employed by the Moorish emperor in his wars, in company with the

other renegade Spaniards, whose grand depot or presidio is the town
of Agurey in the kingdom of Fez. After the lapse of some years,

when his crime was nearly forgotten, he returned to Granada, where
he followed his old occupations of contrabandista and chalan.

Pindamonas was a Gitano of considerablewealth, and was considered
as the most respectable of the race at Granada, amongst whom he

possessed considerable influence. Between this man and Pepe Conde
there existed a jealousy, especially on the part of the latter,

who, being a man of proud untamable spirit, could not well brook a
superior amongst his own people. It chanced one day that

Pindamonas and other Gitanos, amongst whom was Pepe Conde, were in
a coffee-house. After they had all partaken of some refreshment,

they called for the reckoning, the amount of which Pindamonas
insisted on discharging. It will be necessary here to observe,

that on such occasions in Spain it is considered as a species of
privilege to be allowed to pay, which is an honour generally

claimed by the principal man of the party. Pepe Conde did not fail
to take umbrage at the attempt of Pindamonas, which he considered

as an undue assumption of superiority, and put in his own claim;
but Pindamonas insisted, and at last flung down the money on the

table, whereupon Pepe Conde instantly unclasped one of those
terrible Manchegan knives which are generally carried by the

contrabandistas, and with a frightful gash opened the abdomen of
Pindamonas, who presently expired.

After this exploit, Pepe Conde fled, and was not seen for some
time. The cave, however, in which he had been in the habit of

residing was watched, as a belief was entertained that sooner or
later he would return to it, in the hope of being able to remove

some of the property contained in it. This belief was well
founded. Early one morning he was observed to enter it, and a band

of soldiers was instantly despatched to seize him. This
circumstance is alluded to in a Gypsy stanza:-

'Fly, Pepe Conde, seek the hill;
To flee's thy only chance;

With bayonets fixed, thy blood to spill,
See soldiers four advance.'

And before the soldiers could arrive at the cave, Pepe Conde had
discovered their approach and fled, endeavouring to make his escape

amongst the rocks and barrancos of the Alpujarras. The soldiers
instantly pursued, and the chase continued a considerable time.

The fugitive was repeatedly" target="_blank" title="ad.反复地；再三地">repeatedly summoned to surrender himself, but
refusing, the soldiers at last fired, and four balls entered the

heart of the Gypsy contrabandista and murderer.
Once at Madrid I received a letter from the sister's son of

Pindamonas, dated from the prison of the Saladero. In this letter
the writer, who it appears was in durance for stealing a pair of

mules, craved my charitableassistance and advice; and possibly in
the hope of securing my favour, forwarded some uncouth lines

commemorative of the death of his relation, and commencing thus:-
'The death of Pindamonas fill'd all the world with pain;

At the coffee-house's portal, by Pepe he was slain.'
The faubourg of Triana, in Seville, has from time immemorial been

noted as a favourite residence of the Gitanos; and here, at the
present day, they are to be found in greater number than in any

other town in Spain. This faubourg is indeed chiefly inhabited by
desperate characters, as, besides the Gitanos, the principal part

of the robber population of Seville is here congregated. Perhaps
there is no part even of Naples where crime so much abounds, and

the law is so little respected, as at Triana, the character of
whose inmates was so graphically delineated two centuries and a

half back by Cervantes, in one of the most amusing of his tales.
(44)

In the vilest lanes of this suburb, amidst dilapidated walls and
ruined convents, exists the grand colony of Spanish Gitanos. Here

they may be seen wielding the hammer; here they may be seen
trimming the fetlocks of horses, or shearing the backs of mules and

borricos with their cachas; and from hence they emerge to ply the
same trade in the town, or to officiate as terceros, or to buy,

sell, or exchange animals in the mercado, and the women to tell the
bahi through the streets, even as in other parts of Spain,

generally attended by one or two tawny bantlings in their arms or
by their sides; whilst others, with baskets and chafing-pans,

proceed to the delightful banks of the Len Baro, (45) by the Golden
Tower, where, squatting on the ground and kindling their charcoal,

they roast the chestnuts which, when well prepared, are the
favourite bonne bouche of the Sevillians; whilst not a few, in

league with the contrabandistas, go from door to door offering for
sale prohibited goods brought from the English at Gibraltar. Such

is Gitano life at Seville; such it is in the capital of Andalusia.
It is the common belief of the Gitanos of other provinces that in

Andalusia the language, customs, habits, and practices peculiar to
their race are best preserved. This opinion, which probably

originated from the fact of their being found in greater numbers in
this province than in any other, may hold good in some instances,

but certainly not in all. In various parts of Spain I have found
the Gitanos retaining their primitive language and customs better

than in Seville, where they most abound: indeed, it is not plain
that their number has operated at all favourably in this respect.

At Cordova, a town at the distance of twenty leagues from Seville,
which scarcely contains a dozen Gitano families, I found them

living in much more brotherly amity, and cherishing in a greater
degree the observances of their forefathers.

I shall long remember these Cordovese Gitanos, by whom I was very
well received, but always on the supposition that I was one of

their own race. They said that they never admitted strangers to
their houses save at their marriage festivals, when they flung

their doors open to all, and save occasionally people of influence
and distinction, who wished to hear their songs and converse with

their women; but they assured me, at the same time, that these they
invariably deceived, and merely made use of as instruments to serve

their own purposes. As for myself, I was admitted without scruple
to their private meetings, and was made a participator of their

most secret thoughts. During our intercourse some remarkable
scenes occurred. One night more than twenty of us, men and women,

were assembled in a long low room on the ground floor, in a dark
alley or court in the old gloomy town of Cordova. After the

Gitanos had discussed several jockey plans, and settled some
private bargains amongst themselves, we all gathered round a huge

brasero of flamingcharcoal, and began conversing SOBRE LAS COSAS
DE EGYPTO, when I proposed that, as we had no better means of

amusing ourselves, we should endeavour to turn into the Calo
language some pieces of devotion, that we might see whether this

language, the gradual decay of which I had frequently heard them
lament, was capable of expressing any other matters than those

which related" target="_blank" title="a.叙述的；有联系的">related to horses, mules, and Gypsy traffic. It was in this
cautious manner that I first endeavoured to divert the attention of

these singular people to matters of eternal importance. My
suggestion was received with acclamations, and we forthwith

proceeded to the translation of the Apostles' creed. I first
recited in Spanish, in the usual manner and without pausing, this

noble confession, and then repeated it again, sentence by sentence,
the Gitanos translating as I proceeded. They exhibited the

greatest eagerness and interest in their unwonted occupation, and
frequently broke into loud disputes as to the best rendering - many

being offered at the same time. In the meanwhile, I wrote down
from their dictation; and at the conclusion I read aloud the

translation, the result of the united wisdom of the assembly,
whereupon they all raised a shout of exultation, and appeared not a

little proud of the composition.
The Cordovese Gitanos are celebrated esquiladors. Connected with

them and the exercise of the ARTE DE ESQUILAR, in Gypsy monrabar, I
have a curious anecdote to relate. In the first place, however, it

may not be amiss to say something about the art itself, of all
relating to which it is possible that the reader may be quite

ignorant.
Nothing is more deserving of remark in Spanish grooming than the