AN ADVENTURE. 21 



On our way I said to the calezero (driver), a man 

 whom I had employed for a long time, and who was 

 much devoted to me : 



&quot; Isidro, I have some reason to believe that we shall 

 be stopped ; I warn you of it, so that you may not be 

 surprised at the shots which will be fired from the caleza 

 (vehicle).&quot; 



Isidro, seated on the shaft, according to the custom of 

 the country, answered : 



&quot; Your pistols are completely useless, gentlemen ; leave 

 me to act ; one cry will be enough ; my mule will rid us 

 of two, three, or even four men.&quot; 



Scarcely one minute had elapsed after the calezero had 

 uttered these words, when two men presented themselves 

 before the mule and seized her by the nostrils. At the 

 same instant a formidable cry, which will never be effaced 

 from my remembrance, the cry of Capitana ! was ut 

 tered by Isidro. The mule reared up almost vertically, 

 raising up one of the men, came down again, and set off 

 at a rapid gallop. The jolt which the carriage made led 

 us to understand too well what had just occurred. A 

 long silence succeeded this incident ; it was only inter 

 rupted by these words of the calezero, &quot; Do you not 

 think, gentlemen, that my mule is worth more than any 

 pistols ? &quot; 



The next day the captain-general, Don Domingo Iz- 

 quierdo, related to me that a man had been found crushed 

 on the road to Murviedro. I gave him an account of the 

 prowess of Isidro s mule, and no more was said. 



One anecdote, taken from among a thousand, will show 

 what an adventurous life was led by the delegate of the 

 Bureau of Longitude. 



During my stay on a mountain near Cullera, to the 



