HISTORY OP CALIFORNIA. 79 



worn in many different and graceful fashions some 

 times twined round the waist and shoulders ; at others, 

 hanging in pretty festoons about the figure, but always 

 disposed with that indescribable degree of coquettish 

 grace which Spanish women have been for ages 

 allowed to possess in the management of the fan and 

 the mantilla. Since these arrivals, almost every 

 evening a fandango is got up on the green, before 

 some of the tents. The term fandango, though origin 

 ally signifying a peculiar kind of dance, seemed to bo 

 used here for an evening's dancing entertainment, in 

 which many different pas are introduced. I was pre 

 sent at a fandango a few nights ago, when a couple 

 of performers were dancing ' el jarabe,' which seemed 

 to consist chiefly of a series of monotonous toe and 

 heel movements on the ground. The motions of the 

 foot were, however, wonderfully rapid, and always in 

 exact time to the music. But at these entertainments 

 the waltz seems to be the standing dish. It is danced 

 with numerous very intricate figures, to which however, 

 all the Califorriians appear quite au fait. Men and 

 women alike waltz beautifully, with an easy, graceful 

 swinging motion. 



"It is quite a treat, after a hard day's work, 

 to go at nightfall to one of these fandangos. The 

 merry notes of the guitar and the violin announce 

 them to all comers ; and a motley enough looking 

 crowd, every member of which is pufiing away 

 at a cigar, forms an applauding circle around the 

 dancers, who smoke like all the rest. One cannot 

 help being struck by the picturesque costume and 

 graceful movements of the performers, who appear to 

 dance not only with their legs, but with all their hearts 

 and souls. During the interval between the dances, 



