Placed by itself under the heading _L'Inquisition_ in the series of 1859,égendedesSiè and preceded by the following note:--'Le baptême des volcans est un ancien usage qui remonte aux premiers temps de la conquête. Tous les cratères du Nicaragua furent alors sanctifiés, à l'exception du Momotombo, d'où l'on ne vit jamais revenir les religieux qui s'étaient chargés d'aller y planter la croix.' (SQUIER, _Voyage dans l'Amérique du Sud_.)
Momotombo is a volcano in the state of Nicaragua. E.G.Squier was an American antiquarian and author who was appointed _chargé d'affaires_ to all the Central American States in 1849. He does not appear to have written any work with the title quoted by Hugo. The passage quoted occurs in his _Nicaragua, its people, scenery, and monuments_, published in 1852. He relates in this book an instance of a bishop being asked to baptize a volcanic vent which had suddenly opened in a mountain!
_Torquemada_ (1420-1489) was the notorious inquisitor-general of Castile and Aragon, whose name has become a by-word for relentless persecution and cruelty.
LA CHANSON DES AVENTURIERS DE LA MER. (Page 101)
_le golfe d'Otrante_, between Italy and Albania.
_au Phare_: it is not clear what lighthouse is intended.
_une Tarentaise_, woman of Tarentum, in South Italy.
_Gaëte_, English Gaeta, a bay and town on the west coast of Italy, north of Naples.
L. 47. The historical allusion here is not clear. Prince Eugene of Savoy, Marlborough's colleague, and Cardinal Mazarin were not contemporaries.
_Livourne_, Leghorn. _Spinola_: the reference may or may not be to the famous Imperialist general in the Thirty Years War.
_prames_, big flat-bottomed boats, capable of carrying cannon, and used for coast defence.
_Notre-Dame de la Garde_, a sanctuary at Marseilles.
Victor Hugo's father was an officer in the army of the great Napoleon and fought in Spain as a general, but nothing is known of this incident except what is here told.
_Caramba_ (Spanish), a colloquial interjection, implying surprise and astonishment.
To Hugo ugliness was as much a subject for pity as degradation or misery. Compare the following passage from _Les Contemplations: Ce que dit la Bouche d'Ombre_:--
Pleurez sur les laideurs et les ignominies. Pleurez sur l'araignée immonde, sur le ver, Sur la limace au dos mouillé comme l'hiver, Sur le vil puceron qu'on voit aux feuilles pendre, Sur le crabe hideux, sur l'affreux scolopendre, Sur l'effrayant crapaud, pauvre monstre aux doux yeux, Qui regarde toujours le ciel mystérieux.