ON SPANISH AGRICULTURE. 223 



cussed. Andalucians are critical judges of water, classing 

 it as mala, bad, unwholesome; gorda, turbid or flavoured'; 

 regular, pretty good, and agua rica, the best of bright 

 sparkling water. In praising his native hamlet, the first 

 point with a Spanish peasant will be " the water there is 

 good." Water, however, be it gorda or rica, they must 

 have ; and wherever on glowing plain or calcined hill- side 

 one sees a gang of labourers gently scratching the earth 

 with tiny hoe, there also are sure to be lying those porous, 

 amphora- shaped cdntaros full of water, ice-cold, albeit a 

 tropical sun has for hours impinged vertically on their 

 porous sides. Oh, how delicious a draught can be enjoyed 

 from those rude, old-world vessels surely none but thirst- 

 stricken labourer under Spanish summer sun — be he 

 peasant or bustard-shooter — can ever fully realize ! 



At the cortijo, or corn-farm, are four or five permanent 

 employes — the steward, the bread-maker, and the tenders 

 of the working oxen. All the rest of the labourers — men 

 or women — are hired temporarily as required. Herdsmen 

 and shepherds we do, not include, as these do not live at the 

 farm, but in some reed-built choza, or other rough shelter 

 hard by their flocks. Hence it will be seen that the class 

 of labour employed on arable land is of the lowest — there 

 is none of the inducement to steady industry begotten of 

 permanent place. At the vineyards, in addition to the 

 higher rate of wage, the food supplied is also much 

 superior. This industry, in short, absorbs the pick of the 

 labour-market. No women are employed in the vineyards, 

 nor allowed to touch a vine, though on the farms many 

 are engaged for such work as hoeing and weeding. 



To become the capataz of a vineyard is the highest 

 ambition of the labourer. To go into the market-place and 

 hire, instead of standing there to be hired, are obviously 

 very different things. It implies, besides, permanent 

 wages at increased rate, without manual work to do, for the 

 capataz only orders. 



He hires the labourers required, often with an eye to his 

 own advantage. The master never sees the men engaged : 

 there is no check on the honesty of the agent, but con- 



