This clay utensil--as its Arabic name _al Karaset_ implies--is a porous refrigeratory vessel, in which water when placed in a current of hot air becomes chilled by evaporation; it is to be seen hung up on poles dangling from branches, suspended to waggons--in short, is part and parcel of a Spanish scene in hot weather and localities; every _posada_ has rows of them at the entrance, and the first thing every one does on entering, before wishing even the hostess Good morning, or asking permission, is to take a full draught: all classes are learned on the subject, and although on the whole they cannot be accused of teetotalism, they are loud in their praises of the pure fluid. The common form of praise is _agua muy rica_--very rich water. According to their proverbs, good water should have neither taste, smell, nor colour, “_ni sabor, olor, ni color_,” which neither makes men sick nor in debt, nor women widows, “_que no enferma, no adeuda, no enviuda_;” and besides being cheaper than wine, beer, or brandy, it does not brutalize the consumer, nor deprive him of his common sense or good manners. [Sidenote: WANT OF CLEANLINESS.] As Spaniards at all times are as dry as the desert or a sponge, selling water is a very active business; on every alameda and prado shrill voices of the sellers of drinks and mouth combustibles--_vendedores de combustibles de boca_--are heard crying, “Fire, fire, _candela_--Water; who wants water?”--_agua; quien quiere agua?_ which, as these Orientals generally exaggerate, is described as _mas fresca que la nieve_, or colder than snow; and near them little Murillo-like urchins run about with lighted ropes like artillerymen for the convenience of smokers, that is, for every ninety and nine males out of a hundred; while water-carriers, or rather retail pedestrian aqueducts, follow thirst like fire-engines; the _Aguador_ carries on his back, like his colleague in the East, a porous water-jar, with a little cock by which it is drawn out; he is usually provided with a small tin box strapped to his waist, and in which he stows away his glasses, brushes, and some light _azucarillos_--_panales_, which are made of sugar and white of egg, which Spaniards dip and dissolve in their drink. In the town, at particular stations water-mongers in wholesale have a shed, with ranges of jars, glasses, oranges, lemons, &c., and a bench or two on which the drinkers “untire themselves.” In winter these are provided with an _añafe_ or portable stove, which keeps a supply of hot water, to take the chill off the cold, for Spaniards, from a sort of dropsical habit, drink like fishes all the year round. Ferdinand the Catholic, on seeing a peasant drowned in a river, observed, “that he had never before seen a Spaniard who had had enough water.”