES.—THE OLD WORLD AND THE NEW CONTRASTED.—HABITS OF RUSSIAN ROBBERS.—PIOUS THIEVES.—PRAYERS FOR SUCCESS.—ROAD AGENTS.—CRUELTIES OF ITALIAN BRIGANDS.—TORTURE AND RANSOM OF PRISONERS.—SPANISH BRIGANDS.—ADVENTURE ON A SPANISH ROAD.—AN AMERICAN PRINCE AND AN ENGLISH DUCHESS.—AN EXCITING RACE.—A DUCHESS IN UNDRESS.
Brigandage is rapidly becoming a thing of the past in most parts of Europe, thanks to the introduction of railways, and the gradual abolition of the mail coach and diligence. In France it occurs so rarely as to cause general comment whenever an instance is reported; and in Prussia and Austria one can travel, with little danger of highway robbery, from one end of the country to the other. Russia, which has few railways, has more cases of brigandage than its western neighbors, though the government always deals very severely with robbers when it catches them. Travellers in the eastern and southern parts of the Muscovite empire frequently encounter robbers on their route, and give up their purses with as good grace as they can muster. There is a law in Russia that forbids one to fire upon robbers, unless they outnumber him three to one; but as a man who is attacked can usually make conscientious oath that he thought his assailants very numerous, he is generally excused for any violation of the statute in such cases made and provided.
The land to which most of the Russian convicts are banished, Siberia, is, curiously enough, less dangerous for a traveller than the European possessions of the czar. In a land journey of five thousand miles, in Northern Asia, I was never disturbed by footpads, and suffered no apprehension. Had my tour been in midsummer, there would have been less security; but as it occurred in winter, when the thermometer frequently reached forty degrees below zero, the circumstances were not favorable to lying in wait for several hours, when the prospect was good that the highwayman would freeze to death before he could find some one on whom to try his skill.
HOLDING PRISONERS FOR RANSOM.
Of all European countries, Italy is the one at present whose sculpture, begging, painting, and highway robbery have attained the highest stage of perfection. In the southern part of the kingdom robberies are of frequent occurrence, and the mountains are full of bands, that have a regular organization for plundering travellers. Sometimes the scoundrels add murder to robbery, and they have a pleasant way of holding men for ransom. If the ransom money does not come as promptly as they desire, they detach a prisoner’s ear, and send it as a gentle hint for his friends to hurry up. If the ransom is still delayed, the other ear follows, then a finger, and so on, until the unfortunate traveller is about as much his former self as Hamlet without Hamlet.
The Italian brigands are a pious lot of thieves, and when they set out on a marauding expedition, they generally offer up prayers for a successful result. Russian robbers are equally devout. There is a story of a Muscovite highwayman, who one day killed a traveller, and, while rifling his pockets, discovered a cake containing meat. Though very hungry, he could not eat the cake, as the church fast then prevailing forbade the use of meat. The King of Italy has made very earnest efforts to suppress brigandage in his dominions; but he has not succeeded, partly on account of the pope declining to coöperate with him as fully as he desires, and partly owing to the fondness of the inhabitants for a wild life. The Ex-King of Naples, who resided in Rome until quite recently, was well known to be in league with the brigands, whom he hoped at some time to make the nucleus of an army in case he should deem it prudent to endeavor to regain his throne. Men who had been plundered on the roads of Southern Italy told me that they afterwards met their robbers on the Corso, or in the Piazza di Spagna, and saw them enter and leave the house of Ex-King Ferdinand.
ROAD AGENTS IN CALIFORNIA.
The most prosperous parts of the United States, in the matter of brigandage, as elsewhere stated, are the new states and territories west of the Missouri River. In Montana, Idaho, Nevada, and California, highway robberies are frequent; and it is sometimes the custom for the stage companies to supply passengers with rifles for their protection. But the robbers generally take the opportunity to approach when least expected, and in many cases they do not trouble the passengers, but content themselves with the treasure in charge of the express messenger. Generally the messenger shows fight, if the driver does not, and in some instances the robbers have paid dearly for their attempt. They are well armed, and the passengers usually find it best to submit, and hand over their money without grumbling. The Californians speak of these robbers as “road agents,” and I was much amused at the name the first time I heard it. I was starting from Stockton for Mariposa, and some one suggested, as I mounted to the outside of the coach, that the road agents might trouble us. I innocently asked if we were obliged to pay the tolls on the road, and suggested that the duty belonged to the company. There was a general laugh at my expense, as a fellow-passenger explained to me what a road agent was.
Spain can boast a fair allowance of brigands, though not as many as she could twenty years ago, on account of the construction of railways along the principal routes of travel. Probably the present troubles will leave the country in a very disordered condition, and for years to come there will be many men seeking their living by plundering others. The Spanish robbers are no less cruel than their Italian brethren, and they regard human life as of very little consequence. They do not hesitate to kill their victims when they think they will endanger their safety by leaving them alive. Mexico, Cuba, and the South American countries in general, copy the customs of the people who colonized them, and especially in Mexico robbery is considered one of the fine arts. Many wealthy people are not exempt from the suspicion of having acquired their property by foul means; and not unfrequently some of the high officers of the government are known to connive at the exploits of Mexican Jack Sheppards and Claude Duvals.