The Spanish are fond of masquerades, and have a great passion for chess. Ladies often attend the cruel entertainment of bull-fights. Like all the inhabitants of Catholic countries, they spend a great deal of time at church, in religious ceremonies, which often prove a convenient cover for love intrigues. One of the boys who attend the altar is not unfrequently the messenger on these occasions. He kneels near the fair lady, crosses himself, repeats his _Ave Marias_, and devoutly kisses the ground; during this process, he contrives to slip a letter under the lady’s drapery, and receive another in return. Girls are generally educated at convents, and their marriages arranged for them by relatives, soon after they leave its walls. It is a matter of course for a married lady to have a _cortego_, or gallant, who attends upon her obsequiously wherever she goes, and submits to all her caprices. The old custom of locks and keys, duennas and spies, to guard the character of women, has fallen into disuse in modern times. The Portuguese are, in general terms, so similar to the Spanish, that they do not need a separate description. The pageantry, superstition and ignorance of Catholic countries prevail in both kingdoms. Nothing is more common than to see large processions of men, women and children, on horses, mules and asses, accompanied with music, going to return thanks to some particular image of the Virgin, in fulfilment of a vow. Women sit with the left side toward the horse’s head, and sometimes ride after the fashion of men. The title of _donna_ is given to all ladies. Those of high rank make their visits in great state; they are carried in a chair by four men, of whom the two foremost are uncovered; two others attend as a guard, and a seventh carries a lantern; two coaches follow, drawn by mules, one containing her women, and the other the gentlemen of her household. The market women, trudging into the cities, by the side of their donkeys, with panniers heavily laden with fruit and vegetables, and the great numbers kneeling by the side of rivers to wash clothing, or spreading it out on the banks to dry, have a very picturesque effect in the eye of a traveller. In both nations marriages, christenings, and funerals are celebrated with all the pomp their circumstances will admit; but their usual habits are frugal and temperate. The ladies seldom taste any thing but water. Their countenances are generally tranquil and modest; and their teeth extremely white and regular, owing to the frequent use of tooth-picks made of soft, pliant wood.