And it is
manifest that for this country of Guayana the proper person has
not been appointed. Every evil is done and there is no remedy,
and the Christian has no more consideration shown him than the
infidel. Now, senor, in a town near the Orinoco I once saw on a
church the archangel Michael, made of stone, and twice as tall as
a man, with one foot on a monster shaped like a cayman, but with
bat's wings, and a head and neck like a serpent. Into this
monster he was thrusting his spear. That is the kind of person
that should be sent to rule these latitudes--a person of firmness
and resolution, with strength in his wrist. And yet it is
probable that this very man--this St. Michael--is hanging about
the palace, twirling his thumbs, waiting for an appointment,
while other weaker men, and--Heaven forgive me for saying it--not
above a bribe, perhaps, are sent out to rule over this province."
On this string he would harp by the hour; it was a lofty subject
on which he had pondered much in his solitary life, and he was
glad of an opportunity of ventilating his grievance and
expounding his views. At first it was a pure pleasure to hear
Spanish again, and the old man, albeit ignorant of letters, spoke
well; but this, I may say, is a common thing in our country,
where the peasant's quickness of intelligence and poetic feeling
often compensate for want of instruction.
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