He
had a slight and elegant figure, moved gracefully, danced and
waltzed beautifully, spoke the best of Castilian, with a pleasant
and refined voice and accent, and had, throughout, the bearing of a
man of high birth and figure. Yet here he was, with his passage
given him, (as I afterwards learned,) for he had not the means of
paying for it, and living upon the charity of our agent. He was polite
to every one, spoke to the sailors, and gave four reals- I dare say
the last he had in his pocket-to the steward, who waited upon him. I
could not but feel a pity for him, especially when I saw him by the
side of his fellow-passenger and townsman, a fat, coarse, vulgar,
pretending fellow of a Yankee trader, who had made money in San Diego,
and was eating out the very vitals of the Bandinis, fattening upon
their extravagance, grinding them in their poverty; having mortgages
on their lands, forestalling their cattle, and already making an
inroad upon their jewels, which were their last hope.
Don Juan had with him a retainer, who was as much like many of the
characters in Gil Blas as his master. He called himself a private
secretary, though there was no writing for him to do, and he lived
in the steerage with the carpenter and sailmaker.
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