When we consider the character of the Andalusians in general, we
shall find little to surprise us in this predilection for the
Gitanos. They are an indolent frivolous people, fond of dancing
and song, and sensual amusements. They live under the most
glorious sun and benign heaven in Europe, and their country is by
nature rich and fertile, yet in no province of Spain is there more
beggary and misery; the greater part of the land being
uncultivated, and producing nothing but thorns and brushwood,
affording in itself a striking emblem of the moral state of its
inhabitants.
Though not destitute of talent, the Andalusians are not much
addicted to intellectual pursuits, at least in the present day.
The person in most esteem among them is invariably the greatest
MAJO, and to acquire that character it is necessary to appear in
the dress of a Merry Andrew, to bully, swagger, and smoke
continually, to dance passably, and to strum the guitar. They are
fond of obscenity and what they term PICARDIAS. Amongst them
learning is at a terrible discount, Greek, Latin, or any of the
languages generally termed learned, being considered in any light
but accomplishments, but not so the possession of thieves' slang or
the dialect of the Gitanos, the knowledge of a few words of which
invariably creates a certain degree of respect, as indicating that
the individual is somewhat versed in that kind of life or TRATO for
which alone the Andalusians have any kind of regard.
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