and sandals made of cord. The women have no caps: they plait their hair in a spiral form, and fasten it with a large silver pin. Swinburne says: “The men in this province strut about all day in monstrous hats and dark brown cloaks." In the town of Salamanca the lower classes wear large hats-some black, some white; slit sleeves, broad leather belts, and sandals made of cords.

The Biscayan women, who are usually very handsome, wear a neat pastoral garb. The hair falls down the back in long plaits, and on the head is worn a sort of white cap or hood, with a bow in front. The boddice is laced up the front, and has lappets hanging from the waist; the petticoat is rather short, the sleeves full, and reaching to the elbow; its colour on Sundays or holidays of pure white, and then tied with rose-coloured ribands.

"The most singular thing in the dress of the men," says Swinburne, "is the covering of their legs; they wrap a piece of coarse grey, or black woollen cloth, round them, and fasten it with many turns of tape; it answers precisely to the idea I have of Malvolio's cross-gartering in the Twelfth Night." The same author relates the dress of the innkeeper's daughter at Lorea: "Her hair was tied in a club with a bunch of scarlet ribands, large drops hung from her ears, and on her breast she wore a load of relics and hallowed medals; the sleeves of her gown were fastened together behind by a long blue riband, that hung to the ground."

In Castile the women have large clumsy sabots, a dark gown thrown back, and tied behind, an apron of blue and white, and a large veil fastened to the

head with streamers of blue riband. The montero caps of the men are frequently faced and ornamented with red or blue.

The women of Burgos, who, unlike the other Spanish peasants, are not in general handsome, do not improve their beauty by their coiffure, which is particularly ugly, and not unlike that worn by some of the Tartar tribes. They wear a black periwig, faced all round with the wool of a black lamb, ending behind in two long plaits, which hang half way to the ground.

In the neighbourhood of Irun the man's costume is a brown jacket, a small round hat, and sandals, or an old slipper tied on with a riband. Some of the inhabitants wear a handkerchief round the head, and over it a small cap, chocolate-coloured jackets and trousers are worn, while a red sash encircles the waist. The women's hair, which is of a beautiful black, is tied in long tresses.

In Bilbao the dress of the women is very becoming. It consists of a black silk petticoat, a black or a white jacket, and a large silk capuchon, the ends of which hang down in front like a shawl.

The ever-varying modes of France have long crept across the Pyrenees; French clothes, French fashions, and French colours, have quite superseded the ancient costume of the country among the higher classes.

Spain is famous in the annals of fashion for having invented two additions to dress, which have been worn, admired, and followed by most of the European nations we mean ruffs and fardingales. Most writers. agree that to Spain they owe their birth, and certainly the inventive genius who first imagined them is worthy

of renown.

In Montfaucon's "Monarchie Française,” we find

a portrait of Elizabeth, daughter of Henry II. She is dressed according to the Spanish fashion, having married a king of Spain; she has a ruff, an embroidered robe ornamented with jewels, slashed sleeves, ruffles at the hands, and a splendid mantle; round her neck is a collar of jewels, and an immense ornament of precious stones hangs on her breast.

The general national costume of the Spanish ladies when en grande tenue, was formerly a petticoat of rich satin, embroidered in gold and colours; a jacket of velvet trimmed with jewels, the sleeves slashed and bordered with gold, and finished at the wrists with ruffles; a girdle, and cordelière of jewels. Frequently the robes were trimmed with ermine and the most costly furs, and were made of brocade or gold and silver tissue. The head-dresses were generally formed of jewels, and a veil was usually added to the coiffure, which gave it much grace and elegance.

THE TOILETTE IN PORTUGAL.

CHAPTER XXIV.

N this smiling and sunny land the common dress of the lower class of men is the cloak and large broadbrimmed hat so frequently met with in Spain. They have loose breeches and a coat, bound round the waist with a girdle of leather. The sleeves are tight, and open part of the way up the arm, so as to shew the shirt; the throat is uncovered.

Ornaments, such as gold and silver lace, and embroidery, are not allowed to be worn on the garments of the Portuguese; but the higher classes, when they do not follow the French fashions, pay no attention to these rules, but adorn their silk dresses with embroidery and precious stones.

The women among the peasantry seldom wear caps, but have a very becoming way

of dressing the hair, and tying it in a net of silk, not unlike a large purse, with a long tassel hanging down the back, and a bow on the forehead. This coiffure they call redecilla, and the men also frequently adopt it. Their gowns. usually have a boddice, and short sleeves reaching the elbow, of a different material from the jupe; this boddice is made with a long pointed stomacher, and is cut round at the bosom. Beneath it is worn an under-dress, with long sleeves and a body, that fastens round the throat. White dresses are much worn, ornamented with coloured ribands.

The Portuguese ladies wear very large heavy ear-rings, and in their hair they are fond of placing quantities of precious stones, which are generally set in the form of butterflies and other insects. Sometimes feathers and coloured ribands are placed among their tresses. No young woman ever conceals her hair under a lace or muslin head-dress. Elderly ladies wear a cap shaped like a caul, of very fine clear muslin.

Their gowns, of which they sometimes wear two or three, one over the other, are richly embriodered; the upper one forms a long train, which sweeps along the ground, and is of black stuff. Their hoops are quite enormous, and their sleeves immensely wide. Instead of a girdle, they encircle their small waists with a string of relics; the ends hang to the ground, and have knots of diamonds in them. Their shoes