The Shasta courier., 1866-09-22
SHASTA COURIER.
THE ZINGARI.

place-hOuSelesS, II not homeless
descendants of him of old, of whom it was
said g He will be a wild man; his hanc
will be against every man, and every man !,
hand against him = even SO is 1t with tht
Zingari and gipsies of the present day az
with Ishmael of old. Possessing language
peculiar to themselves, in whatever part OF
Eurone or the East YOU find them land they
are to be found throughout all the countries
of the Old World. if you know this strange
dialect. YOU can make your way among them
and receive proofs of fidelity, with warm
welcome of hospitality rarely found among
civilized brethren Of mankind. l have seen
them over and again in the green snauy
lanes of old England, the sunny south OF
France the tile known and seldom travel
ed provinces of Spain, which border the bay
of Biscay; up the far off regions on 'he iiiuu-
dy Nile-in the jungles OF lndia anu 'ne
sandy deserts of Africa, again anu again
have fallen in with their wandering tribes
all holding the same customs, speaking the
same language, and having almost the same
morals and observances-
In the course of my travels L have been
more or less thrown among them, and ever
received at their hands rough but cheerful
kindness and the best hospitality their means
could afford. To one of them | owe my life,
and that merely from being able to speak a
few words of their language, called Rominy.
Anv one who has travelled in Portugal
and visited Lisbon-that city of palaces and
poverty fine squares and pracas, and mar
row, garbage-filled streets; churches and
monasteries and buildings still bearing
marks in many a crack and rent of the noted
earthquake of well nigh hundred years
ago-such an one, if he landed at the Quay
and made his way up the street leading to
Black Horse Square, would see at the cor
ners of the streets several groups OF men,
standing idly, awaiting any chance job that
might offer speaking strange jargon of
their own in an excited, eager manner max
ing remarks on each passer by, and very
ready in their proffers Of assistance, very
apt to avail themselves of any and every op
portunity to cheat you if you do not place
implicit confidence in them and rely on their
word if once fairly given to you-these men,
with strange, well defined cast of features,
as clearly marked as the Jewish type is, are
Zingari-cosmopolitans.
| had gone to Lisbon from Madeira on
board one of Her British Majesty's men of
war, which happened to touch at Funchal
while | was staying there, and knowing the
captain, who asked me to take a cruise
with him, | went on board, and, after touch
ing at Magadore and Teneritfe, we sailed to
join the squaDron, then lying in the Tagus,
and arrived in eighteen days at Lisbon.
| had with me several letters of introduc
ton to families in that city from their friends
in Funchal On my arrival at Lisbon. as
was quietly sauntering along the Rue de
Plata or Liber street THE street above men
tioned) one of these men | have described
accosted me and asked me if | had any lug
gage | wished carried to the hotel. | told
him to 90 on board the ship and take my
portmanteau thence to the Braganza Hotel,
and there await until | came. | spoke to
him in Rominy, and as saw his eyes
glisten and heard his answer in the same
language, | knew he was to be trusted, and
that hereafter he might be, as he eventually
proved to lie, of service to me.
After walking an hour or two with friend
Zone of the officers on board the ship had
Just left up and down the Praca, we made
our way to the hotel, and there found Jose
1.-THE name of the gipsy), waiting for me
with the pormanteau. 1t was with no small
difficulty | prevailed on him to accept any
thing for the trouble he had and before
leaving me. be asked permission to come
every morning to see whether | wanted any
thing he could do for me during my stay in
Libson.
Among my letters was one of introduction
las | had understood in Madeira), to young
lady in the neighborhood of Mafra, some
thirty or forty miles from Lisbon. As |
found | could not leave Lisbon so soon as
at first intended, and deliver personally this
letter, which contained some important polit-
ical news as we'll, | resolved at length to send
it with Jose. He took it and delivered it
safely, bring me back an answer tha. it had
been received, and that Sonora de Oliveira
would be glad to see me whenever | could
make it convenient to visit her.
A week passed over in Libson before
could do so; at the end of the week | found
/ should be able 70 start for MARIA, the be-
ginning of the following one, and | asked
Jose if he would accompany me. To this he
readily agreed, and accordingly, the next
Monday, providing two mules, we both
started, | resigning myself entirely to Jose's
care and guidance.
After three or four hours pleasant ride.
during which l noticed that Jose was IN a
constant state of excitement, for which !
could not account, beyond his delight at
leaving the town and getting into the coun
try, we arrived at Cintra. / would fan have
fingered few hours there amidst its world
famed scenery and old Moorish remains o.
castles and towers, but Jose would not heal
of it, and urged me most energeticalv tC
hasten on to Mafra as fast as we could
Not understanding the need of such haste
l nevertheless yielded to his solicitations and
pushed on. 1t was nearly nightfall before
we reached our destination-a beautiful
Quinta-not very far from the King of Por-
tugaPs palace at MARIA.
We met with but one incident on our
journey, and that was from meeting three
wolves on hillside. l had dismounted tc
walk, as the path was both narrow and steep
and my legs were tired Just as | had hall
climbed the ascent, on rounding corner,
came suddenly-all unprepared as | was,
having left my pistol on the mule Jose was
leading some distance behind me-upon
three wolves: she wolf and two dog-wolves
behind her. There was 60 room to spare
on the path for passing them and the hill
rose almost perpendicular above me, whilst
below was precipice far too deep to descend
or rather leap down with safety. Jose was
out of sight, he had not vet come round the
sharp turn of the hill. and there [ was all
unarmed, and the three wolves in line right
in front of me. | felt involuntarily in nv
pocket for my pocket knife, too small. how.
ever, to be of much use, even if | could kill
or hurt one of the brutes with it, which |
much doubted. | looked up the side of the
hill to see if there were any bush growing.
to which | could spring up and cling until
the wolves had passed me. which | thought