blindfolded mule,
which paces round and round with untiring patience, a bell being
attached to his neck, which, as long as he is in movement,
tinkles on; and when it stops, he is urged to his duty by the
shout of "_Arre, mula_," from some one within hearing. When
ground, the wheat is sifted through three sieves, the last of
these being so fine that only the pure flour can pass through
it: this is of a pale apricot-colour. The bread is made in the
evening. It is mixed with only sufficient water, with a little
salt in it, to make it into dough: a very small quantity of
leaven, or fermenting mixture is added. The Scripture says, "A
little leaven leaveneth the whole lump;" but in England, to
avoid the trouble of kneading, many put as much leaven or yeast
in one batch of household bread as in Spain would last them a
week for the six or eight donkey-loads of bread they send every
night from their oven. The dough made, it is put into sacks, and
carried on the donkeys' backs to the oven in the centre of the
village, so as to bake it immediately it is kneaded. On arriving
there, the dough is divided into portions weighing 3 lbs. each.
Two long narrow wooden tables on trestles are then placed down
the room; and now a curious sight may be seen. About twenty men
(bakers) come in and range themselves on one side of the tables.
A lump of dough is handed to the nearest, which he commences
kneading and knocking about with all his might for about 3 or 4
minutes, and then passes it on to his neighbour, who does the
same; and so on successively until all have kneaded it, when it
becomes as soft as new putty, and ready for the oven. Of course,
as soon as the first baker has handed the first lump to his
neighbour, another is given to him, and so on till the whole
quantity of dough is successively kneaded by them all. The
bakers' wives and daughters shape the loaves for the oven, and
some of them are very small, and they are baked immediately. The
ovens are very large, and not heated by fires _under_ them; but
a quantity of twigs of the herbs of sweet marjoram and thyme,
which cover the hills in great profusion, are put in the oven
and ignited. They heat the oven to any extent required; and, as
the bread gets baked, the oven gets gradually colder; so the
bread is never burned. They knead the bre