44

COTTAGE ARRANGEMENTS.

This humble dwelling, which did not stand more than a few feet above the ground, was entered by a shabby door, through the broken boards of which we could perceive a light. I glanced slightly round before going in, and saw that the first room, which was evidently used as a salle-a-manger, was furnished with two benches and a long narrow table, round which were seated several men and women. The table was of course destitute of both cloth and plates, and was covered with the remains of an anchorite's repast-orange rinds, potatoe pearings, and in the middle, an earthenware dish of some yellow composition, most probably made of maize or lupine; a flask of one of the delicious wines so abundant in this country was passed round in an old cup which served as the only drinking cup of this numerous family, all of whom conversed with great animation; the men, however, seemed to me to be preoccupied with some unpleasant business, for their words were few and earnest, but I could not catch the meaning of what they said. These rascals, who were rather black than brown, wore long bristly beards, which almost concealed their countenances, while their brilliant eyes and thick eyebrows were half hidden by the broad brims of their palm-leaf hats. They took no notice of the salutation I offered them on entering, and did not even turn towards me; after a few minutes they all rose simultaneously, took down the long white cloaks which were hung round the room, majestically wrapped themselves up in these primitive mantles, and strode in a dignified manner from the apartment, without bestowing upon me a single glance of recognition, or a word of salutation.

FLATTERING PREFERENCE.

45

On enquiring whither these noble lords had gone, I was told that they had retired to bed, which appeared to me rather odd,—however, I most cordially wished them a sound and pleasant night's rest-and to say the truth, I should have been anything but pleased had they been going to pass the night at a distance which would have obliged them to travel the lonely road by which I should have to return to the town.

I was now left alone with seven women, all of them, with the exception of my conductress, very old and plain, indeed, so hideous were their dark wrinkled figures, that they would have been quite enough to frighten the very devil himself. As soon as their husbands had retired, they began to chatter to each other as fast as possible, staring at me all the while, and addressing a thousand questions to the young girl. My vanity was not a little flattered on discovering, from a few expressions which I caught now and then, that they were congratulating her on her conquest.

When their curiosity was satisfied, they addressed themselves to me, and commenced a pompous eulogy upon the charms of my young companion-pointing out to me the beauty of her eye and long hair-her graceful figure and pearly teeth; dwelling particularly upon my good fortune in being noticed by so beautiful a creature.

"In vain," they observed, "has a young Englishman, at the risk of breaking his neck, come climbing about here, every day, for two months-he has not been honoured even with a glance. A young Frenchman, the manager of some business which is now being transacted at Laguna, waylaid her every morning to offer her beautiful flowers and suitable compliments, but she has hitherto remained

46

UNSUCCESSFUL LOVERS.

quite insensible to his gallant attentions; in short," they added, "the Bishop of Laguna himself would not have been favourably received by her, had he not been clever and fortunate enough to please her."

While this conversation was going on, I took the opportunity of examining this lovely girl attentively; she was standing before me, with her arms crossed over her chest, resembling a noble Greek statue, while her chaste white drapery fell in thick soft folds around her, and I really thought her more beautiful than ever; the repose she had taken since our arrival had softened the brilliant colour on her cheek, which now only retained a delicate tinge, mingling imperceptibly with the extreme whiteness of her skin. She sat down by my side, and after joining, for a little time, in the general conversation, we commenced a highly interesting discourse apart from the others-the only drawback was, that we were greatly in want of a dictionary for the purpose of explaining the many pretty things exchanged between us, for the compliments I addressed to her in bad Spanish only made her laugh, and she chattered on with such volubility, that I could not always keep pace with her.

She informed me amongst other things, that her name was Iquacia, and that all the frightfully ugly women who bore us company were either her sisters or cousins : this appeared to me extraordinary, for I could scarcely believe that this lovely flower had sprung from the same race as the horrible creatures around us; so much was I captivated by the graceful and coquettish prattle of my fair companion, that I really forgot it was growing very late, and that I had to return to the city by a somewhat

COTTAGE PIETY.

47

lonely road, and the result of my remembering this fact was, that I put down my hat, and made up my mind to pass the evening with my new friends. The lovely Iquacia soon began to perceive that the incessant chattering of our companions was not quite to my taste, so she rose from her seat, and smilingly led me into the apartment which adjoined the one in which we had been seated; it was a very shabbily furnished room, lighted by a candle, which, with a sort of attempt at piety, was burning before an image of the Madonna, stuck against the wall, reminding me of the frightful pictures with which the peasantry of Provence ornament their houses; two beds, hung with sombre looking curtains, were placed before the window, which was filled up with a slight cane trellis work—the flickering light of the candle threw its unsteady glare over the wainscot, and above the roof I could hear a sort of humming sound, like the stealthy movement of a nocturnal bird; the aspect of this place was so extremely gloomy as to be almost mournful, and I could not help recalling the unpleasant countenances of the rascally looking fellows who had so mysteriously left the room without saluting me in any way. As there were no chairs in the apartment, I could not, of course, sit down, and therefore, turning to the window, endeavoured to renew our agreeable conversation; the climbing plants, which fell in festoons from the roof, had thrust their flexible boughs through the interstices of the trellis work, so completely filling it up with their tendrils, as to render it almost useless and incapable of admitting more than a few rays of light, which, falling upon the beautiful countenance of Iquacia, gave her complexion

the whiteness of marble; indeed she looked like a magnificent statue, and, enraptured with her beauty, I was about to pay her some enthusiastic compliment, comparing her charms to those of some heathen divinity, when an unexpected interruption checked the words upon my lips, and caused me to stop short, while a broken voice from the other end of the chamber, exclaimed—“ My children, my dear children! do not forget those who are in misery! Por Dios, senor, un quartillo !" "Whatwho is that?" I enquired in some surprise. "Oh! never mind it," said Iquacia, "it is only my grandmother, who is just waking up ;" and she pointed to one of the two beds in the room. I immediately walked up to it, and perceived, underneath the coverlet, a very old woman, so shrivelled up as to resemble a mummy; her skin was quite black and parched, and she coiled herself into a motionless heap, looking exactly like a sleeping dog on my approach, this mass of dry bones raised itself up, and I had then an opportunity of examining it more minutely long thin white hair fell in disorder over its figure and face, in the latter of which it was impossible to trace the least resemblance to humanity, so dry and wrinkled was the black skin-there, in all its apalling and repulsive ugliness, lay an example of the double infirmities of extreme old age and misery-a living type of the ravages of time and suffering. "Do give me something, señor," said the wretched creature, "I am very miserable, for they leave me without anything." "Indeed!" exclaimed the young girl, sharply, "who then takes care of you?-your sons! You should rather say that without us you would die of hunger." "Give me