always secure the suffrage of anybody
where suffrage is worth securing. For, the
Aga and Cadi, with all their coadjutors and
train, live entirely by little jobs of this kind:
without them they would not be able to live
at all. There is no gazette, no list of
bankrupts, no report of law proceedings, no way
of any kind, so far as I know, for keeping
backsliders in the ranks. I wonder whether
things would be altered to the benefit of
the Frank merchants, if we could
persuade some sensible commercial man like
Baron Bruck, the Austrian Internuncio,
to go, some of these days, as our ambassador
to Turkey. There is a talk that the Austrian
merchant-diplomatist is already busy with a
new commercial treaty. I wonder if a British
merchant could afford him a few hints.

                 BASQUE BLOOD.

THE sun was far too hot to permit me to
continue my journey towards the Eaux
Bonnes (one of the most celebrated of the
Pyrenean baths), for at least another hour;
so, not being pressed for time, I decided on a
halt. On casting my eyes about to find a
shady and convenient spot for my purpose,
I discovered, about a hundred yards up one
of the slopes, the very place I desired. This
perch was soon gained, and from it I
commanded a full view of the road and passers
by. It was one of those patches of bright
emerald-coloured grass, which abound among
the wild rocks of the Pyrenees. Two or three
trees afforded a comfortable shelter; and a
clear rill ran through it. " Just the place for
a snack," thought I. So, unslinging my knapsack
for comfort's sake, and my little pouch
for eating's sake, I soon saw my dinner before
me. This was quickly dispatched; and a
cigarette or two, by way of dessert, left
nothing to be desired.

I had not long enjoyed this dolce far
niente, when, from my elevated position,
I saw a little fat jolly looking man coming
up the road. The sun was too much
for him; he was fanning himself with
what at first appeared a piece of flexible
slate; but which subsequently turned out to
be a wide-awake hat. Seeing that he was seeking
some comfortable nook, in which he might
rest, I hailed him. He soon spied me out; and,
in about half the time it had taken me to
ascend the slope, was standing puffing and
laughing at my side. He was about fifty
or sixty years of age, under the middle
height, with a complexion clear and fresh.
For surer footing he wore the spartille,
or hempen soled shoe. A good-natured,
merry look shone all over his countenance;
he was covered with dust, of which his mouth
and clothes seemed equally full.

I thought I could do no better than offer
such a man a few drops of brandy, mixed
with water in my leather drinking-cup.
He drained off this mixture with the best
will in the world, returned the cup, wiped
his forehead, and sat down beside me. Not
until he had finished these operations, and the
remainder of my dinner, did he once stop to
talk. He then made up for lost time. I have
seldom met with so talkative an acquaintance.
He told me he was a doctor, and forthwith
launched out into an invective against smoking;
after which, he smoked five cigarettes,
incessantly talking all the time.

I asked him about the traditions of the
neighbourhood. There were none, he said;
or if there were, he was unacquainted with
them. He then, at my request, gave me an
account of the Basques. They are, he informed
me, brave, with a high sense of honour:
hospitable, and courteous, especially to strangers,
but, like their Spanish brethren, extremely
passionate, tenacious of their dignity, and
vindictive, particularly when women are
concerned. He told me he liked the English
for their generosity and intelligence; and
added, that he thought them not so phlegmatic
as generally imagined, but often
extremely thoughtless and precipitate when
carried away by their passions. These last
words he uttered with a certain mysterious
air, which roused my curiosity.

Our road lying the same way, we agreed
to proceed in company, and trudged along,
laughing and chatting merrily, and exchanging
adichats (good days) with the passing
peasantry. After we had walked some
distance, my companion proposed our having
some milk, and, on my assenting, he again
assumed his mysterious air, and said, " Keep
your eyes about you, and notice the people of
the house we shall enter."

We had arrived at a part of the
mountains where the gorge opened out into a
green valley about half a mile wide, watered
by a brawling Gave (as the mountain
torrents are called), well cultivated, and
dotted with cottages. At one of these my
friend knocked; the door was opened by
a young woman of about twenty-two
or twenty-three years of age. She was
excessively handsome, and would have been still
more so, but for her perfectly bloodless
complexion; her figure was well-made and
tall, and she seemed superior to the peasant
women I had before seen. She saluted my
friend with great cordiality, who forthwith
presented me to her as a petitioner for some
milk. She seemed averse to conversation,
so that I had plenty of time to make my silent
remarks.

There were two other women in the
room: one, evidently her mother: the
other might, from the likeness, have been
a younger sister. The three women were all
dressed in mourning. The house was like the
generality of the more decent houses in
these mountains— two stories high. In the
room where we were seated, was a large
hearth, on which some small wood was burning;
and betore which a child of two or three