Here, and in most other parts of La Mancha, it is the custom for women of the inferior orders, to throw over their heads the skirt of their petticoats; the veil and mantilla being only used by the upper ranks. This fact explains the passage in Don Quixotte, where, when Sancho tells his wife how great a lady she is destined to be when he is governor of an island, Theresa replies, “Neither will I put it in the power of those who see me dressed like a countess, or governor’s lady, to say, ‘Mind Mrs. Porkfeeder--how proud she looks! It was but yesterday she toiled hard at the distaff, and went to mass with the tail of her gown about her head, instead of a veil.’” In a hundred other instances, light is thrown upon the page of Cervantes, by travelling through La Mancha. I left Val de Peñas, after a tolerable breakfast in one of the largest posadas I had seen in Spain; and immediately upon getting clear of the town, the Sierra Morena rose before me, apparently at no great distance. I passed through several small villages in approaching nearer to the Sierra, among others, St. Cruz, and La Concepcion de Almuradiel: between these two villages, the plain of La Mancha is lost among the outer ridges of the Sierra; and, excepting in the vicinity of the latter village, the country is scarcely cultivated. Between La Concepcion de Almuradiel, and the foot of the Sierra, the road constantly rises, though gradually; and about four in the afternoon, I arrived at the “Venta de Cardeñas,” where I purposed passing the night. I found a room and a bed,--such as they were,--prepared for me, as I had reason to expect from Polinario’s promise; and the host told me, that Polinario had enjoined him to take care of me; to give me a good supper, and to provide me with a steady mule to pass the Sierra. The Venta de Cardenas, is a solitary house standing just under the mountain, upon a small elevation on the left side of the road. It is here where the famous adventure of the galley-slaves is placed by Cervantes, where, after Don Quixotte had delivered Gines de Passamonte and his companions from bondage, and after Sancho had his ass stolen, the knight and his squire entered the Brown Mountain, and met Cardenio; upon whose story the Drama of the Mountaineers has been constructed. This neighbourhood is still famous for the frequency of the robberies that take place in it; and it was in the identical Venta de Cardenas, that the greater number of Polinario’s robberies were committed; the landlord of the venta,--the same who inhabits it now,--had an understanding with Polinario; and in most instances, travellers were taken into this venta and stripped; this being considered safer and more convenient than stripping them on the highway.