The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1896-07-18
EUROPEAN LETTER.
Travels in Spain and What one Meets
With.
From our Special Correspondent.

With.
From our Special Correspondent.
When we decided, three American girls
to 90 through Spain, people in Gibraltar
shook their heads. Cooks agent from
whom we bought tickets 50 as to avoid be.
ing cheated by the courteous employees of
the railroad, strongly advised us to take Il
courier. He would be always useful, some
times indispensable, and he would cost us
only three dollars a day besides his travel
ing expenses. But travelling in Spain is
costly at best because one has rot to 90
tirst-class. There are not the fairly :, cond.
class compartments of France and Italy, or
the clean third-claSs ones of Germany,
where one can have cheerful converse with
had had guide in Gibraltar and the en-
perience had not filled us with enthusiasm.
we were dumped with our luggage on the
landing wharf, in the midst of drenching
rain, we stumbled from the Charybds of
boatmen, cab drivers and porters into the
Scylla OF "A guide. He took us to the Hotel
Royal, where the bill for one nights stay
made our purses quake, and we decided
that we would hardly fall anon" worse
thieves in Spain than we had in this little
strip of English territory. So we took our
lives in our hands and started And
want to gay to the girls who are preparing
to come over here, don't take guide If
you have the least independence and what
American girl has not you will find him
more Of a bore than a benefit Not the
least trouble did We have, and we did not
know IA word Of the language We learned
to gesture eloquently and effectively and
to say. "Cuanto?' which means GLOW
much does it cost And though the
answer was wholly uninteligihe we would
hold up our fingers and our nterlocutor
would do the same. When he held up ten
we always shook our heads vigorously and
offered five. 1t was much more fun than
translated. And if the extra expense ism t
consideration as it was with u.s. thu,
money can he much more protably in
vested in mantillas and bull fights. So for
sentimental and economical reasons 20
alone. When we took the little train at
Algicieras we were lucky enough to Get "A
compartment to ourselves and with the
instinct of the railway hog we piled our
luggage on the seats and looked forbidding
when any one glanced in. But after the
train had started the conductor $ head an.
peared at the window aud he smilingly
explained in perfectly plain Spanish. that
he could have put other people in there
but wtl-he had not For which con-
sideration we presented him with nine
cents. which he received humblv and
gratefully, smiled all around. winked and
disappeared.
The railway service in Spain is not as
perfect as It might he. In thu provincial
cities emily one train leaves IA dav. If Won
miss it YOU have to wait twenty four lours
for the next For the further convenience
of the public this train usually leaves at 6
Il. M, aud 1t one OF the customs of the
country to reach it an hour before it starts,
So whenever we wanted to make Il journey
we had TO submit to being called at four
O'Clock in the morning, to dressing by
candleli@ht to driving an interminable
distance through ghcstlike rows of houses
for stations are always in an inaccessible
part OF the town and to Waiting on cold
dim platforms sometime after the appointed
hour, when the train would sleepily start
and we would try tn finish our maps in
corners Of the compartment. But even
these uncomfortably incidents are over.
looked when we remember that it is this
| very absence of modern conveniences that
makes spain so novel and interesting
When the country tulns TO adapt itself to
the ways OF travellers, much of its oriri
nality and charm will vanish.
The first thing we did when we reached
Cordoya was to start for the mosque. Out
side it is rather disappointing, but the in
terror is delightful surprise. with endless
"istas in every direction, the low arches
striped alternately in dull red aud white.
There were thousand pillars. We were in