second, the Gallito and Honradez stores. I visit the
latter, which holds the highest reputation, and take an inventory of
the stock. I am shown an endless variety of cigarettes at comparatively
insignificant prices; a packet of twenty-six of those mostly in vogue
costing only a silver medio, or two-pence half-penny English. There are
innumerable sizes, from the smallest named Acacias, to the biggest, or
tamano mayor, called Grandifloras. The floor of the shop is sanded with
burnt cigarette ends, looking like exhausted cartridges, and the
pavement without is peppered with their fragments. Every man or
responsible child whom I pass has a little tube of smoking paper between
his lips, and glancing in at an open restaurant, I observe a group of
feeders, each of whom has a cigarette stuck behind his ear like a pen.

At last I pause before the imposing factory of Louis Susini and Son,
situated in a little plaza in the Calle de Cuba. It is here that the
best cigarettes, popularly known as Honradez, are manufactured. The
exterior of the building, with its marble columns reminding one of a
Genoese palace, is worthy of attention. Above the grand entrance is the
Honradez figure of Justice, bearing the famous motto: 'Los hechos me
justificaran' (my deeds will justify me). But there is much to be seen
within; and as a party of half a dozen ladies and gentlemen are about to
enter, I join them and unite with them in begging permission of the
proprietor to inspect the works. One of the firm soon appears, and after
a polite greeting, kindly appoints an assistant to show us over the
manufactory. We are told that everything in connection with cigarette
making, except the actual growing of the tobacco, takes place within
these extensive premises, and are forewarned that a long afternoon is
necessary to see everything to our satisfaction.

Before we begin, we are politely requested to affix our signatures in a
ledger provided for visitors to the establishment; and having obeyed,
copies of our autographs are made on slips of paper, and, by a
mechanical contrivance in the wall, these are dispatched for some
mysterious purpose to the regions above. At the suggestion of the
cicerone, we follow our names; not by the same means, however, but by
winding staircases and intricate passages. Before starting, we peep into
the engine-room to glance at the steam power which works the machinery
required in the different departments. The first ascent brin