of the ancient athletic games of the Romans also. I mean that of the Discus."

EDWARD." It is then something like throwing quoits." DR. WALKER.-"With this difference; the Spanish game requires more strength than the latter, since it consists of throwing an iron bar of considerable weight to a certain distance. Another game more insipid than the former, is much in vogue among them. Several men sit down in a circle, and holding up one, two, three, in short, as many fingers as they please, call out rapidly the number thus held up.

"The Spaniards are fond of theatrical entertainments ; and though they themselves are not very celebrated for musical composition, they are great admirers of the Italian; they have, however, one national air, which is forbidden to be played at certain times, I mean that of the Fandango, for I am told it is so bewitching in its effects upon the natives, that if they were to hear it, even when at their devotions, they would after a short time, jump up and begin to dance." EDWARD." Pray, Sir, what are the Alcaydi, so often mentioned in Gil Blas, and the Sancta Hermandad ?”

Dr. WALKER." The Alcaydi de Ordinario, answers to our justice of the quorum; and the Alcaydi Pedario to our constables. The office of the latter is to take up delinquents, and to execute the orders of the Corregidor. These officers are sometimes elected by lot in the provinces, and are sometimes appointed by the Camera of the council of Castile. The Alcades Mayores; or Corregidors, are the superior officers. Besides these three classes, there is also another of the denomination of Corregidors, which are confined to Madrid and Seville. These officers cannot be lawyers, are simple overseers of the police, who superintend all affairs of the corporation, regulate bull feasts, &c. The Sancta Hermandad is nothing more than a fraternity, or provincial police, dispersed throughout Castile, whose object is to watch over the safety of the country, and to prosecute all disturbers of the public peace. It was first established in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella. They have plenty of employment just now, since the Guerillas have become so formidable; but what could the Sancta Hermandad effect against a body of men, who seldom appear in a less number than two or three thousand

men?"

Tolosa, where our travellers next stopped, is pleasantly seated in a valley, and is celebrated for its manufacture of

sword blades. Having crossed the beautiful plain in which it stands, they ascended with difficulty the ascent of Talinas, and at length reached Vittoria; a spot more celebrated for the decisive victory gained by the allies over Joseph Buonaparte, than for that gained many years before by a king of the Visigoths, who gave it the name of Victoria, or Vitto ria. The surrounding country is extremely fruitful, and is richly diversified by vineyards and corn fields.

At Vittoria they were detained some time by the severity of the weather, the winter having now set in with unusual rigour; and Dr. Walker having taken a violent cold, he was obliged to give up all thoughts for the present of continuing. his journey. He experienced many civilities and attentions from the inhabitants, to several of whom he had letters of introduction; the principal of these was the superior of a Franciscan convent, who visited them very regularly, and who, when Dr. Walker was in a state of convalescence, invited them to spend a day or two in his convent. The Doctor accepted his invitation with pleasure, and they accordingly took up their abode in the Franciscan convent. The monks had a good library and some fine paintings, among which was one of the founder of the order, which Edward mistook for a Christ.

"No," said the superior of the monastery, "it is the portrait of our founder."

Edward apologised for the mistake, and the subject dropped.

The Doctor informed Edward that these monks are generally supposed to have settled in England about the year 1224, and had their first house at Canterbury; from whence they removed to London. Christ's Hospital originally be longed to them, until it was converted by Henry VI. into a charitable institution for the education and support of a cer tain number of youths, who are instructed in every kind of useful knowledge, according to their several abilities. The weather having become a little warmer, Dr. Walker ventured to take a walk, accompanied by the good Abbé. The streets of Vittoria are shaded by fine trees, which in the summer present a most delightful and cool retreat from the rays of the sun. In their peregrinations through the city with their monastic friend, they had an opportunity of particularly witnessing the profound respect with which the clergy are treated in Spain. Wherever the Abbé appeared, the in

habitants always gave him the wall; sometimes they kissed his hands, and sometimes the skirts of his garment.

"But you must observe, Edward," said the Doctor, in answer to an observation made by his pupil upon this subject, “that this respect is not confined to men in the Abbé's rank. There is a poor monk on the other side of the way, who is begging, to whom they pay the same devoted attention."

Dr. Walker having quite recovered his indisposition, they recommenced their journey, and passing through the villages of Cuella and Armision, they arrived at Miranda; they now entered a rocky country, beyond which they traversed seve ral extensive plains, tolerably cultivated; but upon arriving at Bibiesca, the scene changed; all here was barren, parched, and gloomy. In the immediate neighbourhood of Burgos, there are indeed a few agreeable promenades planted with trees; but the town itself is extremely uninviting; and except the cathedral contains no object worthy of arresting a traveller's steps. The picture of the Virgin clothing the infant Jesus, in one of the chapels of the cathedral, is very fine. The merits of this painting are, however, rivalled, by a miraculous image, in the suburbs of the city, on the opposite side of the Arlançon, which Dr. Walker and his pupil went to see. They were introduced into a small chapel with great solemnity, where the crucifix is concealed behind three curtains, which are slowly drawn aside, one after the other. This obscure chapel was adorned with numerous silver candlesticks; and the common people of the town firmly believe that the beard still grows.

From Burgos they proceeded through a dreary country, till they arrived in the neighbourhood of Valencia, where the soil is remarkable for its fertility. From Duenas, which is seated on a hill, the country becomes again barren, and our travellers saw with delight the steeples of Valladolid rising above the horizon, which they first discovered on quitting the village of Cabezon.

The Spanish peasantry would vie with the ancients in running," observed the Doctor, as a youth of about seventeen, outstripped the steady pace of their mules; "but they are accustomed to endure fatigue and hardships from their childhood. They never sleep in a bed till they are married, and you observed this morning the son of our host stretched by the stable door, there I found he had passed the night; it

appeared perfectly immaterial to him whether he slept under cover or not when the weather is tolerably mild; but I have not heard you, Edward, make any observations as to the cleanliness of the Spaniards, or the very great accommodations we meet with at the inns where we have stopped."

Edward smiled." Why, no, Sir," he replied, "the fact is this: when I was in Paris, the capital of a great empire, it seemed natural to expect certain accommodations. But here, when all appear alike insensible to luxury and comfort, it would be folly to expect any accommodation beyond that of shelter from the inclemencies of the weather; besides, Sir, I am rather more of a philosopher than you suppose; and although my bed consisted of a huge straw mattrass placed upon two trussels, with a thin one of the same nature as a coverlid, I slept very soundly last night."

"Thanks to the fatigues of the day for that," replied his friend. "Now I honestly confess that I did not sleep at all; for what with musquitoes, who fluttered over me, and other agreeable gentry, which amused themselves in the bed with me; together with the agreeable clattering of the rats over our head, and the dirt they scattered upon my face, through the roof, (which you must have observed, was composed of cane only,) I never closed my eyes; but yet, though I was vexed at being thus disturbed, I could not help smiling at your drowsy and reiterated ejaculations, as the musquitoes roused you into a state of transitory sensibility. I congratulate you, however, on your accommodating and somniferous powers."

SECTION IV.

VALLADOLID AND SALAMANCA.

ON their approach to Valladolid, they observed great quantities of madder, which is successfully cultivated in a part of its environs, as well as in the provinces of Burgos and of Segovia, in the Asturias, Andalusia, Arragon and Catalonia.

This root tinges water a dull red colour, and spirits of wine a deep bright red. When eaten by animals it stains even

their most solid bones. Cows are remarkably fond of the plant; and when they freely eat of it their milk becomes red, yet the cream which it affords makes a yellow butter.

Madder is a substance very extensively used in dyeing, not only on account of its yielding a fine red colour, but also as forming a first tint for several other shades. It is employed in the preparation of the Adrianople red, which possesses a peculiar degree of brightness. The madder used for dyeing cottons in the East Indies is in some respects different from that cultivated in Europe. And, in the neighbourhood of Smyrna, and in the island of Cyprus, a kind of madder is grown which affords a peculiarly bright and beautiful colour.

"What a fine avenue that is;" exclaimed Edward, "it is really superbe, and those cross walks which are so crowded with people, present quite a novel scene; and yet, Sir, such a number of persons parading the beautiful walks of Kensington gardens, have a much more pleasing effect. The men in their long dark cloaks, and the women in their black veils, appear so gloomy."

As their carriage drove leisurely through the avenue, they could with ease contemplate the dark and expressive countenances of the natives.

"At a period," said the Doctor," when Spain acted such a grand part, when she discovered and conquered the New World; when, not satisfied with domineering over a great part of Europe, she agitated and convulsed the other, either by intrigues or by military enterprises; at this period, the Spaniards became intoxicated with that national pride which breathed in their exterior, their gestures, their discourse, and their writings. As it then existed, it gave them an air of grandeur, which was overlooked at least by those whom it did not inspire with respect. But by a concurrence of unfortunate circumstances, this splendour is eclipsed; yet the pretensions for which it formed an excuse have survived. The Spaniard of the sixteenth century has disappeared, but his mask remains. Hence that proud and grave exterior which distinguishes them still in our days.

"But this pride, which would be noble if more moderate; this gravity, which always deceives and sometimes repulses; are compensated by very estimable qualities; or rather, they are the source of them. Individual as well as national pride elevates the soul, and guards it against meanness; and such is the effect of Spanish pride. There are in Spain, as elsewhere, vices and crimes; but they wear in general this prominent feature of the Spanish character. It is to be perceived even in a dungeon, and under the tatters of misery. It even balances to a certain point the genius of a language essentially diffuse, where the ear