nish cookery much to your taste;
for the Spaniards are very fond of rancid butter in their meals, and
of oil that has a very strong smell and flavour; indeed, when they
are going to cook anything that requires fat, they lift down the lamp
from the ceiling, and take out what oil they want. Bread, steeped in
oil, and occasionally seasoned with vinegar, is the common food of the
country people. Their favourite wine is that which has a strong taste
of the leather bottles or casks, in which they keep it; and they will
hardly eat any thing that has not saffron, pimento, or garlic, in it.
They have, however, even amongst the poorest, such fine grapes, ripe
melons, and tempting oranges, as my little readers, I know, have
seldom tasted. In summer, they use a quantity of ice, which is sold in
glasses, in the streets, for a trifling sum. In place of candles, the
poor people have a piece of cane, cut with holes through it, which is
fixed to the ceiling, and from one of the holes a lamp is hung by a
hook.

[Illustration]

The dress of the lower orders is very pretty indeed, and they
themselves are mostly tall and handsome, with black hair and eyes, and
dark sun-burnt complexions. The climate is so warm and balmy, that
they can grow their fruits in the open air.

Some pretty articles have been sent from Portugal, a country which is
near Spain, and very like it in all respects. It is a very fine
country, famous for wine, and oil; and the sheep are much prized for
their superior wool. The ladies of rank still spin flax from a
distaff, to show their industry. The peasantry are not very well off;
their only luxury is tobacco, and their usual fare is bread, made of
Indian corn, with a salted pilchard, or a head of garlic, to give it a
relish. They are polite and hospitable; but the people of the towns
have not the least scruple in stabbing any body that offends them; so
that it is a dangerous thing to affront them.

What elegant tables, pictures, vases, marbles, statues, shells, woods,
and perfumes, have been contributed to the Exhibition from Italy.
Here is a table of a most beautiful material, called pietra dura,
which took one hundred and twenty years to finish, and came from
Naples.

Italy has always been celebrated for the beauty of the articles
manufactured there; and the things it has sent us now are certainly
worthy of its fame. It is one of the loveliest countries in the world,
in the spring and autumn, and is ornamented w