17 
The most trying difficulty of the traveller is the railways. 
The means of locomotion are slow. There are generally only 
two trains a day and they are either very early in the morning 
or late at night. Speed is not considered necessary for anything 
in Spain, the lines are badly laid and the gradients in some 
places are very great. Luggage should be reduced to a minimum 
or it will be a nuisance. The stations are almost invariably 
from one to two miles from the town. Omnibuses meet all 
trains and their arrival seems to be the event of the day, plat- 
forms are crowded with promenaders who come to get the 
latest news. Water is sold atall stations. Care should be taken 
on arrival to get the proper hotel omnibus and see that it is the 
right one. If one expects to find hotels as good as those in our 
large towns disappointment will follow, they are about equal to our 
second class and the food is really good. ‘The prices are pension 
and range from 173 pesetas per day (10/-). The wine was the wine 
of the country, the natural juice of the grape and varied according 
to the locality, but sound and good generally. The dearest and 
worst hotels are those frequented by Americans and English. 
There are very few restaurants in Spain, and those we saw were 
of a very poor kind. 
The climate of the country shows the most striking contrasts, 
the northern part, being very high, lias cold winters and hot 
summers, that on the Mediterranean shore is the best. 
During the month we were in Spain only once had I my 
umbrella up, and this in November which is supposed to be the 
rainy month. The scenery is varied, the sunsets striking, but 
not so varied as those of Scotland. The river-beds show the 
extremes to which the country is subjected. The intercourse 
with the people is pleasant, everyone seemed most anxious to do 
all they could for one’s comfort. Their dress varies according 
to the various districts. In point of physical beauty I think the 
male sex carry off the palm, for there were certainly some of the 
handsomest men I ever saw. 
The beggars are a bit of a nuisance, the hand seems always to 
be outstretched, and the ery ‘una peseta”’ is continually in 
your ears, even inside the churches, 
Spain is awiully behind the times in its sanitation. Even in 
Madrid, the capital, things are common which would not be 
tolerated in a country village here. In one thing only are they 
ahead of us, and that is in the use of the electric light. We 
found it nearly everywhere. The ‘‘ Puerta de Sol’’ at Madrid 
was as brilliantly lighted as Piccadilly in London, 
