{76c} An even more significant admission is that made when Colonel
Elers Napier, whom Borrow met in Seville in 1839, enquired where he
had obtained his knowledge of Moultanee. "Some years ago, in
Moultan," was the reply; then, as if regretting that he had confessed
so much, showed by his manner that he intended to divulge nothing
more. {76d}

"Once, during my own wanderings in Italy," Borrow writes, "I rested
at nightfall by the side of a kiln, the air being piercingly cold; it
was about four leagues from Genoa." {76e} Again, "Once in the south
of France, when I was weary, hungry, and penniless, I observed one of
these last patterans {76f} [a cross marked in the dust], and
following the direction pointed out, arrived at the resting-place of
'certain Bohemians,' by whom I was received with kindness and
hospitality, on the faith of no other word of recommendation than
patteran." {76g} In a letter of introduction to the Rev. E. Whitely,
of Oporto, the Rev. Andrew Brandram, of the Bible Society, wrote in
1835: "With Portugal he [Borrow] is already acquainted, and speaks
the language." This statement is significant, for only during the
"Veiled Period" could Borrow have visited Portugal.

It may be argued that Borrow was merely posing as a great traveller,
but the foregoing remarks are too casual, too much in the nature of
asides, to be the utterances of a poseur. A man seeking to impress
himself upon the world as a great traveller would probably have been
a little more definite.

The only really reliable information as to Borrow's movements after
his arrival in London is contained in the note to Haydon. In all
probability he went to Paris, where possibly he met Vidocq, the