MEMOIK 01 DR WRIGH I . j.'> 



state of cultivation, and remarkable chiefly for its rich 

 plantation of olives ; but they arrived too late for any 

 better supper than bread and cheese, with a seasoning 

 of garlic ; nor could they prevail on their host to pro- 

 duce a flask of sherry, except such as was too new to be 

 fit for the table. The next day's inarch brought them 

 to Arcos, where the British officers found themselves 

 to be objects of great interest to the wondering na- 

 tives. They had now arrived at the location assigned 

 for them by the Spanish authorities ; and they lost no 

 time in making themselves as comfortable as the place 

 and the circumstances would admit. 



Arcos is a town of Moorish origin, situate on the 

 summit of an eminence on the banks of the Guadalete, 

 which, in the course of ages, has worn itself a deep and 

 precipitous channel, and has in several places under- 

 mined the ancient buildings and fortifications of the 

 town. During their residence in Andalusia, the Bri- 

 tish officers had frequent occasion to place the activity 

 and industry of their own countrymen in favourable 

 contrast with the habits of the natives. The narrow 

 streets of Arcos were constantly thronged with crowds 

 of idlers, in such extraordinary numbers as to induce 

 Dr W might to make some general enquiry on the 

 subject. From the result he was led to the conclu- 

 sion, that the modern Spaniards had sadly degenerated 

 from their forefathers, in every moral quality, and that 

 industry and virtue had in a great measure been exi- 

 led from the Peninsula with the Moors. During the 

 olive season, and the period of the vintage, which to- 

 gether do not occupy more than two or three months, 



