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14 duty unless they are regularly paid; nor that the authorities can pay them, when they are themselves so frequently in hot water; indeed, they cannot be in any other position, while almost all the wealth in the country is locked up either in the cathedrals, or the strong-boxes of the priests.

Our adventure was in perfect accordance with the miserable locality through which we now proceeded, and with the groups of wretched objects we ever and anon passed by. The streets were filthy and ill-conditioned in the extreme: even in the uncertain light of evening, I could perceive that the water in the kennels along the middle of the roads was putrid. The bye-courts were pent up and unhealthy; and the houses in some places were almost gorged by the heaps of rubbish before them.

The people were mere walking bundles of dirty rags—with oblique eyes, distorted limbs, bound-up heads, and offensive sores. They appeared to be of mixed descent, and of different shades of colour; but all looked sickly or ill-formed, and had a malignant or passionate look and reckless air. This is the worst quarter of the town and well, for several