tend upon him,
with a valet de chambre and several other persons; for the prince had
come to Bayonne without attendants, and incognito, attended only by a
military service composed of a few soldiers of the garrison. The Emperor
also ordered that this service should be replaced by one more suitable,
consisting of the Guard of Honor of Bayonne, and sent two or three times
each day to inquire the condition of the Infant, who it was freely
admitted in the palace was very ill.

On leaving the Government palace to take up his abode at Marrac, the
Emperor gave all necessary orders that it should be in readiness to
receive the King and Queen of Spain, who were expected at Bayonne the
last of the month; and expressly recommended that everything should be
done to render to the sovereigns of Spain all the honors due their
position. Just as the Emperor entered the chateau the sound of music was
heard, and the grand marshal entered to inform his Majesty that a large
company of the inhabitants in the costume of the country were assembled
before the gate of the chateau. The Emperor immediately went to the
window; and, at sight of him, seventeen persons (seven men and ten women)
began with inimitable grace a dance called 'la pamperruque', in which the
women kept time on tambourines, and the men with castanets, to an
orchestra composed of flutes and guitars. I went out of the castle to
view this scene more closely. The women wore short skirts of blue silk,
and pink stockings likewise embroidered in silver; their hair was tied
with ribbons, and they wore very broad black bracelets, that set off to
advantage the dazzling whiteness of their bare arms. The men wore
tight-fitting white breeches, with silk stockings and large epaulettes,
a loose vest of very fine woolen cloth ornamented with gold, and their
hair caught up in a net like the Spaniards.

His Majesty took great pleasure in witnessing this dance, which is
peculiar to the country and very ancient, which the custom of the country
has consecrated as a means of rendering homage to great personages. The
Emperor remained at the window until the 'pamperruque' was finished, and
then sent to compliment the dancers on their skill, and to express his
thanks to the inhabitants assembled in crowds at the gate.

His Majesty a few days afterward received from his Royal Highness, the
Prince of the Asturias, a letter, in which he announced that he intended
setting out from Irun, where he then wa