The fishermen of Seville have a curious method of taking shad. They work a cross-line under water from two boats on opposite sides of the river. The line is armed with hooks, baited with pieces of meat. Now and then, the fishermen haul up a fish. But the Guadalquivir is heavily netted and fished, and the shad are not very plentiful in this reach. There are some very big eels in the river, which can be caught with a rod and line from the banks. As the _pescadores_ slowly scull their boats down the river, they sing strange Andalusian melodies, with a kind of _yödel_. Their voices reach far along the stream on still days. The men are hard-working, and their catches scarcely repay them for their patience and labour in the burning sun. Along the quay, and at every point of entrance to Seville, there are customs' officers in uniform, with swords at their sides. The _consumo_ is not a popular character in Spain. Peasants and small traders resent the tax upon the produce which they bring into the markets, and many attempts are made to evade paying the duty. At Córdova I heard a violent altercation between a peasant and a _consumo_, who demanded duty upon a live pigeon. Spain is the land of officials in uniform. Down the Guadalquivir you will see armed men who protect the wooden breakwaters. Then there are four grades of police, the _consumos_, and the watchmen, all of them provided with weapons. The quaint, irregular thoroughfares of Seville, its palm trees and olive gardens, its Morisco remains, its _hidalgos_ and _doñas_, its brightness and gaiety, and its blue skies will not soon be forgotten by those who pass a short time within its ancient walls. Lord Byron praises the city as the most beautiful in Spain. It is certainly charming, but there are towns in the Peninsula more antiquated in aspect, and more picturesque in their surroundings. Still, the Andalusian capital possesses a strong fascination, and few persons will dispute, in the main, the truth of Byron's lines in the first canto of _Don Juan_:-- 'In Seville was he born, a pleasant city, Famous for oranges and women--he Who has not seen it will be much to pity, So says the proverb--and I quite agree; Of all the Spanish towns is none more pretty, Cadiz, perhaps--but that you soon may see;-- Don Juan's parents lived beside the river. A noble stream, and call'd the Guadalquivir.'