language of the
country, or I would hold no discourse with him.

Wednesday was stormy, with occasional rain. On coming down I found that
my friend from Palmella had departed, but several _contrabandistas_ had
arrived from Spain. They were mostly fine fellows, and, unlike the two I
had seen the previous week, who were of much lower degree, were chatty
and communicative; they spoke their native language and no other, and
seemed to hold Portuguese in great contempt; their magnificent Spanish
tones were heard to great advantage amidst the shrill chirping dialect of
Portugal. I was soon in deep conversation with them, and was much
pleased to find that all of them could read. I presented the eldest of
them, a man of about fifty years of age, with a tract in Spanish. He
examined it for some time with great attention; he then rose from his
seat, and going into the middle of the apartment, began reading it aloud,
slowly and emphatically; his companions gathered round him, and every now
and then expressed their satisfaction at what they heard. The reader
occasionally called upon me to explain particular passages which, as they
referred to Scripture, he did not exactly understand, for not one of the
party had ever seen either the Old or New Testament. He continued
reading for nearly an hour until he had finished the tract, and at its
conclusion the whole party were clamorous for similar ones, with which I
was happy to be able to supply them. Most of them spoke of priestcraft
and the monks with the utmost abhorrence, and said that they should
prefer death to again submitting to the yoke which had formerly galled
their necks. I questioned them very particularly respecting the opinion
of their neighbours and acquaintances on this point, and they assured me
that in their part of the Spanish frontier all were of the same mind, and
that they cared as little for the Pope and his monks as they did for Don
Carlos, for the latter was a dwarf (_chicotito_) and a tyrant, and the
others were plunderers and robbers. I told them that they must beware of
confounding religion with priestcraft, and that in their abhorrence of
the latter they must not forget that there is a God and a Christ, to whom
they must look for salvation, and whose word it was incumbent upon them
to study on every occasion; whereupon they all expressed a devout belief
in Christ and the Virgin.

These men, though in many respects far more enlightened than the
surrou