politeness of French guards; and while my pass was carried into a little
office, hard by, to be registered, those who remained on the side of my
chaise took occasion to ask me of what country I was: I desired to
refer them to my _passa-porte_, (where I knew no information of that
kind was given,) as it was a question I could not very well answer; but
upon being further urged, I at length told them, I was an
_Hottentot_.--"_Otentot_--_Otentot_--pray what king governs that
country?" said one of them. No king governs the _Hottentots_ replied I.
"What then, is your country without a king?" said another, with
astonishment! No; not absolutely so, neither; for the _Hottentots_ have
a king; but he always keeps a number of ambitious and crafty men about
his Court, who govern him; and those men, who are generally knaves, feed
the people with guts, and entrails of beasts, give the king now and then
a little bit of the main body, and divide the rest among themselves,
their friends, their favourites, and sycophants. But I soon found, these
were questions leading to a more important one; and that was, what
_countryman_ my horse was;--for, suspecting him to be an _Englishman_,
they would perhaps, if I had been weak enough to have owned it, have
made me pay a considerable duty for his admission into _Spain_; though I
believe it cannot legally be done or levied upon any horse, French, or
English, (to use an act of parliament phrase) but such "as are not
actually in harness, nor drawing in a carriage."

The Spaniards too have done their duty, as to the descent of the
_Pyrenees_ from _Bellegarde_, but no further; from thence to this
village, is about the same distance that _Boulon_ is from the foot of
the mountains on the other side; but though this road is quite destitute
of art it is adorned highly by nature.

But, before I left _Bellegarde_, I should have told you, that near that