As it was not the custom of the people at the inn to furnish
provisions for the guests, I wandered about in search of food; and
at last seeing some soldiers eating and drinking in a species of
wine-house, I went in and asked the people to let me have some
supper, and in a short time they furnished me with a tolerable
meal, for which, however, they charged three crowns.

Having engaged with a person for mules to carry us to Evora, which
were to be ready at five next morning, I soon retired to bed, my
servant sleeping in the same apartment, which was the only one in
the house vacant. I closed not my eyes during the whole night.
Beneath us was a stable, in which some almocreves, or carriers,
slept with their mules; at our back, in the yard, was a pigsty.
How could I sleep? The hogs grunted, the mules screamed, and the
almocreves snored most horribly. I heard the village clock strike
the hours until midnight, and from midnight till four in the
morning, when I sprang up and began to dress, and despatched my
servant to hasten the man with the mules, for I was heartily tired
of the place and wanted to leave it. An old man, bony and hale,
accompanied by a barefooted lad, brought the beasts, which were
tolerably good. He was the proprietor of them, and intended, with
the lad, who was his nephew, to accompany us to Evora.

When we started, the moon was shining brightly, and the morning was
piercingly cold. We soon entered on a sandy hollow way, emerging
from which we passed by a strange-looking and large edifice,
standing on a high bleak sand-hill on our left. We were speedily
overtaken by five or six men on horseback, riding at a rapid pace,
each with a long gun slung at his saddle, the muzzle depending