Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014 https://archive.org/details/handbookfortrave01ford HAND-BOOK TRAVELLERS IN SPAIN. NOTICE TO THIS EDITION. The Publisher of the ' Hand-book for Travellers in Spain ' requests that travellers who may, in the use of the Work, detect any faults or omissions which they can correct from personal knowledge, will have the kindness to mark them down on the spot and communicate to him a notice of the same, favouring him at the same time with their names — addressed to the care of Mr. Murray, Albemarle Street. They may be reminded that by such com- munications they are not merely furnishing the means of improving the Hand-book, but are contributing to the benefit, information, and comfort of future travellers in general ; and particularly in regard to Spain, which just now is in a state of transition, change, and progress. No attention can be paid to letters from innkeepers in praise of their own houses ; and the postage of them is so onerous that they cannot be received. Caution to Travellers. — By a recent Act of Parliament the intro- duction into England of foreign pirated Editions of the works of British authors, in which the copyright subsists, is totally prohibited. Travellers will therefore bear in mind that even a single copy is contraband, and is liable to seizure at the English Custom-house. Caution to Innkeepers and others. — The Editor of the Hand-books has learned from various quarters that a person or persons have of late been extorting money from innkeepers, tradespeople, artists, and others, on the Continent, under pretext of procuring recommendations and favourable notices of them and their establishments in the Hand-books for Travellers. The Editor, therefore, thinks proper to warn all whom it may concern, that recommendations in the Hand-books are not to be obtained by purchase, and that the persons alluded to are not only unauthorised by him, but are totally unknown to him. All those, therefore, who put confidence in such promises may rest assured that they will be defrauded of their money without attaining their object. — 1845. HAND-BOOK FOR TRAVELLERS IN SPAIN, AND READERS AT HOME. DESCRIBING THE COUNTRY AND CITIES, THE NATIVES AND THEIR MANNERS THE ANTIQUITIES, RELIGION, LEGENDS, FINE ARTS, LITERATURE, SPORTS, AND GASTRONOMY : WITH NOTICES ON SPANISH HISTORY. PART I. CONTAINING ANDALUCIA, RONDA AND GRANADA, MURCIA, VALENCIA, CATALONIA, AND ESTREMADURA ; 2Ettf) labelling antr a Copious Etrtrex. LONDON: JOHN MURRAY, ALBEMARLE STREET. 1845. THIS BOOK IS PUBLISHED AT GIBRALTAR, BY GEORGE ROWSWELL ; AT MALTA, BY MRS. MUIR. LONDON: WILLIAM CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET. TO SIR WILLIAM EDEN, Bart., THESE PAGES ARE DEDICATED, IN REMEMBRANCE OF PLEASANT YEARS SPENT IN WELL-BELOVED SPAIN. BY HIS SINCERE FRIEND, RICHARD FORD. " Haec studia adolescentiam, acuunt, senectutem oblectant, secundas res ornant, adversis perfugium ac solatium prsebent ; delectant domi, non impe- diunt foris, pernoctant nobiscum, peregrinantur, rusticantur." Cicero, pro Arch. 7. PREFACE. 4 Of the many misrepresentations regarding Spain, few have been more systematically circulated than the dangers and difficulties which are there supposed to beset the traveller. This, the most roman- tic and peculiar country in Europe, may in reality be visited through- out its length and breadth with ease and safety, for travelling there is no worse than it was in France or Italy in 1814, before English exam- ple forced improvements. Still the great desideratum is a practical Hand-book, as the national Guias are unsatisfactory, since few Spa- niards travel in their own country, and fewer travel out of it ; thus, with limited means of comparison, they cannot appreciate differ- ences, nor know what are the wants and wishes of a foreigner. Ac- cordingly in their Guides, usages, ceremonies, &c, which are familiar to themselves from childhood, are often passed over without notice, although, from their novelty to the stranger, they are exactly what he most desires to have pointed out and explained. Nay, the natives frequently despise or are ashamed of those very things which the most interest and charm the foreigner, for whose observation they select the new rather than the old, and especially their poor pale copies of Europe, in preference to their own rich and racy ori- ginals. Again, the oral information which is to be obtained from the parties on the spot is generally still more meagre ; and as these incurious semi-orientals look with jealousy on the foreigner who observes or questions, they either fence with him in their answers, raise difficulties, or, being highly imaginative, magnify or diminish everything as best suits their own views and suspicions. The national expressions " Quien sabef no se sabe" — "who knows? I do not know," will often be the prelude to " No se puede" — M it can't be done." This Hand-book attempts to show what may be known and what may be done in Spain, with the least difficulty and the most viii PREFACE. satisfaction. With this view, the different modes of travelling by land or water, and the precautions necessary to be taken to insure comfort and security, are first pointed out in the Intro- duction. The Provinces are then described one after another. The principal lines of high roads, cross-communications, names of inns, and quality of accommodation, are detailed, and the best seasons of the year for exploring each route suggested. Plans of tours, general and special, are drawn up, and the best lines laid down for specific and specified objects. The peculiarities of every district and town are noticed, and a short account given of the local antiquities, religion, art, scenery, and manners. Thus this work, the fruit of many years' wandering in the Peninsula, is an humble attempt to furnish in the smallest compass the greatest quantity of useful and entertaining information, whether for the traveller in the country itself or for the reader at home. Those things which every one when on the spot can see with his own eyes, such as scenery, pictures, &c, are seldom described minutely ; stress is laid upon what to observe, leaving it to the spectator to draw his own conclusions ; nor is everything that can be seen set down, but only what is really worth seeing, — nec omnia dicentur (as Pliny says, * N. H.' xiv. 2), sed maxime insignia. The philosophy of Spain and Spaniards, and what is to be known, not seen, have never been neglected ; therefore dates, names, facts, and everything are mentioned by which local interest may be en- hanced. Curiosity is awakened, rather than exhausted ; for to do that would require many more such volumes as this. But as next to knowing a thing oneself, is the knowing where to find it, the best writers and sources of fuller information are cited, from whence future and more competent authors may fill up this skele- ton framework, whilst an exact reference to the highest authorities on every nice occasion offers a better guarantee of accuracy than the mere unsupported statement of any individual. In Spain, some few large cities excepted, libraries, newspapers, cicerones, and those resources which so much assist the traveller in other countries of Europe, are among the things that are not ; therefore the provident traveller should carry in his saddle-bags food both for mind and body, a supply of what he can read and eat, in the destitute ventas of this hungry land of the unin- formed. Again, as Spain and Spaniards are comparatively so little understood, some departure has been made from the preceding Handbooks which have described countries familiar to all. A little PREFACE. ix more is now aimed at than a mere book of roads, or description of the husk of the country. To see the cities, and know the minds of men, has been, since the days of the Odyssey, the object of travel ; but how difficult is it, in the words of " the Duke" (Disp., Dec. 13, 1810), " to understand the Spaniards exactly !" Made up of contra- dictions, they dwell in the land of the unexpected, lepays de Fimprevu, where exception is the rule, where accident and the impulse of the moment are the moving powers, and where men, especially in their collective capacity, act like women and children. A spark, a trifle, sets the impressionable masses in action, and none can foresee the commonest event ; nor does any Spaniard ever attempt to guess beyond la situation actual, or to foretell what the morrow will bring ; that he leaves to the foreigner, who does not understand him. Paciencia y bar ajar is his motto ; and he waits patiently to see what next will turn up after another shuffle, for his creed and practice are " Resignation," the Islam of the Oriental. The key to decypher this singular people is scarcely European, since this Berberia Cristiana is at least a neutral ground between the hat and the turban, and many contend that Africa begins even at the Pyrenees. Be that as it may, Spain, first civilised by the Phoe- nicians, and long possessed by the Moors, has indelibly retained the original impressions. Test her, therefore, and her natives by an Oriental standard, how analogous does much appear that is strange and repugnant, if compared with European usages ! This land and people of routine and habit are also potted for anti- quarians, for here Pagan, Roman, and Eastern customs, long ob- solete elsewhere, turn up at every step in church and house, in ca- binet and campaign, as we shall carefully point out. Again, here are those seas which reflect the glories of Drake, Rooke, and Nelson, and those plains that are hallowed by the vic- tories of the Black Prince, Stanhope, and Wellington ; and what English pilgrim will fail to visit such sites, or be dead to the religio loci which they inspire ? And where better than on the scenes themselves can be read the great deeds of our soldiers and sailors, their gallantry and good conduct, the genius, mercy, and integrity of their immortal chiefs, which will be here faithfully yet not boastingly recorded ? But the mirror that shall truly reflect Spain and her things, her glories and shame, must disclose a chequered picture in which dark shadows will contrast with bright lights, and the evil clash with. the good; sad, indeed, will be many a page; alas! for the works of X PREFACE. ages of piety, science, and fine art, trampled down by the Vandal heel of destroyers, foreign and domestic, who have left a deep foot- print, and set a brand which will pain the scholar, the artist, and the philanthropist. If, however, inexorable history forbids the total concealment of such crimes and culprits, far more pleasant has been the duty of dwelling on achievements of skill and valour, of pointing out the many beauties and excellencies of this highly favoured land, and of enlarging on the generous, manly, and independent People of Spain (see Index). A distinction has always been drawn between the noble and brave Nation at large and those unworthy individuals who, by means of vicious institutions, have endeavoured to depress its best energies ; for the thing wanting to the vigorous members of the political body in Spain is a Head. In presenting these and other things of Spain, let not any occa- sional repetition be imputed to carelessness or tautology, for matter descriptive and critical more than sufficient to have made another volume, has been cancelled in order to economise space, already too confined for so large a subject. By repetition alone are impressions made and fixed ; and as no hand-book is ever rea^d through continu- ously, each page should in some wise tell its own story ; and when so many sites have witnessed similar events, the narrative and deductions cannot materially differ. References will, however, fre- quently be made to analogous points ; and the bulk of information on any given subjects, purposely scattered in these pages, will be brought together under distinct heads in the Index, to which the reader is entreated to refer when any word or fact seems to re- quire explanation. Postscript. July 19, 1845. By arrangements just concluded, Madrid may now be reached in six days from London ; the Peninsular Steamer from South- ampton arrives at Corunna in about 72 hours, whence a Royal Mail runs to the capital in three days and a-half, via Lugo and Benavente. (See Routes lxvii., lxxv., lxxx.) CONTENTS OF PART I. PAGE Preface vii SECTION I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS . . l Public Conveyances and Steamers . . . ♦ • . 17, 73 Skeleton Tours 98 SECTION II. ANDALUCIA. Introductory Information . • . . , • . .143 Manners — Visiting — Houses — Religion — Beggars — Bull-fight — Theatre —Costume . . 150 Eoutes 203 SECTION III. RONDA AND GRANADA. Introductory Sketch of the Country and Natives . • . . 322 Routes . . . . . . 325 Kingdom of Granada 359 SECTION IV. THE KINGDOM OF MURCIA. General View of the Country and its Productions . . .405 Routes 406 Mines ........... 415 SECTION V. VALENCIA. PAGE General Account of the Country, Natives, and Agriculture . . 429 Valencia 437 Routes 451 SECTION VI. CATALONIA. Character of the Country and Natives —Commerce — Smuggling . 461 Eoutes 466 Barcelona and its History . 479 SECTION VII. ESTREMADURA. General View of the Province — its Merinos and Pigs . . . 515 Badajoz 521 Routes 525 SECTION I. PRELIMINARY REMARKS. I. General View of Spain. — 2. Spanish Money.— 3. Passports.— 4. Roads.— 5. Modes of Correspondence and Travelling in Spain— Post-office. — 6. Travelling with Post horses. — 7. Riding Post.— 8. Public Conveyances in Spain — El Correo — Diligences. — 9. Inns — The Fonda— Posada — Venta. — 10. Voiturier Travelling. — 11. Robbers, and Precautions against them. — 12. Travelling with Muleteers. — 13. Travelling on Horseback. — 14. Spanish Horses— Hints on a riding Journey. — 15. Spanish Servants — Cookery. — 16. Conveyances by Steam. — 17. What to observe in Spain.— 18. Spanish Language — Dialects — Gesticu- lations— Germania, or Slang — Grammars and Dictionaries. — 19. Geography of Spain. — 20. Skeleton Tours. — 21. Church and Architectural Terms. — 22. Chronology, the Era ; Kings of Spain, Contemporary Sovereigns, and Royal Arms — 23. Authorities quoted. — 24. Abbreviations. 1. GENERAL VIEW OF SPAIN. The aggregate monarchy of Spain is composed of many distinct provinces, each of which in earlier times formed a separate and independent kingdom ; although all are now united by marriage, inheritance, conquest, and other circumstances under one crown, the original distinctions, geographical as well as social, remain almost unaltered. The language, costume, habits, and local character of the natives, vary no less than the climate and productions of the soil. Man, following, as it were, the example of the nature by which he is surrounded, has little in common with the inhabitant of the adjoining district; and these differences are increased and perpetuated by the ancient jealousies and inveterate dislikes, which petty and contiguous states keep up with such tenacious memory. The general comprehensive term " Spain," which is con- venient for geographers and politicians, is calculated to mislead the traveller. Nothing can be more vague or inaccurate than to predicate any single thing of Spain or Spaniards which will be equally applicable to all its heterogeneous component parts. The north-western provinces are more rainy than Devonshire, while the centre plains are more calcined than those of Barbary : while the rude agricultural Gallician, the industrious manufacturing artisan of Bar- celona, the gay and voluptuous Andalucian, are as essentially different from each other as so many distinct characters at the same masquerade. It will therefore be more convenient to the traveller to take each province by itself and treat it in detail ; accordingly we shall preface each province with a few pre- liminary remarks, in which will be pointed out those peculiarities, those social and natural characteristics which particularly belong to each division, and 'distinguish it from its neighbours. The Spaniards who have written on their own geography and statistics, and who ought to be supposed to understand their own country and institutions the best, have found it advisable to adopt this B 2 1. GENERAL VIEW OF SPAIN. Sect. I. arrangement from feeling the utter impossibility of treating Spain as a whole. There is no king of Spain ; among the infinity of kingdoms, the list of which swells out the royal style, that of " Spain 1 ' is not found; he is King of the Spains, Bey de las Espafias, not *' Hey de Espana" The provinces of Castile, old and new, take the lead in national nomenclature ; hence " Castellano" Cas- tilian, is synonymous with Spaniard, and particularly with the proud genuine older stock. 44 Casiellano a las derechas" is a Spaniard to the backbone ; " Hablar Casteflano" to speak Castilian, is the correct expression for speaking the Spanish language. Spain long was without the advantage of a fixed metropolis, like Rome, Paris, or London, which have been capitals from their foundation, and recognized and submitted to as such; while here, the cities of Leon, Burgos, Toledo, Seville, Valladolid, and others, have each in their turns been the capitals of the kingdom, and the seats of royal residence. This constant change, and short-lived pre-eminence, has weakened any prescriptive superiority of one city over another, and has been a cause of national weakness by raising up rivalries and disputes about precedence, which is one of the most fertile sources of dissension among a punctilious people. Madrid, compared with the cities above mentioned, is a modern place; it ranks only as a town, 84 villa,''' not a city, 88 ciudad." It does not even possess a cathedral. In moments of national danger it exercises little influence over the Peninsula ; at the same time, from being the seat of the court and government, the centre of patronage and fashion, it attracts from all parts 88 los pretendientes" and those who wish to make their fortunes. The capital has a hold on the ambition rather than on the affections of the nation at large. The inhabitants of the different provinces think indeed that Madrid is the greatest and richest court in the world, but their hearts are in their native localities. "Mi paisano,'' my fellow-countryman, does not mean Spaniard, but Andalucian, Catalonian, as the case may be. When asked where do you come from ? the reply is, 48 Soy hijo de Murcia — hijo de (rrartada,'' 88 I am a son of Murcia — a son of Granada," &c. This is strictly analogous to the 84 Ghildren of Israel," the 44 13eni"' of the Spanish Moors, and to this day the Arabs of Cairo call themselves children of that town, (i Ibn el Musr" &c. This being of the same province or town creates a powerful feeling of clanship — a freemasonry ; the parties cling together like old schoolfellows, or the Scotch. It is a home and really binding feeling. To the spot of their birth all their recol- lections, comparisons, and eulogies are turned ; nothing to them comes up to their particular province, that is their real country. 88 La Patria^ meaning Spain at large, is a subject of declamation, fine words, pa labras — palaver, in which all, like Orientals, delight to indulge, and to which their grandiloquent idiom lends itself readily. From the earliest period down to the present, all observers have been struck with this localism, as a salient feature in Iberian character. They never would amalgamate, never would, as Strabo said, put their shields together, never would sacrifice their own local private interest for the general good ; on the contrary, in the hour of need, they had, as at present, a constant tendency to separate into distinct juntas, each of which only thought of its own views, utterly indifferent to the injury thereby occasioned to what ought to have been the common cause of all. Thus the virility and vitality of the noble people has been neutralised; they have indeed strong limbs and honest hearts, but, as in the Oriental parable, 88 a head" is wanting, to direct and govern: hence Spain is to-day, as it always has been, a bundle of small bodies tied together by a rope of sand, and, being without union, is also without strength, and has been beaten in detail. The much-used phrase Espafiolismo, expresses rather a 44 dislike of foreign dictation," and the 48 self estimation" of Spaniards, Espanoles sobre todos, than any real patriotic love of country. Spain, 2. SPANISH MONEY. 3 However the natives of the different provinces of Spain may differ among each other, there are many things which, as regards an Englishman travelling through the Peninsula, still hold good in every part ; accordingly money, pass- ports, roads, post-offices, modes of travelling by land or steam, inns, general advice as to preparations and precautions, necessarily must take precedence in our Hand-book. In treating of these, each in their order, we shall never omit, when the opportunity offers, to introduce any remark, proverb, expression, or circumstance, which may tend to a better understanding of the character of the people, which, after all, is the best information with which a stranger can be provided. 2. SPANISH MONEY. The first step will be to follow " Honest Tago's M advice ; " Put money in thy purse ; r for an empty one, and a lame mule, are beggarly companions to pilgrims whether bound for Rome or Santiago, Camino de Roma, ni mula cqja nibolsa floja. The money is practically the same all over the Peninsula; wherever there may exist, any local coins they are small, and scarcely come within the traveller's notice. There is no paper money ; it is entirely com- posed of specie, — of gold, silver, and copper, and is in good condition, the whole coinage having been renewed and simplified by Charles III. about 1770. Accounts in Spain are usually kept in reals, " reales de VeUomf which are worth about 2jk/. English. They are the piastres of the Turks, the sestertii of the Romans. Copper Money — " Monedas de Cobre*" — The lowest in denomination is the maravedi. This ancient money of Spain, in which government accounts used to he kept, has undergone many changes in value, which have been investigated by Saez and Wyndham Beawes. It at present is almost an imaginary coin, of which about fourteen and a fraction make an English penny. The common Spanish copper coins are the Maravedi, of which 34 make the real. Ochavo = 2 maravedis. Guar to = 4 „ Dos cuartos = 8 As a general rule, the traveller may consider the " cuarto " as equivalent to a French sou, and something less than our English halfpenny. Jt is the smallest coin likely to come much under the traveller's observation. Those below it, which are in value fractions of farthings, have hardly any defined form, and cannot be described ; among the lower classes every bit of copper in the shape of a coin passes for money ; thus, in changing a dollar into small copper, by way of an experiment, it was found, during the latter years of the reign of Fer- dinand VII., that among the multitudinous specimens of Spanish mints of all periods, Moorish, and even ancient Roman coins, were given and taken as maravedis in the market-place at Seville. The silver coins, " Monedas de plata,'' consist, generally speaking, of five classes, which are thus conveniently divided in value : — . The Real 1 2 4 10 20 Dos reales 1 2 5 10 Peseta 1 2± 5 Medio Duro 1 2 Duro 1 The real is worth somewhat more than twopence farthing ; the dos reales, or two reals, somewhat less than fivepence, and may be considered as equivalent b 2 4 2. — SPANISH MONEY. Sect. I. to the half franc, and representing in Spain the sixpence in England. The peseta comes very nearly to the French franc. Of these and the " dos reates " the traveller should always take a good supply, for, as the Scotchman said of sixpences, " they are canny little dogs, and often do the work of shillings." The half dollar varies, according to the exchange, between two shillings and half a crown. The traveller will find the dos reales, the peseta, the half dollar, and dollar to be the most convenient pieces of Spanish silver money. The dollar of Spain is well known all over the world, being the form under which silver has been generally exported from the Spanish colonies of South America. It is the Italian "Colonato," so called because the arms of Spain are supported between the two pillars of Hercules. The ordinary Spanish name is " Duro." They are often, however, termed in banking and mercantile trans- actions "pesos fuertes" to distinguish them from the imaginary "peso"''' or smaller dollar of fifteen reals only, of which the peseta is the diminutive. The " Duro " in the last century was coined into half dollars, quarter dollars, and half quarter dollars. The two latter do not often occur ; they may be dis- tinguished from the "peseta" and u dos reates" by having the arms of Spain be- tween the two pillars, which have been omitted in recent coinages ; their frac- tional value renders them inconvenient to the traveller until perfectly familiar with Spanish money. The quarter dollar is, of course, worth five reals, while the peseta is only worth four ; the half quarter dollar is worth two reals and a half, while the dos reales is only worth two. The coinage is slovenly : it is the weight of the metal, not the form, to which the Spaniard looks. Ferd. VII. continued for a long while to strike money with his father's head, having only had the lettering altered : thus early Trajans exhibit the head of Nero ; and our Henry VIII. set an example to Ferd. VII. When the Cortes entered Madrid after Salamanca, they patriotically prohibited the currency of all coins bearing the head of the intrusive Joseph ; yet his dol- lars being chiefly made out of church plate, gilt and ungilt, were, although those of an usurper, intrinsically worth more than the legitimate duro : this was a too severe test for the loyalty of those whose real king and god is cash. Such a decree was worthy of those senators who were busy in expelling French words from their dictionary instead of Frenchmen from their country. The wiser Chinese take Ferdinand and Joseph's dollars alike, calling them both "devil's head money." These sad prejudices against good coin have now given way to the march of intellect; nay, the five-franc piece with Louis Philippe's clever head on it, bids fair to oust the pillared Duro, The silver of the mines of Murcia, is exported to France, where it is coined, and sent back in the manu- factured shape. France thus gains a handsome per-centage, and habituates the people to her image of power, which comes recommended to them in the most acceptable likeness of current coin. The gold coinage is magnificent, and worthy of the country and period from which Europe was supplied with this precious metal. The largest piece, the ounce, (i onza,'' which is generally worth more than 31. 6s., puts to shame the diminutive Napoleons of France and sovereigns of England ; it tells the tale of Spain's former wealthy and contrasts strangely with her present poverty and scarcity of specie. The gold coinage is simple: — Duro 1 2 4 8 16 Dos duros 12 4 8 Doblon 12 4 Media-onza I 2 Onza 1 Spain, 2. SPANISH MONEY. 5 The ounce in Spain, when of full weight, is worth sixteen dollars. The value, however, of any individual piece is very uncertain. These large coins were mostly struck from twenty to fifty years back, and are much worn by time, and still more by the frequent operation of sweating, to which they are con- stantly exposed at home and abroad, by the fraudulent. They in consequence are seldom of their legal weight and value : many have been so glaringly and evidently clipped and reduced, that no one will take them at sixteen dollars. Those which are under legal weight ought to be accompanied with a certificate, wherein is stated their exact diminished weight and value. This certificate may be obtained in the principal towns from the " contrast ador," or u fiel medidor" the person who is legally authorized to weigh those gold coins which are supposed to be light, and his place of abode is well known. The debased coin, accompanied with this document, is then taken for whatever it is thus recognised and ascertained to be worth. All this, however, leads to constant disputes and delays, and the stranger cannot be too cautious when he takes money from Spanish bankers or merchants, to see that these great, coins are of correct weight. It is generally far preferable, except when residing in large towns, to take the smaller gold coins instead of the ounces ; to the former, ob- jections are very seldom raised. We would particularly advise the traveller, who is about to leave the high road and to visit the more rarely frequeuted dis- tricts and towns, to have nothing to do with any ounces whatever ; for when these broad pieces are offered for payment in a small village, they are always viewed with distrust. Nor even if the s( Venteros" the innkeepers, be satisfied that they are not light, can so much change as sixteen dollars be often met with, nor do those who have so much ready money by them ever wish that the fact should be generally known. Spaniards, like the Orientals, have a dread ol being supposed to have money in their possession ; it exposes them to be plun- dered by robbers of all kinds, professional or legal ; by the " alcalde" or village authority, and the " escribano" the attorney, to say nothing of the tax-gatherer; for the quota of contributions, many of which being apportioned among the in- habitants themselves of each district, falls heaviest on those who have, or are supposed to have, the most ready money: hence the difficulty the traveller will find in getting change, which, whether feigned or not, is at least real, as far as he is concerned and inconvenienced thereby. The lower classes of Spaniards, like the Orientals, are generally avaricious. They see that wealth is safety and power, where everything is venal ; the feeling of insecurity makes them eager to invest what they have in a small and easily concealed bulk, " en lo que no habla" <{ in that which does not tell tales,"