middle of the apartment with his eyes shut, and without tasting a
morsel. His going to the synagogue, and then repairing to

breakfast with the bride, where he practises the same self-denial -
the washing of the bridegroom's plate and sending it after him,

that he may break his fast - the binding his hands behind him - his
ransom paid by the bride's mother - the visit of the sages to the

bridegroom - the mulct imposed in case he repent - the killing of
the bullock at the house of the bridegroom - the present of meat

and fowls, meal and spices, to the bride - the gold and silver -
that most imposing part of the ceremony, the walking of the bride

by torchlight to the house of her betrothed, her eyes fixed in
vacancy, whilst the youths of her kindred sing their wild songs

around her - the cup of milk and the spoon presented to her by the
bridegroom's mother - the arrival of the sages in the morn - the

reading of the Ketuba - the night - the half-enjoyment - the old
woman - the tantalising knock at the door - and then the festival

of fishes which concludes all, and leaves the jaded and wearied
couple to repose after a fortnight of persecution.

The Jews, like the Gypsies, not unfrequently ruin themselves by the
riot and waste of their marriage festivals. Throughout the entire

fortnight, the houses, both of bride and bridegroom, are flung open
to all corners; - feasting and song occupy the day - feasting and

song occupy the hours of the night, and this continued revel is
only broken by the ceremonies of which we have endeavoured to

convey a faint idea. In these festivals the sages or ULEMMA take a
distinguished part, doing their utmost to ruin the contracted

parties, by the wonderful despatch which they make of the fowls and
viands, sweetmeats, AND STRONG WATERS provided for the occasion.

After marriage the Gypsy females generally continue faithful to
their husbands through life; giving evidence that the exhortations

of their mothers in early life have not been without effect. Of
course licentious females are to be found both amongst the matrons

and the unmarried; but such instances are rare, and must be
considered in the light of exceptions to a principle. The Gypsy

women (I am speaking of those of Spain), as far as corporeal
chastity goes, are very paragons; but in other respects, alas! -

little can be said in praise of their morality.
CHAPTER VIII

WHILST in Spain I devoted as much time as I could spare from my
grand object, which was to circulate the Gospel through that

benighted country, to attempt to enlighten the minds of the Gitanos
on the subject of religion. I cannot say that I experienced much

success in my endeavours; indeed, I never expected much, being
fully acquainted with the stony nature of the ground on which I was

employed; perhaps some of the seed that I scattered may eventually
spring up and yield excellent fruit. Of one thing I am certain:

if I did the Gitanos no good, I did them no harm.
It has been said that there is a secret monitor, or conscience,

within every heart, which immediately upbraids the individual on
the commission of a crime; this may be true, but certainly the

monitor within the Gitano breast is a very feeble one, for little
attention is ever paid to its reproofs. With regard to conscience,

be it permitted to observe, that it varies much according to
climate, country, and religion; perhaps nowhere is it so terrible

and strong as in England; I need not say why. Amongst the English,
I have seen many individuals stricken low, and broken-hearted, by

the force of conscience; but never amongst the Spaniards or
Italians; and I never yet could observe that the crimes which the

Gitanos were daily and hourly committing occasioned them the
slightest uneasiness.

One important discovery I made among them: it was, that no
individual, however wicked and hardened, is utterly GODLESS. Call

it superstition, if you will, still a certain fear and reverence of
something sacred and supreme would hang about them. I have heard

Gitanos stiffly deny the existence of a Deity, and express the
utmostcontempt for everything holy; yet they subsequently never

failed to contradict themselves, by permitting some expression to
escape which belied their assertions, and of this I shall presently

give a remarkable instance.
I found the women much more disposed to listen to anything I had to

say than the men, who were in general so taken up with their
traffic that they could think and talk of nothing else; the women,

too, had more curiosity and more intelligence; the conversational
powers of some of them I found to be very great, and yet they were

destitute of the slightest rudiments of education, and were thieves
by profession. At Madrid I had regular conversaziones, or, as they

are called in Spanish, tertulias, with these women, who generally
visited me twice a week; they were perfectly unreserved towards me

with respect to their actions and practices, though their
behaviour, when present, was invariablystrictly proper. I have

already had cause to mention Pepa the sibyl, and her daughter-in-
law, Chicharona; the manners of the first were sometimes almost

elegant, though, next to Aurora, she was the most notorious she-
thug in Madrid; Chicharona was good-humoured, like most fat

personages. Pepa had likewise two daughters, one of whom, a very
remarkablefemale, was called La Tuerta, from the circumstance of

her having but one eye, and the other, who was a girl of about
thirteen, La Casdami, or the scorpion, from the malice which she

occasionally displayed.
Pepa and Chicharona were invariably my most constant visitors. One

day in winter they arrived as usual; the One-eyed and the Scorpion
following behind.

MYSELF. - 'I am glad to see you, Pepa: what have you been doing
this morning?'

PEPA. - 'I have been telling baji, and Chicharona has been stealing
a pastesas; we have had but little success, and have come to warm

ourselves at the brasero. As for the One-eyed, she is a very
sluggard (holgazana), she will neither tell fortunes nor steal.'

THE ONE-EYED. - 'Hold your peace, mother of the Bengues; I will
steal, when I see occasion, but it shall not be a pastesas, and I

will hokkawar (deceive), but it shall not be by telling fortunes.
If I deceive, it shall be by horses, by jockeying. (58) If I

steal, it shall be on the road - I'll rob. You know already what I
am capable of, yet knowing that, you would have me tell fortunes

like yourself, or steal like Chicharona. Me dinela conche (it
fills me with fury) to be asked to tell fortunes, and the next

Busnee that talks to me of bajis, I will knock all her teeth out.'
THE SCORPION. - 'My sister is right; I, too, would sooner be a

salteadora (highwaywoman), or a chalana (she-jockey), than steal
with the hands, or tell bajis.'

MYSELF. - 'You do not mean to say, O Tuerta, that you are a jockey,
and that you rob on the highway.'

THE ONE-EYED. - 'I am a chalana, brother, and many a time I have
robbed upon the road, as all our people know. I dress myself as a

man, and go forth with some of them. I have robbed alone, in the
pass of the Guadarama, with my horse and escopeta. I alone once

robbed a cuadrilla of twenty Gallegos, who were returning to their
own country, after cutting the harvests of Castile; I stripped them

of their earnings, and could have stripped them of their very
clothes had I wished, for they were down on their knees like

cowards. I love a brave man, be he Busne or Gypsy. When I was not
much older than the Scorpion, I went with several others to rob the

cortijo of an old man; it was more than twenty leagues from here.
We broke in at midnight, and bound the old man: we knew he had

money; but he said no, and would not tell us where it was; so we
tortured him, pricking him with our knives and burning his hands