* The Andalusians aspirate the s, and pronounce it like
the soft c and the z, which Spaniards pronounce like the
English th. An Andalusian may always be recognised by the
way in which he says senor.
“You’ll find this a fairly good one,” said I, holding out a real Havana regalia.
He bowed his head slightly, lighted his cigar at mine, thanked me with another nod, and began to smoke with a most lively appearance of enjoyment.
“Ah!” he exclaimed, as he blew his first puff of smoke slowly out of his mouth and nostrils. “What a time it is since I’ve had a smoke!”
In Spain the giving and accepting of a cigar establishes bonds of hospitality similar to those founded in Eastern countries on the partaking of bread and salt. My friend turned out more talkative than I had hoped. However, though he claimed to belong to the partido of Montilla, he seemed very ill-informed about the country. He did not know the name of the delightful valley in which we were sitting, he could not tell me the names of any of the neighbouring villages, and when I inquired whether he had not noticed any broken-down walls, broad-rimmed tiles, or carved stones in the vicinity, he confessed he had never paid any heed to such matters. On the other hand, he showed himself an expert in horseflesh, found fault with my mount—not a difficult affair—and gave me a pedigree of his own, which had come from the famous stud at Cordova. It was a splendid creature, indeed, so tough, according