m
plied, “ Pm'don, Monsieur, Vest monJilsF I
could scarcely believe he was serious; but on
further enquiry, we learned that our dwarfish
guide was thirty years of age ; he had been
married eight years, and the child who followed
us was seven years old. He bore a
strong resemblance to his father.
To return from this digression : the persons
round our char at Villard Goitrou,
presented the most melancholy picture of
the physical degradation of our species I
had ever beheld, united with an extreme degree
of poverty and destitution, equalled only
by that of the poorest wretches in Ireland,
with goitres so large, as to bear a considerable
proportion to their dwarfish bodies ;
with heads, features, and forms scarcely
human, many of them unable to speak,
but expressing their wants by grating noises
and uncouth signs ; they exhibited all the
horrors of deformity, combined with idiocy
and extreme wretchedness. It was impossible
not to feel compassion for beings so
degraded by nature, whose misery was unmerited
by any moral crime. It is, however,
some consolation to believe that they
are not sensible of their degradation, as they
appear cheerful, and are said to evince much
affection towards those from whom they
receive kindness.
In the group collected to witness our
departure, were a few tall, well-made, handsome
men and women ; their curiosity was
much excited by this unusual visit of
strangers ; they gave us an account of their
escape from the inundation, and were
much pleased by the little donations we
made to the poor cretins ; but more so by
the commiseration with which they saw
we regarded, them. An elderly respectable
looking old man, who seemed the patriarch
of the village, called after us when set off,
and ran to our char. I could not imagine
what he wanted: it was to take me by
the hand, and give me his valediction,
which he delivered with much earnestness
and evident good will, concluding with
a prayer for our safe return to our own
country. The tears glistened in his eyes
whilst he spoke ; and I confess, I was more
seriously impressed by his benediction, than
I should have been by the blessing of the
highest prelate in Christendom.
Above Villard Goitrou, and on our return
from that village, we visited some
mines of that species of coal, called by
4 ■'v-l ^1
iii
c
k