perform charmingly. They have also two favourite dances, called a
fandango, and a bolero, both extremely lively and graceful. The mode
of conveyance in Spain is by mules, and these beasts are surprisingly
obedient to their masters, and answer to their own names just like our
own pet dogs. The tails of the mules are oddly decorated, by cutting
the hair into stars, flowers, and other fanciful designs.

The villages are mostly mean, and the roads narrow; but Madrid, the
capital of Spain, is a large city, with long, straight streets, many
of them cooled by noble fountains. The houses in Madrid are built of
brick, and even the grandest of them have only lattices, instead of
glass windows, most of which have, however, handsome balconies,
supported on columns. In the churches, there are neither pews,
benches, nor chairs; the ground is covered with matting, on which
every one kneels together, from the grandee to the beggar. In the
suburbs there are many woods of evergreen oak, vineyards, olive
plantations, and orchards of mulberry, plum, and almond trees; and the
flocks of black sheep and goats, grazing in the country meadows, have
a pretty effect.

I don't think you would find the Spanish cookery much to your taste;
for the Spaniards are very fond of rancid butter in their meals, and
of oil that has a very strong smell and flavour; indeed, when they
are going to cook anything that requires fat, they lift down the lamp
from the ceiling, and take out what oil they want. Bread, steeped in
oil, and occasionally seasoned with vinegar, is the common food of the
country people. Their favourite wine is that which has a strong taste
of the leather bottles or casks, in which they keep it; and they will
hardly eat any thing that has not saffron, pimento, or garlic, in it.
They have, however, even amongst the poorest, such fine grapes, ripe