Military Memoirs of Capt. George CarletonDefoe, Daniel
History
Military Memoirs of Capt. George Carleton
Defoe, Daniel
Adventure stories; Great Britain -- History, Military -- Fiction; Soldiers -- Fiction
Soon after this _Tauridore_, or Bull-Feast was over, I had a Mind to
take a pleasant Walk to a little Town, call'd _Minai_, about three
Leagues off; but I was scarce got out of _la Mancha_, when an
Acquaintance meeting me, ask'd where I was going? I told him to _Minai_;
when taking me by the Hand, _Friend_ Gorgio, says he in _Spanish, Come
back with me; you shall not go a Stride further; there are_ Picarons
_that Way; you shall not go_. Inquiring, as we went back, into his
Meaning, he told me, that the Day before, a Man, who had received a Sum
of Money in Pistoles at _la Mancha_, was, on the road, set upon by some,
who had got notice of it, and murdered him; that not finding the Money
expected about him (for he had cautiously enough left it in a Friend's
Hands at _la Mancha_) they concluded he had swallowed it; and therefore
they ript up his Belly, and open'd every Gut; but all to as little
Purpose. This diverted my Walk for that time.
But some little Time after, the same Person inviting me over to the same
Place, to see his Melon-Grounds, which in that Country are wonderful
fine and pleasant; I accepted his Invitation, and under the Advantage of
his Company, went thither. On the Road I took notice of a Cross newly
erected, and a Multitude of small stones around the Foot of it: Asking
the Meaning whereof, my Friend told me, that it was rais'd for a Person
there murder'd (as is the Custom throughout _Spain_) and that every good
Catholick passing by, held it his Duty to cast a Stone upon the Place,
in Detestation of the Murder. I had often before taken Notice of many
such Crosses: but never till then knew the Meaning of their Erection, or
the Reason of the Heaps of Stones around them.
There is no Place in all _Spain_ more famous for good Wine than _Sainte
Clemente de la Mancha_; nor is it any where sold cheaper: For as it is
only an inland Town, near no navigable River, and the People temperate
to a Proverb, great Plenty, and a small Vend must consequently make it
cheap. The Wine here is so famous, that, when I came to _Madrid_, I saw
wrote over the Doors of host Houses that sold Wine, _Vino Sainte
Clemente_. As to the Temperance of the People, I must say, that
notwithstanding those two excellent Qualities of good and cheap, I never
saw, all the three Years I was Prisoner there, any one Person overcome
with Drinking.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account