fied by her railway companies, she neglected neither,
and in the latter surpassed herself.

In the autumn of this year I was able to gratify my taste for travel by a
longer excursion than usual. Hitherto my furthest flights had been to
Paris, Belgium, and Holland, but now I went as far as Spain and Portugal.
F. K. was my pleasant companion and we travelled, _via_ Paris, straight
through to Madrid, where we stayed for a week at the Hotel de la Paix, in
the bright and busy and sunny Puerto del Sol. In Madrid we visited the
Royal Palace (or so much of it as was shown to the public--principally
the Royal stables); the Escurial; the Art Galleries and Museums; drove in
the Buen Retiro; witnessed a bull fight, which rather sickened us when
the horses, which never stood a chance in the contest, were ripped up by
the bull; admired dark-eyed senoritas, their mantillas and coquettish
fans, enjoyed the southern sunshine and the Spanish wines; and then left
for Lisbon by an _express_ train that stopped at nearly every station. At
Lisbon three or four days were pleasantly passed, though we were annoyed
sometimes by the crowd of persistent beggars that thronged the streets,
and who, we were told, pursued their calling by license from the
authorities. This was a small matter, however. He who travels should be
proof against such minor annoyances. Then Oporto was visited, and the
Douro valley, the very centre of the port wine industry. A young
Englishman, a wine merchant, accompanied us in our journey through this
sultry valley and was our cicerone. Under his guidance we visited many
famous "wine lodges," sampled wonderful vintages in most generous
glasses, drank old port, green port, tawny port, and I am sure too much
port, and when, at last, we reached the port of Biarritz, where we stayed
for several days, we blessed its lighter wines and refreshing breezes.
After Biarritz Bordeaux detained us for a day or two, and so did Paris,
which we found very attractive and refreshing in early November.

This year also had for me a delightful week's interlude, in the month of
June, in the Committee Rooms at Westminster. A certain Bill was promoted
by an Irish railway company, which we considered an aggressive attempt to
invade our territory, and, of course, we vigorously opposed it. Again I
had the pleasure of giving evidence and of being crossed-examined by Mr.
Pembroke Stephens; but the Bill was passed and became an Act. Further
sig