e armed or not. The usual advice one gets upon this subject on entering
Spain, is to take neither arms nor money, or at least no more of the
latter than is absolutely necessary for the journey. By being unarmed,
the traveller is said to avoid risk of ill treatment at the hands of any
banditti he may chance to encounter, and who, if they see him with
weapons, are apt either to give him a volley from some ambuscade, or to
murder him for having thought of resistance. Captain Widdrington's
theory is different. He calculates that, as the majority of Spanish
robbers are _rateros_, or ignoble and dastardly cut-purses, who prowl
about by twos and threes, it is just as well to be provided with a few
fire-arms, the mere sight of which may make all the difference between
being robbed or not. He has accordingly armed himself, his companion,
and attendant with muskets; and between Logrosan and Almaden he finds
the advantage of having done so. While passing through a wild and broken
country, with no road, and scarcely any visible track, he perceives
three suspicious-looking customers descending through a field to the
further side of a thicket which he is about to traverse. He calls up his
companions, who are a little in the rear--they look to their arms, and
prepare for a brush. If the three men that have been seen are alone, the
travellers are a match for them; but they may be only the van or
rearguard of a larger force.

"After waiting a little time in silence, there was no appearance of
their emerging from the thicket, which was very close; and, as it would
have been imprudent to enter it, we called out to them to advance. They
were still invisible, but a voice answered--'Come on, we shall not
meddle with you.' We then rode through, and found them on the banks of a
pretty stream that flowed through the ravine, preparing to breakfast;
some beautiful bread, far better than any we could find in the villages,
being part of their intended repast. The man who had answered was
nearest to the ford, and the others a little higher up. Of course we
passed them at the 'recover,' and the simple salutation of _Vaya vd.
con Dios!_ was interchanged. Had we omitted exchanging this compliment,
even with the people we were now dealing with, we should have risked
being thought unpolished."

There is something characteristic and Gil Blas-like about this--Spanish
all over. Pass we on to the Almaden mines, of which there is a detailed
and very interest