considers himself a Caballero, a gentleman, and an old and well-born Christian one, Cristiano viejo y rancio, and therefore your equal. When his self-esteem and personal sensitiveness are once conciliated, he is quick to return the compliment, and to pay every deference to the judicious stranger by whom he is put in his proper place; all attempt to bully and browbeat is loss of time, for Spaniards are not to be driven by a rod of iron, still less if wielded by a foreigner. Civil words are everywhere the best defence, and lifting the hat is the signal of peace and good will; the sensitive Spaniard stiffens when hats are not off, and bristles up like a porcupine against the suspicion of a desaire. Be especially polite to officials, from the odious custom-house upwards. Dismiss the nonsense of robbers from your head, avoiding, however, all indiscreet exhibition of tempting baits, or chattering about your plans and movements. Avoid logomachies, or trying to! convince the natives against their will; it is arguing against a north-east wind, and a sheer loss of time, too; for, in a fine, indolent climate, where there is little to do—the otiose twaddlers spin Castilian nonsense by the yard.
In the large towns the costume of an English gentleman is the best; the cashmere or alpaca is far preferable to cloth, which is intolerable in the hot weather. Many Spaniards wear linen suits in the summer, and linen cricket-shoes. Remember, when you meet any one, being yourself embozado or muffled up, to remove the folds of cloak or coat before you address him, as not to do so is a great incivility: again, when strangers continue to speak to you thus cloaked, and as it were disguised, be on your guard.
The advance of civilization has caused a complete revolution in regard to the dress of both gentlemen and ladies, and the usual Parisian fashions are now everywhere adopted in the Peninsula. Black, however, is still the favourite colour for ladies’ dresses. Bonnets and hats have now become the fashion, but mantillas are much worn, especially at church, and at the theatre and bull-fights. Parasols are used, but the fan is still the national protector against the sun; small buff or white umbrellas, lined with green, are much used both by ladies and gentlemen during the summer months. A warm cloak or shawl is indispensable, as, in the evenings, the air is apt to be chilly, even during the spring and summer.
Carry the least possible amount of luggage that you can, never forgetting that none is so heavy and useless in Spain as preconceived prejudices and conventional foregone conclusions, although of genuine London or Paris manufacture. When you arrive at the place of your destination, if you wish to do or see anything out of the common way, call on the gobernador, alcalde, or chief authority, to state frankly your object, and request his permission. For riding tours and in all out-of-the-way districts, the traveller may adopt the national costume of the road; to wit, the peaked hat, Sombrero gacho, calañes, the jacket of fur, the Zamarra or the one of cloth, the Marselles; the grand object is to pass incog. in the crowd, or if noticed, to be taken for a native—which no Englishman ever is. You may possibly thus escape the beggars, which are the plague of Spain, and have a knack of finding out a stranger, and of worrying and bleeding him as effectually as the
