carried to the public slaughter-house, without the Puerto del Carne, where it is killed by an authorised matador, and the hide, horns, and hoofs are his fee. The duty of Alcavala, another called Millones, and some municipal taxes, must be paid; and then a permit is issued, allowing the meat to be sold within the walls. These duties on meat amount to rather more than the original price; and therefore, though oxen are cheap, meat is as dear in Seville as in London. These harrassing laws are so familiar, that they are quietly submitted to, as well as another, of an equally vexatious nature, which forbids any person from passing through Spain without a passport, and subjects those who travel to have it demanded at every town.

Having treated of the trade and manufactures of this city, I must just notice a profession which is here exercised in the public streets; it is that of the escrivanos, who sit behind small tables, covered with paper, stamps, pens, and ink, under the shade of some arches, opposite the cathedral, ready to draw petitions, contracts, deeds, processes, or other legal papers, which require technical nicety: they are the attornies of Seville, and they prepare the initiatory proceedings in the law courts, and put into correct language the wishes of the memorialists to the different public offices.

LETTER XXV.

JOURNEY FROM SEVILLE TO CADIZ

RECEPTION OF LORD WELLESLEY AND

LORD WELLINGTON-BULL FIGHT AT ST, Mary's-SPANISH FONDNESS FOR THIS DIVERSION.

CADIZ, NOV. 1809.

My journey from Seville to this place has been very pleasant, and tolerably expeditious. I made a long day's journey from that city to Xeres; and, in consequence of the rain, the country has an appearance of verdure very different from that which it presented as I passed over it before.

I heard many accounts of the numerous bands of robbers which infest the plain, and commit depredations on passengers, but saw none of them. I was told by one person who had been robbed, that the gang which attacked him consisted of fourteen men, whom he believed to be deserters from the army. They presented their muskets at him when at a good distance; and as he stopped, two of the party advanced, and took his money, while the others remained stationary, and prepared to fire if he had made resistance. From the accounts, however, which I have received from various quarters, I am inclined to think that the relations of the depredations of these freebooters are very much exaggerated, especially as I have not heard of a single Englishman having been attacked by them.

I passed the evening at Xeres, at the hospitable mansion of Mr. John Gordon, and got to St. Mary's the next day at noon. In the boat, in which I embarked to cross the bay, I met with a young Carmelite friar, whose jolly countenance bespoke little mortification, and whose conversation, with several females of the party, displayed still less delicacy. When we reached the mouth of the river he commenced a prayer for a successful voyage, which he repeated with great indifference and much volubility, and when it was over continued his idle trifling with the women.

The Marquis Wellesley and his brother Lord Wellington arrived the day after me, and were received by the inhabitants with the warmest gratulations. The streets being too narrow to display a procession to advantage, the people took the horses from the carriage at the gate, lifted it on the platform of the ramparts, which surround the city, and dragged it round the walls, to the house of Mr. Duff, the British consul. The party was headed by the female warrior, who so much distinguished herself at Saragossa, who led the populace, drest in her lieutenant's uniform.

In honour of Lord Wellington a bull-fight was exhibited at St. Mary's, at which I attended. This diversion, peculiarly belonging to the Spanish nation, has fallen into disuse, and lately has been restricted by orders from the government, though under new regulations it is still sometimes permitted. The Plaza de Toros is a large amphitheatre, capable of holding fourteen thousand persons. On this occasion it was not full, and I suppose that not more than ten thousand people were present. The appearance of the assembly was striking, and a degree of interest was excited in every countenance, which, I should

previously have thought, a much more important contest would scarcely have called forth. I entered the place at the moment when the first bull was killed, and horses, gayly decorated, were dragging him from the circle, amid the sounds of music, and the applauding shouts of the people.

Preparations were made for a fresh conflict: three men were posted behind each other, about ten yards asunder, mounted on small, but active horses, and armed with a spear about fifteen feet long; and five or six men on foot, dressed in scarlet cloaks, were placed in other parts of the arena. The gates were thrown open, and the bull rushed in. He made towards the first horseman, who received him on the point of his spear, and wounded him between the shoulders; this turned him, and he attacked the second horseman with great fury; but from the want either of dexterity in the rider, or agility in the animal, the horse was dreadfully gored in the body, and his bowels fell on the ground. The combatants were soon disentangled, and the bull attacked the third horseman, who received him like the first, and wounded him severely. He now became furious, and galloped round the circle; but either from the loss of blood, or the pain he endured, he was fearful of facing the horsemen; the men on foot then began to irritate him, by sticking small darts in his body, and, whenever he made a push at them, threw the cloak over his eyes, and with great dexterity avoided his thrust.

This irritation was continued some time, till the animal, streaming with blood, became exhausted. The matador, or principal actor, then made his appearance, armed with a small sword and cloak: he advanced towards the bull, which ran- and pushed at him, but

the man received the thrust on his cloak, and stepping nimbly aside, withheld his blow, because the animal did not present himself in the exact attitude which the matador required for dispatching him with grace; he then made a second advance towards the animal, and, while he was in the act of pushing at him, plunged the sword up to the hilt between his shoulders; the bull ran a few paces, staggered, and dropped dead. The trumpets sounded a flourish; horses galloped in, were fastened to the carcase, and dragged it away, amid the applauding shouts of the spectators.

Six or seven other bulls were then in succession dispatched in a similar manner, with only such variations as were occasioned by the different degrees of courage which the animals possessed. When the last bull was fighting, the matador so contrived it that he gave him the coup de grace immediately under the box in which Lord Wellington and the English party were seated. Before this operation, he addressed himself to his Lordship, and said, with much dignity, that he should kill that bull to the health of King George the Third, which was quickly performed. His Lordship threw him and the entertainment closed.

some money,

This bull fight was represented to me as a very inferior exhibition, owing to the coolness of the weather, the bulls having much more courage during the intense heat of summer than at the present season. It is certainly a cruel amusement both to the bulls and to the horses, though attended with little danger to the men. One horse was destroyed, by having his belly lacerated: after he was wounded, and his bowels trailing on the ground, the rider continued the fight, and galloped round the circle, while the poor ani