 |
| We may see the barb with nostril of fire and mane playing with the d perform a curvet as he draws our aristocratic countrywoman aristocratic and haughty at least in Malta although in England perhaps a star of much less magnitude We may view too the overburthened donkey as he drags along some aged vehicle in which four fat smiling women and one lean weeping look forward to his emaciated carcase and yet blame him for being slow And thou patient and suffering animal whose name has passed into a proverb until each vulgar wight looks on thee as the emblem of obstinacymaligned mule when dost thou appear to more advantage more joyous or more selfsatisfied than when yoked to the Maltese caleche Who that has witnessed thee taking the scanty meal from the hand of thine accustomed driver with whinnying voice waving tail thy long ears pricked upwards and thy head rubbing his who that has seen thee thus will deny thee the spirit of gratitude Most injured of quadrupeds if we ascend the rugged mountains path where on either side precipices frown and the pines wave farfar beneathwhen one false step would plunge us with our hopes our fears and our vices into the abyss of eternity is it not to thee we trust Calumniated mule go on thy way This worlds standard is but little to be relied on whether it be for good or whether it be for evil The motion of a caleche such as we patronised is an easy and luxurious onethe pace a fast trot or smooth canter of seven miles an hourand with the blinds down we have communed with ourselves with as great dom and as little fear of interruption as if we had been crossing the Zahara The caleche men too are a peculiar and happy raceattentive to their faresmasters of their professionand with a cigar in their cheek dexter will troll you Maltese ditties till your head aches Their costume is striking Their long red caps are thrown back over their neckstheir black curls hang down on each side of the faceand a crimson manyfolded sash girds in a waist usually extremely small Their neck face and from continued exposure to the sun are a red copper colour They are always without shoes and stockings and even our countrywomen who pay much attention to the costume of their drivers have not yet ventured to encase their brawny feet in the mysteries of leather They run by the side of their caleches the reins in one handthe whip in the othercheering on their animals by a constant succession of epithets oaths and invocations to their favourite saint They are rarely fatigued and may be seen beside their vehicles urging the horses with the thermometer at deg and perhaps a stoutlooking Englishman inside with white kerchief to his face the image of languor and lassitude Their horses gallop down steeps which no English Jehu dare attempt and ascend and descend with safety and ihood stone steps which occur in many parts of Valletta and which would certainly present an insurmountable obstacle to our steeds at home |
to no longer get this let us know in here.
Just tell us in here...
4221 roxbury dr valdosta ga 31605-7008
No comments:
Post a Comment
Keep a civil tongue.