ut these wounds were made with
naked blades. It could be said of me, as in I know not which Scotch
ballad: "Did not the Devil's soldiers pass through the balls, instead
of the balls passing through them." Yet I have often been fired at;
sometimes the barrel of a gun has been pointed at my chest, and that
at a few paces from me. My clothes have been torn by the bullet,
but my body has always escaped harm.

One morning I was cautioned to put myself on my guard, because some
banditti had met together at a few leagues from my house, and intended
attacking it. Hearing this, I armed my people, and set out to meet
the band that was coming to assail me, so as to anticipate their
attack. At the place that had been indicated to me I found nobody,
and passed the day in exploring the neighbourhood, in hopes of meeting
the bandits, but my search was useless. Suddenly the thought struck me
that a secret enemy had imposed upon me, and that, at the moment I was
going to face imaginary danger, perhaps my house I had left would be
suddenly attacked. I trembled--I shivered all over. I gallopped off,
and reached home in the middle of the night. My fears were but too
well-founded. I had fallen into a snare. I found my servants armed,
watching, with my wife at their head. "What are you doing here?" I
exclaimed, going up to her. "I am keeping watch," she replied, with
great presence of mind; "I was told that the advice given to you
was false; that you would not find the robbers where you expected,
and that, during your absence, they would come here." This act of
heroism proved to me what courage and energy God had given to a woman
apparently so delicate. The banditti did not attack us: was there
not some guardian angel watching over my dwelling?

We were more than a year at Jala-Jala without seeing a European. One
would have thought that we had withdrawn ourselves entirely from the
civilised world, and that we were going to live for ever with the
Indians. Our mountains had so bad a reputation, that nobody dared
expose themselves to the thousand dangers they feared to encounter in
the locality. We were therefore alone, yet still very happy. It was,
perhaps, the most pleasant time I spent in my life. I was living with a
beloved and loving wife; the good work I had undertaken was performed
under my eyes; the comfort and happiness, the natural results of
such good work, spread themselves among my vassals, who daily became
more and more devoted