But Cadiz lies under this great disadvantage, that it is impossible to leave the city, and walk or ride into the country; there is no country in the immediate neighbourhood of Cadiz: the city occupies every rood of the little Peninsula upon which it stands; and before one can get into the fields, it is necessary either to travel along two or three leagues of causeway, or to cross the bay to Port St. Mary. The rampart, the squares, and the streets, are the only walks; and charming as the former is, I think if I resided in Cadiz, I should soon long for the verdure of the open fields, in place of the green sea; the shade of trees, in place of the shadow of houses; and the song of birds, instead of the ocean’s voice. Whilst I remained in Cadiz, there was a fête and illumination one evening, in honour, I think, of the queen’s accouchement. The streets and squares, particularly the Plaza de San Antonio, were brilliantly illuminated; and in this square, which is one of the paseos of Cadiz, all the population was assembled from eight till eleven o’clock; and I of course seized so favourable an opportunity of judging of those charms which I had always heard spoken of as the peculiar distinction of “the ladies” of this gay and voluptuous city. Horace, no bad judge of these matters, celebrates the beauty of the women of Cadiz; and later and better poets than Horace, speak in raptures of the charms of these fair and frail ones. Whether it was, that so high authorities had their influence upon my judgment, or that sun-light is less favourable to Spanish beauty than the light of torches, blended with that of the moon,--or that the women of Cadiz are really deserving of the praises that have been lavished upon them, I will not pretend to determine; but I must be candid enough to admit, that while I sat at the door of a café, from which a strong light blazed across the piazza, and scrutinized the passers by, I did see some splendid forms, and some lustrous eyes,--some countenances, in short, that might remind one of Gulnare. The women of Cadiz are, beyond question, the finest in Spain.