When one Gitano confides his plans to
another, he is in no fear that they will be betrayed to the Busno,
for whom there is no sympathy, and when a plan is to be executed
which requires co-operation, they seek not the fellowship of the
Busne, but of each other, and if successful, share the gain like
brothers.
As a proof of the fraternal feeling which is not unfrequently
displayed amongst the Gitanos, I shall relate a circumstance which
occurred at Cordova a year or two before I first visited it. One
of the poorest of the Gitanos murdered a Spaniard with the fatal
Manchegan knife; for this crime he was seized, tried, and found
guilty. Blood-shedding in Spain is not looked upon with much
abhorrence, and the life of the culprit is seldom taken, provided
he can offer a bribe sufficient to induce the notary public to
report favourably upon his case; but in this instance money was of
no avail; the murdered individual left behind him powerful friends
and connections, who were determined that justice should take its
course. It was in vain that the Gitanos exerted all their
influence with the authorities in behalf of their comrade, and such
influence was not slight; it was in vain that they offered
extravagant sums that the punishment of death might be commuted to
perpetual slavery in the dreary presidio of Ceuta; I was credibly
informed that one of the richest Gitanos, by name Fruto, offered
for his own share of the ransom the sum of five thousand crowns,
whilst there was not an individual but contributed according to his
means - nought availed, and the Gypsy was executed in the Plaza.
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