New-York tribune., 1869-03-27

IL is hardly sixty years since the hrst OF
theirs ratified and rumbed and Jolted over Spanish
highway That particular one which transported us
from Menilbar to Granada might well enough have
been the first parent Of all the rest 1t is one OF
those prodigies of human ingenuity which once seen
are never forgotten and once ridden in leave last
ing impression not only on the memory but on the
constitution. The first thing at Mcmillan was break
fast under which name the enterprising proprietor
of the dirty restaurant at the station serves an
omelette in oil and rusty coffee at three francs
head Better take it thankfully for there is nothing
more to be got till Granada and Granada is 13 hours
away. If it is your first Spanish journey, it will
teach you to look out for proyant on your next.
The exit from the station is like the exit from all
Spanish stations narrow and crowded with beggars
Beyond the doorway looms dimly through the fog
huge shape like distant mountain, fantastic in
outline and varegated in hue, which, as you escape
from the horrible entry into the air. you slowly
and dOubtfully recognize the diligence IN which
you rashly engaged a seat at the Office in Madrid
1t has Wheels and body, one body of wood In the
rear and another of glass in 'front.' and second story
for luggage and a third for passengers with wings.
However, there is nothing in the arrangement very
different from the dgences of France and Switzer-
land. 1t is the size the clumsy build, the motley
color the makeshft eOntrivances the venerable age
and the generally rattletrap appearance OF the mon
ster which makes il an object of wonder to him who
sees it for the first time. How can this great mass
be set in motion inOt to speak of the load OF human
beings and their luggage, with which 1T is beng
stuedf noise of bells and the quick patter OF hoofs
is heard-two four SIX eight, ten mules, the sight
OF which explains the anger of the common reproach
against bishop, that the mules which draw his
Episcopal carriage are sleek. The rope harness is
sail
hand the driver climbs up. the position mounts the
rear leader, the second whip-for there are always
two-dashes at a hesitating beast with cry and
smashing blow, the beggars who all the time have
clung about the wheels as If confident they would
never turn scatter in a twinkling and the whole
mass of wood and iron and human flesh starts
with Jerk, and rushes madly through gap in the
fence into the road. Once in motion the speed is
marvellous the driver yelling at his mules till he aud
they are equally frantic, and the diligence holding
together so well that finally you to expect it TO
60 to pieces on this particular journey.
1 seriously recommend the diligence TO all who
like my unhappy self, have not the time for seeing
Spain on horseback 1t is not so very much slower
than the railway and the coupe, or even the berlina
opens to yOu clearer view of the country than can
be got from railway carriage. The coupe you VIII
understand is the French banquette, and the French
diigences differ in construction, the place is
not always the best place, and in some the berlna Is
wanting altogether while in others the coupe is so
rooted in and incosed the sides that it is inferior
to the berna for sightseeing. But the coupe offers
undeniable advantages for studying the science OF
mule-driving which is great fun for the passenger
whatever it may be for the mule, and the mule al
WAYS seems to be so tough-skinned to be favored
with a nervous system so obtuse that one does not
look on the whipping he gets as much more than
rude kind of moral suasion and venture to say thls
though l never can bear to see the lash come down
on the delicate skin of a well-bred horse
The shouts of the driver reach the of the mule
perhaps because it is so large-with quite as much
eject as blows on his back. Each mule has his name
and knows it, and is addressed by it in all tones, the
difference between which he perfectly understands,
answering readily in his quickencd pace 10 the shout
of encouragement, and appearing sensitive to the
reproaches which the most friendly driver some
times addresses to the objects of his regard. The
mule is, suppose the national beast of Spain, and
though degraded from the honorable duties he once
performed may still be occasionally in good con-
dition and drawing the coach Of some old nandee
whose tastes have not been remodeled by European
fashions Primthough he is not exactly an old gram
dee and though he has seen more of the world than
most of his couutrymen-DOn Juan Prm himself
may be seen at tunes drawn in open carriage
through the streets of Madrid by six mules fat and
frisky-the mules, not Prim-and covered from ears
to hoofs with tassels and gay housings and bells.
Without exception the mules of Spain have the up
Der half of the body shaven Clean and likewise their
tails II does not appear to be done for the sake OF
the commercial value of the hair, nor does it add TO
the beauty of the animal. After some fruitless in
auries-and, as rule, inquiries are fruitless III
SpainI was assured that it was precaution against
some lnaady of the skin to which these beasts are
liable in Summer. When first saw how diligence
team IA driven, it occurred me that the shaving
process was reany meant to remove every possible
intervening substance between the end of the whip
and the nerves Of the mule but perhaps the other ex
planation is the truer one, it certainly Is tha
more humane The cries of the driver and the crack
of his long whiplash still ring in my ears mingled
with the hollow roll of the diligence the me-
tallc road the appeals, the reproacbes the insults
hurled out of the mouth of the driver like stones out
of a sling and going as straightsto the mark. re-
member the name Of every mule in many teams Of
ten. albeit not few like their masters have the
same name. Romero Capilano, Corallo, and many
another hgh-sOunding part of Castilian speech grew
familiar to us in the first few miles of diligence
travel and finally they grew little wearisome, and
before the IA hours done you would rejoice to
the whip used oftener even to travel more slowly
might your ears but rest from the hoarse shouts of
your drivers iron lungs.
The road is the old royal road, kept in admirable
smoothness of repair, patrolled by civil guards, who
do their work so thoroughly that this lonely high
way, once the happy hunting ground of brigands
has become safer than the Strand in London, than
the rural lanes of Philadelphia itself The guards
are fine fellows They are all old soldiers, dstin-
gushed for good conduct and bravery during service
in fact the pick of the Spanish army and good men