gold. Within, the Catholic king is discovered seated on the right, conspicuous by his stars, his blue scarf, and the golden fleece which dangles from his neck. He glances round on the multitude with a look of mingled apathy and good humour, and salutes them mechanically by putting his hand up towards his nose and taking it down again, as though he were brushing the flies away. At his left is the queen, looking too good for this wicked world. Next comes Don Carlos, the heir apparent, drawn by six cream-coloured horses, more beautiful than those of his brother. He grins horribly through his red mustaches, and frightens those whom he intended to flatter. Beside him is his wife, a large coarse woman, with heavy butting eyebrows. In the third coach is Don Francisco and his wife, drawn by six noble blacks. In the fourth the Portugueza with her young son Don Sebastien; after which come some four or five carriages, each drawn by six mules, and which contain the lords and ladies in attendance. The whole is numerously escorted by cavaliers of the body-guard, and grooms from the royal service. The arrival of the royal family, like the passing of the host or the tolling of the 'angelus,' usually arrests every one in the situation in which it may find him. The line between the carriages is at once cleared, through the exertions of the cavalry, and the vehicles on either side pause until their majesties have passed. Those who are walking turn their faces towards the road; the gentlemen unroll the embozo of their cloaks, and take their hats off, whilst the women shake their fans in passing salutation.

In winter the Paseo takes place at noon, and continues until dinner. In spring and summer it commences at sunset, and is not entirely over until after midnight; for the Spaniards usually pass the siesta of the hot season in sleep, and then, having dressed themselves, they sally out in the evening fresh and buoyant. I was so unfortunate as to leave Madrid just at the close of the winter, when returning vegetation denoted the approach of a happier season. Thus I missed the pleasure of passing a summer evening on the Prado. But I heard much upon the subject; for Florencia, when she urged my longer stay, drew a vivid picture of its attractions. It appears, that in that season the walks are carefully sprinkled in anticipation; and if it be a feast day, the fountains throw their waters higher. In the evening, chairs are placed in readiness, in which the ladies take their seats in circles, and hold their tertulias under the trees. Bare-headed boys circulate with lighted matches, for the accommodation of the smokers. Aguadores are at hand, with water that is fresh and sparkling. Half-naked Valencians offer oranges and pomegranates. Old women praise their dulces, or sweetmeats, for which the Madrilenas have quite a passion, whilst the waiters of a neighbouring botilleria bring ices and sherbets to refresh the palates of the thirsty. Children are heard on every side, collected in noisy groups, at their pleasant games and pastimes; whilst the humbler crowd seat themselves in circles under the trees, strum their guitars, and tune their voices, to make music for a light-heeled couple, who trip it gaily in the midst. Meantime, the falling waters of the neighbouring fountains impart a coolness to the air, which comes perfumed from neighbouring botanic gardens with the aromas of every clime, and burdened with the song of the nightingale.

Who can say enough in praise of the Paseo ? It furnishes an amusement at once delightful and innocent, and from which not even the poorest

are excluded; a school where the public manners are softened and refined by social intercourse, and by mutual observation; where families meet families, and friends meet friends, as upon a neutral ground-inform themselves of each other's affairs, unrestrained by ceremonial, and keep intimacy alive, without the formalities of visiting. In these delightful associations, persons of every rank and of every calling forget their exclusive pretensions; whilst the softer sex, to whom belong the attributes of modesty and grace, banish indecorum, and shed a charm over the whole assemblage.'-vol. i. pp. 303-309.

We shall not follow Lieutenant Slidell in his excursion to Segovia and the Escurial, although his relation of it is sufficiently romantic. A portion of his journey, which was performed in a public waggon, is highly amusing. We must, however, say, that his description of the Escurial, which he writes somewhat affectedly Escorial, affords no idea whatever of the solemn grandeur of that conventual palace. His visit to it was not only a very hasty one, but he seems to have preserved a most confused recollection of the many points of interest which that celebrated structure exhibits. He is much more happy in his account of Toledo, known as the head-quarters of the church in Spain, which he visited before his departure for the south. His vehicle, on this occasion, as far as Aranjuez, was a carro, or common cart, drawn by two mules, and one of the least inviting modes of conveyance which a hapless traveller could select. From Aranjuez, he rode a miserable half-starved horse, for which he was obliged to pay beforehand. Enjoying the pleasures of a Rosinante, he also had his Sancho, in a ragged boy who accompanied him on an ass, in order to bring back the Pegasus. The naiveté, the utter freedom from false delicacy, with which the whole of this portion of his journal especially is written, has great charms for us. It is truth quite undisguised.

The heat was intense; for, as is usual in this climate, a cloudless sky left a free action for the rays of the sun. The dust, too, set in motion by my horse, had time to envelope me, ere he could get beyond it: nor was there any confort in my seat; the pack-saddle was hard and uneven, and being without stirrups, my legs, abandoned to their own support, seemed at each instant to grow longer and heavier. I had tired them, too, in kicking the ribs of my beast, in order to make him keep up with Jose and his barrico, which moved its feet so quickly over the ground, that it seemed even to be getting on much faster and leaving me behind, though it preserved always the same interval. It was a long and a weary ride this, for the lofty Alcazar of Toledo, seemed ever to maintain the same distance as when we first discovered it, in emerging from the groves of Aranjuez.

Towards noon we reached a part of these desert and barren downs, where some labourers were constructing nórias to raise water for the purpose of irrigation. Hard by stood a solitary venta, which we gladly entered to procure some food, and to escape awhile from the fury of the sun. muleteer, accompanied by two women, had paused just before us, and was busy skinning a hare which he had just shot, and from which they were

A

about to make their dinner. As we carried no gun, and had not been so fortunate, we asked a coarse-haired, dark-eyed old woman, what she had to eat, and being answered that there were eggs, we ordered a tortilla. Our hostess went into the next room, whence some hens had just come cackling forth to join the group that were picking the crumbs in the kitchen, and presently returned with half a dozen new-laid eggs, breaking them at once into a frying-pan, the bottom of which she had previously covered with oil. Whilst this operation was going on, Jose led his beast to the shady side of the house, and taking a few handfuls of barley from a canvass bag which hung from the back of the barrico, he threw it upon the ground, and left the two animals eating together in peace, like Rosinante and the Rucio.

'The eggs were soon emptied into an earthen dish, where they floated at large in a sea of oil; the dish was placed on a low table, which, for want of a bench-the only one in the house being occupied by the party of the muleteer-we drew close to the door, so as to take our seats upon the sill. Now that we had our meal before us, however, it was not so easy to eat it; the bread and the wine, indeed, gave us no trouble, but the eggs were as much beyond our reach as fishes that you see in the water but have no means of catching; in vain did we ask for a spoon or a fork our hostess only regretted that she could do nothing for us. Until a week before, she had two wooden spoons and one horn one for the accommodation of cavaliers who did not carry their own utensils; but some quintas, or conscripts, had passed by on their way to the frontiers of Portugal, and halted during the heat of the day at her house, since then, she had seen nothing either of her horn spoon or of the two wooden ones, and she never meant to buy another. As our invention was sharpened by hunger, Jose and I bethought ourselves to cut the bread into slices, and to use two pieces as chop-sticks, after the manner of the Chinese. In this way, and by lending each other occasional assistance in catching a refractory egg, we were enabled to drive them, one by one, into a corner, and draw them out, until nothing remained but the oil.'—vol. ii. pp. 18-21.

After feasting his mind with the wonders of Toledo, a city formerly of much grandeur and opulence, though now almost in ruins, the author returned to Madrid, whence, after a short stay, he proceeded by the diligence to Cordova. The description of his route offers no novelty beyond a real attack of banditti; for however numerous may be the reports upon this subject, it is not one traveller in a hundred that obtains an opportunity, from personal observation, of describing an incident of this nature. We own that we were at first inclined to doubt whether the lieutenant had not drawn a little upon his imagination on this occasion; but knowing, as we do intimately, the spot upon which it is said to have taken place, and having a strong recollection of the facilities which the neighbouring localities present for the escape of robbers who have for many years infested the mountains round Puerto Lapiche, we found reason, as we proceeded, to believe that there is not a syllable of exaggeration in any part of the narrative.

Leaving Madrilejos, we travelled on, through a solitary country, until

we came to the venta of Puerto Lapiche, the very house in which Don Quixote watched over his armour and was dubbed knight errant in the beginning of his adventurous career. The conductor had taken his seat beside me in the rotunda, and we were yet talking of the exploits of that renowned hero, when our conversation was suddenly and unceremoniously interrupted by the discharge of muskets, the loud shouting of eager, angry voices, and the clattering of many hoofs. Here, indeed, is an adventure, thought I. Oh! for Don Quixote to protect us! In the next moment the diligence stopped, and on looking out at the window, the cause of this interruption became manifest.

Our four wild partisans were seen flying at a fearful rate, closely pursued by eight still more desperate-looking fellows, dressed in sheep-skin jackets and breeches, with leathern leggings, and montera caps, or cotton handkerchiefs, on their heads. Each had four pistols at his saddle-bow, a steel sabre at his side, a long knife thrust through the belt of his cartouchebox, and a carabine, in this moment of preparation, held across his horse's neck in front of him. It was an animated scene this, such as I had frequently before seen on canvas, in Wouverman's spirited little pictures of robber broils and battle scenes, but which I had never before been so highly favored as to witness in reality.

Whilst this was going on in the road behind us, we were made to get down by one of the party, who had been left to take care of us, and who now shouted in rapid succession the words "Ajo! a tierra! boca abajo, ladrones!" As this is the robber formula throughout Spain, its translation may not be unacceptable to the reader. Let him learn, then, that ajo means garlic, and the remainder of the salutation, " to the ground! mouths in the dust, robbers!" Though this formula was uttered with great volubility, the present was doubtless the first attempt of the person from whom it proceeded; a youth scarce turned of twenty, and evidently a novice-a mere Gil Blas at the business. We did not, however, obey him the less quickly, and took our seats as ordered, upon the ground, in front of the mules and horses, so that they could only advance by passing over us; for he was so much agitated, that his musket shook like the spout of a fire engine; and we knew full well that in such situations a frightened is not less to be dreaded than a furious man. Our conductor, to whom this scene afforded no novelty, and who was anxious to oblige our visitors, placed himself upon his hands and knees, like a frog when he is about to jump, and asked if that was the right way. He took care, however, to turn his unpleasant situation to account, putting a huge watch into the rut of the road, and covering it carefully with sand. Some of the party imitated this grasshopper attitude, and Fray Antonio availed himself of the occasion and the devotional posture to bring up the arrears of his Paters and Aves.

'We had not been long thus, before the captain of the band returned, leaving five of his party to take care of the guards, three of whom stood their ground and behaved well. Indeed, their chief was no other than the celebrated Polinario, long the terror of La Mancha, until he had been brought over to guard the diligence, and had turned royalist volunteer. We could distinctly hear them cursing and abusing the robbers, and daring them to come tantos por tantos-man for man. As honor, however, was not the object of these sturdy cavaliers, they contented themselves with keeping the guard in check, whilst their comrades were playing their parts

at the diligence. The first thing the captain did, when he rode among us, was to call to the conductor for his hat; after which he bade him mount upon the diligence, and throw down whatever was there. He cautioned him at the same time to look around and see if any thing was coming, adding with a terrible voice, as he half lifted his carabine, “And take care;' "Y cuidado!" The conductor quietly obeyed, and the captain having told us to get up and not be alarmed, as no harm was intended, called to us to put our watches and money into the conductor's hat, which he held out for the purpose, much in the ordinary way of making a collection, except that instead of coming to us, he sat very much at his ease upon his horse, to let us come to him. I threw my purse in, and as it had nine or ten silver dollars, it made a very good appearance, and fell with a heavy clink. Then, grasping the bunch of brass keys and buttons which hung from my fob, I drew out the huge watch which I had bought at Madrid, in contemplation of some such event, and whose case might upon emergency have served the purpose of a warming-pan. Having looked with a consequential air at the time, which it marked within six hours, I placed it carefully in the hat of the conductor. The collection over, the captain emptied purses, watches, and loose money all together into a large leathern pocket which hung from his girdle, and then let the hat drop under his horse's hoofs.

"Cunado !"-" Brother-in-law!" said the captain to one of the worthies, his companions, "take a look into those trunks and boxes, and see if there be any thing in them that will suit us."—"Las llaves, senores!”— "The keys, gentlemen!" "And do you, zagal, cast me, loose those two horses on the lead; a fine fellow is that near horse with the saddle." The two persons thus summoned set about obeying with a very different grace. Our cunado dismounted at once, and hitched his horse to the friar's trunk. He then took from the crupper of his saddle a little bundle, which being unrolled, expanded into a prodigious long sack, with a yawning mouth in the middle. This he threw over his arm, with the mouth uppermost, and with a certain professional air. He was a queer, systematic little fellow this, with a meek and Joseph-cast of countenance, that in a market-place would have inspired the most profound confidence. Having called for the owner of the nearest trunk, the good friar made his appearance, and he accosted him with great composure. "Open it yourself, padre; you know the lock better than I do." The padre complied with becoming resignation, and the worthy trunk inspector proceeded to take out an odd collection of loose breeches that were secured with a single button, robes of white flannel, and handkerchiefs filled with snuff. He had got to the bottom without finding aught that could be useful to any but a friar of mercy, and there were none such in the fraternity, when, as a last hope, he pulled from one corner something square that might have been a box of diamonds, but which proved to be only a breviary fastened with a clasp. The trunk of the Biscayan came next, and as it belonged to a sturdy trader from Bilboa, furnished much better picking. Last of all he came to mine; for I had delayed opening it until he had called repeatedly for the key, in the hope that the arrival of succour might hurry the robbers away, or at least that this double sack would fill itself from the others, which was certainly very charitable. The countenance of our cunado brightened up when he saw the contents of my well-filled trunk; and not unlike Sancho of old, when he stumbled upon the portmanteau of the disconso