The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1874-02-19
26-NUMBER 20.
GRANADA.
The GIpsy Quarters OF \ spanish CITY.

Another day We tOek a opida snd
went of to the Gipsy quarter. We
wished to walk, but the guide yronld
not hear of anything so beneath his
I dignity, not to mention the fatIaus.
so away we rum bled In a most extra
ordinary vehicle, something between
an omnibus and vetturinO-carriAge;
the roads were like dry, stony water
courses and frequently the sharp
turns and the precipices wonld have
oeen startling, lad We not been pre-
pared for any amount Of queerness. /
am rather surprised We were not up
set.
The gipsy quarter on the opposite
side Of the Dxrro from the Albambra-
u wonderfully beautiful, and exceed
tngsy odd. The Gipsies live Bnder-
ground, in caves covered with thick
est prickly pears, Of which the fruit is
said TO be the best kind in Granada,
owing to the heat Of the houses. Most
OF the Gipsy aristceracy are black
smiths, who keep up large fire; be-
sides which the sun beats on the
slopes All day long; so, with the hest
above and the heat below, the fruit Is
forced into size of juioiness quite
remarkable. We were told that at
night those gipsy caves look absolute
~ demoniacal, with the red 6reIights
coming out Of the ground, and the
swarthy figures Of the inhabitants
fitting about: we never had courage
enough to venture there after dark,
No carriage can enter this quarter,
the road being too narrow; so we were
IN
oio rather neKvously, as we had been
TOLD appalling stories Of the feroeity
and insolence Of the Gipsies. We
need not have been afraid they were
perfectly polite-more so, indeed, than
the CastillauOs, as the natives Of Gra-
NADIA choose. without the slightest
right to call themselves. The lower
orders OF Granada struck rs as being
usually less courteous and more fero-
elous than in any other part OF Spain.
VI course, to this, there are exceptions:
all the officials, gardeners, ,laborers and
peasants In general, were politeness
Itself; and the upper classes there, as
elsewhere in Spain, are unriValled In
courtesy and kindness. But there
seemed to be always q good many
roughs hanging about, both in the
streets and on the outskirts Of the
town. Perhaps this was partly ow-
ing to the seething Republicanism,
then at the very point Of boiling over;
we are told, however, by Spaniards,
that the population Of the kingdom
OF Granada, including Malaga and
Apuxarras, had always borne q rath.
er savage character.
fvrk4
caves, In spite Of the remonstrances
OF our guide, who finally refused to 60
in with Us. It was not so very dirty,
being nicely white-washed inside. It
consisted OF two rooms; we did not at
tempt to penetrate the back one, but
1t looked tolerably tidy. There was
not much furniture, consisting chiefly
of several door mats, on each Of
which = child lay asleep. One Of the
great difficulties in civiliLing q Gipsy
Is, that ne cannot be cured Of stealing
dOor-mats; if they gain admittance to
any house, either as beggsrs, or, fre-
quently as Is the case, as models for
the artists, they are sure to carry of
the door-mat. We were shown one
splendid Gipsy, up at the Alhambra,
who has been q very popular model
among artists; but the consumption
Of door-mats was so tremendous that
they were obliged to give him up.
Here, the Gipsies were anything
but splendid, seeming very poor and
sickly. or course, they begged from
US, but without Importantly, and we
gave them some coppers, with which
they were quite satisfied. One wO-
man held in her arms an exceedingly
small baby, the size and color Of q
black kitten, but by no means so live
ly.
1 asked In the Spanish idiom, 'How
many days it had ?'
The answer was, ''Seven months"
1t did not look more than q week
old.
When we were getting into the car
riage again, there was certainly rath-
er rush after Us, in hopes Of 3 show
er Of copper, but there was no inso-
lence.
What an exquisite view there was
up the valley OF the Darro! Tt SEEM
ed q pity that it should be wasted on
the half-saYage Gipsies, who do not
a. All care Tor the lovely ihndso~Pss
Anywhere but In spain people would
build houses and live there; but, to be
sure, IL they did, it would lose q part
Of its wild char. It is very well as
1t is.-"A Summer IN SpGin," bV Mrs.
Ramsey (London.)