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