The Gitanerias were soon considered as public nuisances, on which
account the Gitanos were forbidden to live together in particular
parts of the town, to hold meetings, and even to intermarry with
each other; yet it does not appear that the Gitanerias were ever
suppressed by the arm of the law, as many still exist where these
singular beings 'marry and are given in marriage,' and meet
together to discuss their affairs, which, in their opinion, never
flourish unless those of their fellow-creatures suffer. So much
for the Gitanerias, or Gypsy colonies in the towns of Spain.
CHAPTER V
'LOS Gitanos son muy malos! - the Gypsies are very bad people,'
said the Spaniards of old times. They are cheats; they are
highwaymen; they practise sorcery; and, lest the catalogue of their
offences should be incomplete, a formal charge of cannibalism was
brought against them. Cheats they have always been, and
highwaymen, and if not sorcerers, they have always done their best
to merit that appellation, by arrogating to themselves supernatural
powers; but that they were addicted to cannibalism is a matter not
so easily proved.
Their principal accuser was Don Juan de Quinones, who, in the work
from which we have already had occasion to quote, gives several
anecdotes illustrative of their cannibal propensities.
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