Fireworks 



and mangled. However, it is fair to say, that there were no 

 men hurt, and if there had, our human would probably have 

 overpowered our brutal sympathies. 



As we are prepared to set out in a day or two, heavily 

 armed with pistols, and determined not to surrender except 

 to overwhelming numbers of banditti, we thought it 

 prudent to sit up last night to make our wills. 



This evening fireworks were let off from the new iron 

 bridge over the Guadalquivir, which is to be opened to- 

 morrow. We, with a large party of our Spanish friends, 

 saw everything to great advantage from a barge on the 

 river. Such a mass of many-coloured fire on the dappled 

 mirror of the flowing waters, with dark, crowded boats 

 glancing here and there athwart the burning ripples ; the 

 shores around all hung with myriad lamps ; and the planet 

 Venus, like a permanent rocket-star, looking down over the 

 eaves of Triana on the perishable efforts of pyrotechny — 

 altogether resulted in what is familiarly termed a striking 

 scene. 



The other day, we and some other Englishmen got up a 



funclon of gipsy-dancing in the court of a great building on 



the bank of the river, originally erected, I believe, by an 



embryo gas company, which was rendered abortive by a 



combination of the Sevillian oil-sellers. 



Terpsichore is not my favourite muse, and I found it 

 rather melancholy mirth. The dance is a barbarous 

 Oriental gesticulating wriggle ; the performers stooping, 

 swaying their bodies, and waving their arms, and clacking 

 their castanets to the sound of the guitar. It was a 

 picturesque scene, but the weather and the spirits of the 

 party were rather cold. The gipsies made us taste the 

 victuals we had provided, under an impression that we were 

 about to make them eat roast dog, and would not get tipsy 



lib 



