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Various have been the Scenes thro which I have passed since we parted last we bid each other Farewel—some of them have been dangerous, and many of them disagreable— Providence has however been pleased to bring me safe thro them all to the Place [assigned me?] by Congress ^of my Destination^ and I hope will restore me to my Country Friends and Family ^& friends^ as soon as the Business committed to me shall be compleated— Then it will give ^I shall have^ the Pleasure to [illegible] ^of^ entertaing you with the Recital of many interesting matters which the Risque to which all ^all my^ Letters are in these Times exposed forbids me to commit to Paper— I will nevertheless give you some little account of our Journey from Cadiz to Madrid, because as the manner of travelling here differs entirely from that of our Country it may afford you some Amusement.

The Distance is between three and four hundred English Miles— We were told at Cadiz that it would be necessary to take with us Beds, Hams, Tea Sugar Chocolate &c. &c. and other Articles of Provision as well as Kitchen utensils for dressing them, for that we should ^seldom^ find neither on the Road. we we were further advised to hire a Carri ^informed that these Journeys^ were usually performed in Carriages resembling a Coach and drawn by six mules for ^the pres[en]t. hire of^ which was from a hundred and fifty thirty to a hundred and fifty Dollars and that they would carry ^near^ a thousand weight of Baggage.

We accordingly provided ourselves made the necessary Provision for eating and sleeping comfortably by the Way & set out the  1 Day of March last—we crossed the Bay to ^to Port St. Marys^2 ^a handsome^ Boat after to Port St. Marys where a ^in very pleasant weather, and^ a very fine ^handsome^ Boat which the Brother of the Minister of Indes3 was so kind as to lend us. on our arrival at Port St Marys we found ^we staid a night at that place waiting^ for our Carriage, and were very hospitably entertained by Count Oreilly—the same who established the spanish Govt. at New Orleans at the Conclusion of the last war— He is a man of excellent abilities and great knowledge of men as well as things— He has risen from an Ensign to be Inspector ^& Lt^ General of the armies of Spain, into which he has introduced a Degree of Discipline to which they had long been Strangers, & Captain Gen. of ^the Province of^ Andalusia and &c. &c.

The next Day we set out for Madrid—there ar[e] some peculiarities in these Carriages. ^The whee hind wheels of these Carriages are very high and heavy—^ the fore wheels are low & are made to play under the Carriage ^[in margin] so that they turn very short.^ the Nails that fix the Tire ^have Heads as large almost as half a middle sized apple they^ are driven thro the Fellow, & Clinch—over each axel^le^ Tree is Room for two large Trunks or Chests and Beds upon them under the axle tree ^Frame which supports the Trunks^ behind, there is a Netting of Rope capable of containing a large Hamper of Provisions and under the Floor of the Carriage B there is a Place of about seven or Eight Inches Deep the whole Length & Width of the Floor in which many things may be stowed as well as under the Seats & some other lesser nettings about the Coach— The hindermost mules were harnessed to a Bar run across ^by^ the ^Foot of the^ Pole & secured by Irons run from each End to the fore axeltree—but the Traces of each of the other four m were all laid in a Notch made in ^the^ hinder Part of the Pole ^& had no sort of Connection with each other^ Instead of Collars they had Haims constructed with a Groove that admitted a Piece of wood exactly like our Hog Yokes strong^ly^ fastened in the Crotch by an Iron spike or Rivot that passed thro it— The Ends of the Trace were tied to a Hole near the Points of this Yoke, and which was run into the groove whenever the Mules were put to the Carriage & taken out again as often as they were turned into the Stable—as ^to^ the Harness they never were taken from the mu neck of the mules during the whole Journey, and to each of themir were tied ^necks was ornamented with^ six or Eight little Bells ^& made no little noise^ a Driver setting over the foreaxle tree guided the two hindermost Mules with a pair of leading Lines—the other four went as they pleased in fair Roads, but in common a Man walked or ran by their Sides to take the foremost by the Head and guide them in Places where they could not safely be left to their own Discretion— These Animals are fed entirely on cut Straw and Barley—they make little or no Stay in ^& I am told are continually travelling going till they die— We travelled ^at the Rate of^ between twenty & thirty a D Miles a Day and the same mules brought us to Madrid that we set out with from Cadis, at which they had arrived from Madrid only a Day before we left it—they w we stopped but once in the Course of the Day— At the End of the Journey they appeared as in as much Flesh and Spirits as when we set out— The manner of driving them is in my opinion greatly to their Disadvantage, very Fast up and Down Hill, & slow on plain Ground— I had no Idea of there being animals of this Kind in the World so fine—many of them are between fifteen and sixteen ^I have seen some near sixteen^ Hands high ^in common they are from 14 & ½ to 15, a great many 14½^ very active and well limbed— I am convinced that they are stronger as well as more durable than Horses tho far from being not so handsome—one Reason perhaps why the Mules of this Country are finer than ^exceed^ those of others is that the Generally of their Horses are so ^better^ The Andalusian Horses of which you have often heard are noble animals ^handsome^ very sprightly and yet well tempered, many of them are undersized ^rather too small & delicate^, but it is not uncommon to meet with them above fifteen hands ^strong made & full sized^— They are formed much like English Horses, and tho I have scarce ever seen any ^of the latter^ with so fine an air as some of these ^many of the former^ yet I have ^met with^ none ^of the Spanish^ so perfectly as ^well^ made as some of those from England I have seen— They cannot be exported without special Licence from the King. The Asses are of two kinds very large and very small, they being of disfferent^tinct^ Breeds, as much so as between Ponies our large common Horses & Poneys— The little asses are by far the more common ^because they live with less than the others^ and are the ^chief^ Porters of this Country— Carts & Waggons being very little used— The large Asse is a ^is^ very ugly animal—they call them fine, I suppose when compared with those of other Countries— I have seen none ^yet^ that exceeded fourteen Hands and I think them rather heavy limbed—they certainly have a great Deal of Bone It is more than probable that when I return I shall bring a Couple of them with them ^me^— I am satisfied that for Labor two ^very good^ mules are at the least worth three very good Horses—besides the live twice as long

The Posadas or Inns were foun more tolerable then they had been represented to us. Many of them were ^had^ very good Rooms, but swarming with Fleas and Buggs— The mules were generally lodged under the same Roof and my Bed Room has frequently been divided from them by only a Pa common Partition. The Innkeepers give themselves little Trouble about their Guests further than to exact as much from them as possible— I found no Reason or Justice among them— They furnish scarce any thing except food for the Mules & House Room for the Passengers, an I may indeed add such Beds as nothing but necessity wd. induce one to use— Thoroughly dirty— For all these they charge extravagently and what you will hardly belief they have the Impudence to charge you for what they call the noise of the House and this seldom costs us less at each Posada than from three to four Dollars— At one Tavern ^which it seems keeps something to eat^ we ^arrived & dined late,^ & exceptg. the Coll—went to Bed without Supper, and ^we^ took Breakfast in the Morning—our Servants ^4 in number who except a little Bread & Milk^ eat of the Provisions they brought and ^four in number^ We ^all^ slept in our own Beds— When the Reckoning was called it amountd to and we paid 477 Reals—that is £9–10–9 York Money—they charged us for 14 Beds tho our Number, including Servants amounted only to 8—^(for as to the Coachmen muleteers we had nothing to do with them or their Mules)^ on observing this to them we were told that the there were many Beds in the Rooms in which we had slept and in others communicating with them, and that it was our own fault that we did not use them ^we might have used them all if [thus?] we pleased^— We remarked that it was impossible for Eight people persons to use fourteen Beds, they replied that was not their Fault—there was no Remedy and I paid it after taking an Acct. of the particulars with a Rect. at the Foot of it which I keep as a Curiosity—

I am told that these Impositions arise from this Circumstances— The Houses in which these Posadas are kept generally belong to some Great Men, who for Rent & License to keep Tavern demand from the poor wretches much more than they can honestly get by that Business and thence they are driven to make up the Deficiency by these iniquitous Practices— The Landlords know this and to enjoy these high Rents support their Tenants against Travellers, and take Care that the latters be Loser by all Disputes with Innkeepers—besides as Travellers cannot remain long or enough at one Place to prosecute appeals and and abide the Event the of such Litigations they generally put up with the first Loss.

My next will give you ^probably^ contain a Continuation of this Acct. which I hope will be confined to the Family.

On the Subject of politics I ^make it a Rule to^ write to none but Congress—There we have no news except that the Dutch are grumbling and have half a mind to make War with England— I would send you new Papers if I had any except ^besides^ Spanish ones, but as you dont understand that Language they wd. be useless.

My Brothers must consider this Letter as in as an apology for none to them— I have not at present Time to write to each of them separately— We are well— Peter had had the Fever and Ague but is recovered—he behaves well, but I find it difficult to make him apply—

I have ordered several little Articles for Family use they will I hope arrive before cold weather—dont however depend on them—for they may be taken—

[in margin] my ^our^ Compts. to Doctr and Mr[s] W. VWyck—my ^Our^ Love to all the Family— I am Dr Sir Your Dutiful and Afft. Son