Divided into numerous bodies, frequently formidable in point of
number, their presence was an evil and a curse in whatever quarter
they directed their steps. As might be expected, the labourers,
who in all countries are the most honest, most useful, and
meritorious class, were the principal sufferers; their mules and
horses were stolen, carried away to distant fairs, and there
disposed of, perhaps, to individuals destined to be deprived of
them in a similar manner; whilst their flocks of sheep and goats
were laid under requisition to assuage the hungry cravings of these
thievish cormorants.
It was not uncommon for a large band or tribe to encamp in the
vicinity of a remote village scantily peopled, and to remain there
until, like a flight of locusts, they had consumed everything which
the inhabitants possessed for their support; or until they were
scared away by the approach of justice, or by an army of rustics
assembled from the surrounding country. Then would ensue the
hurried march; the women and children, mounted on lean but spirited
asses, would scour along the plains fleeter than the wind; ragged
and savage-looking men, wielding the scourge and goad, would
scamper by their side or close behind, whilst perhaps a small party
on strong horses, armed with rusty matchlocks or sabres, would
bring up the rear, threatening the distant foe, and now and then
saluting them with a hoarse blast from the Gypsy horn:-
'O, when I sit my courser bold,
My bantling in my rear,
And in my hand my musket hold -
O how they quake with fear!'
Let us for a moment suppose some unfortunate traveller, mounted on
a handsome mule or beast of some value, meeting, unarmed and alone,
such a rabble rout at the close of eve, in the wildest part, for
example, of La Mancha; we will suppose that he is journeying from
Seville to Madrid, and that he has left at a considerable distance
behind him the gloomy and horrible passes of the Sierra Morena; his
bosom, which for some time past has been contracted with dreadful
forebodings, is beginning to expand; his blood, which has been
congealed in his veins, is beginning to circulate warmly and
freely; he is fondly anticipating the still distant posada and
savoury omelet.
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