Mr. Lathrop, in his _Spanish Vistas_, says that the beggars around Seville Cathedral are sometimes the bearers of love letters to the ladies who attend the services and go to confession. A piece of silver is dropped into the mendicant's dirty palm, and a little note is transferred to the _señorita's_ hand. And with eyes fixed modestly upon the ground, the maiden steps out of the portal of the sacred building, clutching the tender missive which she burns to read. In all countries stealthy courtship has its charm and romance for lovers; and in Spain the zest of wooing is quickened by the devices employed for clandestine assignations, and the secret conveying of gifts and letters from one lover to another. Our forthright British mode of love-making might appear almost barbarous to an Andalusian girl.
The women of Southern Spain are short, and they incline to stoutness. Mr. Finck says that sexual selection 'is evolving the _petite_ brunette as the ideal of womanhood,' and that 'the perfected woman of the millennium will resemble the Andalusian brunette, not only in complexion, hair, eyes, gait, and tapering plumpness of figure, but also in stature.'
Among the men of Seville one sees many slim, lissome, well-proportioned figures of medium height. Some of the _majos_ of Sierpes are of this type, and among the working class there are many good-looking, clean-limbed men. The masculine physiognomies impress me as being much more varied in contour and more expressive than those of the women. Faces that might be English are not uncommon among the men of Seville. But the true Andalusian features are distinctive, and have an Arab cast. The hair is dark, black or brown, and the skin olive or tawny. There is an unshaven look about many of the middle-class men. A _majo_ who dresses in the height of fashion will often go out to parade the streets with a three days' beard on his chin. But his hands will be scrupulously washed several times a day, and the finger nails will be carefully trimmed and polished.
To see Sevillian society out of doors, go to the Parque Maria Luisa and the adjoining Paseo de las Delicias about five in the afternoon. This is the fashionable promenade, and here the _élite_ of the city drive in open carriages daily. The costumes of the _señoras_ are varied and stylish. Some of the ladies wear English gowns and hats, and one sees a few of the latest Paris fashions in dresses. But the majority have not discarded the _mantilla_ of black or white lace, and the fan is in every hand. A 'smart turn-out' is a sort of four-wheeled dogcart, drawn by four mules, with bells, and gay worsted ear-caps and worked bridles. The servants are dressed in London livery, the landaus are of French or English make, and many fine horses may be seen. _Caballeros_ ride upon prancing nags. Under the palms and orange trees there are seats filled with loungers, the women fanning themselves, the men smoking cigars or cigarettes. None but foreigners smoke a pipe in the streets of Seville. A _majo_ would not be guilty of such vulgarity.