The parts of the dress in which colour is allowed are the body and the sleeves, which, when out of doors, are shrouded by the mantilla. The dress for the streets is black, and invariably black; while the men display the most gaudy and variegated colours. The _avanico_ is used ceremoniously and socially:--in the first place, it is stiffly and demurely restricted to its legitimate end. When it enters common life, held firmly, yet freely between the fingers and the ball of the hand, it serves as an extension of it, feathered to flout the air. The ordinary fan practice is to throw the hand outwards while letting go one side of the fan; then turning the hand inwards to recover it by a jerk. If we had no fans in Europe there would be less difficulty in describing, because our imagination would be free and at work. Having fans, and using them to disturb the air, we have settled notions of them; and when we hear what a Spanish fan can accomplish, we conclude that there is a code of signals--some sort of constructive slang imparted to the initiated. The Spanish fan is no more the arm of a telegraph than the leaf of a winnowing machine. A fan is to a Spanish woman what feathers are to a bird. Is she content and happy?--there is its gentle fluttering--in its vivacious and rapid catch--in its long-drawn motion--in its short pulse. There is all that is conveyed to us by the brow when it lowers the eye; when it flushes the cheek--when it glows. She wants not the frown to dismiss, nor the smile to invite: it is an additional and mute voice:--I might compare it to the rod of a magician, or to the passes of a mesmerist. Once seen, you feel that it is what was required to complete--woman. The ideal was always in the mind, guessed only before, but recognised the moment it is seen.[88] An English lady plays on the harp or the pianoforte. A French lady touches the one and pinches the other. The guitar belongs to the Spaniard--as constant as her mantilla; as familiar as her fan--it is ready to please a guest; to solace a leisure hour. It is no matter of ostentation; it is no performance. Her proficiency is not the result of study; there are no hours,--no years consumed in practising; it is an unceasing amusement, an inseparable companion.