One Heard Of
Wild Caprices On The Part Of The Inspectors In Levying Duties Which Were
Sometimes Made To Pass The Prime Cost Of The Goods In Gibraltar.
I
myself only carried in books which after the first few declarations were
recognized as of no imaginable value and passed with a genial tolerance,
as a sort of joke, by officers whom I saw feeling the persons of their
fellow-Spaniards unsparingly over.
We had, if anything, less business really in Algeciras than in
Gibraltar, but we went into the town nearly every afternoon, and
wantonly bought things. By this means we proved that the Andalusian
shopmen had not the proud phlegm of the Castilians across their
counters. In the principal dry-goods store two salesmen rivaled each
other in showing us politeness, and sent home our small purchases as
promptly as if we had done them a favor in buying. We were indeed the
wonder of our fellow-customers who were not buying; but our pride was
brought down in the little shop where the proprietress was too much
concerned in cooking her dinner (it smelled delicious) to mind our wish
for a very cheap green vase, inestimably Spanish after we got it home.
However, in another shop where the lady was ironing her week's wash on
the counter, a lady friend who was making her an afternoon call got such
a vase down for us and transacted the negotiation out of pure good will
for both parties to it.
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