第99章 29th September,1837(1)

To the Rev.A.Brandram (ENDORSED:recd.Oct.17,1837)OVIEDO,ASTURIAS,29SEPTR.1837.

REVD.AND DEAR SIR,-A day or two after the date of my last letter I quitted Corunna and passed over the bay to Ferrol,where I left twenty Testaments in the hands of a person who has just established a small book-shop in that place.My servant Antonio went round by land with my horse,the only one which I now possess,I having disposed (1)of the largest of the two at Corunna,as I thought he was unable to support the fatigue of a journey to Oviedo.At Ferrol I hired a horse and guide as far as Ribadeo,a distance of twenty leagues,and somewhat less than half the way to Oviedo.

This journey was a terrible one;during the greatest part of it we had to toil up and down mountain gorges and ravines,to force our way through bushes and thickets,and to wade rivulets and torrents swollen by the rain,which descended continually;our guide proved perfectly ignorant of the country,and we had to bribe various peasants to accompany us,though we incurred great risk by so doing of being conducted to some den of thieves,and stripped and murdered.At Ribadeo we procured a fresh horse and guide,and continued our way to Oviedo,encountering still greater difficulties,the ground being still more rugged and broken than that which we had previously passed over.My own horse rolled down a precipice,and was much maimed,whilst that of the guide was so worn out by the time he reached Gijon,four leagues from Oviedo,that he foundered.As for Antonio and myself,we arrived barefooted and bleeding,for I need scarcely say that during all this journey,which amounted at least to 130miles,we went on foot,the poor horses being scarcely able to carry our books and baggage.

I am now by the blessing of the Almighty in the city of Oviedo,the capital of the Asturias,although at an unpropitious season,for the bray of war is at the gate,and there is the cry of the captains and the shouting.Castile is at the present time in the hands of the Carlists,who have captured and plundered Valladolid,in much the same manner as they did Segovia.They are every day expected to march on this place,in which case they will probably experience an obstinate resistance,very excellent redoubts having been erected,and several of the convents strongly fortified,especially that of Santa Clara de la Vega.All minds here are at present in a state of feverish anxiety and suspense,more especially as no intelligence at present arrives from Madrid,which by the last accounts was beleaguered by the bands of Cabrera,Palillos,and Orejita.-But I am interrupted,and I lay down my pen.

A strange adventure has just occurred to me.I am in the ancient town of Oviedo,in a very large,scantily furnished and remote room of an ancient POSADA,formerly a palace of the Counts of Santa Cruz.It is past ten at night and the rain is descending in torrents.I ceased writing on hearing numerous footsteps ascending the creaking stairs which lead to my apartment -the door was flung open,and in walked nine men of tall stature,marshalled by a little hunch-backed personage.They were all muffled in the long cloaks of Spain,but I instantly knew by their demeanour that they were CABALLEROS,or gentlemen.They placed themselves in a rank before the table where I was sitting;suddenly and simultaneously they all flung back their cloaks,and I perceived that every one bore a book in his hand,a book which I knew full well.After a pause,which I was unable to break,for I sat lost in astonishment and almost conceived myself to be visited by apparitions,the hunch-back advancing somewhat before the rest said in soft silvery tones:'SENOR Cavalier,was it you who brought this book to the Asturias?'I now supposed that they were the civil authorities of the place come to take me into custody,and rising from my seat Iexclaimed,'It certainly was I,and it is my glory to have done so.