AN INIQUITOUS SYSTEM.

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to be impressed. In fact, we had a general feeling of being perpetually picnicking. We eyed that mouse frequently, but how to catch him was the problem. "Necessity is the mother of invention," and I recommend the latest patent in mousetraps to anyone similarly inconvenienced. A saucer was placed upon a plate, and the saucer raised at one side upon an upright wooden match, and in the plate was put some honey. A black thread, a couple of yards long, was tied round the match and the other end held in the hand as we sat at table. The mouse, all unsuspecting, attacked the honey, when with a slight jerk of the thread the match was displaced, the saucer fell, and he was secured, all but the tip of his tail! Tempering justice with mercy, we decided not to kill him, but to drop him out of the window, in order that, with the whole world before him, he might start his career over again elsewhere.

sum.

One cannot buy the most ordinary article here without haggling over its price. Foreigners pay rather than haggle. The isleños, however, delight in making a bargain. No countrywoman buying a yard of calico in a shop ever thinks of giving the price that is asked. The result is bad, for the shopmen have to price their goods higher than they would do otherwise, and-a much more serious evil of the system-a direct temptation to fraud is put in the way of the assistants. It is easy for an assistant to say that only so-and-so was obtained for an article which was perhaps sold for a higher This rotten system of haggling also prevents the storekeepers balancing their books; they can tell what they gave for articles, but they cannot estimate the amount they will realise when sold or the value of their goods at stocktaking. Altogether, for the sake of the buyer as well as the seller, it is much to be desired that a spirit of trust should be diffused throughout the islands, that prices should be so adjusted as to yield only fair and legitimate profits, and that the execrable spirit of "Do, or you'll be done," should be abolished. Until, however, Spaniards alter their national character, these desirable results can scarcely be expected.

Rottenness to the core is present in the highest Government offices, and descends, as might be expected, through all the grades of the public service. To cheat Government is

considered by Spaniards fair game. The man who does not cheat is regarded as worse than a fool. When dishonestyfor it is no use mincing matters when speaking of a great national evil-is present in the army, in the navy, in the civil service, among those who pay taxes and those who collect them, how can it be expected that strict probity is to be found among the humbler occupations of servant and master, buyer and seller? As an Englishman, in a large way of business for these islands, expressed it to me, a large premium is put here upon immorality; it is impossible for a man to be honest in the full English meaning of that word. "If," he continued, "I made the correct return of what I bought and what I sold, the amount I should have to pay in taxes would not only absorb every farthing of my profits, but I should even have to expend capital to satisfy the exorbitant demands of the Government. I therefore do as every Spaniard does, and as I am expected to do by the tax-collector himself—I make returns of about half of everything which is taxable."

On the last Sunday of the year it was raining a little at ·9 A.M. [62·6° F. (17° C.)], but soon cleared. We went for a walk to the mole, but could not reach the end, though it is but a short pier, the sea was dashing over it in such a rough manner. The sight was magnificent, the huge rollers running in and breaking upon the iron-bound coast. As the rollers break on the rocky shore, the spray shoots up to immense heights, and for many a yard around the sea is one boiling mass of white foam; or, they roll in long swells, moving majestically, without fret and flurry, but lazily, with the laziness of conscious strength, which one always sees in big people or things, be it a man or an elephant, until they break on the hard, shining strand with a roar that can be heard a mile inland.

WE had been anxious to visit Doramas and Firgas, but New Year's Day came and found me still unable to undertake a long ride. It falls to John, therefore, to give some account of his journey to that district: "At six o'clock my friend and I were cantering briskly along the Arucas road. As we mount higher and higher, so does the sun, for the eastern sky is becoming glorious in purple hues, and a fleecy mass of clouds lying low down on the horizon is blazing into magnificent splendour. The air at this hour is fresh and bracing, which our horses seem to feel, for they enter into the exhilaration of the moment as much as we do ourselves. They are eager for the journey, and we let them go, for we have a long day before us. At 8 A.M. we catch sight of the town of Arucas, looking wonderfully near and distinct, each house standing out in bold relief, for the sun, not yet hot enough for blurring the effect, is slantingly directed full upon it.

The sun is pouring down hotly on our backs as we ascend to the uplands, but the bracing and cool air prevents it giving us any trouble. Everything looks wonderfully fresh and green. Grass is growing by the roadside. Vividly green ferns-hart's-tongue, maiden-hair, polypody, etc.-peep out

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at us from every cranny and recess in the walls, and luxuriate in giant clumps under the hedges. Many little lambs are among the sheep, some only a day or two old, a noticeable sight in my eyes for New Year's Day; but then in these Happy Isles the seasons are as you make them. In the middle of the summer, when pasturage is scarce, and cattle have to be fed in the stall on grain or hay, the shepherds frequently cannot afford to keep all their sheep, and they are glad to sell them, in some dry years as little as two shillings each being taken for them. The female sheep are not considered good for mutton, but are kept for their wool and milk, a very excellent cheese being made in the island from sheep's milk, either alone or mixed with that of the goat. In fact, sheep's cheese or sheep and goat's are those commonly eaten all over the island. A tax of no less than five shillings is levied for each sheep killed for food. This and many similar vexatious imposts upon the necessaries of life are certainly contributories to the slowness with which Spain-and these islands one of her Provinces-advances in prosperity.

Firgas, where we drew rein at 9 A.M., is a small, clean village, of the usual white, one-storied houses, situated on the hills overlooking the lower land lying towards the sea, of which and the Isleta there is a fine view. Firgas is enjoyable at this time of the year, but in the summer it would be a most delicious place at which to stay. It requires, however, a hotel, for the little house we are in affords only the roughest accommodation. With its bracing climate, its sparkling mineral water, than which I have never drunk a more pleasant, and the exquisitely beautiful barranco close at hand, surely a prosperous day is in store for this much-favoured upland spot. The baths and water are particularly efficacious in rheumatic disorders and in skin diseases. I heard, and on unimpeachable authority, of some really wonderful cures effected here. In taste the water is similar to that of Agaete, but weaker, its carbonic acid briskness making it particularly agreeable to the palate. Like the water of Agaete, it is slightly warm.

Breakfast over, we are again in the saddle, on our way to the Barranco of the Virgin. The barranco consists of a long

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valley, more or less straight, leading up from the sea, and then of two branches, or fork-valleys, which wind about in a serpentine fashion. Everywhere the valley is wide and deep. The higher slopes are gradual and cultivated; the lower depths are precipitous and wild. The actual bottom, just now occupied by a deep, rushing torrent, is at places enclosed on both sides by straight walls of sheer rock, over which are clustering masses of green foliage and festoons of beautiful

WATERFALL. IN THE BARRANCO OF THE VIRGIN, GRAN CANARIA.

trailing plants. As we look down the barranco towards the north from the upper part, the eye revels in a delightful fairy vista of prodigal luxuriance, till it rests upon the placid greys and smiling blues of the sea beyond.

From the other side on looking up we see a long, attenuated waterfall, entirely surrounded by the most vividly green vegetation that can be imagined. A more careful inspection reveals the fact that the fall takes two leaps, a green interval interposing between the two plunges, and at this distance the