148 Spanish Highways and Byways, QAugust, 



of their obstreperous humour, I sat perfectly unmoved, whilst peal after 

 peal shook the very walls of the room. My gravity only encreased with 

 their extravagant merriment, being still unable to divine the cause, until 

 my fat friend advanced towards me rather cautiously, with a leering 

 look, and a comical twinkling of the eye, and prefacing his address with 

 a low bow, enquired what goods I had to dispose of? Not wishing to 

 shew my vexation at the savage rudeness of the people, I merely replied 

 I had nothing for sale. — " Oh ! then," continued he, " where do you 

 intend to exhibit, I suppose you have got leave from the alcalde ? " I 

 still answered mildly, though the impertinence of the fellow was almost 

 too much for my temper, that I had no such intention, I was an English 

 gentleman passing through the country, and expected to be treated, at 

 least, with decency, if not with respect. " Come, come, my good fel- 

 low," said my querist; " I suppose this belongs to the nicety of your 

 calling ; but we are all friends here ; so tell us which are you — quack 

 doctor or mountebank ? " This was too much. — The impudence of the 

 fellow was past human endurance. In another instant, surrounded as * 

 he was by friends, I should have kicked him out of the room, at the risk 

 of a stab the next minute ; when my landlady, with the quick witted- 

 ness of woman, fancying there might be some mistake, stepped between 

 us, and laying her hand on my arm pointed to my hair, which I had but 

 a few minutes before arranged so much to my satisfaction with powder 

 and pomatum. Taking a small quantity of powder between her thumb 

 and finger, with great naivete, she said — •" If you are a gentleman what 

 could have induced you to put that stuff on your head ?" I replied it 

 was the custom of many gentlemen of my own country and those of 

 others, to wear powder, and that I was by no means singular in its 

 adoption. Immediately the laughter of the crowd seemed to subside 

 into a sort of quiet astonishment ; and my fat persecutor to whom I was 

 indebted for the first sally, assuming a more respectful demeanour said' — 

 " Really, Sir, we must beg your pardon for our rudeness ; but, the fact 

 is, in our country, the only persons we have ever seen thus disfigure 

 themselves are mountebanks and quack doctors, who do it for our 

 amusement ; and I am sure we never knew before that it was the cus- 

 tom for gentlemen, in any part of the world, to prank themselves out like 

 mountebanks." Whether the fellow intended this sally as an apology, or 

 a quiet piece of waggery I know not, I suspected the latter ; but be it 

 as it may, it had its effect, for I have never worn powder since. This 

 little incident, mortifying as it was, did not in the least detract from my 

 appetite ; for when my landlady placed before me my disguised portion 

 of goat's flesh, not even Mons. Ude's celebrated cotelete a la Sontag ever 

 received so hearty a commendation. It was with regret that I quitted 

 the posada of the " Dos Cabelleros," or " The Two Gentlemen;" but 

 being now within a short journey of my friend Thomas, at Azuaga, I 

 made the best of my way thither. 



Azuaga was considerably out of our way to Madrid, therefore, on 

 our arrival the next day at Berlanga, instead of pursuing the route to 

 ]\Ierida, we made a detour to the right, and entered a district in every 

 respect the opposite to that we had quitted. The country seemed rich 

 in corn and olives, and merinos began to shew themselves — a sure indi- 

 cation that we were approaching a civilized world. 



On my arrival at Azuaga after receiving the congratulating visits 

 of friends with whom I had become intimate on my former journey, I 



