That afternoon I dined in the company of a young American, a native of South Carolina.I had frequently seen him before, as he had been staying for some time at the inn previous to my arrival at Gibraltar.His appearance was remarkable: he was low of stature, and exceedingly slightly made; his features were pale but very well formed; he had a magnificent head of crispy black hair, and as superb a pair of whiskers of the same colour as I ever beheld.He wore a white hat, with broad brim and particularly shallow crown, and was dressed in a light yellow gingham frock striped with black, and ample trousers of calico, in a word, his appearance was altogether queer and singular.On my return from my ramble to the cave, I found that he had himself just descended from the mountain, having since a very early hour been absent exploring its wonders.
A man of the rock asked him how he liked the excavations.
"Liked them," said he; "you might just as well ask a person who has just seen the Niagara Falls how he liked them - like is not the word, mister." The heat was suffocating, as it almost invariably is in the town of Gibraltar, where rarely a breath of air is to be felt, as it is sheltered from all winds.This led another individual to inquire of him whether he did not think it exceedingly hot? "Hot, sir," he replied, "not at all:
fine cotton gathering weather as a man could wish for.We couldn't beat it in South Carolina, sir." "You live in South Carolina, sir - I hope, sir, you are not a slave proprietor,"said the short fat Jewish personage in the snuff-coloured coat, who had offered me the bitters on a previous occasion; "it is a terrible thing to make slaves of poor people, simply because they happen to be black; don't you think so, sir?" "Think so, sir - no, sir, I don't think so - I glory in being a slave proprietor; have four hundred black niggers on my estate - own estate, sir, near Charleston - flog half a dozen of them before breakfast, merely for exercise.Niggers only made to be flogged, sir: try to escape sometimes; set the blood-hounds in their trail, catch them in a twinkling; used to hang themselves formerly: the niggers thought that a sure way to return to their own country and get clear of me: soon put a stop to that:
told them that if any more hanged themselves I'd hang myself too, follow close behind them, and flog them in their own country ten times worse than in mine.What do you think of that, friend?" It was easy to perceive that there was more of fun than malice in this eccentric little fellow, for his large grey eyes were sparkling with good humour whilst he poured out these wild things.He was exceedingly free of his money; and a dirty Irish woman, a soldier's wife, having entered with a basketful of small boxes and trinkets, made of portions of the rock of Gibraltar, he purchased the greatest part of her ware, giving her for every article the price (by no means inconsiderable) which she demanded.He had glanced at me several times, and at last I saw him stoop down and whisper something to the Jew, who replied in an undertone, though with considerable earnestness "O dear no, sir; perfectly mistaken, sir: is no American, sir:- from Salamanca, sir; the gentleman is a Salamancan Spaniard." The waiter at length informed us that he had laid the table, and that perhaps it would be agreeable to us to dine together: we instantly assented.Ifound my new acquaintance in many respects a most agreeable companion: he soon told me his history.He was a planter, and, from what he hinted, just come to his property.He was part owner of a large vessel which traded between Charleston and Gibraltar, and the yellow fever having just broken out at the former place, he had determined to take a trip (his first) to Europe in this ship; having, as he said, already visited every state in the Union, and seen all that was to be seen there.He described to me, in a very naive and original manner, his sensations on passing by Tarifa, which was the first walled town he had ever seen.I related to him the history of that place, to which he listened with great attention.He made divers attempts to learn from me who I was; all of which Ievaded, though he seemed fully convinced that I was an American; and amongst other things asked me whether my father had not been American consul at Seville.What, however, most perplexed him was my understanding Moorish and Gaelic, which he had heard me speak respectively to the hamalos and the Irish woman, the latter of whom, as he said, had told him that I was a fairy man.At last he introduced the subject of religion, and spoke with much contempt of revelation, avowing himself a deist; he was evidently very anxious to hear my opinion, but here again I evaded him, and contented myself with asking him, whether he had ever read the Bible.He said he had not; but that he was well acquainted with the writings of Volney and Mirabeau.I made no answer; whereupon he added, that it was by no means his habit to introduce such subjects, and that there were very few persons to whom he would speak so unreservedly, but that I had very much interested him, though our acquaintance had been short.I replied, that he would scarcely have spoken at Boston in the manner that I had just heard him, and that it was easy to perceive that he was not a New Englander."I assure you," said he, "I should as little have thought of speaking so at Charleston, for if I held such conversation there, I should soon have had to speak to myself."Had I known less of deists than it has been my fortune to know, I should perhaps have endeavoured to convince this young man of the erroneousness of the ideas which he had adopted; but I was aware of all that he would have urged in reply, and as the believer has no carnal arguments to address to carnal reason upon this subject, I thought it best to avoid disputation, which I felt sure would lead to no profitable result.Faith is the free gift of God, and I do not believe that ever yet was an infidel converted by means of after-dinner polemics.This was the last evening of my sojourn in Gibraltar.