he translation, the edifice close to the Viso, instead of
upon it, as in the original text. I doubt whether any apology is
necessary for this poetical licence, by which the intention of the
proverb undergoes no alteration. It is true, a house may be close to a
hill without being erected upon it; but if, as in this instance, it is
on the top of the hill, it is most certainly close to it likewise.

The submission of the Spaniards to the despotism of etiquette and custom
in trifles, does not (otherwise than apparently) constitute a
contradiction to this independence of character. However that may be,
the breach of all other laws meets with easier pardon, than that of the
laws of custom. This code is made up of an infinity of minute
observances, many of which escape the notice of a foreigner, until
accustomed by degrees to the manners of those who surround him. He will
not, for instance, discover, until he has made himself some few
temporary enemies, that no greater insult can be offered to a person of
rank, or in authority, than saluting him in a cloak _embozado_--the
extremity thrown over the shoulder.--A similar neglect is not pardoned
either by the fair sex. The minutest peculiarities in dress are
observed, and if at all discordant with the received mode of the day,
incur universal blame. The situation of a stranger is, in fact, at first
scarcely agreeable in a country in which the smallest divergence from
established customs attracts general attention and criticism. This does
not, however, interfere with the ready good-nature and disposition to
oblige met with, as I said before, on all occasions.

In some instances the attachment to external forms operates
advantageously. Such is that of the picturesque practice prevailing in
many of the provinces, of assuming the quality of the _Beata_. In
Toledo, certain peculiarities in the toilette of one of a group of young
ladies attracted my curiosity. She was apparently about seventeen;
pretty, but by no means remarkably so for a Spaniard, and appeared to be
in deep mourning. Whenever, in speaking, a movement of her right hand
and arm lifted up her mantilla, a japanned leather sash was exposed to
view, of about two inches in width, an end of which hanging from the
right side, reached rather lower than the knee. On the right sleeve,
half-way between the shoulder and the elbow, was fixed a small silver
plate, called an _escudo_, and a rosary was worn round her neck.

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