The stealing, concealing, and receiving animals
when stolen, are inveterate Gypsy habits, and are perhaps the last
from which the Gitano will be reclaimed, or will only cease when
the race has become extinct. In the prisons of Madrid, either in
that of the Saladero or De la Corte, there are never less than a
dozen Gitanos immured for stolen horses or mules being found in
their possession, which themselves or their connections have
spirited away from the neighbouring villages, or sometimes from a
considerable distance. I say spirited away, for so well do the
thieves take their measures, and watch their opportunity, that they
are seldom or never taken in the fact.
The Madrilenian Gypsy women are indefatigable in the pursuit of
prey, prowling about the town and the suburbs from morning till
night, entering houses of all descriptions, from the highest to the
lowest; telling fortunes, or attempting to play off various kinds
of Gypsy tricks, from which they derive much greater profit, and of
which we shall presently have occasion to make particular mention.
From Madrid let us proceed to Andalusia, casting a cursory glance
on the Gitanos of that country.
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