There were many other types of murderers in Ceuta. The husbands who had killed their wives formed a distinct group. Jealousy because of real or fancied injury led to the vindictive thirst for revenge and this was more frequently found in the peasant than in the higher and better educated classes. Death had been inflicted in most cases by violence, but one aggrieved Othello chose poison, rejoicing in the acute suffering produced by arsenic. Another, who was half a Frenchman, adopted the French method of dismemberment, and to dispose of the damning evidence of the corpse, cut it up into small pieces and distributed them far and wide, but could not hide them effectually. Extenuating circumstances were allowed him and he went to Ceuta, where he is said to have lived quite contentedly, never regretting the savage act that had avenged his dishonour and made him a widower. Ceuta made its own murderers. Duels to the death were of constant occurrence as elsewhere, and the authorities rarely interfered even when fatal consequences ensued. On this point Relosillas says: "During my stay of fourteen months in Ceuta hardly an hour passed without a serious quarrel, not a day when some one was not wounded, not a week without a violent death in the _Cuartel Principal_. These troubles were due invariably to the same causes, the admission of _aguardiente_ and the facility with which knives and lethal weapons could be obtained--points already noted and discussed at the beginning of this chapter. The drink was always on tap, as it could be introduced without difficulty through the dishonesty of the warders and the unlimited traffic with the townspeople. The weapons were never wanting, as it was impossible to check their presence, for no convict would be without his long sharp knife ready for instant use. CHAPTER IX BRIGANDS AND BRIGANDAGE Disordered state of Spain at the accession of Isabella--Brigandage raised into an organised system by lawless nobility and rebels--The revival of the Santa Hermandad or Holy Brotherhood--This institution revived again in the 19th century under the name of "Migueletes"--Attack on the mail coach outside Madrid--The famous brigand José Maria--His daring robberies in the Serrania--His early life--English officers from Gibraltar captured and held to ransom--Beloved and venerated by the peasants--In 1833 appointed an officer of the Migueletes--Brigandage not extinct in Spain--Don Julian de Zugasti appointed governor of Cordova--Methods of procedure--The famous robber Vizco el Borje--His seizure of Don Pedro de M.--Enormous ransom extorted--Agua Dulce.