ses and climb most carefully. But when
a quarter of a mile had been done in this way it was possible to mount
again, and we were close to Fayal. I had thought all the time that it
was a small town, but it appeared to be no more than the scattered huts
we had passed, or those we had noted from the lofty spur. Our objective
was a certain house belonging to a Portuguese landowner who occupied the
position of an English squire in the olden days. Both my friend and I
had met him several times in Funchal, and, by the aid of an interpreter,
had carried on a conversation. But my Portuguese was dinner-table talk
of the purely necessary order, and my companion's was more exiguous than
my own. So we decided to camp before reaching his house, and eat our
lunch undisturbed by the trouble of being polite without words. We told
our guide this, and as he was supposed to understand English we took it
for granted that he did so when we ordered him to pick some spot to
camp a good way from the landowner's house. But in spite of our
laborious explanations he took us on to the very estate, and plumped us
down not fifty yards from the house. As we were ignorant of the fact
that this was the house, we sent the boy there for hot water to make
coffee, and then to our horror we saw the very man whom we just then
wanted to avoid. We all talked together and gesticulated violently. I
tried French vainly; my little Portuguese grew less and less, and
disappeared from my tongue; and then in despair we hailed the cause of
the whole misfortune, and commanded him to explain. What he explained I
know not, but finally our friend seemed less hurt than he had been, and
he returned to his house on our promising to go there as soon as our
lunch was finished.

The whole feeling of this scene--of this incident, of the place, the
mountains, the primitive people--was so curious that it was difficult to
think we were only four days from England. Though the people were gentle
and kind and polite, they seemed no more civilised, from our point of
view, than many Indians I have seen. Indeed, there are Indian
communities in America which are far ahead of them in culture. I seemed
once more in a wild country. But our host (for, being on his ground, we
were his guests) was most amiable and polite. It certainly was rather
irksome to sit solemnly in his best room and stare at each other without
a word. Below the open window stood our guide, so when it became
absolutely nece