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Show JOURNAL OF A VOYAGE 208 • I d been taken and destroyed by the old vil1ages, which la I ed by the women, who f equent y stopp T etaus. We were r . and in every place . their houses to eat ' h invited us Into there was a contest w o h lt d a Inoment, f where we a e c 1 ts who had been ro:~.en, My poor ac . should be our hosts. d who would cause the1r d h e by ol n1en, d were conducte om . . . de thei!" victuals an d their feet provi daughters to ress h ' the best bed in the house . . ht gave t em . h drink, and at mg ' . ht to my recollectiOn t e 1 h · onduct b1oug · h In short, al t eir c . . h and caused me to sig . f h ancient patnarc s, . . I b hospitality o t e . n of that noble pnnCip e, y with regret at the corruptlo the polish of modern ages. I f A<j·Ja Caliente, about W c descended the cree ( ? fl Concios from the . · · d the nver o J 12 miles, where It JOlile ds wide and was set-west. This r~ver was about SO yAar Cali·c' nte I 2 miles, · 'th the qua ' tled above its junctiOn WI f the village of that a ' . h I ' course ronl s the latter was Its w o c . . 't was about 15 nan1c. l~'rmn where t1 le y f;o n• 1 1 a JUnthct iOne,a Is tern branch of R. d ,1 Norte, on c c • miles to the IO c . f St John's, which wa which was si· tua t e d the village o. · f he rovince, wh o the residence of the president pnest o t p had resided in it 40 years. 'lla ·e of St. John's, were The house tops of the VI 'g d and at ded as well as the streets, w hen we enterbe 't he pre· crow , . . we were met Y the door of the pubhc quartei s, . ·ho commanded . Wh y compamon w . sident pncst. en m d enlbraced hun, a1 1 the escort recei· ved h1' 111·l n a street an ' to kiss t he the poor 'c reatures who stood round ' stroIvf eI saluted him .· ng or hand of the holy father ; for myse ' d into the 11 were conducte in the usual style. My men f the riest, where we quarters, and I went :o the house ~- . d ~s coflee, choco· were treateu with pohteness : he o ei e d desired me to 1 te or whatever we thought proper, an ::n~ider nlysclf at home in his house. THROUGH THE INTERIOR PROVTNCl~S, &c. 209 As I was going some time after, to the quarter of my men, I was addressed at the door by a man in broken English :-"My friend, I am very sorry to sec you here: " we arc all prisoner in this country and can never re" turn: I have been a prisoner for nearly three years, and " cannot get out." I replied, " that as for his being a priH soncr, it must be for some crime, that with respect to "myself, I felt no apprehension, and requested him to " speak French, as I could hardly understand his J•:ng" lish." Wh"n he began to demand of me so many different questions on the mode of my getting into the country, my intention, &c. ; that by the rime I arrived in the room of my men, I was perfectly satisfied of his having been ordered by some person to endeavor to obtain some confession or acknowledgment of sinister designs in my having appeared on the frontiers, and some confidential co111munications which Inight implicate 1ne. As he had been rather insolent in his enquiries, I ordered my men to shut and fasten the door ; I then told him that I belicv d him to be an emissary sPnt nn pnrpns~ by the governor, or some person, to nd~avour to betray me, that all men of that description were scoundrels, and ne1'er should escape punishment, whilst I possessed the power to chastise them, immediately ordering my men to seize him, and cautioning him at the same time, that if he cried our, or made thl' least resistance, I would be obliged to make usc of the sa-bre, which I had in my l1and; on which he w~s so much alarmed, that he begged me for God'~ sake not to iujurc hun; that he had been ordered by the governm 'nt to meet me, and endeavour to trace out, what, and 11110 I Was, and wi1at were my designs, by endeavoring to pro-duce_ a confidence in him, by his exclaiming against the Span~rds, and complainiug of th" tyranny which they had Clercised toward~ him. After this confession, I ordc•rcd 1) d |