in about a quarter of an hour, when we might avail ourselves of an escort of soldiers which they would take with them, and in their company we should run no danger.  I told him I had no fear, and commanded him to drive on; but he said he would not, and left us in the street.  We waited an hour, when two carriages came to the door of the house, but it seems the family were not yet ready, whereupon the coachman likewise got down and went away.  At the expiration of about half an hour the family came out, and when their luggage had been arranged they called for the coachman, but he was nowhere to be found.  Search was made for him, but ineffectually, and an hour more was spent before another driver could be procured; but the escort had not yet made its appearance, and it was not before a servant had been twice despatched to the barracks that it arrived.  At last everything was ready, and they drove off.

All this time I had seen nothing of our own coachman, and I fully expected that he had abandoned us altogether.  In a few minutes I saw him staggering up the street in a state of intoxication, attempting to sing the Marseillois hymn.  I said nothing to him, but sat observing him.  He stood for some time staring at the mules and talking incoherent nonsense in French.  At last he said, “I am not so drunk but I can ride,” and proceeded to lead his mules towards the gate.  When out of the town he made several ineffectual attempts to mount the smallest mule which bore the saddle; he at length succeeded, and instantly commenced spurring at a furious rate down the road.  We arrived at a place where a narrow rocky path branched off, by taking which we should avoid a considerable circuit round the city wall, which otherwise it would be necessary to make before we could reach the road to Lisbon, which lay at the north-east; he now said, “I shall take this path, for by so doing we shall overtake the family in a minute”; so into the path we went; it was scarcely wide enough to admit the carriage, and exceedingly steep and broken; we proceeded; ascending and descending, the wheels cracked, and the motion was so violent that we were in danger of being cast out as from a sling.  I saw that if we remained in the carriage it must be broken in pieces, as our weight must insure its destruction.  I called to him in Portuguese to stop, but he flogged and spurred the beasts the more.  My man now entreated me for God’s sake to speak to him in French, for, if anything would pacify him, that would.  I did so, and entreated him to let us dismount and walk, till we had cleared this dangerous way.  The result justified Antonio’s anticipation.  He instantly stopped and said, “Sir, you are master, you have only to command and I shall obey.”  We dismounted and walked on till we reached the great road, when we once more seated ourselves.