, 1888-11-25
TRAVELLING IN SPAIN.
LIFE AS SEEN FROM THE WINDOWS
OF A RAILROAD CAR.

How Peasants Sleep En- Route-The Hor-
rors of Garlic-The spaniard's Inevi-
table Cigarette-A Chat with a Jolly
Family.
A third class carriage is not a very
pleasant place, even if you can see the
beauties of Spain from it's dirty windows.
I I can but describe the one l travelled in as
4 resembling al American cattle car fitted
! up with park benches. At the ends of
each car is printed the number which de-
signates the number of passengers a car
is expected to hold-usually ninety.
The time of which l am writing was
early spring, yet at night there was a
damp chill in the air, and the atmosphere
of the car was redolent with the smell of
garlic pudding. This popular relish
every Spaniard takes with him, in an
earthen pot, whenever he travels. If he
is only going a few miles the pudding
goes too, to be handy in case of emer-
gency.
AS night grew on apace, my compan-
ions, the peasants, prepared themselves
for sleep. The preparations were speed
ily ACCOMPLISHED, each man muffiing him
self in his cloak up to his eyes, and all
leaning in one direction on each bench, as
if by previous agreement, those on the
next bench leaning the other way. But
for this equalization should have thought
the car tipping and about to slide down
one of the steep sides of the. mountain.
They breathe through this cloak. Some
times the cloak is an heirloom, and the
continual breathing through it by a few
generations does not make this article of
their apparel more presentable.
GARLIC
Z Some stayed awake for a while to smoke
4 their cigarettes. You would imagine
from the assiduous way the peasants of
fered each other tobacco and that garlic
delicacy of which l have spoken, that
they were very polite by nature. found
out afterward, however, that in SPAIN you
are expected to decline when anything is
offered to you-if you understand ETH
quette. Not being aware, at the time, of
this social law, l took some garlic pud-
ding which a villainous looking peasant
offered me. thought that the act might
please him, showing that I was not too
proud or stuck up to eat what he and
the rest ate. | paid dearly for my expert
ment, for it nearly strangled me with it's
4odor; yet found strength to murmur
3%"bueno," though the tears surged into
tmy yes while thanked the donor.
In my perambulations around the world
have come upon many villainous smells,
but never before such a concentrated
-iDl1Ol1dblOu VI OuOTS as lnaU garlic DuQ-
ding emitted. Later | learned to distin-
guish localities and streets by it. The
Spaniards cannot cook without garlic.
Often as l have asked for something
without ajo, never did l find anything but
had some faint of garlic.
1t may be unnecessary to speak of the
inordinate smoking of the Spaniards.
They are ~unequaled by any nation in the
world as smoke producers. 1t is very
hard tn maat Onn rnprninn popp -, nirb+
without the inevitable cigarette attach
ment. mention it as a discovery that /
met one Spaniard who did not smoke.
II STANDARDS CIGARETTE.
The Spaniard bends his cigarette down
ward, at nearly a right angle. At home
and abroad, except in cathedral or museo,
the rings of smoke are always rising in
perpetual incense. The sonora at her
toilet in the window smokes her cigar
cite. The beggar asking aims, and rat
Ting at the iron gate of the patio, smokes
meanwhile. Only burro, the patient
donkey, doesn't smoke.
By and by the train stopped and a
portlv peasant and his two daughters en-
tered, the latter clad in the national cos
tune. with the mantilla. They had the
grace of leopards in their movements,
and eyes that seemed full of hidden fires.
One was dark, with blue black eyes and a
golden brown skin, that lovely color
which only comes from a life in the sun,
at work in the fields. The other had the
blonde hair Murillo so loved to paint.
Though simply dressed, there was some
thing strangely picturesque and poetic
about them. Both sisters spoke pure Cas-
tllian-'the tongue of the north" To
me there is no language under the sun so
musical as the soft Spanish tongue when
spoken by n woman of Castillo. 1t is like
the murmur of a brook flowing over peb-
bles and full of dreamy harmony, like the
murmur of water at night, which the
Spanish call "the sigh of the Moor"
IN A JoYIAL MOOD.
This family party, the rotund father and
his two graceful daughters, were in a
jovial mood. AS we sat on the same
bench, we soon entered into conversation.
They thought it great fun to make me the
subject of their badinage. My future was
prophesied by one of the daughters. Was
| a bachelor? Did l expect to escape all
the fair Castilians unmarried. They were
indeed a jovial set, and did much, by
their talking and singing, to enliven the
trip.
l was surprised to find many of the
SDaniards in the car were of enormous
stature. Usually the Spaniard of tho
towns is slight and understood. The
numerous cloaks, sashes, knives, and SO
forth, make the slenderest Spaniard quite
robust in appearance.
must say there is one thing about the
caballero that wearies me, and that Is his
insufferable conceit and b~raggadocio.
These children of the sum are very
peculiar. They AVE a conceit of locality.
Many l saw dressed in the costume of the
m of Don Pablo of Segovia." The
wearer being more proud of his province
than of his country, wears the costume of
the province. The most boastful of these
braggarts are generally arrant towards,
yet they are, for the most part, good ma
tured cowards.-W. Parker Bodfsh in
Demorest's Monthly.