Quitting Manzanal,we continued our course,the ground gradually descending;we soon arrived at a place where the road took a turn to the west,though previously it had tended due north.We now found that we had to descend the steep sides of a deep and narrow valley which wound amongst mountains,not those of the chain which we had seen before us and which we had left at our right,but those of the Telleno range,just before they unite with that chain.
Arrived at the brink of the valley we turned into a foot-path,to avoid making a considerable circuit,for we saw the road on the other side of the valley opposite to us about a furlong [distant],and the path appeared to lead direct towards it.We had not gone far before we met two Galicians on their way to cut the harvests of Castile.One of them shouted,'Cavalier,turn back:in a moment you will be amongst precipices where your horses will break their necks,for we ourselves could scarcely climb them on foot.'The other cried,'Cavalier,proceed,but be careful,and your horses,if sure-footed,will run no great danger;my comrade is a fool.'Aviolent dispute instantly ensued between the two mountaineers,each supporting his opinion with loud oaths and curses;but without stopping to see the result I passed on.But the path was now filled with stones and huge slaty rocks,on which my horse slid,frequently on his haunches.I likewise heard the sound of water in a deep gorge,which I had hitherto not perceived,and I soon saw that it would be worse than madness to proceed.I turned my horse and was hastening to regain the path which I had left,when Antonio,my faithful Greek,pointed out to me a meadow,by which he said we might regain the high road much lower down than if we returned on our steps.The meadow was brilliant with short green grass,and in the middle there was a small rivulet of water.Ispurred my horse on,expecting to be in the high road in a moment;the horse,however,snorted and stared wildly,and was evidently unwilling to cross the seemingly inviting spot.I thought that the scent of a wolf or some other wild animal might have disturbed him,but was soon undeceived by his sinking up to the knees in a bog.
The animal uttered a shrill sharp neigh,and exhibited every sign of the greatest terror,making at the same time great efforts to extricate himself,and plunging forward,but every moment sinking deeper.At last he arrived where a small vein of rock showed itself,on this he placed his fore feet,and with one tremendous exertion freed himself from the deceitful soil,springing over the rivulet and alighting on comparatively firm ground,where he stood panting,his heaving sides covered with a foamy sweat.Antonio,who had been a terrified observer of the whole scene,afraid to venture forward,returned by the path by which we came and shortly afterwards rejoined me.This adventure brought to my recollection the meadow with its foot-path,which tempted Christian from the straight road to heaven,and finally conducted him to the dominions of the Giant Despair.
NO HAY ATAJO
SIN TRABAJO.
'There is no short cut Without some deep rut.'
says the Spanish proverb.
We now began to descend the valley by a broad and excellent CARRETERA,or carriage road,which was cut out of the steep side of the mountain on our right.On our left was the gorge,down which tumbled the run of water which I have before mentioned.The road was tortuous,and at every turn the scene became more picturesque.
The gorge gradually widened,and the brook at its bottom,fed by a multitude of springs,[grew]more considerable;but it was soon far beneath us,pursuing its headlong course till it reached level ground,where it flowed in the midst of a beautiful but confined prairie.There was something silvan and savage in the mountains on the further side,clad from foot to pinnacle with trees,so closely growing that the eye was unable to obtain a glimpse of the hill-sides which were uneven with ravines and gulleys,the haunts of the wolf,the wild boar and the CORSO or mountain-stag;the last of which,as I was informed by a peasant who was driving a car of oxen,frequently descended to feed in the prairie and were shot for the sake of their skins,for the flesh being strong and disagreeable is held at no account.But notwithstanding the wildness of these regions,the handiworks of man were visible.The sides of the gorge though precipitous were yellow with little fields of barley,and we saw a hamlet and church down in the prairie below,whilst merry songs ascended to our ears from where the mowers were toiling with their scythes,cutting the luxuriant and abundant grass.I could scarcely believe that I was in Spain,in general so brown,so arid and cheerless,and I almost fancied myself in Greece,in that land of ancient glory,whose mountain and forest scenery Theocritus has so well described.