The cold was far too terrible to permit me to remain in the chamber
to which I had been conducted; I therefore went down to a kind of
kitchen on one side of the arched passage, which led under the
house to the yard and stables. A tremendous withering blast poured
through this passage, like the water through the flush of a mill.
A large cork tree was blazing in the kitchen beneath a spacious
chimney; and around it were gathered a noisy crew of peasants and
farmers from the neighbourhood, and three or four Spanish smugglers
from the frontier. I with difficulty obtained a place amongst
them, as a Portuguese or a Spaniard will seldom make way for a
stranger, till called upon or pushed aside, but prefers gazing upon
him with an expression which seems to say, I know what you want,
but I prefer remaining where I am.

I now first began to observe an alteration in the language spoken;
it had become less sibilant, and more guttural; and, when
addressing each other, the speakers used the Spanish title of
courtesy usted, or your worthiness, instead of the Portuguese high
flowing vossem se, or your lordship. This is the result of
constant communication with the natives of Spain, who never
condescend to speak Portuguese, even when in Portugal, but persist
in the use of their own beautiful language, which, perhaps, at some
future period, the Portuguese will generally adopt. This would
greatly facilitate the union of the two countries, hitherto kept
asunder by the natural waywardness of mankind.

I had not been seated long before the blazing pile, when a fellow,
mounted on a fine spirited horse, dashed from the stables through
the passage into the kitchen, where he commenced displaying his
horsemanship, by causing the animal to wheel about with the