Eaton Weekly Democrat

Spanish Customs.

The agility of the Spaniards in leaping, climbing and walking has, with travellers, been a subject of constant admiration. Mr. Jacobs, in his letter from Spain, says: "We have frequently known a man on foot to start from a town with us, who were well mounted, and continue his journey with such rapidity as to reach the end of the stage before us, and announce our arrival with officious civility. A servant also, whom we hired at Malaga, has kept pace with us ever since, and, though no more than seventeen years of age he seems incapable of being fatigued by walking. I have heard the agility of the Spanish peasants, and their power of enduring fatigue, attributed to a custom which, though it may probably have nothing to do with the case, deserves notice for its singularity. A young peasant never sleeps upon a bed until he is married; before that event he rests on the floor, in his clothes, which he never takes off but for the purpose of cleanliness; and during the greater part of the year it is a matter of indifference whether he sleeps under a roof or in the open air. I have remarked that, though the Spaniards rise very early, they generally keep late hours, and seem most lively and alert at midnight; this may be attributed to the heat of the day, and to the custom of sleeping after their meals at noon: which is so general that the towns seem quite deserted from one till four o'clock. The labors of the artificer, and the attention of the housekeeper are suspended during these hours; and the doors and windows of the latter are closely shut, as at night or upon a holiday. Although the Spanish peasantry treat with politeness every man they meet, they expect an equal return of civility, and to pass them without the usual expression, 'Vaya usted con Dios,' or saluting them without bestowing upon them the title of Caballeros, would be risking an insult from the people, who, though civil, and even polite, are not a little jealous of their claims to reciprocal attention."