DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.53553#0020
4
in vain that the whole was but a moderate load for a lad of
fifteen ; a simultaneous and unintelligible jargon of the
four savages was all the answer I received, and to which I
had no alternative but that of submission, fully expecting
to see my property travel in as many different directions.
In this suspicion, however, I was fortunately mistaken ;
bajr and baggage arrived safe with their owner at Madame
Gasse’s. The reward of their labour was the next point to
be adjusted, and there, as the vulgar phrase is, I was a
match for them. To the one who carried the portmanteau,
as chief of the expedition, I handed three carlins (about 15d.),
with the liberty of recompensing his associates according to
their respective merits. This suggestion he obeyed most
literally, for he set off in an instant with all the money in
his pocket, leaving the other three on my hands, clamor-
ously insisting upon immediate payment. Seeing no other
way to rid myself of their importunities, I adroitly shifted
the scene of action to the passage, slipt into my room again
and bolted the door. Their cries were now converted into
a complete war-whoop, which brought up some persons be-
longing to the house, who, on my explaining to them from
within the matter at issue, fairly turned the whole of their
Lazzaroniships out of doors.
A rencontre like this, you may well suppose, dear T.
was not calculated to bias my first impressions in favour of
a people with whom I intended to make some stay. The
succeeding adventure, however, although another—but
gentler—species of imposition, most seasonably corrected
the irritated state of my feelings. A Franciscan friar, with
a charming nosegay and a basket containing three oranges,
meekly stepped in:—“ The prior and brethren of our con-
gregation have favoured me with the grateful task of offer-
ing to you, illustrious Sir, our congratulations on your safe
arrival in this capital, with our best wishes and prayers for
your
in vain that the whole was but a moderate load for a lad of
fifteen ; a simultaneous and unintelligible jargon of the
four savages was all the answer I received, and to which I
had no alternative but that of submission, fully expecting
to see my property travel in as many different directions.
In this suspicion, however, I was fortunately mistaken ;
bajr and baggage arrived safe with their owner at Madame
Gasse’s. The reward of their labour was the next point to
be adjusted, and there, as the vulgar phrase is, I was a
match for them. To the one who carried the portmanteau,
as chief of the expedition, I handed three carlins (about 15d.),
with the liberty of recompensing his associates according to
their respective merits. This suggestion he obeyed most
literally, for he set off in an instant with all the money in
his pocket, leaving the other three on my hands, clamor-
ously insisting upon immediate payment. Seeing no other
way to rid myself of their importunities, I adroitly shifted
the scene of action to the passage, slipt into my room again
and bolted the door. Their cries were now converted into
a complete war-whoop, which brought up some persons be-
longing to the house, who, on my explaining to them from
within the matter at issue, fairly turned the whole of their
Lazzaroniships out of doors.
A rencontre like this, you may well suppose, dear T.
was not calculated to bias my first impressions in favour of
a people with whom I intended to make some stay. The
succeeding adventure, however, although another—but
gentler—species of imposition, most seasonably corrected
the irritated state of my feelings. A Franciscan friar, with
a charming nosegay and a basket containing three oranges,
meekly stepped in:—“ The prior and brethren of our con-
gregation have favoured me with the grateful task of offer-
ing to you, illustrious Sir, our congratulations on your safe
arrival in this capital, with our best wishes and prayers for
your