A curious survival exists in Valencia in the _Tribunal de las Aguas_, which is presided over by three of the oldest men in the city; it is a direct inheritance from the Moors, and from its verdict there is no appeal. Every Thursday the old men take their seats on a bench outside one of the doors of the cathedral, and to them come all those who have disputes about irrigation, marshalled by two beadles in strange, Old-World uniforms. When both sides have been heard, the old men put their heads together under a cloak or _manta_, and agree upon their judgment. The covering is then withdrawn, and the decision is announced. On one occasion they decreed that a certain man whom they considered in fault was to pay a fine. The unwary litigant, thinking that his case had not been properly heard, began to try to address the judges in mitigation of the sentence. "But, Señores--" he began. [Illustration: THE WATER TRIBUNAL IN VALENCIA. SHOWING VALENCIAN COSTUMES] "Pay another peseta for speaking!" solemnly said the spokesman of the elders. "_Pero, Señores_--" "_Una peseta mas!_" solemnly returned the judge; and at last, finding that each time he opened his lips cost him one more peseta, he soon gave up and retired. The Valencian costume for men consists of wide white cotton drawers to the knees, looking almost like petticoats, sandals of hemp, with gaiters left open between the knee and the ankle, a red sash, or _faja_, a short velvet jacket, and a handkerchief twisted turban-fashion round the head. The _hidalgos_ wear the long cloak and wide sombrero common to all the country districts of Spain. In speaking of Spaniards and their characteristics, as I have already said, we have to take into account the presence of all these widely differing races under one crown, and to remember that to-day there is no hard-and-fast line among the cultivated classes: intermarriage has fused the conflicting elements, very much for the good of the country, and rapid intercommunication by rail and telegraph has brought all parts of the kingdom together, as they have never been before. Education is now placed within reach of all, and even long-forgotten Estremadura is brought to share in the impulse towards national life and commercial progress. Comte Paul Vasili, in his charming _Lettres inédites_ to a young diplomatist, first published in the pages of _La Nouvelle Revue_, gives such an exact picture of the Spanish people, of whom he had so wide an experience and such intimate knowledge, that I am tempted to quote it in full.