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YALE
UNIVERSITY LIBRARY

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN:

OS,

NOTES OF AN UNFINISHED TOUR

IN 1847.

BY S. T. WALL IS.

NEW YORK:
HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS,
82 CLIFF STREET.
1849.

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand
eight hundred and forty -nine, by
Harper & Brothers,
in the Clerk's Office ofthe District Court ofthe Southern District
of New York.

TO

THE CHEV. DON JOSE ANTONIO PIZARRO,
H. C. M. VICK-CONSUI. IN BALTIMORE,

THIS LITTLE WORK

Bs aRespectftiUs anS aiffccttonatels finstrR)**.

PREFACE.

The author would not do himself, or the country
which he has attempted to describe in part, the
injustice of publishing this volume, without desiring
its humble pretensions to be distinctly understood.
The subject was not unfamiliar to him, before his
visit to Spain ; and his opportunities for observation
and information, while there, were, perhaps, better
than those which strangers commonly enjoy. The
period and limits of his intended tour were, however,
so materially abridged, that, if the results of his ob
servation had been unfavorable to the country, he
would have deemed it hardly fair to give them cur
rency. The contrary being the case, he is persuaded
that his conclusions are, on that account, the more
likely to be just, so far as they go ; and he is willing
to incur the risk of their being deemed superficial and
imperfect, under the conviction that they can do no
harm, and may, perhaps, throw light upon a picture,
which has been often, he believes, unduly darkened
by prejudice and misinformation.

PREFACE.

For the frequent appearance of the personal pro
noun in the narrative, the author has no apology but
the impossibility of avoiding it without assuming a
graver tone than accorded with his plan. Should a
lack of that " stirring incident" be noted, which is
looked for in such books, he begs it may be attributed
to his ill fortune, in having met with nothing of the
sort, except what he describes.. A few banditti would
have made a livelier story, and could have been read
ily improvised ; but it is a melancholy fact that there
is, now, small risk of life or limb in Spain, compara
tively speaking ; and the author did not feel that he
would be justified, under such circumstances, in con
firming the present popular impression, that life in
the Peninsula is still a mixture of the adventures of
Gil Bias and the exploits of Don Quixote.

Baltimore, October, 1849.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

Departure from Marseilles — La Ciotat — Fellow-travelers — En
glish Tourists — Arrival at Barcelona, and Tribulations at th.i
Custom-house — The Rambla and the People on Promenade —
Th6ophile Gautier — Marseilles and Barcelona contrasted —
Public Buildings — The Cathedral— Christopher Columbus ... 13
CHAPTER II.
Easter Eggs— La Mona — High Mass on Easter Sunday — A
ride to Graeia — Montjuich — Notre Dame de la Garde — The
Plaza de Toros, and Yankee Company — Opening of the Great
Opera House— Social Habits of the Barcelonese — Musical
Tastes  26
CHAPTER III.
The Catalans— 'English Philanthropy and the Cotton-question —
Smuggling and Prohibitive Laws — Protective Policy and Free-
Trade — Don Javier de Burgos  36
CHAPTER IV.
Education in Catalonia — The Press — The Gaye Science= — De
parture for Valencia — The Coast — Spanish Travelers and
Politics — The Tartana — Valencia — The Vega — The Market
place — Costume and Cleanliness of the People — Table-lux
uries of Europe and the Western Continent — M. Dumas —
Public Buildings — The Cid and the Church-bells  45
CHAPTER V.
Pictures — The Penitentiary — The Wemen of Valencia — Alicante
 Railway Iron— rThe Plaza — Mules — The Post-boy — Man-
nei»— Biglibwew. «.............«........*  56

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER VI.
Cartagena — The Arsenal and Harbor — Gipsies — Appearance
and Habits of the People — Almeria — Ballad of Count Arnaldos
 Spanish Boatmen — Heat of the Weather — Cathedral — Dis
mantled Convent — Beggars — Morals of Almeria — The Bride
and the Captain of Carbineers-rThe Mountains of Granada —
Sunset — Mediterranean Captains  67
CHAPTER VII.
Malaga — Its Appearance from the Water — The Citadels — -The
Alameda — Defacing Public Monuments — Westminster Abbey
— Greenough's Washington — The Cathedral of Rouen and-the
Swiss — Coaches — Streets — Moonlight Walks and Views — the'
Torres  -.    '. 79
CHAPTER VIII.
Commerce of Malaga — Manufactures — Heredia's Works — Iron
Foundry — Spanish Iron and Coal — Clay Figures— The Fonda
de la Alameda — American and European Hotels— Travelers
to Granada — Fellow-lodgers — The Irish Parson— English and
Continental Manners — Spanish Cookery — -Rides about the Hills
— The Retiro — Villa of the Prussian Consul — Calesas and
Bombes — Torre Molino  ,  86
CHAPTER IX.
The Cathedral — Ford and Widdrington — Societyin Malaga — The
Malaguenas — Slanders of Tourists— Female Travelers — Span
ish Hospitality — Letters of Introduction — Dinners — Courtship
and Marriage — Medical Men — Funeral Ceremonies and Cus
toms of Mourning  104
, CHAPTER X.
Departure for Cadiz — A Summer Sea— Root and Straits of
Gibraltar by Moonlight — Cadiz — The Casino— English Papers
and the Mexican War — Women — Public Walks^Buildings 
Flower-market — Fondness for Flowers — Spanish rural Tastes
— Fortifications — Ocean- view and Sunset  121
CHAPTER XI.
Journey to Xerez— Port St. Mary'*— The Calesa — Dort Fran-

CONTENTS.

eisco and his Chickens — Sherry Wines and Goat-skins — The
Cartuja — Xerez — The Boarding-house — Dona Maria de Leon
— Her Table and Company  133
CHAPTER XII.
Xerez — Population — The Bodegas — Wines — Manzanilla — The
Preparation of Wines — American and English Markets — Prices
— Vineyards — Manners of the People — Churches — The Storks
of San Miguel — May-day — Return to Cadiz — Louis Philippe's
Birth-day  143
CHAPTER XIII.
Fair at Puerto Real — The Star-spangled Banner — The Balon
— Theatrical Performances — Spanish Dancing-girls  153
CHAPTER XIV.
Decay of Cadiz — Manufactures and Trade — Free-trade News
paper — Agriculture — Grain and Flour — Journey to Seville —
The Guadalquivir — Herdsmen and their Mares — Approach
to Seville — Gardens and Groves — Fonda de la Reyna — Don
Jose and the Widow— The Maiden's Balcony  160
CHAPTER XV.
Seville — Domestic Architecture — Moorish Relics — House of Pi
late — The Alcazar and its Gardens — English Critics and White
wash — Sir John Downie — Holyrood and Durham Cathedral —
The Spanish Kings — Peter the Cruel  166
CHAPTER XVI.
Improvements at Seville — Literature and the Press — The Bible-
Mr. Borrow and the Causes of his .Failure — Newspapers' —
American News — General Taylor in Seville — Scarcity of
Bread — Bread Riots — The Cigar-girls — Andalusian Character
illustrated — Dancing — The Ole — The Bell-ringer's Daughter. 176
CHAPTER XVII.
Ita]ioa  The Coach — Triana — San Isidoro del Campo — Guzman
el Bueno — Hernan Cortes — The Halls of the Montezumas —
Peasants  The Ruins — The Amphitheater — The Wine-drink
ers and our Adventure on the Road  190
A*

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XVIII.
Marshal Soult, and Murillo's Works — Picking and Stealing —
Murillo's Style and Genius — The Ideal and the Natural —
Paintings of the Deity — St. Francis and the Crucifix  196
CHAPTER XIX. ,
Notices of Murillo's principal Works — The Museum — Seville
School — Zurbaran — Murillo's Pictures, for the Capuchin Con
vent — Story of his Residence there — The Virgin' of the Nap
kin, &c. — Pictures at La Caridad — The San Juan de Dios—
Pictures at the Cathedral — The Guardian Angel  205
CHAPTER XX.
Ferdinand Columbus — His Tomb^And Works — The Columbian
Library — Relics of Ferdinand — Books belonging to Christopher
Columbus — His Book of Prophecies — The Sword of Garci
Perez — The Lonja — Seville Merchants of old-r^The Archives
of the Indies— Navarrete  215
CHAPTER. XXI
The Tobacco-factory — Pope Urban's Bull against 'Tobacco —
Pasquin's Reply — Public Walks— Delioias — Spanish Horse
men — -Farriers — Necessity of Public Walks in the United
States'  , .. :  225
CHAPTER XXII.
Propensity of Travelers to climb high Places — The Giralda —
The Bell-ringer, his Daughter, and the Hawks — The Andaluz
and the English — The Cathedral — Its Magnificence and Beauty
— The Royal Chapel — The Vi'rjen de la Antigua— High Mass
and Music — The Galleries— The Battle-pieces and the Hawks 236
CHAPTER- XXIII.
Journey to Cordova — Carmona — The Road and Travelers —
Primitive Agriculture — Ecija — The Alforjas — Dawn upon Cor
dova — The Mosque — Moorish Relics — St. Raphael, and what
he swore — The Christian Captive and his Cross — Procession
and Silver Ornaments — Gen. Dupont — Appearance and Decay
of Cordova — Return to Seville — The Colonies and Olavide —
The Infanta and the Poet — Spanish Diligences  247

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER XXIV.
Andalusian Jockeys — Start for Ronda Fair — Our Horses, Guide,
and Equipments — Andalusian Costume — Appearance of the
Country — Utrera — Bull-fighters — The Race and the Carbonero
— Coronil — The Venta and the Fleas — Puerto Serrano and the
Mountains — Our Cavalcade — Mountain Crosses — The Picador
and his Arab— Almodonares — Zahara — Venta Nueva — Morn
ing Ride to Ronda — The Nightingales  '.  266
CHAPTER XXV.
Ronda — The Tajo and Valley — Moorish Relics — The Fair —
Cordovese Horses  284
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Bull-Fights — The Amphitheater, Spectators, Order of Cere
monial and Manner of the Fights — Moral of Bull-fighting —
Fondness of Strangers for it . . >  290
CHAPTER XXVII
Journey to Malaga — Canal rnca — The Sulphur Springs — The
Flowers and Grain— rValencian Reapers — Reflections on An-
dalusian-Agriculture — Its Defects and their Historical Causes —
Rural Labor as a Source of Patriotism and Prosperity — Journey
to Granada — Loja — Arrival at Granada — Feast of Corpus
Christt — The Swiss Pastry-cook — Illness — The Barber-surgeon
and the Doctor — Medicine and Dietetics — My Lodging — The
Noises of Granada — Rita and the Russian Count — Kindness of
the People — The Professor and la Presse  303
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Xenil and the Darro — The Alameda— The Alhambra Gar
dens — The Cuarto Real — Monastic Taste — Gonsalvo de Cor
dova and the Cartuja — Precious Marbles — Mariana de Pineda
— San Jeronimo and the Tomb of the Great Captain  314
CHAPTER XXIX.
The Cathedral of Granada — The Royal Chapel — Pulgar and the
Ave Maria — The Royal Tombs — Ferdinand and Isabella — An
tique Bas-reliefs^— The Sacristy — Ferdinand's Crown and Scep
ter  Surrender of Granada — Irving and Prescott — The Histor
ical Bas-relief — Visit to the Hermitage of San Sebastian — The

CONTENTS.

Procession of Corpus Christi — The Lawsuit for Precedence —
Spanish Soldiery — Society and Cultivation in Granada. .  322
CHAPTER XXX.
Mr. Irving and the Alhambra — Mateo Ximeijez — The Gate and
Square of Vivarrambla- — Casa del Carbon — The Alhambra —
The Towers of Justice and la Vela — Exterior and Interior of
the Moorish Palace — Lodgings within the Alhambra Jurisdic
tion — The Generalife— Boabdit and his Portrait — Boabdil's
Queen and the Abencerrage — View from the Silla del Moro—
Ole Bull — Moorish Antiquities — Their Condition and the Rea
sons — Parallel cases in England and Seotland^Shilling ExhiT
bitions — John Knox and the Altar-piece of Queen Mary ..... 334
CHAPTER XXXI.
Return to Malaga — A Midnight Adventure, showing- the Value
of a -wise Wife — Loxa — Colmenar — Descent to the Coast —
Voyage to Gibraltar — Population of Gibraltar — Its Situation
— The Alameda and Scare-crow- Statuary — Fortifications —
English and Spanish Soldiers— British Officers and the Siege of
Vera Cruz — Contraband Trade. — Shamelessness of it — Its De
crease — Lord Brougham and the Canada Frontier — Views
about Gibraltar — Military Funeral — Peninsular Steamer —
Cadiz — Lisbon — Oporto — General Concha and the Spanish
Intervention — Vigo— Spanish Beef — The Gallego and his
Province . . '.  ,  "347
CHAPTER XXXII.
Conclusion — French, English, and American Views of Spain 
Spirit of Travelers — Spanish Character, Social, Political, and
Religious — Origin, Condition, and Remedy of their Political
System — A Moral for Ourselves  ' . , 362
APPENDIX.
I. Epitaph and Works of Ferdinand Columbus.  374
II. Christopher Columbus' Copy of Petrus Aliacus, and his Je
rusalem or Book of Prophecies  377
III. The Bull "Cum Fcelesia3," against Tobacco ". . .  383
IV. Inscription on the Wall of St. Sebastian's Hermitage, relating
to the Surrender of Granada  " 334

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

CHAPTER I.

Departure from Marseilles — La Ciotat — Fellow-travelers — English
Tourists— Arrival at Barcelona, and Tribulations at the Custom
house — The Rambla and the People on Promenade — Theophile
Gautier — Marseilles and Barcelona contrasted — Public Buildings —
The Cathedral — Christopher Columbus.
We had a fellow-passenger across the Atlantic, to whose
Untiring cheerfulness and amiability we were indebted for
the most of our few pleasant moments, during a tedious
and stormy voyage. Being a Frenchman, he was too true
to his national character, not to find especial refreshment in
an occasional scrap of philosophy, and used frequently to
point his exhortations with the salutary moral from Candide
•the Optimist, that " every thing happens for the best, in this
best of worlds." A sea-sick man, in the nature of things,
is eminently Unphilosophical. Some Boethius occasionally
writes a volume of " Consolations,'' in a prison, but no man
was ever known to do such a thing in a state-room. I con
fess, therefore, that, at the time, I had a higher appreciation
of our companion's kindness than his doctrine. But when,
after the tribulation that usually attends an invalid's expe
rience of .the mists and blasts of beautiful France, and the
snow and sleet of sunny Italy, I found myself at last on
board the good steamer " El Barcino," in the harbor of Mar-
seilles, and bound direct for Spain, I began to think better
of Candide, and to believe that even in this sorry world, the
most unlucky sometimes realize their wildest hopes. From
\

14 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
my childhood, Spain had been a fairy land to me. I remem
ber when I would not have bartered a chance' of visiting its
shores, for the best rub at Aladdin's lamp. Circumstances
afterward had thrown me into association with Spaniards,
more frequently than is Usual with our countrymen, and
some of my most cherished friendships had been formed
among them. Thus made familiar with their language,
and interested deeply in their national peculiarities and
character, I had cultivated their literature in an humble
way, as far as one might venture while following a profes
sion which gives little of practical -sympathy or toleration to
any learning but its own. Yet it had never occurred to me
that I should tread, except in'dreams, the bright'land which
I had so often seen in them ; and now that but a single day's
journey lay between my wishes" and their consummation, it
will not be wondered that I should have hailed, as almost
a blessing, the ill-health which had sent me on my journey.
It wa,s the first day of April, 1847, and scarce six
o'clock in the morning, when the first revolution of the
steamer's wheels threw custom-house boats and bores behind
us. The vociferations; grimaces, and clumsy • and absurd
manoeuvres which attend your exit from a French port, ren
der it more entertaining than any other nautical thing, ex
cept, perhaps, your entrance "into the same. I had been
so busy in amusing myself with -these, and in realizing
the fact of having my first cup of orthodox chocolate in
hand, that' I had hardly taken any cognizance of my com
panions. They were few, and a glance around thp little
quarter-deck soon showed me that they were admirably
assorted for the pleasure which grows out of contrasts. Two
of them were my own countrymen, one of whom had spent
his life in Boston, and the other in China. There was an
Englishman, of course, for of Englishmen traveling nature
abhors a vacuum, and" you stumble on them every where,
in Europe, Asia, and Africa. You may Know them wher
ever you see them, not merely by their peculiarities of cos-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 15
tume, which are unequivocal, but by their loneliness in
crowds, and their silence, especially when spoken to. "Who
are those persons ?" said a foreigner once to me, as we sailed
along the Italian coast. " They are Americans," I answer
ed. " Pardon my curiosity," was the reply, " my compan
ions insisted that they were English, and I knew that could
not be, for they talked to each other at table, and - seemed
to be enjoying themselves !"
The representative of Anglo-Saxondom, upon this occa
sion, was an exception to the national rule, and was no
friend to restraints upon the liberty of speech. Though he
talked French and Spanish with the cackle which is pecu
liar to some of his countrymen, when they meddle with
strange tongues, he persisted in cackling at all hazards.
He had Murray's Hand-Book of -Spain under one arm, and
'being a lieutenant of her majesty's navy, carried a spy-glass
under the other. He had, no doubt, read in his book of the
great veneration- and respect in which Englishmen and their
opinions are held in Spain ; and had obviously made up his
mind to spy out the nakedness and the fullness of land and
water, and let nothing go unseen for lack of being looked after.
By way of counterpoise to the lieutenant was a ready, flu
ent Frenchman, whose ideas were evidently of the "perfide
Albion" school ; for he was in a national' discussion with
John Bull, before we were well out of sight of the Chateau
d'Yf. He was of the sort of man that you meet among
scarce any but the French, and so frequently among them ;
a cross of the savant. and the commis voyageur, with an
equal turn for trade and metaphysics, arid ready to give you,
at a moment's warning, a sample of the latest Lyons silks,
or a disquisition on man, individual and social. An Italian
marquis, from Cremona, in a scarlet cravat and foul linen,
who was. making a pilgrimage* to- the opening of the; new
opera house at Barcelona, and a sturdy Catalan merchant,
my room-mate, completed the list of our company-in the
principal cabin.

16 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
I had anticipated great amusement from witnessing the
process of shaking these uncongenial parts into a pleasant
whole, but, alas ! what is there on earth so fleeting as the
happiness of a landsman on the water ? The wind, which,
when we sallied from the j>ort, scarce bent the canvas of
the light vessels which were every where about us, now
drove them madly through the foam ; and I began to feel,
that though Spain lay near before me.; the Gulf of Lyons
was between. By an absurd regulation of the navigation
laws of the Peninsula, no Spanish vessel, clearing from a
port so near the Spanish territory as Marseilles,, is allowed
the full privileges of a Spanish bottom. ¦ Instead, therefore,,-
of turning his bow toward Barcelona, our captain was com
pelled to make an excursion of some hours in an opposite
direction, to La Ciotat, a little tpwn on the French coast, the
scene ofthe " Commander of Malta," one of the most popu
lar arid ' sulphurous of Alexandre Dumas' romances. This
gave us the, advantage of a heavy and distressing, cross-sea,
to which, I suppose, I owe the fact, that my recollectibns of
la Ciotat are reduced to sundry rotary, notions ,of white
waves and white houses, and riding nauseously at anchor.
Thinner, on the Mediterranean steamers, is, strictly, what
the ecclesiastical calendars denominate " a .movable feast,"
varying from two to six o'cloek, according to the increasing
or decreasing appetites ofthe passengers, and generally corning
on, as the most of them are going off. I only remember it,
upon the day in question, as finding me in a horizontal posi
tion in my berth, listening to the excited voices of the
Frenchman and the lieutenant, as they discussed the respective
advantages to Spain, of British smuggling, on the one side,
and the Bourbons and the family .compact, on the other.
Next day the wind was heavy and ahead, and nothing
kept us of good cheer, but the tidings which some of the
more fortunate would occasionally .bring down to us of
mountain and promontory, as we ran along the coast of
Catalonia. It was near nine, of a cloudy, gusty night, when

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 17

we dropped anchor, at last, in the harbor of Barcelona, our
voyage having been longer than usual, by about one-third.
The lateness of our arrival of course prevented us from going
on shore, so that we lost an opportunity of seeing the
"entierro de Cristo," a 'grand funeral procession by torch
light, which still forms a part, as we learned, of the Good-
Friday ceremonial in Barcelona, though it has been abolish
ed in almost all the rest of Spain. Wretched as we were,
however, we crept from our state-rooms to the deck, to see
what was to be seen : but the ship was out in the throat
of the harbor, and still rode heavily, so that the glimpse we
caught of the far-off lights of the" city was but little worth
the penalty we paid for it.
The next morning I rose as they. were warping the steam
er into port. The city lay beautifully in the center of its
amphitheater of hills. Upon the left, as we faced it, towered
up JVLontjuich, with its lofty and impregnable fortress, so
famous, unhappily, in civil broil. To the right and near
us, was the fine mole, behind which was the suburb of
Barceloneta, with its painted dwellings and its crowd of fac
tories and busy industry. In the inner harbor, just in front
of us, lay quite a fleet of vessels, from many nations, all with
their colors at half-mast, to betoken the solerimity of the
religious festival. The buildings of fhe city-proper looked
white and imposing in the distance, and every thing ashore
was inviting enough to make us more and more impatient
of the health-officer's delay. At last, that functionary came :
took our papers, as if we had been direct froiri Constantinople,
with the plague sealed up in a dispatch for him : but finding,
officially, as he knew, in fact, before, that we were just from
La Ciotat, and had with us no contagion, he finally gave us
leave to land and be persecuted at the Custom-house. Leav
ing our luggage to be trundled up in solido after us, we gave
ourselves into the hands of the boatmen, who landed us safely,
charged us mercifully, and bade us "go with God."'
After a short walk we reached a gate where we were

18 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
told to halt and give our names to an officer. We dictated
.arid he wrote, but I trust he may not be held to strict
account for the perverted and unchristian style in which he
handed us down to posterity and the police. Many a more
innocent -looking word than he made of my name, have I
seen (in Borrow's " Zincali," for. instance) traced all the way
back to the Sanscrit. After being thus translated into
-Catalan we were called up, by our new titles, to be searched.
This process was not very easy to bear patiently, for the
custom-house officers are. the principal agents through whom
France fraternizes with Catalonia, in the smuggling'line,
and we- felt .that they might, with- a good conscience, have
said nothing about our gnats, after having swallowed so
many camels of their own. Nevertheless, we all managed
to keep temper, except the Italian, who, as he had never
gong twenty miles, in, his- own country, without having to
bribe a custom-house squadjvfelt it his duty to be especially
indignant at the same thing, when away from home. . He
had designed (he said) to give the rascals a " petseta" (as
he would persist in calling the peseta, or twenty-cent-pieee)
but he' would not encourage such villainy ! The officials
shrugged their shoulders, thought that something must be
wrong, felt his pockets over again, and after having politely
requested him to pull out the contents, begged him to :«pasar
adelante," or, in other words, get out of the way, with his
nonsense. He was prudent enough to obey, hut not without
some .very didactic observations upon " questi Spagnuoli,"
in general, and inspeotors of the customs, especially. We
then marched to the palace-square, upon which the " Cafe
de las siete puertas," opened one of its seven portals to wel
come us to breakfast. The Custom-house was Qpposite, and
in due season we became possessed of our carpet-bags, and
proceeded to, the "Fonda del Oriente" which had been
recommended to, Us as the best hotel in the city.
The Fondetiifa. fine-looking house, fronting on the Eam-
hk» _thje . prior4pal,pul)li6 wait, and would, ne, doubt, be wry

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. ,g
comfortable among the orientals, with whom its name asserts
consanguinity ; but as the cold spring wind still whistled
from the hills, it gave us small promise of comfort, with its
tiled floors uncarpeted, its unchimneyed walls, and its bal
conies with long, wide windows, so admirable to look out
from, and so convenient for the breeze to enter. I .pulled
aside the crimson curtains which- shut up my bed in an
alcove, and there came from it an atmosphere so damp and
chill, that I did not wonder at the hoarseness of the artists
in the adjoining chamber, who were rehearsing what would
have been a trio, had not the influenza added another part.
It being very obvious that comfort and amusement were only
to be found out of doors, we soon had a rendezvous in the
court. The Fonda was a famous gathering-place of dili
gences, and there was one which had just arrived. We
had made large calculations upon the grotesqueness of these
vehicles, for we had all -read the strange stories which trav
elers tell of. them ; but, unhappily, the one before us was a
capital carriage, of the latest style and best construction, and
the conductor and postillion looked and swore very much
after the manner of the best, specimens of their class in
France and Italy. Only the mules excited our wonder.
There were eight of them: — tall-, powerful animals, and each
was shorn to the skin, from hough to shoulder-point, with
little tufts upon the extremities of ears and tail. They
might readily have passed for gigantic rats, of an antedilu
vian species with a hard name, or a new variety of Dr.
Obed Batteus's ".Vespertilio horribilis Americanus."
The Rambla, a wide and pleasant promenade, runs from
the outer- edge of the city, to the water. The trees along
its sides had not taken the coloring of spring, and the weather
was raw and gusty, but it was a half-holiday, and gentle
and simple were taking their noon-day walk. The wealthier
classes wore plain colors universally: the -men enveloped in
their cloaks, the women in rich, blaqk mantillas, the lace
of which just flung a shadow on their faces. The poorer

2& GLIMPSES OF SPAFN.
people, as in all countries,. furnished the picturesque. Full
of leisure and independence, for the moment, they went saun
tering up and down ; the women with gay shawls drawn high
around their heads, and their long silver or gold ear-rings,
with huge pendants of topaz' glancing in- the sun ; the men
in long caps of red or purple, and striped and tasseled man
tles, making lively contrast with the rich and various uni
forms of the soldiers who were on the stroll. . Now and then
arnong the crowd you might discover the peaked hat so geh-
eral-in the south, bedecked with velvet trimmings, and tufts
of black wool upon the brim jind crown. Accompanying it,
there would be a short fantastic jacket, with, large bell but
tons dangling, while the nether man was gorgeous in breeches
of bright blue,- with black leggings, and the everlasting al-
pargata, or hempen sandal; "Who are those troops?", I
inquired of an old man, as a squad passed us, half-peasant,
half-soldier in costume, their long, blue coats with red facings
fluttering loose behind rthem. " They are the mozos de la
escuadra," -he replied. "What is their branch of service?"
" To keep' the province clear of thieves." " Are there, then,
thieves- in Catalonia?" " O ! si senor'.' los hay, "creo, en
todas partes, como_ vmd. sabra" ("Oh yes, sir, there are some
every where, i t-Kink'; as'your worship may know,") said the.
old rascal, with a knowing leer.
Theophile Gatftier,"in his pleasant " Voyage en Espagne"
has sufficient gravity to say that Barcelona has' nothing of
the Spanish type' about 'it, but the Gatalonian caps and
pantaloons, barring which, he thinks it might -readily be
taken for a French city, nay, even fof Marseilles, which, to
his notion, it strikingly resembles. Now it may be* true, as
Dumas says, that Theophile professes to know Spain better
than the Spaniards themselves ; a peculiarity, by-the-by,
among travelers, which the Spaniards seem to have .had the
luck, of; but I must be pardoned upon this point, for .knowing
Marseilles better than- he, having been there twice, for my
sfris, and too recently to be under any illusions on the- subject.

GLIMPSES OF SP;A-IN. 21
Dust from my feet I had not shaken off against that dirty
city, because dust there was none, when I* was there, and
the mud, which was its substitute, was too tenacious to be
easily disposed of. Yet I had sickening recollections of its
dark and inconceivably filthy port, through all of whose
multiplied and complicated abominations — solid, liquid, and
gaseous — it was necessary to pass, before obtaining the limited
relief which its principal but shabby street, "la Cannebiere
afforded. In the whole city, I saw scarce a pubhc- building
which it was not more agreeable to walk away from than
to visit. What-, was Worth seeing had a new look, and
with the exception of a sarcophagus or two, and the title of
" Phociens," assumed by the Merchant's Club, in right of
their supposed ancestors from.' Asia Minor, there was really
nothing which pretended to connect itself, substantially, with
the past. Every thing seemed under the influence of trade
— prosperous and ample, it is true, but too engrossing to
liberalize or adorn.
In Barcelona, on the contrary, you look from your vessel's
deck upon the Muralla del Mar^ or sea-wall, a superb ram
part, facing the whole harbor, and fined with elegant and
lofty buildings. Of the churches, I shall speak presently.
Upon the Rambla are two theaters : one opened during; my
visit, and decidedly ameng the most spacious and elegant in
Europe ; the other of more moderate pretensions, but tasteful
and commodious, with an imposing fapade of marble. In
the Palace Square; the famous Casa,X,onja, or Merchants'
Hall, stands opposite a stately pile of buildings, erected by
private enterprise,; and rivaling the beauty of the Bue Rivoli
of Paris, or its models,- the streets of Bologna, where all the
side-walks are under arcades. On- the other side of the same
Plaza, the palace, a painted Gothic, fronts the Custom-house,
which, overladen as it is with ornament, has yet no rival in
Marseilles. Toward the center of tlie city, in the Square of
the Constitution, you have on one side the ancient Audiencia,
or Hall of Justice, whose architectural relics bring back re-

22 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
membrances of Bouen, while on the-other side is the Casa,
Consistorial, or House of the Consistory, associated in its fine
architecture and name, if not its present uses, with the days
when the troubadour and the gaye science were at home, in
Barcelona, under the polished rule ofthe Arragonian kings.
Every where throughout the city, you see traces of the past,
and of a great and enterprising people who lived in it. In
stead of the prostration and' poverty which books of travel
might prepare you to expect as necessary to a Spanish city,
you find new buildings going- up, in the place of old ones
demolished to make room for them ; streets widened ; do
mestic architecture cultivated tastefully (as, indeed, from the
ancient dwellings, it would seem to have always been 1n
Barcelona), together with all the evidences of»eapital and
enterprise, made visible to a degree, which Marseilles, with
its vastly superior commeree and larger population, does not
surpass. ,-.
Nor, even as to the people, are the caps and trowsers the
onl-y>un-French features. The Catalan, of either sex, is not
graceful, it is true, or very comely. The women want the
beauty, the walk, the style of the Andalusians. The men
are more reserved in manner, Jess elegant and striking, in
form, more sober in costume and character than their gay
southern brethren. But they are not French men or women,
notwithstanding. Imagine a Marseillaise in a mantilla,.'
*' Uneasy lies the head that wears a, crown" — ^even if it
be but the crown of a bonnet; and it is- impossible for one.
who has been bred." to the use of those great equalizers of
female head-carriage, to realize, much less to attain, the ease
of motion, the fine free bearing of the head, neck, and shoul
ders, which the simple costume ofthe Spanish women teaches,
and requires to make it graceful. Where, in the mincing
gait on the, trottoirs, will you find the proud, elastic step
which the Spanish maiden is born to, even if it be her only
inheritance ? And wiere (to speak generally) among the
loungers of cafes, and readers of feuilletQns-, or the proverb-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 23
ially brutal populace about them, do you see the parallel of
that all-respecting self-respect, which it is a miracle not to
find in the bearing of a Spaniard, be he high or low ? It is
an easy thing, M. Gautier, to condense a city into a paragraph !
From tfie Rambla, we went down, along the sea-wall,
to the Palace Square, where we found bur way into the
Lonja. The chambers of the commercial tribunals were
in excellent taste. In each, fliere bung a portrait of the
Queen, and, as all the likenesses were very much alike, I
fear that they resembled her. We were shown through a
gallery of bad pictures and statues — not very flattering tes
timonials of Catalonian art. During one of the recent rev
olutions, some indiscriminating cannon-balls had left these
melancholy manifestations untouched, and had done a good
deal of damage to the fine Gothic" h.all of the merchants.
None but bullets fired in a bad cause could have conducted
themselves so tastelessly. I would fain believe, however, "that
the more -judicious Barcelonese have satisfied themselves, that
the practical, not the ideal,, is their forte, inasmuch as the
extensive schools in the Lonja which are supported by the
Board of Commerce, are all directed with a view to useful
ness. Those of drawing and architecture are upon a scale
to afford facilities, the tithe of which I should be happy to
see gratuitously offered to the poor, in -any city of our Union.
An attractive writer (the author ofthe "Year in Spain")
tells us that " the churches of Barcelona are not remarkable
for beauty." Externally, he must have meant, which, to a
certain extent, perhaps, is true ; but as to their interior, it
¦is impossible to understand such a conclusion. The Cathe
dral and Santa Maria del Mar are remarkable, not only as
graceful specimens, in themselves, of the most delicate Gothic
art, but as resembling, particularly, in style, in the color of
their dark-gray stone, and in their gorgeous windows, the
very finest of the Norman models. Indeed, the great -prev
alence of this similarity in the churches of the province, has
induced the belief, among approved writers, that the Nor-

2i GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
mans themselves introduced the Gothic into Catalonia.
Santa Maria del Mar reminds you, at a respectful distance,
of St. Oueri, in the boldness and elevation of its columns
and 'arches, and the splendor of its lights. It has an ex
quisite semi-circular apsis, corresponding to which is a col
onnade of the sanie form surrounding the rear of the high
altar; a feature peculiar to the- Barcelonese churches,' and
giving to their interior a finish .of great airiness and grace.
From Santa Mafia, we rambled up to the Cathedral,
through many by-streets and cross- ways,, passing through
the oldest and quaintest portion of the. city, and occasion
ally creeping' under a queer, heavy archway, that seemed, to
date back almost to. the days of Ramon Berenguer. For
tunately, we entered the church by one of the transept
doors, and thus avoided seeing, until afterward,, the unfinish
ed, unmannerly facade. . It would not be easy to describe
the impression made on me by my first view of -the interior
of this grand temple, without the use of .language more
glowing, perhaps, than critical. When we entered, many
of the windows were shaded ; and it was soine time before
our eyes, fresh from the glare of outer day, became suffi
ciently accustomed -to the gloom, to search out the fairy
architecture in it. But, by degrees, the fine galleries, the
gorgeous glass, the simple and lofty arches in concentering
clusters, the light columns of, the, altar-screen, and the per
fect fret-work of the choir, grew into distinctness, until they
bewildered us with their- beautiful detail. What treatises,
what wood-cuts, what eulogies, should we not have,. if the
quaint carvings, of which the choir is a labyrinth, were
transferred to Westminster, and the stalls and canopies of
the' Knights of the Golde,n Fleece were side by side with
those of Henry the Seventh's far-famed chapel ! The same
dark heads of Saracens which looked down on us from the
" corbels grim," had seen a fair gathering of chivalry, when
Charles V., surrounded by many of the gallant .knights
whose blazons were still bright around Us, held the last

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 25
chapter of his favorite order there ! Perhaps — and how
much more elevating was the thought than all the dreams
of knighthood ! — perhaps, in the same solemn light which
a chance ray of sunshine flung down the solitary nave, Co
lumbus might have knelt before that very altar, when Bar
celona hailed him as the discoverer of a world ! Let us
tread reverently ! He may have pressed the very stones
beneath our feet, when, in his gratitude, he vowed to Heav
en, that with horse and foot he would redeem the Holy Sep-
ulcher ! " Satan disturbed all this," he said, long after, in
his melancholy way, when writing to the Holy Father ;
" but," then he adds, " it were better I should say nothing
of this, than speak of it lightly." May it not have been,
even in the moments of his first exultation, that here, in the
shadow of these gray and awful aisles, he had forebodings
of hopes that were to be blighted, and proud projects of
ambitious Ufe cast irretrievably away ?
B

CHAPTER II.
Easter Eggs — La Mona — High Mass on Easter Sunday — A ride to
Gracia — Montjuich — Notre Dame de la Garde— The Plaza de
Toros, and Yankee Company — Opening of the Great Opera House
— Social Habits of the Barcelonese — Musical Tastes.
Books on symbolism are very much in vogue now; and
some of the writers in that line would not be occupying "their
abilities much less profitably than usual, were they to investi
gate the mystical connection between Easter and dyed hens'-
eggs. But a fortnight before my arrival in Barcelona, I had
seen old women, by the score, hawking the last-named com
modity about, under the wings of the lion of St. Mark's, in
anticipation of the holy season. Mrs. Butler, in her "Year
of Consolation," tells us that she saw Easter-eggs in Rome,
decked with feathers and artificial flowers, but that they
were not by any means as beautiful as some that she had
seen, from Russia. Every one knows how deadly a blow
is given to the hopes of young poultry in embryo, by the
approach of the same solemn feast with us in the United
States, and if therefore there 'be any thing in the orthodox
maxim, " quod semper et ubique," Sec, the custom in ques
tion must be as near orthodoxy as any thing profane can be.
Drake says that " Pasche eggs" were eaten in England in
the sixteenth century, as emblematic of the resurrection ; a
ceremony which, ha informs us, was recognized by the Ritual
of Pope Paul V., wherein there is a form of prayer for their
consecration. It would puzzle the most learned symbolist,
however, it occurs to me, to fathom the peculiar system of
correspondences which the Barcelonese have instituted in
the premises. Not only was there every variety of hue and

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 27
device upon the shells, but in the windows of every pastry
cook or baker, and at all the stalls where appetite was tempted,
in the public places, there were piles of loaves, shaped very
much like shoe-lasts, and having at each end, an egg, strapped
and baked nicely and securely in, between two slips of crust
or pastry. On Easter-eve, it was edifying to see how women,
men, and children (" oh -dura ilia!") not having the fear of
indigestion before their eyes, thronged to possess themselves
of the commodity, with the deliberate intention, of eating
it. They called this bread la mona — the monkey — and
a challenge to eat the. monkey — comer la mona — is one
which all the world is ready to give or to accept. A kind
acquaintance, native and to the mona born, gave me its
history, and commended it to me as a special luxury. Even
my Spanish predilections, however, were not equal, I confess,
to such a test, and I thus began to learn, what is not alto
gether useless to an American, that a stranger must be
excused, at first, if he is not able to swallow " peculiar
institutions," with a relish.
The crowd continued, late and busy, on the Rambla, and
when I retired, the lights were still blazing in gay vistas
along it, though the watchmen were crying " Ave Maria
purissima," in token that it was midnight. I strove to win
slumber within my red bed-curtains, but a love-lorn trouba
dour of a cat, with a strong smack of the Limousin in his
accent (and who had probably come up, like my friend the
marquis, to the opening of the opera), sang serenades in my
sleepless ear till it was almost morning.
Our first enterprise, on Easter Sunday, was to endeavor
to mount one of the Cathedral towers, and to have, as it was
a bright .day, a bird's-eye view of the city and its environs.
In prosecution of our plan we entered the body of the church,
about half an hour before high mass had ended. The aisles
which we had seen all lonely the day before, were crowded
with zealous worshipers — the high altar was blazing with a
multitude of soft lights ; the ceremonial and vestments were

23 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

very rich ; the choir was full, and a fine orchestra (for Bar
celona is very musical) aided the sweet-toned organ. High
over all, the morning sun streamed through the painted
windows, and you could see the incense which was fragrant
before the altar, curling around the capitals, and clinging to
the arches. The whole was deeply impressive, and I could
not but observe the contrast of the congregation, in its silent
and attentive worship, with the restless, and sometimes noisy
devotions of which I had seen so much in Italy. Here
were no marchings to and fro ; no gazing at pictures ; no
turning of backs upon the altar ; no groups, for conversazione,
round the columns ; nothing to mar the solemnity of the occa
sion, or break the echoes of the majestic music, as they swept
along the lofty roof, seeming almost to stir to motion the old
pennons -that hang above the altar, so high, and now so much
the worse for time, that their proud quarterings are Visible
no'more. At last, the service- came to its end,- and the people
went their ways to — buy tickets for the theater. At all
events, we met a considerable portion of the- congregation,
thus occupied, when we went down the street soon after.
The sacristan would not allow us to ascend the tower with
out a permit, which it was then too late to procure, so that
after straying a little while through the beautiful cloisters,
where fine orange and lemon-trees and bright, fragrant flow
ers charmed away the sadness of the worn gray stone, we
returned to our Fonda, to seek the means of visiting some
ofthe environs.
After we had waited for an hour, a fellow made his ap
pearance in the court-yard, driving a huge lumbering vehicle,
covered with green and gold, very square and peculiar in
shape, but, on the whole, sufficiently cpachiform, and drawn
by a pair of long-tailed blacks, with collars, on which jingled
many bells. We made our bargain, and were cheated, of
course, as we afterward found ; horse and coach-dealin<*
being, here as elsewhere, greatly subversive of moral princi
ple. Away we went, up the Rambla, at a great pace, to

GLIMPSKS_OF SPAIN. 29

the astonishment and apparent amusement of the crowd.
Once outside the walls, our coachman gave us the benefit
of slow jolts over a rough road to Gracia, a little village
some two miles from the city, which is surrounded, and in
some degree formed, by country-houses and their appurte
nances. No doubt, in the summer season, this excursion
may be a pleasant one, but the cold driving wind which
came down, from the mouutains as we took it, made it bleak
enough to us. Hedges of roses, it is true, were in luxuriant
bloom, and the fertile fields ofthe Pla- (plain) were as green
as spring could make them. The aloe and the prickly-pear
too, did their best to look tropical, but it was a useless effort,
for the wind beat and battered them rudely, and they and
the painted torres (towers), or country-boxes, looked uncom
fortably out of place, naked, desolate, and chilly. To turn
our backs upon the breeze, we directeTl our driver to carry
us to Montjuich, which, as I have said, is a commanding
eminence to the southwest, on the left hand as you enter
the harbor. Greeping slowly around the outside of the city
walls, which are heavy, strong, and well guarded, we passed
by the quarter where the forest of tall chimneys indicated
the business hive of the manufacturers, and then, crossing a
- fertile plateau beautifully irrigated and in high cultivation,
we were set down at the foot of Montjuich. Up the hill
we toiled, faithfully and painfully, on foot. Ford calls it
a "fine zig-zag road." I will testify to the zig-zig — but
as to the fineness must beg leave to distinguish. At last
we reached the fortress, which sits impregnable upon the
summit, and to our chagrin were quietly informed by the
sentinel at the postern, that we could not enter, without a
permit. This we had not provided, through ignorance of
its necessity, and we accordingly put in our claim to their
politeness, as strangers. The sentinel called the corporal,
the corporal went to his officer, the officer hunted up the
governor, and by the same gradations a polite message de
scended to us, to the effect, that, as we were strangers, the

30 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
usual requisitions would be waived, if we knew any body in
the castle by name, whom we could go through the form of
asking for. We knew no one, and being reasonable people,
went on our way in ill humor with no one but ourselves.
Not being, any of us, military men, which in a company of
three, from our land of colonels, was quite a wonder, we
persuaded ourselves that we had not lost much, for from the
base of the fortress we had a charming view of the white
city ; its fine edifices, public and private, with their flat
roofs and polygonal towers ; the harbor, with all its festive
banners streaming ; the green valley; carrying plenty up into
the gorges of the hills ; and the sea, rolling far as eye could
reach, a few dim specks of canvas here and there whitening
its bosom. .
Beautiful .as the sight was, however, I must make the
concession to M. Gautier, that it was not as fine as what I
had seen at Marseilles at the close of the preceding Janu
ary. On one pf the few, bright days which I (or any one
else) had seen in France that winter, I had climbed up to
the votive chapel "of Notre Dame de la Garde. The at
mosphere was very clear, and to my surprise — for it was
my first sight of a southern city — there was no volume of
smoke of vapor to intercept the full view of every thing on
land. Only toward the horizon, seaward, a light fog cur
tained the dancing waters, over which, here a steamer, there
a ship, here again a little fleet of fishing-smacks, with
lateen sails, were plowing their merry course; The rocky
islands in the Jiarbor, with their fort and castle, and snug
little port with many masts, were glancing gayly in the
sun. The rough, stern headlands, swelling farther and far
ther from the center as they receded in the distance,' lost
something of their savageness, as they hid their outline un
der a canopy of mist and cloud. The bells of many towers
seemed to be chiming for my pleasure as I stood and gazed ;
so that, with their cheerful sound, the broad, bright sea, the
sunlight and the pleasant air, I felt that even Marseilles

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 31

was, for the moment, lovely, and that one might cross the
Atlantic for such a sight. But — we are in Spain. Re
turning to the city, we crossed to the Garden of the General,
a sweet little spot, prettily laid out, and planted with box
and innumerable flowering shrubs, which were in delicious
fragrance and bloom. There were fountains and aviaries
there ; fish-ponds, duck-ponds, and even goose-ponds, and all
manner of people, of all sorts and ages. This garden, with
a httle walk beside it, is the last of a series of beautiful
promenades which lead into each other, traversing the whole
city, from the groves upon its outskirts to the splendid ter
races along the shore.
By this time we were well-nigh fatigued enough, but
there was still an exhibition to be witnessed, which it did
not become us, as good patriots, to neglect. The Plaza de
Toros, or bull-amphitheater, was the gathering-place of the
whole population ; not, however, to behold the fierce combats
peculiar to its arena, for with such things the tumultuous
burghers of Barcelona were not to be: trusted. A harmless
substitute there was, in the shape of the " Campania An
glo-Americana," or Yankee company, who were delighting
the sons of the troubadours with their gymnastics. Every
body remembers the remoteness of the regions, into which
the Haytien dignitary had the assurance to say that our esti
mable countrymen would follow a bag of coffee. Here was
a parallel case. As we entered, Jonathan was performing
a hornpipe, on stilts, much more at his ease (it being Sun
day) than if he had been at home within sight of Plymouth
Rock. He then gave them a wrestling match, after the
manner which is popularly ascribed to "the ancients ;" af
terward, a few classical attitudes, with distortions of muscle,
according to the Michael Angelesque models, and, finally,
made his appearance as a big green frog, so perfectly natu
ral, both in costume and deportment, that in Paris he would
have run the risk, scientific and culinary, of having his
nether limbs both galvanized and fried. We paid him the

32 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
respect of our presence and applause for a little while, and
lingered to witness the excitement of the immense assem
blage, so strange and picturesque,^ and to hear their wild
cries and saucy jests. The afternoon then being quite well
advanced, we were trundled home, in- due magnificence, to a
worse dinner than we had earned.
About seven in the evening,, a kind .gentleman of the
city called, by arrangement, to conduct me to the opening
of the new Opera-house, the Liceo de. Ysabel Segunda.
There was a crowd around the entrances, and we found it
difficult to make our way in, so that I had time enough to
see that the facade, which looked paltry by day-light, was
no better with the benefit of the grand illumination. The
front, however, and some few of the minor arrangements of
the interior, were all that could be reasonably found fault
with ; for the establishment is really magnificent, and full
of the appliances of taste and luxury. Its cost was one
hundred - and fifty thousand dollars ; and the stockholders
had no doubt of being able to realize the interest of this
large sum, and more, from the rent of the elegant shops
upon the ground floor. I mention this fact, as an evidence
both of enterprise and prosperity. The grand circle of the
theater is larger, by measurement, than that of the "San
Carlo at Naples, or the Scala of Milan ; and being finish
ed, like the Italian Opera-house at Paris, with baloonies, or
galleries, in front of the boxes and slightly below their
level, it has a far more graceful and amphitheater-like- effect
than the perpendicular box-fronts of the Italian houses, and
especially the close, dingy walls of the Scala. The orna
ments, though abundant, are neither profuse nor tawdry.
The magnificent gas chandelier, aided by a thousarid lesser
lights, developed all the beautiful appointments of the boxes,
with their drapery of gold and crimson, and the fine seen.
ery, dresses, and decorations of the stage. I had seen noth
ing but the Italiens of Paris to rival the effect of the whole
picture. The boxes of the lower tier are private property,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 33
belonging to the contributors, or members of the Lyceum.
My intelligent companion informed me that this is a species
of property in very general request, there being scarcely a
respectable family without a box, or, at all events, some
special accommodations of its own, in some one of the the
aters. The rights of the owners, he told me, are the sub
ject of litigation almost as often as those relating to real
property. They (the boxes and the law suits) descend from
father to son.
Each box in the Liceo has two apartments, as uBual in
Europe. In the outer one, which you enter from the lobby,
and which is a sort of retiring room, you leave your cloak
and hat, and perhaps meet those members of the family
you visit, who are not interested in the performance and
prefer a quiet chat. The inner boxes, of course, open on
the body of the theater, and every one was in them on the
evening of my visit. The assemblage was immense, and it
would not be easy to find, any where, one indicating good
taste and refinement more decidedly. The gentle sex must
pardon me, however, for admitting that, to my eye, beauty
was the exception that night, rather than the rule. I had
expected more, for M. de Balzac had said somewhere of the
Catalonian women, that their eyes were composed of "vel
vet and fire ;" but I soon discovered that the remark had less
foundation- in fact, than in that peculiarity of the French
imagination, which is so fond, in the descriptive, of mingling
fancy with fancy-goods. I may be wrong, it is true, for the
Imperial Frederick, seven centuries ago, in his best Limou
sin, declared— " I love the noble Frenchman,
And the Catalonian maid."
And yet, I should not wonder if both the Gaul and the
fair Catalan have undergone a change since those days.
I learned, in the course of conversation in the evening,-
that the theater has much to do with the social enjoyments
of Barcelona. Morning visits form the principal intercourse

34 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
of ladies in their own houses. Evening parties are very"
rare, and it is only at the theaters that the higher classes
meet, with freedom and frequency. The usages of etiquette
are very easy and pleasant. If you are a friend, you drop
in sans fapon, and drop out when you- like. If you are a
stranger, you are presented to the lady of the box, and that
formality gives you the freedom of the circle, and of all the
conversation that goes, round it — imposing the payment of
no tribute but that of your best bow to each and all, when
it pleases you to retire. -There is no knowing what a
quantity of pleasant business you can attend to during the
progress of a long opera — s-making your pilgrimage to many
shrines. Neither is it easy to calculate how much aid and
comfort you may find from a solo or an orchestral move
ment, in those pauses of conversation, which, under ordinary
circumstances, are so often uncomfortable, if not melancholy.
It is difficult to discover whether fondness for music produced
this custom in Barcelona, or whether the custom produced
the fondness. One thing, however, is very certain : the
Barcelonese are good musicians, and generally keep an ex
cellent company. My friend the marquis, who was himself
a director of an opera at home, informed me, that they pay
so liberally for good artists, as to take a great many of the
best second-rate performers from Italy. Their musical pre
dilections are of long standing. rA gentleman who knew,
told me, in proof of. it, that some of the earliest republica
tions of Metastasio's works were made at Barcelona. The
prices of admission to the theaters are very low — so much
so, that there is scarce a laborer too poor to find his way to
the opera, on Sundays or feast days. By the returns of
the ticket-offices, as published in the journals, the day after
Easter, there were four thousand six hundred spectators at
the opening of the Lyceum ; over one thousand attended
the Teatronuevo; and between nine hundred and one thou
sand were at the Teatro principal. As music is what they
generally hear, it will not seem strange that the humblest

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 35
of them should be fond of it, and generally fair judges of
its quality. This last, however, is more than I can hon
estly profess to be ; and, therefore, I was rather pleased
than otherwise that they had selected a historical play, for
the opening of the Lyceum. • It was by Ventura de la
Vega, a hving poet of considerable reputation and merit,
and was founded on the popular and noble story of Ferdi
nand the First of Aragon, called "He of Antequera." The
piece of itself is full of fine passages, with excellent dra
matic situations . and effect, and was gotten up with great
briUiancy. The part of Ferdinand was by the famous La
Torre, considered the first master, and one of the best per
formers in Spain. He is a quiet actor, of fine personal ap
pearance ; something Uke Charles Kemble in his style, and,
unhappily, a good deal like hjm in his voice, for he is growr
ing old. His reading and articulation were admirable, but
a great deal was lost, the house being too large for any
thing but opera, baUet, or spectacle.

CHAPTER III.
The Catalans — English Philanthropy and the Cotton-question-—
Smuggling and Prohibitive Laws — Protective Policy and Free-
Trade — Don Javier de Burgos.
The Catalans, as all the world knows, have been famous,
from their earliest history, for industry, inteUigence, energy,
obstinacy, and combativeness. Fond, alike, of freedom and
money-, -they have seldom lost an opportunity of asserting tile
one, or scraping up the other. They were always among the
foremost to bully or rebel against an unruly king,' in the times
when such performances -were more perilous than at present,
and in these days of pronunciamientos, they will get you up
a civil war, or regale themselves with a bombardment, upon
as short notice as the gamins of Paris require to break down
an old dynasty or blow up a new one. Their physiognomy
and general bearing show you, unequivocally and at once,
that they are a sturdy, manly, independent people. They
are quiet and grave, upon the promenades and in the public
places, but they have an air of doggedness about them which .
strikes you, at first, as peculiar to individuals, but which you
soon find to be almost universal. The common people, in their
provincial dress, look sullen and fierce. Their sandals and
girded loins give them a pilgrim-air, as of men from far coun
tries, and their harsh, grating dialect seems no improper vehicle
for the expression of their habitual turbulence. Nevertheless
you see few beggars and no idlers among them. They are doing
something, always, and doing it in good earnest, as if they
took pleasure, as well as profit, to consist, chiefly, in occupation.
The Infante Don Gabriel (one of the few, among the
later Bourbons, who have had capacity enough to say or do
any thing' sensible) was the author of some clever verses, de
scriptive ofthe several provincial characteristics of his country-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. ' 37
men. Of the Catalans, he says, among other things, that they
are able " Hacer, de las piedras, panes" —
to convert stones into bread ; and, indeed, when we look at
the rugged soil which they have subdued into fertility, and
the constancy and patient industry with which they giye
themselves to the severest labor upon land and sea, we must
concede that, even if they be, as their countrymen allege, the
most querulous and exacting of the provmcial family, it is
from no reluctance to put their own shoulders to the wheel,
that they call so often upon Hercules. Some travelers say
that they are uncivil to strangers. . My experience was en
tirely to the contrary. Their courtesy, though not exube
rant, I found both ready and cordial. True, as I have said,
their manners are, in general, reserved, and their speech is
laconic, but the ice is soon broken, and their intelligence and
general cleverness repay the trouble, amply. The Catalan
is no favorite with his brethren of the other provinces. They
have sundry hard names for him, which are more expressive
than delicate. Cerrado como pie de mula (contracted, close,
like a mule's hoof), is the proverbial phrase into which they
have compressed their idea of his' character. John Bull too,
has his say in the premises. The Catalans, according to his
notion, are selfish ; greedy of gain and monopoly ; fierce foes
to that glorious system of free-trade, of which England is
now the Apostle to the Custom-house Gentiles, and which,
sooner or later, is to be rounded with some sort of a Mil
lennium. John Bull, therefore, denounces them, in all the
terms, measured and unmeasured, which such heterodoxy on
their part deserves, and -when Ms wrath is especially kindled,
as some pet Spanish scheme of his falls through, he wreaks
himself upon expression, and calls them the " Yankees of
Spain." In all his endeavors to negotiate commercial trea
ties, and break down the restrictive system which the Cata
lans particularly affect, he is influenced, he gives you his
honoT, by none but the most benevolent and unselfish con-

38 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

siderations. France may have some motives of her own in
pulling down Espartero and putting up Narvaez, but En
gland looks only to the happiness of Spain, in keeping Nar
vaez down, or keeping up Espartero. What matter can
sueh things be to England? If she can not import through
the Custom-house, she can smuggle in spite of it, and there
fore it is all the same to her, in point of fact, whether she
has treaties or not. "Tt is a mere question of morality,"
(Blackwood, vol. xxv., p. 723) ; but then John Bull is a
famous stickler for that, as everybody knows.
The Catalans, upon their side, say that the world is too
old, for people with beards on their chins to believe, that
nations send embassadors about the globe, on crusades of
disinterested benevolence. Bailan al son que tocan, is
an old Castilian proverb. If people dance, it is because
there is some music. Mr. Cpbden had passed through Spain
but a short time 'before my visit, and the free-trade enthusi
asm was in full blast in eonsequence. The Propagador, a
newspaper of Cadiz, was especially devoted to the dissemina
tion of the anti-custom-house faith. - Mr. Bulwer's paper,
the Espanol, of Madrid, was full of most demonstrative
articles, in which it was satisfactorily proven, by facts and
figures, that free-trade would bring back, permanently, .to
the Peninsula, days as golden as when her western mines
were fresh. The Catalans and the protective politicians
generaUy, used to shrug their shoulders, and wonder whether
the case would be made out half so clearly, if the Ingleses
had not an interest in the market, as well as the logic. Free-
trade, they said, was a good text to preach from, after a
nation had so perfected her manufactures, as to find her
surest monopoly in freedom. They -thought it odd that
Great Britain should never have proclaimed free-trade in
the produce of her soil, till her own people were starving, or
have encouraged it in her manufactures, tiU she was able to
starve other people. When you laughed at the absurdities
to which their protective system led them-, they would ask

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 39
 ;  r,  ^ 
if you could find any thing among their tariffs which went
quite so far as the EngUsh statute requiring the dead to be
buried in woolen, for the benefit of shepherds and wool-deal
ers. If you told them that prohibition produced smuggling,
they replied that it would be quite as logical to charge any
other laws with producing their own violation. Give them
the British doctrine (or at least Blackwood's), that " the
smuggler is the father of the highwayman," and they would
ask you your opinion of the foreign speculator, whose cupidity
was father to the smuggler, and who was thus, in the
ascending line, only two degrees removed from the thief.
If England (they would say) wished to stand on the plat
form of morality, she should first give up the contraband
trade. They could see no reason to trust her, tiU she should
grow moral at her own expense.
It must be admitted that there is a good deal in this, and
Great Britain must manage to tear out many pages of her
history, before she can persuade people not to think so. Yet
who would blame her pohcy, as either unwise or unjust, in
promoting, by all reasonable means, the development and
prosperity of those great interests which have sprung from
her genius, industry, and enterprise, if she could only stop
canting about philanthropy and benevolence ; honestly- con
fess what she has no reason to be ashamed of, and cease
presenting herself before the world, Uke Tom Moore's'saint,
" With his pockets on earth, and his nose in heaven."
Besides, what difference should it make to Spain, that
England seeks benefit from commercial treaties or low tariffs ?
Does it follow that because she wiU gain from them, Spain
will not ? Is there no such thing as profitable and honorable
reciprocity? It is impossible for any intelligent and disin
terested man to doubt, that the present Spanish system of
tariffs on imports is absurd, in both its impositions and re
strictions. Bad as it is, it is not half carried out, so that it
does little else but thwart and nulUfy itself, which is pretty

40 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
fair proof of folly. I went into a shop on the Rambla, at
Barcelona, and asked the price of some French wares, the
high charge for which astonished me so much, that I remon
strated. The good woman told me that what I said was
very true, " Mas que quiere vmd. ? What will your worship
have us do ? It is impossible to get prohibited goods into
the city, without paying at least seventy per eent. on their
value to the smuggler." " But is it possible," I asked*.
"that all these goods are prohibited ? Your window is full
of them, and the officers of the customs pass here at aU
hours." " No. hay duda, senor — there's no doubt of that.
Under the old system they would perhaps have given me
some trouble, but now that we have a constitution, the house
of the citizen is inviolable. Once get your goods into the
house, and there is an end of the business. There is scarcely
a shop on the Rambla that is not full of prohibited goods."
The shopkeeper's constitutional law was certainly a very
liberal expansion of the Anglo-Saxon notion, that a man's
house is his castle, but that her statement did not exaggerate
the quantity of smuggling, I have the best authority for be
lieving, and that, too, not merely in regard to those valuable
articles of luxury which can be easily transported and con
cealed, but to the most bulky objects of familiar and neces
sary use. According to the "most accurate - accounts, from
three-fourths to seven-eighths of the foreign articles consumed
in Spain pass through the hands of the contrabandists. En
gland and France — rivals, or at all events competitors, in
most things — struggle more earnestly for no mastery, than
for that in cheating the Spanish revenue. Arcades ambo!
But this is not the worst. The very Catalan manufacturers,
who clamor most loudly for the perpetuation of the tariff,
are themselves, frequently, the chief smugglers. I was as
sured by many Spaniards familiar with the facts, that a very
large portion of the goods, sold from the factories of Catalonia
into the other provinces, are actuaUy manufactured and
marked as Catalonian, in England, smuggled into Barcelona,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 41
and there disposed of triumphantly, as the genuine thing, by
the very best houses. One gentleman told me, that in one
of the English manufacturing towns, he had been shown
a ware-room of orthodox Catalan goods, made and marked
in the most Spanish manner, for the Barcelonese home-pro
duction, by the order of one of the largest manufacturing
concerns there, than whose members none clamored more
loudly for protection ! A man must be either interested or
mad nor'-nor'-west, to have any serious doubts as to the pro
priety of upsetting a system which has such consequences.
The people of the whole Peninsula are saddled with a tax
of near one hundred per cent, on the most of the comforts
and conveniences of Ufe. The government is compeUed to
provide an army of custom-house officers and troops, at an
expense which, though insufficient to insure their fidelity, is
still enormous, in the state of the treasury. Cui bono?
The home manufacture is not benefited, as is the pretext ;
for the system furnishes both temptation and facility to the
manufacturers themselves, to substitute the foreign article for
their own. The public revenue is no gainer, for scarce any
one does it reverence. Whose is the crop, then ? It fattens
the faithless and corrupt official ; the daring, desperate con
trabandist; the unprincipled speculator, foreign or domestic.
The honest industry, the agriculture of the country, sows
and tiUs : the plunderers reap. And that is not aU. Ve
nality and bribery, running in the channels of enterprise,
must poison the waters. Public honor and private integrity
must be weakened. The laws must needs fall into contempt,
when the people have before them, daily, the demoralizing
spectacle of their sale and deUberate violation. Every prin
ciple of public policy calls for change. Not for free-trade,
however, yet awhile. One extreme is no panacea for the
evils entailed by the other. Spain has had experience enough,
both of domestic restrictions which started, and foreign sup
plies which precipitated the downfaU of her industrial pros
perity. She has known something, too, of the benefit of

42 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

judicious protection. Charles V. carried home from Flanders
some Flemish experience and prudence to profit, as weU as
Flemish favorites to curse the nation. The enlightened
administrations of Alberoni and Florida- Blanca ; the wise
counsels of Ustariz, Campomanes, Jovellanos, and Canga-
Argiielles, ought not to be forgotten either, if she would
take advantage of the lessons of her own history.
There exists already in Catalonia and Valencia : there is
growing up in Seville, Cadiz, Malaga, and other portions of
the kingdom, a manufacturing industry, large.vreal, and sub
stantial, which no sound legislation would surrender to the
mercies of an indiscriminate foreign competition. It is worth
protecting, because it is the natural growth of time, circum
stances, local advantages and adaptation, and the ability and
bent of the people. Much capital is invested in it, and much
labor Uves from it. In Barcelona, I learned that of cotton
alone, the average daily consumption accounted for is fifty
bales, the year round, exclusive of that which is manufac
tured in other busy districts of the province. Of silk and
wool, the quantity which enters into the fabrics, not merely
of Catalonia, but of the other manufacturing provinces, is,
according to the most moderate statistics, very heavy ; al
though comparatively small, when we remember that, even
in the fifteenth century, the single city of Toledo gave em
ployment to ten thousand workers in those staples, and that
Granada, Segovia, Valencia, and Barcelona, under the Cath
olic monarchs, were rivals in the production which* fed to
overflowing the teeming commerce of Spain. In many
fabrics the Spanish manufacturer has attained great excel
lence. Of his capacity to improve, to any extent, under a
system which will foster his industry and stimulate his in
genuity, the records of the past give as sure evidence, as his
present progress under so many disadvantages. In naturaL
quickness, dexterity and tact, he is, by all odds, the superior
of the English peasant. He is, , moreover, temperate and
frugal to a proverb. A fine climate supplies, prodigally,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 43
all tha/t his simple appetites require, and reduces to almost
nothing, in many parts of the Peninsula, the outlay for those
humble comforts, which, elsewhere, consume the whole of
the earnings of the operative. You do not see, in the Span
ish manufacturing districts, nor, indeed, in any part of the Pen
insula that I visited, the squalid wretchedness which haunts
the British loom. Drunkenness, its chief element, does not
exist at all, as a popular habit, in Spain, not even in Anda
lusia, where the people are most prone to what they call excess.
There is, then, every reason why their home-manufacture,
where it is a natural, or has become a radicated interest,
should be protected and preserved, and there can be no
doubt that, with ordinary liberality and sagacity, treaties
might be made or a system organized, providing for the in
troduction of foreign fabrics, at such rates of duty as would
break up smuggling, and give to all the home-industry worth
preserving, a living profit without monopoly. As the first
step, it would not be iU, were they to permit the raw mate
rial (cotton for instance), to be imported directly from the
place of its production, without the nonsense of sending it
first to a Spanish colony to be "matriculated," as they call
it, or, in other words, to be clogged with impositions which
must hamper the Spanish manufacturer, and be paid, at last,
by the Spanish consumer. Jonathan, who has some interest
in this, might press it home upon the Spanish rulers with
some show of a right to be listened to, for he has never
smuggled his bales in uppn them, or talked to them of
"morality," while he plundered their revenue. The material
thus cheapened, a tariff upon imports, reasonably protective
and no more, would, in a few years, place the home-manu
facture above the reach of legislative interference. It would
diminish, and in time. remove altogether, the burden which
now galls the whole population of consumers. It would dis
band the venal army of office-holders, who now gnaw the
nation's vitals, and in whose corruption and intrigue are the
elements of those unceasing changes, which are forever shift-

44 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
ing the nation's policy, and wasting her substance. It would
turn a stream of treasure into the empty coffers of the state.
It would foster agriculture, by Ughtening its load, and creat
ing a demand for its products. New markets, springing up
at home, would require new roads, new facilities for internal
communication. The ports of the Peninsula Would be fiUed
with commerce long departed. The trade, which now skulks,
in smaU feluccas and misticas, into midnight coves and secret
rendezvous, would carry wealth and Ufe into the noble
harbors now aU empty. It would revive a mercantile
marine, whose ''boldness and skill adorn the proudest annals
of discovery. It would bring the languishing vitality of the
nation into contact with the freshness of other nations, which
have flourished under the influence of better fortune and
more genial institutions. It would liberalize and enlighten
the people, and through them, their government, and would
go far toward awakening, in both, a sense of the duties that
are imposed on them, by the possession of one of the most
beautiful and teeming lands that the sun visits in its course.
There was a discourse deUvered, in 1841, before the
Lyceum of Granada, by Don Javier de Burgos, in which
the ideas which I have presented, lightly — and as he who
runs may write, for him who runs to read — are enforced, with
a degree of eloquence and statesmanlike abUity, which would
do honor to any legislative assembly on either side of the
water. In the wisdom and moderation of the counsels
which the orator recommends, it would seem that a govern
ment, with either patriotism or capacity, would find the
surest guarantee of national progress and prosperity.*
* It is gratifying to know that the efforts of men like Burgos have not
been altogether ineffectual. Since this chapter was written, the Cortes
of 1849 have promulgated a modified tariff — the first movement toward
a more intelligent and statesmanlike system. The minister, Mon, by
whose' energy its enactment was secured, is himself a Catalan, and
there is therefore room for improvement in his notions; but, on the
whole, the new law has features of great comparative liberality, and
its passage is an epooh, from which the downfall of restrictive absurd
ities and their evils are destined to be dated.

CHAPTER IV.
Education in Catalonia — The Press — The Gaye Soience-^Departure
for Valencia — The Coast — Spanish Travelers and Politics — The
Tartana — Valencia — The Vega — The Market-place— -Costume and
Cleanliness of the People — Table-luxuries of Europe and the
Western Continent — M. Dumas — Public Buildings- — The Cid and
the Church-bells.
Like all long-established mercantile communities, Barce
lona is the center of a busy movement in favor of diffused
education, and one of the most gratifying sights to a traveler
is the number of schools and academies scattered through the
city. A correct and inteUigent observer (Capt. Widdring-
ton) writes, in 1832 ; "The means of education are ample,
and probably, according to the official returns, equal to those
of any other part of Europe. There are eight hundred and
thirty-nine schools in the province which educate forty
thousand scholars ; seventy of them teaching the Latin
tongue." Since that period, happily, the number of both
schools and scholars has been largely on the increase. The
press is active, too, and is constantly sending forth exceUent
editions, not merely of new works as they appear, but of the
standard classics of the language. The Barcelonese publica
tions and reprints are in considerable demand throughout the
kingdom, as they are both neat and cheap : but the critics
make themselves merry over the most of the translations of
the Catalans, and indeed over their original productions, gener
ally, whether in the shape of books, commentaries, or prefaces.
They are always sensible and often learned, but the elegance
of the Castilian is said to suffer in their hands. Indeed a
stranger, moderately famfliar with the best models, may be

46 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

pardoned for supposing that he can frequently perceive the
justice of the criticism.
" It is not, now, as it hath been of yore."
Time was, when Catalonian doctors of the gaye science
were wont to sit in judgment on Castilian bards of highest
note. I have before me the record of a poetical tilting
match (justa poetical) which came off at Barcelona, in the
Monastery of Jerusalem, in the Easter-times of 1580. The
Muse Calliope (Heaven help her !) extended invitations in
Limousin, and the theme was the Immortality of the Soul.
The champions were at hberty to choose their own weapons,
Latin, Catalonian, or Castilian verse. Fray Luis de Leon,
the greatest of the Spanish lyrie poets, and one of whom' any
literature might be proud, was the successful candidate in
Castilian. Rebolledo, Gil Polo and others of no trifling
name were his competitors, and, though defeated, won so
much applause, that each was rewarded for his immortal
efforts with — a pair of dressed leather gloves ! Is it a
wonder, after that, that any self-respecting Muse, Castilian
or Castalian, should revenge herseff forever on all of Cata
lonian blood.
Wednesday,, April 7  We were early on board the
Barcino, but it was full half-past nine, before we were rid
of the motley crowd of carabineros and idlers, whom our
approaching departure had gathered together. I can not
say that I felt at all distressed, when the tinkling of the
little bell admonished our white-headed English engineer to
set his machinery in motion. I was tired of Barcelona, for
reasons, not very satisfactory, perhaps, in the abstract, but
altogether so to me. The Fonda was chilly, dirty, and
unsavory ; the weather was cold and blustering, and I was
an invalid, tired of vain seeking after genial sunshine and
balmy breezes. With any thing, therefore, but reluctance,
I saw the waves beat on the beach as we rode gallantly
away beneath Montjuich, and watched the city, till, like a

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 47
beautiful white wreath, it .sank upen the bosom of the sea
Then Montserrat appeared, and disappeared, and came again,
combing the fleecy clpuds with its crest of innumerable
pinnacles ; and through a gap we now and then might see
a spur of the snowy, far-off Pyrenees. The breeze, though
brisk, was not troublesome, and so I sate on deck all day,
enjoying the glimpses of white towns sparkling here and
there upon the arid surface of the hills ; or watching the
graceful sweep of the feluccas, and mystics and other lateen
sailed vessels, farther out at sea. Toward evening we
passed abreast of the Ebro, and wondered at the sudden
change of the waters, from blue to green or greenish,
which marked the tribute paid by this great river to the
Mediterranean. We had parted, at Barcelona, with our friends, the
marquis and the philosophical Frenchman, and had been
reinforced by a company of Spaniards, mostly from the
6outh, who made themselves very merry with the lieutenant
and his spy-glass, and with a little Catalonian doctor, who had
just written a pamphlet on the mineral waters of la Puda,
near Barcelona, and was starting on a journey of speculation,
to excite some interest in behalf of his sulphur. As the
clear night set in, they gathered in a group by the ship's side
and talked poUtics — a subject, under the circumstances,
particularly interesting, even to one who had come from a
country where there is never any stint in the domestic
article. One and all seemed to bewaU the absence of what
they caUed Espanolismo — Spanish spirit — among their
rulers. The people, they thought weU and Uberally enough
disposed — patriotically, too — but their leaders, and especially
the. army-officers who moved the springs of government,
they all concurred in branding as a pack of sorry knaves,
most of whom oould be won to any policy by a few crosses
and pesetas. They accounted, very sensibly, for the cor
ruption among the officers of the customs, by referring to
the fact, that the ordinary carabineros receive but six reals

48 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

(thirty cents) per day, on which it is a known and obvious
fact that they can not live. They are compelled, therefore,
to " take1 provoking gold" in order to keep soul and body
together. Smuggling, however (they said) had greatly
diminished since the introduction of steam-vessels as guarda-
costas, and the appointment, to their command, of officers of
the navy, who are generally men of higher tone and charac
ter. The navy itself (they1 told me) was increasing steadily
though slowly. "A lieutenant, who was in the company,
said that its demands were beyond the actual supply of
officers. This fiery young gentleman . was quite radical in
his notions as to the mode of reforming existing abuses, for
he made bold to say, that until Spain should have gone
through a revolution like that of France, with a practical
application of the guillotine to one half of the high heads,
there would be no permanent change for the better. The
Catalan doctor seemed to think, on the whole, that he would
prefer the continuance* of the contraband trade, to so execu
tive a remedy. When I went to sleep, they had not settled
the question.
I mounted the deck, next morning, as we were passing
Murviedro, the ancient city of Saguntum. Far off as wo
were, we could still easily discern the battlements which
frowned upon the hill above it, and there- was around them
a curtain of the morning-mist, which might weU have sug
gested the dust or smoke of the sieges that have made it
immortal. For an hour and a half we ran down the Valen-
cian coast, a thicklysettled one, studded with vfllages, towns,
and isolated dwellings ; the mountains of the interior, shroud
ed as they were in vapor, forming a beautiful Ught back
ground, to the darker verdure and more varying surface of
the immediate borders of the sea. As we drew in, about
half-past eight, to the open roadstead of Grao, the port of
Valencia, the sun was shining gayly jon the white buildings
of the little town, and streaming, with a somewhat graver
Ught, over the more distant and somber buildings of the city,

GLIMPSES -OF -S-PAIN. 49

with its many and so different towers. Seaward, a host of
little fishing-smacks,- with triangular sails, were flapping,
Uke curlews, over the water. Some feluccas were steering
into harbor, a Uttle in advance of us, and a fine guarda-costa,
stretching across our bow,, dropped anchor as we stopped our
engine- The distant and dimly-seen outline of the prominent
coast before us ; the lazy vessels at anchor inside the mole ;
the sluggish waves which scarce whitened as they broke upon
the beach, and more than all, the hazy morning, bursting at
that moment into- perfect sunlight, made a scene for the
memory as well as for the eye. Our revolutionary lieuten
ant of the night before was in raptures beyond all of us ;
but it was because the revenue mistica, of which I have
spoken,- was commanded by a friend of his, and he felt
morally certain he should have a day of it.
The health-officers were soon on board, and it was not
*
long before my two countrymen, the little Catalan Galen,
and I, found ourselves, by invitation of the captain, in a
launch with him, on our way to the pier of Grao. It was
a short journey to our expert oarsm'en, and a few moments
planted us in the center of a group of tartana drivers, all
violently disposed to take us captive. The sturdy captain,
however, swore aU things to rights without delay, and wound
up by pushing us very civUly into the vehicle, which was to
bear his honored bones fo the office of the company. A
tartana, simply and without rhetoric, is a decent, covered
caft, set directly on the axle, without spring, strap, or other
shock-breaking apparatus. It has an^eliptical leathern top;
a seat down each side, Uke an omnibus ; and, with one
horse, will carry about eight people. The driver sits out
side, on the right-hand shaft, where he is accommodated
with a .cushion and iron stirrup. The passengers mount
behind, and are shut in, like loaves in an oven. The interior
of our vehicle was neatly finished ; the harness wag good and
gfistening ; and even the ends- of the shafts were nicely shod
with polished brass ; a precaution, -by-the-by, which would
C

50 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

have been much more appropriate and intelUgible, if the
shafts had been compelled to ride in their own carriage. I
wiU do our driver the" justice to say, that he avoided, as far
as possible, any inconvenience that might have resulted to
us from rapid motion, and that -his horse appeared to have
been educated to a nice perception of the charities befitting
a station, which gave him so large an opportunity of reveng
ing wrongs done to his kind. Passing through the town
ahd gates of Grao, a glaring, stuccoed little suburb, we were
soon on our way to the city. The road was broad and level,
with fine walks- for foot-passengers along the sides, and bor
dered with luxuriant trees. There had obviously been no rain
for a long While, for the dust was very fleep, and yet every
vegetable production round us, from the tallest tree to the
most trifling flower; seemed to have drunk its fill, from the
innumerable canals and deposits of water which a perfect
system of irrigation had provided. As far as the eye could
reach, the plain was green, almost to rankness, with the
spring grain. Here ahd tliere, groves of mulberry and trop
ical fruit-trees broke in upon the sameness of the level. - A
half Uour's ride carried us into Valencia.
On our way up — after crossing the river by a high old
bridge, massive and solid — we had gone over broad ways,
along, by fine large buildings. We now entered narrow
streets, shut in between close, • tall houses,, the mats from
whose balconies hung down over poor' shops, and streets
almost without pavement. Our first excursion was to
the market-place— which was filled with peasants dispos
ing of their wares. I was surprised at finding so much
resemblance in costume to that of Barcelona. The long
red woolen cap, common to the Catalonians and the God
dess of Liberty, was the chief head-dress of the crowd.
It was only here and there we saw a tall fellow — gen
uinely Valencian — with his short, wide, white trowsers,
hatf-way his thighs ; his knees bare ; his hose, without feet,
— so famous as the proverbial illustration of a prodigal's

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 31
purse — open at both ends — and his hempen,, huge-soled
sandals, tied on with colored strings. A red sash was gen
erally around his. waist. His jacket, if he wore one, was
short and tight. A colored cotton handkerchief was about
his head, and a xnanta, now and then of lively hues, but
generaUy grayish and modest, was tossed upon his shoulder,
or folded round him Uke a cloak. About the cut and the
style of his raiment, doctors in such matters might, perhaps,
disagree, but the perfect and almost invariable cleanUness
and whiteness of his linen were above criticism. M. Dumas
says it is one of the rules of the Spanish custom-house, to
prohibit a man from entering the kingdom with any thing
in his luggage-.but " old clothes and dirty linen." I wiU
not doubt so famous a trarveler's assertion, especially in view
of the fact, that a restriction, in the last-named article, would
be a sort of prohibitive duty on a great many travelers from
a sister nation. But, be the comity in that behalf what it
may, few things strike a stranger more decidedly, than the
attention paid, in Spain, to the purity of the linen, not only
for the person, but for bed and table use. Now and then,
at an " albergo," kept . by a wandering Italian, or some
" grand hotel," of M. Dumas' countrymen, you will have
visions of Falstaff's buck-basket, mingled with your enjoy
ment of his sherris-sack ; but, among the Spaniards them
selves, even at the meanest ventorrillo on the hills, if you
have linen at all, it is unimpeachable. This is not merely
the result of my own brief experience. I often heard it
talked of by travelers whom I met, and especially by the
English, who, certainly, are competent witnesses, for, with
them, untidiness is a sin and love of neatness runs almost
into fanaticism.
The donkeys, which form no smaU portion of the grouping,
in the market-places of southern countries, stood loaded in
the Plaza of Valencia, with -ah manner of green and luxuri
ant vegetables. Nor did any reasonable delicacy of land or
water seem to be. wanting. When I say this, I speak, of

52 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

course, of what is caUed reasonable, in the way of deUcacies,
by the benighted people on the other side of the Atlantic, in
view of the moderate, comparative allowance, which-it has
pleased Providence to vouchsafe -to them. I have no refer
ence to the large inventory of good things which prodigal na
ture has spread out before those, whose lines have fallen- in
the pleasant places of the Western Continent. When cook
ery, with the other fine arts, shall have culminated here, as
our philosophers of destiny have proven that they must, what
a sphere will genius find, in the rich abundance of raw edible
material ! What would, even now, be the consequence to
culinary science, if the Trois Freres of the Palais Royal
were transported to the margin of the blessed Chesapeake,
wanting only its Catullus, far to transcend the
" Ora •
Hellespontia, cseteris ostreosior oris !"
Who would speak, save with commiseration, of the" Rocker
de Cancale and its coppery bivalves, were the art that deals
with the luscious natives of the " Mill-Pond," a worthy
handmaiden of the nature that bestows them ? The grand
Vatel, who slew himself, in despair of sea-fish to deck a
royal feast at Chantilly — what immortality might not his
genius have survived to win for him, had canvas-back ducks
but fed his graver meditations, and terrapins and soft-crabs
beguiled the lighter moments of his fancy ! What more
than Le Verrier comets would he not have discovered, in the
regions of culinary space ! Even Alexandre Dumas — a mere
Uterary man' — simple historiographer of the Montpensier
nuptials — never known to fame, for his capacity to cook up
aught but plays, romances, and such small fry — even he, on
a wild Spanish highway, was able so to conjure an " Anglais"
whom he met, that he clung to him " as a shipwrecked man
to a plank on the vast ocean" — and aU because of " the sub
lime idea of dressing a salad without oil or vinegar !" Ima
gine M. Dumas Upon his travels in Amefica-i-with talents,
such as this incident bespeaks, devoted to the development

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 53
of any one of the thousand luxuries that he would find,
sprouting aU -wild !. What an acquisition to the aliment-
iveness of posterity would be, then, hie " Impressions de
Voyage .'"
But to Valencia. One novelty — for a market-place, at
least — we saw there, in the shape of sundry large baskets of
new-Uttered puppies, which the hucksters strove anxiously to
sell. Whether they were meant for the uses of the table or
the- drawing-room, depended upon what we had not time to
learn — the prevalence of the Chinese or the Anglo-Saxon
civilization, in the City of the Cid. Anglo-Saxon, do I say ?
Let me be impartial. The grande nation, too, has its amia
ble weaknesses. " How you seem to love the Uttle feUow !" I
took the liberty of saying to a charming Frenchwoman of no
mean station, who, with her spouse and spaniel, occupied the
same coupe with me, from Avignon to Marseilles. " Ah
oui .'" she answered, "mais qu'il est charmant ! Je ne
m'en sipare jamais." And she hugged and kissed the Uttle
beast until he squealed.
Just on the Plaza, is the Lonja de Seda — the SUk Mart
— a beautiful old Gothic building, remarkable, especiaUy, for
the loftiness of its great haU, the roof of which is supported
upon twisted columns, of very singular construction and
great elevation. A side-door opens from the haU, upon a
sweet Uttle garden, carefully tended, and shaded with- or
ange trees. In the Lonja we saw some fine specimens of
the native raw silk. We next went to the Cathedral — a
large, dark, heavy bmlding, but utterly unimpressive, in spite
of its dimensions. As in duty bound, we ascended its famous
tower — the Micalete, or Miguelete, as it is caUed ; at the
top of which, and high over a chime of eleven great bells,
hangs the greater one, caUed the vela, the sentinel or watch,
which regulates the seasons of irrigation in the country
round. Valencia has always been proud of her towers.
Among the innumerable ballads of the Cid, there is one that
tells us, how, when the city was beleaguered by the Chris-

54 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

tian, an ancient and prophetic Moor went up a lofty tower,
to view and weep over the beautiful things which were pass
ing away from his people —
" Subiera a una alta torre
Para bien la contemplar."
As the loveliness of the prospect grew on him, so grew his
sorrow — -.-*:c Cuanto mas la mira hermosa,
Mas lejrece supesar"
His woes were not dumb. He bewailed the fertilizing river
whose fountains were to be dry ; the green fields that were
to be in waste ; the flowers that -were to be fragrant and
beautiful no more ; but, chief of all, he sorrowed for the
bright and stately towers, that were fated to crumble into
dust. " Las torres que las tus gentes,
De lejos suelen rnirar,
Que su alteza ilustre y clara,
Les solia consolar"
He was a reasonable infidel, in all his lamentations, this
" Moro viejo;" if — to say nothing ofthe towers — he had as
beautiful a scene before him, as that which greeted us, the
bright' spring morning of our visit. Farther than the eye
could reach, from the glad sea —
" Aquel honrado provecho
De tu'playa y de tu mar" .
up to the distant recesses of the mountains, the Huerta (or
garden) spread its green expanse, surpassed in extent and
fertility by few plains in Europe. The Guadalaviar, parent
of a thousand silver, thread-like streams, held in its net of
waters all this wealth of verdure. Scattered cottages peopled
the broad meadows. At our feet, the city ky close and
compact ; its large, substantial dwellings, like rows of for
tresses, scarce separated, to the eye, by the narrow avenues.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 55
Churches there were, beneath us, innumerable. When the
Cid took Dona Jimena and her daughters up in the Alcazar,
to show them the tents of the Moors that were whitening
the plains) he promised them, by way of quieting their fears,
that he would take away the trumpets that the infidels had
dared to sound before the city, and give them to the service
of the church : " Serviran para la iglesia
Deste pueblo valenciano .'"
Well accoutered and bountifiiUy, with their implements of
noise, the heathen surely were, if the Cid redeemed his
promise, and the recipients of his pious liberality approached
in number, those that lifted their turrets at our feet that
day.

CHAPTER V. m
Pictures-— The Penitentiary — The "Women of Valencia — Alicante —
Railway Iron — The Plaza— Mules — The Post-boy — Manners —
Night-view. Having looked our fill at the Huerta, which was no easy
task, and having done the same at the Cathedral, which
was no difficult one, we proceeded to the Carmen; a sup
pressed convent, full of bad pictures — through long galleries
of which we were compelled to wander, before we reached
the few master-pieces that are collected here, from the works
of the great Valencian painters. Unlike Seville, Valencia
has parted with the best specimens of her school, to strangers
or to the galleries ofthe capital. I would not give the four
fine palms which shake their feathers in the garden of the
cloisters of the Carmen, for all the canvas on the inside of
the walls.
Our walk was now continued up the Calle de los caballe-
ros, where we did our best, in vain, to see the many stylish
buildings of which the guide-book tells. With but few
exceptions, the edifices of Valencia, public and private, struck
us as in any thing but commendable taste. The palace of
the captain-general and the tobacco-manufactory belonging
to the government are stately, spacious buildings, but, like
the churches, they are overloaded with stucco -and the wildest
profusion of vicious ornament. The private residences are
huddled and blocked together, without surrounding or inter
vening space, and although ample enough in their dimensions,
seem to have been constructed, chiefly with a view to keep
the heat out and every thing else in. Though containing a

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 57
larger population, and surrounded by the elements of greater
wealth than Barcelona, Valencia shows but few signs of the
vigilant and prosperous industry which so gratified us among
the Catalans. Her trade they told us was reviving with
her manufactures, and a railroad to Madrid was talked of;
but I fear that it was only hope and gossip.
Nfear the Puerta San Vicente, after a long walk and
tedious search, we found an institution of which we had
heard a good deal from our Spanish fellow-travelers. It
was the Presidio or penitentiary. It is a large and well
distributed edifice, once a convent of Augustine monks, and
its complete, extensive, and admirable arrangement would
do no discredit to any nation. I confess that I had no
expectation of seeing any such thing in Spain. The guide
book (Murray's) Omits it altogether, though there is certainly
nothing half so interesting, as indicative of national progress,
within the limits of Valencia.
The Augustine Convent was apphed to its present uses in
1838. It now contains about nine hundred prisoners ; and
we were told that about four hundred, confined for minor
violations of the law, had been released on the occasion of
the queen's marriage. They are distributed in different
chambers, and dedicated to various branches of industry.
Nearly all the trades are represented. Their fabrics of
coarse cotton are admirable, and they work successfully in
silks, velvets, and fine cutlery. There is a printing press,
at which work is done, by contract, for publishers in the city.
We went through it, and found the devils numerous and
busy. Hard by was the bindery, which seemed to be in
considerable demand. . The infirmary was in capital order ;
clean, airy, and well distributed ; the apothecary's shop and
laboratory, as nice and complete as could be desired. The
dormitories were clean to a degree ; each man's mat, mat
tress, and bed-clothing hanging over the spot on which he
was to spread them at night. Kitchen, bakery, garden,
every department we visited, was as thoroughly in order as
c*

58 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
the most vigilant system could make it. The discipline is
mild but strict. There is not an armed man about the es-
tablishment,'and the keepers, notwithstanding, are very few.
The most trustworthy of the convicts have the immediate
superintendence of their feUows. A lazy rascal . is put to
scrubbing and such menial work. A riot or quarrel is pun
ished with a severe trouncing — obstinate and malicious con
duct, with solitude, the cell, bread and water. Few cases,
however, .occur, requiring punishment, although, certainly, a
set of more unmitigated rascals, physiognomically considered,
never went unhung. The dread of being removed to the
galleys or the chain-gang, no doubt, keeps them in order.
They seemed all of them to be weU fed. I saw their bread,
which is coarse, but light and sound. Meat is not allowed
them every day. They are regularly- tasked, day by day,
and are paid for over -work. All under, eighteen are com
pelled, and the whole of them are encouraged, to go to
school, where they are taught reading, writing, accounts,
drawing, and geography. I went into the school-room,
which is a fine, spacious apartment, and obviously not got
ten up for show, for it had aU the marks of being constantly
in use, and I saw some exceUent specimens of writing and
drawing, where the scholars had left them. There is a
post-office, regularly kept in the establishment, and aU, who
conduct themselves well, are permitted to write, occasionally
to their friends, and to receive their replies. Indeed, the
villains seemed very happy, for >. they were at work in the
courts, and even outside the waUs, some of them, apparently,
at their own sweet will, but without attempt or visible in
clination to escape. Valencia, to he sure, is very well guard
ed,- and it would not be easy for a fugitive to avoid detection,
long. A knowledge of this, and of the fact that the eye of
the keeper is always upon them, from some certain but un
known point, must have a very sedative effect upon their
locomotive propensities. When at work, they are permitted
Ito converse, in a low tone. This is an extremely rational

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 59
concession to the social tendencies of human nature, which
will always gratify themselves in some way, let the prohibi
tion be as stringent and the penalty as severe as it may. A
distinguished foreigner, who had dedicated great inteUigence
and powers of acute observation, to the examination of prisons
and their discipline, informed me lately, that he had never
seen any contrivance for the prevention of inter-communica
tion, which the ingenuity of the convicts had not been able
to evade. Questionable then, as is the policy of perfect isola
tion, at the best, — how idle is the attempt to realize it, when
failure is certain ! The sensible guide, who went with us
through the Presidio, attributed a great deal of the docility
of its inmates, and the frequent cases of moral improve
ment, to the humane indulgences which, within strict limits,
were permitted by its discipline. I persuaded myself, how
justly I know not, that to this moderate treatment was due
the refreshing absence of a characteristic, so painfully visible
in our sUent, model-prisons : I mean the pale, attenuated
faces, whose whole expression glares on you through the
bright, anxious eyes, condemned to fulfiU the duties of sight,
speech, and hearing. As we passed through the apartments,
aU the convicts rose and stood uncovered. One of them, a
comb-maker, had a tame rat upon his shoulder. He had
made a collar for it, with Uttle bells, which the creature
wore. Another had a pet bird fluttering around him. The
manner of them all, to the keepers, was exceedingly respect
ful — that of the keepers, considerate and kind. Our cicerone,
who seemed to have both pride and pleasure in our approba
tion of what we saw, conducted us, finally, to a show-house,
connected with a large shop at the gate, where there were
exhibited, in glass cases, some specimens of elegant work
manship by the convicts ; such as knives, pistols, embroidery,
and fancy hardware. My companions and myself made our
little purchases, and went away, well pleased to have some
memorials of an institution, so exceUent, humane, and useful.
As the gate closed on us, the last -object that we saw was

60 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
the old garden of the cloisters, with its orange and lemon-
trees, as fair and fragrant in the den of thieves, as once
within the house of prayer. A lesson there may be, in this
impartial bounty of our mother earth, to those whom men
reverence and those whom they despise. It teaches us—
does it not ? — that, with a common nature, there are none
too pure and virtuous to spurn the claims of the wretched
and the outcast. Claims, to be held as fellow-creatures ;
claims, to be brought back from sin and sorrow, if it may be ;
claims, that ignorance and want and temptation be remem
bered, and considered, and removed ; claims, not to be cast
off forever, while charity can nurse the hope of their return !
Being, by this time, pretty well fatigued, we put ourselves
into another tartana and were carted to the '.Glorieta, a
beautiful, extensive promenade — whence we passed to the new
Alameda, on the margin of the Guadalaviar, full of orangess
lemons, and many-scented flowers. Having heard, before,
we went to Spain, that the natives would not oonsent to the
introduction of gas into their cities, for fear of earthquakes
and direful explosions, we were agreeably surprised to find
the Glorieta very plentifully supplied with pipes and burn
ers. These, however, which were to givo light by night,
did nothing to remove our disappointment at missing the
glancing eyes, which, we had been told, would be sure to
illuminate the day, go where we might in Valencia- Not
one pretty woman nevertheless — not a solitary representative
of Dona Urraca, " La doncella muy ferntosa"
did we see or were we credibly informed of, during our whole
day's walk. And yet there must be multitudes of beauties
in Valencia, for every body says so. Gauthier and Ford
both certify to the fact ; and what a Frenchman and an
Englishman agree on, must be as demonstrable as any thing
in Euclid. It was, doubtless, only our misfortune, that all
the wingless angels ..kept close house that day.< A very

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 61
amiable maiden, who sold orchata de chufas, a weU iced
and refreshing drink, did her best to keep us in good humor,
by her pleasant chat, but it can not be denied that we topk
our return tartana in a temper far from the best, and when
we got back to Grao, were glad to make our way to • the
steamer, tO quarrel with our foUow travelers, who had
promised us glimpses of Paradise. It was sunset.
Friday, April 9. — I went on deck about eight this
morning, and the ship was lying lazfiy upon the water, in a
fog. As we could see to do nothing with certainty, our
wise captain had magnanimously resolved to lie stiU and
wait. It was not untU between nine and ten that the mists
began to curl up, and disclosed to us, first, the bleak, arid
summits, and then the still more arid-looking sides, of the
mountains on the coast, some six or seven rmles above Ali
cante.- In due time, we found our way toward that most
bleak and desolate-looking of cities, distinguishing, first, the
outline of its castle, and then, in a -few moments, finding
ourselves in the open roadstead, with' the whole town before
us, backed up against the base of a grim, somber, sandstone-
looking hill, high, jagged, and rugged. Houses and mount
ain are all of the same color, and before you are very near,
the windows ofthe dwellings have the singular effeet to you,
of holes burrowed in the rock. The castle crowns and
covers almost the whole summit of the hill ; its little turrets
and stone sentry-boxes actually overhanging the precipice,
and looking more Uke eagles' nests, than places for men's
feet. AU'the way down and along the hiU, stretch walls
and communicating fortifications, of the same unchanging
hue. To an unmilitary eye, the fortress seems impregnable.
As for the town — the citadel coidd keep it in order, by
rolling stones down on the people's heads. On the south,
there is another formidable looking fortification, and there
are waUs, too, aU around the city ; so that, supposing Ali
cante to be worth taking, an invader must make up his mind
to have patience outside> and fortitude if he should ever get

62 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
in. The buildings of the city are substantial- — generally of
stone. Where there is stucco, if is colored to match the
pervading hue of sand. None of the public edifices have
any particular merit, in point of architecture j although the
most of them are solid and spacious. There were a great
many new buildings, besides others in progress of erection,
and obviously the, city was improving, both in appearance
and the appliances .of" modern convenience— though I was
surprised to hear that its commerce was decreasing. There
was a large pile of rail- way iron, on the pier when we landed,
destined for the road between Madrid and Aranjuez. I
hailed the sight as a good pmen. Once let these iron-ties
be riveted upon the land, and there will be an end of pro-
nunciamientos and back-stairs revolutions. People will find
out then, that a great nation has interests, as well as the
jobbers who misgovern it, and that this world was made for
something besides changes of ministry. '
The population of Alicante is very attractive to a stranger.
The men are tall, stout, and fine-looking i the women, in
general, very pretty. The physical .characteristics of the
south begin to grow very apparent. The costume is a
sort of jumble. of Catalonian, Valencian, and Andalusian —
the latter predominating, in the towns-people. We spent
some time in the market-place, where the jaunty bearing,
the sal and gracia of the Andalusians were decidedly in the
ascendant. Nobody ever starved to death, I take it for
granted, in Alicante. At all events, there were no prepara
tions for any thing of the sort while we were there. I never
saw comfort, for the inner man, in greater profusion. There
were all sorts of hams and bacon from Galicia; sausages
from Estremadura ; oranges from Murcia ; lemons, sweet
and sour ; citrons, and all other- fruit of that -family, rich in
size and flavor ; almonds, beans, potatoes, greens of all kinds,
figs, grain, and bread; fine poultry in abundance; and if you
had a sweet tooth, the famous turron de Alicante, a con
fection of almonds and honey, which can be. made nowhere

TJL1MPSES OF SPAIN. 63
else. Besides being plentiful, aU things were so cheap, too,
as to make it obvious that they were almost the free gift
of nature. The new Plaza being unfinished, there was
a plentiful, lack of stalls, which the poor donkeys were
made to supply. There they stood, immovable ; their
fore-feet tied together, by way of insurance against friskiness,
their innocent noses only daring now and then a predatory
incursion, into the tempting neighborhood of a chance wisp
of straw. Upon their patient backs hung the panniers of
twisted rushes, in which they had brought their treasures
from afar. Large carts — the bodies and covers of which
were made of the same fabric (the rush), with wheels that
might have served a water-mill — stood ranged along the
walks ; the yokes of stalwart oxen that belonged to them,
giving good proof that beasts, as weU as man, had share in
nature's bounty. We saw a great many mules in Alicante :
large, fine, and handsome, almost without exception. The
correo which started as we went down one of the streets,
was carried by a superb animal ; decked, like a captain-
general, with tufts, of red worsted, and bearing a multitude
of jingling bells besides. The post-boy, a rollicking, jockey-
built fellow, clad in blue tights and leather leggings — with
his calanes upon one side of his head, and the eternal cigar-
rito in one corner of his mouth — was perched on the mule,
upon top of a portmanteau, and sundry box-like contrivances,
looking as if they had been made on purpose to be trotted to
pieces : on the principle of those Gothic castles you see in the
cabinets of gentlemen-chemists : nicely put together, to beide-
mohshed by electricity. The mule seemed to have a clear
idea, that any rapid movements on his part would put the
mafl in peril, so that, although the angry rider cracked his
whip until the narrow streets were noisy with the echoes,
not a jot beyond a gentlemanly walk could the considerate
animal be made to move. Railways will improve the mails
there, or, at aU events, their speed. Give me the mule and
the postboy, however, in preference to the magnetic telegraph,

64 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
until .some Franklin shall have fathomed those phenomena
of electrical mystery, in virtue of which the wires become
non-conductors, invariably, at the critical moments of mercan
tile speculation. . . <n
After we had made, an unsuccessful attempt to gain en
trance to the picture-gallery of the Marquis of Angolfa, the
only lion left to us was the cigar-factory, belonging to the
government, in which between three and four thousand women
are said to be employed — a world of labor, surely, to end in
smoke ! Here, again, we were unfortunate. We saw the
outside of the building, which was formerly the bishop's
palace, but it was closed to 'strangers during the only
hours at our disposal. We had no resource, therefore, but
to dive into a cafe hard by the mole, wherein, if .all unlike
its magnificent Parisian namesakes, we found a cool orckata
and pleasant shelter from the sultry air. The mozo, an
unsophisticated substitute for the weU-combed garfon of, the
Boulevards, was emphatically free and easy ; for he brought
us our refreshments, "took our money, and then, as cosily as
might be, sat down beside us, and put forth his sentiments,
without being asked. As social relations exist in Europe,
such a performance would have been rather singular, any
where but in Spain ; yet the unobtrusive and native good-
breeding of the man made it very natural. Philosophers
may say what they please about the fitness of the Spaniards
to become republicans, for there are many questions to be
considered in that one. But so far as dignified equality in
personal intercourse can go ; a free and manly bearing — full
of self-respect and deference for others — exacting consideration
from the superior in rank and fortune, in return for the con
sideration that is rendered him — if, indeed, -any thing can be
said to be exacted which seems spontaneously given — in
this perfect republicanism of manner — this leveling up, in
stead of down — it seems to me that the Spaniards have in
comparably the advantage of any people that I know. With
the Alicantese, manner must come by nature; for.they

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 65
seem to be a plain, hard-working people.'generally, with few
advantages, beyond good health ahd constitutional gayety.
They do not lack taste, however, for they are building a
beautiful theater, with a Doric front, which is to accommodate
fifteen hundred people. The neat Uttle Glorieta was deserted
by the promenaders during the unseasonable hours that we
passed in the city, so that we had but little opportunity of
seeing the wealthier classes. They were wise to keep within
doors, if they could afford it, for now, at last, I had no diffi
culty in feeling the proximity of the sun. In the hot months,
Alicante must be intolerable. The glare from the houses
and hills, even thus early in the spring, was almost parching.
At the fountains, thirsty-looking people were catching water
in large earthen jars, and there were crowds of the ever-
useful donkeys, pacing from house to house, witir panniers
well loaded with the same, or waiting patiently before the
doors, while their drivers distributed the refreshing cargo.
These things ; the complexion of the people, and their Ught
and loose costume ; the heavy matting shading the balconies ;
the low, close, grated, latticed windows ; the flat, terraced
roofs ; and the palm-trees, waving very much as if at home,
upon the plain to the south of the city ; all began to remind
me of what I had read and heard of Moorish life and man
ners, and the relics they had left in the Peninsula.
It was late at night before we left AUcante. A custom
house launch kept watch and ward close by us : and as, now
and then, a stray felucca came creeping into port, we could
hear the summons and answer, which inquired and told
their comings and their goings. Whether our respectable
commander had or had not any little private contraband to
manage, I wUl not presume to say. Such things, they hint,
are done by steamers, as weU as meaner craft, and there
was an expression of interest, now and then, in our skipper's
face, as he looked at the guarda-costa, which indicated a de
cided sense of inconvenience from her proximity. As for the
passengers, we were unanimous in thinking that star-hght

66 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
was the proper light for Alicante to be seen in. Back in
the center of the arc which the coast here forms,- the little
city twinkled like a colony of fire-flies. "The faro flung a
stream of brilliancy upon .the water ; and, dim seen in the
transparent air, the ranges of receding hiUs and the masts
of the vessels in the roads made up a picture, none the less
beautiful because it was almost all in shadow. Most inter
esting to us, however, was a bold, fine headland, which cleft
the horizon in the direction we were to travel. Around it,
at last, we wended our way toward Cartagena.

CHAPTER VI.
Cartagena — The Arsenal and Harhor — Gipsies — Appearance and
Habits,of the People — Almeria — Ballad of Count Arnaldos — Span
ish Boatmen — Heat of the Weather — Cathedral — Dismantled Con
vent — Beggars — Morals of Almeria — The Bride and the Captain
of Carbineers — The Mountains of Granada — Sunset — Mediterranean
Captains, As the fog lifted itself the next morning, it disclosed the
superb harbor of Cartagena, where we were at anchor. We
were in a circle, three-fourths of whose circumference was
composed of hills, some of them high enough to be called
mountains, and coming, in many places, perpendicularly
down to the sea. The entrance to the harbor was the other
fourth, and outside, in front of that, was a bluff, low island,
a magnificent breakwater to this finest of natural basins.
On every hill-top was a fortification. In front lay the city
- — seeming much smaller than in reaUty it was — with its
superb sea-waU, and. massive defenses, high over aU of which
rose an old ruined keep, with .square towers, sa.\d to have
been Roman, Gothic, Moorish, and Spanish, by turns, and
to have been dismantled, at last, by the aU-subverting French.
Along the esplanade, to the right, as we faced the city,
was the fine Marine School, a spacious, tasteful, and appro
priate edifice; — now, alas ! without students. Hard by it was
the extensive Hospital, happUy without patients. Far to the
left, we could see the entrance to the famous Arsenal, which,
with its long Une of buUdings, filled up that segment of our
view. After breakfast, we were rowed ashore. A visit to
the Comandante was very politely received, and a permis
sion readily granted for us to visit the Arsenal. On our ar-

68 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
rival at the gate, a guard presented himself as our cicerone,
and we wandered with him for an hour or two about the
spacious "and magnificent, but now solitary precincts. A
small schooner and a brig undergoing repairs, were the only
representatives of the once proud navy of Spain. A hundred
soldiers, two hundred sailors, and about a hundred workmen,
were (our guide told us) the only tenants of the lonely place,
Every thing was of the past ; the immense basin, " capable
of, holding a fleet, with fifty feet water;" the fine docks, wet
and dry ; the stupendous masonry ; the heavy bronze bolts,
hinges, and rings ; the extensive and sohd edifices ; bore am
ple and unequivocal testimony to wealth and power gone by.
Of late years (as an English 'officer, long upon the station,
whom I met afterward, informed me), great improvements
have been made, or rather the progress of decay has' been
very materiaUy arrested. Repairs were going on at the
time of our visit. Every thing out of doors was cleanly and
in good order ; and it was obvious that the Conianddnte, who
is said to be a man of energy, was doing- his best to preserve
so conspicuous a. monument of his country's palmier day's.
Yet the shops and barracks were very desolate ; the 'armories
• empty, with the exception Of a few old, worthless weapons ;
and in the long-store-houses and ammunition-rooms, and the
wide parks, there was a beggarly array" of old chains, anchors,
shot, and disconsolate-looking guns, hardly worth the labor that
would be needed to remove their rust. 1 gathered a few lit
tle flowers from between the stones of a deserted court, as a
memorial of the " Armada's pride and spofls of Trafalgar."
Returning through the town, we stopped at a cafe to take
a naranj'ada, which is so popular a beverage here, and
While our hostess was squeezing the fresh, juicy oranges to
make it, a group of gipsies before the door attracted our at
tention. It was the first time I had seen any of the tribe,
and I felt that curiosity in regard to them, which all who
have read Mr. Borrow's romance of " The ZinCali," can
readily understand. Thosebefore us were aU women. Their

GLIMPSES.OF SPAIN. 69
dark olive complexions, high cheek-bones,, and . peculiar, pro
files, distinguished them, so strikingly, from the rest of the
female population, that we might have known their name
and nation without asking. -They- were comely heathen,
both in face and form, and their gay and gaudily flounced
sayas were not long enough to impede the graceful action of
their limbs, or obstruct the pubhc inspection of their ankles.
Each had an infant in her arms ; for as Sir, Edward Coke
hath said of the learned foUowers of the law, that " for a
special blessing, few or none of them die intestMus et improles,
without wul or without child," so of the .Gitano, most law
less though he be, it may with equal truth be predicated, that
though seldom testamentary, or troubled with large assets,
he generally leaves heirs Uneal ; and his spouse rarely visits
the glimpses of the day, without a pledge or two in arms.
We made a move toward having our fortunes told, but the
brown dames were not communicative, and we continued our
stroU. ..
The principal church, which we visited, -had nothing re
markable. In the streets we saw a stiU more Andalusian-
Uke. population than that of Alicante. The calanes was
more jaunty, and more prodigal of top-knots. The gay,
bright mania -with many tassels, and the short vest with
buttons of silver fiUagree, were very general. The boatmen
were more ftiU of life and humor than any we had seen.
They sang .heartily, and their songs had more of the
" Yo que soy contrabandista,"
in style and "sentiment, than any We had heard farther north.
There were no longer any traces of the Limousin or its kin
dred enormities of dialect. A soft and musicaUy-lisped. cor
ruption of the Castilian had succeeded.
Having returned, from our walk, to the landing-place, we
called a boat, and crossed the harbor to the little suburb of
Santa Lucia, in the neighborhood of which, upon the sum
mit of a hiU, we found the ruins of a circular buUding which

70 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
we were curious to visit, as it had formed a quite con
spicuous object from other -points. Our boatmen said it was
" the Moorish Hermitage," but it had nothing of Moorish,
in either style or construction. Be that as it may, how
ever, we had, from its side, an enchanting view of the
harbor and its mural crowns, the city with its gray towers
and battlements and the arsenal mirrored in its green basin.
Hedges of the prickly pear, .crossed and recrossed the
plains about the town'. Groups of fig-trees were green in
their places, and here and there a beautiful palm rose,
lofty and alone, in the sun. Along the line of country
whicb. led up from the city toward the interior, posted, as
if in battle array, stood an army of Don Quixote's- wind-
-miU-giants, waving their broad . arms fiercely to the hills.
Sea and land; trees and shipping, sky and mountain, city
and castles, all did their best for us that day, but we were
ungrateful, and lost sight of them in the distance, before the
shades of evening had quite gathered round them.
Next morning, we were in the harbor of Almeria. What
a thing steam is I Every one who is familiar with Mr.
Lockhart's charming paraphrases - of the Spanish ballads,
will remember the story of the Count Arnaldos, which he
tells so gracefully. It was St. John's-dajr morning, as the
legend goes, and the count was flying his falcon, on the shore,
when he beheld a splendid galley gliding toward ihim, with
silken sails all spread.-- Upon her deck thefe was a mariner
 no other than the blessed Baptist, as it seems — who
chanted as he came, and that, so wondrously, that the very
waves grew calm, and the sea birds paused in air,, while
the fish came up, to listen. The spng,' as* Lockhart sings it,
waa one of. triumph —
" False Almeria's reefs and shallows
•Jf Tf ** "Jf "Jf TT
All, my glorious galley mocks!" ^
The orginal is in a different Spirit, rather of prayer than
pride : ,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 71
" Galera — ia mi galera
Dios te me guarde de mal,
De los peligros del mundo,
Sobre aguas de la mar,
De los llanos de Almeria" &c.
which verbatim and with trifling transposition, reads thus :
" Galley ! my galley !
God guard me thee from ill,
From the perils of the world,
On the waters of the sea ;
From the shoals of Almeria," &c.
But take it either way — what, in the old time, it asked a
saint to pray- for, and wrought miracles on fish and fowl to
hear, our skipper had accomplished, in the dark, without
any thing extraordinary said or sung — albeit, in his com
position there was not a scruple of sanctity to the hundred
weight, and neither guU nor. gudgeon would have paused
to Usten, had. he charmed never so wisely. What a story
the Count' Arnaldos- would, have made of it, if he had seen
his ancient mariner steering a steamboat 1
If Almeria has reefs and shaUowsr we were inside them,
for we were at anchor in the open-roads, a Uttle to the' south
of the town. Not far from us, lay two or three EngUsh
vessels, on which a trig Spanish war-steamer kept a sharp look
out. A schooner with the NeapoUtan flag,' and a few smaU
craft were aU the rest of -the shipping, so that if Almeria
has much trade, it is clear we "were not there in the busy
season. A long and rugged hiU shut out the whole of the
back country from our view, exeept where, to the north and
east, a wide plain disclosed the distant -range, which ends at
the sea-coast with the bold headlands of the Cabo de Gata.
The town lies at the bottom of a steep declivity, upon the
crest of which, the old Moorish Alcazaba, now quite a
Christian looking fortress, keeps watch and ward. The
space between the fort and the buildings of the town was
covered with an unsightly plantation of the prickly pear, a

72 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
useful plant no doubt — for it furnishes food and lodging to
the cochineal insect, which is becoming an important article
on this part of the coast — but certainly adding no charms
to the landscape which rejoices in it. Upon the rough
ungenial hill side, just in front of us, there was no vegetation,
exoept where a few" scattered patches of esparto had found
scant room to grow. This plant — the Spanish rush — not
only enters into multitudes of fabrics here, but answers for
fuel as well. Long trains of mules, with loads of it well
dried, were creeping down the narrow winding road, to the
lead smelting furnaces, several of which were sending up
their white smoke from below.
After breakfast, the boatmen claimed their prey as usual.
It is a pleasant change . for travelers, from the Itahan to
the Spanish- boatmen. Not only are their Uttle craft larger
and more tidy, but they are themselves, formed into a sort
of company, with common interests, and any or all of them are
ready, at any time, to take, you to shore or ship at the tarifi
price, a peseta (twenty cents) the round. -trip. This arrange
ment I found in many of the ports, and even where it did not
exist, I escaped altogether the pulling, hauUng, and persecution,
of which, among the Italian Philistines, I have disagreeable
reminiscences. We landed at the pile of stones which rep
resents, though it can hardly have been intended for a pier,
and wandered through a narrow street, up to the body of the
town. ; It was Sunday, and the weather bright, so that all
the population were abroad. Crowds of peasants had come
to market, and it was pleasant to see their universal clean
liness of attire.. The short, loose, kilt-looking frock, -white
gaiters, and well bleached, shirt, girded with the red sash,
and only half-concealed - by the bright manta, gave token
that summer's heat was coming. In the gardens, of which '
there are a good many within the town and close around it,
the trees were generally in full leaf; the fig-tree, especially,
being both abundant and very green. Not a bird was
silent that could, call a npte his own. The water-eariiers

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 73
praised and sold their cool draughts to. many customers,
whom the sun seemed to have taught their value. The
palm-trees, recently robbed of their leaves for Palm-Sunday's
service, looked as if clad lightly to suit the season. Even
the mules, whom the gipsy trasquiladores were shearing,
about the market-places, seemed as if they were having their
coats taken off, in obedience to the many warnings that sum
mer was nigh. The plain little alamedas or public walks,
of which there are three, though altogether without orna
ment, were still attractive from their luxurious shade, and
their long lines of stone benches, on which you might cooUy
recline and enjoy it.
Obviously, from its situation, Almeria is a city of great
heats. It is bunt, as one would imagine an African town to
be. Some of the streets and houses are wider and finer
than, from the sea-view, you would think possible ; but still,
most of the former are very narrow, and the houses are
generaUy low, often of but one story, with large grated win
dows, down on the very street; balconies hung with matting
and lined with flowers, and an interior court, sometimes seen
through an outer grating, and inviting you to stop and covet
its cool fountain. and refreshing verdure and blossoms. We
visited the Cathedral, which has a very respectable Gothic
interior, though obstructed by an immense choir of massive
stone, and • disfigured by statuary in the worst conceivable
taste. Some exquisite carvings, in dark wood, above the
stalls of the choir, are attributed to Alonzo Cano, and are
very miracles of art. A venerable monument, bearing the
effigy of some long-departed prelate, of the family of VUala,
adonis one of the aisles. He has a marble dog sleeping
at his feet, and another upon his heraldic bearings. Many
great people, whose tombs I have seen, have preferred to
rest their feet upon couchant lions. The good bishop, here,
had better taste. What more natural, than that when
the shepherd sank to rest, his dog should lie down before
him9 From the Cathedral, we went to another church,
D

V4 GLfMPSBS OF SPAIN.
the name of which was not worth remembering. In a third,
belonging to one of the suppressed convents, we found a
horse, stabled in a side chapel. The convent, itself, was a
barrack. If piety and propriety were not strong enough to
save the temple, some compassion might have been felt for
the work of art. There were some fine arches in that
church, for the preservation of which, even a poor govern
ment, might have been extravagant enough to build a hay
loft. Henry VIII. and Cromwell gave bad examples, ill-
followed here, where the church and altar are still held as
sacred. In our walk, we were pursued and persecuted by" a crowd
of beggars, boys and girls, against whom the church gave
no. privilege of sanctuary, for they followed "us into the Very
choir of the Cathedral, despite ,the wrath of the sacristan,
and when driven out at one door, came back through another,
each seeming to bring with him, every time, seven ragged
devils more. One -of m'y companions, whose , nearest ap
proach to Spanish was an assortment of not very choice
Italian, bestowed upon them such maledictions as he had,
but they seemed rather to like thatj and only followed us
the more noisily therefor: A trifling tribute, to the amount
of a few cuartos, which we paid by w-ay of compromise, had
no effect but to make the rascals' greedier ; and when I en
deavored, in moderate Castilian, to convince them that going
away quietly was more agreeable than being kicked, they ap
peared delighted that the Ingleses could Understand them,
and redoubled their solicitations accordingly. Through the
town therf, wherever we went, our 'motley escort went also,
led on by a gorgon-headed lad, wbose face was loathsome
from disease, and a precious scamp, some ten years old, whose
solitary Vestment was a fragment of blanket, twisted round
his shoulders, and falling so peculiarly about the rest of his
person, that if " Nature's dress
Was loveliness,"

GLIMLPSES OF SPAIN. 75
he rivaled Nora Creina. While we were taking our naran-
jada at the cafe, they kept guard at the door, and when
we started again, they surrounded us, screaming and danc
ing Uke mad. Happily, however, they became too numerous
at last to be of one mind, and, as the prospect of donations
grew slim, the idea of monopoly became stronger. Accord
ingly, they relieved us, by- commencing to throw stones at
each other, and at this critical moment some gipsy women
passing, came to our rescue, and spake their minds, whieh,
judging from the specimen, must have been rather perverted.
Under cover of this diversion we made our escape, and were
not overtaken, until far down the sea-waU, on -our return to
the ship. When we arrived at vthe beach, and they found
that they were to get nothing, they pretty unanimously rolled
over on the sand, and we left them lying in the sun, ap
parently as happy as if they had seen Felicity, personified, in
the shape of a peseta.
I mention the whole incident, because it was the only
occagion during my stay in Spain, on which I was incom
moded, for more than a moment, by the beggars.
I was sorry to hear afterward, that what the gipsies had
said of the rising-generation of Almeria, was too true to be
made a jest of.' There is a certain oriental freedom of man
ners there, according to all accounts, which interferes sadly
with the number of " wise children. "-
When- our steamer again lighted her fires to be off we
were sorry to miss from the ship's company a sweet little
bride, who had joined us, with her lord and master, the day
before. Her mother came on board with her, and their
parting was tearful and tender enough ; but, alas ! such are
brides all the world through — though it was nigh sunset before
we left Cartagena, her eyes were as bright and dry as ever,
before twilight was over ! I would not say so ill-natured a
thing upon slight foundation, but there can be no doubt
about it;, for the eyes in question were pleasant to lookupon,
and there, were several on board who took particular notice

76 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
of them. With the new-married couple was a sprightly and
somewhat enterprising' bridesmaid, who, with great good
sense, left her charges to console each other, and bestowed
her own agreeable conversation on a preux chevalier, a cap
tain of carbineers, belonging to the party. The captain,
Unhappily, had made up his mind, or had a presentiment,
that he should be sea-sick, and though the sea was as smooth
as Loch-Katrine, when Fitz-James' bugle woke its echoes,
he turned pale, at the first movement of the engine, and, hut-
toning to the throat, refused' to be comforted. But, though
unable to be gallant, he did his best to be civil to strangers.
Taking my companions, who sate near him, to-be English,
he said, with a bow, " Vmdes. son Ingleses. Yo quiero
rrmcho a los Ingleses.'' — (You are English. I like the En
glish very much). ".We are Americans, at your service,"
was the reply. With as much composure,- as if he had in
tended from the first to say it, he rejoined, " Tambieri!"
(also !) and relapsed, with another boWT into his qualmish
silenee. Any body but a Spaniard would probably .have
felt himself bound, by courtesy, to beg their pardon, for hav
ing supposed that they were people whom hp liked.
We left Almeria quite early in the afternoon, and the
smoke was curUng, white, abreast of us, from the furnaces ,
of Adra, as evening closed, for the first time with me, upon
the storied hills of Granada. Far inland, but full in our
view, and red with the glory of a matchless sunset, rose the
snowy summits of the Sierra Nevada, proud Mula-haem
towering above them all. From peak to peak of the nearer
Alpuxarras, Ught and shadow chased each other, down to
the very borders of the sea. Upon one noble mountain, a
white cloud was gathered, resembling a castle wonderfully,
and shifting its fantastic towers and battlements, with every
moment of the waning day. It was the veryjaour so famous
in romance and song.
"There was crying in Granada, when the sun was going down,
Some calling on the Trinity — some calling on Mahounl"

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 77
The sea was tranquil : the twUight, of the lovehest and soft
est : and there was every thing in air, and sky, and prospect,
and association, to fiU the moment with delight, and furnish
food for pleasant dreams. Our company enjoyed the scene,
each after his peculiar fashion. The tall, mysterious
Frenchman, who had been studying Spanish literature, all
the afternoon, out of a translation of the opera of the
'¦ Lombardi," laid down his volume, lifted up his eyebrows and
mustache, and said with emphasis and an air of discovery,
to the Italian by his side — " Que c'est fort beau .'" The
ItaUan, who, for his part, had been preparing for his Spanish
excursion, by reading the History of the Coronation of
Charles V. at Bologna, ceased for a moment from his labors
and exclaimed, " Sicuro .'" as if he meant it. The merry
Andalusians let flag the jest they had been passing all day
long, and one of them in an exulting tone, that I could well
excuse, cried out to me — " Solo en Espana se ve eso .'"
(That thing is only to be seen in Spain). I did not dispute
it, but abstained from patriotism and Niagara, and I know
not .how far we should have gone into raptures together, had
not our burly captain felt it his duty to contribute his mite
of sentiment. Unhappily, in common with all other cap
tains of steamers on the Mediterranean, he had the gift of
speaking aU known languages at once, ' and no one in par
ticular,* at any time. The first burst of his enthusiasm,

* I remember an amusing incident, illustrative of this peculiarity,
which happened on board the Mongibello, a capital steamer, running
from Marseilles to Naples. We were leaving" the former port, in
pretty heavy weather, with the wind strongly ahead, when a crowd of
vessels, coming in with great rapidity, rendered our exit through the
narrow neck of the harbor, a matter of some difficulty and danger.
"We had already had several slight collisions, and had been paddling
backward and forward, nearly an hour. Our captain, a Neapolitan by
birth, but quite a Babylonian in tongues, had exhausted almost all his
oaths and patience, and when, at last, a fair opportunity presented, of
shooting directly out to sea, his orders were misunderstood in the con
fusion, and there was an unaccountable delay. He stamped and

78 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

therefore, was sufficient to exorcise aU of pur .enchanted
MoorSi and, with a- shout of laughter, we came back to
common things. . . *-
swore again, insanely, and as the English engineer thrust his head
through the hatches to hear better, he fairly roared to himi " Santo
diavolo! entendez vous ! go ahead!"

CHAPTER VII.
Malaga — Its Appearance from the Water — The Citadels — The
Alameda — Defacing Publio Monuments — Westminster Abbey —
Greenough's Washington — The Cathedral of Rouen and the Swiss-
Coaches — Streets — Moonlight Walks and Views — the Torres.
I was awakened, next morning, by the rough voice of a
carabinero, directing me to get my baggage in readiness, if
I intended it to be landed that day. My companions were
already in a barge along-side, and I made what haste I could
to go through the usual martyrdom with them. We were
all landed together, and went in procession to the Custom
house, in a hoUow square of portmanteaus and hat-boxes,
with porters, boatmen, and officials on the flanks and in the
rear. The ordeal, however, was far less- impertinent than
it threatened to be, for we were dismissed with politeness
and convenient dispatch, _and soon found - ourselves "in
clover," in the admirable Fonda de la Alameda. Before
the day was over, I had renewed so many old acquaintances
and formed so many pleasant new ones, that I felt more at
home than I had imagined possible, so very far away. My
mind was soon made up, therefore, to let fhe Barcino go upon
her way, without me.
Malaga has nothing very remarkable in its buildings,
generally, and lying, as it does, Upon a slip of land between .
the mountains and the sea, is dwarfed by the commanding
eminences which frown so immediately over it. Nevertheless
it is a striking city, and has many elements of beauty!' Far
out in the harbor, upon the extremity of the fine mole, there
stands a graceful tower, looking almost too picturesque for,
the practical uses of a light-house. High up the lofty hill

80 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
upon the right, as you enter the port, you see the hoary
ruins of the Alcazaba, a Moorish citadel, from which,
between two massive walls skirting the ascent, a way leads
further up, as in the olden time, to the still loftier and more
majestic fortress, called the Gibalfaro. These bold and solid
keeps are intimately connected with the story of a gallant
siege, and one of the gallantest defenses in all the Moorish
wars. You can almost fix 'upon the very tower, from which
the. Gomeles hung out the captured banner of the Marquis
of Cadiz, to mock him, while Ferdinand and Isabella were
feasting in his camp. With quite as much of certainty,
perhaps, as you point, ofteii, to the scenes of sober history, you
can select, if you are fanciful, the very battlements on which
stood Hamet el Zegri and the" dervish, when the spells were
wOven which were to confound the Christian's hopes. If you
have leisure and are not easily fatigued, you may climb the same
narrow, winding ways, up which the captives all went,
sorrowing, when the victory- was won. Rugged and dilapi
dated enough they are : lined with wretched hovels, which
lean against the yet stanch old walls, and are inhabited
by the very refuse of "the population. Here and there you
wiU pass a sentinel, ,as you go under a tall horse-shoe arch,
which rests, perhaps, upon some shabby fragment of a
Romau column, and is lighted by the little lamp which
burns before an humble shrine. Ever and anon. you. reach
a salient point, from which you have a glimpse of the white
city and the Vega, flanked by the mountains,- and inclining
gently toward the sea. You wonder, when you reach the
Alcazaba, how it was possible for the thousands of, captives
to have been gathered, as -the chronicles assert, within the
space you see ground you ; but when you gaze at the bright
ness and beauty of the land upon which they looked, as
they went forth to bondage and- exile, you cease to wonder
that they should have wept, with the bitterness of which the
legends tell.
Toward the western part of the city, the charming Ala-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 81
meda runs from the quay up to the Guadalmedina, which
divides the city proper from tlie suburbs. This river is said to
be a very respectable one, in its season ; when I was in Malaga,
it rejoiced in little else than a capacious bed of dry stones.
The Alameda is between four an<L five hundred yards in
length. .At the extremity nearest the sea, tfiere is a grace
ful marble fountain, which, as Ford reportB, was presented
to Charles V., by the republic of Genoa. Its nudity shows
more of the Italian taste, than its exceUence, of the Italian
chisel. At the upper end - of the walk, another fountain
flows from the center of a sweet Uttle inclosed garden.
Communicating with this, and fed by it, are small canals,
which pass down the side of the Alameda, nourishing the
trees and flowers that give it shade and fragrance. The
central promenade is broad and fine. Busts of gods and
goddesses, upon pedestals of marble, stand in the spaces be
tween the trees, the whole length of the Alameda, and al
though not Phidian exactly, they would still be ornamental,
were -it not that rude hands have anticipated time, and
made so free with their celestial noses, that they rival the
forlorn Roman emperors you see so often in classic galleries,
and might even be compared to the best mutilations extant,
in France, or Westminster Abbey, or among our own repub
lican iconoclasts.
It is an idea, by-the-by, very prevalent with us, at home,
that the taste for defacing public monuments is an American
peculiarity. It certainly is one of our- weaknesses. The
last time that I saw Greenough's colossal Washington, in
the garden of the Capitol, some irreverent heathen had taken
the pains to climb up and insert a large "plantation" cigar
between the lips of the pater patrice, while another had
amused himself with writing some stanzas of poetry, in a style
rather more popular than elegant, upon a prominent part
of the body of the infant Hercules, who is strangling serpents,
in reUef, upon the lower part of the work. I could not help
thinking, at the time, that if Washington had looked less

82 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

like the Olympic Jovef and more Uke himself, not even the
vagabond who perpetrated -the trick of the cigar, would have
dared or dreamed of such a desecration. That, however, is
a matter of taste, and such people are not apt to be either
patriotic or critical. It is a great mistake, nevertheless, to
suppose that such things are at all peculiar to the United
States. They meet you, frequently, in England, although
the care which is taken of pubUc monuments should tend
to prevent a result, which our shameless neglect of the few we
have, would almost seem to invite. Not content with having
taken off, in the flesh, the head of poor Mary, Queen of
ScotSj they now show you the marble effigy upon her tomb,
in Westminster Abbey, minus several of its fingers. Nor
does, she lack abundant company, of royal and noble noses
pointless, cracked heads and hands and toes, in all the
chapels. • Many, of these mutilations, hpwever, may have
been the inevitable result of time and accident, while others
may have been the legacy of those gocd days, when royalty
was unpppular in England, and when, as afterward in France,
to bruise a prince's statue was as sure a mark cf. republican
ism? as to viplate and destroy a sanctuary was of orthodoxy
in religion. It may be doubted, however, whether the -omis
sion of Cromwell's image in the new Parliament House, or
the exhibition of the tombs at Westminster, for " sixpence,
sir !" gives any token of a better spirit. In the superb Cath
edral of Rouen, some of the finest of the monuments bear
sad traces of the first revolution. The Swiss who showed
us aU the lions there, conducted us, after long wandering, to
a niche, within which is the tomb of Rollo, the first Duke
of Normandy, -whose conversion to Christianity, and-baptism,
make so large a figure in the history of the cathedral, and
of Normandy itself The Swiss waxed very eloquent, as
he went over his story, for the thousandth time, and then
turning to- the statue,- which was .rude enough; in. all con
science, and had a mended nose, he said, "La voila qui est
toute antique, mains le ne%, qui a &t& restituS." A witty

GL-IMPSES OF SPAIN". 83
¦  •• 
Frenchman in our company instantly rejoinpd, " Cest a dire
qu'il est deux fois nez (ne).'"
But let us return to the Alameda. It Uas side-roads, for
horsemen and carriages, entirely independent of the streets
proper which skirt the outside. These last are weU paved,.
but the Alameda and its appurtenances are of hard, smooth
earth, weU watered, and kept level and in perfect order.
Little shops or booths are scattered here and there alongside
the walk, and before each there is a lighted rope's end,
which burns for the benefit of wandering smokers. AU day
long there were loungers sitting ahd lying on the stone
benches, and now and then & listless, melancholy pedestrian,
with his big cloak about him, though it were mid-day, would
stroll along, taking the fresco lazily. Malaga, however, is
too brisk and busy a place -for much of the dolee far niente,
and there was usuaUy no throng, except on feast-days, until
the evening had ' well-nigh set in. Then, by. degrees, the
graceful, trim mantiUas would appear more and more fre
quently, until the walk was gay, and the sound of pleasant
conversations rising, to my, window, would tempt me to join
one of -the cheerful groups, and breathe the fresh ait which
came down sweetly from the mountains. Times have chang
ed, in Malaga, since the visit of our countryman Mackenzie,
The "pervading poverty," of which he speaks, as depriving
the Alameda of horses and equipage, was no longer conspic-
upus when I was there ; for many a gallant ginete spurred
his well-trained .charger round, and a fair face would occa
sionally shine forth upon you, from the window of a handsome
modern vehiele. The splendid coach, built in the city of
Baltimore for President Harrison, and purchased by a wealthy^
and estimable family in Malaga, bore its part, frequently, in
the procession of the evening. UnluckUy, however, the
streets of Malaga are so Moorishly narrow and crocked, and
the rpads about the town sp rugged and precipitous, that
riding, for pleasure er business, is eut pf the questfon, and
this, rather than the lack Of taste or means, makes vehioles

84 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

less numerous than they would be, were they not thus,
exclusively, a thing for show. As twiliglit drew toward
its waning, the promenaders would gradually retire, with the
myriads of twittering martlets that filled the air by daylight,
•and by the time it was full night, only a few men-would re
main. Then the pleasantest time (save only in the matter
of mantillas) would commence ; for, whether by moon or
starlight, the sky was beautiful, the air transparent, always,
and there was vigor in the freshening breeze, and music in
the distant dashing of the sea. At right angles with the
principal Alameda, and running from its upper extremity,
there is a lesser one, not long constructed, called the Alameda
de los tristes. It was but little frequented, and, in the silent
hours, was- sad enough to deserve its name. It went. down
to the very shore/ where there was a Uttle fort or rampart,
commanding a cove extremely convenient for contraband,
and there was, in consequence, a sentinel always on guard.
The first -night that I approached his sacred precincts, I
was with some friends; ahd entirely unaware of the exist
ence of the post. We were suddenly startled, by . the
gleaming of a firelock in the moonlight, and the quick cry,
" Quien va?" One of my companions instantly replied,
"¦¦Espana!" towhich'the sentry most characteristically re
joined, "Me hace vmd.- favor de un tabaco,. caballero?"
(Will you -favor me with a cigar, sir?) The boon was
granted, and- we had the freedom of the httle citadel, with
its full sweep of view over the glancing waters ; no trifling
pleasure, to be'-so cheaply purchased, and, one which I was
careful, afterward, net 'to forego, on opportunity. ,
• But my chief place of resort to enjoy the beauty of the
late evenings, was the torre, or observatory of the Fonda.
All the houses of any pretension, in Malaga, and, indeed, in
most of the Andalusian cities, have their torres. . Much can
not be said, generally, for-tliem, in point of architecture, for
they are mostly "but square turrets, with pointed roofs, and a
Uttle weathercock or some eonical ornament on top ; but they

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 85
give a pleasing variety to the eutlin^ ef the buildings, and
their checkered and shining tiles, of different colors, have a
quaint and ancient look. They show, besides, a commendable
appreciation of fine prospect and fresh air, and are treasures
for a quiet lounge, or chat, or reverie. I remember, upon
one evening especiaUy, that I went up to our torre, at a
somewhat later hour than it became an invaUd to be watch
ing. The great beU of the Cathedral rang eleven, as I first
looked out. A quiet freshness came, from the land-side,
which made me draw my cloak, about me, though there
was not breeze enough to make a rusthng among the leaves.
The light-house on the mole appeared to be keeping the moon
company, and the stars twinkled .busily — undimmed,. it seemed
to me, even by the flood of light which was over all things.
The rest of the picture was in slumber, from the heavy Cathe
dral tower — sleepy-looking enough at mid-day — to the broad,
unrippled sea, the shadowy-tinted Vega, and the dark brown
distant mountains, with their crests of snow. Suddenly a
party of carbineers, horse and , foot, on scent of contraband,
tramped heavily and rapidly across the Alameda, and then
the sound of their measured tread died as speedily away. A
watchman, with his spear and a Uttle lamp (to see the moon
shine,. I -suppose), cried "Ave Maria purithima .'" and told
the hour ; and, as he hushed his droning, drowsy call, a watch
dog, far away upon the Vega, seemed to take it up more
musically, and mingled his low, deep baying with the solemn
w.hisper of the waves. It was a night, of all others, to take
the fairies out to dance : but thoughts of nerves that might
dance, to a less pleasant tune-, next morning, sent me, unwill
ingly, to bed, just at the witching time.

CHAPTER VIII.
Commerce of Malaga - — Manufactures ^.Beredia^-rWorks — Iron
Foundry — Spanish Iron and Coal— .CJayr Eigures-*rTlje> Fonda de
la Alameda:— American and European |Io^els^— Travelers tp Grana
da — Fellow-lodgers — The Irish Parson— English an]? Continental
Manners— Spanish Cookery — Rides' about the' ff ills— -The Retiro —
Vjlla of the. Prussian Consul — Calesas -^nd -BfJmbJsjriTprre Molino.
If there be ^ariy city, in. the world; whiglj sits, "ulider its
own vine and fig-tree, it- is Malaga. From time immemorial,
as every body knows, it has Uved by fig, wine, and grape.
Any one" who is curious to know how its customs,- in such
matters, can be traced back, through the .P^jjcenicians, fo
Isaiah and holy Job, will find - the subject , satisfactorily
expounded, in Mi'- Ford's Hand-book. Simple readers .^l
be satisfied that there may be worse places than. Malaga, for
those who relish the good things of the' earth, when they ark
informed that the green grape, which, of -late- years, naf'
grown from a luxury into a necessary, in the United States,,
is the least prized, at home of all the products of the vin$.
Unhappily, the finer and more delicate sorts will not bear
transportation, so that wo pan never have an opportunity of
testing, fairly, %o serious a question. During the vendeja, or
vintage-time, the city is filled with men, women, and chil
dren,' from the country round, who are busy, day and night,
in bringing to market, packing and shipping, the generous .
crop. The harbor, meanwhile, is thronged with vessels, of
all sorts, from all fruit-loving countries, and no one is permit
ted to eat idle bread. The largest and finest raisins, until
within a few years past, went almost exclusively to En
gland, John Bull being willing to pay more than his neigh
bors, for his grapes, as well as the juice of them. Late-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 87
ly, some few have made their way to the United States,
where, it is not to be doubted, they will be more and
more sought after, there being so Uttle comparison between
the common and superior kinds, as to make them almost
seem different fruit. When the vendeja is over, business
subsides' into quiet channels, where it flows, less rapidly, but
stiU not lazUy, until Bacchus reels around, with . his good
gifts, once more.
Of late years, much attention has been given in Malaga
to manufactures, and they now begin to be a matter of im
portant consideration. There is a large and prosperous iron
foundry, upon the beach to the right, of the harbor,, and the
tall chimney of the extensile establishment, upon the Pther
side of the city, is one ofthe most conspicuous objects as you
go in from sea. I- had thought, at first, that the last men
tioned works were devoted, exclusively,- to the manufacture of
iron, but having an opportunity of visiting them shortly after
my arrival, I was surprised to see the extent and variety of
the purposes, to which a very, heavy capital was applied.
Don Manuel Heredia, one of- the principal proprietors, an
intelligent and cultivated gentleman, did me the favor to
accompany me through the establishment. A large- and
well appointed factory of coarse . cottoDs and Unens, though
but a few months in operation, employed some six or seven
hundred artisans. The iron foundry, occupying, at times,
four or five hundred people, was complete in all the appli
ances needful for the smelting of the metal, anddts man
ufacture into wire, tin blocking,- and fine castings. Then
there were chemical works, -on. an extensive scale, with all
buildings and apparatus in the best style, and on the most
approved modern principles. The machinery was mostly of
British manufacture, and the chief engineer, and some of the
superintendents of the different branches, were English. The
operatives were aH natives, and it was some time before I
could be reconciled to seeing the jaunty jacket and sombrero
- calcines., so unromantically occupied- among -the looms and

88 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
furnaces. Don Manuel informed me, that they found the
people b^rth willing to labor and apt to learn. The wages
they- received were so much higher than the ordinary rate
of compensation among the working classes, that there was
no difficulty in securing, always, as many hands as the
establishment required. The iron ore comes from Marbella,
where the Heredias have likewise an extensive foundry, and
with these and their lead furnaces at Adra, they give em
ployment to upward of two thousand people. Their estab
lishments have, too, I learn, been largely increased since my
visit. Frcm. the high price of fuel, and the difficulty of
obtaining it; together with the necessarily heavy outlay in
founding a new branch of industry, it is conceded that these
establishments require, as certainly they deserve, the protec
tion of the- government against foreign competition. Captain
Widdrington however mentions,, that, -on one occasion, the
Heredias, being unable to complete a large contract, imported
two thousand tons of iron from England, as a substitute, and
suffered a seripus toss, from the inferiority ofthe foreign article
to their own. It weuld seem, from this, that the Spanish
manufacture might readily be made te . take care cf itself,
within a reasehable peripd. Indeed there could be no doubt
of it, if active -and judicious measures were adopted, for the
proper -working of the immense coal-beds of the Asturias, and
the other mines of that necessary fuel, with which the Penin
sula is se well .provided. The iron mines of Marbella are
inexhaustible, and produce frpm seventy to eighty per cent.
of the very best metal. Catalonia and the northern provinces
are equally fortunate,, in the possession of mines of the very
best quaUty, and it needs only some little of ordinary energy
and wisdom, en the part of the government and the people,
to make the production of iron a-source of the largest wealth
and prosperity. A few more such men as Hqredia the elder,
would wcrk miracles. He was self-made, and yet Aied
enormously wealthy, after a life of great mercantile enter
prise .and success. A broad, black band,-upon the chimney-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

tower of which I have' spoken; marks its height upon the
day of his death, which took place but a few months before
my arrival in the country. There is to be an inscription
upon it ; but his best monument is to be found in the ex
ample he gave to his fellow-citizens, and the impulse he com
municated to public industry, at a time when it was almost
dead of inanition.
Malaga is indebted to Heredia, among other things, for a
very pretty establishment, after the manner of the Passage
Panorama, in Paris, called the Pasage de Heredia, and
containing the finest shops in the eity. It is there you find
the best of the beautiful clay images, for which Malaga was
first made famous by the celebrated sculptor Leorl> whose
descendants still carry on the manufacture. The rival
establishment of Jose Cubero is not far off. These Works
are .not only remarkable, as delineations of costume, and
illustrations of Ufe and manners in Spain, but sometimes
reach a very high point of art, in their composition and the
perfection and finish of their details. Some of the equestrian
figures are really of- great merit, and there is now and then
a group, from a bulbfight, which' deserves a place in any
collection. There is scarcely any more agreeable or grace
ful memorial of -the Peninsula, for a traveler to take home
with him, and I am surprised that they are not to be found,
more frequently, in the United States, whither they can be
carried, with much facility and at very little cost.
The best houses in Malaga front upon the Alameda.
Some of them are imposing and of admirable internal
arrangement, with aU the appUances of modern luxury and
taste. They belong, principally, to wealthy merchants,
whose offices, and generaUy their warehouses, are connected
with their dwellings. I remember one very elegant mansion,
almost in sight of the Custom-house, which is adbrned with
a superb interior stair-case, of white marble, every foot of
which, as I was credibly informed, was smuggled ! The
Fonda de la Alameda is on the eastern side of the walk

90 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
arid about midway its length.. It is a handsome buUding,
with a fine portal, and large irpn gates beautifuUy wrought
at SevUle. The central ceurt is pf creditable architecture
and prpportions, and there is a marble stair-case rising from
it, which is in excellent taste, and came- lawfully, I trust,
intp Malaga. The Fonda was established by a ccmpariy,
principally of young merchants, whom foreign education and
travel had taught the necessity, for a commercial city, of
some change in the .hostelry-system of Spain. The .house
had been opened but a month before my- arrival, and was
under the charge of Don- Jorje Hodgson, an Englishman, a
very courteous and obliging person, as -I am happy to' bear
witness. It was -arranged, to some extent, upon the Amer
ican, rather than the European plan, having a table d'hote,
at which the guests might take aU their meals, if they chose,
and being provided, besides, with a large, public sitting-room.
The comfort of this last is not a matter to be despised by a
traveler, who- having been unaccustomed, at home, to the
number of stories in which continental hotels rejoice, has
waxed weary, often and' Over, at finding Up medium, between
out-of-doors and his own' apartment in the seventh heaven.
The English have a place of reunion in their coffee-rooms —
if that can be caUed reunion,, where each man takes solemn
and dumb counsel with his beefstealt, his sherry, and his
newspaper-^— but, strangely enough, the more social people
of the continent have not even that sad convenience,- often,
for looking at each other's faces,- Many of their-best houses
have a table d'hote "dinner, if you-like it," but, save at that
meal, you only see what manner of men- your feUow lodgers
are, when you rneet them on the long stair-ways, or as you
go- in and out, through the court. Such a system, of course,
has its' advantages, in privacy and independence. You are
not, as you are generally compelled to be, with us, in the
-center of a busyvbustling, talking, noisy crowd, every mail of
whom knows your name and business, or .may know them at
a moment's warning, and many of whom had as lief ask you

GLIMPSES'OF SPAIN. 91
abeut them, as npt. You are quiet, and in some respects as
if at home. • But, nevertheless, a traveler has often need of
other company than his own jaded thoughts, or the .people
in the streets and theaters, and his inabiUty to find it, both
increases the number of his weary hours, and narrows the
sphere of his enjoyment in quiet and useful observation.
Every medal" has its reverse.
At the Fonda, there was generally pleasant company.
The steamer would bring travelers, twice or thrice a week,
bound for Granada, and they most frequently passed the .day
with us. On their return, they would sometimes haye to
wait a day" or two for an oppprtunity tp embark, and they
would be at the Fonda during that time. There was, besides,
a smaU party of permanent lodgers, EngUsh and Irish, whom
business or health had taken to that cheerful climate. They,
and the wayfarers, generaUy frequented the public apart
ments, so that there- was no lack' of variety. At the head
of the table, usuaUy presided a young Irish parson, a near
relative of a distinguished dignitary of the Irish Church.
He was quite a clever person, and weU educated, too, although,
one day, when I was speaking of the Mississippi Riverr he
asked me whether- it was in the northern or southern part
of " the. States." I had not the luck to hear hinij but he
officiated,- now and then, at the British consul's, and was,
I was told, of exceUent gifts in preaching. Being young,
and choleric-from individual as weU ^.s national temperament,
he was the tighter of wrongs and redresser of grievances,
domestic and cuUnary, in the establishment j and if _ his
reproofs of sins, in general, bore any proportion to those, with
which he accommodated our cook and servants, occasionally,
his efforts in the pulpit must haye been as fuU of emphasis
as unction. How- often did the name of unhappy Antonio !
(the chief waiter) echo through the dining-hall, as a prelude
to the . summoning of- cook and landlord, "to answer the
enormity -of an under-done duck,' or an over-done sirloin!
How often did the astonished visitors, French and Spanish,

92 GLIMPSES^OF SPAIN.
lay down their forks and gaze with astonishment, at the^
reshipment of a heterodox ham back to its boiler, or the
suspension of soup, in mid-service, until it should- regain its
lost caloric ! Yet, out of office, our parson was a pleasant
man, as were his companions who made their home, in the
Fonda — -and, though they had still their' island atmosphere
about them, they had traveled enough to be social, commu
nicative people :' not unwiUing to show, upon occasion, the
intelligence and cordial, manly qualities in which their coun
trymen abound, though, when, abroad, they usually seem so
anxious to conceal them. ; . .
I could npt avoid remarking, where people of so many
nations ccnstantly. assembled, the" strange contrast between
the English reserve and self-monopoly, and the free civility
of continental manners. ¦ One day, I remember, a Span
ish gentleman dined with us, on his way to the interior.
He was a quiet, well-bred man, but, as he' happened to be
the solitary addition to our regular company, there was less
freedom ahd conversation than if the number of strangers
had been larger. But few remarks were addressed to ¦ him,
and after a very silent meat, he rose, rang the beU, paid his
fare, and turning toward us, hat in' hand, made his exit with
a courteous bow. " Well," said our parson, as soon as the
traveler had gone, "for all- that these fellows are such savages,
they certainly have the advantage of us in manners ! Now
an Englishman would have paid his fare, arid- as soon have
thought of committing suicide, as making a bow to a company
of strangers. He would have clapped his hat on, and turned
his back on us." ".Of course he would," was the reply of
one of the Englishmen of the }?arty. ""Of course" he would,
for no one would have expected him to do otherwise !"
" Certainly not," added another ; "if he had. bowed- to a
table-full of people whom he did not know, they would have
taken him to be crazy !" -I could not avoid thinking, that,
upon such a state of facts' admitted, there was some room
for ""doubt as to who were the " savages." My companions,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 93
nevertheless, conscientiously believed, that it was the essence
of civilization to keep within their own shells.
The Fonda, besides being handsomely and conveniently
arranged, was well suppUed with excellent furniture,, the
manufacture of the place. In one particular, too, it would
have gratified Mr. Dickens, whose amphibious habits found
such Uttle scope (he says) in the United States. I mean in
the abundant supply of .fine water, carried by pipes into the
upper stories, and freely bestowed upon the guests and their
chambers. There was a buxom, bright-eyed dame,, rejoicing
in the universal name, Antonia, who seemed, especiaUy
charged with administering the hydropathic treatment to
every thing washable about the establishment, except the
fat face of the burly porter, below, whom my eyes once
beheld bathing the same in a soup-plate ! Antonia was
always upon parade,, with an armament of tubs and buckets,
which her bare white arms were- busy, emptying on every
thing and, oftener than was pleasant, upon every body :' but
she always begged pardon, with such a bright smile and
good-natured lisp and loojc, that it was not difficult fo be
reconciled to the. inundation which was sure tp follow, when
you -heard her shriU but merry song approaohing. The
major-demo, Antonio, was a " rock-seorpion," as they caU
the. natives of -Gibraltar, and- he» of course spoke English
perfectly, besides having a respectable smattering of French ;
accomplishments of no mean importance, -in a country, of
whose language travelers seem, generaUy and upon principle,
to have made up their- minds to know nothing. Under
Antonio's driU and interpretation, the domestics were made
to understand and do fhe bidding of the guests, to a marvel,
so that I can scarce recall a place where travelers were
taken in> more- pleasantly, I do not know whether it
was accident — sometimes I thought it was ^eant for a
national compliment — but Antonio used, generally, to send
upon my messages a coal-black, -oily negro, as Virgirfia-look-
ing as if he had been born under tile " cempromises of- the

94 ¦ GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
Constitution."' He was-knewn throughout the establishment
by the euphonious andpOlite appellation pf " el moreno" pr
"the brewn;'-' albeit the night, upen whose cheek the beauty
of -young Juliet hung, could never have been darker. " TeU '
the negro to come fo me," said I, one. day, to the fat hero
of the soup-plate.. " El negro!" was the reply — the short
Andalusian jacket swelling with portly indignation — "~El
negro ! querrd su merced decir el moreno ?" (The negro !
perhaps your worship means the brown ?) -
But something too much' of the Fonda and its occupants
— a,- trespass which wUl perhaps be excused^ as it has" not
been without -the charitable purpose of undeceiving those of
our countrymen, whp shrink, from seeking the sweet reno
vating- climate- and charming scenes of Southern Spain,
under ihe impression that Maritomes is still the presiding
deity of its caravaftseras.j dispensing "nothing- but filthv dis
comfort, garlic, and privation. While on. the- subject, I may
as well further state, for the benefit of whom it may con
cern, that indulgence in the odoriferous vegetable just named
is purely a ' Voluntary thing, so far as my .experience goes,
for I had never the luck to have it served to me, iafondo,,
venta, oiventorrillo. Now and then, of course, among
"peasant?, muleteers, and -often better people, you 'would have
savory evidence of_its use, but the caterers for travelers have
learned that, strangers hold -it no luxury, and they prepare
their food accordingly. • Even among the inhabitants them
selves?"! was told -that garlic- had grown decidedly less pop
ular, and, was subsiding fast, from a responsible and inde
pendent prominence of its own, like the philosophy in one of
Bulwer's novels, into a wel disguised sub-flavor, like the
morality in the same. About banditti and robbers generally,
who, next to garlic and popery, are the terror arid the horror
of- Spain to most wayfarers, I may have occasion to speak
hereafteK The season of my "first" visit to Malaga was- most appro
priate for horseback exercise,- and I availed 'myself, often, of a

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 95
friend's kind- guidance, 'to ride" ever many ef the rugged but
•picturesque hiUs which encompass the city. My first excttr-
sicn was uppn the Granada read, which climbs the highest
pf the near mountains. The sun was rising, and the dew
was heavy en the grass, as we cantered up, through thrbngs
of busy market-people, whp were just coming into town.
About a nuk" arid a half upon our journey, we turned, and
the whole city arid its vaUey lay in beautiful light and dis
tinctness before us. Far off, in front, the sea rolled 'blue" arid
bounding, with just safls enough visible, to suit the quiet life
of morning. Looming large above the city, was the huge
cathedral, which is a massive and imposing pile, whatever
critics may say of its details.. The smoke, which ascended
from, the tower-like chimney of Her'edia's furnace, contrasted
darkly with the thin mists which stiU hung, Bereand there,
around the battlements* of the Gibal-faro. Upon the hiUs
about us, through which our- road was cloven, the -fresh
green vines were" springing luxuriantly forth', with the first
impulse of the spring. Around the vineyards, tall, formida
ble hedges ofthe prickly pear and' the gigantic aloe were a
terror to all trespassers ; while, in every nook and corner,
flowers of all hues and kinds— ^-from the high nodding red
poppy, to the humblest Uttle creeping specks of blue,- and
white, and' yellow — were making the rich sward beautiful.
Here and there, upon a hiU-side, far before us, or behind,
was a little wood of olive-trees. Upon another, or in a
meadow, or a green reach down below, were fragrant groves
of "oranges. The Guadalmedina, with a bold aqueduct stalk
ing over its naked bed, crept along amOng the stones, with
what water jt could muster in the vafley. Hard by the
city, the Campo-santo sent up the bright-tiled dome of its
Uttle temple, among monuments half hid by mournful foli
age. The country houses among the hiUs, occasionaUy
surrOiinded by stiff, sad. cypresses, were relieved by the
cheerful pleasure-cottages nearer town, whose gardens were
redolent of all the shrubs that know any thing of bloom or

96 GLIMPSES OF- SPAIN.
fragrance1. Dcwn the hills came muleteers, with their con
voys in long trains, and now and then a straggling lad, with
an armada of dpnkeys, gave " buenos diets .'" or " con Dios!"
as if he were an admiral. All wore the calanes, cocked
jauntily, the crimson, sash, the leather bopines or leggins,
wrought cunningly, and the sempiternal cloak, tossed into
drapery, even by a clown, tjlat would make the fortune
of a sculptor. I shOuld not venture to say it, had not Mr.
Ford said spmething like it ; but the highest encemium I
opuld pass uppn the famous' Aristifles of the Neapolitan
Museum, would be, to say, £hat he wears Jiis cloak almost as
gracefuUy as an Andalusian Majo, at a merry-making or a
fair. ,The Herniitas or Hermitages, among the hiUs toward the
rear of the city, on the feft, were another attraction, those
fine mornings. Nothing now remains of them, but a small
chapel and some ruined walls, upon ar little platform, high
up and solitary, but of romantic situation and prospect.
There could hardly he a. sadder token,' of negleet and desola
tion, than the grass, grown rank uppn the era, or " treading
floor," as we very descriptively caU it, in some parts of the
United States. The ox that, trod out the" grain had been
muzzled ; the herrnits were making their bread elsewhere.
The rpad by which we went 'up, passing the large,, deserted
cbnyent of la Victoria, becomes but a steep and fugged
mule-path, as. ,soon as it leaves the plain, but it winds
among oranges, 'figs, ana olives, with vine and grain fields,
and many" flowers. The yiews, dewn pver the vega and
thence te the city, the tapuritains, and the sea, were a beau
tiful variation of. the 'picture of which I have already at
tempted tp convey an idea. We met but few. wayfarers
among the rocks; but" we were nptsoUtary, for the peasants
were toiling lustily, among. the vines and olives. We have,
at home, or at least I had, before I left, it, some rather fan
ciful notions of vineyards .and their beauty. I had imagined
them, net, to be sure, " purple and gushing" at all, seasons,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 97
but still fair enough, in far southern climates, to have al
ways some traces ofthe luxuriance, that becomes "Baccha
nal profusion" at the vintage. I was first undeceived, when
I traveled down the Rhone, where the dismantled vineyards
looked like winter corn-fields, with the stalks standing ; or
bean-rows, with short poles, before the vines are up. In
Lombardy and Tuscany, however, though the season was
unpropitious in every way, I saw enough to realize my ideas
of what the vine might be. From tree to tree and arbor to
arbor, the long festoons hung and waved, gracefufiy and softly,
in the cold spring wind, and it needed only a little fancy to
supply the foliage, as, in the Alhambra, to fill the naked
walls with the bright and gorgeous drapery, which once cur
tained their gossamer arabesques. About Malaga, the culti
vation was stiU different. The whole plant was cut down to
the very root; and when vegetation was backward, on a cold
hiU-side, the soil was perfectly naked. Where the exposure
was more, genial, the tendrils, springing from the very surface,
though luxuriant and green enough, scarcely gave promise of
the fruit and verdure, with which they were so soon to mantle
the hills. In Italy, there is no doubt, they sacrifice production
to beauty, but I could not help wishing for their long arcades,
even amid the gushing freshness of the Andalusian spring.
One day, -I visited a hacienda in the neighborhood. We
rode for a mUe Or two, almost dry-footed, along the bed of
the Guadalmedina ; and thence, diving into some cool re
cesses among the hiUs, we traveled about the same distance
further, before - reaching our destination. The hacienda is
now neglected as a residence, though it is in excellent culti
vation. The orange and Jemon trees filled great orchards :
the fruit in every stage of ripeness, hanging, strange to say,
beneath clusters of most odorous blossoms. The young
fruit of the fig and pear, the apricot and nectarine, though
as yet in its earliest stages, was in fine profusion. The
wheat and barley were advanced, with the peculiar forward
ness more remarkable in the vega of Malaga than any other
E

98 GLIMPSES 0-F SPA-IN.
of the grain-growing districts of the Peninsula.* The rose-
trees bent beneath their flowers; dahlias, already glowed
luxuriantly ; the carnations were just bursting out ; there
was scarlet stock by beds-full ; arbors full of multi-floras,
among which many birds were singing, and under whose
shade and that of the abundant groves around, there were
stone benches all about, on which you could rest, and reve}
in the boundless exuberance of nature. The dwelling was
upon columns, rising from an artificial basin of running water,
pure from the mountains, glistening with gold and silver
fish, and as cool and summer-Uke as heart could covet.
Not far off there was a reservoir, for the purposes ef irriga
tion, and further on, a fine large; fisfi-pond, surrounded by a
railing pf irpn, and shaded, all alpng its sides, by a sweet
arbor, over which vines were trained and clustering. It
was hard to understand how the proprietors of such a spot
had been induced to desert it, for surely it would not have
been easy to find a more charming retreat from bustje, and
sunshine. The hot and busy city, glaring in the distance, lost
half its sultriness, as you',- looked over it to the wide, quiet
sea, and then, around yeu were the ccoling waters, the pure
air, the deep, dark gorges running dpwn into the meadows,
aU alive with " sunny spots of greenery."
The Sunday after my arrival .(remember, reader, Anda
lusia knows nothing of the Sabbatarian theology) was set apart
by my friends for a jaunt to thecountry. Torre-mplino, a
pleasant hamlet, two or three leagues down the coast, ¦was
to be pur place cf rendezvous, and as my, strength did not
permit me ' to ride so far on horseback, it was determined
that we should all go in' carriages. The best vehicle was
given to me, and I protest against beings considered- un
grateful if I describe it. It was called a bombi, a trans
planted werd, and, I take it for granted, from the French.
The rest of the party were te ride in calesas. The calesa
* It is a month in advance of the vega of Granada. — Spain and
the Spaniards, 401.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 90
is a gig, in the tender infancy of that unsophisticated con
veyance. It has a high, bright-painted back, generaUy
yeUow, with an immense red and green flower-pot and
flowers to suit, gorgeously delineated in its midst. There
is a primitive, arched, leathern oovering, of middle-age
architecture, studded with brass nails, and behind. aU, there
is a huge platform. The body is perohed directly upen the
axle-tree, without any pretensions to springs, unless two
straps, on which it lays claim to swing, may haply so be.
qahed.. The bombe is the calesa, in a state of transition ;
tho worm on its way to being a moth. It .has a sort of
aboriginal springs to it, very hke some that may be seen by
the' curious, rusting, from year to year, in the yard of a
country coach-shop, in Delaware, or on the Eastern Shore
of Maryland, or down in " old Virginia." Foot-board nor
dash-board, has either bombe or calesa. The driver sits in
the bottom of the carriage, with his legs out, as you may
see a Uttle, negro driving his mistress to church, in the land
of gigs, just named. His horse has a taU, monumental look
ing saddle, over which there swings a strap, supporting the-
shafts, on the most approved " self-adjusting" principle.
Whatever else there., is ef harness, is duly tufted with red
Worsted, fore and aft. The reins are of rope, and the charger
bears a string of beUs, so that if you have not altogether the
gliding motion of a sleigh-ride, you are compensated by
something of its music. Fortunately- for the horse, he is
placed reasonably near the vehicle, unUke the practice with
some of the antiquated riding-machines .1 occasionaUy saw
upon the Alameda, from which the mules seemed harnessed
as far a? practicable, as if the power of the animal were
in the direct ratio of the square of his distance. Not
withstanding, too, aU its eccentricities, our bombe was com
fortable enough, and the driver, a shrewd Andaluz, full
of Ufe and huirior, made himself, just as easy, as if he
were our companion, host, pr friend. Our road lay to
the southwest,, nearly parallel with - the sea, and we found

100 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
it very pleasant for some time, while we were upon the
smooth and fertile vega. The usual profusion of flowers
greeted us every where ; the scarlet poppy nodding gracefully
above them all ; and our road was lined by hedges of green
cane, its foliage almost as luxuriant as that of Indian corn,
relieving pleasantly the uncouth, thorny mass which makes
the prickly pear, and all the cacti, ; as ungraceful in the
plant as they are radiant in blosspm.. From lppking at the
plenty with which the vega was teeming, it was hard to
believe, what I fear is top true, that nature had much mere
to do with its abundance than man. "• In about an hour, we
reached the Malaga River (Ferd calls it 'the Guadajore),
and crossed its rapid and full stream, at some distance below
the huge unfinished aqueduct that bestrides it. We then
skirted the pleasant little village of Ch'urriana, where many
of the wealthier Malaguenos have summer cottages ; and
mounting a rugged and steep hill, . which developed the
superiority of our bombe over the back-breaking vehicles to
which we had preferred it, we made our way as well as We
could, to the Buen Retiro, a noted country place belonging
to the Conde de Villalcazar. Our road lay over stones and
ruts, which called our driver's topographical abilities into
perpetual play, and he would, at every obstruction, leap
from .his perch, run wildly to the horse's head, guide him, at
full trot, over crag and gully, and then spring back to take
his fair share of the jolting. Olive and orange plantations
were now thick- around us, 'Large white lilies began to
show themselves aU over -the fields, and it seemed that the
flora became more varied and luxuriant, if possible, at every
turn. Arrived at the gate of the Retiro, our driver plied
the knocker vigorously, and a weasel-faced old. man peeped
through the wicket suspiciously, upon the summons. Beingv
assured, however, that we were peaceful people, by the pro
duction of a permit which my friend had obtained in town,
from the administrador pf the proprietor, he opened-sesame,
with all courtesy, and we were let in. The grounds are

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 101
quite extensive and fantastically laid cut, with a profusion
of shells and petrifactions of all sorts around the flower-beds ;
and busts and heads, of bad sculpture, peeping, with dislocated
eyes over. fractured noses, all along the walks. There was,
however, such a profusion of beautiful and fragrant vegeta
tion — such wealth of flowers and fruit-trees, long shady
aUeys, green walks, and bowers, and hedges — that in spite of
much dilapidation and neglect, we wandered, long and
pleasantly, ameng their mazes.- Then teo; the hacienda is
on a lull-side, and there was a flood of bright mountain
water, which was all about us in ponds and lakes, canals
and fountains, glancing, gurgling, murmuring, and bringing
freshness as it flowed. The jets-d'eau were quite a wonder,
for their copiousness and variety, and as our permit included
an authority to have them put in play, we seon had the
whole garden dancing and gUttering in the sun. Down on
a bed of rustic work and grass, a plaster shepherd lay
among the fountains, colored hke hfe, and looking, at a dis
tance, quite as natural... Just as the waters sprang into
spray around him, and when, according to the rules of
pastorals, he should have tuned the pipe which he was
holding to his lips, a donkey, in the grove hard by, till then
unseen, thought proper to lift up his pleasant voice, in aU
the most musical varieties of its gamut. It was Iriarte's
« burro ftautista," with scenery and decorations. Two or
three families of plain people from Malaga, were enjoying
the Retiro for the day, and the privilege of seeing the water
(las aguas) which they had not influence to obtain,, made us
unknowingly, their benefactors, which they were not slow
to acknowledge. They- had with them their guitars and
castanets, and it would have been hard to find a livelier
or more happy party. No doubt they had also provision
for their frugal meal, and made quite a day of it, for we
saw them in the evening, returning upon their donkeys (pur
musical friend included) and they were as smiling as. if all
had gone very weU.

102 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
The dwelling at the Retiro is shabby enough, and espe
cially for the house of a Cende, but the Owner has not
inhabited it for years, and the place is only valued for its
products. The pictures that are left, prove conclusively that
bad painting, like bad wine, is none - the better for age,
With the exception of one or two tables of Florentine mosaic,
gseatry dilapidated, a buhl cabinet, quite 'scaly, and a bath
room of marble which holds its own a little, there are no
signs remaining about the house, of taste, or Wealth; or even
common comfort.
Leavingthe Retiro and meeting here and there Upon the
lonely road, a horseman with his firelock hanging at his
cantle, and partly covered, like himself, by the folds of his
large cloak-^or an occasional goat-herd in brown cloak and
peaked hat, in color and costume almost the very fellow to
his goats, we drove, after a little space, around the almond
orchard of the Prussian consul, and then passed up a fine
broad avenue- to the gate of his villa, which was" opened by
an attendant who carried a firelock also. The house is
a very pretty and tasteful summer residence, with long
gallery and terrace. The grounds are laid out with great
neatness and are kept and tended with a careful industry,
which weuld make the Retiro quite a splendid affair: We
wandered for seme time through the garden, from pne fong
prange and vine-covered alley te anpther, with the chcicest
flowers striving to outbloom each other, and a profusion of
fine fruit-trees, promising plenty for autumn, to match the
prodigality of spring. Having received our nosegays and
paid our pesetas, as in duty bound, we were again at the
disposal of our Jehu, who turned his horse's head at once
toward Torre-molino. The roads were not very pleasant,
bombe-cally considered, but picturesque enofigh, for there was
a high brown hill which looked gravely down on us, and we
in our turn, looked over a landscape, alternately beautiful and
barren, down upon Malaga and the sea. When we reached
our destination we found dinner prepared for us, at a charm-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 103
ing little pleasure-house, whose tasteful gardens gave us fine
views of the Mediterranean, from their shady arbors, and
supplied our board with a profusion of fresh strawberries,
not quite so poetical, perhaps, as sea-views, but rather
preferable, at the moment, inasmuch as I had, of late, had
so much less of them.
Our -caltsero set his horse to eating cut grass, at once, from
the bottom of the bomte, outside the gate, and went himself
to take his puchero with a crowd of stout, copper-pitching
sinners, who were grouped upon the green. I never saw
finer looking 'feUows than they were. Brawny and broad,
yet taU arid weU-proportioned, they wore their tight-fitting
garments over limbs which were the perfection of active and
athletic manhood. We stood for a long while watching
their sport, and waiting for the friends who were to join us ;
' but they were detained at home by sudden and deep famUy
affliction, and we hastened back, in a vety different spirit
"from that in which the morning was begun. Upon the
road, we overtook a slow procession of calesas and great
lumbering coaches of the past or a previous century, looking
like larid-galleys, and almost as fit for oars as wheels. Our
bombi went proudly by them, as rapidly as if they had been
anchored, and we reached Malaga by dusk. Whether they
ever arrived in port, I have no means of knowing.

CHAPTER IX.
The Cathedral — Ford and Widdrington— Society in Malaga — The
Malaguenas — Slanders of Tourists^ — Female Travelers — Spanish
Hospitality — Letters of Introduction — Dinners — ^Courtship and
Marriage — Medical Men — Funeral Ceremonies and Customs of
Mourning. The pubhc buildings of Malaga, as I have said, ara of no
great importance generally,, but the Cathedral certainly
deserves something more than the contemptuous notice which
Ford takes of it. The passage in which he refers to it, is
so fair a specimen of the" temper and spirit of his criticisms
generally, and their taste frequently, that I give it to the
reader. " The original design by Diego de Siloe, was de
parted from by each succeeding architect-; now it is a
pasticcio which will never please any but the Malaguenos,
who are better judges of raisins than of the reasons of good
taste. The facade stands between two towers : one estd por
acabar, and the other is draWn out like a.telescope, with a
pepper-box dome  The interior is a failure. The roof
is groined in a thready, meager pattern, while a heavy
cornice is supported by grouped Corinthian pillars, placed
back to back on ill-proportioned pedestals !" A more culti
vated traveler, and one whos,e taste is open to no suspicion
of raisins, has pronounced quite a different verdict upon the
matter in question. It is worth quoting, not only for the
sake of impartiality, but as a curious specimen of the extent
¦ to which critics may disagree. " The Cathedral of Malaga,"
says Captain Widdrington, " is a magnificent structure, and
kept in a style of neatness whieh can not be excelled. It
contains some admirable works of Mena, Michaeli, and of
other artists." And again : " The effect is muoh lighter

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 105
than that of Granada, and the modern additions have been
made with good taste, although of different design from the
original building. . . . The sculpture in the choir is excel
lent." Still further — "Gilding is much employed, and with
good taste, to ornament different parts of the edifice. The
order is Corinthian, and as the height is much less and does
not require it, the piloni, or pillars to support the roof, are
lighter and more elegant than those at Granada. The
whole effect is cheerful and pleasing," &c. I confess, for
my humble part, that I had the temerity not to think ill of
the Cathedral, within or without, although certainly I ad
mired, much more, the lofty dome and bold arches at Granada.
The reader, curious in SUch matters, will find two beautiful
views of the Malaga Cathedral, in the Landscape Annual of
1836, the fidelity of which will enable him to judge, how far
the grocery features of Mr. Ford's, descriptions are applicable.
The society of Malaga must be very agreeable to those
who have an opportunity -of prolonging the pleasant experi
ence upon which a short stay scarcely permitted me to enter.
English and French, are very generally and fluently spoken
by the younger men, a larg* number of whom have been edu
cated in France, England, or the United States. In the streets,
a stranger constantly hears the familiar sound of his native
language, and at the drculo, or club, those I have mentioned
are always in one's ear. The drculo is a most convenient
and comfortable establishment, fronting upon the harbor, and
provided with all the appliances for whiling, pleasantly, away,
the odd hours that might hang heavily. It is supplied with
the principal English and continental papers, and is, of course,
the center of ^commercial intelligence. The entry of your
name by a member, gives you the freedom of the apartments,
where you rjiay find, at any time, a cool orehata and a com
municative companion. For those who enjoy billiards and
cards, there are the needful facilities, together with reading-
rooms for the silent, and conversation-rooms for the social.
A stranger, if he be wise, is generaUy of these last, -and he

106 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
finds, in the cordial manners and intelUgence of those he
meets, every inducement he could desire, to indulge his in
clination. Of the gentler sex, one must needs speak carefuUy, since
many travelers have disgraced themselves and traduced the
fair Malaguenas, by stories Which, even if true, ought, of
themselves, to discredit any one who would repeat them. Of
"the traveling " bagmen, and half-fledged subalterns," who
have transgressed in the premises, Captain Widdrington has
taken due netice in his last bcok, and "Christopher North, in
his review of that work, has promised to look out for" similar
offenders. It is to be heped that- the castigatien administered
will be in proper style and due quantity ; for the frank and
unreserved cordiality of manner with which strangers are
received in Malaga, arid which may have suggested the
absurd conclusions at which some of them have professed to
arrive, gives certainly the greatest heinousness to their
breaches of the laws of hospitality. In the United States,
we have known something of such matters. We could give
the Spaniards the benefit of some experience in the folly of
supposing, that because a man writes pleasantly, and has a
name, he needs must feel the instincts and understand the
obligations of a gentleman. We could illustrate, by exam
ples of some small-souled people, made giddy by courtesy
misconstrued into homage, who have been weak enough to
make a shabby jest, of kindness, whpse exaggeratien furnish
ed their chief stock cf merits.
The Malaguenas, I am bound to say, appeared remark
able to me rather for their grace, and gentle, feminine bear
ing, than any peculiar beauty cf feature, although it is by no
means rare to catch glimpses among them of the radiant
Arab type. The proverbial expression in regard to them
encourages me in my way of thinking, for while it caUs them
" muy halaguenas" (very fascinating or enchanting); it
leaves their beauty unsung. There is a famUiar verse,
too, which darkly insinuates, that although they are re-

GLIMPSE'S OF SPAIN. 107
nowned for loveliness, the lion is not quite so fierce as he is
painted ! — "Malaga tiene lafama
De las muferes bonitas :
Mas no es tan flero el leon
Como fas jentes lopintan!"
As they walk upon the Alameda, the Malaguenas have
no superiors, unless it be among their far-famed sisters of
Cadiz. I had .abundant opportunities of comparing them
with the women of other countries. Malaga is the sea-port
by which strangers generaUy seek access to Granada, and
the steamer, which arrived twice or three times a week,
had usuaUy a fair proportion of female passengers, English,
French, and now and then German, who of course made
"their appearance upon the Alameda, as soon as the afternoon
walk began. The contrast was an amusing one, and an
idler like myself might be pardoned for the lack pf better oc
cupation than that pf watching H. While the fair strangers,
with their unseemly bonnets and huge green vails, seemed
bent on- disguising their charms, and giving to their appear
ance a uniformity of uncomeliness, the Malaguena wore her
dark mantilla, with its black lace just fringing her cheek,
and its simple form displaying, unembarrassed, the peculiar
graces of her fine bust and peerless carriage. The strangers
wore the last parti-colored patterns from Paris, with such
flounces and fillings as were orthodox : the Malaguena
scarce ever varied the plain silk, whose adaptation to her
figure was always a triumph of taste, and whose dark, rich
shade gave realce, as she would caU it, to her- complexion.
And then how differently they walked ! — it seemed scarcely
meant for the same sort of proceeding. The hght, thorough
bred step of the Malaguena — "la finesse du cheval Arabe,"
as M. Gautier has' it— displayed a symmetry about the loco
motive apparatus, which deserved a Bridgewater Treatise.
The blooming Anglo-Saxon, on the contrary, though she
eschewed the shuffle of the occasional Teutonic" specifnen

108" GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
we had, stalked, nevertheless, Uke ajnarching grenadier,
among the Andaluzas : her long dressj ungraceful it was, not
long enough to conceal the fact, that her peculiar style of
movement, though no doubt excellent for health, was decid
edly unfavorable to feet and ankles.
Attractive, however, as the Malaguena is, upon the paseo,
the private circle is the place^of her especial triumph- She
is. eminently domestic — at least so say" her lords and masters
— full of amiability and household^ industry ; kind to her
servants, acceptable .to her friends, and ccrdial to the stran
gers that are within her gates. One of the first things,
indeed, that strike a traveler of observation,, after he has
been admitted into .the inner life of Spanish families,, is the
closeness and -tenderness of the domestic relations 'and affec-
tiens. Np matter hew distant their degree, kinsmen and
kinswemen seemed never tp forget, what, among colder
nations, are held very brittle ties. Nor is there any affecta
tion about it, for it involves constant and affectionate inter
course, and the interchange of all imaginable - gopd effices.
This ccnsideration for relatives, is extended to the friends
who join the circle under their auspices. A single visit,
with, a proper introduction, gives you the freedom- of the
house. Yeur hpst pr hostess .tells you, at once, that it is
"a, la disposicion de vmd." — altogether at your disposal. If
you are-in.the house, and it. happens to be mentioned, it is
not as the house of the proprietor, but as esta su casa — this,
your house. If you suppose all this to be mere compliment,
and adopt) the English and American idea, that you, are not
treated with substantial civility, till you are formally invited
to dinner, ypu mistake the people, and throw away your
oppprtunities. The stomach is npt ccnsidered, in. Spain, as
the seat of the social affections. If .you are recommended
to a family, the head of it calls on you at once, .without
regard te formality pr visiting hcurs. Instead of giving you
to eat, which, as you are "traveling on your own means, he
naturaUy supposes you do npt irriperatively need, he gives

v GLIMPSES .OF SPAIN. 109
you his company, and his personal attentipn and guidance,
which he knews are pf much more importance to you, and
which you can not buy. He takes you to see his family and
his friends ; puts you, at-once, on a footing of familiar acquaint
ance with them ; makes you feel that the door is open to you
whenever you wish to enter, and then leaves it to your own
discretion to go and come, as you please. Out of doors, he
is by yout side. He gives you the thousand facilities, that
a stranger can only thus obtain, and tells you, in half a day,
all that a guide-book and a valet de place could teach you
in a month.
I have often talked to EngUsh and American travelers,
of this difference between the treatment of strangers, in
Spain and in our respective countries, and although I
have found few disposed to deny the superior g»od taste
and civilization of the Spanish system, it has not been,
often, without an attempt to account for it pri pther than
natienal grounds. The Spaniards, they say, are an idle
people ; a stranger is quite a god-send to them, and they
not only have abundance of time to devote to him, which
an Englishman or American" has not, but they find it. a
great relief to the tedium and ennui. of their own customary
life. Some of this, no doubt, is true. A Spaniard, generally,
has considerable leisure, for himself as weU as for others' ;
though I hardly think that, fact proves any thing, as to the
point in controversy, except that the monopolizing ocpupa-
tions of the Enghsh and our own -countrymen interfere,
mainly, with the exercise of the most grateful, and enlight
ened species of hospitality. But, so far as my opportunities
disclosed, it is aU the same, in Spain, with men of business
and-men of leisure. The former may. riot give you, so ex
clusively, their personal attention, but they favor you with
infinitely more of it than ypu obtain, anywhere else, from
those to whom you are recommended. They act upon the
principle, that you need society, in a strange place, and that
" victuals and drink" do not extinguish their obligation to

110 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
give it to you. Man does'-not live by bread alone, and how
few travelers are there; Who'have not sighed over the neglect
of so venerable a truth, when they have found, in their joui'-
neyings 'to and fro, that a' letter Of introduction is generally
held to he a biU of exchange, which is paid, in full, by a din
ner ! When our new acquaintance, too busy to see us him
self, has sent us his invitation", how often have we wished, iri
despair "at his sad civility, that "he had sent us his servant,
his carriage, even^his horse, in its stead ! A wise man, a$
well as witty, Was Theodore Hook, when.he told the alder
man who had already surfeited him, and yet pressed him to
partake Of -still another course—" I thank you, Jaut, if it's
the same to you, I'll, take the rest in money !" Many En
glish travelers attribute the non-dinner-giving habit of the
Spaniard^ to their poverty, or economy. This is all very
natural, in that large class of John Bull's- children, who,
regarding - alimentiveness as a national virtue and roaBt
beef as one of the bulwarks of the realm, can see no excuse
for abstinence, but trie lack of liberality or funds. It is
strange, however, that so enlighteried a person as Mr. Ford
should lean to that way of thinking, and quote Justin,
Athenseus, Martial, and Strabo, in the original, to show that
it is nothing new. Lithgdw, whose visit to Spain was as
far back as the reign of Phfiip IV.J, delivers his sentiments
on the subject in this wise" : " The Spaniard is of a spare
diet and temperate, if at his Own cost he spend, but if given
gratis, he hafh the longest tUslis that ever played at table."
My own experience was father the reverse of this, for, iristead
of finding any disposition, On the part of the Spaniards, to
make a stranger- jpay their score, I was occasionally al
most annoyed by their insisting upon settling mine. I must
be pardoned, therefore, for thinking that the class of traveler's,
whose notions on the subject I have referred to, either had
very bad luck, or kept bad company. Be this as it may,
I can not but applaud that custom, 'in regard to the recep
tion of strangers, which puts the poor host arid the rich on

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. Ill
a level ; enabling the one to do all, in the way of civility,
that can properly be expected of the other. Not the least
of its advantages, is the relief to the guest himself, who is
saved the unpleasant reflection, that he has, perchance, been
a burden to an amiable man, who could ill afford it,- or a
bore to a wealthy one, who feasted him to be rid of him.
The indoor manners of the Malaguenos are, I have said,
simple and cordial, in a high degree. You start, with your
friend, upon a round of visiting. You wiU be strangely dis
appointed, if you imagine that it is a matter of routine and
visiting cards, as at home. It is a thing, on the contrary,
not to be Ughtly disposed of, and one which, from the time
it occupies, would be quite serious, were it not so exceedingly
agreeable. You have threaded a half-score of crooked, nar
row streets, perhaps, when your guide rings at a very un
promising looking, large gate. In a moment, you hear the
clicking of a latch, and a wicket opens before you. You
enter, and hear a voice, from the upper regions, calling out,
"Quien viene?" or, more shortly, "Quien?" (Who comes?
or Who ?)¦ You- are in the center of a court, and as your
companion replies, "Gente de paz," or " Paz," (" Peaceful
people," or " Peace !") you look up, and see the servant, in
an upper gallery, with the string in his hand which has'
raised the latch for you. ¦ Your friend makes the proper
inquiries, and, in a moment, you find yourself in an ante
chamber, on the first or second floor, from which you are
ushered into the receiving-room. ' In all probabihty, you
find aU the ladies of the family together, in plain morning
diess, and busy at some labor' of the needle, from which, no
matter how homely and industrious it be, your presence
does not disturb them. The endorsement of the gentleman
who presents you, admits you at once, ad eundem, and you
are made welcome and at ease, accordingly. • Do not be
surprised, if a fair maiden insists upon bestowing yoUr hat
out of harm's way, nor if another, with her own delicate
hands, should place the most luxurious seat in the room at

112 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
your disposal. Perhaps, in a large . balcony- window, over,
hanging the street, there sits, like a sweet saint in a niche-
a fair worker in embroidery. It may be, she is the comeliest,
arid the light, by chance, is good, and well-adjusted, so that
you will find the vacant chair, by her side, the place which
of all others is the most agreeable to you. What ypu may
talk.pf ccncerns ne one, but prejudiced as yeu may be, in
favor of the sterner elegance of the pure Castilian, it will be
strange if your first experience does not reconcile you, straight-
ways, to the soft murdering of consonants, of which the
Andalusian beauties are so guilty. When you rise to retire,
you, will be astonished that your morning.-has gone ; but you
have been made so perfectly, and pleasantly at home, that you
can not resist the warm invitation to return, and will, no
doubt, find yourself again in the balcony, before the flowers have
faded, which were budding when you first saw' them there.
Marriage, among the better classes in Malaga, is a thing, as
the church service hath it, not "enterprised or taken in hand,
unadvisedly or lightly." The laboring people, with that
provident heed of the morrow which seems peculiar, every
where, to the poor and the lilies of the field, are satisfied
with such happiness as eight or ten reals a. day can procure,
for a man with a wife and family. They marry when it
suits them ; live as well as they can, on wine and oil, grapes,
bread, garbanzos, and garhc, and are as cheerful and merry
over .an, old guitar, as if its music ccntained the quintessence
of as many gcpd things, as were in my Lerd Peter's breWn
leaf, pr his alderman's sirlein. Heaven always blesses a een-
tented spirit, and there are few cf them whe dp npt see, . '
" Around them grow their sons and daughters,
Like wild grapes on the vine."
Quite as willingly, ne dpubt, wpuld the yeung folks pf the
higher ranks assume the yeke and trust to Providence ; but
the usages ef spciety cempel the ebservance of a semewhat
sterner prudence. Cupid's drafts, with them, are generally.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 113
on time and at leng dates. Fer many years — eften from
early youth to manhood weU matured — it is customary for
them, estar en relaciones (to be upon relations) with each
other, until the happy or unhappy young man (as the case
may be) can persuade the fair one, or her less persuadable
relatives, that he is able, con decoro, to keep house and fam
ily. Run-away matches not being tolerated, by church,
state, or fashion, matrimony would, thus become too often a
sad, systematic business, were it not that, in Andalusia, the
light of love's young dream is no " brief candle," but burns
long and bright, as weU as warm. In the mean time, the
patient swain has the freedom of the father's house and the
lady's qonversation, and on pleasant nights, when the moon,
or stars, or his young Juliet's eyes invite him, he can say
sweet things to Uer, tUl morning comes, through the rejas
(the iron gratings) of her window. This relic of "the olden
times, when sleepless maidens welcomed their roving lovers
from midnight lattices, now goes by at least two most un-
romantic names. Some caU it comer hierro (to eat iron) a
phrase, the foundation or derivation, of which may very
reasonably be traced to some supposed approximation ef the
lover's lips to the window-bars. The other name, however,
pelar la pava (to pluck the hen-turkey, as the Hand-book
translates it), seems of much less philosophical etymology, for
surely, if so gallant a performance smacks at aU of the poul
try-yard, another bird, of Capitoline memory would seem to
be entitled to its honors. Mr. Ford is mistaken, as I had
reason to know, in supposing that the custom has been aban
doned by the higher classes, and it is no unusual thing, if by
chance you walk late, to see well cloaked squires, of the very
proudest, keeping watch and ward, in the small hcurs, by a
tone balceny.
The admirable description which the Hand-book gives of
medical men in Spain, applies especiaUy to Malaga, where
things are still done as- in the days of Gil Bias, or at least
as when MoUere's heroes flourished .their gold-headed canes.

114 GLIMPSES OF SPAllt
Not but that there are, among the physicians, well educated
iften, from the best schools, but the absurd old fashion of
taking no decisive step, without a junta of doctors, not Only
destroys all sense of responsibility and all proper self-relianoe
on the part of the practitioner, but too frequently allows the
disease to walk Off with the patient, in the interim. It must
be a sad business, for both the feelings and the temper —
when a friend er relative is iri peril, from which the timely
action of a scieritific attendant might speedily relieve him—
to be compelled to drum Up the faculty, for a consulta, and
then wait until the family-physician has told the story of the
case, with a slight biographical- sketch of the patient, in
order that each of the counselors, in his turn, may smoke a
cigar over if, and deliver the same disquisition, backward, of
otherwise impprtantly varied, as he may prefer. " Les gens
de la maison," says M. Tomes iri L' Ameur Medecih,
"faisoient Ce quails pbuVoient', et la maladie pressoit : mais
je n'en voulus point d&mordre, et la malade mourut brdve-
ment pendant cette contestation." Happily, delays may
save, new and then, as well as kill. As a matter of justice,
however, tc fhe faculty cf Malaga (thpugh perhaps they
have nothing to dp with it) I Ought to mention, that in
looking over the daily bills of mortality, as published in the
newspapers,- I was constantly struck with the frequent
instances Of longevity! Deaths of persons, over ftinety years
of age, occurred very often during my first visit. I remem
ber that of one, who had gene censiderably ever an hundred,
and the proportion of those who died at sixty, seventy, and
eighty, was quite large. Captain Widdrington notices this
fact in his Sketches, and it is entitled tc spme censideration,
on account of the particularity with Which the parish-records
are kept, and the consequent improbabiUty of mistake. I
can not account for the anomaly, in view of the medical
habits alluded to, unless it be, that -the parties who had
lived so long had been too poor to employ physicians, or that
constitutfons, which could survive the consultai of twenty

GLIMPSE8 OF SPAIN. 119
years, were good for a century, at least, in the absence of
earthquakes and pronuneiamientos.
Whether the Spanish physicians are responsible for some
very droll notions, upon medical subjects, which prevail
among the peojle, I am not prepared to say ; but, if they
be, it is clear that their art needs mending. Pulmonary
consumption, for example, is popularly deemed contagious,
and patients, suffering from it, are treated and shunned
accordingly. When death ensues, the sick-chamber goes
through a perfect quarantine of disinfeetion ; and beds,
clothing, and furniture are remorselessly given to the flames.
Iri Cadiz, it occurred to me, to exchange my traveling-bag
for one of a mere convenient size. The tradesman expressed
his regret that he ceuld npt find any use for mine. " It is
an excellent one," he said, " but it has been slightly used,
and no one will buy it. My customers win think it has
belonged- to some consumptive person (algun etico), and
although your worship does not look like one, it wiU be of
no avail for "me to say so."
In the use of leeches, to reduce inflammation of the brain,
it is customary to apply them — at the lower extremity of
the spine ; the theory being, that the farther you draw the
blood from the diseased part the better ! Why, upon that
principle, they stop short of the soles of the feet, or do not
send the blood a league into the country, afterward, seems
rather difficult to understand.
An English gentleman told me, that, in conversation with
one of the most eminent of the "faculty in Granada, he al
luded to the recent discoveries in regard to sulphuric ether.
"You mistake," said Esculapius.' "It is not ether; it is
carbonic acid gas, and I teU you it is very darigerouS. It
asphyxiates the patient, immediately I"
From physicians, to funerals, the transition is a natural
one, by association of ideas, at all events, if not in the due
sequence of cause and effect. The Spanish medicos, at
least, seem to think so, and they are careful ftot to encourage

116 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
the connection, by attending the burial of their, patients.
The domestic manners of the Malaguenos are well illus
trated, by their customs in. regard to sickness and death.
When a case is pronounced, de cuidado (Of seriousness} the
usual visitors of the house are expected to call, regularly,
in person. To avoid the inconvenience which might be
caused by this, to the family, the door of the front court is
left open, and upon, a table within, there is placefl, a bulletin
of the patient's condition, with information as to whether the
family are willing er npt to see ccmpany. There are writing
materials at hand, and each visitor leaves his name, depart
ing, as he entered, without the <use of bell or knocker. The
near relatives and close iriends go. up even to the- sick-room ;
a custorri which,, however affectionate, must be, I should
think, both inconvenient to the household and^ perilous to the
patient. If the physicians think- that the case is critical, the
sacrament ,of extreme unction is, of course, administered, as
speedily as may be. An hour is appointed for the purpose,
and the friends and acquaintances are notified that the pro
cession will start from- thp church at which the penitent
worships. It is a matter of gratification to the family, that
the attendance upon this. sad solemnity, should be as numer
ous and respectable as possible, and nothing, therefore, but
some very pressing necessity, is allowed, by the friends to in
ter-fere with their performance ofthe duty. You will, now
and then as you are walking, hear the tinkling of a little
bell, which announces to you the approach of the Host, upon
such an errand. If, the sick. person be of. humble station,, a
few men, bearing the lanterns belonging to the church, wiU
probably form the only accompaniment of the ceremonial,
except that, occasionaUy, the.passers-by. will join it, for a few
moments, walking in the rear of the officiating priest. If,
however, the party is of higher i-ank or has a larger circle
of acquaintance, the processien is .quite imppsing. Behind
the "accoiyte whe bears the bell, you will see servants carry
ing baskets of wax candles, from which every persen, whp'

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 117
joins the ranks, will take one, to be lighted and carried in
his hand. The male friends of fhe family, in fuU dress,
follow, in long lines, with lighted torches, those farthest in
the rear carrying' the lanterns which the church sends to
high and low. At the close of the procession, the ecclesias
tic Who bears the sacrament, comes, clad in his appropriate
vestments, and generally with two supporters. The crowd
take off their hats and kneel, as the train goes by, and some
of them, on rising, follow it reverently. When it reaches
the sick man's dweUing, the priests, of course, pass to his
chamber, and the administration of the sacramerit is witnessed
by as many of the friends, as circumstances will allow. After
a Uttle while, you hear again the tinkling ofthe bell, as the
procession, -returning to the church, teUs you that the solemn
act is over. To travelers from Protestant countries, so public
a ceremonial, on such an occasion, seems strange enough, of
course ; but a man must be both a bigot and a fool, to deride,
as empty pageant or mere "mummery," what, among people
of a different faith and education, bears hope and consolation
to the dying bed, and comfort to those who are sorrowing
around it.
When there is a death in a family, the body is deposited
in a private chamber, which is not profaned by the visits or
the curiosity of indifferent acquaintances. The most intimate
friends and relatives alone have access to it. Upon your
arrival, at the hour appointed for the funeral, you are ushered
into an apartment, at the head of which the nearest rela
tives, not of the immediate family, are assembled to receive
you. They rise as you enter : you salute them in silence,
and then retire, to make way for others, and to lounge about
the haUs, the patio, or the street before the door, until the
procession is to be arranged. You are, of course, expected
to be in mourning; and" in fuU dress. The coffin now appears,
borne upon a sort of bier, and on men's shoulders* It is
generaUy open, with the face of the deceased exposed. If
the funeral is of a young unmarried woman, there is. a gar-

118 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
land of white flowers upon the breast, and the grave-clothes
are pf white, with a blue tunic or scarf — the colors of the
Immaculate Conceptien, which Murillo has wedded te gp
much loveliness and divinity. Attached to each cerner of
the coffin, in that case, is . a long, white ribbon, which is
held by one of the pall-bearers, who are four unmarried men.
Tomar una cinta (to take a ribbon) is the phrase which
indicates their office. Among the wealthy, the funeral "is
usually accompanied by a long train pf paupers, who always
receive some present — often the suit of mourning in which
they appear upon the eccasion. There is, top, generally, a
detachment of bpys from some religious or, charitable institu
tion, which, of ceurse,, has its share ef the alms that are dis
tributed. The precessicn passes, pn foot, to the, church, the
priests and attendants bearing Ughted torches, and solemnly
chanting on- their way. The coaches follow in the rear, if
the streets permit, and if not, they proceed to the ceme-.
tery, where they await the return ef the company.- Arrived
at the church, the body is carried to the catafalco, in front
of the altar, accompanied only by the clerical, attendants and
the paU-bearers. The rest of the company remain in wait
ing, on the outside, until the entrance of the relatives, These
are not, as. I have said, of the immediate family, but especial.
deference is paid them. They pass in, between the uncovered
ranks of their friends,- and in the church they occupy the
first places. When the services are over, they proceed, in
advance, to the church door, where they receive the parting
salutations of those who choose to retire at that stage, ef the
ceremeny. They then felfow, as before, in the rear ef the
processicn, which goes ph sfowly, with music, and chant, to
the sepulcher.-
The campo santo ef Malaga is a large inclpsure,,at some
distance from the city, built up with niches for the dead, on
the inner sides of the walls. It has, but little of ornament
or taste, and the church in its center, though of recent
erection, seems aheady tottering. I do npt know, hpwever,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 119
whether I shoiild have thought much better of it, as a rest
ing-place for the departed, had it been as rich in art as the
hqly grcund pf Pisa. It is a strange and repulsive custom,
it seems to me, where there is waste soU in abundance, to
crqwd the dead into these narrow and unnatural depositories.
A man ¦ has, a fair claim to lay his bones on the earth's
bosom, when he leaves verge and room enough, for the
hying. At the time I saw the campo santo of Malaga^
the fields around it were bright and fragrant with innumer
able flowers, and I could not help feeling a sense of inap-
propriateness, not far removed from pain, when turning
from the beauties of the resting-place which nature tendered,
to the coldness and desolation of the moldering walls, into
whose crevices the lizards and scorpions and fouler reptiles
ran, frightened, as we passed.
In front of the open niche, wliich is to receive the coffin,
the attendants lay it down, and a relative cuts off some locks
of hair, which are carried home with the flowers that may
have lain upon the breast. Each of the pall-bearers then
takes, as a memorial, the cinta he has borne, and the coffin
is locked, and committed to the narrow house. The com
pany, or such of them as will, then return to the dwelling,
where the male members of the family are waiting to receive
them. A melancholy shaking of hands, a dead effort at con
versation, and a good-by ! bpth wiUing and welccme, put a
speedy end tp the unhappy formality. Fpr the twe pr three
days next ensuing, it is generaUy expected that the family
wiU be at heme te thpse pf their friends whe caU, para
hacerles compania — tc give them company. Some have the
good sense and gopd taste to break through this observance,
in which case, a paper upon the table in the patio, informs
the visitors that the fanrily can not be seen. Their names,
which they leave, answer aU the purposes of compliment,
and save a great deal of unpleasantness.
Custom, of course, reconcUes us to aU things, but there
is an opening of the home-sanctuary in these usages, to

120 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
which only custom could reccnclle. The Spaniards, hew-
ever, are se close and intimate, in their relaticns pf family
or friendship, and see, constantly, so -much of each other and
each other's iriner-Ufe, that what, te us, may seem a painful
vielation of the privacy of grief, may be, te them, but a nat
ural cencessien to the claims of spcial fellcwship and sym
pathy. In this ppint pf view, I have deemed the details I
have given, sufficiently illustrative ef national character, te
deserve the space they eccupy.

CHAPTER X.
Departure for Cadiz— A Summer Sea — Rook and Stnjts of Gibraltar
by Moonlight — Cadiz— The Casino — English Papers and the Mex
ican War — Women — Public Walks — Buildings — Flower-market —
Fondness for Flowers — Spanish rural Tastes — -Fortifications —
Ocean- view and Sunset.
It had been my intention, on arriving at Malaga, to
shape my course, next, te Granada. The season, however,
was tardy, and leaves and -flowers are so essential to a fair
appreciation ofthe City of the Moor, that I was advised, on
all hands, to change my plan, and leave the Alhambra un
seen, till the very close of spring. My American felfow-
travelers, who had gone up, a few days after our arrival, and
had " done" Zegri, Abencerrage, and Christian, in one morning,
were not particularly enthusiastic in their accounts of the
climate among the mountains ; so that I readily agreed to
linger, a little longer, in the cities on the plains. The great
Andalusian horse-fair of Ronda commences, every year, upon
the twentieth of May, and I was soon convinced that it was
possible for me, in the mean time, to see Cadiz and Seville,
and, returning to Malaga once more, by the Ronda Mount
ains, be-in time to catch the first breath of summer on the
gardens of the Generalife.
On the evening of April 27th, I was accordingly ship
ped for Cadiz, on board the splendid steamer, the Manuel
Agustin Heredia. The vessel had just been purchased in
England, and was. about to make he? first trip to Havre, as
one of a line but recently established. ; There were crowds
upon the quays -and mole, to see her start, and she was
thronged with visitors, until her anchor rose. Such kissings-
F

192 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
and partings there were — such waving of handkerchiefs and
drying of tears — such good wishes given and received, in
accents so soft and lisping ! It was hard for a man to
be a disinterested spectator "of such things, when the bright
ness of the eyes and the freshness of the lips, concerned
in them, gave such enlarged and delightful ideas of the
philosophy of adaptation. But, alas '. a traveler, who is but
a rolling-stone, can e'xpecj; to gather no such moss ! The
day was- fine, and a crowd pf pleasure boats flitted about the
harbor, in honor of the occasion, but the -'breeze was light,
and they were soon far behind <is, and then the towers and
battlements of the' pleasant, city were gradually lost, among
the brown reaches of the hills. The sun went down, while
we were passing the Castle of Fuengirola, with its white
village skirting the sea — the fortress itself crowning a green
eminence, ever which, farther back, towered the rough
Sierra de Mijas. Far -before us", were the high lands about
Marbella, and farther still, the bold coast of Africa loomed
against the cloudless sky. The Rock of Gibraltar, was, of
course, up and doing also, and the "Sierra Nevada eculd still
be seen, frowning over the shpres we were leaving. Fleets
ef vessels were all around us. There were Mediterranean
cruisers, with their strange, beautiful piles of canvas ; square-
rigged craft, beund on long voyages, and, for many days,
lcpking in vain for favprable breezes ; fishing smacks dropp
ing in to shore, like tired birds, eh lazy wing, at twilight.
Spme ef the heavier vessels had their beats put, and were
geing through the forrh pf being teWed ; ethers were anchored
near shore, in utter despair of wind, and we could readily
imagine how they envied us, as we ploughed on, beneath
the moon, "our ten glad miles the hour. Steamers are no
picturesque' tourists, and so we staid net a mpment te ad
mire er console such lagging company'; but — leaving them
to study, at their leisure, the antiquity of the old watch-
towers on the hills abo^e them, or to make what pleasant
topographical reflections they preferred, upon the contrast

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 123
between the soft, rolling country near the shore, and the
bleak ranges further in ; or, if they chose; to wonder whether
the lights which peeped out, now and then, in odd places,
were smugglers' signals (as the mate told me) or the honest
candles of supper-eating husbandmen — leaving them, I say,
to aU these things, and more, we paddled ons as quietly as
fhe " painted ship" could, for her life, have' steamed it over
the "painted ocean." I did not retire until we had been
for some time abreast of Gibraltar, which made my watch
rather a late one ; the •winds which had for some time before
prevaUed, having given unusual strength to the current
against which we were struggling. A grand and giant
spectacle was that same Pillar of Hercules, in the moonlight,
aU of whose softening silver feU, in vain, upon its rugged,
awful form ! Some British travelers (and I think Ford
arhong them) — not content with having a " British lion"
upon every monument in St. Paul's, -nor with otherwise
de'spitefully using the unhappy animal, after a fashion which
is faithfully foUowed, by Congressional and other orators, in
regard to that much persecuted bird, the " American Eagle"
— will, have- it. that the Rock of Gibraltar, thus approached,
has a marvelous resemblance to the king of beasts couchant.
I endeavored, with the best intentions, to realize the likeness,
but I confess I should have seen quite as much of it in Snug
the- Joiner. It may be that there was something in the
association of moonshine.
A noisy troop of children woke me, next morning, when
we were within an hour's run of Cadiz. Remembering
Naples or evert Genoa, it is hard ito say, absolutely, that
Cadiz is the most beautiful city, in the world,to approach by
sea, and yet an enthusiastic man, at a distance from bpth pf
the pthers, is sprely temp' ted te put -them in the background.
There are, tc be sure, no classic mcuntains pr storied islands
embalmed in vielet haze, ner any hill-sides, proud with
marble palaces ;" but the bay has curves, so many and so
graceful, with fair towns lying beautifully down among

124 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
them ; and then, the tall buildings pf the city rise sp white
and glittering, above the majestic sea-wall, and the charming
Alameda breaks, sp pleasantly, the • contrast, between the
snewy tint above it and the blue .billows just below, that
ypu are quite satisfied, for the moment, to be where you are,
fet othej regicns be as fairy as they may.
It was abput half-past eight when we reached our anchor
age, and were allowed to land, with unusual dispatch. The-
bpat we took was quite -a grand affair, with broad high sails,
and'colors flying; but the- boatmen amused themselves by a
quarrel, on the* route, which was decided hy a, fight, on
reaching .shore, and resulted . in a monopoly of the passen
gers and their movahlesi by the oldest, and toughest rascal.
It was a pleasant illustration- cf what -the free-trade eccnp-
mists wpuld call "unrestricted eempetition." By bad ad-.
vice, though- well intended, I went to the Hotel de l'Europe,-
a French establishment, fronting on the Calle de 'la, Game
(literally "the Street ofthe Flesh," but more preperly "Meat-
street"), the UI name ef .which is cpunterbalanced- by its
looking out, on the ether side, upen a street dedicated te
both San Augustin and . San Antonie. The hotel, I -may
as weU say, for the benefit of future travelers, has marble
ftoers, which are washed occasionaUy, and it ought' tp be
free forever from ftpcturnal persecutors, if. there be such a
thing as destroying the rafce. At least so the walls 'of my
chamber seemed to suggest, and it was. the best in the
establishment. As to--the table, I knew nothing better to
say, 'than what a Frencr 'bon-vivant gave me, as his idea of
Marseilles—" Ici, on mange^-on ne dine pas'."
Ford says, that " Cadiz- may be seen in a day:" He is
not far wrong, if you dp nothing but see. Having letters,
however, from friends' to their friends, I determined tp -be in
np great hurry, and . accerdingly sppn found myself politely
taken into very good hands. Though the weather was very
warm, and' Cadiz, at mid-day, is not Spitzbergen, we stroUed
a good deal through "the streets,, and even looked at the

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 125
j  •  , 
flowers in the Alameda, before dinner-time. The appear
ance of the city is altogether delightful. The streets are
smoothly and finely -paved, and are kept scrupulously clean.
They are so, narrow, however, that one, of a width which
would be barely respectable among us, is caUed Calle anclta
(Broad-street) by way of pre-eminence. The -Plazas are
sufficiently commodious, and comfortably enough shaded for
even a noori-day lounge. The . houses are, as they appear
from the sea, white universally, very tall, nearly all of them
surmounted by graceful torres, and ornamented by Ught bal
conies, which overhang the streets and are mostly painted
a soft green, that forms -a -very agreeable reUef to the eye.
.1 was introduced, on the day of my arrival, at the Ca-.
sino, or club, a very elegant and luxurious establishment.
It has fine billiard, card, and refreshment rooms, and an
exceUent and large supply of home and foreign papers and
periodicals. It was there that I first saw the news by the
steamer of April 1st, giving something like a correct account
of the battle of Buena Vista. The previous rumors had
been undecided, unsatisfactory, and some of them unfavora
ble, and I had been very uneasy as to the probable fate of
the gaUant army, stripped of its regulars 'in an enemy's
country, and left to struggle for existence, with no resources
in front and no sufficient support in the rear. It would be
almost Ghildish to say how my heart leapt up within me,
when I read even these first imperfect details. . It was not
until nearly two months afterward, that I saw, in Gibraltar,
the official accounts, and I could then read, with preper
appreciatien, the commentaries of fhe British press, one of
whose most influential dailies was so generous as to say, pf a
battle — which, censidering the circumstances and the numbers
invelved, has n'ever been surpassed for bravery er conduct 
that " it was but the successful maintenance of an impregna
ble position !" When I looked at tthe ramparts and re
membered the glories of Gibraltar, I could not help thinking
that England, at least, might have afforded to be just.

126 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
• On the afternoon of my arrival, I walked to the Alameda,
arid thehcfe,' around the shore, to the fortress of Santa "Cata-
lina Snd "the back of the city. Formidable defenses these cer
tainly ha^e been, and might stiU be ; what they are, in their
present dismantled condition, it is very easy to see. - Toward
evening, I returned to" the Alameda, where I met some ac
quaintances, and remained until after eight. The Walk Was
full of people — some sitting on the stone benches, wrapt in
meditation and cigar smoke----otbers, strolling on the borders
of the sea, whose waves broke just below the garden's. The
principal portion -of the fair sex were promenading, up and
down, between the gardens of the -central WaUt, and I am
sure I saw <more really beautiful women there, in that one
afternoon, Mian I had seen during the time I had been in
Europe — -Malaga (I am forced to say) included. Not that
there was any , remarkable variety of style, carriage, feature
or complexion j on the contrary, there was perhaps too much
of the <¦ sameness of splendor," in which " Love falls asleep,"
(pleasant dreams to him !) as Lallah Rookh tells us. Some
sOrts of monotony, however, are quite endurable. There were
but few bonnets on the Alameda, to mar the rich array of
graceful mantillas and shining hair — and even if there had
been more, the " many twinkling feet" would have been
quite a compensation. It is hard for a foreigner to compre
hend, until he visits Andalusia, that there is nothing exag
gerated in the usual salutation to a lady — " A los pies de
vfnd. Senorita" — (At your feet, lady!) ,- At the first view
of the article, he becomes perfectly reconciled fo the 'good
taste of what seemS, at first, a humiliation. It is well, -too,
that the graceful proportions of the fair ones will bear criti
cism, for they have' to endure it. Few men walk with them
on the paseo, for such an attention is considered quite serious.
Their promenade therefore is a continual passing. in review
before the marriageable youth, who have nothing to do, but
to sit or -walk together and use their eyes. •
The public buildings of Cadiz "are of no great' merit. I

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 127
dispatched the two Cathedrals before breakfast, the morning
after, my arrival, andT think I did them full justice. The
old one is a poor, low building, with a few bad pictures, and
a great deal of whitewash. The new one is of fine, dark
stone, and would be. really worthy of much note, were it not
overloaded With ornament, in very bad taste. It is chiefly
remarkable, as having been finished, within the last ten
years, arid at great cost, by the present Bishop, who deveted
his own income to the work. Pity it is, that the skill of the
architect did not equal the piety pf the venerable prelate, for
the. dimensions are colossal, the ground plan is excellent, the
marbles are very beautiful, and the whole might, at the same
cost, have been made a monument of architecture. A mar
ble slab within, announces that it contains- fehcs of many
saints and martyrs, and the author ofthe " Paseo por Cadiz"
mentions among its treasures, a large salver, of silver-gilt, ex
quisitely wrought and richly studded with agates, which is
supposed to be the same on which the Moorish governor pre
sented the keys of the city to the victorious Don Alonzo. I
did not "ask to see either the relics or the sacred vessels, and
although a subsequent visit introduced me to two or three
statues of very considerable merit, I can not say that, on the
whole, I brought away a much more exalted idea of the
adornments of the church, than I had previously formed of
its architecture.
On my way home that morning, my attention was attracted
by the crying of a noisy feUow, who was advertising fine
artichokes, "acuatro cuartos por seis ! a cuatro cuartos .'-"
(at four cuartos, or two cents and a half, the half dozen.)
I turned up the narrow street, at a corner of which he was
standing, and found myself in the midst of a Uttle market
place, where the good people were supplying themselves with
fine vegetables'; at prices proportional to those at which my
friend was giving away his alcachofas. Trusting to the
Hotel de l'Europe to do. my marketing, I contented myself
with purchasing, some pf the finest varieties ef carnations I

128 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
had ever seen. .. There were, indeed, almost as many flowers
as vegetables for sale, and very few went away without a
nosegay. I mention the fact, though it seems a very trivial
one, because some travelers, very strangely, as I deem it,
have called the -Spaniards a flower-neglecting people, besides
charging them With a general insensibility to the beauties pf
nature. After describing the luxuriant and exquisite Flora
of Andalusia, Mr. Ford tells us, that its best treasures "bloom
and blush unnoticed by the native.'' Our countryman,
Mackenzie, gees a Uttle farther, and having, very eddly,
imagined a -deficiency of rural poetry, in a literature which
has teemed prodigally with it, from Juan de la Encina down,
proceeds to account for the supposed defect, by ascribing
it to "the national indifference -to -rural attractions." The
reader wiU join me, I am sure, in considering the imputation
as involving, gravely, the refinement of the national charac
ter and taste.
It is true that the Spaniards are not generally given
to country, life. The depopulation of many districts, and
the consequent isolation and insecurity of country houses,
have combined with a multitude of other causes, social
and political, but in no wise dependent on the public
taste or feeling, to gather the inhabitants as closely into
their cities and towns, as the necessities of agriculture will
allow. This fact properly put out of the question, it is"
hard to understand how a traveler, with his eyes open,
could seriously arrive at the conclusions to which I am
taking exception. There is scarcely, a hamlet in Spain
without its little alameda ; and „in city, town, or hamlet,
the alameda is a rare one; that has not its pjeasarrt garden.
Go along the narrow streets of an Andalusian eity, and as
you look, thrqugh th& gratings, into the patios of the houses,
there is scarcely one, whose fountain does not fling its little
spray over green leaves and fragrant blossoms. In every
balcony, and along every terrace, are* rows of pots- and
boxes, with white Ulies, crimson roses, carnations, pinks,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 129
mignionette, geraniums of every hue, and scores of beauti
ful plants that pass my botany. Down the walls hang all
sorts of creeping things with gorgeous blosspms, like rich
tapestry, forming a bright fringe te the lefty eaves between
-which yon catch your . glimpses of the sky. When I was
in Seville, during the bread riots, among the most formid
able engines of war in the hands of the mob, were the
flower-pots, dropped from the balconies on the heads ef the
soldiery. When a poor fellow was knocked over sud
denly, and no report of fire-arms was heard, " una maceta-
da:'" (from, maceta, a flower-pot,) generally furnished a
solution of his difficulties. This, to be sure, is no great
evidence of. the popular fondness for flowers, and was cer
tainly not likely to increase it in the army ; but it stiU
shows their abundance, even in the cities. On the paseo,
there is scarce a beauty passes you — on the road, rare is the
peasant girl you meet- — without a flower on her bosom, or a
rose in her dark hair. When I visited Italica, troops of
peasant children met us, as we crossed the fields toward
the ruins, and they were crowned with red poppies, and
were weaving garlands of" them as they walked. ^'1 have
often remarked," says Mr. Irving, in his Tales of the Al
hambra, " this sensibUity of the common people of Spain to
the charms of "natural objects. The luster of a star, the
beauty or fragrance of a flower,"" the crystal purity of a
fountain, wiU inspire them with a kind of poetical delight ;
and then what euphonious words their magnificent language
affords, with which to give utterance to their transports !"
There is hardly one of their poets, in whom this warm ap
preciation of the beautiful things of earth and sky is not
always breaking forth ; and you can scarcely look amiss for
it, whether in drama, baUad, romaunt, or pastoral. One
of the most striking and interesting peculiarities of popular
taste, is the fondness- for a dia de ,campo — a eountry
day. Young and old flock out, on Sundays and feast-
days ; on, spme particular festivals a whele city gees out, in

130 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
mass, te the fields and groves, te' -while away the hpurs ;
and you see pleasant little family groups, and larger parties
ef both sexes, scattered every where, making the most-of
their holyday. Theit sports are chiefly those which con
versation, dancing,' and simple music furnish ; and as their
fare, is generally of the plainest and most, frugal, it would
puzzle one to conceive what carries them from home, but
love of shade and sunshine, fresh -air, green fields, and flow
ers. It can not, certainly, so far as my -experience is a
criterion, be the mere attraction of driving over bad roads,
in tartanas, calesas, or bomb'es. It may be the delights of
a donkey-ride, but I doubt it. t
The sea-wall, which ia so striking a feature of Cadiz
'when seen from the bay, is a very important matter to the
good people, in .peace as well as war. In complete1 array,
it must have been a very grim confronter of an enemy", and
the immense apartments within it, now used as store-houses,
must have given, and might still give shelter, in time of
need, to nearly the whole population. At present, com
paratively few of its cannon are mounted, and there is only
a sentinel te be seen here and there. Nevertheless, as I
have said, it has its peaceful uses which are not- to be
despised, and along its ample circuit ycu will find the whele
tewns-pepple in promenade, when the cooler heurs come en
and it is npt yet late eneugh for the Alameda te be fashion
able. Under the escort of a kind acquaintance, I determined,
one afternoon, to try the full sweep of it, and although the
exploit drew rather • largely upon my pedestrianism, I per-'
formed it. We mounted the rampart, near the huge Cus
tom-house, the upper story of which was the temporary
palace of Ferdinand VII., in 1823, when the constitutional
government was driven from Seville by the approach' of the
Due d'Angouleme, and the Cortes, on the motion of Alcala
Galiario, resolved to make his majesty pack up. and follow
his betters. Rather a had selection he was, for, company,
it must be allowed, this mOst detestable of Bourbons ; but

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 131
when enlightened France, with the connivance of free
Britain, had' determmed to force him and his fourteenth
century despotism, on a people struggUng for liberty, there
was not much room for choice. But to our walk. Turn
ing to the right and "passing by the whole front of the town,
we' reached, at length, the Puerta de Tierra or land-gate,
which opens toward, the isthmus by which the peninsula of
Cadiz is united to the main-land. Through out'-work after
out-work, over draw-bridges and along winding narrow ways,
flanked, covered, arid commanded by batteries and' aU im
aginable defenses, to me unintelligible and even by name
unknown, we went on untU we were fairly out of town, upon
a fine broad road, then recently converted into a public
walking arid riding ground. Crowds of people as far as we
could see, were taking the air, on horseback and on foot ; and
really it was weU worth the trouble, for the fresh breeze
from the Atlantic swept very gratefully across the peninsula,
and the prospect, aU around', was full of cheerfulness and
beautiful life. Upon the right, the ocean rolled, undivided
and supreme : behind us, the white city closed the view.
Far down in front, rising among the pleasant fields hard by
the isthmus, was the majestic-looking church of San Jose.
Upon the' left, the bay spread itself, from San Fernando to
where the Carraca, the once great arsenal, expanded its
huge wings, and thence on, to where Puerto Real, Puerto San
ta Maria, and Rota, successively, filled the graceful indenta
tions of the shores. In the port, and further down toward
Puntales, there were many ships at anchor. ' Out at sea were
troops of them, bending with crowded canvas. The hedges,
between which we walked, did not conceal the excellent
cultivation of the fields ; and peeping through them, now and
then, we could see the huge wheel of that ^primitive hydraulic
apparatus, called, a noria, which a patient donkey or ox was
turning, and with every turn of which- came up a row of
earthen vessels, loosely strung, each of which, as it reached
a certain height, flung its Uttle modicum of water inte *•

132 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
reservoir, whence it flowed to make . green and fertile the
luxuriant soil we saw. -
We returned enly when the evening began te clcse in.
The whole current of the population, men and women, clergy
and laity, soldier and citizen, was then setting' toward the
Alameda, which, when we reached it, was not the . less
welcome for the opportunity of rest it gave us. In spite of
fatigue^ however, a walk along the- walls of Cadiz is a pleasant
thing, with. a spft breeze blowing: seeing the sun ge dpwn
where the eld people imagined that the Atlantis lay and the
Fortunate Isles: feeling the sweet influence of the moon and
starUght afterward, on wave and rampart, coast and town :
pretty women all around you, turn where, you will, and as
you get up to the Alameda, the fragrarice ef innumerable
flewers leading the air ! Let him whe can find any tiling
much pleasanter, gc his ways, and rhake the most of it.
" I can't describe it, though so much it strike,
Nor liken it — I never saw the like."

CHAPTER XI.
Journey to Xerez — Port St. Mary's — The Calesa — Don Francisco
and his Chickens — Sherry Wines and Goat-skins — The Cartuja —
Xerez — The Boarding-house — Dona Maria de Leon — Her Table
and Company.
On the morning of my intended departure for Seville, it
pjeased the steamer to disappoint me, and I determined to
make the mest pf my time, by a flying visit to Xerez — pne
pf the " . . . . pilgrim shrines —
Shrines to no code or creed confined ;"
— the hely city cf gppd wine, brown, pale, and gelden. Ac-
ccrdingly, at eleven, I teok the first boat, there being just
breeze enough to keep one's head cool and stomach uneasy,
in crossing the beautiful bay. It is cruel that one's ideas
of the picturesque must be so often marred by the realities
of the disagreeable. When I first saw Capri, it seemed to
me to be leaping like the goat it is supposed to resemble,
and as now we approached Puerto Santa Maria, the pretty
town appeared to reel, as if it were under the united influence
of aU the good liquor in its bodegas. We had a trig Uttle
steamer, however, to ferry us over, and I happened to sit
next to a fat, asthmatic old gentleman, who comforted me
in my sorrows, and being thus put on confidential terms
with me, inquired whether I was on the way to Xerez.
I had, at first, some doubts as to telling him my plans,
but he did not look Uke a very bloody-minded individual,
and I ventured to confess. He said that he was very glad
of it, and as he' was going the same way, he would, if I,
had no objection, take a calesa with me, "as it wOuld be
cheaper for two than one, and he knew a man who did

134 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
the jeb few, with a- nice carriage." Nothing foth, I ac
cepted the pffer, and after waiting till the procession of fat
old ladies— who are the first to go ashore from all ferry-boats,
in' all countries — had made their slow and terrified passage,
over the narrow plank which the troubled sea kept dancing,'
-I exposed my carpet-bag to the omnipresent custom-house
vampires, and waited patiently for my friend and his calesa.
It was soon in attendance — a flashy vehicle, indeed, with
a knowing-looking fellow at the horse's head, and, what was
of much more importance, a fine gray staflion in the shafts,
sturdy, strong, and full pf action. They had shorn his mane
down to the very crest, and had treated the ends of his ears
with equal barbarity, so that he was tipped with black,, in
spite cf nature, and had almest as knpwing a physipgnpmy
as his driver. Our luggage duly roped on behind, we our
selves were instaUed, and passing through one of the lower
streets of Puerto, wliich offered a view of nothing remarkable
but a pretty suspension bridge over the Guadalete, we crept,
at a snail's pace, until we reached the turnpike cutside the
town. Here eur gallant gray made a few experiments in
fretting, which scon satisfied me that calesas were not meant
for rapid motion, and I joined Don Francisco (as the driver
called him) in insisting, that all exhibitions of our charger's
abilities should be strictly confined to the smooth places. -These
not being very numerous, our journey lasted more than two
hours, although the distance is but two leagues. It must,
however, be said, in justice to our calesero, that Spanish
leagues are as indefinite, in length, as Scottish " bittocks."
They range, at discretion, from four miles to two. There
is the legua larga and the llgua carta — the long league
and the short — but the long and the short of it is, that you
know the length of your journey when you aire at the end
of it, and not a moment sopner.
Our rpad lay, for spme distance, between ranges of small
hills, or rather mounds, literaUy enameled with the brightest
flowers, of every hue ,and kind,. Then, the country suddenly

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 135
became so rough and barren, that there was scarcely more
upon its surface than the scanty grass for a poor sheep-
pasture, and still farther on, we passed quarry after quarry,
where both pick-ax and gunpowder would have been needful
tillers of the soil. Far down upon the right, however, at
the foot of the ridge we foUowed, was the broad valley
through' whfoh the Guadelete took its devious ¦ course, and
there weTe large herds of cattle and brood-mares at pasture,
upon what appeared, in the distance, to be luxuriant meadows.
A small sail, visible, here and there, along the windings of
the stream, gave some liveliness and variety to the view,
which was bounded, farther on in front and to the right, by
the grand ranges of the Serrania de Ronda.
About half way our journey, I got out at " las Cruces"
(the Crosses) a couple of not very remarkable pillars, planted
by the road sides, for what purpose I know not They
were upon the very crest of a steep ridge, which we were
for spme time climbing, and which seemed a serf pf .natural
dividing line, between twe regiens pf country entirely dis
tinct in cultivaticn and appearance. Upen these piUars
was inscribed the metto pf Charles V., "Plus ultra," cer
tainly a very uncharitable remembrancer to travelers, if
meant to suggest that there was still mere ef the same turn
pike in stere for them. I recall with pleasure, hewever, the
view Which greeted me when I alighted from the calesa.
Far behind us, the. Bay cf Cadiz girded the fairy city with
its zcne ef azure, while before, a landscape, everspread with
grain and vine, lay beautiful, uppn the sunny sfopes ef many
hills, OccasicnaUy, heavy carts and wagens passed us,
laden with pipes of " the rosy ;" and when we drew near the
Portal (I think that was the name), the landing-place or
port of Xerez, there were many small craft getting their
cargees en bpard, and carts and many laborers busy, going,
discharging, and returning.
It eccurs to me, tO nptice here, the idea which is quite
prevalent, that the peculiar flaver of the sherry wines is due

136 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN,
to" the , skins in which they are supposed to be transported.
Captain Marryatt expresses k, in his usual dashing way, in
one of his novels, where he says, that the taste of the hide
is, the one thing needful, and that whenever he desires a
highly flavored- sherry, he throws a pair of .old boots into a
cask of Madeira. It is hard to tell whence this notion
comes, unless it be, from the fact, that wine-skins figure in
Don Quijote's adventures, and as that iminortal book is
supposed to contain the substance and sum total of the man
ners and customs, as well as the literature of the Peninsula,
all Spanish wines are considered as in duty bound to smack
of the goat-skin, or forfeit their nationality. Now, it un
fortunately happens, that if; there -be any wine in Spain,
which, by special exception, never touches tlie cuero, it is
that particular spe.cies which we call sherry. The district,
about Xerez, .which produces the choicest orthodox grape, is
not very large, and is so gently undulating in its surface', as
to afford the greatest facility for the transportation of the
wine in pipes and barrels. The same may be said, almost
universally, of the neighboring country, which, contributes
to the bodegas of Xerez, so large a portion of the wine that
makes up the compound exported. The cuero, therefore,
which serves an excellent purpose in the mountainous dis
tricts, where the transportation is, altogether, on the backs
of mules and asses, is quite a supernumerary article upon
the plains of Andalusia, and those .critical gentlemen, of
analytical palates, who have fancied themselves drinking
under the influence of Capricornus, may, therefore, study
Accum, and hunt out, for their satisfactien, spme poison
which has the goat-savor.
My companion, Don Francisco, was only, not stupid, be
cause he was very odd. He was as gepd as a Yankee at
asking questions, though in making guesses he weuld have
been no henpr to Connecticut. Taking me to be an English
man, and finding himself mistaken, he gave me almost every
nation of the earth for^ a -country, and forgot America at last.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 137
When I satisfied his curiosity — •• Los Estados Unidos," said
he, "ah!- yes! What is the capital?" "Washington."
"You Uve there, of course?" " Oh, no, I five in  ."
" A great city, that, I suppose ?" Of course, I did full just
ice, to say the least, to the greatness of the subject. " It's
a very cold country, isn't it ?" was the next question. " Oh,
very." " Well, how do the people go out in so much snow ?
I am told it is- mountains high." " Npt quite se bad as all
that. We ge put easUy enpugh, after the streets have been
a little cleared." " Ave Maria purithima ! Well ! have
ycu cattle, and mares, and vineyards there ?" " Oh, yes —
cattle and herses enough, but no vineyards, to speak of."
" No ? WeU, what do you do for wine ?" " We drink sherry."
" Dioth Mio ! Ave Maria purithima ¦' Why, it must be
a very long way off." "Only a few thousand miles."
" Caramba ! a few thousand mUes ! WeU ! have you any
chickens there ?" " Abundance, of aU sorts." " You have,
ha ? I have four hundred and seven on my cortijo (farm.)
I wish you would go and see my cortijo. It is far better
worth seeing than the bodegas of Xerez. I have three hund
red (and odd) mares and colts, and all those chickens" —
and so the old man went on chattering, and told me aU his
riohes, and then questipned me abput hprses and celts at
home, and asked whether we had any calesas (save the
mark !) and when I told him we had coches, and raUroads,
he Ufted up his eye's, said Ave Maria ! with a lisp, again,
and wondered how much money it must all cost. Then he
turned from me. to the driver, and had a talk about an
attempt of the toU-gatherer on the turnpike to cheat him ;
and tiie driver, being, of course, a natural enemy oLtoU-gates,
entered into the spirit of his wrath, and being a good Anda
luz and muy valiente, told some wonderful stories, in the
richest Andalusian brogue, of his own prowess, in bullying
the guardians of the road, despite their blunderbusses. At
every ten words, he would bawl out, " Arre cavayo-o-o-o !
Arre jaca-a-a-a .'" to the unhappy gray, accempanying the

138 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
same with some very left-handed compUments to his dam, and
then, getting emphatic, he would gesticulate with his stick
upon the popr beast's benes, and we weuld, gp up and dpwn,
and jolt arid" jolt, until Dpn Francisco wpuld get into a fit
•pf ccughing, when he weuld resume his disccurse, and we
weuld crawl along as before. I learned afterward, that Don
Francisco was one of the richest farmers in the neighborhood
of Xerez, but a man of queer notions, and accounted, generally,
not altogether right in his rhind. His chickens were very
famous, 'from the fact that he would have them of no colors
but black and white, so that if any unfortunate little fellow
chipped the shell, with the sin of brown, red, or russet on his
head, it was,. Off with it, and so much for chanticleer ! His
oxen, too, were all marked^ in the same way, and he would
sell, indignantly, every trespasser of a calf that would venture
to hang out a forbidden color. Perhaps, like the learned
apprentice in Scribblerus' report of " Stradling vs. Stiles," on
the famous bequest which brought the " pyed horses" into
controversy, he believed that black and white, being the two
extremes, comprehended between them all other colors what
soever. As we drew near Xerez, the great Cartuja or Carthu
sian Convent broke upon our view, some three miles to the
right, a majestic structure, though now tenantless, and ris
ing proudly over what seemed no inconsiderable- town. In
a few moments, a turn of the road, whieh winded between
vineyards and wheat-fields hedged in with the formidable
aloe, gave us a sight of the wine-city, cresting an elevated
ridge most gracefully, with its gay White houses, belvederes
and towers. Upon the edge of the town, as we -went in,
we passed the royal Alcazar, tenanted by the Duke of San
Lorenzo, as representative of majesty, and holding dominion
over a garden, blooming as prodigal nature blooms only here,
Our gallant gray, after many arres ! and' much cracking
of whips,, halted =wdth us in the center' of a fine plaza, from
which several wide and well-paved streets branched aU

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 139
around. Every thing looked so cleanly, and, indeed, so me
dicative of comfort and wealth, that I fancied, for a brief
moment, I had fallen upon one European city, where pov
erty was the exception. Alas! it Was not long before- a
swarm of beggars, numerous and greedy, had colonized my
Utopia. The chief hostelry of the city was under the patronage
of San Dionisio, but I had learned that it was bad as
might have been expected, from the supervision of a guard
ian without any head, and I directed Jehu to drive me ',to
the casa de pupilos of Dona Maria de Leon, the principal
" Todgers.' " of Xerez. While I was ringing for admit
tance, my frfend Don Francisco had an attack of absence
of mind, and was going off, leaving me to attend to the
fare. I was receiving the old rogue's apologies for requir
ing the calesero to remind him of It, when the door opened,
and Dona Maria herself welcomed me. She had pleasant
souvenirs of beauty in her big black eyes, though she was
on the southern side of forty, and there was a bevy of good-
looking damsels sitting at work in the back-ground, from
whose midst she came to me, and whom Mr. Ford, if he
had seen them, would have likened, I am sure, to the hand
maidens of Andromache or Penelope. I Uked the looks of
the establishment, and determined, at once, that the accom
modations must be quite intolerable to prevent my domesti
cating myself. Doria Maria seemed to have made up her
mind that I was to be easily pleased, for she at first showed
me a chamber, which had the slight disadvantage of having
no windows, but then it opened on the gallery v she said,
and by keeping my door open I would incommode no one,
she assured me, and might be as cheerful as a- lark. I
thanked her, but begged to see farther, and she conducted
me, with due ceremony, to what she called her sala, or
parlor, which, .she said, was a fine room, and fronted on
the street. Poor creature ! she had done her best to make
it luxurious, so far as cleanliness could go, but the brick

140 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

floor, with two or three scant mats of .rush upon it ; the
rush-bottomed* chairs, and the sofa — which I should like to
have a patent for, as the best substitute for pavement I
have ever seen (not excepting the asphaltum and bitumin
ous) — were by ne riieans relieved of their dreariness by the
moldy and spotted mirror, and the effigies of "la belle
Russe;" "lajeune Savoyarde," and "la coquette Francaise,"
shOrt-waisted, he-feathered, and be-ruffed, which hung in
melancholy water-colors on the walls. To a man, however,
who had already taken a large part of his allotted "peck,"
inr many a, grand hotel of France and Italy, neatness was
no small temptation, so I at once ordered -the cot to be
transferred from the windowless alcove, and possessed- my
self of the sola, With aU the appurtenant respectability
whieh its occupation" seemed to give, in the eyes of the
household. This done,-! sallied out in quest of fhe family
to whose kindness my friends had consigned me.
Having a fondness for making my own way- in strange
places, I took a general topographical description from Dona
Maria, and traveled, as I. supposed, according to the chart,
but I was soon at fault, and picking up a beggar who said
he knew the place, determined to make him earn the- coppers
he was boring me for. ' Beggars in Spain, however, have lost
neither the cunning nor the rascality of the days of Guzman
de Alfarache and Lazarillo de Tormes. My guide, on this
occasion, took every sly opportunity of making inquiries, as he
went along, and I accidentally perceived, in overhearing one
of them, that he had forgotten the name of the person I was
lopking for, whereupen I gave him a peseta and told him to
go to the devil, which he most amiably rejoined to, by bid
ding me "ge with Gpd, whp would pay my worship the
peseta!" By good luck, as sepn as I gpt rid of him, I
stumbled upon .the place I was in search ef — a fine mansion,
fronting on a very pretty plaza, and rejeicing in ene ef the
most delightful patios I had seen, filled with orange and
lemon-trees and fragrant flowers.

GLIMPSES OF. SPAIN. 141
When I went to. dinner, I found that Dona Maria had
her table, set in a little dark room, the shadows of which fell,
charitably, upon the ill-appointed and strangely untidy board.
At the head of the table sate a stout gentleman caUed Don
Pedro, who, I was told, was an empleado of the Custom
house. Don Somebody-else was a black-mustached gentle
man, without a cravat, who was sullen and very hungry.
Dona Maria's mother and plump Uttle niece made up the
party, the good landlady herself joining in, now and then,
between the changes ofthe plates. What they caUed the
soup, was bread, beiled in some very savory mixture or
other, all of'which was absorbed, or had otherwise departed.
The caballeros pushed it to me, and insisted on my taking the
first dip. Then came the boiled beef, soft and tasteless", all its
substance having, no doubt, been contributed to the soup unext
was what they called the puchs.ro, a mixture of avichwelas
(which are a bean, Uke Our hominy-bean), with a whole
kitchen-garden of other vegetables and greens. A sort of a
stew of veal then foUowed, which was succeeded by a salad,
oranges, cheese, raisins, and finis ! I did justice to it aU as
well as I was able, though the perfect saturation of every thing
with oil, required frequent recourse to a bottle of fine Manza
nilla, which Dona Maria procured for me. They asked me all
sorts of questions, as to where I came from, and the sort of
country mine was ; aU of which I answered as patiently as
possible, though I had to begin at the very beginning, for they
were not well posted in geography ; but they were amiable
people, though simple, and as civil and kind as the day was
long. Dona Maria was very much inclined, when she
knew I was from America, to send a message, by me, to a
relative of hers, who, she observed to her company, lived in
" el pais d€l Senor" (the gentleman's country), to wit,
somewhere on the Spanish Main.* On rising from the table,
* Spain is not the only country, in which an American hears
mysterious things about his native land. In Avignon, I made inquiries
from the agent of the diligence, in regard to some passengers with

142 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
each guest, in his turn, wished that the meal might do me
good— -Buen provecho le haga a vmd. caballero! Not to
be-outdone, I got up, whUe the old lady was still eating, and
expressed the desire,-in my best Castilian, that she might
profit by it, likewise ; a thing more likely to happen, I
thought, in the hispariiolized state of her epigastrics, than
the less accustomed condition of mine. . . ¦
whom I was to be thrown into rather close quarters. " They are
Americans," he said ; "at all events they have a black (un noir) with
them, who must be an American, or African, or something, of- the sort
(JLmericain, Africain, ou quelque chose comme fa)." My companions
were from Algeria, . and the noir was Jheir servant — black as Egypt,
and wearing a- turban, slippers, and bag-trowsers I

CHAPTER XII.
Xerez — Population — The Bodegas — Wines — Manzanilla — The Prep
aration of Wmes — American and English Markets — Prices — Vine
yards — Manners of the People — Churches — The Storks of San
Miguel — May-day — Return to Cadiz — Louis Philippe's Birth-day.
Xekez passes for a city of thirty-two thousand inhabitants.
My friend, however, informed me, that as the census and
other statistics are furnished by the ayuntamiento or mu
nicipality, and as both taxes and conscriptions are regulated
by the reported pcpulatfon, this latter is extremely apt te
faU below its actual rate, in the official returns. This fact
considered, "those who are in the secret beheve that there
are> at least, fifty thousand souls within the precincts of
Xerez. To all of these, men, women, and children, -and to
the strangers who come among them, the bodegas are nat
uraUy the objects of chief interest. I visited- several of these
great store-houses, and they were certainly on a gigantic scale.
In one of them, there were five thousand butts of wine, and
it had not more than two-thirds of its complement. It was,
as they aU are, of a single story, entirely above ground, and
without windows, the roof rising loftily, and supported upon
columns of substantial and not ungraceful structure. By
skiUful management, a perfect ventilation is kept up, whUe
heat and glare are carefully excluded, and the change of
temperature that greets you, as you enter the great doors, ia
not the least attractive thing in your tour of observation.
The casks are pUed, one above the other, along the sides,
and there are broad rows of them, that divide the body of
the building into spacious aisles. Every thing is neat, com
fortable, and carefuUy arranged and kept, so that Father
Mathew might weU tremble, at seeing the snug quarters, in

144 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
which the soldiers of King Alcohol; wax stronger and strongei
for the fight.
All bodegas are alike, except in size, to him who will not
or can net drink, and all are likely seon to become so, to him
who will, unless he be carefully on the loekput against
temptatipn. A piece of reed, nicely fastened to a staff, is
always at hand, to fathom the depths of the goed cheer.
The capataz, cr manager, whe gpes the reunds with you,
is generaUy a man with a red nose, and rnost unbounded
stomach, whose practiced palate is the arbiter of flavors, and
whose head has grown invincible, from much tasting. He
is dangerous company. Fortunately, I had an invalid's
privilege, to refuse without being considered rude, and I
came away in better plight than, if report speaks true,- all
travelers are wont : although, of course, I brought away
with me, in consequence, much less than the usual expe
rience of what is good. Nevertheless, I do remember me,
especially, of an amontillado, which had seen thirty honest
years and more — mellow as autumn, and fragrant as the
spring. It could not have been the only thing I tasted, for
I 'recollect it as the best ; and that implies three degrees of
comparison, as the reader may' be supposed to know.
Those who may -be curious in such matters, will find a
good deal of interesting information on the subject of sherry
wines, in Mr. Ford's Hand-book, and a good deal more
(with less Latin and Greek interspersed), in the second
velume pf Cppk's (Widdrington's) Sketches. If I venture
te mentien a few faets, which I had en the spet, from those
whp knew, I trust np pne will charge me with the felly of
supppsing myself made suddenly wise, by having spent one
day pf my life among the bodegas. It may bfe risked, at aU
events, for the benefit pf thpse who may -chance to know
even less of the matter than myself.
¦ No sherry exported, not even the best, is a simple, unpre
pared production of nature. It is, all pf it, the result pf time,
mixture, and much doctoring. The finest, is the growth of

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 145
the district immediately about Xerez, and its natural purity
is only violated, by the admixture of something better of the
same sort. The oldest, Tidiest, and most generous wines, are
kept and used, especially, to give body, strength, and flavor
to the newer ones that need them. The inferior qualities
come from the districts along the coast. These last, good
enough in themselves and when left to themselves, become
any thing but nectar by the time they have been manufac
tured into sherry. Some of them, to be sure, enriched by
the judicious admixture ef the vino jeneroso, beccme seund
and respectable -wines, and there is no knewing hpw much
cf hpmely San Lucar, and even dry Malaga, passes inte the
cellars and down the throats of the Anglo-Saxons, yearly,
with the name and at the cost of the ripest Jerezano.
But this is, not the worst. Immense quantities, prepared
especially for exportation, at cheap rates, have their principal
virtues given to them by the liberal use of bad brandy, and
it is with these, chiefly, that the sherry-drinking world is
drugged. The British books say, that this goes principally
to the United States, but Theophile Gautier is quite positive
that its chief destination is England, for, says he, " to please
the British guUet, wine must go disguised as rum !" John
Bull, however, has all the choicest, and I am sorry to say,
that the capataz of one ofthe most extensive establishments
assured me, he had nqt, during a service ef from twenty te
thirty years, knewn one parcel of the best wine to start on
the voyage to America. A wine of fine quality, eight or
ten years old, will cost, at Xerez, at least four dollars the
gallon. Those .who know what our tariffs are and have
been, and who can calculate the cost of transpprtation, may
judge, from the range of prices with us, whether his asser
tion was not a correct one.
As in all wine-growing districts, circumstances of location,
apparently the most trivial, give the greatest variety of
flavor to the sherry, which- is produced- even within the
orthodox Umits. Nevertheless, a great many of the nice
G

146 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
distinctions, which we outside barbarians most particularly
appreciate, are produced by artificial and often chemical
means.. The amqntillado flavor, which derives its name
from its resemblance to that of the wine from about Montilla,
higher up the Guadalquivir, is as often the work of art as
nature, and, indeed, there is scarce a kind or quality, for the
making of which there is not its appropriate reeipe,
The Spaniards, who knpw aU these things, trouble the
strong sherries but very little. They prefer the simple;
natural wines. The great favorite throughout Andalusia
is the manzanilla, which grbws dawn toward San Lucar
and Port St. Mary's, and has its name {which Signifies
chamomile) from its peculiar, bitter flavor. This delicious,
though simple beverage, in its natural state is of a light
straw-color, and is tonic and refreshing, without toff much
stimulus. Its cheapness and abundance are such, that you
can rely with certainty upon its purity^ and there would.be
no difficulty whatever in having it as good in the United
States as in Cadiz. My capataz, a bottle-nosed old Astri-
rian, who had been nursed and fed, boy and* man, upon the
vino fuerte (the strong wines), spoke very contemptuously
oi manzanilla. "No es cosa," he .said—" it is- nothing to
speak of. It may be fashionable, like champagne, but nei
ther of them is worth having — no vale nada ninguno de
los dos." , He admitted, however, that it had the advant
age, even over sherry, of being a purely natural wine, and
he told me that, at five or six years old, of gopd quality, it
pught to be sent te the United States for a dollar the gal
lon. I am able, from my own knowledge, to verify his
assertion. Did the reader ever buy any manzanilla, in our
beloved country ? If not, let him make the experiment.
He will find it under various names : from that which be
longs to it, down to "Massaniello sherry !" When he has
paid for it, he. will find how much it costs a man, sometimes,
to learn to what extent the world, is humbugged. The En
glish are beginning, to buy large quantities of manzanilla,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 147
and Mr. Ford eloquently apostrophizes — " Drink it, ye dys
peptics !" If however, -what reaches the English market
is as badly be-sherried and be-brandied as the mass of what
is palmed on us here, it strikes me that I should prefer
recommending the wine antimonial.
The Hand-book, sets down Xerez as a " straggling, Ul-
built, Ul-drained Moorish city." I walked through it and
around it,, and saw it, moreover, from the azotea or terrace
of a mansion in a commanding situation, and I must bear
witness that my impression was a different one ; for the city
seemed to me to be weU and. neatly built, and, in ail re
spects, above the average of comfort and good taste. I had,
too, on the afternoon of jny arrival, a fine view of its en
virons, from the lofty belvedere of one of the bodegas that
I visited. The sun was decUning when we went up, but
the atmosphere was so wonderfuUy clear, that we could
distinctly see the town of Medina Sidonia, full six or seven
leagues off, shining among the mountains that bounded the
horizon to the southeast. Toward the east, in bold relief,
shot up the rugged Sierra de Ronda, while all around us
and about Xerez, as far as the eye oould sweep distinctly,
was a green, undulating meadow, covered with vines,
grain, and olives, and in as perfect cultivation as heart
could desire.
^Descending, we went into the vineyard of the proprietor,
where some laborers were breaking up the ground. They
were using immense, broad hoes, short handled and clumsy
tp look at, but they did the business rapidly and well, leaving
the earth jis fresh, as level, and as free from grass and weeds,
as if plow and patent harrow had been working wonders for
a show. The courteous manners of the Spaniards, and the
republican equaUty which really dignifies their intercourse,
were iUustrated by the greetings which passed between my
companions and these laborers, who were peasants of the
humblest class. Each gave the other; with all formality and
with hat raised, the title of .caballero ! when they met, and

148 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
each, as respectfully, when they parted, commended his ca
ballero to God's holy keeping: " Mas alcanza -el sombrero
que la espada," is an old Castilian proverb, and it- means,
that, with the hat, you can do more than with the sword.
In soriie sense, this is but a scrap of the MacSycophant phi
losophy, and will hardly pass muster as a sentiment. It is
not, nevertheless, without its better moral, which -might b.e
studied advantageously by some, who have a ho'rrer of what
they call " a nation of dancing-masters." Courtesy, even
the most ceremonious, though it asks tribute for ourselves,
pays tribute tp others and their feelings, and can not, there
fore, but have something of love and charity about it. Emp
ty, sometimes, it can not always be separate from what it
seems, and, in this better light, it indicates' a worthier and
higher element in the character of nations, than wiU be found
in npisier and -mere prosperous virtues that we"wO't of. A
people is net always honest, because it is blunt ', although,
' perhaps, it would not be hard to find some great nations that
make the mistake of thinking so.
Our stroll about the city carried me, by the Plaza de To-
r.os and the new Alameda, to -the fine old old church of San
tiago, whose beautiful facade, though worn by time, sfdl
bears upon its graceful canopies the magic traces ofthe Goth
ic chisel. Passing thence, around by the old Moorish walls
with their stifl unbroken turrets, we cafne upon the Colegi-
ata, whose overcharged and heavy architecture was most
pleasantly seen under the. shadows of twilight. The doors
were open, and we entered. The interior was ' dusky — al
most dark. A few candles were lighted upon a single altar,
and a priest was kneeling before it, reading some prayers, to
which a few school-boy? were responding, in that peculiar
treble approaching a caterwaul, which is so chat acteristic of
scholastic devotional exercises, among all nations and creeds.
With this solitary interruption, darkness and silence had the
church to themselves ; and our echping footsteps, as we trod
up. and down the aisles ;¦ the dim glimpses of column, arch,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 149
and cornice ; the shadowy high altar, and gloomy choir,
gave semblance of awe to the huge building, which it want
ed, I found afterward, in brighter hours.
Never having been in Holland, I saw storks, for the first
time, upon the venerable church of San Miguel, arhong
whose broken pinnacles their nests remain inviolate. The
gijand Gothic doorways of this antique temple have almost
crumbled Jnto dust beneath the feet of Time, and what is
left of the once delicate tracery upon the columns and cano
pies within, is barbarously bedaubed with whitewash. The
reader may weU imagine how such Vandalism spoils one's
temper; when he is told that the great columns, thus defiled,
are a perfect labyrinth of fret- work, and that each separate
one has its peculiar ornaments, differing from all the rest.
Nevertheless, San Miguel is pleasant te lppk uppn, in the
bright spring-time, and the eld storks seem proud, pf it.
There they stand, uppn buttress er crccket, leoking down,
gravply, on the faithful who enter. Occasionally they spread
their long wings, and, soaring up into the air amid swallows
and martlets and innumerable twitterers, sweept around the
church and sail back, solemnly, to their duty on the watch-
towers. A grave and dignified bird they are — muy comedi-
dos — weU behaved" in aU things. Their very cefor — ,aU
white, save a fringe of black upon the wings — has a smack
of clerical costume, and they might.be taken, by a reasonable
metempsychosis, to be inhabited by the souls of curas and
canonigos, long since departed from their stalls.
May 1. Flowery May never came to me, before, in
such becoming garments. - I was awakened, bright and
early, by the chattering of the gossips and the cries of the
venders of all sorts of wares, in the Plaza hard by. When
I looked out, I found it as bright and beautiful a morning,
as that which shone on
" Zephyr, with Aurora playing,
As he met her once, a-Maying."
Not a, being or a thing was there in sight, that was not

150 GLIMPSES OF STAIN.

perfectly Spanish. On the Alameda, the night before, I had
seen an occasional frock-coat and French hat. Now, there
was nothing but the knowing calanes, the short jacket, and
red sash. Here and there, a watei-acarrier — his donkey
roofed over with moist-looking jars — was knocking impa
tiently at the closed gate of a lazy customer. On one side
was an arriero, getting his reata, or long string of mules,
into line, each, like a philosophical follower ef precedents,
with his muzzle tied tc the tail of his "illustrious predeces
sor." Across the way, was a group of peasants who had
just come into town, leaning on their long staves ^ tall, mus
cular, and well-formed men, with health and spirit in every
line of -their bronzed faces. Sitting quietly upon hife horse,
or rather, balancing himself in his stirrups, and just ready to
be off to the country, was a gentleman,, a gallant and weU-
mounted rider, with his gun swinging at his oantle. A beg
gar, in a tattered, dark-brown cloak, was hugging the wall,
near a wine-shop ; a trim lady, prayer-book in harid, refused
him alms, as she passed on to mass, to open her day's ac
counts ; while an old woman, bending under an osier-basket
of some vegetable or other, was yelling in a style which
might have saved the lady the trouble, by driving all the
devils- out of Xerez. AU these sights and sounds I saw and
heard in a brief parenthesis of waking, for, so much fatigued
was L with the labors of the day before, that I got me fo
be'd and sleep again; until Dona Maria's household gave
audible symptoms of breakfast.
Poor Doria Maria ! it is hardly fair to let in upon her
homely board the light she studiously shut out from it — but
I have conscientiously told whatever of good I have met in
my travel, and it will not do to disguise the bad. She gave
me what she called " te" most unhappily translated into
Spanish : an omelette fried in much oil, and some ' good
bread, that did itself great injustice by keeping company
with a carrot-colored compound, called " manteca dejlandes,"
or Flemish butter. • " Our armies swore terribly in Flanders,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 151
cried my uncle Toby," and well they might, if they were
made to eat the like : for the Christianity of the most ortho
dox old-time Castilian — Cristiano, viejo, rancio— never was
more rancid. Having done justice to this meal, which con
sisted in leaving as much of it as possible, I took a turn
about the town, and having made my adieus to the kind and
civil gentleman, whose unremitted and polite attention had
stood me in so much stead, I parted company, at noon, with
Dona Maria, her ninas, and the good city of Xerez,
In an hour and three-quarters, I was at Port St. Mary's.
The calesero, with whom I had made the journey up was
my Jehu down also, and, as I was alone, both he and the
gray seemed to think trotting could not hurt me. A rival,
with a gaudy and fantastic vehicle, made play at us in the
beginning of the drive, and we had a tight race of it, untU
the gray fairly distanced the chestnut. Jehu seemed to take
quite a pride in it, for the opposition line was obviously a
new and grand affair, the- calesero having a huge flower-pot
with flowers, in colored cloth, inserted in the back of his
jacket, and. a magnificent display, to match, painted in the
rear of his ealesa. ¦' I'll beat him, senor," said my man,
" como quince mil demonios — like fifteen thousand devUs."
If the reader can conceive himseff, eceteris paribus, on the
inside of a kettle, and the kettle tied to a frightened dog's
tail, he may have some faint idea of what driving in a calesa
feels like, when the respectable number of evU spirits men
tioned above concern themselves in the business. It was
only when we were in the arms of victory, and the vanquished
out of sight, that coachee unbent himself and regaled me
with a little Andalusian democracy, suggested by a story he
had heard, that morning, of a rich marquis, who had said
that poor people ought to eat brown bread, and be glad.
" Que lo coman su padre y su madre !" he exclaimed in
his wrath—-" may his father and his mother eat it !"
As we drew near Puerto, I could but wonder again and
again at the prodigies of flowers, scattered every where

152 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
among the grain and between the stones — on lull and hedge
— in ditch and meadow. We could see our little steamer,
however, making its way to meet us, and there was no time
for courting Flora. I reached the Hotel de l'Europe in
good season for dinner, and finished my day by a charming
walk along the ramparts and the Alameda. It Was the
birth-day of Louis Philippe, and a French war steamer that
was in the offing, bedecked with innumerable colors, fired .a
salute in his honor, as the sun went down. A Swedish cor
vette in port joined in the amusement Who "salutes the
Count de Neuilly now ? Even Punch laughs at Mr. Smith,
for being polite to him in the railway wagons !
'¦' Sus infinitos tesoros,
Sus villas- y sus lugares,
Y su mandar,
Que lefueron sino lloros,
Que jiteron sino pesares,
Al dejar ?"

CHAPTER XIII.
Fair at Puerto Real — The Star-spangled Banner — The Balon and
Theatrical Performances — Spanish Dancing-girls.
On the second of May, the fair at Puerto Real, across
the Bay of Cadiz, was to begin its three days' frolic ; and
although it was Sunday, I found myself, at half-past ten, on
board the launch which was to bear me to the steamer, with
the rest of the sinners in like case offending. We were soon
off, and went by, in their turn, the famous and now dis
mantled batteries of the Trocadero on the other shore of the
bay, the fort of ' ,Puntales on the Cadiz side, and all the
other fortifications with which the peninsula, the isthmus,
and the coast- about are bristling. Then stretching round,
in full view of the Carraca and the town of San Fernando,
we speedily dropped anchor at Puerto Real, and were taken
ashore, in launches, through a very heavy swell. We carried
with us, of course, a good many folks, young and old, in the
sombrero calanes, and duly bedizened with gay cravats and
handkerchiefs, jackets, vests, and sashes. We soon found,
however, that Puerto Real had finery enough of its own.
Every street, of any note, was rustUng with banners. They
were flaunting from the terraces and balconies, and swinging
all across the ways from ropes hung in the air. AU the
nations of the earth were represented, and many, below it
or above it but certainly not on it, had streamers glancing
in the sun. _ From the top of pne large house, the flags of
the United States, France, and Great Britain were flutter
ing together. I was alarmed for a moment, when I first
caught sight of the spangled banner — a vision, usually,
" Welcome as the hand
Of brother, in a foreign land."

154 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
They had managed, unfortunately, to make it look a little
ragged, and had actually extinguished one of the stars, with
a big patch. Who knows, thought I, but that during the
short half-year I have been from home, some bright par
ticular star, after long promising, has shot right chivalrously
from its sphere, at last ? Another look, however, soon satis
fied me that the rent had been produced by the gnawing
of rats, and no dissolution of the Union, so I made my salute,
with all my heart, to the stars and stripes that were left.
If, at that distance from us, the good people had actuaUy
taken our orators at their word,' and supposed the confederacy
at ari end, as it so often is, in speeches, I should have had
no cause to wonder ; so I made up my mind, for the future,
to be under no apprehension, if I should, see the whole
galaxy at sixes and sevens, either in rhetoric or bunting.
As I went the rounds of the gay and crowded streets, I
could not help noting the resemblance between what I saw
and the aspect of a certain gopd -city pf pUr own, pn the
memorable days of the " Great Conventions'' pf 18-40 and
1844. Had it npt been for the strange beautiful costumes,
and the unaccustomed language, I might have Ustened at
every corner for the voice of seme enthusiastic patriot, bid
ding " Clear the track for old Kentucky !" In the stead,
however, of our well-remembered friend, "that same old.coon,J'
so conspicuous on banner and transparency upon the festivals
alluded to, there hung high over the chief street of Puerto
Real, a snowy flag, rustling among the armorial bearings of
ancient empires. Upon its ample folds,, depicted to the life,
was the gigantic effigy of — a flea ! Grand and dismal was
he in his proportions and expression, and but for the bold
inscription beneath him- — " Microscopio solar : la pulga" —
he might have been taken for the megalosaurus, or some
other antediluvian monster, or the universal ¦ father of aU
lobsters. Below the flag, a placard' informed the "publico
ilustrado" (the enlightened public) that by the aid of the
wonderful microscope within, many strange insects and ani-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 165
mais, and " especially the flea," loomed large and terrible !
A queer notion it was, that any body needed a microscope in
Spain, to enlarge his ideas of the natural history of fleas!
As if one did* not know enough of them, as pests, without
dreaming of them as night-mares ! I did not visit the
microscope, though all the world did.
Nor did I pay my respects to the wenderful giant, seven
feet and a great many inches high, who, like all the giants
at heme, " te the most startling size, added the mest grace
ful proportions." The cattle and horses interested me more
than ogres, and having heard that many of the former
would be on the ground, I went about to look for them. It
was Sunday, however, and the first day, therefore nothing
was on show, and I -afterward learned that the Puerto Real
Fair, unlike the most of those in Spain, is rather a merry
making, usuaUy, than a place of real traffic. In the lack
of buyers and seUers, however, there were people in abund
ance. Pretty faces peeped out upon you, from behind the
grating of every deep, low window that you passed. The
noisy church-beU turned round and round, and rattled for near
an hour, and many a graceful form enchanted you as you
stood near the thoroughfare, and saw the bright-eyed ereat-
ures going and returning. Then the men ! what splendid
feUows some of them were ! the finest specimens of vigorous,
athletic, lusty manhood ! Few of them were in full majo
dress, so far as their unmentionables were concerned, the
loose breeches of tho majo del mo&te; or the common troWsers
being in "most request. But in jackets — chaqueticas, as they
affectionately call them — there was a perfect revel ; from
the plain roundabout, loose- and long, to the tight, short
majo, with silver buttons and rich embroidery, and a gay
handkerchief protruding ostentatiously from each pocket.
By far the greater number wore the caUsera, which is
large and heavy. Some had it over the majo jacket, for
the weather was fresh and windy : others wore it, hussar-
fashion, uppn the left sheulder, with ene sleeve under the

156 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
right arm, as only an Andalusian could fling it. Then
what varieties of trimmings there were, which only a wo
man or a tailor could remember or describe ; from the full
blown glories, of the calesera, with red and white cloth
facings, collar, and elbows, and the gorgeous flower-pot upon
the back, up through all shades of velvet to the most sub
dued rich olive, the pervading color of the cloth ! What
treasures of filagree buttons, and ,silk and velvet lacings,
with silver points ! What bright fantastic vests ! What
embroideries! What many-colored, party-colored parapher
nalia, in both good taste and bad !
Of articles for serious traffic there were, as I .have said,
not many, but yet buyers and seUers were not idle. One
Plaza was filled with toy-booths. All the streets were lined
with the stalls of orchata and lemonade dealers. Pea-nuts,
and dates, cakes, candies, and filberts, were at, every corner,
and hawked about in sacks made of rushes, by all man
ner of bedraggled boys. Here" went a fellow, screaming,
"Boeas freseas y ricas! bocas de la isla!" - These were
neither more nor less than crab-claws, from the Island of •
Leon. -The poor animals are caught, their claws are broken
off at the first joint, and they are then thrown back into. the
water, to get along as cats aTe supposed to manage, without
claws, in a certain place that shall be nameless. For those
who liked the whole crab better than the boca, another huckster
had his ready basket ; while another attempted still further to
stimulate your appetite, by praising and pointing to his piles
of shrimp and craw-fish, and a commodity looking amazingly
like snails. Fried fish, reeking hot,' smoked along the side
walks, and were dusted delightfully by the accommodating
breeze. Oysters were scraped' from their shells, for your
temptation, as you passed, and were poked under your nose in
vitingly, between rusty knife-blades and dirty fingers. Gipsies,
dark as Indians, and carrying babies of course, were at hand,
to teU your fortune. "Barato, baratisimo! zenorita!" said
a weird sister to a young lady, as I passed ; " Cheap ! very

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 157
cheap !"— - and, no doubt, famous, luck, and warranted ! A
better purchase than the gipsy's prophecy, and cheaper, too,
perhaps, was the cool glass of sparkling water you received
from the busy aguador. " Agua fresca .' como la nieve !"
(cold as snow!) he cried, in hoarse Galician accent. It
would take him long to get rich, you would imagine, at the
rate of hatf a cent a customer, and obliged to throw a pinch
or two of appetizing anise seed into his bargain ! And yet,
better do that than beg.
Beggars there were, by scores, among the crowd. Blind
men asked a limomita, for "a poor fellow who couldn't see
to earn it." Wretched women, hooded, hungry, and impor
tunate, clung to you and implored your pity, for God's love
and the blessing of " Maria zantizima .'" Pinched and
ragged Uttle boys, made prematurely cunning by starvation,
would hold their palms up to you, with a few coppers, and
tell you that they needed but one more, to buy them bread.
Cripples made ostentation of their deformity, and loathsome,
leper-lookirig creatures challenged your bounty and disgust,
exhibiting their sores. I remember a poor wretch, whose
shrunken, palsied leg was his whole capital. He kept it
naked, and ever and anon he would prop it with a cane,
and. take toU from the passers-by. Then, shifting his quar
ters to the very center of the largest crowd that he could
find, he would balance himself upon a crutch and his sound
limb, and turning on one heel with wonderful agUity, he
would describe circle after circle with the naked leg, flapping
it around to every comer.
These things, and many like them, occupied me until the
afternoon was beginning to advance, when, tired of majos,
banners, beggars, and the rest, I turned my footsteps back
toward the ferry. There were "buU-feasts" assigned for the
entertainment of the public, later iri the day, but they were
only what they caU novillos — buU-calves to be baited, not
full-grown heroes to be slain. These did not tempt me to
risk the loss of a tide, and a consequent delay tiU midnight,

158 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
at Puerto Real, when I had the ramparts and Alameda of
Cadiz, to finish the pleasant^day. I made the best of my
way, therefore, home, and was repaid by the beauty of a
sunset, which Naples could scarcely have surpassed. At the
suggestion of one of my friends, I then went to the Balm
a Uttle theater which promised an attractive performance.
It was a sans fapon sort of a place, and not over genteel, I
suppose, for I saw one of the fairer sex, with an infant in
arms, in one of the most conspicuous boxes, and I wUl certify
that she did not permit the presence of company to interfere,
in any way, with the most thorough and elaborate, perform
ance cf her maternal duties. The men, on the other hand,
puffed their cigars at their sweet will, so that there was, in
the appearance of things, as I entered, a delicate blending-
of the smoke-house and nursery.
I went into the pit, where I took What they caUed' a
luneta, which was, in plain English, a seat on a bench, but
numbered, so that, at any time during the evening, I could
assert my title to it, by showing my ticket. The sainete
was capital* full ofthe peculiar humor of the Spanish farce,
and performed with very considerable . comic power. But
the charm of the evening was the dancing, in which the
Baton had the reputation of .surpassing the principal theater.
We had a superb bolero by four ccuples, and -then' the fas
cinating ole, by a fair dancer of some fame, who was rap
turously encored. I saw this voluptueus dance under more
favorable circumstances at Seville, where the reader, if it so
please him, shaU hear^mcre ef it. Ford says that the
Venus CaUipyge, in the Neapolitan Museum, is the un
doubted representatfon of a Cadiz dancing-girl. It weuld
be rash te dispute the fact, in the face of Martial and Pe-
tronius Arbiter, who are summoned. into court to prove it;
but nowadays, se far as I saw, there is a Uttle mere con
science and a good deal more drapery, than when CaUipyge
trod the boards. And yet, even in the plain way (com
pared to the gymnastics of the Venus) in which the ole is

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 159
managed npw, if the Shakers weuld make it a part of their
ceremonial, and would not hold it sinful tp shake the dust
ef worldliness from off their feet to the sound of castanets,
I would engage that it would draw proselytes enough to
Lebanon, to cultivate bone-set for the continent.

CHAPTER XIV.
Decay of Cadiz — Manufactures and Trade — Free-trade Newspaper
— Agriculture — Grain and Flour-^Journey to Seville — The Gua
dalquivir — Herdsmen and their Mares — Approach to Seville —
Gardens and Groves — Fonda de la Reyna — Don Josis and the
Widow — The Maiden's Balcony.
Every one says, and ne dpubt it is true; that Cadiz,
ccmmercially censidered, is traveling down hill, as it has
been for many years. This might be naturally enough ac-
counted for, by the mere decay of the national commerce,
Cadiz being dependent almost entirely upOn trade. The
decay alluded to, however, goes farther. Port St. Mary's,
and the other towns upon the hay, being more advanta
geously situated for the purposes of the wine trade, are. now
reclaiming, by their natural facilities, the commerce which
was once drawn to Cadiz, by superior capital and mere en
larged and active enterprise. Even Malaga, theugh farther
removed, has borne its part in the work. An intelligent
English merchant, my fellow-traveler in the Heredia, who
had resided twenty years in Malaga, told me, that, within
his time, the amount of exports from that city had been
doubled, and that if was stiU steadily increasing. Of course,
a portion of this gain has been the loss of Cadiz.
The Gaditanos, however, have set themselves to work,
to arrest the evil, if possible, or, rather, to counteract it.
They have established large and fine factories, which, ac
cording to the accounts they gave me, were busy and pros
perous. On board the steamer, as I went to Puerto Real,
I met a very well-informed young gentleman, the editor of
the Propagador, the free-trade journal of Cadiz. He told

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 161
me that, in order to .show the preposterousness' of the Cata
lonian tariff of seventy-five per cent upon certain fabrics,
the advoeates of a more reasonable system had but recently
forwarded to Madrid, samples of the same fabrics, manufac
tured at Cadiz. These, they accompanied with the corre
sponding British article, submitting their comparative excel
lence to the judgment of the government, and furnishing, at
the same time, a particular and detailed statement of the
outlay upon the home fabric, so as to show that, with a pro
tection of twenty -five per cent., they could support a profit
able and successful competition.
The object of the-free-traders, as the Propagador informed
me, would be entirely gratified by the establishment of a
rational system of protective duties, in lieu of the prohibitive
absurdities, to which I have, elsewhere, alluded. They were
clamoring for free/trade, he said, in order to get something
fess1, with which they would be very well satisfied. I could
not help suggesting, that where there was so much prejudice
to -be overcome, as well as so much comfortably established
monopoly, it seemed rather more rational to seek what
they wanted, Uttle by Uttle and quietly, than to frighten the
fools by wild innovation, and set the knaves on their guard.
My cormjanion sppke, very sensibly, in regard to the par
amount propriety of developing the agriculture of Spain,
which he considered its great interest. The grain growers
of Andalusia, he said, who were few, and owned, each, im
mense tracts of land, were very jealous of the free trade doc
trine, supposing that its adoption would bring foreign grain
into competition with theirs, but forgetting, how impossible
it was, that with such a soil as theirs, competition could be
formidable. The only result, he argued, would be an im
provement in the appliances of cultivation and transportation
— matters which seemed mountains to the good people, but
which the necessities of competition would soon level to mole
hills. He spoke, with great confidence, of the agricultural
capabUities ofthe Castiles and Leon, which, he said, were

162 GLIMPSES O.F SPAIN.
, the chief grain growing provinces, arid needed only some of
the improvements of modern science, with a few more roads,
to be without rivals in the grain market. The Asturias and
Galicia, by their, immense coal beds and abundant water
pewer, he deerried especially- marked out by nature for man
ufacturing districts. Catalonia, he said, was almost without
such natural advantages, and would insist, notwithstanding,
upon manufacturing, though all the rest of the kingdom
should be .plundered by custom-houses and Smugglers, to make
her holy day.
How far the view which the editor took was tinctured by
his prejudices in regard to poor, persecuted Catalonia, I will
not stop to inquire, but he certainly did no more than justice
to the extreme value of the agricultural interests of Spain.
The wheat of the Peninsula is pronounOed by Loudon, and
knqwn by every one who has eaten Spanish bread, to be the
finest in the world. The Castiles- and Leon, though the
most productive, probably, are still but a part of the immense
district of the Peninsula which is devoted to the cultivation
of cereal products. Aragon, Estremadura," the greater part
of Catalonia, Upper Andalusia, and part of Navarre, are
mentioned by Widdrington as constituting a region, through.
whose whole extent " wheat is produced in qualify arid would
be, in quantity, if properly tilled, equal, if not superior, to that
of any country on the globe.'- Whether free-trade, by stim
ulating competition ; or a properly encouraged system of man
ufactures, by furnishing a home market ; would be the wiser
policy for the development'of this great mine pf agricultural
wealth, is a question for the sages, and not for a scribbling
land-louper. Even as things are, the quantity of flour ex
ported by Spain to her own colonies, has much increased, I
learn, of recent years. It seems that, hitherto, the mode of
packing, and even the inferior wood of which the barrels have
been made, have aided the defective laws in hindering its
consumption. Once discovered, such accidents, of course, can
easily be remedied'. Graver evils are of slower cure.

GxrMPSES of Spain. ies
Monday, May 3. — At eleven, we were all on board the
Rapido, and our anchor was weighed, punctually at the hour
appointed, for Seville. The Rapido, though provided with
English engine and engineer, was a SevfUe-built steamer,
and did- very great oredit to her architect, being a fine vessel,
and fine-looking, into the bargain. I particularly admired
somo very pretty pannel-painting in the saloon, representing
Andalusian customs, with views of SeviUe and its environs)
executed in a highly creditable style of art. The wind and
waves drove me to the cabin and my accustomed sea-sickness,
almcst as soon as we were off and it was not tiU after a
wretched hour or two, that, I knew, from the motion of the
boat, we were safe in the Guadalquivir. When 1 went on
deck we were just passing the town of San Lucar, a desolate
and dilapidated looking place, whose good wine, however,
needs no bush. Soon after, we stopped to take passengers
from Bonanza, where a stupendous custom-house, now desert
ed, and a church, built but a few years ago and already tum
bling down, conveyed a rather poor idea of prosperity and
permanence. Our- pilot, contrary to the fashion' on the west
ern waters of the United States, turned the head of his ves
sel down stream, as the passengers were' rowed out to us.
The journey, from Bonanza tp SeviUe, is quiet enough.
Down toward the mouth of the river, there are some ranges
of low pine-forest, of the deepest green. One upon the left
bank, and of very great extent, belonged, I was told, to some
duke or. other, who used it and let it out as a chase, there
being abundance of wild boars and other game. With the
exception of these woodlands, you may sail up to Coria,
near seventeen long leagues, without seeing any thing but
marsh, or dead, desert-looking flats, over whose solitary places
•birds of prey career in full dominion. Now and then, you
have some Uttle relief to your sense of perfect desolation, as
you pass a herd of cattle or of mares at pasture ; though the
lonely herdsman, as he sits upon his horse and gazes at the
steamer, or gaUops with his long-handled goad behind his

16.4 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN,
charge, dees net give ypu any very lively netfon pf Cheerful
or humanizing life. Occasionally you are amused, when
the drove is set, jn motion, , All but the yeung are ham
pered, te prevent their wandering very fast er far, and when
the herdsman drives them, er they take a nptfon tp be off
themselves, it makes one laugh to see so many hundreds of
them, moving, in their ineffectual attempts to gaUop, like a
drove of hobby-horses. Up about Puebla, which is some
two leagues below Coria, the country begins to be more
varied, and to show .signs of cultivation,; hills and gardens,
orchards and orange-groves, with fields of fine grain, being all
about you. Still farther on, when you reach Gelbes, you
see the Giralda of Seville rising high and beautiful in the
distance, while around you every ridge is green with olive-
trees. Then, between beautiful gardens and groves of
orange and lemon tree's, whose perfume burdens the air, you
make your delightful way over the Smooth water ; passing,
now under the grim old. walls of the Moorish castle of San
JUan de Alfarache, with its picturesque,village on the bank :
now, again, enjoying the bright, full view of Seville, which
bursts, upon you ; and landing, at last, at the very foot of the
beautiful garden and walk of the Delicias.
On the very steps of the landing, a vile carabinero explores
the secrets of your boxes, but you are soon rid of him, for
¦" Poderoso caballero,
Es. Don Dinero /"*
A -powerful gentleman, indeed, is my Lord Cash ! and cus
tom-houses do him reverence. You take a glimpse, in pass
ing, of the famous Torre del oro — the tower of gold, of which
you have read so much ; and .then bribing still another cara
binero, at the city-gate, to let you uvunrummaged, you make
the best of your way (if yoii are well advised) to that excel
lent hostelry, the Fonda de la Reyna, No. 68 of the Calle
Jimio. The fat, comfortable-looking landlady, who receives
you, is a living sign that good cheer abides within her tents.
Don Jose, who ushers you to your chamber, and who wears,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 165
that warm afternoon, a black sheep-skin jacket (Which is
caUed a zamarro, as you learn), is not the landlady's hus
band, for she is a widow, and still sorrows for the departed,
in weariness of spirit though not in waste of flesh. Don
Jose is her steward, and an excellent one, no doubt, he is to
her, if he attends to her affairs one-half so weU as you wUl
find he does to yours. If, "No. 5" is vacant, seize on it at
once. It is on the gaUery of the first floor above, and has
a window, with a balcony, upon the street, just opposite
another where a gentle maiden sits (or sate, at all events,
when I was there), plying her needle briskly, surrounded by
roses, and all manner of sweet flowers. The street is ten
feet wide, perhaps, and the balconies project somewhat, sp that
you must be careful what yeu whisper, or she may hear it.
When house affairs, or any little business she may have,
shall caU her from her, bower, you can look inward (I do
not mean into your heart — but) into the patio of the Fonda,
where, in the bright and eheerful air, and among vines and
blossoms that cluster round the slender Moorish columns,
Don Jose's gay canaries hold their concerts. You are in
Seville, depend on it ! la tierra de Maria Zantizima ! You
may not yet have seen, perhaps, "where black-eyed damsels
dance the zambra, under every orange grove," as fhe ohj
raven hinted to Prince Ahmed, when he sought an object
for his love : but task your patience yet a little — you have
been in Seville but an hour ! Go out, then, to the Cathe
dral, before it is quite -dark, and wander, as I didS up arid
down the solemn, awful, twilight aisles. There will be still
some moments left to stroll in the Delicias; arid then, if you
are weary as I was, get you beneath the wings of your
mosquito-net, and you may dream, if you are fanciful, of
Moors and Christians, rivers, groves, and gardens. If you
should happen to forget them aU, 'as I did, you may have
pleasant slumbers, notwithstanding.

CHAPTER XV.
Seville — Domestic Architecture — Moorish Relics — Hones of Pilate —
The Alcazar and its Gardens — English Critics and Whitewash —
Sir John Downie — Holyrood and Durham Cathedral — The Span
ish Kings — Peter the Cruel. i
The idea which I have already attempted to give of the
domestic architecture of an Andalusian city, may serve as
well for Seville as any other, except that, there, the build
ings in general, are finer and their style and finish are
more tasteful and thorough, than any where else in tho
province. The traces of. the Moors too, are visible upon a
larger scale than you will see out of -Granada.. The streets,
with a few exceptions, are narrow- and crooked, and the
houses are tall and of inhospitable exterior, though, when
you enter their -marble courts, sheltered by thick awnings
from the heat and glare, with fountains murmuring and
flowers profusely bloorhing, you would scarcely be surprised
were some Lindaraja or Zorayda to come forth and welcome
yen, as wandering princes in disguise were met in eastern
story. In SevUle, the custom is universal of migrating to
the ground-floor, when the warm days begin. The pdpio
then becomes the drawing-room,, and the awning is removed
at the setting of the sun, so that;when the tertulia is as
sembled, it is beneath no canopy but that which the stars
sUver. I have no doubt, that in many of the older dwellings (fot
houses live to a good old age in- Spain) fine relics of Moorish
art will be discovered, ene of these days. In a private
house — the "Casa o*Lea" — there is a salepn pf singular
beauty, in its form and proportions and the exquisiteness of

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 167
its arabesques. UntU within a few years back, it had the
appearance of an ordinary apartment. Chance, however,
gave some of its hidden ornaments to the light, and an
outer coating of plaster having been removed, it was found
to be, so far as one can judge, a work of the same period
with some of the finest chambers in the Alcazar. Here and
there, throughout the city, similar discoveries have been
occasionaUy made.
The Casa de Pilatos (House of Pilate) the once magnifi
cent mansion of the Riberas, is remarkable for its singular
and graceful blending of Gothic and Saracenic architecture.
It was built, as the inscription on the pQrtal tells us, toward.
the beginning of the sixteenth century, when the arts of the
Moslem were still in perfection and request. Time, neglect,
and whitewash have done their usual work upon the noble
buUding, and, as if these engines of destruction were not
ruinous enough, the revolutionists of 1843 had the good
taste to aid them with a few bombs. The present proprie
tor is the Duke of Medina-CeU, who is reputed, among his
countrymen, to be no wiser than he should be. ,~ His sad
abandonment of such a monument of art and of ancestral
splendor, goes, certainly, very far toward establishing the ¦
correctness of the popular judgment.
It appears that, in the days when this, palace was build
ing, Don Fadrique Enriquez de Ribera, Adelantado Mayor
of Andalusia, was a pilgrim to the Holy Land. Spme say
that he brought with him earth, from Palestine, to halfow
the foundatfons of his mansion, and others, that he gave to
it the name it bears, in memory of the dweUing of PUate,
which he had visited, when in Jerusalem. Certain it is,
that he was fuU of the enthusiasm of his pilgrimage, for
beneath a pious inscription en the gateway, taken from the
Psalms,* and commending his dweUing to the shadow of the
* I give the inscription for the benefit of.the curious.
" Nisi dominus edijicaverit dqmum, in vanum labor ar ent qui edijkant
cam. Svb umbra alarum tuarum protege noa."

168 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
Almighty's wings, you may read, in the center ef a maze of
crosses, the following legend —
"4 diasde Agostb 1519, entrb en Hierusalem.'\
(On the 4th of August, 1519, he entered' into Jerusalem.)
Against the outer wall, close by the entrance, there is a
large crucifix. This is the beginning of the " estaciohes," or
stations, commemorative of the pauses of our Saviour, as he
bore his cross, which are visited with so much devotion by
the 'whole population during the ceremonies of Easter-week.
Outside the. city-walls, as you go eastward toward Alcala
de Guadaira; you pass an ancient crucifix, standing beneath
the dome of a small, open temple, which crowns a gentle
mound, or Calvary. It is called la Cruz del Campo, and
there are generally some peasants kneeling before it. That
crucifix is the last of the stations which begin at the House
of Pilate. The Ribera, when in Jerusalem, is said' to have
measured the very ground over which Jesus passed to .cruci
fixion, and to have laid out these stations in accordance, on
his return.
The Christian memories of Palestine, which the Adelan-
tado brought home with him, are mostly visible upon the
outside of his house. Upon the inside, he seems to have re
membered chiefly its Moslem luxuries. You enter, beneath
a noble gateway, crowned with a fine Gothic balustrade in
stone, and passing through an unimportant court, you make-
your way, by a gallery upon the right, into a patio, some
sixty feet square, surrounded' by light Moorish columns
of white marble, ovef which spring the fairiest arches you
have ever seen, of varied span and- exquisite detail. The
gallery which runs round it,, is closed, upon three sides, by
(Then follows)
Esta caza mandaron hazer los ylustres Senores, Don Padro Henriqilez,
Adelantado Mayor de Andaluzia y Dona Catalina de Ribera su
muger, y esta portada mando hazer su hijo, Don Fadrique Enriquez de
Ribera, primero Marques de Tkrifa, ansi mesmo Adelantado. Asentose
a.d. 1533. ¦ • -

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 169
waUs, the upper parts of which, to within a few feet of the
ground, are a labyrinth of the most intricately beautiful and
finished arabesques. Beneath these delicate penciKngs of
the Moor, the walls are covered with the famous azulejos,
or porcelain tiles of Triana, (the suburb of Seville) upon
whose brilliant and perfect surface, among those combina
tions of mathematical figures which pleased the Moors so
much, you note the arms of the noble families of Medina-
CeU and Alcala. The chapel, into which you enter upon
the northern side of the patio, is strangely and fantastically
beautiful, from the union it presents of Saracenic ornament
with Gothic forms. The vaulted ceiling is purely Gothic,
and yet clustered with a wreath of arabesques, and the walls
have tracery all over them which the courts of the Alham
bra might envy. In the center of the chapel there is a low
column of red marble, to typify that at which our Lord was
scourged. The superb side-saloons, upon the ground floor, are Ueco-
rated, like the rest of the building, with azulejos and arab
esques, and their fine ceilings of carved wood, here and there
richly gilded, are as perfect as they came from 'the artist's
hand. All about the courts, and in the garden to which you
pass from them, there are ancient statues in abundance, some
of them from Italica, others from the coUection presented by
Pope Pius V. to Perafan de Ribera, when he was Viceroy
of Naples. A sad time they have had of it — to judge from
appearances — these relics of the classic past ! Here, a leg,
there, an arm, and here again a mutilated torso, is preach
ing whole volumes of the " sermons in stones." Emperors,
innocent of noses, are asleep among damaged deities. Pal
las belligera, with her present countenance, would be cut, in
spite of lance and Gorgon's head, by one half of her acquaint
ances* on Olympus. Ceres fruQlif era might thank her stars,
if she were permitted to pass muster as a market-woman.
In the midst of such good company, the mother and the wife
of Don Fadrique have reason for the resignation which marks
H

170 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
< their battered and afflicted- visages, as they kneel, in marble
raiment so wretchedly the worse for wear !
Leaving the antiques and the now rank, neglected gar
den that blepms and flpurishes about them, you go up to
the terrace, by a splendid stairway. Proud arches and a
graceful deme er two rise er hang ever it. Along its sides,
the bright-colored azulejos are gorgeous with blazonry and
fringed with frost-work. Ypu are not admitted to the upper
chambers, and having admired the columns of the gallery
and breathed the fresh air upon the ample terrace, you pay
your peseta and are about to depart. The good woman who
has attended you begins to be amiable and communicative,
at the touch cf the' silver, and takes yeu to a comer, where
you, may see, before you go, what Don Fadrique built, in
memory of the porch where Peter denied his Master. You
do your best to lccate the cock -that crew on the eccasicn,
and you turn to your cicerone for -particulars, but alas ! she
can make you none the wiser — probably because she is, her
self, "no chicken," ,^s you have aheady observed. You go
your -ways, therefore, sadly puzzled as tp the possible resem
blance' between the fine herse-shee arch above yeu, and. the
humble, place, en which you learned at schcpl, that
" Unusquisque gal lus cantat."
After yeu hav.e done with Pilate and his mansion, you
will hardly consider it Worth while to be particular about
the repute of the houses yeu visit, and ypu wUJ, perhaps,
extend your walk to the Royal Alcazar, which the bad
memory of Pedro el cruel has done any thing but conse
crate. If it be. one of the fine days on which the gardens
are epened, as they eften are, to the public, and yeu go in
with the . cheerful Crowd which ' the occasion never fails to
assemble, you will see too much of beauty in the yeung arid
living specimens abeut ypu, tp feel interest in tracing even
the fairest dead antiquity. To be critical, therefore, you
must select a. dies non, when a biUete' from the proper

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 171
authorities, or a peseta or two, judiciously administered, will
give you the freedom ef hall and bpwer. The grounds,
thpugh extensive and well enpugh kept, are in what Theo
phile Gautier, half ashamed of it, calls, "le vicux gout
franpais" — a very bad sort of taste, as every body knows.
The luxuriant orange-trees, burdened with fruit and ffowers,
are propped and clipped into all manner of unnatural and
formal shapes. The beds of venerable box are carved into
the semblance of Beurbon arms, with Austrian eagles and
animals of those heraldic species which are becoming more
and mere a "vieux gout," daily. Even the jets d'eau are
made cpmparatively insignificant, by their minuteness : giving
their moisture, in most homoeopathic sprinklings, to the par
terres of gorgeous flowers which blossom and are sweet be
neath the spray. Then there are fish-ponds and shell grot
toes ; labyrinths, and rustic temples, in abundance : but these
you can see almost any where, and you therefore hasten on
into the palace itself, which -is a thing not to be-stumbled on
in an every-day walk.
I doubt very much whether an architectural description
of the Alcazar, such as I could give, would contribute much
to the reader's edification. Patios and salones, ajaracas and
almocarabes, though exceUent things to look at, labor under
decided disadvantages in print, and L am by no means sure
that I. could do them the justice which even their hard
names admit. There is a wide difference between admiring
what is beautiful yourself, and so portraying it that others
may endorse your taste. A wise man was the learned judge,
who refused to give reasons for his judgment. " The opinion
• may be very good," he said, "and the reasons quite the con
trary !" Suffice it to say, then (as- the newspapers write), that
the Alcazar, like all the buildings that I saw, in Moorish
style, is as unattractive without, as it is graceful,- and beau
tiful within. The outer court — a sort of Umbo between
earth and fairy-land — gives you no notice of the beauty that
bursts on ypu as you enter the grand patio ; arid even this

172 GLIMPSE'S OF SPAIN.
suggests to you, but, dimly, the treasures that are on the inside
of the walls.
Imagine ranges of apartments, opening inte each ether
and en marble ; courts, through arch-ways: varying iri shape
and span, yet graceful as the rainbow, all of them, and stoop
ing to^fair eclumns, as light, almost, as they ! Abeve these
arches, and around them, aU afong the walls ef these en
chanted chambers, imagine the finest filagree and epen work-,
traced upen a ground pf blue er crimscn, and seeming, from
its delicate beauty K to be made of melting frost, fixed in its
slenderest moment. Beneath your feet, let every thing be
marble,' and over all, hang airy- demes er- ceilings, in your
fancy, gorgeous with" carved and inlaid work, and gold.
When you have done- all this,- be seriously persuaded you
have done but half enough, and then imagine some rascally
Alcaide, turned -with his brush and whitewash tub into your
Aladdin's palace, leaving unprofaned, of all the wonders you
have fancied, but just enough to show you how polite you
are, in calling him Vandal only.
The poor Spaniards have been sadly berated by all trav
elers, and especially the English, for their indifference to art;
iri having thus defaced one of its fairest monuments. If the
facts be, as I heard them from no bad authority, John Bull
might well forego, for once, his Magna Charta privilege of
grumbling. The gallant- Scotsman, Sir John Downie, for his
bravery in leading the desperate charges on the i bridge of
Triana, when Soult was driven out of SeviUe? was made
Alcaide or Royal Lieutenant ofthe Alcazar. Before his time
(in 1805 according to the records), the sin of whitewash had
been partially committed in some of the apartments, but the
wholesale iniquity, so much lamented now, was perpetrated
during his administration. The legend is, that if was done*
to get the palace rid of bugs ! There is a Scotsman told of
in "Eothen," who kept up Edinburgh tastes and habits, after
he had turned Turk and had " suffered captivity, conversion,
circumcision!" Perhaps Sir John was equafiy Caledonian

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 173
in his notions, and remembered the superb old ceiling of
carved oak in Holyrood, which they have whitewashed  to
Ught up the pictures ! When the reader visits Auld Reekie,
he -wiU know the apartment, by the portrait of Lady Rich
that hangs in it, and a Duke of Newcastle by Vandyke.
Perhaps Sir John, on his way down to London, had stepped
into old JJurham's proud Cathedral, and had seen the effect
of whitewash on the noble, clustering columns of black mar
ble, that rise about the choir and around St. Cuthbert's
tomb. Thay have scrubbed and oUed some of them, of late,
and they begin to look as black as ever, but, in the Alcaide's
day they were, no doubt, in the full radiance of lime, and it
may be that their beauty pleased him ! Be all this as it
may, however, the work of restoration was going on steadily
in the Alcazar. They were scraping the whitewash off, as
carefuUy as possible, and renewing the ' original colors with
fidelity and taste. One room was already nearly finished,
and how exquisite it was ! Around many of the rest the
scaffolding was up, and the workmen were steadily indus
trious.* The Alcazar was begun by the Moors, two or three een-
turies before Seville was reconquered by St. Ferdinand. To
ward the middle of the fourteenth century, Pedro the Cruel
enlarged andimproved it, summoning to his aid the most ac-
compUshed artists from the neighboring kingdom of Granada.
The fine basin beneath the palace is supposed to have been
made by his order. It bears the name of the " bath of Maria
de PadiUa," the mistress to whom he sacrificed his wife, poor
Blanche of Bourbon, and bis brother, Don Fadrique, the Mas
ter of Santiago. It may be doubted whether it would have
conspfed these unhappy victims te have knewn the immor-
tahty they were te earn in baUad and romance ; but posterity,
* Since the. last French Revolution, the restorations of the Alcazar
have been completed, as I learn, and the palace is now occupied by
the Duke and Duchess of Montperisier, who have added the splendor
of a brilliant court to the other attractions of Seville.

/
174 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
of a truth, is much indebted to them and to Don Pedro, foi
the interesting and poetical manner in which their exit was"
accomplished. The traveler is still' shown, the hall, called " la
sola- del sacrijicio,". where. Don Fadrique is reputed te have
been murdered." It adjeins the Hall ofthe Ambassadors, and
there is a slab of marble, in the pavement, which bears the
relics of an inscription, in the, characters of days gone by, to
gether with some stains, which are reputed to be the marks
of Don Fadrique's blood. Unhappily, white marble, in that
region, has red spots, -often, without reference to Peter the
Cruel, and you may, if you please, be skeptical. If you pre
fer being of great faith you will find -inspiration for it in the
old ballads, or in Mr. Lockhart's paraphrases, or in the
romance by .-Perez de Miranda, called the," Primqjenito de
Albuquerque." The alterations made in the palace, down to the time of
Charles V., were in the style of the original architecture and
embellishment, but, from the incoming of the cold blood of
Austria, every change has been a mutilation. One of their
majesties signalized himself, by running a screen of lath
and plaster across, a glorious arch. Another cut away a
wall of. priceless arabesques, to make himself a window.
•Another gave himself to immortality, by building chimneys
and fire-places, with appliances suggestive of tea-kettles.
PhiUp H. had nothing better to do, than to destroy the
beauty of the grand Hall of the Ambassadors, by having the
drum ofthe dome stuck full' of portraits ofthe Christian kings.
" There, may be seen" J (says the guide Bailly, in a little
book he lent me), "the whole dynasty of Spain compressed
into little squares, from the earliest king down f o the hideous
Ferdinand!" Rare Christians, indeed they' were, these
pictured monarchs, who have left such traces of themselves !
Granting them the advantage of all orthodoxy, as to the
other world, one Moor was worth the dome fuU of thein, -in
his notions of what is beautiful in this, Look; out from the
old chambers which front upon the garden, and which

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

tradition gives to Abdalasis, son of Muza. Does there linger
in your memory a fairer prospect, than the plain of orange-
groves and olives and ripe bending grain, through which
the gentle river ripples, as of old, upon its way? On any
of the sultry days which Seville has in plenty, go down to
one of the fresh marble courts, where fountains murmur cool
ness, and where arches spring so light above you, that they
seem to Ughten even the burden of the air ! Think then of
the Moor that built them, and afterward of Charles V. and
chimney-corners ! I ccnfess I never fooked up at the gaUery
of portraits,, without remembering the famous " Oda a,
Pluton," which was circulated in manuscript, in Cadiz,
during the second siege, and whose auther has never been
pesitively knewn. It is an arraignment, before Pluto, pf
the whole dynasty of Spain, from Ferdinand and Isabella
down. As a satire and a poem, it is inimitable, of its kind.
Its spirit may be understood, from the concluding line, which
hands the whole blood-royal, past and present, over to aU
the devils — " Y si hay demonios aim, que se los lleven!"
And yet when you go to the gorgeous chapel of St.
Ferdinand, in the Cathedral — the Chapel of the Kings, as
it is often called — you wiU read, in golden letters, on the
crimson canopy over the high altar, the fashipnable text so
oft perverted by royalty and its flatterers, " Per me, reges
regnant." If Providence did not, now and then, think fit
to scourge the nations rather than to bless them, inscrutable
indeed would be the ways which have committed the destinies
of such a land, to the keeping of such majesties as Philip V.
of happy memory f and Charles IV —
" El Borbon de los Bo r bones /"

CHAPTER XVI.
Improvements at Seville— Literature and the Press — The Bible— Mr.
Borrow and the Causes of his Failure — Newspapers — American
News— General Taylor in Seville — Scarcity of Bread — Bread. Riots
— The Cigar-girls — Andalusian Character illustrated — Dancing —
The Ole— The Bell-ringer's Daughter.
The reader is 'not to suppose, for an instant, that Seville
is a mere depository of Moorish relics and monumerits of eld;
for, on the contrary, its men, women, and children are as
full of vitality and spirit and the present time, as if they had
never heard of hoar antiquity. Things are not, of course,
with the proud city, as in the days of her greatness, when
.the Dominican Mercado wrote of her, that " she had deal
ings with all the world of Christendom, yea, even of Bar
bary." Nevertheless she has come bravely out of the Slough
ef Despond, and you can go scarce any Where within her
walls, without falling upon signs of increasing population,
wealth, and industry. There are several new manufacturing
establishments, of recent and excellent construction. Im
provements in the comfortable modern arts of life are ".spring
ing into daily development and use. New dwellings, of
creditable architecture, meet you here and there : old ones
are undergoing improvement and extension. Occasionally
you find yourseU in a fine new public square, probably the
site of a dismantled convent : at other times, in a street
which they are widening, remodeling, and rebuilding. The
shops in the fashionable parts of the city are elegant and
extensive, some of them ; and you can supply yourself, to
your satisfaction, with the latest productions of the British
ioom, or the most exquisite nouveaut'es de Paris — smuggled,
of course ! The booksellers are very weU provided with

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 177
the national classics and translations of the standard works
of other countries. The habit of publishing books, in num
bers, now so prevalent with us, has become popular in Spain
also. So convenient a medium, of course, deluges the com
munity with tiash, and particularly with translations of the
French novels, so popular with ascertain class of readers ;
but I was gratified to find that the Spanish publishers had
the good taste to avail themselves of it, for the promulgation
of the best portions of their own literature also.
Among the many books in the course of periodical publi
cation, it wiU surprise the readers of Mr. Borrow to know,
that the Bible was one of the most prominent. At every
bookstore you might have seen it advertised, in the most
flaming letters, at rates to suit purchasers ; and there was
especially placarded, a fine edition called the " Biblia pin-
toresca" or Ulustrated Bible, after the fashion of the beau
tiful work published by the Harpers in this country. To be
sure, it was, in all probability, the translation from the
Vulgate, which Mr. Borrow would consider no Bible at all :
but, inasmuch as the whole Spanish nation happen to differ
with him in that particular, it seems but fair to allow them
the privilege of reading their own version, instead of hunting
up the more orthodox copies, which he dropped on the high
ways, and in the dens of the gipsy horse-thieves. I may as
well say, here, that unless the portions of Spain I visited
have changed prodigiously since- Mr. Borrow's missionary
excursions, there is too much room for ascribing to that
graphie and entertaining traveler, the " Munchausenish ten
dencies," -which Blackwood supposes him to possess. Ac
cording to the testimony of Captain Widdrington, who is a
witness both impartial and intelligent, the whole enterprise,
in Which Mr. Borrow embarked,, fell cempletely through,
and altogether from the- fa»t that " nothing was ever con
ducted, in a manner more Ukely to insure its certain and
inevitable faUure." By the Spanish laws, both civil and
ecclesiastical, at the time of Mr. Borrow's mission, it was
H*

178 GLIMPSES OF. SPAIN.
not the printing and distribution of the Bible that was pro
hibited, buf of, the Bible without the Apocrypha and anno-
tations. Now, whatever may Be the opinions of Protestants
in regard tp the utility er the cancnical value Of the Apoc
ryphal books, to have published them, with, the rest of, the
Scriptures, would seem (even if the Spanish laws had
been silent on the subject) to have been clearly required, by
the very 'Bible Society principle, which gives the whole of
the Sacred Writings to the reader, that he may examine,
ponder, and judge for himself. Be that as it may, however —
to commence a religious enterprise by violating the law, and
to determine that he would circulate his own Bible or none^ —
would seem to have savored, on the part of Mr. Borrow,
rather more of the spirit of propagandism, than of an earnest
desire to give the word of God to the people. The result
was a natural. one. The missionary arrayed against himself,
at the outset, both the clergy and the government, instead
of seeking the co-operation which Captain, Widdrington
assures us* would have been gladly given, under other cir
cumstances. To so impolitic a commencement, the associa
tion of Mr. Borrow, principally, with the gipsies — the very
fax populi in Spain- — and his constant ani peculiarly
British defiance of all the manners, laws, and customs that
contravened his wiU, certainly gave no favorable direc
tion. The result was, what he has himself admitted, a
complete and entire failure. Judging from his books, how
ever, one would suppose that- he had shaken the whole
Peninsula with a Sort of appstolical earthquake. Captain
Widdrington says, on the contrary, what I found myself
was the case, that "excepting the authorities,. with whom
Mr. Borrow's operations brought him in contact, hardly any
Spaniard I mentioned the. subject to, had ever heard either
of the expedition or the individual." L saw his name in
large letters and in Latin," on the visitor's ^book at the
Alhambra, and I had from Bailly, the very intelligent
* Spain and the Spaniards, 304, 306.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 179
guide at Seville, a description of some- of his gipsy-adventures,
and of the very summary manner in which his Rommany
literature, or a part of it, was gotten together. Else
where, if I heard of him and what he calls his " buffeting,"
it was in connection with the homely proverb which is
generally applied to those who meddle with what does
not concern them — " Cuidados ajenos mataron al asno .'"
(Other people's troubles slew the donkey !) On the whole,
I do not know whether Christepher Nerth's abridgment ef
what is to be said of him, does not furnish the - best con
clusion to this Uttle episode. " Notwithstanding his mis
sionary avocations and Munchausenish. tendencies, we have
a sneaking kindness for friend Borrow, having collected from
his writings, that he is a fellow of considerable pluck and
energy, of adventurous spirit, with a sharp eye for a gpod
horse, and who would, no doubt, have made an excellent
dragopn, had it pleased Ged to caU him to that way of
life." Ameng the cries of a Spanish town, the last, perhaps,
that a traveler expects toj hear, is that of a newsman ; and
yet, strange to say, it was as regular in SeviUe, while I was
there, as any other of the ten thousand noises that were
perpetually dinning in my ears. AU about the streets, and
in the public places, the paper-carriers went bawling the
contents, real or imaginary, of their respective sheets : and
I well remember that the most vociferous of them all was
a poor fellow who passed the Fonda, at the same hour, every
day, and who, being stone-blind, must have relied for his
story, on a good memory or a happy invention. The two
journals that I used to see were of very moderate dimen
sions, but, as the secret of advertising had not yet been fully
learned in Andalusia, they had abundant room for corre
spondence and editorial matter, both of which were of a very
creditable character. The perfect freedom which the press
at. that time enjoyed, had ehcited a great deal of talent,
and the journals throughout Spain, so far as I had opportu-

180 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
nities of seeing them, were conducted by clever, independent,
and well-informed persons; In their strictures upon public
men and measures, they were as unrestrained as Our own
press ; in good- taste and decorum^ they were much above
its average. The Seville papers were active in keeping
their readers well supplied with the last -news, though, ooca--
sionally, they used to serve matters up with those innocent
variations, which are so riatural, when men write from afar
and about strange things.' Thus, in the Diario of May 14,
1847, in an article speculating upon the probable election of-
General Taylor to the Presidency jof the United JStates, the
argument was wound up by the following suggestion : — '¦" It
is to be borne in mind that Generals Fackson and Flamilton
owed their election to the Presidency to their military reputa
tion !" I treasured it up carefully, for a man travels to learn.
During my -whole stay in Spain, the Peninsula was
affected, to some extent, by the scarcity of bread-stuffs,
which was- then distressing Europe. Occasional outbreaks
in the larger cities were the consequence ; and I had the
luck to be in the midst of a very respectable little revolu
tion of the sort, in Seville, which began on the 7th of May.
It may be much doubted whether there was any real scar
city in Spain, but there was a great deal of engrossing and
speculation, which affected the quantity of food in the mar
ket very materially ; and it was, besides, believed by the
populace, that the members of the municipal councils were
availing themselves- of their- official position, to make money
out of the public necessities. This, of course, was sufficient
to give a very excited tone to the public mind, and the ex
ceedingly absurd measures which the ayuntamientos resorted
to, contributed to fan the flame. Thus, for instance, the
city of Cordova is on the main route, from the grain-growing
provinces of the north and- center, to the south of Spain.
AIL commodities taking the latter - dif eotion pass through
Cordova. The ayuntamiento of the city of Abderrahman,
convinced of the necessity of every man's taking care of

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 181
himseU in this wicked world, published a sapient edict, with
two clauses-; first, that none of the grain or flour already
in the city should be removed ; and, secondly, that all
which might be brought in should be kept there ! The
consequence was, that Cordova was actually overflowing
with bread-stuffs, at the lowest rates, while Seville and the
surrounding country were in a state of semi-starvation.
The ayuntamiento of Seville, scared by the popular clam
or, and determined to be as wise as the Cordovese aldermen,
passed their edict too, by which they commanded the bakers
of Seville and Alcala (which is a town of bakers a few miles
from the city) to continue baking their usual quantity, un
der severe penalties, and to furnish it in the market, daUy,
at the prices named in the edict. Unfortunately, the learned
Thebans, in setting the price on bread, forgot to set it like
wise on grain, so that the poor bakers found themselves, the
bright morning in question, compelled by law to sell cheaply,
while the law did not protect them from the necessity of pay
ing dearly. Thus cornered, and probably, seeing no greater
reason why they should be compeUed to give alms to the
pubhc, than the public to them, the bakers of Alcala unani
mously shut up ..themselves and their loaves at home, and
Seville saw nothing of either in the accustomed market-places.
Of course there was a hubbub in consequence. People sought
bread and could find none, for the shops in SevUle did not
provide more than a smaU portion of the amount dauy con
sumed. I saw, that morning, on the table at the Fonda, that
the supply and the variety were more limited than usual, but
did not anticipate the row that was brewing, until Bailly
came to take, me out among the hons. He told me that
there would probably be some outbreak, for the people were
in want, and they were persuaded, besides, that some ofthe
ayuntamiento had a hand in the scarcity.
It was about half-past nine when we started on our expe-
-dition. As we went out, we saw the shop-keepers closing
doprs and windpws hurriedly, and we had hardly reached the

182 GLIMPSES OF SFAIN.
Cathedral, when an immense crowd rushed by, in the direc-.
tfon of the Cigar-factory of the government,- which was a
quarter of a mile, or thereabouts, distant Like prudent
people, we let them go their Ways, and- proceeded to the Co
lumbian Library, but the -librarian, being a timid man, had"
wisely determined to keep himself out of, harm's reach, and
the doors were closed accordingly. We then went into the
body of the Cathedral, but had ' scarcely gone half way down
one of the aisles, when we saw the vergers' fastening all the-
doors, in great haste and trepidation. Not caring to be im
prisoned, even in the sanctuary, we determined te gp to- the
Museum to see. Murillo's pictures, but cur way thither led
through the Plaza 4e San Fr&ncisco, where the Hall of the
Municipality is — and the Plaza itself was filled with troops
under arms, while crowds of men and women were rushing
madly, with wild screams, through aU the streets that led
to it. The shops and houses were closed in every direction,
and, forthe moment,- the only place of safety seemed to be
within our own doors. We returned to fhe Fonda, therefore,
and had scarcely entered it, when Don Francisco, consider
ing that the safety of himself and the fat widow; with their
guests and canaries, required it, commanded his. doors to be
closed and barred, so that, no man might, enter without sum
mons. The window of my apartment being on the calle Ji-
mio, which enters the Plaza not far off I had convenient
opportunity to hear the sounds of war, and learn the partic
ulars from passers by. There then, I entrenched myself, for
the time being.
With capital generalship, the mob had driven in the
guards at the Cigar-factory, and had let out the cigarreras,,
the women employed these,1 to- the number of three or four
thousand. Of course, in the tumult, there was a general ap
propriation and distribution of the queen's royal tobacco, and
thus, fortified with the weed and its fair, ministers, the out
laws returned towards the Plaza. The women led the van-;
net because the men were particularly afraid of the position,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 183
but because it was pretty well understood that the soldiery
were too gallant to fire on their sweethearts. Each of the
daughters of BeUona had her skirts full of stones. The men,
too, carried large supplies of missiles in the embozos of their
cloaks, and thus, in masculine and feminine commingUng, they
made their descent on the guards in double quick time, shout
ing Viva d capitan jeneral ! Muera el jefe politico ! Pan
a dos reales ! (Lsng live the captain general ! Death to
the political chief! Bread at two reals !)
A hard time it was for the soldiers and the Town-haU,
and a precious' collection was soon to be seen of broken heads
and windows ! Presently, a random shot or two were heard,
and 'then came a sharp voUey, foUowed by shrieking and
shouting. Now, a rapid charge would force the crowd up
through a narrow street, and then, a soldier, here and there,
would tumble, ignominiously, beneath a flower-pot from some
rebellious balcony. The jefe politico, who seemed to be
especiaUy obnoxious, managed to have his dignified crown
cracked among the foremost, and being thus demonstratively
satisfied that the civil authorities were but a poor reliance,
he handed the reins over to the captain-general," Pezuela.
Pezuela was a man of nerve and sense. He availed- himself
rapidly of the new troops that were brought into the city ;
scattered detachments -wherever new tumults seemed to be
brewing, and planted a few pieces of formidable artillery in
the Plaza. While this was going on, there was rare spur- ,
ring and galloping of aids and messengers from post to post,
and you could see, even- from a distance, that an active and
strong wiU was at work. Along with the cannon, came an
edict or bando, informing the people that the city was under
martial law, and that the captain-general meant to enforce
it.' He promised' to do his best for the removal1 of grievances
and the relief of the pubhc necessities, but ho would have no
further tumult; If good words would not produce order, he
promised them that he would try bayonets. He commanded
them, therefore, to avoid assembling in groups in the- streets

184 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
or publie. places, and enjoined on all good citizens, to open
their shOps as usual, and. to have lights, that night, before
their hquses. In the meantime, he dispatched a troop of
cavalry to Alcala, and brought every baker, with his bread,
at full gallop to the city, where he forced, them all to sell at
the lpw rates prescribed ; the ayuntamiento binding itself tc
make gepd the difference. By these, means, when evening
came, the revolution was at an end, and- all meuths were
stepped effectually, in mere senses than one.
When I took my walk, late in the- afternopn, the tired
soldiers, who had made a forced march into the city, were
bivouacking in the streets. Sentinels were at the corners,
and a regiment of lancers were under arms in the Plaza.
At night, there was .a blaze of torches from every balcony,
so that np rieter- could hide him in the darkness — a fortu
nate precaution, by-the-by — for the mob had broken nearly
all the public lamps, and there would have been rare sport,
but for the -illumination. Next, day, every thing was quiet,
although -martial law was still kept up, and the array of sen
tinels and. strong patrols continued, until it seemed a matter
of great supererogatfon. The" truth is, that the " invictos
Sevillanos" became as quiet as lambs, when they get their
bread and saw the cannon. Our shrewd little Gallego serv
ant, who was no admirer of the Andalusians, shrugged his
shoulders as goon as martial law was proclaimed, and told
me the feast was over — " se acabb la fiesta!" " They were
poor devils/' he said, "all of them — se les va tado en palabras,
(every thing, passes off, with them, in talk,) the dram (el tra-
guito) was all their pluck, and to say the truth of them, they
bore the same relation to men that the bocas de la Isla did
to crabs ; they were all mouth !" Whether the vaUant
little fellow was particularly ferocious, himself,' I have no
means of knowing. He certainly turned very pale, when a
poor wounded boy was carried past the Fonda : but that,
perhaps, was from pity or indignation. Ill, however-, as he
spoke of the people, there were those who thought no better

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 185
of the' mighty men of war who had subdued them. An in
telligent old gentleman from Xerez, who was with us at the
Fonda, and who, having been a militar hirriself, knew all
the tricks of trade, used to anurse us for some days after the
riot, by his prophecies as to the number of ribbons and crosses
which her Majesty would be, compelled to dispense to her
brave and faithful officers. But for the hope of such things,
he said, the patrols and bivouacking would have ended with
the day of tumult. I left Seville before the due time had
roUed round for the eld gentleman's prophecies to be verified,
but I have no doubt the thing ended as he supposed. It is
but fair, however, to say, that but for the energy and prompt
ness of Pezuela's measures, there would; in aU probability,
have been much bloodshed, and to have averted that, was
certainly worth a star or two.
A little incident, which occurred during the prevalence of
the excitement, wiU iUustrate, as well as a "volume of dis
quisitions, the strange, mercurial character with which the
captain-general had to deal. In his bando, he informed
them, among other things, that there was nO reasonable
ground for anticipating any permanent scarcity of provisions ;
for the coming crop was both near and bountiful, and there
was, besides, an unusual abundance of habas (a large fari
naceous bean), arid other vegetables, already ripe, and in the
market: The people took the proclamation of martial law
and the threat of bayonets, as mere matters of course, and
rather respectful than otherwise ; but they fired magnani
mously at the suggestion that they were to live on greens,
like hogs or cattle ! Expressions of indignation at the insult
were to be heard on every side, and, two days' after the bando
was published and the bread question had been settled, there
was a fatal collision, about the beans, between a detachment
of the municipal guards, and a body of young indignationists.
For some time afterward, the young men, even of the better
classes, might be seen at the cafes, and on the public walks,
with the huUs of the habas cockaded on their hats, or han°--

186 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
ing at their .button-holes. , ' And yet, probably, there is no
article ef diet mere popular in Andalusia thaii the habas, in
their season,, and one of the sweetest little melodies they sing
for yeu — full of love and vegetables — is the song of "Habas
verdes!" Neither hunger nor indignation, had power to keep down
the lively spirits of the Sevillanos, so proverbially forid of
music and the dance. On one pf the evenings when martial
law was still rampant, and theaters were, ef cpurse, forbidden
things, I was informed by Bailly, that a dancing-master, a
friend of his, was. about to refresh hirnself with a private
ballet," to which, if. I pleased, my subscription would make
me welcome. About. half-past ten, of a very dark night, 1
started with' my guide, and a young Englishman who was
at the Fonda, in search of the unlawful entertainment. The
place was net far pff and we sepn found ourselves in a long,
dark tbrredor, through which we stumbled into a room with
a tiled floor, where a few benches and some very smoky
lamps gave token of preparation. In a little ante-chamber,
sato the chief musician : an old fellow, with his calanes
stuck- tight upon his head, and a vile fiddle in his -hands, on
which he sawed with might and mairi. A desolate-looking
guitarist,' by his' side, puHed a monotonous accompaniment
from very sorry strings, and these were the1 whole orchestra,
Around the room with us sate a few elderly, dames, decent,
though poor, and there were groups gathering rapidly in the
corrector. In a few moments, some gentlemen amateurs
(aficionados) came in, and thein appearance was the signal
for the castanets to sound, and the corps de ballet to show
themselves. A black-eyed, gipsy-looking girl, one pf the
cigarrems of the riot, fed the way, a fair example, in her
humble, fashion, that —
" - — are Spain's maids no race of Amazons,
But formed for all the witching arts of love."
Her clever, graceful figure was done up in a tight, boddiee

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 187
of black velvet, beneath which a white saya, or short skirt,
depended — full, floating, "and miraculously flounced. Her
hair was braided into the mona, or top-knot, which is wcrn
by the majas at festive times, and there were carnations and
roses tastefully mingled with her tresses, and festooned along
herflrapery. The silkiness of her hose was not much to speak
of (if orie must be candid), but her dancing implements were
excellent to look upon, as such' things nowadays, go. In
forrii and motion, altogether, she had but small resemblance
to the fury, who, two days before, had shouted, '•'• Death to
the jefe politico!" and had broken the heads of his defend
ers. After the dgarrera, came a troop of younger girls, in
maja costume, short, bright, and ample-; and the rear was
brought up by the queen of the evening, whom they caUed
the campanera, or beU- woman, as she was the daughter of
the bell-ringer of the Cathedral, and lived with him, high up
among the hawks, on the top of the Giralda. She was a
beautiful woman, even in ' Seville, of fine form and graceful
carriage, and perhaps almost eighteen. Her saya was of the
gipsy fashion, of varied and bright colors, covered all over
with furbelows and flounces, and her Uttle feet kept twinkling
to the merry cUcking of her castanets. The men were rather
a bad specimen for Andalusia, but they had stripped them
selves of their vests and jackets, and bound their red sashes
tight about their waists, as if for serious work. About eleven,
another party- of aficionados came in, and then the perform
ances began.
It is not worth while to say any thing about the variety
of dances that we saw, for to look at such things, without
the music and accompaniments, is but a duU business, and
to read pf them would be doubly dreary. There were
Sepillanas and jarabes,. boleros and the jota Arragonesa, aU
of which the reader, if he is a ballet-fancier, has seen mere
er less badly imitated by dancers from pther ceuntries. They
are, like the obelisks of Egypt, very national and character
istic, of course, but stiU not utterly untransportable. The

188 -GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
ole, Uke , the pyramids, must stay forever where it was
planted, and you might; -in sober . seriousness, as weU at
tempt to ship the tomb, pf Chepps tp France,. as to have
thp ole. done, as it should he, by any but an Andalusian
born. I can not describe it, of course, and yet I thought I -
had a very decided appreciation of the manner in which
the eampanera, performed it, unfit — after gliding all around
the room, with the melting glanees, thp tossed arms, the
gyrations and saltations that- the case required — she linger:
ed for an instant just iri front .pf me, and stamping quickly
twiee or thrice upon - the floer, went, " docili tremore,"
threugh a dozen evplutfons in a moment, ef which, as I
am a living mam I believe the drawing of a circle with her
foot, about my head, was one. ! A strange, topsy-turvy feel
ing "came upon me, as if the room were Upside downward,
and when my bewilderment was over, the ole was a shape
less dream !
Artistically considered,' it would have been very difficult
for the eampanera to have been surpassed, but Spanish
dancing, and especially the ole, . is not a thing of art.
There is no "poetry of motion," or philosophy, or meta
physics, or any such nonsense about it. It is a. business of
reality — a labor of love — and has nothing whatever to do
with the floating on clouds, and gliding like sylphs, which
have made so, much money for the ladies "in muslin wings
and pink shoes." The performer goes into it with body and
soul, as well as amis and legs. The spectators, male and
female, gaze on it with a rapt enjoyment, for which enthu
siasm is a cold word. When the maja ties, in air, one of
thpse indescribable and gordian knots of hers, the castanets,
in^-eyery hand, break into one wild rattle ! "Jaleo ! jaleo .'
jaleo!" rings from every quarter; the, fiddler — if there be
one— —grows Uvely to very desperation ; the guitar jerks his
notes out by the roots, and down the calaiiesesgo upon the
floor at the fair dancer's feet, while cloaks are spread, like
Raleigh's before Elizabeth ! Excited by the admiration she

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 189
 , — ¦ — —  — —  _  ,,
has Woii, the maja spins around more actively and winningly
than ever, when suddenly she pauses in front of some one 
if pause that may be called, which is one vibratory motion all
the while. Off comes the hat of the gallant whom thus she
favors, and probably, before he thinks, he throws it at her feet.
It would be wiser were he less impatient, for perchance she
pauses but to mock him, and passes to another, not noticing
his homage. • xIf he wiU be cautious, he can cheat her, for
her eyes have other business than that of looking at the
ground. He may pretend to throw his hat down, and may
hide it under the foldings of his cloak. If she is deceived
and leaves him, the laugh is his ; but if she stamps, before
him, then let him, as he is a squire of. dames, dewn with
his beaver, " a sus pies." She may put her fpot upon it in
her triumph, if she wiU, but she is generous, and will not.
She will vanish as she came, except that she will pay him,
as she passes, the bewildering compUment about his head,
which was,. as I have written, so mysterious to me.
The smaU hours were gathering, when I bethought me
of the Fonda, and I left the dancers" stUl active and the
crowd still merry.- Of a certainty, it is a wise thing to send
invaUds to SeviUe !

CHAPTER XVLL
Italica — The Coaoh^Triana— San Isidoro del Carripo — Guzman el
Bueno— -Hernan Cort6s — The Halls of fhe Montezumas — Peasants
— The' Ruins— The Amphitheater — -The Wine-drinkers, and our
Adventure on the Road.
On the first Sunday of my stay- at Seville, I directed
Bailly to procure a oonveyance for Italica, and when oui
cOach obeyed his summons; I am not sure it was much less
a curiosity than the ruined city ef Adrian, Trajan; and
Theodosius. Figure-to yourself a carriage-body, partaking
in some degree of 'the appearance of a bath-tub. -Instead of
doors, there was a bar of iron, on each side, which passed
across the opening by which you entered, and which answer
ed the double purpose of keeping the machine from falling to
pieces and yOu from tumbling out." There was a seat, for
two; at each extrefnity, and over the hinder one a gig-top
spread itself, of the most primitive " qui quondam" shape.
There was a coat of arms, ample and glorious, painted on
each side', and the whole apparatus was fastened, ' without
springs, -between the heavy timbers' of a huge red frame,
which, in its turn, was planted on the axles. There were
platforms, red also, of some two or three feet square, before
the body and behind, upon the frame ;r on the front one
sate the driver, whUe ha was not running with his team.
The tongue was like the- mast of Some smaU admiral, and,
when we halted suddenly, it would rise so near- the perpen
dicular, -that we could almost look to see our horses swinging
from its summit, like Baron Munchausen's from the steeple,
after his famous snow-storm. Our harness was of twisted
ropes, mostly ; our steeds were four ', our driver- wild and
wicked, plying his long lash unsparingly, and shouting im-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 191
precautions — to have divided which into parcels small enough
for venial sins, would have puzzled the Abbess of AndouUlets
and the fair Margarita.
My companions were an EngUsh gentleman and the
estimable mttitar from Xerez. BaiUy, of. course, gave us his
guidance. We drove, with a rattling and screaming horrible
to hear, across the wretched bridge of Jjoats which leads over
the Guadalquivir te Triana. Passing through that unat
tractive suburb of potteries and gipsies, we had, from the
cpen' country, beypnd it,, a beautiful panorama of the river,
with all its vessels and their Sunday banners flying, and
then the venerable walls, the Golden Tower, the. stately
churches; with the proud cathedral and. its lofty belfry above
aU. Our course was to the right, after crossing the river,
and we then went on, in a direction nearly north. Upon ¦
our left, the country. roUed high and gracefully, but before
us, and on the river-side, it was beautifuUy green and level,
covered with barley then near ripe, wheat in great luxuri
ance, and vegetables and olives to the fullest limit of abund
ance. Though it was Sunday, a good many ofthe peasants
were at work ill the fields, and the huge piles of " habas-'
they were gathering satisfied me,, that the 'captain-general
was right, and people need 'not starve. Gently over the
Smooth places : rapidly oyer the. rough ones : at a run, up-
hiU, and in the slowest walk, down-dale, oar Phaeton caarried
us, as he Usted, through field and orchard ; our road made
pleasant, in spite of him, by the beauty of the evening, the
plenty that was prodigal around us, and-the countless flowers,
that — " Their blue eyes with tears o'erflowing,
Stood, like Ruth, -among the golden corn."
, We passed through the dirty viUage of Cama,, and then,
about a league from SevUle, we came upon the dismantled
Convent of San Isidoro del Campo. Here, hard by the
ruins of ItaUca — perhaps upon the very site of that dead
city — Guzman el Buenp, the hero pf Tarifa, full, five.centuries

192 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

ago, caused a noble menaster-y te be reared. Within the
chapel, he anil his' wife, and their chilaren as they came
after them, were te be buried. There were cloisters for
forty monks and mpre, with bread lands, and rents, and vas
sals, and the sele tenure, was -to be, that " every day, forever
and ever" (cada dia, para si'emprhjanias)i these forty monks
should sing ten masses, for- his soul and his wife's. Upon
the anniversary of the death of each of them, there was to
be a solemn service, through aU time, and every day they
were to be commended, in the chapter, to the mercy ef their
Saviour. The charter and the terms on which if was thus
held were to be read, twice in each year, in order, as the 1"
hero said, that the remembrance ef himself and of his gentle
lady might endure for evermore — ¦" para que nuestraremem-
branza sea durable para siempre jamas!" Reader! the
Guzman and his spouse, • and the long line that followed
them, still slumber beneath the aisles where they' were laid.
Their tombs are there, with effigies ^and - epitaphs, and all
the blazonry of their' armorial pride. But the rhonks have
all gone, among the revolutions of latter days, and many of
the works of art, which once adorned the chapels and the
cloisters, Went away,- with Soult, when ¦France was "civil
izing" Europe. San Isidoro is now the parish church of
the miserable hamlet of Santi- Ponce, and the cloisters are
a prison for galley-slaveis ! Yet still, from far and near,
the castellated' walls look proudly mindful- of the greatness
they, were reared tb, and there is something,, in the desolate
isolation of the lonely hill they crown, which gives dignity
and awe even to their fallen fortunes.
As if to add to the melancholy and humiliating associations.
which surround San Isidoro, Mr. Ford informs us that Her-
nan Cortes also was buried there, before the removal of his
bones to Mexico. This is an error, as will be seen by
reference to Prescott's History, where "note is taken of his
interment in the Convent of San Isidro within the walls'
of SeviUe, in the vault ofthe Dukes of Medina-Sidonia.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 193
Where the remains of the bold conqueror now are, not even
' his acute historian can teU. They were sleeping, quietly, in
1823, in the Hospital of Jesus, in the city of Mexico, when
they were removed; by pious stealth, to save them from the
rampant repubhcanism of the mob. From that time to the
present, their resting-place has been unknown. It would
have been appropriate indeed, if some of our gallant officers —
during their late sojourn in what are so poetically called the
"Halls of the Montezumas" — had deemed it worth their
while to illustrate the second conquest, by seeking out and
honoring the relics of the hero of the first.
After passing San Isidoro, a turn in the road carried us
to the hamlet of Santi Ponoe, and we struck eff, a-fbot,
through the fields pn the left, to hunt up Italica. It was
not long before we arrived at what is caUed the Forum, of
which a crumbled wall or two, and a poor draped torso, ly
ing on its-baek, are all the relics visible. Passing on, through
a rich grain-field which led us to an olive-orchard, we met
troops of peasant girls, crowned with red -poppies ani other
bright, blossoms, and wearing chaplets as they frolicked on
their way. They were escorted by their fathers or their
sweethearts, who walked with the long porra, or forked staff,
which is the inseparable companion of the Andalusian majo.
From these good people, we learned the shortest path tor
ward the ruins, and passing, as they told us, by an ancient
sprjng, we came in a few moments on the noble amphithe
ater, which lay in a sort of basin, so that we could not see
it until very near. A few seats and some of the inner walls
remain, with enough of the outer circle to indicate .the orig
inal extent of the building and give' some notion of its once
imposing appearance. It is, indeed, a beautiful ruin ; gray
and solemn, 'but yet not wild or harshly desolate. The
ripening grain grew thick, when I was there, all over the
arena once fertilized by human blood, and the huge masses
of rough .masonry were hidden, half, by clustering foliage and
many flowers. ' It seemed as if the earth were fast claiming
I

194 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
its own again, and the works of man were at last following
after' him. ' I had read, long before and often, the glorious
cancion of Rioja, dedicated tc the ruined city, and I could
hut feel, more than ever, as I stood among the broken arches,
the expressive melancholy of his solemn verse.
(' i Como, en el cerco vano
De su desierta arena,
' El gran pueblo no suena ?
£ 'Donde, pues fieras hay, esta el desnudo <
Luchador ? i Donde esta, el ^atleta fuerte ?
Todo desparecio, cambib la suerte
Voces alegrei en silencio mudo /"
After a survey from the fnost elevated portion of the ruin,
we descended to the arena and went out into the field below,
by a huge covered way, which seefried to have been the main
entrance, in the Roman's time. Damp and lonely, indeed, it
was, and the lizards ran frightened to their holes as we
passed through ; so strange was now a human footstep, where
the tide of life once flowed so fiercely. Scattered here 'and
there, upon the open ground beyend, were a few more stones
remaining from the olden time, but they were not worth a
nearer visit, and we skirted the field back to where Our
carriage was waiting on the roaoj. We found it surrounded
by a most Italian-looking group of beggars and coin-venders,
constituting, I doubt riot, the majority of the worthy citi
zens of Santi Ponce. We purchased a few coppers, of the
times of fhe later emperors, and had hard work to rid our
selves pf importunities,, which would have done honor to the
rriost experienced Lazzaroni of Pozzuoli. It was getting
late, however, and our driver was of an executive turn, so
that he put whip at once to horses and beggars, just as I
was concluding a bargain with a ragged rascal, for- a fine
piece of serpentine which might have been part of Scipio's
pavement. As we remounted the hill, by San Isidoro, the
twilight was folding its wings over the distant city, and the
towers of .San Juan de Alfarache, on the highlands to our
right, were but dimly visible against the darkening sky.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 195
Abeut a mile from SevUle we fell in with trepps pf bppn
ccmpanipns, who had come out to drink their. manzanilla, at,
the wine shops on the road, it being cheaper there than in
the city, to enter which it has to pay a duty like the French
octroi. These gopd people were very merry, as they hasten
ed home, and one of them, more drunk or needy than the
rest, kept running alongside our carriage, begging, in a style
which sounded very much like — "-stand and deliver !" We
gave, hirn a trifle, but he was not easily satisfied, and topic
hold angrUy, at last, of the iron bar which served for door
on the side next to him, swearing quite fiercely that he was
starving, and must have money. BaUly, who is a stout
man, and choleric, pushed the intruder frofn us, with aU
force, as he was making an effort to leap up. He feU with
his face downward, on the stones, and as our horses were at
fuU gallop, we saw no more of him. I mention the incident,
because no book of travels in Spain is considered orthodox,
nowadays, without a robbery, and this having been my
nearest approach to such a catastrophe, I feel it my duty to
make the mest of It. Perhaps my Ufe was really in mere
danger afterward, -when I feU into the hands of the Faculty
at Grariada. A man, however, is accustomed 'to perils of
that sort from his infancy, arid I therefore note the beggar's
onslaught, as my only hair-breadth s6ape,in Spain, that can
be caUed peculiar to the country. -
It was dark and late, before we were safe again, under
the shelter of Don Jose's 'roof. We told our story to our
worthy host, who. gave my companions consolation, in the
shape of a formidable gaspacho, hatf-soug, halfsalad, which
must have sat heavy on their souls that night, if there be
any thing in vinegar and specific gravity.

CHAPTER XVIII.
Marshal Soult, and Murillo's Works^— Piekjng and Stealing — Murillo's
Style and Genius — The Ideal and tfee Natural — Paintings of the
Deity-^-St. Francis and the Crucifix.
When the Mareehal Due de Dalmatie went down to
.Seville, the fair city was glorious with MurUlo's works and
memory. The bones of the great artist had been, for more
than a century, at rest before the altar of the Church of
Santa Cruz, where hung Gampana's painting. of the Cruci
fixion, which had been the study and admiration of his hfe,
and before which he had begged that he might be buried.
Cenvent and cathedral were fUled with the children of his
genius, and he had thus weven, if man ever wpve., a spell
around the city pf' his birth. The Marshal-Duke, (aU hon-
pred be his name !) had, pf . ccurse, great reverence for art,-
but being fstr above the little'superstitions which attach te
smaller minds, he puUed the waUs ef Santa Cruz dpwn, gal
lantly, uppn Muriflp's grave, and flung the painter's ashes
out, with other rubbish. Of recent years, long after this
heroic deed, his Marshalship went on a tour through En
gland, and visited a poet's tomb,, at , Stralford-upon- Avon.
Most probably, he had not heard of Shakspeare, when he
was at Seville, except as a rude dramatist, whose uncouth
verses not Voltaire himself could hammer into poetry. It
must have been, then, quite a novelty and full pf pleasant
and suggestive thought to him, to read the Stratford epitaph :
" Good friend ! for Jesu's sake forbear
To dig the dust enclosed here ;
Blest be the man that spares these stones,
And curst be he that moves my bones !" »

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 197
Having made his disposition of Murillo's body, it was but
natural that Soult should feel himself entitled to a portion
of his goeds" and chattels ; and sc, while a cemmissipn of
savans, in the Alcazar, were making their selections for the
Imperial Gallery, the Duke-Marshal prudently availed him
self of the occasion, tp dp such picking and stealing, en his
own account, as in those days became so high a functionary.
When the day- of retribution and of restitution came, the
imperial spoil, or a great part of it, returned, but the Duke-
Marshal proved himself as able to keep as to take, and he
has now in his possession, critics say, the finest productions
df Murillo, out of Spain- — monuments of their owner's Van
dalism, and the painter's genius. Yet stiU, "in spite of my
lord cardinal," it is in SeviUe only that the mighty Andalu
sian can- be seen, in all his power. His choicest labors are
stiU there, cherished wlfh affectionate and proud enthusiasm ;
altogether unvarnished, unpatched, and un-Frenohified, ex
cept where, here and there; some were " restored," during
their sojourn in the Leuvre. The traveler who has seen
MuriUo, only in England-, Italy, or France, has but a poor
idea of the master's skiU, as it thus shines out upon his native
soil, and he may rest assured, were he to pack off for Seville
to see the pictures enly. . that np - man whp had visited
them before him Would -caU it a fopl's errand.
Ampng those who are not criticaUy read, in things of art,
the general notion of Murillo is, that his chief excellence
consisted, in painting, to a miracle of truth, the boys and beg
gars and the common out-door life of Spain. Such, I con
fess, was, to some extent, my impression on the subject, be
fore I had seen the magnificent Madonnas in the Pitti
Palace, which almost hold divided empire with Raphael's
Vfrgin "of the chair." In Seville, the mistake is very
soon corrected. The traveler finds himself surrounded by
triumphs of MuriUo's, in the very loftiest walks of art, and,
all unskilled as he may chance to be, he lingers, to his own
surprise, among them, attracted by a something which is

198 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
new to him, after even the masterpieces of the ItaUan
pencil. It is not coloring or drawing — touch or tone —
" the purity of Dominichino, the corregiescity of Corregip,"
pr any pther ef the thousand technicalities, that stir the
artistic rapture of the critical. It addresses itself te*- his
feelings, rather than his judgment : it is a matter ef sym
pathy more than of taste. . Not that his tasfe or judgment
would be skeptical, Were both or either put On guard, but
that all speculaticn vanishes, at sight of the fair links of
human tenderness and beauty, with which the painter has
united the bright world he lived in, to his brighter land of
dreams. A great deal has been said and canted (with all defer
ence) about MuriUo's strict adherence to mere nature, in his
forms, and his devotion to the local, 'Andalusian type, even
in those works he should have most idealized. His Saviours,
Saints, and Virgins, beautiful conceptions as they are, are
simply men-^nd women, it is. said, from Seville and Triana.
It is npt easy te understand the logic of these objections,
even supposing, for a moment, that they have any founda
tion in fact. Idealization would seem to be altogether, inde
pendent of national type, and unless the painter of sacred
subjects eonfine himseff exclusively to Jews and Jewesses,
there is no very obvious reason why he-should not adopt the
traits of beauty which his genius blends, from one variety
of the Caucasian family as well as another. But I aril
convinced that, the charge against Murillo -of indulging in a
localizing spirit, has -no foundation except in the peculiar
fidelity with which his purely imitative pieoes have portray
ed the homely nature he -professed to copy. The higher
works, in which his fancy reveled among the mysteries and
wonders of religion, are as free, it seems to me, from any
thing like slavishness to an exclusive model, as -those-of any
other of fhe masters of the art. His Virgins of the Im
maculate Conception (one of his anost frequent arid famous
subjects) are, many of them, fair and fair-haired ; not one,

* GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 199
that I remember, has complexion, brow, or feature, such as
marks the Andalusian beauty. In the wonderful picture
called the San .Felix de Cantalicio, which is now in the
Museum, the Virgin, who brings down, her blessed infant to
the. saint in the moment of his ecstasy, is, without doubt,
I think, the loveliest creation of Murillo and certainly one
of the mdst perfect realizations of beauty upon canvas.
Yet her blue eyes and golden tresses, and the unsunned
freshness and purity of her whole mien, are farthest, of all
things, from the characteristic traits of Andalusia. The
youthful Baptist, to be. sure, is always brown as any gipsy,
but that is an exception, for the sake of. contrast. There
is scarce an infant Sayiour, in all Murillo's pictures, who is
not painted fair, and in his groups of fresh and blue-eyed
cherubs there is not a sign of the " near sun."
The notion that Murine's tendencies were rather toward
the " natural" than the " ideal," amounts to something or
nothing, according to circumstances. It is very common to
read, in the books of art, of what are caUed " glorified
form," and " diyinity of expression ;" and, as it is a great
deal easier to be enthusiastic than definite, these words and
the terms, " natural" and " ideal," are found, generally,
very prominent in the criticisms and commentaries on par
ticular and admired productions. Like a-U things unde-
monstrable, the ideas to be attached to these phrases have
caused great disagreement, from time to time, among the
doctors, so that the unlearned may, without much reproach,
plead guilty to a slight degree of confusion in respect to
their meaning. If, as that profound and admirable critic,
Sir Charles BeU, supposes, " the only interpretation of divin
ity in the human figure, as represented, by the ancient sculp
tors, be, that the artists avoided individuality," the thing is,
obviously, of. easy comprehension. If the " ideal" be, as
other writers haye it, a choice and combination, in one
form, of all that is beautiful in many, the notion, though
not quite so elevated, and rather eclectic than creative, is

200 GLIMPSES OF' SPAIN.
nevertheless, intelligible enough. In neither of these senses
is there any reason why Murillo's pictures, or those of any
body else, should not be "natural" and "ideal" both, there
being no necessity at all why idealization should result in
the unnatural. To talk seriously, however, of representing
"the divine" in human forfn, so as to convey a just idea of
its divinity, seems as merely absurd, as the attempt would
be to convey an' idea of sOund, by addressing the organs of
sight or smell. The poet-painter may have what visions
it pleases Heaven to vouchsafe' to him ; if they come to
him in human shape; as is "most likely, and if he paints
them in the same, it is all vanity arid mere vexation to re
quire that he shall make the clay what it has never been,
and can not be. The human form is pnly human, ""glorify"
it as we may; and tiU seme better shape shall be invented
te' reveal the spirit, it weuld seem but reasonable wisdom,
tp rest satisfied With human' dignity' and beauty, at their
best, as all that art can hope tp soar to. There is great
ingenuity and force, no doubt, in the suggestion of Sir Charles
Bell, that the ideal of beauty may be best attained, by ex
aggerating, slightly, on canvas ot iri marble, the outline, both
in face and form, pf whatever indioates the higher, purer
qualities, aveiding and subduing what is low, and what as
sociates itself with grosser passion pr the brutal forms. Yet
there is danger in aU'this, which even genius, of the highest,
with difficulty "Will avoid. Attempting to paint more than
man, the artist Will probably paint less, and what he calls
"divinity," will turn out nothing, it is ten to one, but poor
humanity on stilts. It will, in all probabihty, be- the like
ness of nothing "iri the' earth beneath," -but it by no means
follows that it Will resemble any thing in "the heavens above."
The most inveterate iconoclast could hardly loOk oh the
ApOllo, for a moment, without a thrUl of awe arid admiration,
and yet — perfection as it is, of all that human hands have
wrought, to image the ideal and the beautiful — no one, I am
sure, has ever felt befofe it that irivdluntary bending of the

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 201
knee, which the mere thought of present Deity would prompt.
It is the majesty and splendor of humanity we wonder at' ;*
it never occurs to us that we should adore. The mind is
elevated, notwithstanding, and refined, by the contemplation
of a standard 'of mere nature, so much more lofty than any
previous conception of its own. Few persons, on the con
trary, I think, can see the grandest efforts .of the Christian
painters to clothe the Deity in human form, witheut a shud
der pf irresistible disgust.-' There is a mixture ef blasphemy
and • folly in them, which shocks even the least reverent.
They do not elevate the human : they degrade and drag
down the divine.f The same thing may be said, to a degree,
of the delineations of the angelie nature. Childhood, in its
purity,' embodies our peer notion of a cherub, better than any
thing we know ; and thus we bear with art, when it confines
its pictures of celestial choirs to the mere groups of beaming,
happy, sinless faces, which makes some masterpieces so
attractive. But legs and arms, and skirts and tunics, are
altogether unangelie, though wafted* upon wings ; and thus it
happens that we sometimes laugh, in spite of us, when, high
* The fair authoress ofthe "Year of Consolation," seems strangely
unable to account for her preference pf the Apollo te the Venus. On
general principles, it would seem to be a very natural one.
t When I was in Florence, I was taken to see a picture which one
of the most distinguished native artists was finishing, as a present to
the King of Sardinia. It was a "Padre Eterno," painted in the shape
of an old man, with lofty brow, grand features, and a long,' white
beard, and flowing hair. The robe- was of that peculiar violet color,
which- is appropriated to the garments of the Deity, by the almost
universal custom of the old masters. The painter had, wisely,, not
attempted to give the expression of the eyes, for they were cast .down
and nearly covered by the lids. In one hand" the globe' was held, and
the other was raised to bless a small spot of the continent of Europe,
Which was covered by the Sardinian arms !
The. picture would have, provoked a hearty laugh, or an expression
of disgust, but for politeness' sake, and the almost irresistible temptation
to throw both the artist and his wprk out of the nearest window. The
subsequent fortunes of Charles Albert have furnished a palpable com
mentary on the wholeAhing and its fol)y, palpable enough at any time.
I*

202 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
in air, seated on clouds and scraping their unearthly fiddles,
we see the hierarchy of the skies making concertos for the
saints. ¦ In Raphael's St. Cecilia, there is far more of heaven
in the enthusiast's face (though it is fat and fair and merely
mortal), -than in the wondrous orchestra of cloud-borne sera
phim, plying their bows above her.
Our'feelings, as we look upon the pictures ofthe Saviour,
are modified, of course, hy 4he reflection that the Godhead,
in his person, was reaUy made man, arid bore a human share
of suffering, obloquy, and sorrqw. It is not, therefore, alto
gether unnatural, that he should be- represented in the shape
he wore, and yet we turn, dissatisfied if not disgusted, from
the mass of Eece Homos,- Pietas^. and Crucifixions, that fill the
very best ItaUan galleries. Only now and then some favored
genius molds a face and form, in which, if ever .stooping to
mere dust, we feel that tha Divinity might dwell. Such,
for example, is the Christ of the. Transfiguration ; seen, per
haps, to greater advantage, after the brutal contrast of
Angelo's Last Judgment; in another chamber of the Vatican.
Yet, even in the splendid triumph of Raphael's- high art, let
fancy, and enthusiasm say what they. may, it is the Son of
Man we look on, not the Son of God I
MuriUc, with a sense ef beauty and ef ppetry almest unlim
ited -in variety and scope, was. full, at the same time, ef
tenderness andhurrian sympathy. Np man wpuld have cem-
prehended better, or have felt mere thoroughly than he, the
splendid epic cf which the- Apelto is an incarnatien, and yet
he weuld have lingered, I am sure, with deeper interest and
feeling, by the Gladiator's side.- With him, the Ideal was the
child' of sentiment yet more than fancy. It was impulse, not
abstraction, and in every thing he touched, the loftiest and most
spiritual conceptions were> softened and surrounded by a glow
of human -kindliness: The Virgin of the Immaculate Concep
tion — the embodiment of deep religious mystery and dogma —
rising amid clouds and seraphs toward Heaven; her feet .upon
the crescent moon ; has, in her holy- and ethereal beauty, the

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 20S
sweetest traits of what is lovely and lovable on earth. The
Virgin Mother, clasping her infant to her bosom, has none
of her maternal tenderness disguised, by any effort of the
painter to bestow on her the lofty brow and solemn thought-
fulness of a rapt Sybil. She is the stainless and radiant
handmaid of the Lord, but yet a woman nursing her first
born. The beautiful children — whom no man ever painted
like Murillo — though in feature they have that which tells
you " of such is the Kingdom of Heaven" — remind you
always, notwithstanding, of some pure and happy beings you
have known and loved on earth. They are of a better world,
but they went to it from this.
How much to be lamented, I have often thought, it is,
that fo a genius such as was Murillo's, it did npt pccur te
paint the subject of those simple words — " Jesus wept !" In
aU the trials of the-Saviour upon earth, his persecutions, buf-
fetings, and death, his. bond of unionwith our nature was
one of suffering, only. He was man, in -man's anguish and
wretchedness alone. In his transfiguration and his resurrec
tion he was man no longer. To represent, him in the one
light, is painful and unwelcome ; in the other, quite impossible.
In the touching scene I have aUuded to, however, the Deity
came nearest to humanity, just at the point where mere
humanity seems nearest to a hoher and better being. Jesus,
for the moment, there, was neither God nor victim, but a
friend, at his friend's grave, forgetting all things except only
" how he loved him." What is there that can consecrate
our nature, like the genuine grief which flows from an un
selfish love ? What could have made us better feel the
closeness of the Savieur to us, than tp have seen him weeping
as a brother ? The picture cf such sprrow, from Murilfo's
pencU, Weuld so have teuched all hearts, that no pne cculd
have paused to measure whether there was more of dust or
Deity, about it. Those tears would have been grander than
a thousand glories !-
There is, indeed, in the Museo, a painting which may

204 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
give us some idea of what the loftier subject would have
been, in the same hands. It is taken from a legend of St.
Francis, which informs us, that, as the saint was kneeling
before a crucifix, the Saviour stretched down his right arm
and embraced him, to reward and bless his piety. Of course
the artist- had to -struggle with the comparative gfossness
of such a conception, and yet it would seem hardly possible
to fix more grandly, upon human features, the expression of
divine benignity and love. "Never," says M.de St. Hilaire,
" pever," even under the pencil of Raphael, *di'd a head of
Christ express resignation so sublime. The miseries of all
humanity seem gathered on that heavenly brow, from which
there shines, in spite of them, a heavenly spirit, thoughtful
only, even under the slow torments of the cross, -to bless' his
revilers and pray for his executioners !" Mr. Swinburne, an
English traveler of the last century, who is still much quoted,
disppses of this great Work, curtly, as " a friar embracing
Christ crucified, who stoops from the cross and brings down
an" arm to press the saint's shoulder." Mr. Swinburne Was
v obviously a 'business-man, and nrobably a descendant of the
learned judge,- famous in- the law for a wise book "on
" testaments and last Wills," Which "may, perhaps, account
for his having set down the St. Francis, after the fashion of
an item in an inventory. But, be that as it may, I give his
commentary for the benefit of those who may desire a set
off to the eloquence of St. Hilaire,' and the poor expression
of my Ov«i enthusiasm.

CHAPTER XIX.
Notices of Murillo's. principal Works — The Museum — Seville School
— Zurbaran — Murillo's Pictures for the Capuchin Convent — Story
of his Residence there-1— The Virgin of the Napkin, &c. — Pictures
at La-Caridad — The San Juan de Dios — Pictures at the Cathedral —
The Guardian Angel.
The chief productions pf MuriUp, in SevUle, may be found
in the Museum, the Cathedral,- and the Hospital of La
Caridad. The Museum was established in 1840, in the
noble edifice which was once the convent of la Merced. ,It
contains a large number of the best pictures that belonged
to the suppressed monastic institutions, and is", of course, the
only place in Which the fine and famous school of SeviUe
can be studied and- 'appreciated, as a whole. The works of
Castillo, Roelas, Zurbaran, and Herrera the elder are col
lected there, in considerable numbers, with a multitude of
others from pencils of no less repute than merit. With the
exception of Velasquez, Ribera, and Murillo, Zurbaran is per
haps better known than any of the Spanish painters, beyond
the limits of his country. His chef-d'oeuvre, the Ascent of
St. Thomas Aquinas into Heaven, was carried to Paris,
where, says WiddringtOri, " it burst on the astonished Werld of
artists and amateurs, as fhe work of an obscure and unknown
painter, claiming to rank with the Transfiguration and
Communion of St. Jerome." In the days when the rule of
suum cuique was re-established, the angelic doctor went
back to SeviUe, With the other saints who had been roam
ing. Zurbaran painted a large number of pictures for the
Carthusians, and was especially renoWned, as he still is,- for
his skUl in managing the difficulties of their white drapery.

205 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
The celebrated- picture of St. Romualdo, in the second cham
ber of the Vatican Gallery, has derived its chief attraction
from the treatmentjof the white dresses of the saint and his
companions. The artist is said to have been indebted to the
accident of having seen three millers under a tree together,
for the great success with which he has given light and
shade to so monotonous. a group. Those who have seen the
wonderful' ease and. power with Which Zurbaran combined
the same unpromising materials, will hqld the "Roman
master-piece far less a miracle thanjt is commonly reputed,
That part of la Merced which was formerly the church,
is now devoted, principaUy, to the paintings of the other
masters, Murillo's most, attractive pieces having been col
lected in an upper chamber, which belongs to them, ex
clusively. Over the altar-place, however, 'there hangs one
of his superb " Conceptions" — a colossal figure of the Virgin,
floating upward through an atmosphere of glory. The
form has all the dignity and majesty, with more than the
ascending lightness of Titian's Assumption : the beauty,
purity, and sweetness of the features and expression are be
yond any thing that Titian ever dreamed of. The simple
blue and white, which are the only colors of the drapery,
melt imperceptibly into each other, and the graceful folds,
sweeping beneath the feet, seem borne, up by the heavier air.
A-group of angels, ministering, are gazing, as they rise, upon
the Heaven, of which they seem not less a part than are the
stars that crown the Virgin's brow.
Of the Murillos in the upper gallery, those from the late
Convent of the CapUchins are deemed the finest. The legend
runs, that the great painter had the fortune to be Wedded
to one of those ladies of Uvely temper and elocutionary pro
pensities, for whose weaknesses the common law provided,
in its gallantry, a pleasant hydropathic rerfiedy. RightfuUy
or wrongfully, she had possessed herself with certain trouble
some conjugal suspicions, and had determined to make the
Inquisition as wise as she believed herself to be, on the sub-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 207
ject of her husband's sins. Murillo, as the story goes,
heard of her kind intentions, by good luck, and quite fore-
staUed her, by asking from the Capuchins permission to
retreat a while to their cloisters, for prayer and medita
tion. The good fathers, nothing loth, welcomed the penitent
most kindly, and turned their hospitality to some account
besides the expiation of the painter's little trespasses. Dur
ing his retreat (which .must have been a long one, let its
cause have been what it might) Murillo began some of
his choicest works, and if the story by which they are thus
accounted for be true, it wiU be seen that even shrews may
sometimes serve a profitable purpose, and that thus there is
a reasonable hope of our being able to understand, one of
these days, how even snakes and musquitos have their
utiUty, in the order of Providence.
The Virgin of the" Napkin (la Virjen de la Servilleta) is
said, in the same legend, to have been painted for the padre
cocinero, the -reverend cook of the Capuchins. The padre
hinted to Murillo, when he was about to go, that, for the
many favors he had done the artist in his line, he had re
ceived no fit requital. MuriUo yielded to the force of the
suggestion and repUed, that if the cook would furnish him the
canvas, he would return him a painting. The padre seized
a dinner-napkin, and "presented it forthwith. A few days
afterward, he found the charming half-length picture in his
ceU, which is now one of the pearls of Andalusia. The
face and figure of the Virgin are among the least celestial
of.MuriUo's religious compositions, but the expression of ten
derness and motherly sohci.tude and .pride can not be sur
passed. The child, Wjiose face resembles', a good fleal, that
of the infant pf the fair-haired Madonna in the Pftti Palace,
" Leaps up in his mother's arms,"
and, with one hand upon her bosom, seems actually pressing
himself -out from the canvas. The first effect upon yeu is
sp strong, that ypu, invpluntarily, almost stretch out ycur

208 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
arms'toWafd the picture. That sort cf illusion, I am aware,
is often produced by very inferior artists, but, in this case, it
is the ceflibiried result of .very great skill and infinite at
tractiveness in ' the subject.- The infantine beauty ef the
attitude and expression haunted me all the day long. The
gppd padtej wheri he received it, is said te have asked
Murilfoj why he had painted the blessed child leaning thus
fair cut from the picture. "He rriust needs be en the watch,
father," was the reply, "if he sees ycu aU observe your
VPWS."* I have net time to describe arid the reader Would hardly
thank me for enumerating, rnefely',, even the chief toaster-
pieces of Murillo, that afe collected in the gallery With the
" Servilleta." The St. Thomas of Villanueva, which the
artist is reported to have called emphatically "his "own pic
ture," will probably, en that account, be' deemed the most
interesting, as it certainly is, in itself, one of the "most won
derful' in the collection. I confess, however, that it was by
no mteans the most attractive, to me. The subject, though
affording a ra-re •opportunity for the display of Murillo's
greatest power pf • dfAWing ahd imitation, is nevertheless a
very unpleasant one, and not of the highest order as a Con
ception. The saint, a grand, benevolent figure, is giving
alms, immediately before him, with his back toward the
spectator, a deformed and miserable beggar is kneeling, to
receive the charity. The foreshortening of the lower lirribs
and of the upturned face — which you see; partly, though'the
back of the head is toward you — is absolutely miraculous.
On the right are an eld man and woman. Yeu can scarcely
persuade yourself they are net pertraits of two trembling
* Bailly, my invaluable . cicerone,, complains sadly that travelers
repeat his stories ahd give him no credit for them. He says he has
made the best parts of, some people's books, and received ii<j. thanks.
In justice, therefore, I feel bound to say, that the Capuchin legend is
his, and I hope the reader wHl believe it to be true. Whether he
does or not, Bailly will be happy to tell him a good many m'dre.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 209
wretches whe begged alms pf ypu, " for Gpd's sake, brother,"
as you crossed the "plaza" toward the Museum. Tp the
left, a little boy — one of the hundreds who beset you in
your daily walks in SeviUe — is showing the money he has
just received, to his mother, whc is seated by him, en the
earth. He leans forward pver her lap, srmling, with a serf
of starved delight, at the obviously unaccustomed treasure.
In front, and near te the chief figure, is a stunted, ragged,
scalcf-head creature, the very incarnation of wretchedness,
disease,' and warit-^-so true and yet so loathsome, that you
are tempted to rebel against the painful skill which has
perpetuated such a sickening comment on humanity. The
antidote, however is not far -off, for all around you are
beautiful things, not only warm' with life but radiant with
mspiratipn— -seeming, many of them, to your enthusiasm,
as if they realize what the Andalusians say of their great
artist — that he "had seen Heaven, and painted what he
saw."* '
The hospital of La Caridad, which is just outside one of
the gates, was founded or rather, re-established, by Murillo's
friend and cotemporary, Don Miguel de Mailara, whose simple
grave-stone lies level With the platform, in front of the high
altar of the chapel. He was a man whose hfe and ample
fortune were devoted, altogether, to the poor and destitute.
" He gave them," says his epitaph, " whatever he had.. He
was the visible hand of a hidden Providence, iri the universal
succor of the necessitous."'!' In a spirit of the deepest self-
abasement, he commanded, when he was dying, that they
should bury him in front of the church door, so that he might
be trodden beneath men's feet and despised. Fer the inscrip
tion, en the plain slab which was to ccver him, he dictated
these humble words :
* Murillo vio al cielo, y lo plnt'o.
t " Dibles ' cuanto tubo .-" says the nervous and. expressive original.
" Fue mano vissible de la oculta Procidentia, en el universal remedio de
necessitados,"

210 GLIMPS-ES OF SPAIN.
" D. O. Ms
Here Ue the bones and ashes pf the worst man there has been
in the world.
Pray to God for him.",*
The fraternity gave hut a literal obedience to his commands,
for they speedily- removed his body .to the spot where it now
lies, and caused, the epitaph to be written, that now justly
commemorates the virtuous labors of which there is a monu
ment in every thing around.
To Manara, Soult was especially and inexplicably arhiable,
for he permitted his bones to rest without violation, and only
stole four or five of his pictures. Two of 'the latter, the art-:
loving marshal peddled away in England, one — the famous
St. Elizabeth of Hungary — returned to Spain, but was cap
tured for the royal gallery of Madrid. To the other two, it
is believed that the Marshal-Duke still manages to hold fast,
as was his custom. The compositions that remain at the
Caridad, are considered, by the critics generally, as, per
haps, the finest of Murillo's „producticns. The Miracle of
the Loaves and Fishes, and the Moses cleaving the Rock,
are the most colossal of all. his works, and are too weU
known, among those who 'have read any thing of art, to re
quire even the brief, notice I could take of them.
The most interesting ofthe collection, however, to me, is
the San Juan de Dips. It represents a scene in the life pf
that good man (St. John of God), whose charity and self-
devotion were -Manara's bright examples. It , is a night ¦
scene. The, saint was passing through fhe streets at mid
night, when he came upon a wretched mendicant, yrho lay
almost dead with starvation and disease. To lift the sufferer
upon his shoulders, was, of course, the good man's -impulse,
hut his will was better than his strength. He had prqceeded
but a little distance, wheri he found himself unequal to his
* Aqui yazen los huessos y cenizas del peor hombre que a avido en el
mundo.
Rucguen a Dios por el.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 211
task. His limbs trembled and gave way, and he was about
sinking te the -earth with his burden. Of a sudden, his load
was lightened — his strength returned to him— and fooking
backward, he found himself assisted by an angel ! MuriUo
has seized the moment when the saint first turned bis head.
His half-bent form seems as if it grew erect before you. The
expression of his up-turned features, is a mingling of reverence,
surprise, and awe. . The hqmely, warm humanity that glows
upon his face, is1 the very perfection of contrast to the radiant
and benignant beauty of the messenger from heaven. His
somber habit, with its cowl and dark and heavy folds, seems
a portion "of the midnight, beside the glory ofthe angel's, rai
ment. The angel has just alighted. His form half rests
upon the air, and, you see the very flutter of his folding wings.
The picture-is mclaro-oscuro, taking its hght altogether from
the angel's presence. The power 'and skiU with which its
difficulties are made beauties, astonish the unlearned not
less thai they deUght the critical. The hand of a master
has helped the inspiration of a poet, and it would not be
easy fo conceive a more sublime or touching iUustration of
the sympathy of heaven with the works of human charity.
The altar-piece is by Roldan. It is an Entombment of
the Saviour, done in.reUef, and in the same style as the
Descent from the Cross7 by the same artist, which is the
altar-piece of the Sagrario or parish church attached to the
Cathedral. I mention them, as very remarkable specimens
of a pecuUar style ef sculpture, said by some to be found
only in Spain, though existing, as I have heard, in some
parts of Northern Europe. They are carved in wood, and
colored to Ufe. The back-ground is painted likewise. The
groups are_fixed in planes successively receding', and the fig
ures are in greater or less relief,' according to the exigencies
of the composition. . It is impossible to form an idea of the
effect of these works, from any -product cf the chisel that
is to be ,seen elsewhere ; for, to the ordinary capabUities of
sculpture, they add every iUusion within the compass pf the

ite GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
sister art, and" a truthfulness ef perspective which . neither
marble ncr canvas cari- command. Standing at seme distance
from" them, yeu seem to have the very life before you. "You
feel as if you had broKen in upon the solefnn ceremonies they
commemorate, and for a' moment you restrain your steps in
awe. Until I had seen these Works, I had indulged the
common and very sapient coriterhpt for colored sculpture :
but "what is there that is contemptible, in the hands of a man
of genius !
The Cathedral has rriariy admirable works of Murillo, which,
however, I must content myself with wishing that the reader
may have the good fortune, himself to see. The great picture
of St. Anthony of Padua receiving the visit of 4he infant Jesus
by night, in his cell, hangs, in the Baptistery* It has been
compared, more frequently, perhaps, than any of the artist's
pictures, with the great "•works of the Italian masters ; and1
there are critics, of no mean repute, Who have' not scrupled to
pronounce it as'contesting the palm of immortality with "those
that have been held most perfect, " Nonhostrum tantas," &c.
I am content to take the responsibility Of a more unpretending
selection. In a little chapel, on the left of the great eastern
portal of fhe Cathedral, there is a picture of very moderate di
mensions, of which, except at certain hours, the dim light affords
you only an imperfect view. The chapel is that of the Angel
de la Guarda — the Guardian Arigel. The picture to. which I
refer, is the altar-piece, and is cf ccurse dedicated, in its subject,
tc the patron pf the chapel. It was painted by Murillo,. and at
the time, I was told, when he was sojourning in* the Capuchin
Convent. He needed a screen, in the warm season, before
the entrance to his cell, and his ready brush soon furnished
door arid sentinel. After he had left the convent, a. very
natural dispute arose among the brethren^ as to the possession
of the prize, and the archbishop,- who was a man of taste,
settled the__ question, by removing the angel to the Cathedral,
The belief, that every man has by his side, through Ufe,
a wise, benignant being from a better world, unseen buti

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN-, 218
ever watching over him, is certainly one of the most beauti
ful and attractive in the whole range of religious censplations,
whether it be literally er figuratively .adppted. Tp consecrate
an altar to 'God, in special commemoration of the Providence
which walks thus closely and bountifiiUy in pur midst, must
certainly accord- with the grateful impulses of every one who
recognizes the truth, or feels trie attractiveness of. the doc
trine. The- singular and simple felicity with which Murillo
has illustrated it, wUl at all events admit of no controversy,
and the painting, as contrasted with the compositions of other
masters relating to the same subject, conveys so distinct an
idea of Murillo's ^peculiar taste and genius, that the reader
will perhaps pardon the few moments for which I shaU
dwell on it.
In. the Bourbon Museum at Naples, there is a Guardian
Angel, a. fameus picture, by Dpminichinp. It represents a
splendid and heroic spirit, who, in the concave of his shield,
which rests upon the earth, is sheltering a lovely child from
the fierce snslaught of a demon on the outer side. The
beauty of the .child, and the bright smile of -conscious safety
which is just-driving from its face the expression of natural
dread, are quite worthy the skiU and fame of the artist. In
the fong gaUery ef the Leuvre; there is a painting of the
same subject, by Feti, which has attracted considerable
adntiratien.- The scene, is laid almost at the gates of HeU,
into which a hideous and baffled fiend is making his way,
through smoke and clouds. The angel is a stalwart, able-
bodied tutelary : quite as full of thews and sinews as of
ichor, and he stands with one foot on ,the earth, while with
pne knee he rests upon a cloud, or ropk, or something which
may be either. One hand, uplifted, points to Heaven, and a
youth, with folded arras, stands by his side, in the expressive
attitude of Sunday-chUdhood, enduring an explanation of its
catechism, • In MuriUo's .picture, there is no demon, no terror, no
struggle, no shield pr weappn, np sign of force protecting or

214 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
repelled. A little child is Walking with an angel. It is
net pne of your Italian angels — yeur sublime and winged
Apelfos — npr a warlike spirit, wearing his radiance and
splendor merely,- as the badges ef his missien — .but an angel,
in the stainlessness and perfect purity that cculd have only
ccme frem Heaven. He is^a guide and not a champion.
The chUd is beautiful, of course, as aU MurUlo's children
are, and in his face there is the innocence, which, Words
worth teUs us, is but the memory of immortality. Around
his tender form there is a pure white robe, half-cinctured
and floating lightly. The angel, with his left hand, gently
grasps the little arm,- and, with his riglft, .points upward, tp
where there is a seft and dawn-like brightness • in thp sky.
With cenfident and upturned eyes, the chUd is folfowing the
spirit's hand, and the whele sentiment and 'thought and
action (pf the picture thus look" heavenward, altogether.
Buckler and sword were but poor melo-drame, indeed, and
would profane the blessed presence of innocence as. it walks
with God f
Mr. Borrow took particular note .of this picture, which he
describes as that which always wrought on him the most
profound impression'; though it is one of the least celebrated
of Murillo's works. "This child," he says, "is in my
opinion one of the most wonderful 'of all the creations of
Murillo : the form is that of an infant of about five years of
age, and the expression of the countenance is quite infantine,
but the tread — it is the tread of a conqueror, of a God, of
the Creator of the universe : and the earthly globe appears
to tremble beneath its majesty." I confess I did not derive
the same impression of awe from the composition, but that
is no reason why it should not be a correct one. I must
protest, however, as a matter of fact, against Mr. Borrow's
description of the angel, as " holding a flaming sword in his
right hand." If he had said " holding a harpoon,-" or a
" blunderbuss," it would have been quite as accurate, and
quite as rriuch in accordance with the spirit ofthe picture.

CHAPTER XX.
Ferdinand. Columbus — His Tomb — And Works — The Columbian
Library — Relics of Ferdinand — Books belonging to 'Christopher
Columbus — His Book of Prophecies — The Sword of Garci Perez
— The Lonja — Seville Merchants of old — The Archives of the
Indies — Navarrete.
It is generally -and gaUantly conceded, that few things
great or noble; have happened in this world, without the
intervention of the gentler sex, at some stage or other of
their history. It is-, perhaps, not so generaUy known, that
the fafr continent,, which we are so fast appropriating to our
selves, was discovered as much under the influence of Venus
as of any other of the bright propitious, stars. During the
long years of tribulation and despair, which vexed the spirit
ef Columbus while he waited the terminatien pf the Meprish
war, he meditated; more than once, departing from the
realrfl of Spain ; but he had chanced, at Cordova, in spite of
his mathematics,, geography, and piety, to faU into Love's
toils, and whue his hopes and his ambition prompted him
to seek a land of better augury, his heart had treasures of
its own by which it kept him moored, " Thus," says
Martinez de la Rosa, who relates the- incident, ;¦ the most
august events depend sometimes on Uttle causes. Spain
owes, perhaps, the discovery and possession of a new world,
to the bright eyes of an Andalusian lady." The reflection
might \ be carried out, by insisting, that we too owe the
"sublime moral spectacle" of California, to the glances of
the gentle Beatriz de Enriquez ! Columbus himsetf, at aU
events, might count that soil not ingrate, altogether, which
blessed him with sc fair a maiden's smile. Unhappily for
her, she leved him .rather weU than wisely, for the benison
of Holy Church was never given.. to the birth of the

216 GLIM-PSES OF SPAIN.
brave boy she bore him, the admiral!s most famous son,
Fernando. When you enter the great western portal of the
Cathedral of Seville, Fernando's tomb lies jus.t before you,
level with the pavement of the nave. It is of simple white
marble, and in the form of a large cross. The upper ex
tremity or head .of .the cross has a Spanish, the lower, a
Lafin epitaph, which the reader, who is curious in such
matters, will find in the appendix to this volume.* On each
arm of the cross, there is a quaint caravel engraved in shal
low lines. These are odd looking vessels, certainly, accord
ing to modern notions of naval architecture, and they seem
so utterly unfit for. any, .of .'the purposes of navigation; that
they might serve as models for our government transports in
the next Mexican war. From each. of the high poops' there
hangs a most prodigious lantern. , Besides oars in abund
ance, each has three small masts, two in the body, one in
the very bow of the vessel ; and each mast has a small
lateen safl. Upon' the deck of the caravel,' to the right as
you face the entrance, are two soldiers, -with firelocks on
their shoulders. .On board the other, there is a single figure
standing before .two that are seated, which last have on^their
heads grim semblances of crowns. Whether their majesties
are Indians, or the Catholic monarchs, or who or what they
are, I am unable to -divine, but if the standing figure be
that of Columbus,. he was permitted to wear his hat in the
presence of rdyplty-.f , In the center of the tomb, between
the caravels, there is an ornamented scroll on which a sort
of gfobe is cut, er rather a circle, designed to represent the
western hemisphere. Around and outside of that circle, is
the famed inscription, -known better out of Spain' perhaps,
than any other thing within, its borders^—
" A Castilla y a Leon
Mundo nucbo did Colon,"'
* Appendix I.
t In the edition of Mr. Irving's Columbub, lately published, an
engraving, of one of the caravels will be found, at page 31 2 of vol. iii.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 217
I was particular to transcribe it carefully, as to orthography
and all, so that the reader may depend on having before him
the genuine article.
After looking at Fernando 's sepulcher, it is natural enough
to visit the " Biblioteca Colombina'' which he founded, and
which is alluded to in one of the epitaphs. You accordingly
pass through the cathedral, and making your exit by a door
in the northeastern corner, you find yourself in what is
called the Patio- de los Karanjos — tfie Court of Oranges,
the site ofthe eld mosque, a spacious andbeautiful quadrangle,
shaded here and there with orange-trees. Above your head,
as ¦ you step out from the Cathedral which occupies one side,
is a portion of the buUding used for the Columbian Library,
and resting upon columns. On the opposite side is the
Sagrario, the parish church, attached to the Cathedral.
Over against the Cathedral are some reUcs of the walls of
the mosque, through which you may pass to the street, be
neath the superb Moorish archway, caUed la Puerta del
Perdon — -the gate of Pardon.
Pursuing your book-hunting researches, you pass from the
door by which you left the Cathedral, to a stairway within a
few paces, which leads you to the' library. On your way up,
at. the first landing, you see against the wall, the tomb of
Inigo Mendoza, the chaplain of Ferdinand and Isabella. His
effigy is said to be the work of. Miguel Florentin, and it does
small credit to his personal beauty, if it be as good in point
of resemblance as in that of art. He was, however, if his
epitaph is to be believed, a good priest andean honest man,
who "vixit moriturus" and died "semper victurus." In
the library you find long lines "of presses, neatly and carefully
arranged and tended, over which hang portraits of the arch
bishops from time immemorial, kept in good company by a
Saint Ferdinand of Murillo's. The volumes number some
twenty thousand, but they are mostly of the times gone by
— classical, theological, moral, and controversial — many of
them rare and valuable, but uniUuminated by the discoveries,
K

218 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
and unleavened, for gopd or for evil, by the spirit pf these
latter days. The haUs, however, are sember, still, and
student-like ; and the " rime of eld" they have upon them
is the last thing in the World unwelcome to a scholar's taste.
Around the' tables you will always find grave groups of silent
readers, and in the genial spring-time — when the open windows
' let in the air made balmy by the orange-blossoms, and the
deep-toned bells of the Giralda, high above you, send their
solemn music down — you must be gracel'ess and unkind indeed,
not to remember the request on Don Fernando's grave-stone,
and say a good word for his soul !
When I inquired of the intelligent and courteous librarian,
for any relics he might charice to have of the illustrious
founder's personal labors, he produced to me ati index of all
the works in the library -at the time of Don Fernando's de
cease, together with an " inventorio," a sort of catalogue
raisonnee of the same, in four solid manuscript volumes,
prepared by his own hand. These last, I take to be the
"quatro libros," mentioned in the epitaph, which have eaused
some little speculation among the learned,* and 'they fur
nish no small eviderice of "Don Fernando's, Industry, intel
ligence, and patience-. . They are. now -sadly out of order,
though the librarian -seems to nurse them like favored chil
dren. Some years back, one of the volumes managed to get
soaked, and a good deal of the learning as weU as the paper
was washed out of it. It is a pity that time and accident
should have dealt so hardly with them, for they are very
curious nowadays, as showing what was a learned maris
idea, three hundred years- ago, of " all the books of all the
sciences." There was a copy of Seneca's Tragedies also shown me,
which seems to have been a favorite work of Don Fernando's,
for it has many marginal annotation's, iri his handwriting.
One, especially, is very interesting. It is upon the famous
passage in the. Medea, which Mr. Irving has selected as the
* Appendix I.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 219
appropriate motto to his Life of Columbus, and which was
held, as we shall see, in particular esteem by the great navi
gator himself: — " Venient annis
Secula seris," &c.
Don Fernando has inclosed the whole passage within brack
ets, and has added on- the margin— "Hcsc prophetia imphta
est per patrem meum Christophorum Colon, almirantem,
anno 1492." — (This prophecy was fulfiUed by my father,
Christopher Columbus, the Admiral, in the year 1492.)
The most curious and interesting thing, however, in the
whole library, to those who belong to the New World and
should prize the relics of its discoverer, are twe rare and
ancient bcpks, cpnnected closely with his personal history
and labors. The one is a quarto, containing some of the
learned works of the Cardinal Petrus de Alyaco and the
famous John Gerson, and was obviously one of the admiral's
most constant and beloved companions, for its margins are
literally covered with, annotations, in his own handwriting
and that of his brother Barthefomew. It treats of geography,
cosmography, astrology, theology, and matters and things in
general. Fernando Colon, in his -" History of the Admiral
of the Indies," speaks of this work as one of his father's
suggestive authorities, and Las Casas refers to it, even more
particularly, in the same light. Indeed, it is obvious, from
an inspection of the volume, that it must have given to
Columbus, -or, at least, have developed and encouraged in
him, many of the theories and hopes which resulted in so
much glory. Happily, it is printed very well and is in
excellent preservation, so that it may yet afford much op
portunity of interesting examination, to those who delight in
tracing great enterprises back to their remotest sources.
The other volume is a dUapidated" manuscript, which con
tains the collection of passages made by the Admiral, with
the assistance of Fray Gaspar Gorricio, a Carthusian monk
pf Seville, from all the works within the scope of his reading,

S20. GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
which seemed .to him to indicate or prophesy the discovery
of America and the redemption of Jerusalem from the infi
dels. It is, of course, well known, that the influences which
bore most actively upon'the admiral's enthusiastic mind and
temper were deeply religious in their cast, and there is,
therefore, matter ef profoundest interest in this little volume,
which illustrates his own idea of his destiny and the divinity
that shaped his ends.
Extracts from works so. grave' and learned would hardly
tally with the purposes of this cursory narrative, but, for. the
satisfaction of the lovers of Spanish history, I have given a
more extended notice, in the Appendix,* of what. I found by
no means the least interesting investigations made during
my brief travel.
The readers of the Spanish ballads are familiar with
the two exciting stories of Count Fernan Gonzalez and
Garci. Perez de Vargas, two doughty heroes, the first of
whom did wonders early in the ¦ tenth century, while, in
the middle of the thirteenth, the other was foremost, with
St Ferdinand, in the re-conquest of Seville. It seems that
the good sword, with which Fernan Gonzalez won renown,
descended, in due course, to Garci Perez, who wielded it,
with prowess worthy of its fame, in many a bloody fray ; as
witness the wonders that he wrought with it in slaughtering
the seven Moors :
" Bare was his head, his sword was red, and from his pommel strung,
Seven turbans green, sore hacked I ween, before Don Garci hung I"
Among the treasures (cedant arma ?) in which the BibUo-
teca Colombina most rejoices, is this very trenchant weapon,
found in the coffin of Garci Perez, when his remains were
transported to their splendid resting-place the Royal Chapel
of the Cathedral. The blade,- between three and four feet
long, is flexible theugh heavy, and is made to cut and thrust.
Upon the one side, a helmet is engraved, together with the
. * Appendix II.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 221
words " Del Conde" and the sacred initials "I. N.R.I."
On the other is " Fernan Gonzalez," with a double cross.
The ponderous basket-hilt was evidently made to serve' no
purposes of holiday. Painted en wood, well warped but
framed as something 'precious, they show you with the sword
an ancient " redondiUa," which makes it teU its story thus :
" De Fernan Gonzalez fui,
De quien receui el valor,
Y no le adquiri menor,
De un Vargas, a quien semi.
Soy la octava maravilla
En cortar Moras gargantas,
No sabre io decir quantas,
Mas se que gani a, Sevilla."
meaning Uterally, I belonged to Fernan Gonzalez,
"From whom I received my value (or valor,)
And I did not acquire less
From a Vargas, whom I served.
I am the eighth wonder
In cutting Moorish throats. '
I know not how many to say,
But I know that I gained Seville.
WhUe in the spirit ef looking after rehcs of the past, we
went over to the Lonja, or Consulado, or Casa de Contra-
tacion (for it is known by all of these names), which faces
the southern transept of the Cathedral. This stately build
ing, though badly altered in more modern times, is a monu
ment of Herrera's architectural taste, and is generally sup
posed to do as much credit to the UberaUty of Philip II.
The inscription, however, which is over the northern en
trance, informs us, very candidly, that his majesty graciously
" commanded" it to be erected " at the expense of the Col
lege of' Merchants." It was designed as a place of meet
ing for the traders of SeviUe, and for the negotiation and
solemnization of commercial contracts. Down to the period
of its erectipn, the men of traffic in the fair city had been,
from all accounts, a graceless and perverted set of mammon-

222 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
worshipers. The Court of Oranges, in the very shadow of
the Cathedral, had been their Rialto, from time immemo
rial. They held 'change daily on the gradas—rOne capa
cious steps and terrace around the sacred edifice — and
made proclamation of their auctions and judicial sales, even
at its very doors. Nor was this the worst. There is,
unhappily, too much reason to know that many of their
chafferings and bargains were carried on arid made, custom
arily, within the walls of the sanctuary itself. In the
" Colloquies" of the " magnifico' caballero, Pedro de Me-
jia" published as late as 1570, and quoted in the " Sevilla
Pintoresca," the magnificent Peter makes a certain Bal-
tasar irreverently say, that " to settle his accounts with
God and the world too, it seemed a man was forced to go '
into the Cathedral once a day."* Not much unlike and
quite as sinful, was the London custom in regard to old St.
Paul's, the nave of which was once the common rendezvous
for fashion, business, politics, and vice. "I bought him in
Paul's," says -Falstaff of his rascal Bardolph. A note of
Steevens, on the passage, gives an ancient proverb, which
links the church with rather sorry company. Some char
itable Spanish writers have endeavored to excuse the scan
dalous doings of their ancestors, by attributing them to the
natural wish of a devout and simple people, that their cov
enants should have the solemn sanction of religion. It is,
however, to be feared that the simphcity which this implies
has never been fairly attributable to the class, of wfiom the
Son of Sirach could write, even in his time, that " a mer
chant shaU hardly keep himself from doing wrong, and a
huckster shaU not be freed from sin." In a commercial
country it would not, of course, do, to say that the practice
of the Seville traders converted the house , pf prayer into
" a den of thieves ;" but we must admit that it approached
sufficiently near, to come within the ban against the buyers
* " De maner a que para io de Dios y para lo del mundo, parece qvfi
es un hombre obligado a venir a esta iglesia una vez al dial"

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 223
and seUers and money-changers in the temple. So thought,
at aU events, that exceUent and pious prelate, Don Cristo
bal de Rojas, archbishop of the see, on whese petition the
king directed the Lonja to be built, in order that not even
the pretext of necessity might be set up, for further profana
tion of the holy place.
The lower apartments of the Lonja are devoted to the
uses of the commercial tribunals, whose occupation, now,
must needs have almost gone. The noble staircase leads
you to the second floor, where are ¦ the " Archives of the
Indies," founded in 1784, and containing the great body of
the records, left in Spain, relating to the discovery and
administration of her American possessions. Here it was
that Navarrete, during researches painful and protracted,
discovered many of the valuable documents, by which,
in his " Coleccion de Viajes," he was enabled to illus
trate, so , copiously and originaUy, the history of Columbus
and of his companions and successors in discovery. The
coUection is an immense pne, truly, and requires to be seen,
if ene weuld appreciate the magnitude ef Navarrete's learned
and patriotic labors. The rooms devoted to the "Archives"
occupy three sides of the spacious quadrangle-, and the
records, themselves, arranged in admirable order, fiU the
large presses which Une all the waUs. Future historians
will find their toU materiaUy Ughtened, by the care with
which the documents haye been prepared for reference  an
improvement commenced by Navarrete, and carried out by
his learned co-laborer, Don Agustin Cean Bermudez.
At the extremity of the first apartment you enter, hangs
a portrait of Cplumbus, and in another repm there is a
picture, said to have been taken for Hernan 'Cortes. As
works of art they have but little merit, and their age is
perhaps the only argument in favor of the authenticity
which is sometimes ascribed to them. In the chamber,
from whose walls Columbus looks so grimly, we found two
officials, busy, at the time of our visit. They readily grant-

224 GLIMPSES PF SPAIN.
ed us permission to go through the rooms, and consigned us,
for the purpose, to a person of much gravity, whom we took
to be an antiquarian, from physiognomy as well as associa
tion. Accordingly, during our progress, We asked leave to
look at some of the old manuscripts, and if possible at one
or two from the hands of Columbus. To our surprise, our
conductor informed us that we could not see them. "No,"
he said, "porque? son de una letra muy fea! — muy mala!"
(Why did we wish to look at them ?¦ ' They were in a very
ugly hand-writing — very bad, indeed !) We, of course,
laughingly insisted, whereupon he opened one corner of a
bundle which lay upon a table', and pointing to some ancient,
half obliterated characters,' exclaimed with an air of mingled
triumph, and commiseration, " Ya ven vmdes. que son feos,
feisimos .'" (There now, your 'worships see, they are ugly,
wretchedly ugly !) It was hardly worth while to press the
matter further with the gopd man, whp sp pbvipusly, like
the oilman's ass in Iriarte's fable, carried oU all day, and
yet had no light. We accordingly bestowed on him a
peseta for his guidance and safe-conduct to the neble terrace
cf the building, from which we had a charming view of
town and country.

CHAPTER XXI.
The Tobacco-factory-— Pope Urban's Bull against Tobacco — Pasquin's
Reply — Publio Walks — Delicias — Spanish Horsemen — Farriers —
Necessity of Public Walks in the United States.
To aU persons of weU regulated minds and correct moral
principles, tobacco is, or at least -ought to be, a nuisance
every where. In Spain, as in France, it has had its natu
rally bad character made worse, by being classed among the
subjects of governmental monopoly. Whether the free and
enlightened nose of " la jeune France" has been of late, or
is likely to be, turned up at the Rkgie, among other abomin
ations of the past, 1 have not learned ; but the system cer
tainly deserves to be looked into by the philosophers, inasmuch
as it has the doubly ill effect of disseminating bad cigars and
incorrect notions of political economy.
The Fabrica de Tabacos, at Seville, is said to be the
largest building in Spain, except the Escurial. It is set
down in the books as measuring rix hundred and sixty-two
feet in length, with a breadth of five hundred and twenty-
four. It certainly is huge enough, in all conscience, and
as ill-looking as large, havitig'been designed by a Dutch
man, among whosa aesthetical elements, the broad and
Squat occupied their national predominance. The entrance
is adorned by busts of Columbus and CorteS, who deserve
some such punishment, for their instrumentality in poisoning
mankind with the pestilential weed in question. There is
a moat around the whole establishment, and you cross a
drawbridge and are challenged by a sentinel as you enter.
The ground-flpor is devoted to the manufacture of snuff,
and the preparation pf all thp bexes and appurtenances
for keeping, storing, and transpprting, which sc extensive a

226 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
concern requires. The upper story is occupied by the cigar-
factcry. The Spaniards are sc benighted and backward
in civilization, as not to have arrived, yet, at the tobacco-
chewing stage. The lower courts, stables, and snuff-factories
seem to you almost infinite in number. In one range of
apartments, the tobacco is at soak ; in another, they are
stemming it ; - in another, twisting it ; in another, they fet it
rest from its labors and ferment, until (after eight months
they said) it has become duly rotten and offensive. On the
lower floor, none but male laborers are employed. The
motive power is supplied by large numbers of mules, which
here and there are turning a primitive sort of mill, that lets
drop certain heavy and rude choppers on the tobacco in the
troughs, and so, chop ! chop ! chop ! it goes, from coarse td
finer, until it comes out, the. ultimate bad powder which is
aU you get in Spain. " Kentucky" and " Virginia" are the
principal growths in requisition, and you may see the brands
of our inspectors at home, marking the fresh supplies as
they come in. "Green home of my fathers!" says Tom
Moore, as the ravishing odor of the punch steals oyer him —
"^reen home of my fathers ! I smeU. thee here !" I could
have wished for some such pleasant incense to recall my
patriotic memories, in lieu of the. stining atmosphere of this
mundungus. Up-stairs, you enter the immense apartments, where,
when I made my visit, four thousand women were at work !
The manufacture of cigamtos, or small, paper cigars, is
carried on in a separate chamber. For the rest, you see
long lines of little tables, at winch, roUing and twisting the
weed, and chattering Uke mad the white, the cigarrera co
horts sit and toil. -They looked sallow and badly, the most
of them, as might have been expected. They had but little
beauty, generally (considering - that we were in Andalusia)
and were not remarkable for tidiness, or for any thing, indeed,
in especial, except the rapid motion of their tongues and
hands, their proverbial saUoiness, and fhe careful combing and

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 227
braiding of their magnificent black hair. Each of my two
EngUsh companions stuck his glass among the wrinkles of
his right eye, and investigated the personal appearance of the
ladies, like a Turk in a slave-market. The fair-ones, upon
their part, took revenge in certain complimentary observa
tions upon " Ingleses" in general and the trespassers in
particular, which were only not edifying to my companions,
because of their ignorance of the language. Our gay little
friend of the ole claimed acquaintance with us, as we passed
her, and, but for her fine eyes and brow, we should have
hardly recognized the May-queen of the dancing-night, in
the shabby and snuffy-looking roller of the weed.
These poor creatures receive at the rate of a real (five
cents) for making a bundle of fifty-one cigars, and we were
told by our conductress (a sort of tobacco Juno among these
celestials) that they could readily make eight bundles a day.
In so cheap a place as SevUle, such wages will support them
comfortably, and oay for a trifle of finery besides. Some of
them carry their provisions with them to the Fabrica : others
buy them from the little shops which are kept in the build
ing. Many of them were eating their garbanzos from the
tobacco-tables as we passed. They are not permitted to
leave the estabUshment (nor are. the men) from the com
mencement of their labors, in the mpming, until night ccmes
en. They then go through a regular, and as report runs, a
very scrutinizing search, so that, except in some rare cases
of great ingenuity in concealment, there, is probably, for once
in Spain, but very little smuggling.
The Seviflians seem, from the first, to have been sturdy
devotees of tobacco — so much so, as to have introduced it
even more freely into their churches than they now do into
their houses. The priests at the altar and the faithful on
their knees comforted themselves, aUke, with the dirty nar
cotic, so that a man needed stomach -as well as devotion, to
be able to go through his worship. The chapter of the
Cathedral complained of this abomination! to Pope Urban

228 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
VIII., who, on the 30th of January, 1642, issued his Bull,
" Cum ecclesice" &c, forbidding the practice in any of the
churches* of the diocese, under penalty of excommunication.
I annex a copy of the Bull, in the Appendix,* and the reader
will see that his Holiness had abundant reason for launching
his thunders at the 'unclean thing. It appears, from the
language used, that the sinners, in that day, chewed and
smoked, as well as snuffed, in the sanctuary, and that clergy
as well as laity, women as well as men, participated in these
"actus prof ani et indecentes." It was taken, "ore, vel
naribus', aid furno per tubulos" — by the mouth and nose, or
by smoking through tubes. It Was " solidum," and also cut
into plugs — "in frusta concisum" — which must have been
the original of our modern " short-cut ;" and, in fine, it filled
the churches" with a shocking odor, ("tetro odore") and pol
luted the very linen of the altar.! Reasonable enough as a
prohibition of such things must, by the veriest heretic, be
admitted to have been, Pope Urban did riot escape the per
secution of s his sworn foe, Pasquin, on account of it. On the
morning after the promulgation. of the Bull, there appeared,
on Pasquin 's statue, the most immortal of his famous say
ings. It was a simple quotation from the Vulgate, of that
magnificent passage from Jpb, which sounds sc feebly in the
translatien. "Contra folium, quod vento rapitur, ostendis
potentiam tuam, et stiputani siccam persequeris ?" " Against
a leaf that is carried away by the wind dest thpu shpw thy
power, and dost thou pursue a dry straw ?"t
The reader will not object, as -certainly I did not, to a
ramble in the Delicias, after lingering so long among mat
ters so unsavory.' This charming spot was intended, by
Arjpna (whp was asistente for a long time, under Ferdinand
VII.) for a botanical as well as . pleasure-garden! and has
^ --
* Appendix III.
t The version from the Hebrew is more noble, but .less literal.
" Wilt thou break a leaf driven to and fro ? and wilt thou pursue the
dry stubble?"

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 229
been, they say, of much service as a nursery of valuable
plants for distribution through the country. It is not, now,
as well cared for as it might be, but it has received the addi-
tipn pf a large erange-erchard, belcnging, I was told, to one
of the suppressed menasteries, and is therefore, still, to prie
from cclder regiens, a paradise of fragrance and verdure.
Of a pleasant afternoon, you may go out at the Triana gate,
and, turning to your left, which takes you down the river-
bank, you may pass through as beautiful a- successicn cf
sweet walks as the known world can shew ypu, out pf
Granada. Lpng, well shaded paths, carry ypu past the
Golden Tower to the landing place of the steamers, where
a cheerful crowd await their ceming, and ypu enter, then,
the superb "Salon de Cristina ;" a beautiful walk enoir-
cled with marble, paved with bread flags, shaded with
the most graceful, Ornamental trees, arid with its cool seats
disposed among beds of flpwers. Passing these groves and
gardens, you lose yourself in the mazes of the Delicias,
which extend for a' long distance down the b'ank, covering
a large space in width, and offering you, in ¦ their broad
thoroughfares, a view of all the beauty and the fashion,
or a quiet, meditative walk, in their leng, silent alleys.
Upen the epposite side of the river, is Triana, further .up,
and the old convent of- the Remedios is just across from
you. Fishermen ' are rowing or sailing, up and down the
stream, stretching their nets, and pleasure-boats are out,
sporting-in the sunset-breeze. As the cooler hours come on,
the" concourse thickens. Beautiful women, nothing loth to
be admired, flutter their, fans before them as you pass. Gay
gaUants, here and there, tell stories in a quiet nook to dam
sels Ustening willingly. Handsome equipages — horsemen,
coachmen, and footmen, if you like — are all about you. If
yoU prefer the. paths where stroll the fair pedestrians, it is a
free country (for that at least) and no man hinders you, nor
woman neither. M. Gautier says that the women of Seville
"have pointed teeth,- which resemble in whiteness those, of

230 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

young Newfoundland dogs," and give to their smile (not that
of the dogs, but of the women) a mixture of the " Arabic and
savage," which is "d'une originality extreme .'" I am
bound to bear witness, hoWever, that, while I was in SevUle,
I heard of no case of female hydrophobia, nor was there any
occurrence" on the paseo, during my many walks there, wliich
gave the slightest ground for supposing that the most unpro
tected stranger was in peril of being barked at, or bitten, or
otherwise damnified, except in the due course of ladies' eyes.
Spanish horsemen, among the mountains and pn the read,
are dashing, bold, gaUant riders. When they are on the
paseo, on parade, I cenfess I de not. admire them. TheyaU
ride, or strive to, by. the rules of the menege, and this, of
course, puts natural motion out ef .the question, on the part of
man and beast. The horses are taught to turn and throw
up their fore-feet, very absurdly, sp that you may always see,
and almost ccunt, the nails in their shoes, when they are at
a slow pace. Much of their action is consequently wasted
on the air, arid when the state of the read happens to suit,
they wiU make yeu capital mud-machines. The tail is-
generaUy tied up with bright-eolored ribbons, iri the shape
ef a gentleman's queue, en gala pccasicns, in the elden
times. A bunch cf scarlet worsted hangs from the forelock,
and a gorgeous tassel swings, below the throat-latch. The
saddle is high, at both pommel and cantle, with huge box-
stirrups, Uke dismantled shovels. Every one uses a curb,
long and strong eneugh to pull an px down. Fpr ordinary
purposes, such as the snaffle usually serves with us, they
have a piece of iron, sharply indented, which presses on the
bony part cf the nose, and has its rein attached, independ
ently. The grooms, in exercising, often use this nose-piece
alone. The gentleman, hewever, when on the paseo,. is
rarely without the whole of his paraphernalia. If he uses
the English saddle, as some of the more fashionable occasicn-
ally dp, he nevertheless censiders it "the thing" to ride with
a straight knee and long stirrup-leather. The most accom-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 231
plished of them thus look Uke mounted compasses, and weuld
stand, I think, at a leap or in a hard press, about as much
chance cf keeping their seats. They used to laugh at me,
for my insensibility to high art, in equitation, but I could
never aveid returning the compliment, when I saw a gaUant
cavalier, keeping a straight leg on the side next the ladies,
and spurring unmercmilly on the other — the unhappy nag,
meanwhile, fretting and curveting and dancing beneath the
curb, like a learned circus-horse teUing fortunes at cards.
The Andalusian horses are, many of them, of fine size
and great beauty. They have not the clean and bony limbs,
the high, sharp withers and delicate heads and necks, which
are the characteristics of the English and American thorough
breds. Their limbs are rounder and more beautiful, with
greater breadth of chest, and they have a pecuUar pride and
style in thefr whole carriage. They are exceedingly docile
and good tempered, which is saying a good deal, when we
consider the farriery to which they are exposed from colt-
hood. The smiths and horse-fanciers, generaUy, in Andalu
sia, are gipsies, who are not remarkable for either humanity
or theoretical knowledge of horse-flesh. I remember to have
seen a poor beast, in Malaga, go through the operation of
shoeing, and the style in which the thing was done may
give the reader seme ideas that are new, in regard to an old
subject. The horse was hitched, by the reins, to a hopk in
a waU. The hind leg, te be eperated pn, was put in a sUng
— in pther words — was" tied up to the tail. Smith then
commenced scraping, in such an unscientific and uncomfort
able manner, that even the . animal's . patience waxed low,
and he began to jump about, on three legs, as might have
been naturally expected. Smith, incontinently, disappeared
and 'returned with a. sedative in the shape of a big stick,
which he applied lustily to the sufferer's head and ribs.
Having thus done aU in his power to produce quiet, he
twitched the upper lip with a cord at the end of his club,
and having twisted and jerked it until he had produced, the

232 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
proper amount of sensibility, fastened the club-end in the
throat-latch. By this time, the horse's agony being obvi
ously extreme, he permitted his hoofs to be gouged ad libi
tum, wincing, only occasionally and in the most subdued and
delicate manner, when the iron entered the qUick. Smith's
assistant, in the mean time (for it takes two of them), stood
out of reach of heels and did the necessary swearing. If I
could have given the kicks a proper direction, it is likely
the professors would have received their reward. The by
standers, however, seemed to think it was very fine, and
one, to whom I made bold to express my wrath, shrugged
his shoulders resignedly j and said, " asi se hace" — that's the
way it'-s done ! I do not pretend to say that it is always
done in that Way, and' yet -if I were, the horses might
endorse my veracity.
The crowd in the Delicias grows rapidly thin as night
ccmes en, and pne who Ungers to enjoy the moonlight is
apt to find himself alone: Ori one -especial evening, I re
member to have been the last of all- the wanderers. The
moen, as I strayed homeward, hung her slender curve low
down over the hills above San Juan de Alfarache, and there
was just light enough to see the outline of the Tower of
Gold, the convent spires on -the Triana side, and the vessels
that were anchored, or slowly glided up and down the
river. Farther up, they had kindled a fire upon the oppo
site bank, which illuminated the buildings and the craft im
mediately around it ; but, save that and the few twinkling
lights in the boats, the moon and stars had.it all to them
selves. A solitary palm-tree, which the observant traveler
will remember, as a beautiful and conspicuous ornament of
the plain toward the west, seemed to loom up, in silvery
relief, against the deepening- sky. I saw, or fancied I could
see, distinctly r the gentle motion of its" foliage, as it answer
ed the whisper of the low, soft breeze. When I reached
the Salon cle Cristina, I found it deserted, save by two or
three well-cloaked, mysterious-looking figures, bent on love

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 233
or other mischief. The sentinel, as I passed in at the gate,
seemed, indeed, to have suspicions that I was myself en
gaged in something less innocent than'Ustening to the ripple
of the Guadalquivir.
How it is to be deplored that some of our many patriotic
fellow-citizens should not take it into their heads that " po
litical capital" is to be made out of a grand national system
of pubUc walks-! I submit that a great deal of eloquence
might be profitably employed, in " preparing the heart of
the people" for such a project. Go where you may in
Europe — and especially in Spain — there is provision al
ways made for giving fresh air at least (if not bread) to the
public mouth. Crowded as their cities may be with an
over-teeming population — pressed as they must be for space
above all things — they will have pubhc squares and prom
enades, at all events, though they be forced to build their
houses ten stories high for room. On Sundays and holi
days, and as the hour of daily rest draws nigh, the tired
artisan comes from his workshop ; the man of toil, of all
sorts, has his prescriptive leisure, and his opportunity to
escape awhile the noxious atmosphere he delves in. Rich
and poor, gentle and simple, mix in the throng together ;
and government, forgetful of so many of its duties there, is
forced to be mindful of providing and maintaining the space,
and shade, and flowers, which, even if they were not vital
to the public health, would be insisted on for the public
pleasure. In our beloved country, hpwever, where, if we
have any thing to spare besides patriotism, it must certainly
be land, it seems cur effort, and a sort of principle, to build
the air as much as possible out of- our lungs. Streets we
have in abundance ; lanes and aUeys of all sorts and de
scriptions ; together with public servants abundantly willing
to take charge of and govern the same, at the legal rates of
compensation. OccasionaUy, a beneficent proprietor in one
of our large cities, who has -good building-lots in the neigh
borhood, wiU endow the corporation with a smaU odd corner

234 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
of his domain, as a pubhc " square," though, in all prob
ability, it is a triangle or a mysterious-looking polygon.
Straightway the donor's liberality will be pubhshed in aU
the " local news" of the day — the gift will be fenced in —
the gate locked — a " keeper" appointed te see that it remain
so — and the public aUowed to look through the paling, at
the refreshing and Uvely spectacle of two. rows of trans
planted saplings, doomed to early and certain death ! But
squares, and parks, and walks, such as deserve the name ;
where the fresh pure air of the country is breathed into the
bosom of the town ; where childhood may frohc and gain
strength ; the sick inhale new life and vigpr ; the poor, the
wretched, and the toil-worn, renew their wasted energies
for next day's struggle ; where are they with us ? Is there
any thing better deserving the care of a popular govern
ment ? — more properly within the sphere of the state ? —
better worth spending the public money for ? It is consti
tutional to make -railroads and canals, tow-boats and bridges
— nay, more, to go in debt for them, and trust to. luck to
get out. Why not venture a little, then, for health, and
vigor, and life ?
We love the people, do we not ? Read our newspapers
and our speeches. They all say that we do, and they say
it in print, .and it must be true, Improve the people's air
then, ye men of state municipal ! It is the best of curren
cies that you can give. them. Make their cheeks ruddy
with fresh health — put strength into their limbs, and life
into their veins ! Let the Constitution alone, and improve
constitutions ! Give men the chance of simple, natural
enjoyment, and they will. -seek it, in preference to the. un
natural excitement that corrupts and slays. If you would
have the laborer to shun the grog-shop, give him some
other place where he may be healthily and innocently
merry. Let him see the world, and let, the world see him,
in his enjoyments. Bring people together often, and in
public, men and women — wealthy and needy — on common,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 235
equal ground, and with the cemmon purppse pf health and
harmless recreation ! They will n°t love each other less,
depend on it, than they do now, when every man pays for
what pleasure he has, and he who has nothing to pay has
none. Morals and manners and the smaller charities wiU
thrive the better^ you may rest assured, when citizen meets
citizen, where trade comes not and pohtics wiU hold their
peace !
It is an odd thing, really, that the only truly popular
government in the world, should be almost the only one
where the government does nothing to furnish enjoyments to
the people. Think of it then, ye aldermen, or common
eouncU-men, or select-men, or by whatever name ye go !
Bear these things in mind when you- are laboring to legislate.
If you should think them idle, or, what is worse, expensive —
go your ways — enjoy your ppinions and salaries. In my
bumble judgment, however, in such case, you might profit
ably send a commission of your wisest, on a donkey-ride
through the poprest hamlets ef Spain, to learn civUizatien
and ccme back and teach yeu !.

CHAPTER XXII.
Propensity of Travelers to climb high Places — The Giralda — The
Bell-ringer, his Daughter, and the Hawks — The Andaluz and
the English — The Cathedral — Its Magnificence and Beauty — The
Royal Chapel — The Virjen de la Antigua — High Mass and Music
— The Galleries — The Battle-pieces and the Hawks.
The properties of bodies in motion, are often quite differ
ent from those of the same" bodies at rest. Take a worthy
citizen, for instance, who has lived his two-score years, more
or less, at home." " There may be as many steeples and tewers
and high places as you please about him- — it is ten to one
it will never enter his head to climb to the top pf any of
them. Start the same individual upon a jeurney, and if
there is a d,ome in any town he "visits, which can only be
ascended, in steepness, tribulation'^ and weariness of legs : if
there is a mountain, and especially a volcane, within fifty
miles ef him, tp the-summit of which he can only toil through
snpw and cinders ; it is a miracle if yeu dp npt find him at
the top pf dpme and mpuntain, before he has seen half the
beauties and wenders ef plain pr valley. The windews pf
the print-sheps in Naples are filled with caricatures cf peeple
ascending and descending Vesuvius, but never a native do
you see depicted in any of them, unless he be a guide, or a
donkey, or some other professional character, who is doing
the thing for hire. It is " questi Inglesi" (as travelers are
generaUy called), who figure principaUy in them, in the
shape cf fat ladies and gentlemen, all be-stooked at the
crater, or tumbling and sliding down the precipices. Ycur
sensible Neapelitan knpws the pleasures of level ground, and
never leaves it, except for money.
Before I arrived at Seville, I had done my share of

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 237
climbing, as became a traveler of an inquiring mind, and
I felt a sort of obligation not to neglect the Giralda, the
famous Moorish tower attached to the Cathedral. The
reader of course knows all about this remarkable struc
ture, for it figures conspicuously in the prints of Spanish
scenery and architecture, and is certainly one of the finest
specimens of its sort in Europe. It is three hundred and
fifty feet high, and fifty feet square; the Moorish portion,
which is of brick, to the height of two hundred and fifty
feet, being exquisitely ornamented with the most graceful
patterns in Arabesque, and broken here and there in its out
line by light-arched windows, with delicate columns of white
marble and charming Uttle balconies. The upper part,
which serves the purposes of clock-tower and belfry, was the
work of a Christian artist, and is of gprgeeus beauty. Uppn
the summit there is a gigantic weather-cOck in bronze, meant
as a statue of Faith. Some evil-disposed persons have con
sidered it quite inappropriate, to represent that Christian
quality as so entirely at the mercy of every wind of doctrine.
The good people, however, ' who did the work, probably
knew what they were about, and considered that they did
no injustice to Faith, when they made her the. same in
storm, and sunshine and in every wind that blows. The
Giralda is said to rest upon the ruins of certain Roman
edifices, which were demolished for the purpose. It is be
lieved, howeyer, that the only foundation for this is the
propensity of some people^ to have the Romans or the Greeks
at the bottom .of every thing.
You enter the tower, stooping, through a low, small door,
upon the very ground. There is a family residing in this
part of the building, and they not only take four cuartos
(two cents) from you, in the way of toll, but compel you,
sometimes, to pay an olfactory tribute to an especiaUy culi
nary atmosphere. The ascent is by a series of inclined
planes, so gradual and gentle, that you reach the top of the
Moorish structure without the shghtest fatigue. Indeed, if

238 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
you could get your horse through the entrance, you could
ride up with great ease. On the summit of the square tower,
the bell-ringer arid his family reside, in reasonable comfort.
They have, of course, no very great abundance of society,
unless they find it in the "visits ef a screaming cefony pf
hawks, which dwell still "higher up, under the wings cf Faith.
Like cendescending great peeple, hawever, these denizens of
the upper circles are constantly wheeling down and flutter
ing about the habitation of the 'beU-ringer, seeming to be on
friendly and familiar terms with him and his progeny. Our
fair friend, the dancing eampanera, was, we found, the gem
of the poer fellow's collection, for he and his spouse and aU
the rest of them were lean and spare enough, and looked as
if they lived on thin air, mostly. The old man was a civil
and kindly creature, however, and showed us his thirty bells
and his fine clock, with an alacrity that would have graced
a man of better substance.
The SevUlians are proud, as they have'a right to be, of the
Giralda, and many stories are told, of the jealous care with
which they insist on its receiving the admiration of all trav
elers. The most, current anecdote is of the Andaluz, who
saw a foreigner gazing at the. tower with delighted eyes.
" Does your worship like it V he inquired. "Very much,"
was the reply. " I'm very glad you do, for- it wasn't made
in Paris!" When I went up, a stout, fine-looking fellow,.
in full majo costume; was escorting two buxom damsels in
the same direction. One of the. ladies chanced to travel
faster than her companions, by means of which it happened
that she overtook me. . It. being " the custom of the country,"
which it behoves, all reasonable travelers to follow, I offered
the lady my services, and we^ were on very sociable terms
before we had reached the bell-ringer's air-castle. This, of
course, gave me an introduction to the rest of the party
when they came up afterward, and the majo took a good
deal of interest in answering my questions satisfactorily, and
pointing out the principal objects in the boundless landscape

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 239
around us. When I was about to go, he looked at me, with
a perplexed smile, and, in the choicest Andalusian, said, "It's
a wonder, sir, you haven't your pencU and your httle book
in hand !"
" What do you mean?"
" Why, you are an Englishfnan, and there is no English
man who goes any where without taking notes."
I told him I was no EngUshman, and set him to guessing
my whereabouts. When his geography had completely faUed
him, I told him that I was a North American. His coun
tenance immediately cleared up, and he exclaimed, Uke a
man who had fathomed a mystery unexpectedly —
" That explains it!" EngUshman you couldn't be, without
the notes, and that was puzzUng me, seeing that you had
Hght hair, and didn't take out your book." — ("Vayazerior!
que ezo lo ezplica! Inglez era impozible fueze vmd., zin
loz apuntez : y ezo me eztaba faztidiando, vienda que era
vmd. rubio y no zacaba el librito !")
If he had seen me a few moments after, withhoth book and
pencil, at the tomb of Ferdmand Columbus, he would possibly
have put more trust in my Complexion than my veracity.
The Cathedral ef Seville, seen from without, rather- dis
appointed me. It" has no spires of any striking elevation,
and its fine details look older and more crumbled than the
real antiquity of the buUding would seem te warrant. It is
encumbered, besides, by the huge incongruous Sagrario, and
the scarcely less heterogeneous chapter-house and chapel of St.
Ferdinand, so that its coup d'odl is very much impaired, and
the space that it covers seems greatly disproportioned to its
height. But all feeling of disappointment variished at the
first glimpse of the glorious interior. I have seen the great
churches of Italy and Normandy and the most famous of
the EngUsh Minsters, but it is without any hesitation of my
humble judgment that I place the SeviUe Cathedral above
them aU, in that pecuUar solemnity of grandeur, which makes
the Gothic the architecture of religion. I do not speak of

240 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
size, or ornament, or style, or any separate and special char
acteristic-, but of the mingling of aU things that produce a
sense of appropriateness and awe.
Figures do very little toward conveying an idea of an
edifiee, but I feel bound to let the reader have a few of
them, so that he may judge whether my enthusiasm has not
some loops to hang on. The Cathedral, within the walls,
has a length of three hundred and ninety-eight , feet, and a
breadth of two hundred arid ninety-one. It is divided into a
nave, four aisles that are open, and two which form the
chapels of the sides. The nave is fifty-nine feet broad, and
one hundred and thirty-nine feet high, except immediately
over the high altar, where the cimborio or transept-dome
increases the elevation' to an hundred and forty-five feet.
The aisles are equal in dimensions, and are divided only by
rows of columns. Their breadth is forty feet and their
height ninety six. There are thirty-six gigantic piers, of
fifteen feet diameter, each, rising from floor to roof. They
are made up of graceful clustered shafts, and support no
less than eight-and-sixty arches of the loftiest and boldest
span. Every thing you see is made of massive stone, the
rich brown hue of which finds beautiful relief .in the white
and black marble of the checkered pavement. Ninety-three
stained windows, the best works of the best Flemish artists of
the sixteenth century, give to the edifice the light, alternately
subdued and gcrgeeus, which covers, every thing with splen-
dpr. There are nine entrances to the Cathedral, and they
are never clcsed, se that at whatever heur the spirit ef
penitence or thankfulness may come upori a man, he never
lacks an altar before which to pour it forth. Mr. Ford
adverts, with great propriety and force of observation, to this
freedom of access which is peculiar to the Spanish churches.
It would not, indeed, be easy to exaggerate, it seems to me,
the value of a custom, which leaves the way thus always
open to the House of God. Pride, human respect, a thou
sand motives unholy and unworthy, may attract the worst

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 241
arid vilest to the public stated service : while sorrow, poverty,
and shame may drive away from public observation, those
who need the consolations of religion most. How meet it is
" then, that there should be, alWays, a place of refuge open to
the desolate ! How. wise and just, that all facility should be
afforded for that humble, unobtrusive worship," which cares
not to be seen of men ! The grand cathedrals of the middle
ages might well be caUed mere riipnuments of vanity and
superstition, were they opened only for a few hours' in the
week, that well-dressed piety might enter -and be briefly and
respectably devout. But when, by night and by day, at all
seasons and under all circumstances, they welcome the wan
derer in — when the treasures of high art; the grandeur of
architecture, the beauty and sublimity and - inspiration of
painting -and of sculpture, are made tributary, without
ceasing, to the religion, in whose name and service the devo
tion of long ages gathered them together — one is at a loss to
know where -civilization can be found, if the spirit which so
dedicated them, is to be held as barbarous.
In speaking of the Cathedral of Malaga, I had occasion
to notice the bad effect which is generally produced, in the
Spanish churches; , by -the habit of building a solid, heavy
choir, of 'stone, in the very center of the nave. This blemish
is not avoided, by any means, in the Seville Cathedral. The
immense loftiness of the building, however,- relieves it in a
great degree from the Usually unpleasant effect, and the fine
marbles and sculpture of the coro itself, interfere, greatly,
with your- desire to have it put put of the Way. Behind the
high altar, and pf course directly in front -of the choir, the
superb retablo or altar -screen rises "almost to the very roof
of the "nave. Even -among so many wonders, this great
work is perhaps the most wonderful. ' It is of wood alto
gether, divided "into many niches, stories, and compartments,
filled with statues and reliefs, all admirably carved, reprer
senting the transgression of our first parents and the promi
nent incidents of the Saviour's life and passion. It is
L

242 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
surmounted by a gigantic crucifix, of great merit, upon
which, at .noon-day -or a little after, there pours down a
flood of splendor from the- crimson windows of the ' dome.
The style of the retablo is purely Gothic, which is that of
the whole Carthedral* proper. In some of the chapels and
more modern additions, rthere are many and strange varia
tions from the original "idea, ,but the consequence has been,
in every case, to weaken the general effect, notwithstanding
the beauty of the particular, details.-
It is the least .of my intentions to enter into any thing like
a minute description of what is worth seeing and describing
in this great repository of the arts. - " So prodigal is the
wealth of painting and sculpture-, and carving in wood and
silver ; so admirable the- preservation of the building and of
every thing within it ; that 'no small hook could- tell the story
fuUy, if it were to tell ef nothing else. 1 made various
incursions-^undertook 'sundry expeditions into and about its
precincts — but am very well persuaded that I saw scarce
more than half of what, deserves a traveler's admiration.
The Royal Chapel, frequently, called the Chapel of St.
Ferdinand,- is large enough for an independent establishment
of Us own ; which it in fact- has, being the property of the
crown, and not subject to the Cathedral jurisdiction. It
occupies the eastern extremity pf the building, and you enter
it beneath a lofty arch, Which spans the whole of the great
nave. Jt is not opened to visitors without a special permit,
which it is not easy to obtain,' so .that I was compelled to
sacrifice a little cf my morning-sleep,- in order te attend the
early and pnly service pf the diy. As I have had occasion
tc say, the chapel is entirely at variance, in style, with the
body of the Cathedral, being after that peculiar fashion of
architecture which they call the plateresco, or silversmith's
style, from the profusion and elaborate minuteness of its
ornaments. It contrasts ill enough with the simple Gothic
grandeur which you leave behind you, but has still a certain
dignity, in the -elevation of-the. entrance-arch, and the noble

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 243

pitch of the dome. Before you, as you walk in, you see
upon an -elevated platform, the sUver-gUt shrine of St. Fer
dinand, with, crown and all adornments. The dome is
sculptured fuU of kings, and as I-have mentioned, in speak
ing of the Alcazar,, there is a gilt inscription on the crimson
canopy above the high altar, which compliments their ma
jesties by saying, " Per me,.reges regnant." Above the
recesses, on each side, are* grim medallions of the conquerors,
Garci and Diego Perez de Vargas, looking as fiesoe in stone
as they were rugged in the flesh. On the left, is the proud
tomb of Alonzo the Wise; its upper portion covered with
faded brocade, on whipb,- raised on two Cushions, he a crown
and scepter. - Just opposite, and matching it exactly, is the
monument of Beatriz, the wife of Ferdinand and mother of
Alonzp. Her . epitaph is positive in stating, that thpugh
fruitful pf royal pfFspring, she was yet more fruitful of vir
tues.* There are a few old banners hanging high and in
decay upon the walls, apparently the trophies of some hard-
fought days. T.wo of them are certainly tri-colgred, and .1
thought that upon one I could distinctly read, " Legion
Polonaise." The massx on the morning of my visit, was an
ordinary one, and the tones of the chapel-organ had ho great
merit, so that as soon as I had made my brief observation, I
went away with the crowd.
In -the mean time, mass had begun in the chapel of the
Virjen de la Antigua, which is held in very peculiar rever
ence, from the possession of a picture that gives the name.
Some of the more -devout of the good people believe that St.
Ferdinand's entrance into SeviUe had something of a miracle
about it, and that this ancient 'image was not without a share
in it. The young ecclesiastic*, however, who had previously
.shewn the picture to pie,, claimed for it nothing but respect.
- It had been, he said^ in Seville, since before the invasion of
the Moofs, and St. Ferdinand himself had often knelt before
it, so that they .alw-ays lighted the altar when they exposed
* " FecUnditate etfama, prcecejlebat," as Tacitus says of Agrippina.

244 GLI-MPSES OF SPAIN.
it to public view. The picture is certainly a very old one,
being obviously Of the Byzantine school,, which has still so
many relics left in Italy, and it may therefore, easily, have
gone to Spain before the days ef Tarik. On the mprriing
that I speak ef, the chapel was so crowded, that I could
only find room to lean against a column pf the nearest aisle,
as a soft; sweet hymn stole from the choir. By degrees it
rose and swelled, and then the pealing tones of one of the
great organs followed it, with splemn echees, till they relied
far up and died away together'. I should -have Uked, at that
moment, to have had beside me some sage philosophers I
wot of, to have heard their notfons pf " objective" wership
under the- circumstances! A very "subjective" temper a
man must have, I think, whe could, as Sir Thomas Brown
would say, " disdain to suck divinity" from such sweet
flowers !
"-The reader may have wondered how it was possible for
the Virjen de la Antigua to have remained in Seville, dur
ing Soult's sojourn— the -fondness of that distinguished indi
vidual for the arts having been already several times alluded
to. But if that fact- creates surprise, what wiU be thought
of the' further announcement, that nearly the whole of the
inestimable ornaments of gold and silver belonging to- the
Cathedral are still where they should be, as beautiful in art
arid as ponderous in metal as ever ? When the verger, who
was showing me these "treasures, kept opening chest after
chest and press upon press, I could not avoid asking how the
contents had, possibly escaped the art-appropriating marshal.
" They wentto Cadiz, your Worship," was the reply, " where
the Franceses could notifollow them !" And then; he added,
" They had a hard time, sir, in those days, but a worse one
in Mendizabal's. He was a Spaniard, but he went nigh to
melting them. If he had been a Frenchman, it would not
have been so bad !" It required a man to be- both Jew and
finance-minister in straits, to put sacrilege and Vandalism
into the same budget ! -

GLIMPSES vOF- SPAIN, 243
Strolling often- through the Cathedral, I had observed the
tribunas, or gaUeries of stone, which run around -the interior
of the edifice, at a very considerable elevation, and I proposed
to my guide, one day, that. we should attempt their explora
tion. He told me, that during many years of service he had
gone that round but twice, and I found afterward, from the
deep dust we stirred, that the path was, in fact, rarely
trodden. For a performance so far out of the usual line, it
was necessary to make an appointment with the vergers at
least a day in advance, and- a programme of pesetas was pre
sented to me, likewise, whioh might have diminished any
ordinary curiosity. My climbing propensity, however, was
in full development, and being determined not to be cheated
out of the ramble, I made bold to face the pesetas, the fatigue
and the dust. Up winding stairs (caracoles) of stone, alas,
how tiresome ! in and out of little towers ; up and down,
and all around dark passages ; over the roof, and through
iron-shod doors, low, narrow and innumerable, we made our
patient way, amply compensated for the troubles of the jour
ney, by the precious points of view on which we fell. From
no place is the Cathedral seen to so much advantage, as from
the gaUeries. The depth and distance below you add to
ypur idea ef grandeur and dimension, far more than you lose
in the sense of loftiness, by your proximity to the vaulted
roof. I defy any man of ordihary sensibility to stand in the
transept galleries, among the glowing rays, or at the extrem
ity of the nave, in the mid-splendor of the great rose- window ;
a forest of columns' before him ; stupendous arches mingling
above and about him ; the altars and the choir, the paie
lamps and pigmy wershipers, far, far beneath him ; without
feeling, unimaginative as he may be, that there are temples-
fitter than the mountains for the worship of God !
From one gadlery, and in a Ught so fine that the view
was absolutely perfect, I remember that I saw the fierce but
splendid picture, by Roelas, of Santiago riding down the
Moors in battle. 'I had not beUeved it possible to distinguish

246 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
any thing with, accuracy at such a distance, for the picture
was in a chapel far down on the opposite side of the church ;
yet the point of view .at that bright instant could, not have
been surpassed. In a few -moments I was in another gal
lery, -upon the - floor of which there were many scattered
feathers of smaU birds. There were hawks, the verger told
me, in the upper vaults of the Cathedral as well as the
' Giralda, and these were the feathers of their prey. Were I
a missionary of the Peace Society, I might say (as, perhaps
I thought), that 'hawks and battle-pieces seemed equaUy ap
propriate to the place- and its purposes !~

CHAPTER Xxm.
Journey to Cordova — Carmona — The Road and Travelers — Primitive
Agriculture — Ecija — The Alforjas — Dawn upon Cordova — The
Mosque — Moorish Relics-4-St. Raphael, and.what he swore — The
Christian Captive and his Cross — Procession and Silver Ornaments
— Gen. Dupont — Appearance and Decay of Cordova — Return to
Seville — The Colonies and Olavide — The' Infanta and the Poet —
Spanish Diligences.
It is a scrap of gUide-book philosophy worth remember
ing, that a traveler should always see what he can, when
he can. To-morrow is .generaUy able to provide for itself,
so that it is. always- wise to take what is at hand for to-day.
I had arranged, in my programriie, to visit Cordova after
going to Granada ;_ but it occurred to me one day, at Se
viUe, that T had better run up to the ancient city, while I
had the opportunity. As things .turned out, I should have
lost the visit, altogether; but for my facility in yielding to
the whim.
It was. very early in the afternoon of a bright, pleasant
day, that I found myself, all alone, in the coupe of a fine
diligence, with her majesty's royal mail-bags shaking in the
interioi? behind me, as we rattled over the stones and out
at the Triana gate. We should properly have gone out by
the ancient gate of Xerez, but they had commenced that
morning to pull down the venerable structure, and along
with it had gone, all the prestige of the famed inscription 
" Hercules me ediflcb," &c.
Our road led us, for some time, along the old Moorish aque
duct, the Caflos de Carmona, and then we passed, in due

248 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
seasen, the Cruz del Campo, ef which I have spcken iri
describing the House of Pilate. The country, as we went
on, was fine and fruitful, covered with grain, and studded
every where wfth crchards cf pranges and plives. Npw
and then we passed a field ef the habas, so prominent in
the history of the bread-riots. If is a very pretty crop,
and throws a soft, rich shade into the coloring of the land
scape. The hedges were mostly of the pita or aloe, from
the midst of whose gigantic foliage an asparagus-shaped
spear sprang up, sometimes ten feet high. At regular and
graceful intervals, there were little branches spreading out
around these lofty shafts, which "-.looked as if expressly
meant for vegetable candelabra. Within a -reasonable cir
cuit round the city ,> there were many neat, white country-
houses sprinkled, with pretty groves about them ; but as
we traveled on, the plains grew wider, and the -habitations
¦much less frequent. Then we came upon huge droves of
cattle or mares, at pasture, while here and there a" group
of muleteers, close by the road-side, lay asleep in the shad
ow of the hedges, their docile beasts improving the opportu
nity to browse upon what grass there was at hand. Large
birds of -prey, floating arid gliding high up in the air, occa
sionally threw their lazy shadows on our path, giving, if
possible, yet more repose to the sad stillness which hung
over all things. I say stillness — but the reader is to under
stand that term as having only a' relative sense, within five
miles of a Spanish" diligence. Our post had only eight
mules, and the people were the quietest I met in Spain, of
their vocation ; but such a clattering of all things that can
clatter— such a cracking of whips, beating of mules, and
swearing in general and particular-^-would have scared the
birds of all sorts out of any -less accustomed country.
It was about three p-'clcck when we reached Alcala de
Guadaira, er Alcala de los panaderos (Of' the bakers), the
bread factory of SeviUe, and indeed', of all the adjoining
country. Scarcely any bu'siriess but that of baking is fol-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 349-
lowed in the- town ; and. whether it be from the water, or
the flour, or the skill of the- adepts, it is certain that the
staff of life is no where better on the face of the bread-
eating earth. It has a fine old ruin — a Moorish castle, with
hexagonal and square towers — crowning a bold, green hill,
around jvhose base the bright Guadaira twines itself, and
then goes glistening off, through meadows loaded with lux
uriant vegetation, and fragrant and beautiful with oranges
and olives. Before you, on the right, there is a reach of
valley sweeping to the verge of the horizon ; while, if you
lopk backward,- you will see the graceful form of the Giralda
rising high among the hills, over whose farthest- fastnesses
the castle of San Juan de Alfarache seems keeping watch
and ward.
A few orchards that we passed^ as We went out of
Alcala, made poor amerids for the Vast desert, all un tilled,
through which our journey led us next. The flowers, of
every hue and of the richest fragrance, which sprang up in
boundless prodigality all over these wild plains, were a per
petual comment on the sinful system which left them thus
a waste. Our diligence caUed a halt next at Maifena, a
poor, silent village then, though, but the week before, it had
been crowded, at its annual fair, with aU the traders and
horse-fanciers of Andalusia. A bright-eyed imp of an or
ange-girl, who brought her basket to toy window, insisted
on my taking her whole stock. She was poor, she said,
and 1 was rich, she knew, for the Ingleses were all rich !—
muy ricos! Between Mairenaand Carmona; we had a
few far ghmpsps of good farming, now and then, among the
reaches of the hills, but cultivation was the exception, not
the rule. Full half a league off from Carmona, we could
see, tfiat proud old town, commanding from "its hill-top a
broad valley, which- was bounded, miles and. miles away,
by the gray gorges of the Ronda Mountains. When we-
drew nearer, we discovered that the frowning battlements,
so famous once in -border-foray, were ruinous and desolate

250 GLIMPSES OF SP-AI-N.
enough. A solitary palm stood, here and there, in view,
keeping them sad company.
" Having seen every thing in SeviUe," says Mr. Swin
burne, " that was recommended to Our notice, we came to
lie at Carm'oria." The Spaniards say that this distiftguished
gentleman amused himself by doing the same thing wherever
he went. I had not,- however, the traveler's privilege of
following his example, for our dUigence did not enter the
gates. We passed to the right, by the green and beautiful
Alameda : the fortress-crowned rocks, their clefts all blos
soming with flowers-, rising abruptly on our left. When
yOu have gone well around the town, fhe eminence on which
you stand gives you a view of wonderful extent. The de
clining sun lighted it, as We went on, with grayer and grayer
light, until at last the mists upon the distant mountains
seemed to descend to meet , us-, arid we found that it was
night. We had met a good many travelers in the course of the
day, but the most of them were mule or donkey-drivers,
guiding pr bestriding their beasts, whese high piled loads
seemed crUelly disproportioried to the long-eared motive power
below. It was like nothing I had ever seeri, except the
sport of young natural philosophers at school, who will some
times nut a brick upon a beetle, in order to test the "strength
of his. muscles by his capacity to move it. Yet -the "cav
alry" (cabcdleria), as they call them, went cheerfully enough
along, and were so decile, that the driver mostly v guided
them by a touch dr slight pressure of his staff. The arrie-
ros seemed somewhat poverty-stricken, generally, although
many of them were exceedingly fine looking feUows. Their
brown sheepskin jackets., lopse breeches, leather leggins-,
peaked hats and firelecks, together With their sempiternal
and mysterious brown cloaks, had something wild and strange
about them, which might have looked half bandit-Uke, te
pne fresh from the region of- dress-coats. This sort pf im-
pressien might indeed have been produced, even more nat-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 251

m-ally, by the gallant riders who now and then went by us,
mounted on stout strong horses, their calesera jackets and
well swung weapons 'looking like the unUorm and accouter-
ments of a disciplined corps of the road. And then the
lonely shepheras and swine-herds, watching their charge
upon the heaths and hiU-sides — their long staves in their
hands, and large dogs crouching by them ! How little
of fancy did it .ask, to make each of them a, desperate Dick
Turpin upon foot, and to persuade ourselves that nothing
but the speed of mules would save our throats and purses.
And yet they were poor harmless creatures, as innocent and
pastoral, no doubt, as if they had borne crooks in'Arcady,
instead of looking Uke the bravoes in a melo-drama. They
were dark brown all over : for they and their sheep wear
the same Wool,, and a white sheep, in Spain, is quite as rare
as would their pardo be, with .us. I remember, vividly,
how I was struck, by seeing one of these poor men upon a
hill, as we went up toward Carmona. The afternopn was
waning, and the light was what it sheuld be, to produce
that strange effect which we caU " looming," in our mount
ains. The shepherd's figure was defined with beautiful
distinctness against the cloudless background of the sky, and
he appeared a very giant, with a staff quite terrible ,to see.
I had not witnessed the phenomenon, at home, se pften as to
have ceased to wonder at it, arid was enjoying it accordingly,
when of a sudden there arose another figure on the profile of
the hiU. It was a donkey, and his ears loomed too ! The
sun that shines alike upon the just/and unjust, made no dis
tinction, between the master and his ass .'
The ancient poets used to think and sing that the fleeces
of the sheep of Andalusia took their peculiar color from
something in the water, air, and herbage. Ne doubt there
was philosophy ill tha"t, and one is puzzled to imagine from
what other sources the innocent animals could have been
expected to obtain it. At all events,, since, the Chinese
have shown us that a man may change the- color of his

252 GLIMPSES .OF'SPAIN.
hair, by diet full as well as dye, there is stUl smaller
ground for thinking that 'Martial, Juvenal, and Virgil were
ignorant of animal chemistry. Nevertheless the thing has
yet to reach that stage of its perfection foreshadowed in the
Pollio, when the flowers of the field wUl give their radiant
colors to the flocks :
," Sponte sua, sandyx pascentes vestiet dgnos:"
As the night was closing in, we passed, occasionaUy, a
group of laborers, retiring with their cattle, from the fields.
Coming from a single meadow, where they had been plow
ing, we met a grave procession of nineteen yqke of oxen, as
fine and well-bred looking animals as farmer's heart could
eovet. The habit of plowing with many yoke in the same
field, is practiced still, after the old Eastern fashion-that we
read of in the Scriptures. It seems, however, no better than
an insult to cattle so respectable, to fasten them to- such an
instrument as is called a plow in Andalusia. Reduced to
' its first principles, it is a big, sharp, crooked stick, and nothing
more. The business of the plowman is to keep it in the
ground ; that of the oxen, if they can, to pull it out. No '
doubt it can be traced back, without change, to the Phoeni
cian?, ¦ and if it cculd be sent, back to them, the grain-fields
of Andalusia might rejoice^ What a piece of charity and
wisdom it would be, if Mr. Cobden.and.his followers, instead
of bpthering the simple people with free-trade in the abstract,
and "consumption," and "productipn,'' and "unrestricted ccm-
petitipn," wpuld persuade them, in a quiet way, to burn these
heir-leoms of antiquity, and sell one-half their- oxen to buy
something agricultural that has been invented since the taking
of Numantia !
At midnight, we pulled up before the Post-pffice at Ecija,
and a lcnely heur I had pf -it, while they were ransacking
and replenishing cur mails. Npt a spul was stirring in the
dark and dismal streets, except the watchman who came by,
with lantern, spear,. and cloak, and shouted under the window

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.- 253
of the dUigence, "Ave Maria Purizima! Laz doze acaban
y zereno .'" It is a theory of the mail-coach functionaries,
that a man who travels under the auspices of her Majesty
can fill his stomach sufficiently with the honor of the thing,
and there is therefore ho provision for taking one's meals
Upon the road. The conductor, and his suite carry bread,
wine, and garlic, for their own refreshment, in the little
alforjas or saddle-bags, made of striped cotton, without which
no native travels. If you are wiUing to share their banquet,
the poor men wiU make yeu welcome, with all their hearts,
but ypu may, perhaps^ not like the viands, and it is wisest,
therefore, to provide some creature-comforts of your own. No
one had been rrierciful enough to tell me this before I started,
and the fresh evening air and exercise had given me an
appetite, by midnight, which was intent on things more solid
than listening to fhe watchman. I had possessed myseffof a
specimen loaf at Alcala, and there were oranges still left from
the purchase at Mairena, so that, in lack of better cheer, I
made a heavy, chilly meal of them, not without forebodings
of the morrow. The reader may, perchance, before he dies,
be traveling with the mail to Cordova," and if this scrap of
my experience should suggest the 'alforjas to him, he wiU
hold it, I am sure, less trifling, than, perhaps, he deems it
now. It was broad day Ught when I finaUy awoke, for I had
had some forty parenthetical awakenings during the small
hours. The morning showed us nothing, for a while, but a
dull series of rolling plains, as we drew near to Cordova.
When we reached the Cuesta de los Visas, some two or
three rnUes Off, the City of the Caliphs rose at last before us,
old and ,dim, and heavy with the shadows of the Sierra
Morena. Peasants and travelers passed us then, occasionally,
and as our mules made exceUent speed, we soon found our
selves beside the Uttle Moorish castle which commands the
venerable bridge across the Guadalquivir. The foundations
of that noble structure were laid by Julius Caesar : Hixem

254 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
the Great adorned it, in the zenith of his power : Christian kings
have since done all they could to make it worthy of its proud
estate, and yet our noisy diligence went rattling, in an instant,
over it, as if the dynasties were nothing to . a post-boy ! I
was delighted when I saw, as we were crossing,' that the
Mosque and the Alcazar,, which were all I cared to see in
Cordova, were very near together, and I for "once determined
to act upon the principle of" go ahead," and hurry back to
Seville as fast as I had left it. , A soldier off duty conde
scended to take my carpet-bag to the Fonda de las Dili-
jencias, which I can .commend te future travelers, as possess
ing a peculiar variety of tea, not known to the most experi
enced of the Hong merchants: There were several persons
sipping their chopplate at small tables in the patio, and when
they heard me order " te" they seemed, to think it a much
better jcke than I did when I tried it. Having ne time te
lose, however, I swallowed the decoction, and committed
myself to the charge of an old varlet, called Don Francisco,
who had 3 peaked hat and" freckled face, and glided about
softly, ori' hempen sandals. He was a great humbug, I soon
found, as all valets de place are.
Of ceurse we went, at ence, tc the Mpsque. Don Fran
cisco entreated me, sturdily, to gp - up St. Peter's teWer,
which is the belfry, and I deubt npt, from his urgency, -that
he and the. keeper had a permanent arrangement to divide
aU spefls. I resisted manfully, hewever, and went, at pnce,
into .the Ceurt pf Oranges, Where,, passing the pld prange-
groves and Meprish fountains, I made my way toward the
church. Outside the principal entrance there stood a group
of ecclesiastics and of laymen irf-fuU dress. They had with
them sundry banners and church ornaments, and obvieusly
were about to take part in some special ceremonial. They
looked askant at my broad traveling -hat, which certainly
was not de etiqueta, but I bowed myself on, through their
ranks, as gravely as I could, and in a moment was beneath
the low roof of the Cathedral. It is a strange, extraordinary

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 255
building certainly. The guide-books say that it has between
eight and nine hundred columns, and fuU eight-and-forty
aisles. I counted neither aisles nor columns, but can readily
bear witness that there is a forest of the last, and a laby
rinth of the first. Blue spfrits and gray, thick pillars and
thin, Greeian and Moorish, of all orders and of none, without
distinction of color, size, or quality, people the vast area.
The huge choir, interpolated by the vicious taste of three
centuries ago, annoying as it is to all sense of beauty and
proportion, becomes "really attractive as a sort of land-mark.
The side chapels, which would have been abominable, any
where and at any time, lose their unpleasantness when you
regard them as a sort of boundary to the- stone wUderness.
The larger aisles, running from east to west, are about
twenty feet in width. A single arch springs over each of
them, at every intersection of the transverse aisles, which
run •from north to south and are some twelve feet wide.
Over each transverse aisle, at every intersection of a larger
one, rises a'double arch, or rather rise two arches, one above
the other, so that with aisles and arches, and arches and
aisles and. -columns, look you up or down or all around, you
are more and more bewUdered, the more and more you
turn. Of the Moorish splendors, other than those of architecture
merely, Uttle now remains, except the chapel of Villa-viciosa
and that of St. Peter, both of which preserve some relics of
the gorgeous caliphate. The Villa-viciosa, said by some to
have been the Caliph's oratory, and -by others taken for, the
sacred place from which the. imaums edified the people, is in
the body of .the Mosque. It once was level with the pave
ment,' but now stands some five ot- six feet higher. They
entered it, in Moorish times, beneath a splendid arch, which
fronts the western portal. Now you go in at a Uttle door upon
the south, and passthrough a small chapel, where is said to
be the first high altar consecrated in the Mosque to Chris
tian worship. The arch, through which the CaUphs entered,

256 GLIMPSES OF S-PAIN.
is-now obstructed' by a wretched picture, flanked by gaudy
marbles. "The painting represents the Archangel Raphael,
as he appeared, once on a time, to the good monk Roelas.
The father, to his credit be it said, was somewhat dubious
of the archangel's name and category, and well he might be,
for the glorious visitor, in his red breeches and blue tunic>
has nothing of the angel but his wings. Two little cherubs
hold a shield, accordingly, before you, on which you read
how Raphael announced himself —
" Yo te juro por Jesu Cristo crucificado que soy Rafael
angel a, quien tiene Dios pueslo por guar da dlesta ciudad
de Cordova." (I swear to you, by Jesus Christ crucified,
that I am Raphael, the angel whom God has placed as
guardian of this city of Cordova).
The good Roelas, nothing loth, believed all this, and- the
poor Cordovese believed it after him, in proof of which, they
raised a column, called, the Triumph (el Triumfo) not far
from the Cathedral, on which they placed a gilded image
of St. Raphael. It is some ninety feet in height (the
column) and made of many-colored marbles. If when you
see it, reader, you think you have seen any thing in viler
taste (except perhaps the picture) you may be certain you
have traveled to advantage.
You enter the Villa-viciosa by a postern, I have said.
When you are within the little -chapel, the verger turns • a
key close to the altar-side, and you go into the oratory of the
Caliphs. A chapel for a prince it mugt have been, indeed,
when the rich arabesques, now faded and fast crumbling off,
were decked with all their gorgeousness, and every thing
around them was in splendid keeping. They point you to
a little alcove, where they say the Koran lay, and you see
stiU the open window, from beneath whpse graceful arch
the commander of the faithful looked out upon the Holy of
Holies. The sanctuary of the Mussulman is now the chapel of
St. Peter, the Cathedral's patron, and deserves minute inspec-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 257
tion. It is divided into two apartments, each beautiful and
perfect in its way. The front presents three airy horse-shoe
arches, rising on light columns, with three arches that are
heavier, below. The splendid arabesques that are all over
the exterior, prepare you for the bright array within. To
ward the center of the outer chamber, Ues the tomb of Don
Alonzo Fernandez de Cordova, Lord of Montemayor, on
whom, the Bishop and Chapter bestowed the chapel, in
grateful recoUection of his services, as defender of the city,
wheD Peter- the Cruel and the King of Granada advanced
with their .combined troops against it, in the year 1367. The
warrior's monument is very simple, but over it there hangs
magnificence enough — for it is just below the octagon-shaped
dome, aU radiant with mosaics and glittering with gold. The
chapel walls are covered with bright colors, and the lower
portion of the dome rests upon columns of rich jasper, con
trasting with a band of stainless white ; whUe, higher up, the
lantern is supported, (if a thing so light can need support),
by columns slenderer and brighter stiU. Flowers and foliage,
delicate and fafry-like, such as none ever molded save the
Moor, are scattered over all, with a prodigality ef wealth'
which only Arab story-tellers could describe. Then, under a
grand horse-shoe arch, coated with gold and flashing colors,
surrounded by gay arabesques, and quaint inscriptions which,
they say, are Cufic, you enter the sanctum sanctorum, a
miracle of art and architecture. It is an octagon, encrusted
with rich, polished marbles, and on twelve columns of the
same bright hues, with capitals and bases- highly gUded, it
supports a precious sheU, as white as alabaster, wrought
from a single piece of marble, and yet eighteen feet across !
Wkh all its massiveness, it seems so delicate and pure, that
you might half believe it had been found on the sea-shore — a
mermaid's palace thrown up by an earthquake, or a chariot
of state new-made_for Amphitrite ! The marble pavement
under it. is worn quite visibly ; the faithful in old Paynim times
believing that they walked to Paradise, by marching barefoot

258 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
round this holy place. ... In Hixerri's day* as Conde teUs us,
it was lighted by the Atanor, a golden lamp " of marvelous
size and workmanship," whose oil, perfumed with ambergris
and aloes, might with its fragrance have well ravished even
senses orthodox.
Believe the vergers and my sandaled friend Antonio, hpw-
ever, and you will be taught that one poor Christian slave,
at least, was proof against this cluster of seductions. On "a
pillar, by the western wall of the Cathedral, is a cross, cut,
and quite deeply, in the stone, which you are told a Chris
tian captive executed, with his finger-nail ! There' is a little
iron grating, to preserve the relic and give to it a precious
look, while higher up, en the same celumn, there is a brief
inscription. Uppn the wall, en the left side, there is a paltry
little bas-relief, which represents an individual dressed in St.
Raphael's cefors and kneeling, with a repe abeut his nedk.
He is fastened to a ring, by a cord areund his leg, and his
hands are clasped, as if in prayer. Clcse by,. they tell his
story in chpice elegiacs —
" Hoc sua dum celebrat Mahometicus orgia templo,
Captivus Christi numina vera vocat,
Et quern corde tenet, rigido saxo ungue figurat,
Aureolam pro quo, June peremptus, habet."
Upon the other side, the legend is retaUed again in Spanish
verse, so that the captive can -not, certainly, complain, that
he has lacked a sacred bard. It reads as folfows : —
" El cautibo, con gran fee,
En aqueste dure marmol,
Con la una, senalb
A Christo crucificado,
Siendo esta iglesia mezquita,
Donde lo martyrizaron"
A Cprdpvese historipgrapher is rash enough to say that all
this legend is "a fiction unlikely and ridiculous." -A stran
ger has no right to be more patriotic than a native, and

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 259
travelers may be pardoned, -therefore, for a little skepticism
in the matter. Mr. Ford gives it as his notion that " a
nail" achieved the wonder. M. Gautier believes the whole,
implicitly, but goes on further to declare his firm persuasion,
that- " autrefois" either the perphyry was very tender, or
" Von avait des angles diablement durs." For my part, I '
incline to think the story quite as Ukely as some others, that
we swallow without straining. The unshod feet of infidels,
as we have seen, could wear away a sacred pavement, and
why should finger-nails do less with sacred columns ? It is
obvious, that all the captive needed was sufficient time. I
own, it is true, that .my faith would be a Uttle clearer if
there were not a smaU obstacle. While aU the legends and
inscriptions tell you that the wonder was a crucifix, the
thing they show you now, is but av naked cross. When
that shaU be cleared up, I shall, unquestionably, side with
Don Antonio and the verger.
Having thus1 visited the relics of the Moor", and of his
martyr, I was taken next -to see the choir and the high
altar. There is but Uttle beauty of detail there, to compen
sate the wholesale sacrilege of sending such a tasteless dome
up through the fine old roof. M. Gautier, with curious and
purely French felicity, compares the Christian portion of tha
building to a " monstrueux cliampignon de pierre," a mon
strous stone mushroom ! But for the carving of the stalls,
which certainly is iSire and exquisite, the whole would be a
melancholy jumble of architecture over-done and vicious
ornament run mad. The canons and choristers had gone on
their procession reund the church, and I ceuld see them, here
and there, by snatches, as they marched amid the* mazes of
the columns. It must have been seme festival iri honor of
the Virgin, for they bore her image with them, superbly
wrought of massive silver gilt. Rich as this statue was,
however, it seemed quite insignificant, compared with the
mstodia beneath which it stood. This splendid work of art
is, in its form, a Gothic temple, and is graced with sculpture

260 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
so minute, elaborate -and perfect, that an eloquent enthusi
ast, in art has said, " It seems to have been imagined in a
dream, and executed in a breath." There is a story current
in Cordova;, which, if true, would certainly justify the rhap
sody. They say that, in the war of the Peninsula, wheri
magnanimous Dupont was plundering the dwellings and
churches Of the city, and carrying off gold and silver by the
wagon-load, he halted in front of the eUstodia, and — -left it
where it was, in honor of its beauty and the sculptor's genius !
What shall be said of the poor captive's wonder after this ?
Fprd says, hpwever, that with other sacred vessels, the cus-
todia was " secreted," and only thus was left unstolen ; but.
Id-perfide Albion will libel la belle France upon occasion, and
Dupont was a man, we know, whose love of art would weigh
down massive silver !
As I was. leaving the Cathedral, the last lines of the pro-
cessicn were entering -the ehoir. Mingled with the clergy
men and acolytes, .were several of. the laymen I had seen when
I went in, but they had clad themselves meanwhile, iu robes-
and hats of crimson velvet, embroidered heavily with geld.
What part they bore in the fair show, or what high dignita
ries I beheld in them, -unconsciously, I never even asked. I
saw them, as a child sees pageants pass him, not pleased the
less because he does not comprehend them. It was curious
to think, however, that the chant which- died away as I went
out, was waking echces, which, a thousand years before, had
-answered, just as solemnly, the 'music of unholy worship as
it rose to a false god '.
After, strolling round the fortress-looking outside of the
Mosque, I went, at once, to the Alcazar, of which nothing
now is left but ruin. They use it for a prison, and it looks
as if it had been made for one. I gathered a few flowers
from the modern garden, where' the sweet groves of the
Caliphs used to flourish, and whieh still commands a fine
view of the river and the ponderous old bridge. My busi
ness finished, then, I made my way back to the Fonda;

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 261
along the filthiest streets, among the dirtiest people, houses,
dogs, and donkeys, I had seen in Spain. The only sign of
true vitality that met me in the' city, was a noisy sohobl-
room, through .whose open windows I could see and hear a
host of ohildren, humming their rudiments and making faces
at their -books. They wiU have need of all -that they can
learn, to mend the fortunes of their -town, for it is now, to
aU intents and purposes* a poor, sad ruin, tumbling still fur
ther to decay. In speaking of the bread affairs of Seville,
I mentioned the profound philosophy with which the city
senators of Cordova had laid their grim embargo on all grain.
Bread was, in consequence, quite cheap, I found, and well it
was so, for otherwise the people must hav& starved. I had
a conversation on the subject with a fellow-traveler, on my
return, and asked him how the Government could tolerate
the siUy burgesses in meddling with the commeree of the
realm. " Had the ayuntamiento such a right 1" -- No
right," he said, " but power a plenty." " Is there no rem
edy ?" I asked, " no way of appealing to Madrid ?" " Oh,
yes, you could appeal ; but then the remedy would come, como
y cuando Dios quisiera — when and as Providence might
happen to vouchsafe it !" And then he went on swearing
at the men in power (as almost every body did), for letting
all that most concerned -the people go to waste, while they
provided place and pension for themselves.
When I reached the' Fonda, the Madrid diligence had
just arrived, with the berlina (er coupe) empty, and pnly
pne man in the interier. Tp teU the truth, I was quite
anxiens to be back in Seville the next day afterncpn, for
they had advertised a bull-fight, and, Uke all moral travelers,
I had a strong desire to see one. I therefore took my seat
for the return-trip, on the instant,-a.nd at eleven o'clock heard
the postillion's whip announce his readiness. I had been in
Cordova four hours — but like Barney O'Reardon's sleep,
" I paid attintion to it !"
As we drove out, I took a better and more careful view

262 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
of things about me, than my drowsy eyes permitted in the
early morning. 'The city lies in a broad basin, watered by
the Guadalqmvir. Behind its waUs, with a fine convent
here and there in its brown bosom, the Sierra Morenja is the
Umit of the valley. On the other sides, it widens a great
deal, and far upon the right, as you go southward, you see
the heights of Almodpvar, wearing their crown of towers.
The river runs along the walls of Cordova, and is quite
bold before the gates. Twe pr three round pld Mpprish
mills, of darb gray stone, are buUt out in -the -stream,, and
have a strange and picturesque effect. The city smacks of
age, in all respects : in wall and tower, as well as crumbled
dwellings. I missed the multitude of palm-tre'es told qf in
the bookstand as they had become a part of Abderrahmaris
story, in- my mind, the picture disappointed me. Yet, after
all, when we had mounted, ence again the Cuesta de los
Visos, and I took a 'fareweU gaze, the city, hills, and valley,
with .the river and the winding road, appeared so glad and
lovely in the sunshine, that I felt how little kings and
caliphs have to do, in fact, with -any thing that can abide,
The; flowers that carpeted the road-side, that bright day,
turned up 'their faces radiantly toWard me, a plain and poor
republican, whose country was not thought of, when Hixem
hung his lamps of gold. Theynever smiled more brightly, I
am sure, upon that awful potentate himself, altheugh he had an
endless roll pf fee-farm rents in Paradise. There is a moral in
the fact, though perhaps the reader, may have heard it before.
The town of Carlota which we had passed, by night, on
the way up, attracted my attention; as one of the colonies
or nuevas poblaciones, founded -by poor Olavide, in the days
of Charles III., in furtherance of his plan of agricultural
reform. It lies upon a hill, beneath which a broad valley
shows some relics, yet, of what was done for cultivation during
the brief time of the experiment. The reward of Olavide
was a dungeon. He might have expected as much from
the ever grateful House of Bourbon.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 263
We halted at Ecija, before sunset, and rested for some
hours. The Alameda was blopming and beautiful ; full ef
gay and happy looking people. It lies beside the Xenil,
whose cold waters, ccming from the snowy mountains of
Granada, were scattered, by a noria, through the gardens,
and -diffused a freshness and fertUity quite wonderful to feel
and see. We found the good people at Ecija in a great
deal of gossip and excitement on account of an arrival that
morning. A Silla de Posta had passed through, they said,
at early dawn, containing a very unhappy -looking and pale
gentleman, who- was going post-haste, under guard, to Cadiz,
as a prisoner of state. The escort would give no account of
him, and as the Silla remained only long enough tp change
herses, -liie gossips had been altogether unable to fathom the
mystery. Some supposed that it was General Serran'o, who
had been, for some time, causing a good deal of jealous dis
cord between the queen and her royal sppuse. Others
thp ught it might be the king-eonsort himself, from whom it
was generally believed that her Majesty Was quite willing to
be divorced-^and in regard te whpse fate the public mind
was censiderably. exercised, it being supposed that Mr.
Bulwer and the Ingleses were anxious for a new. match.
"When I got back to SeviUe, however, I learned that the
prisoner was neither king. -nor general, but the young Havana.
poet, GueU y Rente, who had been making love to one of
the Infantas, a cousin pf the queen. The poor girl was a
daughter of the Infante Don Francisco, whom every body
admitted to be a great brute, in mind and habits. His
house was ordered so entirely with reference to his own
sensual pleasures, that the Infarita could hardly live in it
with decency, and GueU being a man of talent, and ef gppd
looks and good manners besides, found np great difficulty in
persuading her to leave it. • The affair was discovered one
night, arid about five,- next morning, the poet was arrested.
Among his papers was a letter from the Infanta, which
sealed his guilt. In- an hour, he was duly stowed away in

264 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

the mail-coach and sent off to Cadiz, to be shipped for
Havana with all -convenient dispatch. He afterward man
aged to get back to his lady-love, and marry her, in spite
of majesty, so that the royal famUy,,for once and against
their will, can boast some connection with a man who has
brains. ¦*
We breakfasted the second morning, beyond Carmona, in
what had, been a convent-sacristy. My feUow-traveler, in
the interior, went with me round the^uilding. We found
our mules stabled comfortably in "the quondam cloisters ! It
was, perhaps,, a Uttle after noon, when we rattled once more
up the Seville streets. A gay young majo, who met us near
the gate, informed the may oral,- to my dismay; that the'
¦ authorities had put the bull-fight off. There had been
further threatenings of riot in the bread-department,- and the
heroes of the, rtiig would draw too large a crowd together.
I spent my afternoon, however, quite pleasantly, in wander
ing through the grounds, of the Alcazar, which were, open
that day to the public. . An -English gentleman went with
me, who had come to SeviUe while I. was away. . His, views
of orange-groves and gardens, with their fish-pori.ds, were quite
peculiar. "Lud! lud !" he .said,- " how they must breed
mosquitoes .'". Arid so they did, in fact.
Few travelers have any praise to spare -for Spanish roads
and road-coriveyanpes-. Injustice, therefore, and to praise the
bridge that bore me safely over, I must say something of my
diligence. The carriage itself was a capital one, and, but for
, the usual continental outfit of fleas, would have been as com
fortable as any public conveyance I have seen. Its accom
panying troops were a mayoral, or ccnductcr, a ppstillfon, and
a zagal — an untranslatable person, whose like is not fo be
found in English. The\?nayoral was an intelligent and
obliging fellow, who took the trouble to walk with me arid
point out what was to be. seen, whenever we halted. But
for this, I could never have forgiven, him for sleeping in my
berlina, at. Ecija, with a strange,. suggestive woolen cap upon

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 265
his head. The postillion rode the whole hundred miles through,
so that there can be no doubt of his understanding his busi
ness. I was told, indeed, more than once, that the same
postillion wiU sometimes make the whole journey, from Madrid
to Cadiz, catching only three or four hours of sleep each night.
The zagal was the same wild, rattling, swearing devil, that
all the travelers describe ; now on the box ; now on the
road ; behind the diligence this moment, and between the
galloping beasts the next ; kicking this one, cuffing the other,
and cursing all ! Sometimes we had a team of a dozen
mules — fleet and eapital roadsters ; and the postillion being
mounted on one of the leaders, it required considerable effort
to keep the rear-guard up to their work. On these occasions
the zagal would diversify the exercises, by throwing stones
a,t the delinquents, whUe the mayoral would apply his big
-whip to the unhappy macho (the male mule at the near
wheel), who, whether he went ill or well, was always flogged
for the sake of the example. '• Before God," cried Sancho
Panza, when Merlin said he must be lashed, "if Mr. Merlin
can find no other way of disenchanting my lady Dulcinea
del Toboso, enchanted may she go to her grave, say I !"
Perhaps the macho would have expressed the same senti
ments, had he been able ; but as it was, his luckless hide
paid all the penalty. A deal of extraordinary driving was
performed, as may.be well imagined, by this division of labor
and combination .of processes : yet the road was good, the
pace a run, and the sport hoth novel and exciting ; so I
parted from both man and beast, in the best humor, wishing
only that the one might never need to travel faster, nor the
other to swear harder ! M

CHAPTER XXIV.
Andalusian Jockeys — Start for Ronda Fair — Our Horses, Guide, and
Equipments — Andalusian Costume — Appearance of the Country—
"Dtre'ra — Bull-fighters— The Race and the Carbonero— Coronil—
The Venta and the Fleas — Puerto Serrano and the Mountains —
Our Cavalcade — Mountain Crosses — The Picador and his Arab —
Almodoriares — Zahara — Venta Nueva — Morning Ride to Ronda
— The Nightingales.
The tifne for Ronda fair. was now drawing nigh, and
BaUly was accordingly commissioned to arrange the prelim
inaries for the journey. • One of my English fellow-lodgers
and myself were to travel together. Our heavy luggage
was to he sent rourid to Malaga by the galera (a stout
wagon), and we were, of Course, to take with us only the
Ught furniture which our servant could conveniently carry
on his horse. We had heard and read a good deal of An
dalusian jockeys and their tricks, and had therefore made it
a sine qua, non that we should have fair and full view of
our chargers, at least one day iri, advance. At the hour
appointed, our squire presented himself. He announced
himself as Pepe Salinas (Anglieb, Soe Salt-pits) at our
service, but regretted exceedingly that the horses had not
yet arrived. They Were fresh beasts, he said, and had not
yet come in frorri the country. We afterward learned that
they, in fact, were in the country at the time, but, unfor
tunately, -were out at hire to very hard riders, who by no
means improved their capacity for pur purppses. Pepe
gave us " his honor," hpwever, that there was no need ef
pur seeing them, for we sheuld certainly be delighted next
day when they weuld make their appearance. " Ypu will
say, sir," he assured me, " that they are not livery horses ;
and when you see the one on which I am to carry the lug-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 26*
gage, ypu will hardly stop crossing yourself, he is such a
gentleman of a horse!" — (" Dird vmd. zejib, que no zon
cabayo de alquile. Eze que yo voy a montar con el equi-
paje, va vmd.' a quedar hasiendo cruses a re que zehb
cabayo e .'") There was no answering that coUrse of rea
soning, and we did our best to nurse our patience till the
morrow. It was on Monday, May 17th, that we were to start,
and I spent the afternoon of the day previous in the Deli-
cias and the Cathedral. I had never seen the latter to so
much advantage before-^-perhaps because I had made up
my mind that I should never see it again. Beautiful,
grand, solemn temple ! I had visited it at all hours, and
had- never gone inte its neighberhood without going through
it. I had seen it when the morning sunlight was stream
ing through the eastern windews, and the painted rays that
flewed in through the deme, first kissing the lefty crucifix
beneath it, ran down the lengtheried nave, and faded into
coirimon light before the altar of the' Guardian Angel. I
had seen it, again, in the full radiance of noon, and in the
early " afternoon — when the sun was waxing dim — when
twilight came on — and when, at last, the oanppy of night
hung heavy on the arches — and whether with a few strag
gling devotees before the silent shrines, or in the fuU swell
of grandest worship, I had seen — I shall see, nowhere— the
presence of religion made so palpable ! I could not help
wondering, as its doors closed for the last time upon me,
that Angefo could have stooped to paint " Last Judgments,"
when he could build cathedrals !
Early on the morning of our contemplated departure,
came Pepe Salinas, with his horses at which I was to cross
myself. As might have been expected, my beast was lame.
Pepe at first denied the fact stoutly, but it was soon demon
strated, and he thereupon confessed and avoided, informing
me, confidentially, that he had known the horse a long while,
and that although he would occasionally be a Uttle confused

S68 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
at the start, he was always sure, when he got warm, to go
like light and even faster — " Mas que la lus, zenb .'" I of
course decUned relying for locomotion, upon sa precarious
an element as caloric, though before a better brute could be
procured, the sun had begun to shine in a sufficiently An
dalusian manner to make the experiment a very easy one.
My fellow-traveler, in the mean time, had been doing him
self up in full majo costume, as far, that is to say, as a
foreigner- is capable of the achievement. He answered our
summons, in the. jauntiest possible calanes, with a rich,
short vest and jacket, of bright colors, bedizened, with velvet
and shining with silver tags and buttons. The EngUsh, by-
the-by, have~a singular fondness for putting on Andalusian
finery, not only because it is very becoming to a^good figure,
but because it is generally believed to be acceptable to the
natives. There is, however, a distinction to be made as to
the latter part of the- affair. While the costume,- as a
whole and when worn in perfect keeping, is the pride of the
Andalusians, it is a subject of very great amusement to them,
when ill matched or but partially adopted. " Andar de
chaqueta" — to go in a jacket — -is the phrase for complete
undress. The calanes, the faja- or sash, the jacket, breeches,
and leggings, all go- together -, but to wear either of them,
with the remainder of the dress in French or English fashion,
is held as perfectly ridiculous, as a lady's riding-habit would
he at a ball, or pumps and silk stockings at a- fox-chase.
You must dress in Andalusian style, altogether, or not' at all.
Straw hats not being used in Spain, and the sash of the
natives being considered advantageous, as a preventive'from
inflamifiatory disease in some cases, the EngUsh residents or
tourists wiU sometimes m^ike their appearance in calanes,
faja, and frock-coat, than which nothing can seem more
outlandish to the crowd. Not a Chinese in the streets of
London, with his tail, and trowsers, and a fashionable coat ;
not an Indian, in New Orleans, with regimental hat and
blanket, appears more perfectly absurd, than a foreignef in

GLIMPSES 0^ SPAIN. 269
Seville, with his modifications of the majo. Some of the
Frenchmen who followed the Due de Montpensier to Madrid,
at the time of his marriage, assumed, I was told, such pro
vincial costumes as suited their tastes, and made their ap
pearance in bare legs and hempen sandals, to the immense
delight of the mob, who "were glad of an opportunity to
deride, where they would have " lynched" if they had dared.
At Ronda, as I saw afterward, the people are in the habit
of assembUng on the outskirts of the town, tlie evening
before the buU-fights, in order to see the Ingleses as they
come up from Gibraltar. A good many of the officers fre
quently attend the- fair, and the opportunity is taken, by any
travelers Who may be in the neighborhood, to follow in their
train. There is, therefore, a pretty fair supply of amuse
ment to the laughter-loving majos* — and indeed, without any
very accurate- knowledge of Andalusian congruities, a man
must have a dull sense of the ridiculous, who does not, in
his. walks about the town, meet caricature enough, among
the strangers, to answer all the purposes of the mountebank
department usual on such occasions. Any one who would
play the Andaluz among the Andalusians, may make up his
mind te meet, at every cerner, a criticism which it is easier
to despise than escape. There is not a horse-boy, but sees
through such disguises, as certainly as an Attic fish-woman
could detect the accent of the most eloquent provincial.
It was half-past six, and hot enough, when we finally set
out little caravan in motion. My companion and myself had
each a cloak strapped to his pommel, and nothing more in
the shape of luggage. Mr. Pepe's steed was equipped with
the aparejo redondo of the contrabandists, on Which he
stowed cur carpet-bags, and finaUy perched himself. The
aparejo is a large stuffed frame, cevering the whole back of
the animal. A manta or cotton blanket, of bright colors,
gayly fringed, is spread upon it. The burden is then ar
ranged with due regard to equilibrium, and over all again,
another manta finishes the eutfit. There are, ef ccurse, ne

270 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
stirrups, and the rider sits as may best please him, but gen
erally with the right knee bent above the pommel, as our
women ride. Pepe, however, gave up the post of honor on
his pillion, to a pair of stout, well-filled alforjas, and kept
moving back arid forth, as ypu have seen a prudent skipper,
on the first day of a voyage, traverse his craft from stem to
stern to make all tight and ready for a storm- '
We .did not take the turnpike as usual, through Alcala,
but followed Pepe from bridle-path to bridle-path across the
country, admiring the dexterity with which he managed to
lose his way at every turn- We struck the road at a small
venta, about half-way to Utrera, and my companion, having
been too busy with his mdjo dress to breakfast before we
Started, insisted on trying the hospitality of the poor hovel.
"Was there any bread?" we inquired. "Ne!" "Any
ham?" "No!" "Eggs?" "No!" " What was there,
then?" " Oh !. aguardiente (bad brandy), .at the service
of your worships !" Qf such refreshments, of course, our
worships would have none, and there was no resource but
to make descent on the alforjas. Happily some laborer's
came by, with big, coarse loaves, which they were willing
to share, for a consideration ; and my companion, seated on
the ground, under the shadow of the eaves, managed to make
a table of a rude stool, and learn his first lesson of what is
.called " roughing it," in the expressive vernacular of the
West. The Gountry between Seville and Utrera is level, and the
turnpike excellent, for, it is the post-read te Cadiz. .We
passed a great deal of fine grain, and abundant erchards cf
oranges and elives, but the predominant characteristic was
mere ¦desolation. The dehesas, -or wastes, which fatigued
the eye by their monotonous extent, were covered with wild
grass, weeds, and flowers, varied, here and there, by patches
of stunted but green shrubbery. Of farm-houses there were
very few. The^ farms (haciendas) seemed very large, and
the houses, when there were any, were apparently on a large

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 271
scale ; the presses and depositories of the p\l and olives, being
generally under the same roof with the dwelling. A stout
wall commonly ran round the buUdings, whose Uttle towers
and chapel-pinnacles were often picturesque and graceful.
Opposite the entrance, there was sometimes a cross planted,
wliich Pepe volunteered to tell us was to keep the devil out;
a simple prescription, certainly, if warranted. There was no
shade to speak of, on the whole route. The olive-trees are
of smaU avaU for that purpose, their fohage being light and
sparse. We met but very few travelers, and they looked
as if they were not out for pleasure. An occasional muleteer
or donkey-driver passed us, with a long caravan, whose tink
ling bells relieved the dreary sUence of the plains. They carried
charcoal-or vegetables, and now and then a load of the hate
ful cal de Moron~— the Ume from which they make the white
wash, that glares on you so painfully, through all the South,
and is associated in your memory with arabesques bedaubed
and marbles desecrated.
It was about eleven, of the forenoon, when we reached
Utrera, dusty, hot, and weary. We were to dine there, of
course, and foUowed our guide, accordingly, into the court of
the Lion Hotel — the Posada del Leon ! There, by ap-
pointrrient with BaiUy, we were to meet the honorable com
pany of bull-fighters, on their way, like ourselves, to the
Ronda merry-making. We had been commended to their
escort and good-offices, for, in the then existing scarcity of
food, it was feared by some that the roads might be unsafe.
I, of course, was nothing loth to travel in security through
the lonely passes toward which our horses' heads were turned,
but my chierobject in joining the toreros was to see the lower
plass of Andalusians in their glory — these feUows being the
cream of their kind. They are liars and rascal? — drinking,
dancing, singing vagabonds — with aU the vices which infest
the dregs of city crowds — yet as clever as they are depraved 
quick at repartee — graceful improvisers of deviltry and droll-
el7 — gallant horsemen, and generally splendid specimens ef

272 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
manhood. In the " sal y 'gracia" — which make the Anda
lusian so famous with his countrymen, the dashing black
guards have no rivals. They are the envy of the men and
the passion of the women, in all the coarser walks of com
mon life. When we entered the Fonda, we found them, to
the number of some fifteen or twenty, lying in groups about
the cOurt, some of them playing at cards, others sleeping,
others story-telling, and all who were awake occasionally cir
culating their favorite -aguardiente. Our appearance cre
ated quite a sensation for a moment, and some of the livelier
gentlemen were disposed to amuse themselves at our expense,
forthwith ; but the leaders appeared to consider us as under
their guardianship, and received us with a scrupulous courtesy,
which had the effect, at once, of relieving us from all share
of the practical jokes which they liberally dispensed to each
other. The general-in-chief was a noted, matador', Juan
Pastor (called Pasto by these consonant-hating rascals), a
proper shepherd for such a flock. He was a tall, powerful,
stern man, between forty and fifty — a desperate-looking fel
low, and, as I was told afterward, quite as ready with his
weapon, in a private feud, as in the legitimate slaughter
of the ring. He governed his followers with great discretion
and authority, and when the jest and liquor would provoke
a brawl, a word from " Zenb Don Juan," would in a mo
ment smooth all things down to peace. The subalterns
were, many of them, characters in their way, but that way
does not particularly concern the progress of this history.
Though the toreros, very liberally, pressed us to partake
the viands which were spread for them soon after our arrival,
we preferred making our first trial of road-cookery, alone.
The bustling landlady sopn ushered us into a clean, cool
room, where she had bestowed the best contents of her poor
larder^ For the information of travelers — whose general
notion is, that they can not leave the cities in Spain except
at. the risk of being poisoned — I may be pardoned for.saying, ,
that slim as was the variety, the preparation was excellent.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 273
We had a well-conditioned rabbit, stewed with green peas,
a capital salad, fine bread, and the- best oranges. A man
might do much worse than that, within a hundred miles of
Washington. Follpwing the suggestien pf a venerable Span
ish proverb, I asked the landlady whether her rabbits had
any connection with the feline family. Her answer ia only
worth repeating in the original. " ¦ Los conejos aqui, Sefiora,
son gatos alguna vez ?" " Gatos, no Senor; gatas, si!"
If the one she gave us was a cat, I commend the variety to
the eating public.
The Spaniards are fond of game, in and out of season,
and you find rabbits, hares, quails and partridges, very often
on their tables. M. Dumas made the discovery, however,
that they rarely eat hares, from a superstition that the
innocent animals burrow and feed in grave-yards ! This
veritable piece of history was taken from the" same page of
his experience which relates the impossibility of finding a
roastirig-spit in all Madrid. He traversedthe whole capital,
he says, in search of one. Two or three hardware-men,
more highly educated than the rest, -remembered to have
heard of such an instrument, and a lueky fellow who had
traveled as far as Bordeaux, had an indistinct recoUection
of having seen one. Nobody, however, possessed one ! If
the historiographer of tl>e royal nuptials had understood a
httle Spanish, he, would have found a clew to his difficulty
in, a somewhat congenial book, Samaniego's Fables. That
veracious chronicler details the story of two casuistic cats,
who, on some feast day, entered a convent-kitchen, where a
capon Was at roast. They ate the bird without delay, and
then sate down to hold an argument, as to whether it was
right in morals that they should make a dessert of the spit.
They did not, Samaniego says, for it was a case of conscience !
He was probably mistaken ; their consciences gave way, no
doubt ; the spit was eaten, and it was the last survivor of
its kind ! ,
WhUe on the subject of rabbits,- it occurs to me to note a
M*

$74 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
curious passage, which I casually saw in an old Latin quarto
of "Universal Cesmpgraphy," published by seme unknewn
Heidelberg professor, early in the sixteenth century. The
Balearic Islands, he informs us, are irifested by rabbits,
which do great harm to field and crops. They were not in
the islands from the begimiing of creation, but all sprang
from a pair which were carried there by chance. After some
years, they became so numerous and noxious, that the inhab
itants were forced fo take the opinion of the Romans, as to
the best mode of getting rid of them — -for they filled the
whele land, farms as well as houses. The Romans advised
their allies to. provide themselves with " cattos silvestres"
(wild-cats, I suppose,) from Africa, and send them into the
burrows of the conies, either to pull the denizens Out with
their claws, or drive them forth where the hunters could take
them. "Quod et factum -est," "says the professor.
About four in the afternoon, we started in procession from
Utrera, a good many of our escort considerably the worse
for aguardiente, and nearly all -of them mounted on the
wretched brutes that were to be the victims in the bull
fights. The country was more hilly than that we had
gone over in the morning, but bpre the same general appear
ance of agricultural neglect. Nevertheless, the ride was
pleasant and diversified, for the cavalcade was numerous
and merry and the pace decidedly more brisk than any thing
that could, in reason, have been predicated from the lppks
and ccndition of our horses. It was greatly marred, how
ever, by an Unhappy accident, which served to pcint the
eternal moral that Father Mathew preaches. Two of the
most boisterous of our people had boasted of their steeds and
horsemanship, in rivalry, until nothing but a race could
settle the dispute. If they had merely breken their ewn
necks, the calamity would have been sad, but not insuffera
ble. They managed, however, to run over a pepr carbonero,
whp was ccming up the read, pn a small donkey, heavily
laden with charceal. Dpwn went beast and rider in an

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 975
instant, and there both lay, as if forever. We aU galleped
up in haste, and. raised the wretched man, who seemed full
sixty years of age. With difficulty, and very slowly, he re
gained his consciousness, but scarcely found voice enough to
make complaint, though there was a deep cut upon his
forehead, and he was evidently bruised severely.' After
some time, we set the donkey on his legs again, refiUed
his panniers, put. the old man in his seat, and sent them on
their way. I observed that when the carbpnero held his
hand out to receive the silver that was given him, it was
quite cold and bloodless, and he took the money listlessly,
though, in his life, before, he probably had never seen so
much at once. I watched him, therefore, as far as I could
see, expecting he would faU at every instant \ and, though
he managed to retain his seat, my blood runs cold at think
ing what may have been the sequel of the story. If he got
well, and had lived where men enjoy the common-law, and
that " palladium of our Uberties," the trial' by jury, what a
charming case it would have been, for an action sounding
in damages !
The shades of evening wpre gathering around the ruined
towers of Coronil as we went into the town. Pepe had told
us that there were two " hotels," of which we could make
choice ; but when we reached the first, it was so wretched
that even our toreros would not enter. The second was
but little better, yet it was late, and there was no choice.
We entered, men and horses, beneath a broad, low arch, into
a sort pf lpw-ropfed court or corridor, where the horses were
unloaded, the stable being just in front of the entrance, and
under the same roof with the lodging-rooms. On the left,
there was a sort of cuddy, with two alcoves, one of which
the landlord and his family, male and female, occupied. In
the other, the floor of which was of rubble or plain dirt,
there were two cots, concealed by a poor curtain. These
were destined for tlie resting-place of my companion and
myself. We wished to look a little farther, before making

276 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
up our minds to kennel there, and were shown into the only
other patio, on which there opened two low and dirty little
chambers — veritable dog-holes. In one of these, two very
decent-looking women had been forced to take refuge for the
night, and the other was appropriated to the chieftains of
our party — " the top-sawyers" as my companion called
them. The private, soldiers of the company were left at
liberty to select the softest places they could severally find,
upon'the rough stones of the court-yard. About night-fall,
we were joined by the celebrated picador, nick-named
" Poquito pan" (or "little bread"),- and another matador,
JUan Lucas Blanco (called Lucas or Luquillas) who had
made himself quite famous by his exploits, during the cere
monies after the Montpensier nuptials." He was' a "beau
jeune homme" as M. Dumas says, and came of a good
family, for his father (I heard) had been garrbte-d, not long
before, for murder. There came with these heroes a tight-'
built little "fellow, a famous chulo and a dancer of high
repute, though more fat thaii bard beseems. He went by
the title of " el raton" (the mouse), to the physiognomy of
which animal -his face bore great resemblance. My com-.
panion insisted on calling him "the rattan," but even that
did not shake his- gravity, which was of the most dignified
and courteous sort. Our company, by the addition of these
distinguished individuals, was now made full, at all points,
and the reader will admit, that though it was not pf that
sprt that Mr. Borrow ought to have selected (as he did) for
his purposes, yet to a layman and a sinner it promised variety
and sport. While we provoked their corripassion by taking
a cup of tea, our worthies gathered .around the -entrance to
the venta and partook of their chocolate and sausage, while
crowds of' the towns-people stood open-mouthed around, see
ing how herpes could eat. The reader may have witnessed
the arrival of a circus company in one of our villages, Which
will give him a better notion than I can, of the sensation
we produced at Coronil.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 277
Every body has read " Eothen," or at aU events no one who
has that pleasure yet before him wUl read this book till he has
enjoyed it.- I may presume, then, that every one wUl remem
ber the connection" between fleas and " holy cities :" wherefore
I insist that Goronil has been forgptten, in the enumeration of
these last. Yet Eothen complains of what one would think
was a relief — that, at Tiberias, there were fleas ef all nations
in congress and attendance. If he had tried my bed, at Cora- -
nil, he would have been glad of some variety of execution.
"The vengeful pulga of Castile, with his ugly knife," had
it all to himself, with a terrible monotony of' blood-letting.
Scarce ¦one ministry of persecutors was installed and fed,
before, more Hispanico, there was an awful pronunciamiento,
and another hungry set came in, greedier and fiercer ! Not
a wink of sleep had I, in all that -weary, dreadful night. One
by one, our bull-compelling friends adjusted, their horse-fur
niture beneath their heads, upon the stones, and one by one
they dropped away in pleasant slumber, as their sUent tongues
and busy noses told us ; but there came no rest to us, who
needed it most What a relief, when morning dawned, to
mount and ride in the fresh air ! Our chargers Were no
Bucephali, as I have said-, but they went off with us, as if
they, too, were proud to leave the fleas behind them. There
is poetry as weU as myth, it strikes me, in the story of
the Centaurs, and who that has bestridden a fine horse and
felt the inspiration of his bounding limbs as he has spurned
the lazy earth, can fail to grant me that the steed has part
in the heroic fiction, not much less noble than the man's ?
Our ride was a hot one indeed that day, and we bore it
none the better for our sleepless night. The toreros, how
ever, slung their gay jackets across their shoulders, like hus
sars ; cocked their hats against the sun, and made Ught of it.
Near noon we reached Puerto Serrano, at the foot of the
mountain-range we were to cross. Our escort paused a mo
ment at a venta-door, to take in aguardiente, and we then
ascended a steep hiU, and climbed through defile after defile

278 GLI-MPSES OF SPAIN.
until we were, at last, high up among the mountains.
Rough as was the traveling, the scenery at times was very
fuU of interest. Now, the hills were rude and stony, to the
last degree of sternness : then, again, they would reach ,down
tp smiling vaUeys, rich with grain and oUves, or would spread
out fields of flowers, skirted by groves of the dark ever-green
encina. Sometimes the roads were dangerously steep ; cov
ered with loose stones, and winding, at sharp angles, up
among the cliffs. Now, we would go down a path, every
inch of whose hard stone had been cut out- by weary hoofs.
Again, bur way was trod into the soil; so deep that, as- we
rode, we could almost put our feet upon the ground ; so
narrow, too, that now and then the horses weuld strike right
er left, and reel until they fell against the other side. Some
times a steep deolivity wpuld force us to dismount and scram
ble down a precipice or two, while the poor horses, all accus
tomed as they were, would tremblingly and slowly pick their
foothold out among the rocks !
Yet it was a glorious journey ! Hot, perilous, and weary
as it was, it was well worth a year of duller life. Every
thing was new, adventurous, and exciting.- Our cavalcade,
itself, was something that an artist would have gone some
leagues to see — its long array of horsemen in their gay cos
tume ; some of them well mounted ; all, fine riders ; their
bright trappings glaring in the sun ; their escopetas (firelocks)
at their saddle-sides ; and then their wild and merry songs
that echo flung from cliff to valley ! Here would come a
party meeting us, cf three or four stout hprsemen, gayly clad
and armed like curs. We weuld see them, sometimes, at a
distance belew us pr ahpve us — and sometimes they would
meet us at a sudden turn, or start out from behind a
huge rock we were passing. NOw and then, Pastor would
have a parley with them, but most frequently the salutation
was the short and courteous one, " Vaya vmd. con Dios" —
or more briefly still, " Vaya vmd."--— -with the hat raised.
Sometimes we would hear, far off, the sound of many tink-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 279
ling bells, which died away again and then would break
on us anew, as we would see a train of mules or don
keys, caparisoned in all bright colors, winding cautiously
along the dangerous hill-sides. Dark, weather-beaten cross
es, here and there, would for a moment give a shuddering
sense of insecurity, as we would think of travelers murdered
in those lonely gorges ;* but the cheerful talk and haUoo of
our well-appointed company were a sure specific for all such
misgivings. Indeed, I am not certain that our numbers
and the somewhat wayward bearing of a few among our
chubs, did not lead a wary traveler or two to think we were,
ourselves, unsafe companions for a mountain jpurney. Several
of our people wOuld have made capital studies for banditti.
I remember one,. especiaUy, a picador of nete frem Alcala,
whose name was Calderon. He was a swarthy, half-Moor
ish looking fellow, taU, muscular, and graceful ; his fine
form shown to infinite advantage by his tight and elegant
costume. He was mounted on a gallant little stallion,
which he cahea an Arab, and which indeed might have
" been one, in both its beauties and defects. ' Like many of
the Andalusian horses, it was cat-hammed and somewhat
under size, but vigorous and active, with a bold and weU
arched crest, a fiery eye, and nostrils wide and red. The
picador rode with the aparejo only, on which was packed
his wardrobe -for the ring. Sometimes, he sat cross-legged
hke a Turk, but generally with the right leg curved in
front and the other hanging down along the side. The
reins, which were of rope, were joined at a convenient dis
tance from the bit, and they were twisted then, into one
piece some two or three yards long, which served him as a
whip, and which he flung backward and forward, playing
with it in the"" air. Up bill, down dale, the rascal went, at
* M. Gautier confesses, that if it were the fashion of his country to
commemorate all violent deaths, by marking, with crosses, the places
where they happened, there are pertain streets of Paris which might
rival any Spanish highway.

280 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
any pace he pleased,- the high-bred horse never once faltering,
the rider never shaken in his seat ; and as he rode, he trolled
out contrabandist ditties by the score, and kept his long
lash waving to the measure of his song. Every woman
that we met, he made brisk love to, and let no man pass
without a gibe. When he dashed across the Guadalete,
tossing the rapid waters into foam, the ritiller and his men
looked out in admiration, and exclaimed, "Jesus! que
mozo .'" as he drove his Arab up the bank.
It was hot one o'clock, when we reached a hamlet, which
they called- Almodoriares. - The guide-books take no notice
of it by that name. We found a venta that was only mod
erately wretched, for it had an upper' story, at a decent dis
tance from" the stronghold and main body of the fleas. A
mountain-stream came leaping down the hill before the door,
and by the aid of its refreshing waters, we managed to pre
pare ourselves for salad and Jiesta — the raid-day exercises
mOst appropriate to the place and season. Like aU the
villages we ¦ had gone through, Almodonares was very poor
indeed. The houses were mostly of one story, and though
they were quite dazzling, with whitewash, outside, the ragged
children and dirty women at the doors were sorry witnesses
of filth and poverty within. Thanks, however, to mountain
air and mountain water (internally applied), they looked • as
healthy, all of them, as if they had been Mohammedans and
made ablution part of their religion.
"When we left Seville, we had counted upon reaching
Ronda on the second evening. Don Juan, however, while
we were asleep, had called a council of his veterans, and
when we were about- to mount, informed us that he had
determined to press our horses no further that night, than ,
the VentCC Nu'eva-^-a. station some three leagues further on.
The resolution was a wise one, and our weary bones unan
imously hailed it such. Our journey led us, now, "along
the margin of the Guadalete, which flowed, like all the
streams that we had passed, through groves of oleanders in

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 281
luxuriant blossom, ^nd (What was new to me) of most deli
cious fragrance. Whole hill-sides, now and then, would
blush with poppies, as we passed, and if the wild thyme,
there as elsewhere, be attractive to the bees, I see no reason
why Hymettus should have monopoly of sweets. Above us,
as a sort of landmark all the afternoon, was the peak on
which Zphara stands : one of those high horns of earth On
which the Moor so loyed to hang his turban. Its castle
crowned the summit of a rocky cone, to which it seemed the
very eagles would have need of scaling-ladders. It staggered
one to think- it possible, that such a fastness could ever have
been conquered from a brave and warlike people. Yet
Muley Hassan seized it from the Christians^ and bold Ponce
de Leon was able, to recapture it.
We reached the Venta Nueva about sunset, and found
that it was full aheady of travelers and their beasts. There
was butone room vacant, and our matadores, who had spurred
on before us, had secured that for themselves. As soon as
my companion and myself arrived, however, they very kindly
begged Us to use it as our own ; and two of them, in fact,
slept in the open air that night, thafwe might have their
room. They were- quite used, they said, to dew and moon
light, but they doubted whether it would do for us. Indeed,
although these people were not, as I have already said, the
salt, exactly, of the earth, I should be most ungrateful were
I to forget the kindness, courtesy, and even gentleness, with
which they treated us throughout our expedition. When
we were jaded "and would lag a little, -they would ride beside
us and beguile the way. If Pepe wandered off (as, being
paid to stay, of course he did), they gave us their assistance
cheerfully. Their bread and aguardiente — their meals and
services — their horses, if we chose — were at our service;
aU tendered in a way which showed good-breeding innate,
and genuine good-wiU. As to manners, the rascals are born
with them, -such as education often fails to give, in other
nations. You can rarely find them- at a loss for a happy

282 .GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
compliment, a pleasant word, or a graceful civiUty. The
Irish peasant comes nearest to them, but they have his read
iness and humor, with better looks, a finer language, and a far
more lofty bearing.
It was not late when we retired, but the moon's soft bow
Was bent above Zahara, and the castle's dim, gray towers
seemed to be resting on the heavy mists which rose between
the city and our hostelry. Whole caravans of muleteers and
drovers, bound to Ronda, had come up with their cattle, and
were lying in the midst of them, asleep, in. groups, about the
open ground before the Venta. Not far off. the rippling of
the river might be heard, and even in the dampness of the
air the oleanders were- still scattering their perfume. Men,
however, must sleep, in spite of flowers and moonlight ; so,
taking warning from the mattresses at Coronil, we spread
pur cloaks upon a -platform of clean planks, and gave our
selves to slumber in our Uttle chamber, with our hosts, the
matadores, spread aU about us. There was an image of the
infant Saviour in the room, and a small taper burned aU
night before it. Now and then, the hardness of the planks
awaked me, and I stole a glance around our sleeping com
pany, whose Upturned faces and weapons visible beneath their
open vests, looked quite as strange, though certainly not quite
so beautiful as did the Oda to Don Juan. Neither the faces
nor the knives, however; did me harm or meant it, and they
certainly did not prevent my sleeping till the summons of the
dawn. With the first light, our company were all astir, and
then, to my surprise, I, found we had been resting in a very
hive of horses, mules, and donkeys. From under archways
that I had not seen, and out of holes and corners and all
manner pf odd places never dreamed of, came sallying man and
beast, after the fashion that we see, in the old pictures, of their
great progenitors from Noah's venta on the waters. The dewy
freshness of the morning was on all things when we put our
line in motion, and the sun rose as we crossed the Cuesta de
las Vinas, the beautiful Mountain of the Vineyards. We

GLIMPSES'OF SPAIN. 283
were entering a defile, with a cheerful hacienda at its open
ing, as the earUest rays fell on us. As we went cUmbing
on, the valley seemed to- grow still greener and more wide
beneath us, and when we reached a scattered wood of oaks
and walnuts, the music of a choir of nightingales was wel
coming the sunshine. It was the. first time I had. heard
them sing, arid I, perhaps, exaggerate their numbers and
their melody, but there appeared to be at least a thousand
piping round us, and I ceased to wonder that Procne
should have mourned so long for Philomela.
It was' nine o'clock, as we rode up the hiU to Ronda.
The .crowds on watch for the toreros gave us .a triumphal
entry, but we left them in their glory, and I sought the
comfortable lodgings which the kindness of my friends in
Malaga had, some time back, secured for me.

CHAPTER XXV.
Ronda. — The Tajo and Valley — Moorish Relics — The Fair— Cordo-
vese Horses.
There are few spots like Ronda, in the world. Its lofty
and imposing site, the grandeur ofthe Tajo and the scenery
around, have been made known, by pen and pencil, to all the
lovers ofthe picturesque. Its history is made up of the
fiercest doings in the fierce wars of Moslem-times, arid there
are tales of chivalry and blood, for all the fastnesses of
its Wild mountains. Its people, still, are of the hardiest and
boldest in all Spain,' reckless and desperate in civil strife; and
furnishing most apt material for the robber and the contra
bandist. The climate is proverbially healthful, and both
men and women are remarkable for beauty, vigor, and fine
stature. Upon a bold, broad hill, surrounded by an amphitheater
of loftier ones, with a sweet valley smiling down between,
the ancient city can be seen from far. It has no show
of buildings, save a church or two, some convent tow
ers, and a few Moorish walls and turrets.. Deep through
the center of the town and of the mountain upon which it
stands, there is a mighty cleft in the live rock, dividing the
old city from the' new. This chasm is the Tajo. An
earthquake may have rent it, or it may have yawned since
first the firm foundations of the hills were laid. Upon the
northwest side, the.hiU of Ronda rises abruptly from the
valley. There is an ancient bridge in that direction, which
spans the opening of the Tajo. Stand on that bridge,
and turn your back upon the town. You see a quiet and
not very copious stream come gliding brightly toward you,
through meadows and soft, verdant slopes. The waters, as
they near the hUl, begin to fret among the stones, and, as

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. ,285
they pass beneath your feet, the rocky prison of the Tajo so
confines them, that they foam quite madly. Step some paces
to the left, on terra firma, and you find a dirty, winding
passage, which takes you down among the caverns of the
Tajo. StiU descending, you come upon a rickety old wppden
staircase, which creaks at every step. By this, you" are
conducted to a Moorish mill, ancient of days, and hidden
Uke the nest of a water-fowl, among the orevices of the
rocks. In. a sort of cave or hollow, there is a basin of
clear, sparkling" water, which makes the mill-wheels go, and
sweeps on, afterward, to sweU the river, which, till then, is
but a trifling stream. This basin, they caU the mina, or
nadmiento d$ agua (the mine or water-souree), and it is
weU worth your visit. Look up, and you see nothing but
a strip of sky resting on the- solid waUs of rock which only
a few lichens darkly fringe.
Leaving your cave of Montesinos, you stroU up, through
some side streets, until you come upon the other bridge, which
crosses the Tajo near to where it ends. This is a work of
the last century; a hundred yards or thereabouts in length,
and is a worider to architect and mason. You stand on it,
and look in the direction of the Moorish arch to which I
first conducted you — yet so stupendous are the rocky "bul
warks, so interlocked with salient eliffs and jagged angles,
that there is a single point alone from which you can see
back to where you stood. Turning southward, the whole
view is open. The Tajo goes on widening, for a hundred
yards or more, .when suddenly it stops, presenting to the
valley down below, a solid, upright waU of rock, flanked by
gray, lofty columns. On the one side, it runs, round at right
angles to- the Alameda, from whose balconies you may look
down a thousand feet. On the other, it is broken into rugged
faUs, along which you may see, far-off the windings of a
dangerous road, flanked by some, relics of a Moorish wall.
In front, a few sharp rocks are flurig out on the- plain,"and
then there is no limit to the view of beauty, and fertihty,

288 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
until the eye rests -en the barren jange which we had cressed
as we «ame up from Seville. Immediately beneath the bridge,
the waters, black and foaming, dash from precipice tc preci
pice, until they hide themselves beneath dark groves pf wal
nut-trees, and reappear, far eff as bright and peaceful, as if
they had dene npthing all along, but make
" Sweet' music with the enameled stones."
My lodgings were upon the east ride of the bridge, and
from my chamber window, which looked put on the abyss,
there was a splendid view, for pne with a less dizzy head than
mine. Halfway down, upon the side beneath me, were some
five or six of the quaint Moorish mUls I have before referred
to, and their small canals, or races, Were like threads of -silver,
twisted round the crags. The men who were at work about
them, seemed like little children, and I more than- once mis--
topk their donkeys for mere. dogs.
Having made your examinations from above, you take a
Uttle turn upon the east side of the Tajo, and you find a
donkey-path, whioh winds down the declivity. Before yeu
reach the-first mill, and hard by a solitary horse-shoe- arch, you
find yeurself pn a projecting platform, once used, they say* to
thresh the grain. It stands out boldly, and enables you to
see that what yeu tepk, abpve, for a -mere torrent, is a cat
aract, -and .that the hiU looms like a mountain. Go further
down, and reach the level of the' valley, and you see faU
after faU above you, one of which has a clear hundred feet
of foaming water-. High over rock -and spray, the bridge,
with its enorfnous piers and towering arches, seems to betoken
art triumphant, in the wildest moods of nature. The reader,
I am sure, would willingly forgive me these details, if he
could imagine the bright scene before me, on the morning
that I went into the vaUey. From point to point as I de
scended, new beauties broke upen me, and when Preached the
plain at last, and turned my back en rocks and torrents, well-
shaded paths led on from cottage to cottage, through fields,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 28?
and groves, and gardens, cultivated to the very highest point,
and rendered fresher and more fair by. the still lingering dew.
On my way down, I overtook a gentleman, who, like myself,
seeme4 to be on a voyage of discovery. He had a servant
with him, with whom he was conversing, like any pther
Andalusian, and yet I thought that his complexion was not
exactly such as Phoebus makes in that hot country. As we
went on together, -a point of view which we had reached
reminded me of something I had seen among the Alleghanies,
and I mentioned it. The stranger instantly replied in En
glish, and claimed allegiance from me as our consul at Malaga.
He had resided from his youth in Spain, and had become
almost a Spaniard, in all but genial recollections of his home.
I was, of course, most happy to meet such company, at such
a time, and should indeed be glad, at any time and any
where, to faU upon so pleasant and intelligent a gentlemari.
We foUowed on our walk an hour and a half together, pur
suing beauty under difficulties, over hiUs and stones at times,
but always arid a thousand-fold repaid..
Mounting the hill upon the west of Ronda, we found our
selves among the live-stock, that had come to make a change
of masters. They occupied a sort of roUing plain, outside
the city, and were in formidable numbers; and in every
variety of breed and quality. Mules, cows, donkeys, sheep,
hogs, .and horses, were all clustered, or penned, or tethered
together, and it was almost as much as one's life was worth,
to thread the labyrinth of heels and horns. Some of the black
cattle would have done honor to an agricultural exhibition
almost any where, and on the whole, there was the mixture
of good, bad, and indifferent, which one would have found
in any country on a simUar occasion. I was glad of the
opportunity to see some very fine specimens of the jam
Cordovesa, the Cordovese hack, the favorite horse of Spain.
They were rOund-Umbed, graceful, and admirably-gaited,
though generally of but middle size, and as the jockeys would
exercise them for the benefit of, purchasers, the gaUant stal-

288 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
lions neighed and tossed the -foam abput, looking as if they
would dash every thing to pieces, yet perfectly obedient tp
the spur and rein. Many ef them had the paso Castellano,
the Castilian pace, as it is called, in great perfection. It is
a compromise' between an amble and a walk — more rapid
than the one, more steady than the other, and for those stony
roads the finest gait conceivable. It is about the same as
our favorite " pace" in America. The prices varied pretty
much as with ourselves at home. Two hundred dollars
would have bought a capital nagr of very fine form and
action. Where -there was any particular excellence, the
animal; of course, commanded a "fancy" price. There were
a great many people on the ground ; more sellers, however,
than buyers, by a great deal. . There they stood, and lay,
and leant, in every variety of group, making pictures aU
the while, in their bright, handsome dresSes-^-and.with their
cattle round about them. They were the finest- articles, by
far (the. men) that were for exhibition at the fair.
The entertainments last, usually, three days. <Upon the
first, they look around them, and do nothing. The second,
they chaffer and parade their horses. The third, they buy
and sell with all their might. Horse-furniture and trappings
are the things most in demand, and the supply is both choice
and abundant. The streets are lined with saddles and bright
saddle-cloths, blankets, of brilliant pattern's, fanciful bridles,
saddle-bags, and aparejos. A few old .Moors have come up
from Gibraltar, it may- be, or from across the. Straits, with
silken sashes, .shppers, gaudy handkerchiefs, and other flashy
elements of majo splendor. You see them sitting just inside
their d«ors, with all their wares around them, whUe a crowd
of peasants, leaning on their forked sticks, look wistfuUy or
spend their fortunes for a flourish. The saddlers bring with
them a goodly show of leather leggins or long gaiters, worked
and stitched prodigiously — the black ones with white thread,
I noted — and these have ready sale. The majo, in full dress,
wears the silk stopking only. The botines, fastened at the

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 289
knee and ankle, swell out at the calf, and give, at times, a
singular, ungraceful look about the legs. They must be,
notwithstanding, pleasant and useful on the road, and it is
there that they are chiefly worn.
The booths at which the minor articles were found, ex
tended from the great bridge down to the Plaza de Toros,
fiUing the main street, and a broad spaCe just by the bridge
itself. There were oceans of bad toys, rough porcelain and
brass lamps and candlesticks of most Etruscan shapes ; alt
sorts of indigestible cheeses, confectionery, and rude eatables.
Mountebanks went around with their fiddles, and blind men
with pipes. Great "cosmoramas" and microscopes were to
be seen : Punch and Judy were upon their rounds" and high
in front of a house On the main street, there was a canvas
banner, daubed with a picture of some "gran funcion,"
which was exhibited inside, to the "sound of hurdy-gurdies.
They said that the attendance was'but thin, yet for my life I
could not seehow Ronda could be made to hold more people.
After wandering all day among the crowds, it was quite
refreshing, to sit at night in my cool window, high above
the precipice, and catch the hue of things by moonlight.
The gay lamps of the booths and shops were glaring while
there was a customer, and it was late before the hum of
voices and the music would be silent. Yet, at their loudest,
I could hear the roaring of the cataract above them, and
looking down into the shadow of the Tajo", I could see the
valley half in. darkness, half in moonlight — a cottage lamp
here twinkling like a glow-worm, or a flash of the white
waters there breaking through the night. A Prussian
artist, of great merit, who lodged in the same house 'with
me,- would linger with his pencil, in the balcony, till all was
stiU enough to hear the mill-dogs bark. What a benefactor
would that man' be- to our beloved country, who' eould per
suade the schools and colleges to teach the boys to draw,
before they tortured them in fluxions or confounded them
with commentaries en the Cpnstif utfon !
N

CHAPTER XXVI.
The Bull-Fights — The Amphitheater, Spectators, Order of Ceremo
nial and Manner of the Fights — Moral of Bull-fighting — Fondness
of Strangers for it.
As we rode into Ronda pn the morning- we arrived, I met
an Irish gentleman whem I had seen at Malaga, and whe
had come up, with his" wife, to spend the summer in the
mountain air. He very kindly told me that he had secured
a box or balcon for the bull-fights, and would be happy I
should join his party. Early, therefore, on the- afternoon of
the 20th, we made our way into the Plaza, full of expec
tation and .excitement, as the reader may- imagine, it being
our first essay. x
The amphitheater at Ronda isva large one, two stories
high and built of stone. The galleries are covered by a
rcpf pf tiles supperted by stone columns : hut all the rest is
open to the sky. The distributfon pf "the parts is very
simple. First, is the arena, eircular cf ccurse, surrounded
by a barrier six feet high, of heavy planks inserted firmly
into square stone columns. Outside the barrier, there is a
corredor, some six or eight feet wide, running the whole
way round, and opening on the arena by four doors. There
is a ledge upon the barrier, on the arena side, some two feet
from the ground, on which the chulos step, as they leap over
when the battle is too hot for them. The corredor, around
its outer circle, has another barrier, considerably higher than
the first, and from the top of that begins the lower tier of
seats., These rise, behind each .other, at a moderate angle,
and being nearest to the fight are favored as the choice re
sort of all the critics and the " fancy." The second tier has

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 291
benches, like the first, which are frequented, chiefly, by the
ppprest classes, being cheaper than the range below. It
has, besides, a few balcones, for families and parties, whence
you can watch the sport quite at your ease.
The doors which open from the arena to the corredor, are
placed at the cardinal points of the compass. That to the
north, leads out to the main street. Through it, the men of
war come stragghng in, as the appointed hour draws nigh.'
They make their exit by the doorway opposite, which leads
" behind the scenes." From this last direction the new horses
and new picaddres come out, when they are needed to supply
death's ravages. The western door is smaUer than the rest,
and leads to the toril, the bull-house, where the victim is in
waiting. Directly over the toril, the Alcalde sits, surround
ed by his feUow. ccuncU-men, the municipal balcon being
radiant with red 'hangings! Abeve the Alcalde's station, is
another box, likewise upholstered fameusly, where sit the
" royal ' arid Ulustrieus" Maestranza ; a sprt of corpcratipn
instituted by Ferdinand and Isabella, for the preservation of
Castilian purity of blood, and now ranging, in its dignity and
functions, somewhere between a jockey club and the House
of Lords. Next to these dignitaries sit the reverend elergy,
in their box magnificent with crimson velvet ; and, te be
candid, that box was .better fiUed than any one I saw. I
lopked in vain, however, for -the " dark, scewling priests" of
whem Fprd speaks, as snuffing autos de fe in roasted bull-
flesh. They were fat, comfortable old gentlemen, deep in
the shadows of their shovel-hats, and, if the outer man be
any token of the inner, more likely to enjoy, as all good
Christians would, the odor of a roasted capon than the fumes
of hecatombs of heretics. If Mrr Ford had called to see
instead of slandering them, they would, I dare say, have
heaped coals of fire upon his head, by asking hirn tp 'dinner.
All of the boxes I have mentioned are, the reader will ob
serve, upon the western side — the object being (as the sport
is always in the afternoon) to leave the functionaries com-

292 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
fertably in the^ shade. There were twe boxes opposite,upon
the^ sunny side ; pne eccupied by British efficers, up from
Gibraltar, the' other, by the gentleman whose guest I was.
The sunshine anrioy.edf us terribly, in spite of screens and
curtains, and it Was e^sy to comprehend why even the benches
a la som%ra (in the shade), command the highest prices. In
the balcon of the officers, the trumpeter was stationed, who,
at the signals which the Alcalde, gave with his white hand
kerchief, sounded, from time to time, the various summons
pf the fight.
Down to -the moment when the sport was to .commence,
the arena was full of people, walking, talking and making
themselves merry. When all things were in readiness, a
file of soldiers cleared the ring ; the spectators gathered to
their seats ; the soldiers took the stations dedicated to their
service ; the shouts and screams, the gibes and jests (bramas
y burlas), with which, the sovereigns had greeted all. they
did not fancy, were f°r a moment hushed,. and the. performers
made their entry by the eastern gate, just opposite the box.
of the Alcalde. First came the banderilleros, or chulos as
the. people call them, the matadores in front, and all on foot.
Behind were the three picadores, mounted, with their spears
in hand. They marched across, and taking off their hats to
the Alcalde, asked his leave, as is the form, to follow their
disporting. The Alcalde, nothing loth and having himself
come on purpose, took his hat off, too, and owned the soft im
peachment.; whereupon the troop dispersed, each to his ap
pointed station. The picadores were dressed with low-crown
ed, broad-brimmed hats, such as were worn when Arcady was
but a sheep-walk. They had very rich, short jackets, trimmed
and embroidered heavily with gold or silver. Under their
buckskin pantaloons, they wore, upon the outside of the leg
from hip to ancle, stout plates of iron, that were horn-prqof.-
Their spears were more defensive than offensive, being merely
long shafts, shod at one end with iron, and finished with a
sort of spike or goad. The foptmen wpre their silken and

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 293
embroidered jackets like the knights, but they had silken
hose and breeches, and wore light shoes for aotive motion.
On their heads they had black silken caps or nets, beneath
which, from the very center of the organ of philpprogenitive-
ness, sprang a long, twisted sort of queue. When they cama
in, they had rich cloaks slung on their shoulders", but these
they threw aside, for others quite as gay though not so costly,
with which to feed the fury of the bull. Clad in their, glit
tering arid quaint raiment, most of them finely-made,-and all
athletic, active men, they formed a gallant and attractive
circle; as they put themselves in order for the fight. The
picadores ranged themselves upon the left of the Alcalde,
each distant about three lengths from his neighbor. The
spear, (garrocha) was firmly grasped in the right hand ; the
-horses blindfold, and under. the complete control of the huge
spurs .and terrible cUrb-bits that, they were ridden with.
The chulos spread themselves ahout the ring — some sitting
on the barrier, 'and others just -behind it, with their bright
cloaks trailing over.
The "Alcalde givesr the signal ; the trumpet sounds ; and
then a servant opens the toril. Perhaps the buU is standing
with his back to the spectators. If so, the servant touches him
with hat or stick, and at the sound of shouting he comes- forth.
Perhaps his head, is at the. very front, and then the mozo has
just time to step into his niche behind the door, pull it back
over him, and save his life. The bull sees, first, the gay cloaks
of the chulos, and rushes at them. Their owners leap the
barrier and leave him the red muslin. He turns' around, and
then, for the first time, takes notice of the picadores. If he
remembers the sharp pricking of the herdsman's goad, he
pauses in the center of .the ring to make his calculations.
Most generally, maddened by the shouting of the populace
and almost blind with rage, he thunders at the horsemen.
They brace themselves to meet him, with spear in rest and
steadied by the pressure of the arm. The horse is turned
half round, with his right shoulder to the bull, arid the art

294 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
is, to press the bull off to the right, while, with the bridle-
hand, they bring the horse round to the left, and save him
and themselves. , And certainly, it is a splendid show of
courage, strength, and skill, when the brave horseman,
who is first attacked, ¦ turns the foe off Successively — the
second welcomes him with equal fortune, and the third has
no worse' Juck ! But when, as often" happens, the desperate
charge' has been too much even for skill and nerve, and,
spite of lance and horsemanship, the bull has gored the vitals
of the beast, and, lifting him madly, with his rider, tosses
both against the earth or barrier — or when, though well
turned off at first, instead of going on from picador to pica
dor, the' bull attacks the rear of the poor horse, as he- re
treats-^— drags out his bowels — flings the rider forward and
tramples, in his fury, upon both — the scene is frightful to an
unfamiliar eye. Then it -is, the chulos must come forward
to the horseman's rescue, and with their trailing cloaks,
draw off the bull, to where another picador is waiting to
receive him.
It may be that the fallen picador is stunned. Perhaps
his iron sheathing prevents him from getting himself rid of
horse and saddle. Assistants gather to his aid then, while
others cheat the bull away.- Sometimes the picador falls
toward the barrier, and; catching at it as he tumbles, lets
his stirrups go, and with his strong arm swings himself into
the corredor, while the hull wreaks his fury on the' fallen
horse. Sometimes, rushing from picador to picador, the
bull prostrates all three, and then the whole arena is alive
with fluttering cloaks — the active chulos toling the animal
from side to side, up to the very barrier, which they leap
over, sometimes not more than half a foot before his horns.
The greater thet slaughter of horses and overthrow of riders,
the louder is the shouting of the people, and the wilder their
applause. Let the picadores fight shy for but a single
moment — let there be delay — the slightest — in tho forth
coming of new horses to supply the places ef the slain  and

GLIMTSES OF SPAIN. 295
the fierce cry goes up, of ''Horses! horses to the bull!"
( Caballos ! caballos al toro .') When the bull, a moment
left ungoaded, turns upon his faUen foes, and gores and
tosses them or their poor oarcasses, the very welkin rings
with screams of pleasure and excitement, and the animal
becomes a hero, for the moment !
New horses are at hand. The picadores, perhaps, per
suaded by the manager to be a little careful of their horse
flesh, or battered into caution and chary of their bones, hang
back. It may be, that the bull himself, sick of the spear
and tired with vain pursuit of the fleet chulos, stands paw
ing the center ofthe ring, or, with head down to the ground,
goes backward from'his foes. Up then there goes again the
cry, " Al toro! caballos al two! obligalo .'" (force him!)
The picador, excited, moves his terrified, perhaps already
wounded, animal up toward the bull, waving his lance, or
boldly pricking the poor devil on \he nose or forehead ! Then
there is another charge and probably a dangerous one, for
the picador is in the midst of the arena, far from the barrier,
and has no method of escape, if he is thrown, except to creep
upon bis knees and hands and trust the dexterous chulos to
keep the bull away. Lucky he who can escape such peril.
But the sport begins to flag. The neck and shoulders of
the bull are red with traces of the spear-point. His tongue
protrudes, and he is tardy at the charge. The Alcalde
waves his handkerchief — the trumpet sounds — the picadores,
retiring to the barrier,' now fly before the bull as he ap
proaches, for their part of the performance has been ended.
The banderilleros .come next upon the stage. They are
the same whom I have called the chulos, and they take the
former name from the banderillas, with which it is their
business to torment the animal. These are wooden rods,
some, two feet long, pointed with an iron barb. The rods,
themselves, are covered and bedecked with festoons of cut,
colored paper. When the signal is given, bundles of these
are brought into the arena, and the performer takes one in

296 GLIMPSES OF.SPAIN.
each hand. If the bull has been a coward or a sluggard,
the crowd cry "fuego! fuego .'"-(fire ! fire !) and they bring
h\ banderillas, to the barbs of which are fixed fire-crackers,
¦which explode and hiss on the poor brute as the barb enters,
scorching and maddening him. The chido's business is to
plant one banderilla upon each side of the neck or shoulders,
equidistant from the central line, as near as may be, -and
this, of course, demands no little skill. One of the performers
flourishes his cloak and wins the bull's attention. The
other, with the banderillas, comes up stealthily behind.
The bull, perceiving, turns on him, and as he charges with
his head bent down, the chulo plants his instruments of
torture where he will, and leaps, with wonderful agility, be
yond the sweep ,of the huge horns. Another and another
follows, till the bull runs, furious and lowing desperately,
from one side of the arena to the other, pr -leaps. the barrier
at a bound and rushes round the corredor within. Now,
the spectators on the lower seats tp.ke part in the perform
ance, beating the poor beast with their long Staves. The.
chulos worry and bewilder him yet more-Mhe gate next to.
him is -thrown open, and he rushes once again into the
ring. Now the end draws nigh. The trumpet sounds, and
lo ! the matador, with long, straight sword in. hand, and
dark red cloak, goes forward to the grave Sefior Alcalde,
makes' his bow, flings down his cap upon the 'earth, and
girds himself for deeds of death ! Perhaps he has a specu
lation of his own on hand, and then he keeps his cap, until
he has saluted spme balcon or gentleman he means to toast
(brindar). That done, the cap gees down before the. party
honored, and the matador announces that the bull shall, die,
in compliment to, him. Some largess is, of course, expected,
when the deed is done. The executioner now waves his cloak
and flings himself before his victim. Perhaps the animal is
wary and the chulos are compelled to flit around and tempt '
him to his fate. Ha makes a charge — the agife matador

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 297
steps to one side, and mocks him with the empty cloak.
Another and another charge, and then, the thing grows
serious. You see the cloak advanced in the left hand,
and just behind it, pointed carefully, the formidable blade
is glittering. The bull sweeps 6n, and when the' cloak
is lifted, it may be he is only wounded — ^the sword stuck
slightly in his necjc or shoulder, and falling or flying out
as he leaps wUdly in his agony. Perhaps it has passed
in between .the, shoulders, , and has hurt the lungs. A few
more leaps then, and there is a staggering — a bound or
two — and. with the blood-streams rushing from his nostrils
he falls dead.^ Perhaps the dexterous blow has pierced the
heart, and then- he falls without the sign of blood." If he
but falls and lingers, one of the chulos comes up, stealthily,
behind, and .drives the sword home to the hilt, or cleaves the
spine, with a short dagger. In a moment, then, you hear
the tinkling of the bells, and there comes in a team' of mules
decked gaudily. By turns they drag out the dead hero and
the horses he has slain ; a servant covers, with fresh dirt or
saw-dust, all the traces of the fray ; the ring is cleared
again ; the picadores are once more in their places ; the
trumpet sounds, and then, amid the shoutings of the more
and more excited crowd, another bull comes out, to take his
turn at slaughtering and being slaughtered.
In the fights at Ronda, there were eight bulls, each day.
The first day, fourteen horses fell ; eighteen the second. One
picador was taken senseless from the ring the first day, but
he reappeared the second, and fought his bulls triumphantly.
The second day, oUr friend Poquito pan was -carried off as
I thought, dead — but, two days after, he rode back to Se
ville. The matadores made.rather bungling work of it. Only
two first-rate blcws were given ; both, the second day. Un
happily, the artist toasted the Ingleses upon each occasion,
which made some inroads on our purses. One of them
seemed well pleased with his reception, for he flung up to
pur bpx the ribben, pr divisa, which was On the bull's neck
N*

S98 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
when he sallied out (the cofors of the breeder), and Which is
held the trophy, like the fox's .brush. When the Alcalde
deems a death well stricken, he testifies his approbation, by
bestowing the carcass on the matador,, who forthwith cuts
an ear off with his sword, and keeps it as a mark of prop
erty. The perquisite is worth .much or Uttle, according to
the market value of bull-beef. After the matador has slain
his beast, he draws his sword out from the wound — wipes it
upon his cloak — makes his bow to the Alcalde, and then to
those whom he has toasted. They throw their gift down
to him, in a handkerchief. A chulo, his attendant, picks it
up and hands it to him, and thereupon he takes his leave
with majesty.
The first day was-a strange one, from two accidents. The
one was not so rare as dangerous. One of- the matadores
aimed badly, and his sword," striking a bone, flew Uke a
javelin, some twenty feet, among the crowd, wounding a
young man seriously in the hand. It might have slain him,
and it was a wonder that it did not. The other circum
stance was said to be without a precedent. - One of the
bulls, worried and flying from the matador, leapt over bar
rier and corredor and inner barrier, alighting, clear, among
the benches and the crowd — not stumbling and blundering,
but erect and dangerous — goring on every side. Fortunately,
it was the sunny portion of the gallery, and the people were
comparatively few, so that there was no one seriously hurt,
but a poor fellow whose thigh was badly ripped. Yet the
rolling downs the scampering and rushing, were woriderful
to see. The- bull made at the soldiers, and they dropped
their musketry and ran. Completely master of the field, he
made his way up to the topmost bench, and then, deliber
ately stepping down, went quietly into the box above the
northern or main entrance. There, being on a level with
his worship, the Alcalde, the bull looked over, and his wor
ship, quite as much astonished, looked back at the bull. It
was a move which was not in the game, and therefore start-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 299
led the spectators for a while ; but they soon recovered.
Some of them caught up the deserted weapons of the sol
diery, and charged bayonets upon his bullship, who retreated
to the topmost bench again. There, the matador assailed
him with a fatal thrust, and, falling, like 'a stone, he rolled
down with a thundering noise into the corredor, wheriee he
was dragged at the mule's heels — a hard and ignominious
fate, to follow such an exploit !
And for the moral of all this. It is barbarous, shockingly
barbarous, no doubt — not on the men's account, because
they take the risk upon themselves, and are well paid -for it,
and then, besides, although they have rude tumbles frequently,
they Tarely suffer loss of life or limb. Nor does -the bull
attraet much sympathy, for he is doli capax — a powerful,
belligerent, wild beast;, able to protect himself, and wiUing.
But the wretched horses', 'blindfold, and goaded to their fate ;
treading their trailing entrails to the earth, or kicking at
them as they horribly protrude ; now, limping sorely with
their bruised and, lacerated limbs : now left, disabled, at the
mercy of the bull, and gored so awfully and often ! It is
disgusting, sickening, brutal to the very acme. Yet still,
the crowd shout for more horses, thinking that no fight can
be a worthy one unless many horses die, and yelling applause
at every pass that gores a poor brute's vitals ! " You have
never seen a bull-fight, ha ?" said one of our picadores to
me, upon the road from Seville. " Never !" " Ah ! then,
you will see horses die !" " But that's exactly what I least
desire to see." " No ?" said he. " Pray, why not ?" " Be
cause it is so cruel, arid so needless." " Que mueran!" he
replied, spurring his beast, " sirven para eso. No valcn
nada!" (Letthemdie! That/s what they're fit for'! They're
worth nothing.) And so the populace think commonly. I
was informed, by persons cognizant, that the picadores, to
gratify the vulgar taste and make the feast pass off with
spirit, will not only sacrifice their horses when they could
with ease escape, but often will receive bribes from the

300 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
breeders of the bulls,, to let them slay the horses, in order
that the breed may grow renowned for fierceness and be
proportionally in demand^
Yet, barbarous as is the sport, one should be candid, and
not suppose it grateful to the Spanish taste alone. Never
a foreigner omits a chance to be among the first, and linger
with the last of- the spectators, and that) not merely once
for curiosity, but often and again and for the pleasure of the
thing. I own that I enjoyed the fight, the second day,
more than the first, although I could but shudder constant
ly ; and I defy a man, who knows the language and can
take part fully in the spirit and excitement of the crowd, to
keep his feelings from being swayed by all the various for
tunes ofthe ring. Strength,courage, skill, and recklessness
of danger, have something in them which commands our,
sympathy, let good, sense and our better nature oppose what
obstacles they may. There is, in the strange compound,
man, some sad congeniality, -I fear, with qualities we call
ferocious in the brutes ; and. keen phUosophy might trace to
the same corner of our hearts, the, blood which burns at
mention of a battle-field, and that which warms in gazing
on a bull-fight. The sports that charm' the multitude, aU
the world over, are not the gentlest, commonly, and while
public executions, bear-baiting and bull-baiting continue to
be popular amusements ; while horse-racing and fox-chasing,
the cock-pit and the pugilistic ring, are christened "manly,"
" generous," etc., the good folks who denounce the " cruel"
Spaniards, .might profitably call to mind their own glass
houses. I saw an Englishwoman at the fights at Ronda  a
person both refined and gentle. She went, the first day,
quite reluctantly, and well persuaded she should faint at
the first horror. She frequently turned pale, of course, .but
managed to get through, by putting up her fan, from, time
to time, and hiding the worst sights. Next day, to my sur
prise, I found her at her -post, and toward the close, when
they let loose a craven bull which would not face the steel,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 301
she cried, like any Andaluza, "What a coward.! They
should set the dogs on him !" It was not, -reader, the good
lady's fault, that she grew used to it. It was but human
nature, which even Anglo-Saxons are mistaken in supposing
that they are above.
Something is said, by almost every body, in regard to the
supposed effect which this so bloody sport has had upon the
temper and the morals of the Spaniards. They, who have
at hand the admira-ble chapter in which Ford discusses the
whole subject, wiU form, I'think, a juster'and more charita
ble judgment than has been the fashion heretofore. As an
abstract proposition, it is true, no doubt, that cruelty makes
cruel : that callousness comes from the familiar sight of suf
fering, and much more from inflicting it. But, all through
life, we, are perpetually seeing, how practically possible are
theoretical impossibilities,- and how our abstract truths and
wisest generalities turn out to he mere fallacies in feet. The
guUet of a trout, we' may suppose^ is. quite as sensitive, after
its fashion, as. any horse's flank, and probably the speckled
innocent feels just as grievously, in his cold-blooded way, the
pulling of his entraUs out his mouth, with hook and barb, as
can the horse the goring huffs-horn, or the bull himself the
torment of the banderilla. Cruelty is not greater or less in
proportion to the size of the animal tortured, or our philosoph
ical reflections as to the degree of his sensibility, and there
fore the angler who mangles a box-full of worms, for his bait,
during a day's sport, is, clearly, in the abstract, the cruelest
of men. Yet who reproaches, justly, with blpod-thirstiness,
the quiet students, the grave doctors of divinity, who take
thefr holyday among the running streams, and read and
glorify quaint Izaak Walton ? Who sees a murderer in the
little boy, who ties a beetle by the leg, impales a grass-hop
per, or sets his terrier on the rats ? No reasonable Christian,
certainly — yet, in the abstract, these amusements contain the
essential principle o'f bull-fights. The fair conclusion, then,
would seem to be, that cruelty to trout makes man trout-cruel

302 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
only ; that cruelty to bulls and hcrses, breeds -but a callous
ness to all> that -, happens in the ring. Not a step farther
can the logic go ;. and I beheve the Spanish character illus
trates^ fairly, the 'truth of the deduction. The Spanish
women, who attend these spectacles, are as gentle, kind, and
feminine, as any others of their sex. The men, as far as my
brief sojourn and its intimacies , showed me, are as full of
amiable qualities as men are any where. " Certainly,"
says Widdrington, " if taken in the rriass, rio people are
more humane than the Spaniards, or more, compassionate
and kind- in theit feelings to- others. They probably excel
other nations, rather than fallbeloW them in this respect."
Ford, speaking of the bull-fights and of their consequences
to the children who frequent them in their holydays, observes,
that " they return to their hemes unchanged, playful, timid,
or serieus as before ; their kindly social feelings are unim
paired.- And where is the filial, parental, and fraternal tie
more afieetipnately cherished than in Spain ?"
It is but fair, further, te add, that a large bedy pf the
Spaniards feel and shew the. same antipathy te bull-fights
which is felt in ether ceuntries, and that, except in the
arena ef Madrid, the fiestas are quite fare, and principally
on occasions of great note.

CHAPTER XXVII.
Journey to Malaga — Carratraca — The Sulphur Springs — The Flowers
and Grain — Valencian Reapers — Reflections on Andalilsian Agri
culture — Its Defects and their Historical Causes: — Rural Labor as a
Source of Patriotism and Prosperity — Journey to Granada — Loja —
Arrival at Granada — Feast of Corpus Christi — The Swisa Pastry
cook — Illness — The Barber-surgeon and the Dootor- — Medicine and
Dietetics — My Lodging — The Noises of Granada — Rita and the
Russian Count — Kindness of the People — The Professor and la
Presse. We started for Malaga, from Ronda, on the morning of
May 23d. Our horses were a sad display indeed, when taken
in the abstract, , but we found ourselves mounted and ac
coutered so much better than a party of Biscay an gentle
men who joined us, that we Went upon our way rejoicing.
We had saddles and appurtenances complete, such as they
were : they had, one of them, no bit,- another, but one stir
rup. Our horses stumbled, it is true ; theirs fell most un
equivocally with their noses to the ground. AU things
being .comparative in this world, we accordingly merged our
annoyances in an agreeable sense of superiority. My com
panion from Seville was with us, rejoiced at having been
delivered, without bail or mainprise, from the clutches of an
old confectionery his landlord, who, though he spoke no En
glish, had made a biU out such as I had thought was only
to be seen in London. . Having been sent for, several times
during our stay at Ronda, to inform the landlord What the
Sefior wished for dinner, I feel justified in saying, for the
benefit of travelers, that a man can' hardly get along through
Spain, with comfort, unless he has acquired the words which
correspond, in Spanish, with-Sir Francis Head's " changer ^et
manger." At all events, my friend's experience enables me

304 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
to say, with certainty, that foreigners should try at least to
•learn tiie use and study the pronunciation of the word "no !"
It is a useful word in every language, as perhaps the most of
us have found.
Our journey led us through, a_ desolate and mountainous
district. A few evergreen-oaks, thin and stunted, and a
little sparse, bad grain Were the only extravagances of vege
tation. .Goats arid goat-herds Were the only tenants of the
wild mountain-sides ; a few huts, here and there, solitary,
poor, and dirty, "were all the signs of human habitation. At
about half-past one; we found ourselves at the end of eight
long leagues, and happily, in a* clean and- decent inn ¦ at
Carratraca, Which is quite a famous watering place. It has
a copious white-sulphur spring, which from its odor, taste,
and very heavy deposit, seems, to be more strongly impreg
nated than even the Greenfcriar, white-sulphur waters in
Virginia. It springs up at the foot of a -wild, stony hUl, and.
fills .two basins, some fifteen feet by .twenty, each, to the
depth of five or six feet. The citizens of Malaga frequent
the waters in the summer season,, and the place has all adr
vantages for health and pleasure. It lies upon a hill-side,
with a fertile valley all around,, which stretches over to. a
range of stern, gray hills. The Alameda winds along the.
brow of a deep, cultivated gorge, covered with fig and
almond trees and vineyards.
On "the next day, early, we took up our line of march.
There is a road, "practicable" for wheel-carriages up to the
Springs themselves, but the practicability is of a very pecul
iar sort, except down toward Malaga,- where there is a capital
turnpike. The first half of our journey was extremely pic
turesque and pleasant, for our road ran, nearly all the way,
along ,the banks. of the Malaga River, through groves of
gorgeous and fragrant oleanders. The hill-sides and the
valleys, were bright with varied colors ; green with vine
and fig tree, oranges and olives ; yellow, here and there,
with the ripe barley ; rich and waving with taU wheat, and

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 305
scarlet with the bloom of the pomegranate. Every, variety
of superb flowers was clustered by the road side and in the
moist nooks far among the trees, making one -sigh Over his
neglected botany, and genera and species familiar no more.
Near Malaga, yve met large companies of Valencians, in
white frocks and hempen stoekings, looking for employment
in the harvest. They had their reaping hooks in hand,, and
went on, 'singing and laughing, as men always do at harvest-
home. These migrations ofthe peasantry, in search of labor,
are eharacteristic of the agricultural system in some parts of
the Peninsula. In Andalusia, for example, instead of the
small farms, neat, cottages, and careful cultivation, which so
bountiful a. soil and climate would seem both to suggest and
justify, the- lands are spread out in vast tracts, without
inclosufe, belongirig to remote and rich proprietors or held
appurtenant, as common, to the villages. Rarely does any
man, owner or labprer, live upen the soil he tills. Early
in the merning,- they saUy from the hamlets, with beasts and
implements ef .husbandry, and when the night approaches,
you see them in leng lines, returning. Yeu may travel,
therefore, for whole leagues, witheut a glimpse ef human
habitatipn, and spmetimes witheut a sign pf any thing that
looks like rural industry, unless, perchance, a shepherd cr a
goat-herd ccnyey yeu the idea. This, I learn, is net the
case in Biscay er Navarre, ner much indeed in any pprtion
of the nerth. Thpse provinces have different institutions,
social and poUtical. Their system grew and strengthened,
while the southern and the central plains were made the bat
tle-fields of Christendom. Hence their soU is subdivided, and
their peasantry Uve from it and upon it. "Down to the
conquest of Toledo," says Jovellanos,. " there was scarcely
any trace of agriculture, except in the northern provinces.
The dwellers .on the plains of Castile and Leori, exposed
to constant forays from the Moors, and driven to their castles
or their strong holds, found pasturage a means of wealth more
movable than any other, and less at hazard from the risks of

306 G-LIMPSES OF SPAIN.
war !" DoWn to the conquest of Granada,^ the operation
•of these causes did not cease, in any portion of fhe south,
and now the- state of things I mention, will bear witness,
how long " The evil' that men do, lives after them."
Regarding the thing merely in its bearing on production and
the country's wealth it deserves most serious and careful
thought and remedy. All experience has taught, that agri
culture can not prosper, where the laborer is severed, in
-interest- and feeling, from 'the soil. The centrast between
Andalusia and Biscay settles that . view of the question.
But, lppking at it, in -a higher ppint pf view, with reference
to its effect upcn the peasant and his character, the evil
seems stiU worthier fhe care and- cure' of statesmen. Such
a system knits no tie between the laborer and the land.
His heme is but a lodging-house ; he sees it only when he
goes te rest in it, and' leave's it when he is refreshed.
Whether he- delves at ene place er another, is the same to
him. The thoughts and feelings which belong, elsewhere,
to those who cultivate the earth, have no foundatton uppn
which to build with him. He is an " eperative" merely,
net a rustic, in the sense which the word has, where men
grow up and rear their children, With a sweet, and simple,
and deep-rooted love for the green spot associated with their
toil and its reward. Such laborers form no rural population.
They wander where the harvest is : they gather another
taan's grain, and, like their sickles, are another man's tools.
As Sismondi beautifuUy expresses the idea, they are "-sdns
avenir et sans passi" — without pride in the past or hope for
the future, in their personal connection with their country.
A soil on which there is the • smile of nature, and than
which none 'other is more fair for men to love and dwell
upon, is made a desert or a grazing-ground. The road
is dangerous and the field itself not safe : for where there
are both poverty, and solitude, there is but little force or

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 307
terror in the law. That men are patriots, as the Spaniards
are, in spite of this, gives no small token of the public virtue.
What a blessing, if they would but estimate the value of the
pledge which agriculture gives to peace and permanence of
institutipns ! What a barrier to civil broil might they not
build, by planting men's affections in the soU, and throwing
round them the attractions of steady, home-spent, well-
requited labor ! During the reign of Charles III., the
wisest Spanish statesmen thought and wrote profoundly and
earnestly upon the subject. Had they been heard and their
suggestions followed, these reflections had beert without cause.
Again, the subject is in serious agitation, and it may be
hoped that there will be some practical results. One can not
but despond, however, on remembering the wasted wisdom
of Jovellanos and Flori'da-Blanca.
After three days with my kind friends at' Malaga, I took
the diligence, at midnight, for Granada. The road around
by Velez Malaga and Alhama is said to be by far the -most
interesting and picturesque, but my experience on horseback
had been quite sufficient, and I preferred the drive across the
mountains and through Loja. I did not,make much of a
bargain, however, as- it Was quite dusk the next day, when
we reached our destination, after the hottest and most dusty
jpurney that ever tried a man's endurance. Granada was
very full cf peeple, fer the feast ef Corpus Christi was at
hand, which is there celebrated with unusual magnificence.
^ It • is like an annual fair to the shopkeepers, who prepare.
their cheicest cemmodities, in great abundance, for the Occa
sion. Having nothing to seU, I found the crowd rather an
inconvenience than otherwise. A. fellow-countryman, whom
I had met in the diligence, joined his sorrows with mine,
and we traversed the streets from lodging-house to lodging-
- house, " until near ten o'clock. FinaUy, we succeeded in
stumbling on the Pasteleria Suiza, the Swiss pastry-cook's
shop, in the Calle del Milagro, where, after forming our
plans for the morrow,- we committed our bones to the most

308 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
geological mattresses that, ever cheated a wayfarer of his
rest. Next morning, I awoke with a raging fever, and in great
pain— r-no very pleasant introduction, it will be admitted, to
the glories of the Moprs. My own small stock cf medical
skill having been exhausted on the first day, without any
perceptible effect but an increase of my sufferings and symp
toms, I determined, en the second, to take advice. A con
verted er perverted Jew, whe called himself Manuel Ben-
saquin, had taken possession of us, on the night of our arrival,
to act as guide to the wonders, and in the absence of a bet
ter, I had employed him to attend .by my 'bedside. Isaac
was a shrewd, well-informed fellow, whose chief fault was
his attention -to the main chance. When I suggested the
necessity of a physician, he informed me that he- had a son,
a student in the'medical college of Granada, whom he would
be happy I should see. Having still strengtE enough left
for self-defense, in case of need, I consented, and shortly
afterward a young gentleman made his appearance, in
calanes and. clcak. He took off the one, and freed his right
shoulder from the other, disclosing his shirt-sleeves as he en
tered. Then, walking toward me with a somber look and
melancholy salutation, he took my .pulse and straightway fell
into deep thought. After a moment's meditation, he turned '
to his father, and observed, with great solemnity, " Es mi
opinion que se sangre el Sefior .'"— (It is my opinion that
the gentleman must be bled.) I retook possession of my arm
immediately, and answered, " Es'mi opinion que no." — (It's
my opinion that he shan't be.) Whereupon he shrugged his
shoulders, gathered up his cloak, made his obeisance, and
departed as he came. I found out afterward that he was
apprentice to a barber, and did blood-letting at a, hospital,
wherefore he felt bound, no doubt, to make prescription of.
the only thing that he could do for me.
Things getting worse, I hjid recourse to one of the pro
fessors in the University,— a gentleman of kind and courteous-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 309
manners, who had gone through his studies in Paris. He
thought my ease a critical one, as he told me afterward, but
seemed to think it was to be cured by cream of tartar. The
English, he said, were too fond of powerful medicines, and
in that climate men could die fast enough without caloitiel.
All this was very true, no doubt, but I went on getting worse,
whereupon he pronounced that there was but one remedy —
he must order a tisana laxante! He wrote a prescription,
with the air of a man who was signing a death-warrant, and
sent forth Manuel for the critical compound. Shortly it
appeared, in the shape of a tumbler-fuU of black and awful-
looking liquid — enough to shake the courage of the bravest,
in a'strange land and among strange doctors. If I had been
Secrates, I should have vowed aU- imaginable poultry to
Esculapius, before I drained it. As it was, I only shuddered
at discovering that the ultima ratio medicorum at Granada,
was- a horrible decoction of bad senna ! When it came to car
minatives, I found that there was nothing in the shops more
vigorous than fior de malvas, of flower of mallows, which
the professor insisted on my taking, in an infusron about as
vigorous as the tea of a nervous spinster. It must have been
of great service to me, I suppose ; at all events, it was a
classical article, for when the brave Moer Muza, sp fampus
in romance, was driven from Granada, he' wrote a letter by
the margin ofthe XenU,'and used flat de malvas, with Water,
for his ink : — ' ' »-
" Hizo, de una cana verde,
Con el alfange, una pluma,-
Y con agua y flor de malva
Tinta para hacer la suma."
I mention these things, in order that the reader may make
up his own mind, as to whether he wUl be sick at Granada,
if he can help it.
As soon as I had taken the tisana, the doctor seemed to
think he had made a rather hazardous experiment. I must
take some soup, he said — something sustandoso ! I must

310 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
have some ham boUed in it — a piece of -the jamon dulce,
the sweet ham from the Alpuj arras, which was muy rico,
very rich, and' very healthful. If I could eat a little chicken,
it would help me, also ; for I must remember I was not in
England, and if I starved mysetf in that warm climate, of
ccurse he cculd npt answer for the censequences. All this
being repugnant tc my npttons pf fevers, and seme little in
ccnflict with my perscnal experience, I tepk the hberty ef
translating jamon into "gammon," and got weU on my own
responsibility. It was not, however, until after nine sad days,
that, with the aid of Manuel's cane, and arm, I was able to
creep round the neighboring square of Vivarrambla, so famous
in the ballads and old story.
The reader will imagine that it was not perfect bliss lo
find myself a prisoner and ill, under the very shadow of the
monuments that I had come so far to see. I must admit,
in. truth, that near as I then was to the Alhambra, it would
have pleased me better, for ,the time, had I been nearer
home". Nor was1 there any thing in the appUances about
me, to reconcile me to my fate.- My chamber was .upon the-
secpnd -floor, and must have been the tympanum on which
struck all the concentrated millions of Granadian noises.
Across the. street, which was some ten or twelve feet wide,
there dwelt a famous songstress, a new accession to the opera,
who beat on her piane in the mest heart-rending manner,
and cried aloxyl and spared net, all day long. A few paces
back, the street led -into the Puerta Real, a public square
or Plaza, where aU the water-carriers, and venders of wopd,
charccal, fruit,, and vegetables, held rendezveus and tried
their vqices. Under my open windows, all the dcgs and
cats and chUdren ef the tewn kept revel ; for the pastelero
was a man ef note, and blessed was the odor of his kitchen !
Within the house, I was but little better off. The hotel-
entrance, was kept fastened at all times, as is the way in
Spain. Every five minutes, from the early dawn till after
midnight, there was ringing at the bell. The Uttle house-dpg

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 311
instantly responded from his chamber, close by mine, and
Dona Rita, the Maritornes of the pastry-shop {a Uttle, rugged
woman, with a black mustache), would mount the platform
in the second story, pull fiercely at tho .latch-string, and cry
Quien ? (Who ?) in accents Uke the filing of a saw. The
door-beU was the only one in the establishment, and there
fore, day and night, there was a sound of many voices-,
from the garret to the kitchen. I knew what orders
guest and landlord gave ; who wanted breakfast, and who
wanted boote ; and finaUy, I grew to know the voices that
belonged to different chambers, though I had never seen their
owners. My apartment, of itself, was- ript the beau-ideal ef a bed
room. The floor was of brick tUes, which Rita watered
every day, at noon. It was " muy fresco y saludable," she
observed (very fresh and heathful), though rather puddly, to
my notion. I ventured a remonstrance to her, once, insin
uating that my cot appeared too short. " No puede-ser,"
she said, " that can not be. A Russian gentleman (he was
a count) slept in it ence, and he was taller than my worship,
she well knew, because they had to put him something at the
head of the bed to make it longer 1 He was a personaje too ;
and burned a couple of wax candles every night ; a wealthy
gentleman ; easy to please, besides !" Of course, I ordered
wax candles the next day, and got on better afterward,
although I durst not ask whether the Russian personaje
praised my mattress. In Spain, the mattresses are usually
of wopl, and very ceol and pleasant , when they are weU
cared for. It seemed to . me; however, from the structure
and the properties of those the pastelero had, that in Granada,
they must drive the sheep in, horns, and bones, and all.
This is a supposition merely, be it understood, not to be
quoted from this place, hereafter, in any history or school-
book, as a specimen of " the manners and customs of the
inhabitants." It behoves a man to be particular, about
such matters, for since Prescott has been amiable enough to

312 GLIMPSES OF- SPAIN.

refer to Swinburne, even upon a matter of architectural
measurement, there' is no knowirig to what extent the
simplest traveler's flies may be embalmed in the most
precious historical amber.
These glimpses of my personal and private story, some
may think more fitting for my journal than a book. Yet,
after aU, the world consists of people rather than of palaces
and gardens, and were I merely to tell of the Alhambra
and the Sierra Nevada, I had better copy from some pre
cious Arab chronicle. Nor should I do half justice to the
kind, good-natured people, were I to persuade the reader,
that there was nothing round about me but personal dis
comfort. A letter, which, elsewhere, would have procured
me a dinner or a card, brought me frequent visiters and
kind -cempanipnship. Acquaintances, whe, in mpst pther
ceuntries, would have settled their account with bows, came
"often, with good words and services. The physician, whose
jamon I slighted, was, in his bearing and attention, aU I
could have asked from an old friend. He gave me comforts
'from his house, and went out of his way to serve me. Even
the domestics in the tavern, and Rita; when propitiated by
a bright red handkerchief, were as patient and well-meaning
as a sick man's fretfulness could ask. '
The doctor found himself in quite a troublesome predica
ment one day, because of his civility to me. He was the
only person in Granada who subscribed to the Paris " Presse,"
and he used to> bring the numbers to me after every, mail.
When I was a^ble to stroll out, I werit, one morning, to the
Alarneda, by the Xenil,-and, as the news from home, just
at that time, was full of interest, I read the "Presse" while
I was resting. S^ome one came to talk with me, arid when
I left the spot, I casuaUy -left the papers too: A gipsy
found them, and .offered them for sale, by accident, to one
of the doctor^ friends, informing him that he had found
them on the margin of the river.' The gentleman became
the purchaser, and- toek them to the dpctor's, where he found

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 313
the family quite anxieus ; the master of the house being
absent, though the dinner-heur had passed. Of course the
gipsy's story filled the circle with alarm, and till the doctor,
whose engagements had kept him at the University aU day,
made his appearance in the evening, his wife and friends
were terribly afraid that he was sleeping at the bottom of
the Xenil. O

CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Xenil and the Darro — The Alameda — The Alhambra Gardens —
The Cuarto Real — Monastic Taste — Gonsalvo de Cordova and the
Cartuja — Precious Marbles— Mariana de Pineda — San Jeronimo
and the Tomb of the Great Captain.
A lively Malaguena, who preferred the present to the
past (as lively ladies generaUy do), predicted to me that the
walks and gardens of Granada would delight me more than
all the relics of the Moors. The prophecy, I found, was not,
by any means, as wild as I had thought it. The Xenil and
the Darro, those rivers of romance, Unite their watefs where
the hill, on which the city stands, slopes off into the plain.
The Darro,' bursting from the mountain-side, cleaves the
very heart of the city ; sometimes passing through an open
channel, sometimes hidden by long vaults or tunnels. It was
a trifling stream when I was there, though at some seasons,
I was told, it swells and maddens fearfully. Down toward
its mouth, it passes through a handsofne avenue called the
Carrera, on which you see some of the finest modern build
ings. Meeting the Xenil at right angles, it then passes off
to cheer and fertUize the Vega. Following upward the more
copious Xenil, you find yourself upon the Alameda, one of the
most exquisite premenades in Europe. It is wide and ample
for pedestrians and carriages, and passes through the richest
vegetation, kept ever verdant by the ceaseless flow of almost/
icy waters. Trees, tall and luxuriant, bend across the paths,
so that the sun scarce more than enters : flowers, in bound
less profusion and "variety, fill every space between the walks,
and dally all along the banks. Bridges, at convenient in
tervals, stretch across the river, which, half-hidden by the
foUage, accompanies the music of the nightingales with dron
ing murmur. Every body rides, or drives, or walks, of after-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 315
noons, and the Salon, the .center of the Alameda, is the cy
nosure of elegance and fashion. The fountains then begin to
sparkle with all their jewelry of spray, and far and :near,
among the trees, long lines of carriages go winding, and
gaUant horsemen spur in bright costume. The benches, in
among the flowers and laurels, are filled with graceful women
scorning bonnets, and with men whose taste stiU clings to
ancient habits, despite the ravages of French-taught tailors.
The sunset, which is rosy far above you on the brow of
Mulahacen, seems to stir the breezes that have slept aU day
among the snows, and there comes down a dewy freshness
upon all things, waking your recoUeotion of the Moorish
fancy wliich hung the groves of Paradise in the mid-sky
above Granada.
Nor has the XenU a monopoly of shade and fragrance.
Toil up the narrow street of the Gomeles, tiU you reach the
Gate of the Pomegranates, where begins the jurisdiction of
the Alhambra. • The steep ascent wiU give you, it may be,
some notion of an Andalusian sun. Enter the enchanted
precincts, and so massive are the deep-green arches over you,
that scarcely have the fountains light enough to dance in.
Streams, melted from the mountain-snows, leap down, the
hills in narrow channels, aU the earth around them rendering
tribute, gratefully, in perfume and in verdure. Summer may
be raging in city and in plain, but here the Spring has been
made captive, and the singing-birds are at their best to glad
den his captivity. Here, no crowds come for fashion or dis
play. Love-couples roam, at twilight, in the alleys, or listen
to the music, in green, sheltered bowers. The poor and
prpud,- wrapped in their dark-brown clcaks, stroll splitary in
the furthest walks. Meditative idlers ccme and ge, with
lazy step, and save the playful children chasing cne another
round the fountains, all you see are in a mood of sympathy
with the sweet sadness of the spot. Perchance, through
some dim opening in the trees, you catch a glimpse of the
Alhambra towers, when, at the nightfall, their old dusky

316 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
hue is blended with the shadows in the air ! So beautiful,
so quaint, so strange all is, that you would scarcely Wonder,
were a cavalcade of Moprs to saUy from beneath some lofty
archway, or a vailed face unmask its beauties, at some win
dow looking toward the evening star.
There is another charming spet, npt always visited by
travelers, caUed the Cuarto Real er royal chamber, which
is said to have been a pavilion of the Moorish kings. Legends
say there is a passage underground, from it to the Alhambra,
but hew pr why it was, pr where it is, the stery dpes not
tell us. At the foot of the great hill on which the Alham
bra stands, we left the Alameda of the Xenil, and cUmbed
some ill-paved, tertuous streets, untU we found ourselves be
fore the entrance to a huerta — a medley ef prchard, garden,
pleasure-ground, and vineyard-— which. formerly belenged te
the holy brothers of St. Dominic. Within, this huerta, and
again inclosed, we found the object ef pur search. While
Manuel was locking for the keeper, I stepped to rest at a
ccttage in the grounds. The gppd man and his wife and
beuncing daughter were sitting at the door, UteraUy under
the shadow of their own vine and fig-tree. An arbor,
covered with the luxuriant foliage of the vine, sheltered the
whole front of the house, and the old woman, bringing a
chair out, placed it in the coolest spot for me. The daughter
was engaged in the rather- curious process of shelling the
habas for their dinner. She broke them open, Uke the pea-
pods in our kitchens, and then bit off a hard, black part— -
the germ, I suppose — which was .at the extremity of every
bean. The old man was extremely curious to know of my
country, and marveled greatly when I told him that the
summer was as hot as in Granada, and the winter even
colder than theirs. He said Ave Maria! and looked over
at bis wife incredulously, as I mentioned every wonder. I
saw he had great doubts of me, though too polite to say so.
" Far countries make -long Ues," their proverb says, and they
believe their proverbs.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 917
When Manuel returned, he led me through the avenues
of arbored vines, flanked on aU sides by irrigated beds of
fruit and vegetables, to the door of the inner huerta. We
entered, and found a succession of beautiful and well-shaded
walks, one of which terminated in a superb arber, some
sixty feet in length and fuU thirty feet high, over which
the thick foliage of the waUs and the closely interwoven
over-arching boughs made a cemplete and exquisite canopy.
At one end was a fountain : there were seats along the
sides, and at the other end was the precious pavUion I had
gone to see. The doors of cedar have been painted blue,
until the quaint rich figures on them can be scarcely seen,
and the fine arabesques upon the walls and arches have had
the delicate outhnes of their tracery in a great degree white
washed away. The Cuarto Real is a single large apart
ment, with a vaulted roof of carved and inlaid wood and an
alcove to the right and left. ,In frorit, there is a pleasant
little recess, a mirador or observatory, from which there is
a charming and extensive view of the Sierra Nevada and
the Vega. Some of the porcelain tiles, beneath the entering
arch, are white, with figures dehcately gilded, and the pat
terns of the rest are of the most intricate and beautiful
mosaic. Who can wonder that both Moor and monk, driven
from such retreats, should cherish the belief and feed the
hope of one day coming back to them ? In bowers such as
this, impenetrable by the sun ; a fairy chamber, through
whose arches the sweet winds must always play; a "view
before them, gladdening to the heart and eye ; they must
have felt — both Moslem and Dominican — that there was
something even in the nothingness of earth !
It has been remarked, arid with a great deal ef truth,
that the sites selected by the monastic orders, aU the world
over, are generaUy monuments of the finest taste for natural
sublimity and beauty. What a noble view it is, from the
terrace of the once magnificent Cartuja of Granada ! Pass
ing through the famous " Puerta de Elvira," you reach it,

318 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

after a long and sunny walk. It was a superb edifice,
judging from the relics, but upon the suppression of the-
menastic institutiens it fell into private hands, and a great
portion of the building has since been taken down for the
value of the materials. The extensive cloisters are now
filthy and desolate, inhabited only by the househeld pf a pppr
priest, who has charge of the gcrgeeus chapel. The ceme
tery, where the brethren have been sleeping for three centuries,
was, when I saw it, a rank, waving grain field. All in
front, uppn the sipping hill-sides, stretching dcwn into the
Vega, lie the bread and fertile lands which ence were the
Carthusian domain ; a tract which can not be surpassed
for beauty of location, excellence of culture, or bountiful
returns. The view is bounded by the white-topped mount
ains, which have looked, so changelessly, on all the human
changes at their feet.
About three centuries ago, Gonsalvo de Cordova, the
Great Captain, was desirous to found a monastery for his
burial-place, ' and made arrangements for the purpose with
the order of St. Bruno. He chose a site, upon a hill not
far from* that on whieh the present buildings stand. His
object was-to render thanks for his delivery, upon that spot,
from a great peril, in a conflict with the Moors. The work
was going on, when, one bright morning, the poor brethren
were found all murdered. Their successors were unwilling
to run Uke risk from the Moriscos, who were charged with
having done the deed. Gonsalvo would not compromise ;
he ceased to be the patron ; and the monks selected the
fine, present site themselves. At least so says the " Viajero
en Granada."
The church of the Cartuja is of plain exterior, made of
brown stone. Over the portal is a creditable statue of St.
Bruno, in white marble. The. first apartment that you enter
is the choir, where the lay brethren used to sit. The doors
which open thence upon the body of the church, are of ivory,
tortoise-shell and mother-oPpearl, inlaid with sUver and

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 319
with plates of glass above. In the main chapel, there is
little to admire. Behind the altar, doors like those just
mentioned admit you into a sanctum sanctorum, which con
tains a beautiful custodia (or temple) of the richest marbles,
filled with exquisite mosaics. Nearly the whole walls of
this sanctuary are encrusted with similar marbles, all from
the mountains of Granada, and the floors are of black and
white marble inlaid. You think that certainly the show is
quite as gorgeous as it can be, but they take you, next, into
the sacristy, where you find aU you can conceive of splendor,
in jasper, agate, and stones whose names I did not know.
The brown jasper has a richness and variety of penciling I
never saw on marble, and taking aU together, there are few
things of the same size and sort, in Italy, more splendid or
remarkable. On each side of the precious doors, and all
around the sacristy, divided by the choicest slabs and columns,
are the armoires of cedar, in which the vestments once were
kept. Their whole exterior is of the costliest buhl. A single
press, out of the twelve or twenty that you see, would make
a virtuoso's happiness and fortune. .. Nothing can give you a
better idea, than a glance at this sacristy, of the prodigal
wealth of the extinguished order. When the edict for its
dissolution came, the numbers of the brethren were very
few, I learned, and they were, mostly, old men. Perhaps
by this time, they have gone to answer, where charities, weU
done and faithfuUy, wiU bar the statutes of mortmain.
From the Cartuja, we passed through, on our return, the
pretty walks and gardens of the Triunfo, where there is a
votite column to the blessed Virgin. Hard by, was formerly
the place of jmblic executions, now consecrated by the fate
and memory ef Mariana de Pineda, a lady ef inteUigence
and beauty, whe expiated, on the spot, in 1831, the crime
of having embroidered " Libertad"' on a tri-colored banner !
Though tempted by promises of life and pardon, she per
sisted in refusing to betray her friends, and added, by her
death, one darker shade to the unmitigated infamy of Ferdi-

320 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
nand VII. When, in due course, the despot went to his
reward, it was determined, that no other blood should dese
crate the scene of the fair martyr's suffering. A marble
column was erected on the spot, and her name and story
will live forever as a household word and legend, -while the
same people and their children shall dweU on the same
hills. My guide next led me to the former Convent of San
Jeronimo, within the church of which is the tomb of Gon
salvo of Cordova. There was a regiment of cavalry quar
tered in the cloisters, or close by, and their bugles sounded
as we stood before the portal. It was a fitting introduction
to the- resting-place of the great warrior. After we had
knocked for some time at the door, it was opened to us by a
poor and melancholy lcpking pld ecclesiastic, whe was wrap
ped in a brewn cloak. It was the Padre Sevilla, I was teld,
once a great preacher of the Capuchins, new dwindled into
the humble, guardian of a, deserted chapel. • Walking up
the solitary nave, we saw an altar, on the right and left,
and over each were blazoned the arms of the great captain.
The shields which bore them were supported by effigies of
men-at-arms, whose helmets were so like the basins at the
barbers' doors, that they might weU have matched Mam-
brino's. On the left of the high altar, was a kneeling figure
of Gonsalvo : his duchess knelt upon the right. High on
the waU, there was a painting of the Pope, blessing the
great captain's sword— " uti defensori ecclesice," as the
inscription said. Gonsalvo Was depicted, kneeling, in full
armor except as to his head. A page, behind, stepd ready
with his casque, which was aderned with nodding plumes.
While I was looking at this proud memorial of the great
man's honors, my guide turned up the matting, and showed
me, level with the pavement, a plairi slab, which seemed
the entrance to a vault. It bore the beautiful and sim
ple epitaph, which Mr. Presoott gives, with a slight er
ror —

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 321
G O N Z A L I FERNANDEZ
DE CORDOVA,
QUJ, PROPRIA VIK.TUTE,
MAGNI DUC1S NOMEN
PROPRIUM SIBI FECIT,
OSS A,
PERFETU2E TANDEM
LUCI RESTITUENDA,

HlflC, INTEREA, LOCULO,

#

CREDITA SUNT.
GLORIA MINI ME C O N S E P U I. T A."
The tasteful reader will tax his memory in vain for a
more classic model. When I had copied it, down went the
mat again, and the hero was once more beneath men's feet
unnoticed. Perhaps I should say, with more correctness,
that there the hero would have been, had not his ashes been
removed by stealth, some years agO ! Historians dilate upon
the splendor of his obsequies ; the banners, and triumphal
trophies which were hung above the lofty mausoleum, sculp
tured in his honor by Berruguete and Becerra. They are
all gone now. The marble has scarce outlived the silken
pennon. The French have visited the spot,- and, of course,
avenged themselves for the inscription on the outside of the
church, which calls Gonsalvo, " Gallorum et Turcorum ter
ror." It was the more unpalatable, for that it was true.
The Granadians, besides, have been there themselves, so that,
between friends and enemies, the Great Captain and his bones
have shared the fate, in death, which Ferdinand's ingratitude
foreshadowed in the flesh. * Not iumulo.

CHAPTER XXIX.
The Cathedral of Granada — The Royal Chapel — Pulgar and the Ave
Maria — The Royal Tombs — Ferdinand and Isabella — Antique Bas-
reliefs — The Sacristy — Ferdinand's Crown and Scepter — Surrender
of Granada — Irving and Prescott — The Historical Bas-relief — Visit
to the Hermitage of San Sebastian — The Procession of Corpus
Christi. The Lawsuit for Precedence — Spanish Soldiery — Society
and Cultivation in Granada.
Some people, and especially the town's-folk, believe that
the Cathedral of Granada is among the finest in the world.
Its ground dimensions are nearly identical with those of the
Seville metropolitan, which it greatly exceeds in loftiness of
dome. The outside is unfinished and discordant; but, from
its riiagnitude and elevation, the interior has occasional effects
not easily to.be surpassed. The style is hybridous, and of a
sort which, critics say, is altogether peculiar to Spain, being,
as Capt. Widdrington defines it, "an attempt to apply the
Grecian design and details, to edifices constructed in the
Gothic form and proportions." It is a " transition style,"
in fact and chronologically, but though it certainly admits
extraordinary displays of architectural ingenuity and boldness,
it always struck me, as wanting both the Greek simplicity,
and the deep, solemn, reverential Gothic awe. The Cathe
dral of Granada is reputed the most majestic specimen of its
capabilities, but I confess that my memories of SeviUe inter
fered sadly with my ability to give them any high apprecia
tion. The whitewashed walls and columns, lofty as they
were, seemed naked and paltry by comparison, and though.
there were some pictures and statues held to be of note, I
did not find it in me to study or admire them as, perhaps,
they deserved'.
The Rc-yal Chapel is Gothic and magnificent : a separate

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 323
church in style, as it is, really, in fact and jurisdiction. You
may enter it from the body of the Cathedral, or go round on
the outside, by a dirty street, which leads you by the palace
where Gil Bias was fool enough tp question the archbishop's
homilies. Between the Royal Chapel and the Sagrario
(the parish-church), there is a damp, dark passage, which
is called the Chapel of Pulgar. Here stood the mosque
door, to which the champion, Hernan Perez del Pulgar,
affixed the Ave Maria with his dagger, during the hottest
of the siege of Granada. Martinez de la Rosa has established
the authenticity of the achievement, and the reader of the
Spanish baliads is familiar with the story of Garcilaso de la
Vega, who earned his title in single combat, on the Vega,
with a Mopr who traUed the Ave Maria' at his horse's tail.
In memory of Pulgar' s boldness, the spot where he displayed
it was granted to him for an altar and a burial-place, and
here he and his children sleep, outside the splendid portal
which opens to the prouder mausoleum of his king and
queen. Charles V. spoke truly, when he said the Royal Chapel
was too small to match the dignity of Ferdinand and Isa
bella. It is an inspiring building, nevertheless, and their
greatness and renown fill it with majesty. An iron screen,
magnificently wrought, divides the body of the chapel from
the royal tombs. In front of the high altar, are two splen
did monuments of alabaster. Upon one, lie Ferdinand and
Isabella — on the other, their unhappy daughter, Juana the
Foolish, with her handsome husband,. PhiUp ef Burgundy.
The hands of Ferdinand are crossed upon his bosom, touch
ing the hilt of his sword, the point of which rests between
his feet! He is in armor, but his limbs are partly covered
by the embroidered mantle, which leaves his chest exposed.
His face and head are fine : the brow full and intellectual.
He Wears about his neck some splendid insignia of knight
hood. The sculptor has done full justice to the statue ef
Isabella. Her face is full of theught, benignity, and beauty —

324 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
placid as with the expression of a happy death. She wears
the cross of Santiago on her bosom, and her folded hands
rest on the rich mantle, whose drapery envelops her figure.
At the feet of each there is a couohant lion, and on the end
of the monument, below, there is a mutilated medallion,
representing a Christian cavalier charging down the Moors.
The epitaph has been often quoted and criticised for its in
tolerance, by those who persist in forgetting that the six
teenth .century was not the nineteenth.
Philip and Juana lie with faces most conjugally averted
from each other ; she with a scepter, he with a sword that
rests upon -his shoulder. Both of the tombs are superbly
sculptured, in the finest spirit of the Italian chisel, and cov
ered with reliefs and statuettes. That of Philip and Juana
is the loftier, and makes more show of majesty. While I
was looking at them, the sacristan removed a carpet in front
of the altar, and disclosed an iron grate. This he opened,
and we descended tc a vault, well lighted, painted, and paved
with tiles. In the center, on a platform, in huge leaden
coffins hopped with iron, lay the relics of Ferdinand and
Isabella, each coffin With its cipher. On a raised ledge te
the right, were the coffins of Juana and one of her children
who died young-. On the left lay Philip, by himself. "Ex-
pende ! quot libras .'"
Returning to the upper air, I looked at the effigies of
Ferdinand and IsabeUa, armed and kneeling — he on the left,
she on the right of the high altar. Over each of them, a
small and dim old pennon is fastened to the wall. Behind
the figure of the king, is. a bas-relief of the surrender of
Granada, which J shall have occasion to advert to presently.
Close by the queen there is aether, which, represents the
baptism of the Moors who were converted. It is a grim
piece of hydropathy, to be sure, for the sculptor seems to have
considered it a joke, if one may judge from the wry faces
which the catechurtiens are making, and their efforts to escape
the healing waters, whieh the friars are pouring on them,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 3i5
or sprinkling by wholesale, here and there, with their as-
perges. In the sacristy they showed me the sword pf Ferdinand.
The -blade had been broken and ground dpwn: how sad and
true an emblem of his empire's progress ! His crown and
scepter, of heavy silver-gUt; were of coarse workmanship.
The sacristan invested me with both, and told me they be
came me. A peseta wiU buy flattery for republicans as well
as kings ! There were shown me, too, an old picture of the
Adoration of the Shepherds, which belonged to the sovereigns,
and a large, superbly iUuminated missal, written and painted,
as the inscription says, by Francisco Flores, in 1496. This
is caUed by Ford, the "Queen's own missal." The legend
on the blank leaf tells us merely that it belonged to and was
used in the oratory of the sovereigns, who gave it, with other
precious things, to this their chapel — ("Del uso y propiedad
del oratorio de los Sres. Reyes Catolicos, que con otras
alajas de el mismo lo donaron a esta su. real eapilla") . On
the waU of the sacristy hung also, a picture of but smaU
artistic merit, which attracts much interest from its subject :
the parting of Ferdinand and BoabdU. The Christian king
is embracing his Moorish brother with great enthusiasm, such
as a man might naturally feel for a troublesome foe, who was
out of his way at last and had left a splendid city behind
him as a keepsake.
The story of the surrender of Granada is told by different
historians with singular discrepancy in its details. This may
be seen, even in the narratives of Mr. Irving and Mr. Pres-
cott, which bear marks of conflict in the statements of the
native writers, from whose chronicles they have been taken.
The general outline of the story is, however, that on the
morning when BoabdU was to leave bis city, the sovereigns
dispatched a portion of their trepps to take, possession of the
Alhambra, whUe they themselves remained below, upon the
plain. - BoabdU, leaving his vizier te make surrender ef the
fortress-palace, is said to have gone down the HUl of Martyrs,

326 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
upon the outside of the city, and tc have met the,seve-
reigns, at the mesque, upen the margin of the Xenil, which
is now caUed the Hermitage of St. Sebastian. He at
tempted to dismount, in sign of homage, but the sovereigns
courteously preventing him, he delivered up the keys of
the Alhambra (or the city), with a melancholy word or
two, arid then proceeded on his gloomy way toward the
Alpujarras. Familiar with this usual version- of the story, I was quite
surprised to see it told so differently, by the old colored bas-
relief beside the altar of the- Royal Chapel. This curious
piece of carving is attributed to Felipe Vigarny, a celebrated
sculptor of Burgos, and must have been executed in the first
quarter ofthe sixteenth century. It has, therefore, all the
probabilities of authenticity upon its side, especially when we
consider its conspicuous position in the mausoleum of the con
querors themselves, and the likelihood of its attracting con
temporary criticisrri and reproach, had the sculptor ventured
to vary from the facts so familiar to many who were then
alive. The queen; upen a snow-white genet, is riding
between Ferdinand and the great Cardinal Mendeza. The
cardinal is seated on a ccmfortable, stately, churchman's
mule, and wears his hat and glcves, while the severeigns
ride with their hands uncevered, Behind, there is a fierce
following of knights and men-at-arms. Instead of waiting
on the plain, they are ascending the Hill of the Alhambra,
and have already reached the Gate of Justice, which is new
the main entrance ef the fortress, and has hardly changed a
whit in the three centuries. The towers of the Alhambra
fill the background ; the Torre de la Vela, or great watch-
tower, being conspicuous, with its lofty bell, as at the present
day. There is a train in Moorish dress, that sallies from
the Gate of Justice. Those behind, marching in ranks of
two, are said to be the Christian captives, whom Ferdinand
restored to home and faith. In front, a groom is holding the
white charger of BoabdU, who has left his saddle and is

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 327.
pffering the keys which Cardinal Mendoza stretches out his
hand to take.
Curious to investigate the matter soriiewhat further, 1
went upon a search after the Hermitage of St. Sebastian,
where, Mr. Irving says, in his Alhambra Sketch-Book, "a
tablet on the waU relates, that on this spot Boabdil surren
dered the keys of Granada to the Castilian sovereigns."
Following the Carrera of the Darro, till it reached the
Xenil, I crossed the latter river, and turning to the right,
went down a shady walk upon its banks, known as the
Alameda de los tristes — the Alameda of the sad. After
some ten minutes walking, we arrived at the Hermita,
which is just upon the margin of the stream, and probably
a mile from the Alhambra gate. It is a single square
chamber, whitewashed, with a spherical dome, and some
simple moldings whose mathematical combinations indicate
the Moorish artist. The ornaments and images were very
humble, and a sohtary lamp was burning before the altar
of the patron saint. A poor woman, who lodged in a portion
of the buUding, came dripping from her Washing-tub to let
us in, and pointed us, as we left, to where we might drop a
few cuartos, for the benefit of dead and hving. What a
comment ! Who would make holy wars, and conquer Pay-
nimrie, after that? There it was that the sovereigns had
knelt, in the proud flush of victory ; there the washerwoman
held their places ! Gonsalvo of Cordpva under a mat : Her-
nandp del Pulgar in a dark^neispme ccrner : Ferdinand and
Isabella descended to the suds! -- Mizraim cures wounds,
and Pharaoh is sold for balsams !"
The tablet of which Mr. Irving speaks, is a marble slab,
upon the outside of the mosque, but, Strange to say, instead
of teUing us that " on this spot" Boabdil yielded up his keys,
it foUows, to the letter, the story which is told by the carv
ings in the chapel. I quote it at fuU length,- as it is old
and curious, and give the original in the appendix.
"Muley BoaudeU, the last Moorish king of Granada,

323 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
having given up the keys pf this said city,, on Friday, the
second day of January, 1492, at three in the afternoon, at
the gate of the Alhambra, to our Catholic monarchs Don
Fernando V. of Aragon, and Dona Isabel of CastUe, after
777 years that this city had suffered the Mahometan yoke,
from the loss of Spain, which happened en Sunday, 1 1th
pf Npvember, 714;. the said Catholic king sallied cut to
take leave ef the afere-mentiened Jfoaudeli, as far as this
sppt, formerly a mosque, of the Moors and then erected into
a Hermitage of St. Sebastian, where the glorious ccnquerer
and his army gave thanks to God our Lord ; tlje choir
of the royal chapel sounding the te Deum, and the standard
of the Faith, fluttering, the while, uppn the Torre de la
Vela ; in memery whereef, at the aforesaid heur, the plegaria
(pr bell for prayer) is seunded from the Cathedral, and
plenary indulgence is ebtained by saying three Pater npsters*
and three Ave Marias."*
If this tablet and the bas-reUef have teld the story right,
the gateway ef the Torre de los siete Suelos, which Mr.
Irving deems the one through which the vanquished moriarch
passed, must lese its feme again, and Mateo's legend be
henceforward., held more full of pleasantness than history.
In Eockhart's version- of the " Flight from Granada,"' he
speaks, the reader will remember, ef the heur,
" — when the sun was going down,"
as that at which
" One king goes in, in triumph — one, weeping, goes away."
The original ballad is not in any ofthe Romanceros to which
I have access, but unless the translator has taken a liberty for
the sake of the. verse, the poet seems to contradict, the chroni
clers, on whose authority we are told, in the " Conquest of
Granada," that the surrender happened in the early morning.
But enough of chronicle and ballad for the present.
When I reached Granada, the feast of Corpus Christi was
* Appendix IV.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 329
at hand, as I have said. As we passed through the Square
of Vivarrambla,. on the night of our arrival, we saw the
scaffolding erected, which was to bear the splendid decora
tions for the ceremonial in the open air. It happened,
however, that on the very day when we were plodding our
dusty way from Malaga, the Granadinos had been foUow
ing the example of their SevUle brethren, and had taken to
themselves a trifling bread-revolution, for amusement. The
demonstration being formidable, the authorities deemed it
most prudent to dispense with the usual processions through
the streets, and thus, the good people from a distance, who
had come to celebrate the feast, were forced to be devout at
church or not at aU. After a few days, the apprehension
of further disturbances having ceased, it was announced,
that on the last day of the octave of Corpus, there would
be some show of a procession ; not, of course, as grand as
usual, but something to make the season pass after the ac
customed fashion.
When I went out, between five and six of the appointed
afternoon, the Plaza de Vivarrambla (then the Plaza de la
Constitucion!) and the old narrow Moorish street, the Zaca-
tin, which leads to it, had all their balconies hung with silks
and damasks, muslins and calicoes, according to the means
of the proprietors. The procession was to pass that way,
and all the world had put its best foot foremost. The
Granadian fair were fining the balconies, and the Plaza
was aheady crowded. I went to the Cathedral then, and
found the doors aU fastened open ; great numbers of the
people hurrying to and fro. The day was bright and fine,
and the effect of the light through the stained windows of
the apsis1 was exceedingly magnificent. The whole build
ing, indeed, had a grander effect upon the occasion than I
witnessed before or afterward. The aisles were thickly
strewn with fragrant herbs. Innumerable lights were burn
ing round the Host, and the organ and the choir were in full
sound. Here and there, the standards and insignia, which

330 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
were to be used in the procession, were resting against the
-walls and columns, and hosts of ecclesiastics in their vest
ments and choir-boys in their surplices, were making their
arrangements. The church was converted into a promenade.
Men and women were not permitted to walk and talk within
the walls together (as an occasional placard informed us) —
a. strange prohibition certainly, but
"The sun, no doubt, is the prevailing reason!"
Nevertheless, groups, of the same sex, were gathered or were
walking here and there, chattering and laughing precisely as
upon the Alameda. Now and then, little cofonies of ladies,
seated on the floor after the fashion and in the posture of the
East, occupied the front of some chapel or other, and let the
men pass in review : receiving, with no protection but their
fans, the gaze which, in those latitudes, is a good, sound, in
vestigating stare. My friends and I went round and round,
till we had seen, or rather looked for aU the beauty. I can
not say of the sweet Granadinas, what- their sisters of Seville
and Cadiz deserve so Well. The city, on the whole, is stronger
in romance than loveliness.
Having paid our tribute, thus, to holy church — according
to the custom of the place at least — we used" our eyes along
the balconies, as seemed to be expected. Then, finding
chairs at a shop-entrance, on the Zacatin, we waited till
the functionaries came along. First, marched a squadron
of well-appointed cavalry : then came a train of boys and
men, bearing wax candles, lighted, and after them the
religious associations of the different parishes, with badges,
insignia, and banners. The clergy from the Cathedral fol
lowed, preceded by a band, not very large or musical. In
the center of their body was the Hest, beneath a silver
temple, not, however, the great custodia of the Cathedral.
It stood upon a platform richly hung with velvets and
borne upon the shoulders of men, who were concealed by the
drapery. Next came the captain-general in rich uniform,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 331
glittering with crosses, sashes, arid ribbons, and accompanied
by the Alcalde and Jefe politico. Then foUowed a fine
military band, heading a detachment of infantry, and another
admirable body of light cavalry, superbly mounted, finished
the procession. The clergy chanted as they marched, and
the crowd uncovered and knelt, as the Host passed them :
yet I am bound to say, that the whole -demeanor of the
procession and the crowd was the least reverent thing I saw
in Spain. The vestments and paraphernalia were not very
brilliant, for, as I have said, the ceremonial was only an
apology for something better. Yet there was one feature
which was both appropriate and beautiful. Banners, crosses,
all, were' wreathed and garlanded with fresh bright flowers,
and the platform of the Host was strewed with them, in
exceeding richness and abundance.
Devotional as this procession was meant to be, it seems
that, in the olden times, it had on one occasion a very strange
consequence, in the shape of an angry and protracted law
suit. Manuel showed me an old parchment-covered volume,
of large dimensions, containing the history of the pleyto,
which lasted for many years, and went the rounds of all.
the courts, involving the important question of precedence
between the archbishop and the civil corporation of Granada.
The prelate claimed the immemorial right 6T having a large
chair carried in the procession, and of seating himself, at
every halt, while the iUustrious ayuntamiento were stand
ing. There- was the further coflateral point, as to whether
the archbishop, if he sate at aU, could legaUy and constitu-
tionaUy sit "with his back to the authorities ! Upon these
grave matters there was long, learned, and awful contro
versy, in which the Pope was appealed to, as the record-
shows, without any satisfactory result. The matter, if I
remember aright, was finally compromised, by allowing the
chair to be carried outside the procession, and by the arch
bishop's consenting to sit at a decorous angle — not as a matter
of right, but of politeness !

332 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
Speaking of the appearance of the military, I may here
observe, that the commentaries made by former travelers upon
the equipments and appointments of the Spanish soldiery,
were not by any means accordant with the state of things I
found. The best troops I had seen elsewhere, had no advant
age- of appearance over some of those in Spain. This had
been the case, I learned, for some two or three years back,
and the impulse to the improvement of the army was given,
I was told, by General Narvaez. Their pay was regular —
their uniforms were neat and well provided ; their arms
according to the last improvements, and their cavalry cap
itally mounted and equipped. In fine, the army was, as
they say, sobre un pie mwy brillante — (upon a very brilliant
footing) — so that even the Alhambra, once garrisoned by
gaunt and shabby invalids, was guarded then, by fresh, well
got-up troops. The militares were in great demand, I
heard, in the politer circles of the city, but from what I
learned on all • hands, the tone ef spciety, intellectual and
moral, was much below a creditable standard. Of intellect
ual pursuit, indeed, there was comparatively little, the Ala
meda, the opera, and the cafe, being the chief resorts of the
Senoria, or gentlemanship of Granada. Industry scarcely
existed to any valuable extent. , The Vega, whose astonish
ing, prolific vegetation — wheat, barley, hemp, flax, and all
sorts of grain and pulse— rstruck me with worider, as I rode
across it, seemed to give no impulse to its idle mistress, and, as
I was informed, pride, poverty, and aU the shifts to which they
lead, made up the back-ground of domestic privacy through
out the thriftless town. My information on the subject was,
I think, authentic and intelligent, yet as it was but hearsay
(though from natives), it-is fair to, add, that the Viajero en
Granada tells quite a different story. It takes great credit
to the city for its cultivated and refined society, and enumer
ates, besides, a number of literary and scientific institutions,
which it especiaUy cpmmends.
In front pf my hptel, there dwelt a learned Theban, whe

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 333
taught the rudiments of grammar, or primeras letras, as he
phrased it. His sign announced him in a manner which, I
fear, spoke UI for the discrimination of his enlightened and
literary feUow-citizens. He was, it said, the inventor of a
silabario, which shortened the teaching of reading, and besides
being analytical and exact, had the recommendation of hav
ing- been tried by its author ! — (" Analitico esacto y esperi-
mentado por su autor !") I hope he meant that he had
tried it upon other people, not upon himself.

CHAPTER XXX.
Mr. Irving and the Alhambra — Mateo Ximenez — Tne Gate and Square
of Vivarrambla — Casa del Carbon — The Alhambra — The Towers
of Justice and la Vela — Exterior and Interior of the Moorish
Palace — Lodgings within the Alhambra Jurisdiction — The Gener-
alife — Boabdil and his Portrait — Boabdil's Queen and the Abencer-
rage — View from the Silla del Moro — Ole Bull: — Moorish Antiqui
ties — their Condition and the Reasons — Parallel cases in England
and Scotland — Shilling Exhibitions — John Knox and the Altar-piece
of Queen Mary.
Since Irving wrote of the Alhambra, nothing has been
left to tell. The traveler who wandered through the silent
halls before, missing the beauty, wealth, and kingly follow
ing which once filled them with Eastern magnificence and
pride, now feels that they are desolate no more. The genius
and sweet fancy of our countryman have peopled court and
chamber once again, and every garden, hall, and tower, has
its legend or its pleasant memory. It is, as if some Arab
artist, of great Yusuf 's time, had visited the glimpses of the
moon, and touched the faded tracery with all the magic of
his olden pencil. . Renowned Mateo, too, is there, to greet
you with his treasures of garrulous romance : and you may
listen, or may read his master's pages, till the visions of the
twilight grow so thick around you, that you sigh, almost as
deeply as the Moor, to leave them.
I had not the good luck to take Mateo for my guide,
though such, of course, had been my wish. Bensaquin had
forestalled him, as I have related, and my sickness had con-
firmed the chance. Mateo called to see me, notwithstand
ing, while I was lying ill, and told me, that as he had heard
I was a caballero Americano, and quite sick, he had come
to place himself at my disposal. Ford says, that he is " a

GLIMPSES-OF SPAIN. 333
chattering blockhead," but from what I saw, I should take
him for a kind- and simple creature, full cf good-wiU, gppd
mempry, and faith in his own legends. He probably is npt
farnUiar with the Phcenioian derivatiens, tp which Mr. Ferd
reduces all things Andalusian, and yet I think it more than
likely that his stories are in better harmony with the sweet
spirit cf the place, than if they had been taken from the class
ics. Mr. Ecrd, seems, by-the-by, to have been quite in an ill
humor with Mr. Irving.'s hero and heroines. The Tia An
tonia, se weU known to aU readers of the " New Sketch-
Book, " was a " cross and crabbed" wench, he says, who
went by another name : and in order to prove it, he shows
that the person he speaks of was expeUed from the Alham
bra, in 1827, two years before Mr. Irving went there. The
charming Uttle Dolores, he adds, was " iU-favored and mer
cenary," but, as the person whom he took her for, was a
contemporary of his imaginary Tia, there is every reason to
suppose that he knew as much of .the one as of the other.
What manner of man must he be, who would take such
pains to disenchant Dulcinea del Toboso, into plain Aldonya
Lorenpo !
As I have said, the Pastry-cook's Hotel was but a few
paces from the Gate of Vivarrambla. , That ancient, storied
structure, is now buUt into the dwellings alongside, so that
you pass through an humble archway immediately over the
street, with a lofty horse-shoe arch walled up, above, and
windows, roof, and chimneys, on the top pf it. Rpberts'
drawing, in the Landscape Annual for 1835, is a fac-simile
of its present grotesque appearance. From this ppint, up to
the Alhambra, you pursue the reute Beabdil foUpwed when
they told him that Alhama had been taken.
" From Elvira's gates to those
Of Vivarrambla, on he goes,
* * ' * *
Through the street of Zacatin,
To the Alhambra spurring in."

336 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN;
Crossing the Place of Vivarrambla, and following the narrow
Zacatin, with- its shops, booths, and awnings, you reach a
smaU area called the Plaza Nueva, with the stately build
ings of the Chancilleria on one side. Upon your right,
another narrow street makes up the bill. It is the calle de
los GomeleS, of which I have already spoken, and conducts
you, directly, to the Gate of the Pomegranates. If you
choose to deviate a little from your course, toward the Darro,
you may see some trifling relics of the ancient bridge, under;
which the companions of Hernando del Pulgar concealed
themselves, during a part of the glorious adventure of the
Ave Maria. Not far off, you wiU find alsd the Casa del
Carbon, or coal-house, as they caU it now, a- magnificent
but ruined specimen of Moorish art, supposed by some to
have been the post-house of BoabdU, but which appears from
later investigations, to have been the dwelUng of some Moor
pf high repute, who, with his friends, was sallying out and
met Pulgar and his companions, after they had finished their
exploit at the mosque.
On the right of the hill, above you as you enter the
Alhambra precincts, are the famed VermUion Towers — for
midable places, once, for warriors. When I saw them, they
Were only armed with fishing-rods, which had been fastened
on the battlements and flung their Unes and baited hooks
into the air, anglirig for martlets and swaUows ! Instead
of foUowing the broad, central walk of the Alhambra gardens,
you may take a steeper and nearer way to the left, which
leads you to the fortress. This seems to have been the
path by which BoabdU went away, according to the bas-
reliefs. Passing a fountain, built by Charles V., and covered
with "Plus ultra," you turn another angle toward the left,
and, still ascending, find yourself before the Tower of Justice.
This beautiful and stately structure, with its mysterious sym
bols ofthe hand and key, of course attracts your wonder. When
Mr. Irving entered it, first, the guard of lazy invahds lay
sleeping on their benches. All was wide awake when we

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 33?
went up, and from the Caliph's balcony above there fluttered
garments in the breeze, which told us, clearly, that the com-
andante had his com&ndantc, and that- the Alhambra, in its
change of rulers, had got under an unmentionable government
at last. The entrance was as tortuous as if it had been con
structed on the common-law principles of arriving at the
object which gives- the tower its name, and when we were
through it, we found ourselves in a long lane, with Ho ap
parent turn to it, which looked very much' like Chancery.
It ended, at last, upon' our reaching what is called the Wine
Tower. On the left were several towers, the chief whereof
—the Torre de-la Vela — beats, as I have said, a lofty bell,
with which, as with the watch-bell at Valencia, they regulate
the irrigation of the Vega. The view of the 'surrounding
country from the. watch-tower is said to be magnificent, but.
the captain-general, fearful that some malcontent might sound
the tocsin, had given orders that no one should be permitted
to ascend it. Turning to the right, around the Wine Tower,
you see before you the splendid roofless " palace, built by
Charles V. -Its stately, classic architecture and rhagnificent
medaUions would, win ypu, elsewhere, te admire and linger,
but there is an humble postern, in a paltry wall behind it,
and you hasten thither. You ring — they open- — and you
Stand within the Court of Myrtles ! "
No doubt, in spite of reading otherwise, most people have
their notions of the Alhambra, made out of minarets and
marbles, gold, and fretwork. The exterior, as you draw near
it, makes away, most sadly, with such fancies. Square
towers,, of dusky red, with pointed roofs of heavy, graceless
tiles — long somber walls; monotonous and dreary^are the
dull realities that overlay your dreams. You have seen, per
haps, however," from some Genevan workshop, a rustic look
ing box, which flying open when! a spring is touched, sends
forth a bird as radiant in its plumage as the Phasnix, its jew
eled throat swelling with, richest melody ! Not unlike, but
more cunning still is the Alhambra. -Enter and' see !
P

338 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
The Ceurt of Myrtles, called, besides, the Court of the
Fishpond, has in its center a deep, copious lake, whose sides
are shaded with roses, cypresses, and. myrtles. You enter at
the upper end of the inclosure, and, beneath a. gallery, with
columns and high arches that seem scarce heavier than the
air, yeu cross into a serf pf ante-chamber, which ppens On
the Court cf Ltons. Far dpwn, and filling up the lewer
portion of the Court of Myrtles; there is another gaUery,
behind whose slender pillars you, may see the lofty entrance
to the Hall of the Ambassadors, in the grand tower of Co-
mares — -the splendid presence-chamber of the Moor. The
Court of Lions every one has seen described or painted.
Its columns and arcades ; its arabesques, and even its Arabic
verses, are as familiar to the world, five thousand miles
away, as Trajan's Column, pr the Arch of Titus. The
Hall of the Abencerrages, with its blppdJstained pavement —
the Hall ef Justice, with its .quaint eld pictures — the "Hall
of the Two Sisters, with its matchless dome — 'who that
knows any thing of Spain needs to be, told of them? The
antiquarians have speculated sagely as to the -violation
ofthe 'Koran by .the Moors, in making graven images of
beasts; to. bear the basin of the magic fountain. Alas!
they are. called Upns, but. they look like dOgs in armor ; and
if the sculptor's sin were only in .proportion to the like
ness he achieved, he rests in Paradise, with Houris round
him !
From the Hall of the Two Sisters, they take you' to the
Bower of( Lindaraja. Thence, a long gallery conducts you to
the. Toilet of the Queen, where, from the .balcony, ycu have
a perfect view^ef the Albaycin cr old. city. Next, yeu
descend into- the baths, passing the discreet statues ef Lope
Sanchez, with averted faces looking after hidden treasures.
In the " Sola, del Descanso," where the princes rested after
the pleasures ef the bath, ypu top may take yeur slumber if
you list, for it is fresh and fragrant, and the. light which
struggles down through star-shaped openings in the roof,

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 380
invites you to enjoy fhe drowsy murmurs of the water, and
the marble purity through which it flows. Like a good
Mussulman, you seek the mosque, after your ablution^, and
next, by a fine corridor which opens on the Court-yard of the
Myrtles, you find your way into the Hall pf the Ambassa
dors. You have then made the circuit of the Alhambra —
the ring, round which more fairies revel, than any other out
of Queen Titania's realm.
Tha presence-chamber isaspacious, magnificent apartment.
It is square, with a high four-sided dome of the richest and
most varied inlaid wood-work. - In the thickness of the im
mense wall of the tower, they have made three little alcoves
or chambers, on each side of the haU, Each of these has
its.- window, of, a single ot double arch, with smaller archeB
above, aiftdi the ceilings are of rich stucco, or wood highly
carved and inlaid, , • The arabesques, upon the waUs of the
principal apartment, are of the choicest, arid in perfect
preservation, so that the centp d'asil is ravishing. Even ther
corredor which leads to it ; the archway ef the entrance ;
the ceilings and stalactite-looking pendents which adorn
them ; the little niches for the slippers, just eutside ; the
colonnade and fretwork, and marble pavement ;_;-al'l are full
pf that magnificent detail, which weU befitted' a luxurious
mpnarch's most luxurious chamber. Yet, aU its splendors
— saving Only the gorgeous landscapes upon which" its, win
dows-open — were without the charm to. me of the delicious
Bower of Lindaraja. You pass to this, from the Hall of the
Two Sisters, Its eeiling is of open wood-work, and the
marble windows,, with their columns curdled from the snow,
look out on Lindaraja-'s garden. Its arabesques, of the most
choice 'and graceful patterns, are traced upon, a ground of
blue and crimson, and the tiles, which shine, beneath them
on the waljs, are as elaborate and beautiful as painted ivory.
The presence-chamber illustrates the Moor's magnificence :
the bower tells us the story of his loy.es. It is not strange
that we should Uke the latter, best. Few .men are -kings or

340 GLIM-PSES OF SPAIN.
hppe tp be": mest men have had a Lindaraja, er still hope
to have.
It does not interest the. reader to be told, how often, at
morning, noon, and twilight, a sick man trifled with himself
in visiting these haunted scenes. I can not avoid, thinking
that if the doctor's black tisana had been nothing hut pure,
sparkling water from the famous fountain of the Avellana,
my anxious curiosity would have made it, for the time, as
efficacious, as if the talisman of Saladin had been dropped
into it. Nevertheless, I felt, and sadly, too, the physical
debility which more than once gave leaden feet to pleasure,
even among wonders such as were arourid'me. Mpstpf all;
it annpyed me by defeating the pleasant scheme I had, Of
taking up my residence iri the Alhambra. I realized this,
especially, crie -charming afternoon, when visiting the Prussian
artist I had met at Ronda. He had come, "of course, to add
to his port-folio, and had fixed himself as near as might be
to the center of attraction. His -dwelling was a beautiful
old Moorish house, within the inclosure ofthe fortress. We
entered it, through a luxuriant garden, almost overflowing
with the purest water from the hills.- He had six or seven
rooms, with chamber furniture and service, for which he
paid the inordinate amount of two pesetas (forty cents) a day.
The chambers Were adorned with arabesques, and the win
dows with arches and cplumns, of the same style ¦ and ap
parently the same date, as thqse of the Alhambra. We saw
the sunset en the mpuntains, from the balcony of the -little-
torre which was amcng his treasures, and I could not avoid
feehng, more than ever in my life, the beauty and the truth
of that philosophy, which, without running into pastorals,
still teaches the charm, both intellectual and moral; of a life
given, half at least, to nature. The Spaniards have de
scribed it often^--and none better — as all will say, who read
and understand the " Que descansada vida /"
of Leon.

GLJMPSES OF SPAIN. 341
-The Generalife is worth a journey, almost as well as the
Alhambra. Instead of turning to the left, on entering the
Gate pf the Pomegranates,- you follow the central avenue of
the gardens. Ascending the hill, you reach the Torre de los
siete Suelos, whence Mr. Irving thinks Boabdil made his exit,
and which the French pleasantly blew up when they made
theirs. You wiU find a charming little carmen or cottage
of entertainment there, efribowered in roses, myrtles, and
pomegranates, where, at the season of my visit, they had
strawberries, rnUk, and wine,- for those who had no fear of
doctors. A ten minutes' walk carried us to another car
men, by the side of which we turned abruptly to the left,
into a stony, jugged defile. -Upon our right, as we went
down, it, was a hill, covered with trees of deep, rich
foliage, and on the other side we had the walls and towers
of the Alhambra. We passed the Torre de las. Infantas,
where the three heautiful princesses, Zayda, Zorayda, and
Zorahayda, were confined by their stern father, as is told
in Irvirig's tale, and I measured, with wondering eyes, the
height of that blest window, from which the happy pair who
fled came down the silken ladder to their Christian cavaliers.
Having gone -to a considerable distance down the glen — now
crossing and then wandering along the Uttle stream, which
murmured as we stirred its pebbles — we took a short turn.
up the hiU upon our right, and after cUmbing a bad path
way, with loose stones and unromantio dungheaps all about
it, we knocked at -the rustic gate of the Generalife. A
brown-skinned, executive-looking matron — arrived at that
period, of life when ladies sometimes acquire a fondness for a
narrative style — opened the gate, and after some ..parley,
led us through a .cool, low court, where a few upward steps
placed us among the marvels.
The garden is not extraordinary for Granada, though in
itseffa most delightful spot. A rapid stream of bright water
rushes through its midst, and green arbors,, with a sweet
Uttle high-domed summer-house in their center, rise above

342 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
brilliant flower-beds, with hedges of myrtle, and scattered
cypress: Upon the. left, as you go up -the walk, there is a
long, open gallery, With light columns and graceful arabesques,
Which gives you a superb view of the- city and the Vega. -
Midway the garden, is the little ancient mosque, now made
a chapel ; but the attractive building is the pavilion, which
fills the upper extremity of the inclosure. There is a sort
of peristyle to this, the piUars, arches, and open arabesques
of which are in the airiest taste. Two or three steps conduct
you thence into the chief apartment, with rich inlaid ceiling,
and walls elegantly ornamented. There are alcoves pn the
right ahd left of this, which are devoted to the portraits. In
the former are Ferdmand arid Isabella,' an apocryphal- Gon
salvo de Cordova, and some of the profanum vulgus of the
later kings. The other chamber holds the portraits of Boab
dil and his father, together- with that of a certain Cidi Hiaya,
a Moorish prince baptized at Santa Fe, to whom the pedi
gree of the proprietor, the Marquis of Campotejar, is traced
back, 'in a huge tree pf genealegy which hangs between
Muley Hacen' and the Rey Chico. , •
Much has been said' of poor Boabdil's pprtraif, by gppd
pee'ple who read fortunes after they have been made feet,
and who see, in the features of the urihappy prince, clear
signs of the vices which the legends have ascribed te him*
and aU the weaknesses te which his downfall' is attributed.
The picture, whether it be from life or fancy, is the best of
the collection. It represents a man, some forty years of age,
and the face is full of character and interest. A profusion
of long, fair hair is falling on the shoulders, and the complexion
and beard are light, as of one northern-born. The features,
though prominent, are handsome, and the expression is soft,
affectionate, and sad. The crown rests still upon the placid,
noble brow, and well becomes the dignity of the whole sub
ject. -It is such a picture as you look at over and again,
till the melancholy eyes seem to follow yours.
Passing through a door upon the -right of the pavilion, we

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 343
Went into another smaller garden, whose waters nourished a
•luxuriant growth of roses, myrtles, cypresses, and oleanders.
A huge, eld, fofty cypress in the midst, is famed as the
traditienal and guilty trysting-tree ef Albin Hamad the
Abencerrage, and Beabdil's queen — two very werthy peeple,
villaineusly slandered, there is new no doubt, by poets and
romancers. Perez de Hita, who knew all about it, says
they told their, love-tale in the shadow of a rose-tree.
How it has become a cypress, Mateo Ximenez can, perhaps,
explain. A flight of steps went upward from this fated
spot, and then we found ourselves upon the hiU-side, where
a steep, ascending path led to the Moor's Seat — the Silla del
Moro. When BoabdU went there, as the legends say, to
gaze on his revolted city, there were buildings of some note
about him ; the French have paid their visit since, and there
is nothing left, of course, but ruin.
From the brow of the hiU, the spectacle, is really mag
nificent. . The city proper and the Albaycin Shelve out, far
down below you, and you see, across a green ravine, the
towers arid tiles of the Alhambra, giving small token of the
fairy treasures lying hid beneath them. In the opposite
direction, on the summit of another hill, there is a stately
edifice, "devoted to some purposes of learning or religion, and
beneath its WaUs, along the steep .descent, you discover, among
the fields of prickly pear, the entrances to caves, where dweU
large numbers' of the gipsies and the poorer people. Looking
toward the west, you see, or in fair weather ought to see, the
towers of Loxa, thirty miles away among the gorges. I envy
the good eye-sight of the travelers who are so lucky,, but I
hold one very hard to please, who is not satisfied with what
he has, within the round of undisputed vision. Glistening,
in -the center of the Vega, are the spires of war-built Santa
Fe, surrounded by a very Canaan pf fertility and verdure.
Oranges, lemons, citrons, and fig-trees cover the declivities
beneath yeur feet., and if yeu see them at the seasPn pf my
visit, ypu will be dazzled by the scarlet blcsspms pf the prod-

344 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
igal pomegranate,, when the splendor ofthe noon is on them.
The Vega is threaded by the silver Xeml; and a thousand
streamlets and canals. Scattered all about it (a novel thing
in Andalusia) are white- farm-houses, which give hfe and
perspective — breaking into measure the long lines of green
abundance, which the eye follows till they fade among the
rugged hills. Toward the south and east, the giant summits
cf .the Sierra Nevada seem challenging the summer with
their snow, while on the other side, the wild, isolated Sierra
de Elvira stands out, as if the hills had moved it forward
as their sentinel or vanguard on the plain. Over the little
village of Alhendin, to the south, rises, desolate and sad, the
hill to Which Boabdil's ".windy suspiration" gives its name —
the " Last Sigh of the Moor." Ayxa, the monarch's mother,
taunted him,. they tell us, when he looked behind him from
that spot, for weeping, as a woman, over what he had not
guarded as a man ! Unless the story-tellers have belied the
dowager, she was a most unconscionable shrew,' and, like all
women, in the Moslem faith, had certainly no soul. Hard
was the heart which did net swell to bursting, and tearless
were, indeed, the eyes which did not overflow, at leaving
such a realm forever ! ' Heroic speeches are a very current
ccin, in which eld women, even, can be rich.- Charles V.
said nobly, that had he been Boabdil, he would rather have
been huried under the Alhambra's walls, a king, than have
been throneless in the Alpujarras. • And yet his majesty
spun out his life within a cloister, trying, in vain, to make
old watches run alike !
While I was looking round about me from the hill-top,
Mateo mounted to the Silla, convoying no less famed a per
sonage than Ole Bull ! The " Legend of the Rose of the
Alhambra" came at once into my memory, arid how the
magic strings of sweet Jacinta's silver lute descended, through
long years, to Paganini's fiddle ! Was there no error in the
story ? Had not the renowned Cremona come again, with
Paganini's rival, to make music by the fountain where the

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 345
gentle Zorahayda's spirit dwelt ? I commit the question to
the Historical and Antiquarian Society of Granada — if there
be one.
Though the Moorish relics are not in the condition which
a lover of art would wish, I found them, certainly, far less
-defaced and ruined than I had anticipated, There has been
a great deal of exaggeration on this subject, and considering
the many wars and changes which have persecuted Spain,
since Ferdinand and IsabeUa's time, I think it wonderful
that what We see has-been so well preserved. I have already
alluded, in another place, to the reproaches which are lavishly
bestowed upon the Spaniards', by some travelers, . for their
neglect of things of art. With reference to Moorish art,
especiaUy, the' charge is oftenest made, and in the v Hand
book," for example, the, changes are rung on it, through a
whole chapter on "the. decay of the Alhambra." In that
place, Ford, who should know better, belabors the good anti
quarian Ponz, for ^counseling his countrymen to rid them
selves " de los resabios de los Moros :" as if that learned
writer had said, or meant to say, that they should level all
things -Moorish. . The phrase, as quoted, simply means
" blemishes of the Moors/' and any one who knows what
Moorish cities are— with narrow, tortuous streets, and low,
ill-looking houses — must feel the taste and wisdom of the
antiquarian's anxiety to have such " blemishes" removed.
That many of the Moorish monuments should have been
mutilated, at the season of the conquest, and neglected after-
Ward, is far from strange, when we remember that the war
was one of race and of religion — the victory a triumph of
the Faith, after -centuries of bloody and vindictive strUe. In
England and in Scotland, the triumph of one Christian creed
over another was followed by devastation a thousandfold
more barbarous, though, in the same proportion, less pro
voked. "--Ghurches and sepulchers," says Macaulay, " fine
works of art and Curious remains of antiquity, were brutally
defaced. The Parhament resolved that all pictures in the

346 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
royal, collectiori which contained representations of Jesus, or
of, the Virgin Mother, should he burned. Sculpture fared as
ill as painting. Nymphs and Graces, the work of Ionian
chisels, were delivered over to Puritan stone-masons to be
made decent." There are ruins aU through Britain, and
traces in the proudest temples there, to show that there is
truth as well as poetry in the melancholy picture . which
" The Abbot" paints, of the desolate and desecrated magnifi
cence of Kennaquhair. You may still see, at Holyrood, an
altar-painting which Queen Mary prized, and which, they
say, was broken by John Knox's, hand.- There is not 'a
scrap of Koran in the Alhambra, mutilated like it. When
I was in York, an enterprising lady stored ale- and stout in
the cloisters of St. Peter's ancient Hospital : and what was
left of proud St. M-ary's Abbey — after they had partly pulled
it down, to build a county -prison with the stones, was in
keeping far more wretched thari Oven the Casa del Carbon:
And more than all, and to the Spaniard's credit be it said —
though he may whitewash his antiquities,' sometimes, he does
not ask as many shillings as some others do, .-to let you see
them. Mellado recently says in his Guide-book, that a good
description ofthe Alhambra would be " a safe speculation."
"Thus," says Mr. Ford, "the poetry of the Moorish Alham
bra is coined into the -Spanish prose of profitable pesetas .'"
For the English '.'-prose" of the " Hand-book," reader, you
pay one pound ten ! — not- a farthing more than it is worth,
I grant you, but quite enough, one would suppose, to coun
tenance a native " speculation"" like it. It may be, however,
that a sound morality, as well as wise political economy, de
mands that guide-books, like cottons, should all be purchased
from the, stranger !

CHAPTER XXXI.
Return to Malaga — A Midnight Adventure, showing the Value of a
wise Wife — Loxa — Golmenar — Descent to the Coast — Voyage to
Gibraltar — Population of Gibraltar — Its Situation — The Alameda
and Scare-crow Statuary — Fortifications — English and Spanish Sol
diers — British Officers and the Siege of Vera Cruz — Contraband
Trade — Shamlessness of it — Its De'erea«e — Lord Brougham ahd the
Canada Frontier — Views about Gibraltar — Military Funeral — Penin
sular Steamer — Cadiz — Lisbon — Oporto— iGeneral Concha and the
Spanish Intervention — Vigo — Spanish Beef — The Gallego and his
Province. The heats of the midsummer are peculiarly intense about
Madrid, and after a fortnight at Granada, I began to feel,
that, if I purposed to avoid them, it was necessary to be up
and doing. I took my place, accordingly, in one of the dil
igences for the capital, intending, after a moderate stay there,
to pass into the northern provinces, and spend some time,
especially, in Biscay. But, on the eve of my proposed de
parture, renewed indisposition threatened to break- up my
plans. My friends protested that I could not bear the- heat
and labor of so long a journey, and the doctor sard that
U I undertook it, I would be more valiant than the Cid
himself — mas valiente que el Cid! Increasing illness
and debility soon turned the scale against me, bringing
to naught the hopes and wishes, cherished so long, and
which I had believed so near fulfillment. Only one who
has, himself; encountered such a disappointment, can esti
mate its bitterness, and if the reader should, at any time, in
cline to think that I have testified, after too brief experience,
of Spanish character and customs, he will be just enough, I
hope, to grant, that I had ail the will to see them further
and to judge them better.

348 GLIMPSES OF_SPAIN.
The -only safe direction for my travel, now, was home
ward, and as Malaga was the nearest sea-port, I crept, upon
the afternoon of June 14th, down to the " gondola acelerada"
which carried victims thither. The line of coaches professed
te be a new ene, and kept up, they said, a famous opppsition.
Our vehicle was a regenerated cmnibus, with a coupe pre
fixed. Three worthy merchants had crowded themselves
into this .latter, so that the whole of the back building was
divided between myself and a fatherly old gentleman who
took me under his protection. ¦' It lacked an hour or there
abouts, of sunset, when we dashed, with cracking whip, inte
the Vega. The roads were dusty in the extreme, although
the copious waters kept all the vegetation green and beauti
ful, and had it not been for the heavy rain-storm which
blessed us after night-fall, there is no knowing how many of
us would have suffocated. Romantic 'battle-fields do very
weU to read of, "and to see ; but when you_eome to breathe
'them in tlie -atmosphere, it is not well to have more soil
than air.' The city,- with its snow- White- buildings, more
beautiful from far than near, covering the hill-side and
crowned by the Alhambra, looked splendid and imposing in
the evening light. I can not say, however, that it saddened
me to catch the last faint glimmer on the Torre de Id Vela
or the solemn hills behind. I rather sank into my place,
rejoicing that I was already nearer, by some league or two,
to my long journey's end.
The night being dark and the road difficult, our prudent
mayoral, of course, had nothing with him to give light, except
some trifling candie-ends, which soon burned out and left us
to the instinct and the mercy of our mules. At about mid
night, we were startled by a sudden inclinaticn pf the car
riage te pne side — a shock, a halt, and then a vclley of such
oaths and "arre! '&" as would have moved the SierraNevada,
if they had been prayers: Our company forsook the ark at
once. It rained and was as black as Erebus. We were in
a slough, with a perpendicular, hill upon the one side, and a

GLIMPS-ES OF SPAIN. 349
gloomy precipice, indefinitely deep, yawning horribly and
darkly on the other; What was to_be done ? We were a
league or two from Loxa, and the nearest venta was " media
legua b cosa asi " (half a league off or something like it), as
the postilhon said — a most mathematical description of an
indefinite distance. For our consolation, we were told that we
were near a quondam robber-haunt, of great repute, and we
imagined, from the noise and shouting of our people, that they ¦
were nothing loth to let the footpads know our whereabouts.
Suddenly, the sound of horses' feet was heard, seemingly at
a full gaUop, and rapidly approaching down the hill. Nearer
it came, and nearer, and then — the Malaga post-boys rode
by us, offering no assistance. To extricate ourselves seemed
quite impossible, for we could not see precisely the nature
of our trouble. The mules,, wearied with vain pulling,
began to kick, for some variety, and our conductor and 'his
men swore louder and worked less as the confusion grew.
To take a night's rest on- the spot, seemed something of a
risk under the circumstances, but m'y companion and myself,
making a virtue of necessity, arranged ourselves upon our
cushions, notwithstanding. Suddenly the eld man started
up again,- with Caramba ! and voto a Dios ! saying that
he then remembered that his wife had counseled him, never
.to travel by night without a candle of his own, and that, if
he mistook not, he had brought the evidences of her prudence,
all the way from Madrid, in his pocket ! A shout of tri
umph announced the discovery. Every man, being a tobacco
smoker, produced his fosforo, on the instant, and the candle
was lighted and fixed upon the bank above us, in one of the
coach-lanterns. A few efforts, properly directed, reheved
us from our peril speedily, and our mule-beUs rang with joy,
as we went gaUoping, once more, upon our way. A blessing,
indeed, is a wise woman, and well saith the holy man, that
" her candle goeth not out by night !"
A substantial meal at Loxa, which by daylight would
have been a dinner, 6onsoled our company for their disaster

350 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
and delay ; and we continued on our journey through a driving
rain, Which lasted until late in -the next forenoon, when we
reached Colmenar, some five or six leagues from Malaga.
Day dawned upen the dreariest,, most wild and arid hills I
ever saw; whole mountains of bare, live rock; sharp, jagged
peaks, Uke those of Montserrat^a perfect picture of awful,
repulsive desolation. From Colmenar, the turnpike grew a
little better, and the hills disclosed sparse vineyards,_here and
there, with an occasional tall aloe by the ro.ad-side. Two
leagues from Malaga, the down-hill work began,, and we
could catch dim glimpses, now and then, of the blue sea.
The descent was entirely too rapid and exciting to' be at all-
tedious, even to a weary traveler. The angles were so sharp
——the precipices so perilous and rugged — the grades so steep
-and narrow — that even a man with his nerves in the best
erder, might have kept himself awake witheut exertien.
Npt pnly was the lever ef the mayoral called into constant
requisition, but now and then a wheel was chained? and we
went slipping, sliding, lurching, and creaking, on the brows
of giddy defiles, which would conveniently have given us a
thousand feet of rolling had we chosen to improve pur op
portunities. At last, however, we drove safely into Malaga,
and I was pnce mere snugly harbored, in the welcome Fonda
of the Alameda.
After two days rest, I continued my journey to Gibraltar
in a miserable .Uttle French steamer. -The Spanish steamers
enter always at Algezfras, on the Spanish side of Gibraltar
Bay, ancL-tc avoid the exposure ef an ppen beat across, I chOse
the Pourvoyeur, which was geing directly to the Reck, in
preference te the fine packet, the Gadilano, which was like
wise in the harber when I started. J had hardly been en
board ten minutes, when I repented ef my chcice, for the
cabin was exceedingly ccnfined and dirty, and every thing
on board was redolent of that peculiar odor, which seems
unhappily incident to French steam-navigation, so far as my
experience goes. It was eight 'O'clock when we weighed

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. , 351
anchor, and I could not see the outlines, of the genial city
fade from my sight forever, without something of fhe
sadness which clouds the parting from one's home. The
cordial welcome— ^the warm, simple hospitality — the will
ing services, so kindly tendered and bestowed — were things
a stranger does not meet with always, and can not easily
forget. '
The wind was heavily ahead, and I soon was driven
below. There were three greasy sofas and two berths, in
the foul den. A Spaniard, who was taking home his lately
broken leg, was stretched upon one sofa ; the French consul
from Malaga claimed title to another, and I asserted the
right of occupancy to the third. We had a desperate night
of it,' for the Uttle craft danoed like a cook-boat ; but our sick
friend . managed to keep up his spirits, and console his leg,
by constant reinforcements of .sausage and aguardiente — a
mode of treatment savoring, decidedly, of the Granada system
of sopa and jamon. It was half-past nine next morning,
wheft we anchored in Gibraltar harbor and • had the satis
faction of seeing the passengers of the Gaditano sweep by
us, in a felucca, with a bouncing breeze, while we were
waiting for the lazy health-officer. Finally, that dignitary
made his appearance, in an' open boat, and having taken our
papers with a pair of sfnaU tongs, as a man might handle
the seven deadly sins, gave us permission to enter till . the
evening gun-fire. The American- consul, being kind enough
to vouch for my trustworthiness and to give bond accord
ingly, the permit -was duly enlarged, and I had the freedom
of her Majesty's stupendous stronghold.
I was kept, eight days waiting in Gibraltar, for the de
parture of the Southampton steamer. No one, I suppose,
ever remained that length of time in the place, without some
special business or-absolute necessity; for it is hard to imagine
any spot less pleasant or attractive, in itseff Next in mag
nitude to the importance of its possession, must be, to John
BuU, -the ennui of keeping it ; and it is hardly to be won-

352 - GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
dered, that the sons of Mars who are condemned to dwell .
there, should comfort their hearts .and redden their faces-
with roast beef and sherry, and any and every thing else
exciting or, agreeable. To a stranger, and, one, especially,
from Spain, , the change of scene and customs is novel
and interesting for a little while. The Jews, in their dark
gabardines and caps — the _ Moors, whp stalk about, hand
some, reserved, and suUen — the Highlanders, with nodding
plumes — and the stout ',' red-coats," gathering at sound of'
drum and bagpipe — make up, all, a motley and strange crowd,
not easily seen elsewhere. In a day or two, however, you
have had enough of this, and when you have gone round. the
works, and taken some few strolls .about the Alameda, you
are a patient man, indeed, or very stupid, if you do not long
for change.
The town lies' crowded on fhe little slip of sand which- slopes
between the rock and sea. A long and narrow street runs
nesarly through the whole of it, and this embraces the chief
shops and business-places. . The rides and walks are either
down toward Europa Point, or, in the opposite direction, to
the Spanish lines. . The Alameda is putside the walls in the
direction ef the Peint, and has been cultivated with consider
able taste, i It lacks the heavy shade which 'the het -climate
seems so tc require, but is filled with pleasant walks, and,
beautiful parterres of flowers. , There is a statue of General
Elliott in the midst, which, I -have no doubt, has been the
means of preserving the gardens from the visitation of depre
dating birds ; or perhaps that happy result is due to a bronze
bust of the Duke of Wellington, which is in the same neigh
borhood ; both of these works- of art belonging to the class
elsewhere called "scare-crows," and sometimes "potato-
bogles." . Gibraltar, like all, Andalusia, has its air, at evening, full
of darting birds, which the English, there,, call " swifts ;"
ever on the wing, and twittering and gliding in myriads. If
they be the "temple-haunting martlet," what do they where

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 353
there are no temples, and the very houses are as bad as need
be ? - If they " - — do approve,
By their loved mansionry, that the Heaven's breath
Smells wooingly"
there, they have degenerated strangely ; for the air is ever
full of dust, strongly mephitic, and inclined to fishy smells !
In Spanish Andalusia — where they dwell about old churches,
and circle round gray, lofty towers, or fill the evening air
above the green paseos, or- make themselves merry where
the Moor was glad before them, in his day — there is some
reason in them, -and they do not bring discredit en their
family ? But in Gibraltar ? They are martlets, surely, net
of romance, but " progress" — birds of business, not of senti
ment ; working for their living like the Jews ; flying out to
hunt musquitoes ! Of nights, I trust they go out wisely
to the old Moorish fortress on the hiU, and sleep at villas,
like the cockney merchants. So should, at least, all reason
able creatures in Gibraltar, ^hat have wings and taste.
Although, in former times, it .was belieyed that all the art
of war had been exhausted on Gibraltar, they were still,
during. my stay, advancing rapidly with new and heavy
works. Indeed, it was impossible to look around you, with
out admiring the perfect, magnificent, and thorough style, in
which all things were done that had relation to defense.
Wealth, science, skill, and liberality were visible at every
turn. The chambers, hewn out of the solid rock, are won
derful as monuments of labor — though, perhaps, iU-spent, if
it be true, as is asserted, that the smoke and the reverbera
tion are almost as fatal to the garrison as the shot to the
enemy. The barracks, bomb and ball-proof, are of stone,
weU built, commodious and airy. The men, however, though
well-clad and clean, did not impress me as particularly mar
tial' in their bearing; excepting always the fine Highland
regiments, whose manly,-gallant style could pass unnoticed
nowhere. The Spanish peasant makes a prcuder-lppking

354 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
soldier than the Englishman. He has more lightness and
elasticity of muscle ; more spirit in his step ; more fire in his
eye. The 'English troops, however, that I saw,' must have
been raw recruits, for they were, many of them, very young,
and had not yet been caned, as usual, into a proper carriage.
Brandy was in too many ef their feces. Occasionally, as
you passed their barracks, you might see them, when off
duty, reading quietlys— a thing the Spanish soldier rarely
meddles with : but then . you met them, oftener, reeling
through the streets, an accident so rare among fhe Spaniards
that it may be said never to happen. The strange contrast
in this matter, was indeed one of the things that struck me,
first, on my arrival. During three months in Spain, I had
not seen more than three persons, I imagine, who had shown
signs of intemperance, in. drinking. During the first day at
Gibraltar, I certainly met. scores, whose eyes and noses bore
unquestionable evidence against them. There was a dram
shop within two doors of the office of the " Religious Tract
Society," and one of its- customers was leaning drunk against
the latter building, on the first day that I passed it !
Perhaps it is with reference to these habits, that the Brit
ish soldiers are so carefully protected from the sun. By
every sentry-box, where there is any thing like exposure, you
see a large, thick mat, or screen, raised on a staff, and plaeed
so that the soldier can, at all times; arrange himself a com
fortable shelter. The Spanish soldier, at the Lines, ha's no
such trouble taken for his health. He lights 'his cigarrito,
notwithstanding; shoulders his musket, and says " bien .'"
WeU for him is it that his rations are so frugal. The sun-
. shine bronzes him — the Briton dies of fever.
Of course, I had no opportunity of judging of the garrison,
except by whatl'saw in public. I was struck, however,
by an article I read, while at the Club-house, which gave
me new ideas with reference to the army of Great Britain.
It appeared editorially in the " Naval and Military Gazette"
of May 22. 1847, and proceeded after this wise. " Mor-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 355
als are tow in the army. There are few officers, and fewer
of those under them, who consider it disreputable to over
indulge in drinking, the coarse vices, &c. Two-thirds, at
least, of the officers in every corps, may be said to be men
without much education,- whose minds are uncultivated — who
seldom read and never study^— to whom, even the very- few
books required for learning their mUitary parade-duties are
sealed volumes." The writer then went on to recommend
a more rigid system of examination, and added, " By this
device we should no longer have young men joining regi
ments, unable to speU, or write the most ordinary letter,
ignorant of common arithmetic, and guUtless of geometry and
algebra !  Though there are some of the most accom
plished and best informed men to be found in the service,
they are the exceptions, which- prove the general remark
true:" The reader may imagine how strange such things appear
ed, to one who, but a week before, had read in the same
journal an article referring to the siege of Vera Cruz, in
which the editor observed — " Although our cousins across
the Water possess .bravery and have made much progress in
the art of war, chiefly from the instruction given to their
officers, they have not yet learned to fight like gentlemen !"
I could riot avoid thinking that oar red-coat " cousins" might
possibly be deemed odd judges of the soldier and the gentle
man, if their description of themselves were true. Journal
ists, however, are fond of ample generahties, and we may
charitably hope that there was quite as much exaggeration
in the British picture, as there was flippant arrogance in the
pert fling at Jenathan.
The Club-house, where I lodged, was near the water,
and just in front of the Exchange. Upon the open space,
between it and the' latter buildings the chief pubhc trafficking
went on ; and there, at early morning, you might hear the
voice and hammer of the auctioneer, and see the money-
hunting sons of Israel peering iij search of bargains. The

356 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
Commerce of Gibraltar, now however — though still contrast
ing- briskly with the slow movement of many of the Spanish
towns — has fallen far below its ancient mark. In fact, the
Rock .and all that thereon lies, are but a- huge contrivance
for the smugglers ; and since -the Spanish guarda-costas have
called in the aid of steam, arid the carabinero system has
been fully arid completely organized, there has been a check,
by land and water, which has closed large numbers of the
depots in Gibraltar, and sent the shrewd Ingleses to -the
safer, frontier of their .colony of Portugal.* The hardy ras
cals' in the Ronda Mountains. would sigh and toll you, when
I was .among them, that the times were very hard; and all
things going very much to ruin, :: No hay contrabando !"
they would say, "y que se hace?" (There is no smug
gling ! What's to be done ?)
I have already spoken of the British share in plundering
the revenue -and illegally stocking the markets of the Penin
sula — but the scandalous and open .violation of all national
decency, in that particular, about Gibraltar, is really so
heroic, as to deserve further notice. " Gibraltar," says Ford,
" is the grand depot for English goods, especially cottons, '
which are smuggled into Spain, along the whole, coast, from
Cadiz to Benidorme, to the great benefit, of the Spanish
authorities, placed nominally to prevent what they really
encourage. The south of Spain is thus supplied with as
much ef our wares as it is enabled to purchase. Ne treaty
ef commerce would much increase the consumption." Of.
the way in which the thing is done, Lord Londonderry gives ¦
the following modest and explicit account : — " The goods,"
he says, " are forced in, by scores of large and small smug
gling boats, who watch their time when the Spanish guarda-
* It is estimated that <f£375,000 annually, have been realized, of
late years, in Portugal, from duties on the British goods imported to
be smuggled into Spain. The. late reform in the Spanish tariff is eon-
sidered by the Portuguese as a death-blow to their revenue, inasmuch
as the English will now find it cheapest, to ship directly and honestly
to the Spanish ports.

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 357
costas are not on the alert ; steal from under the Reck, run
along the shore, and land their goods by previously planned
stratagems. If Chased, they retire under cover of Eirropa
Point, and our guns do not hesitate to fire on any Spanish
boat chasing within range of the fortress : our policy being,
to give every encouragement and protection to the smugglers !"
Iri the spring of 1844, a Spanish revenue vessel, in hot pur
suit of a contrabandist, was sunk by one of the Gibraltar
batteries. Assistance was sent out to her from the garrison ;
but the gallant officer who had command indignantly refused
all aid from those who had perpetrated the outrage. Several
of her crew were lost, and the affair created a very natural
excitement. After the decisions of the English eourts, that a contract
to defraud the revenue of a foreign country is sufficiently
moral to be enforced, while a similar contrivance, in viola
tion of their own system, is utterly unrighteous and abomin
able, there was not much to be hoped, certainly, from the
national comity in such matters. But, reaUy, that any
nation — after exhibitions, so public, practical, violent, and
shameless, as Lord Londonderry describes — should send mis
sionaries out, to preach free-trade on principles of univer
sal philanthropy, and expect to be beheved — does seem to
indicate a faith in the infinite expansibility of humbug,
which sets irfiagination at defiance ! . Lord Brougham has
recently had the candor, in the House of Lords, to avow
that the chief value of Canada to the mother country is de
rived frorri the facUities- which its ample frontier affords for
smuggling into the United States. AU honor to his Lord
ship's truthfulness ! It only remains for us to have an essay,
from the same noble and, philosophical hand, upon the differ
ence, in peint of "natural theology," between thieving, of the
sort which he defends, and what they eaU, in England, " Penn
sylvania ethics."
As Dr. Johnson said of Scotland, so it is true ef Gibraltar — -
the finest views in it are the views put. In the noble har-

353 GLIMPSES OF SPAIJSI.
bor, ,there are fleets .always at anchor, ships of the line and
cannon-belted-steamers lying among peaceful merchantmen —
the lion and the lamh ! Inland, beyond the lines, the Span
ish city of San Roque crowns a graceful hill. Opposite
Europa Point, you see. the lofty cliff of Ceuta, the twin
column of Hercules, its castle .readily distinguishable, when
the atmosphere is clear. Over the bay, directly opposite
tfie town, the white houses of Algeziras cluster- on the water's
edge. Up and down the Straits, innumerable vessels pass,.
and if you have a speculatiye turn, their comings and theii
goings will give you loops enough to hang your meditations
on. I remember how beautiful the scene appeared, one
breezy afternoon, when I followed a military funeral beyond
the'southern gate. The-nrocession passed, imposingly, along
the road Which skirts the batteries beside the sea-wall, and
as it drew more near the cemetery, I mounted to a high
point of the Alameda, whence the train was visible, across a
deep ravine. The soldier they were burying was a veteran,
who had resided at Gibraltar more than thirty years, and
they here him, proudly, to the- gfave, with all the pomp
and honors of hiscaUing. Yet as. the mournful notes
of the rich music came swelling back, in echoes, from the
cliffs, and -the quick volleys of the musketry announced that
all was over — -I could but wonder that a man, who had a
home across the waters, should live and die, in his* old age,
away from it, on such a cheerless spot as that ! Still, hpw-
ever, they keep their nationality alive, by making the wild
rock and sands as* mueh like Britain as they can, despite the
climate, and the Moors, and Jews, and monkeys. You may
hear the bagpipes, at all reasonable hours, and often at the
most unreasonable. Go by the Highland barracks; now
and then, and you will stumble on. a chiel, parading up and
down in solitary grandeur, with his pipes tight-squeezed be
neath his arm, making them squeal in agony, and Seeming
to enjoy the sport, in the most cruel and excited manner.
Who will wonder, after seeing, and. more particularly after

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 359
hearing, such performances, that an Indian should spend
hours at ratthng a stone within a gourd, quite ravished by
the harmony ?
I left Gibraltar, on the afternoon of June 27th, in the
peninsular packet, Jupiter, a moderately comfortable steamer,
as such things go, out of the land of Fulton. The Straits
were fuU of vessels steering out with a fine easterly wind.
Our purser told me that he had counted over three hundred
from the Rock Signal-house . that morning. He overtasked
his memory, perhaps, but they were very numerous, and it
was a beautiful spectacle in the fine moonlight, as we went
by them, one by one, not always easily, so bouncing was fhe
breeze. I did not go below, tiU we had passed the lofty
Ught-house of Tarifa, and I woke next morning when we
were in Cadiz harbor. Our passengers, as they came out
to- us, brought with them troops of friends, and we went on
our way again, with cheerful wishes of " feliz viaje !" (hap
py voyage) eehoing around us. On the afternoon of the
29th, we were at Lisbon, where we remained a day. It is
a stately city, at a distance, but I found it whoUy given up,
within, to noxious smells and aU conceivable uncleanliness.
The allied fleets lay broadside on the town ; the proud Brit
ish three-deckers looking powerful enough to annihilate half
a dozen nations like the kingdom of Dona Maria da Gloria.
Her Majesty's own royal navy, worthless and dismantled,
composed of a few shabby ships and dirty hulks, might have
quelled the revolution, by breeding a pestilence — but did not
appear formidable, otherwise, though spreading out more
banners than would have been enpugh for the Armada.
We anchored off Oporto, on the 30th, the day that
Concha, the Spanish General, made his entry into the city.
Unless our glasses very much deceived us, we could see the
troops crossing a hill-, upon their way. -One would have
thought that memories of the Due d'Angouleme, and other
visitors, would have taught a Spanish cabinet seme lessons,
on the policy and moral of foreign interventions. Some

.360 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
people, hewever, it appears, can never learn. Jchn- Bull
had his own reasons' for his course. When popular institu
tions and free principles come into conflict with port wine,
John knows his cue, and he would have bombarded Oporto
and dispersed the revolutionary windbags (as Carlyle would
call them) in a trice, had it not been that British subjects
owned, perhaps, more property about fhe city than' the
Portuguese. On the first day of July, we made our entry into the
magnificent Bay of Vigo, where it seemed to me that all
the navies ofthe world might safely ride. It is surrounded
by high hills, on all sides save the entrance, which is guarded
by two rocky islands >that almost complete the circle. The
tewn is built upon a hill-side, which is crowned by an old
castle, all looking dingy, dirty, and forlorn enough. Out
side the town, however, a}l is green arid beautiful, and we
were anchored at so short a distance from the beach, that
we could readily perceive the traces of admirable cultivation
every where. There were sent on board a' dozen fine large
beeves for England — a strange thing, I thought, considering
the philippics of the English against the Spanish cow-meat
(carne de vaca), which, in truth, is not the choicest always.
I took the trouble to make some inquiries, and the captain
told me that he rarely made a homeward voyage, without
a shipment of the like, and that although the freight upon
each bullock was three pounds sterling, to Southampton, and
the cost of transportation up to- London not a trifle, the
speculators were still able to sustain a profitable competition
with the domestic, breeders in the -London market. What
a lesson to the Spaniards — if their government would but
encourage cows instead of brigadier-generals, and substitute
prize medals for stars and crosses of honor !-
The Gallegos, under wiser institutions, might rival any peo
ple in rural and commercial industry. Their province, though
quite mountainous, is stocked with admirable timber ; their
coast abounds'with ample, well-protected harbors ; and their

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 361
soil is fruitful in the best productions of a temperate climate.
They, themselves, are honest, patient, frugal, and industrious,
and yet, at home, they do not prosper greatly. Every year
large numbers of them are compelled to seek their humble
fortunes in the other provinces. Meet them where you may,
though in the loWest and most menial stations, you find
them noted, always, for probity and independence. As
porters, muleteers, and carriers, yeu may trust them, literally,
with unteld gpld. They are net intellectually bright, in
general, or very notable for manners pr appearance. Their
heavy, uncouth persons.are, indeed, a theme of constant and
proverbial ridicule,' among their livelier brethren, with whom
the very word Gallego is a' synonym for aU things rude
and loutish : i:Es el Gallego u% animal,
Descanso de caballerias
» Mayores y menores,
K „Cuya pisada no tiene cur a .'"
Yet, in despite of gibes and' proverbs, their steadiness and
manly energy of purpose make them prosper, where their gay
revilers starve. Like the Savoyards, they carry back their
earnings with them, tc their native mountains, which no one
has ever known them to forget or cease to love. What ele
ments of vigorous and prosperous nationality there are in
such a. people ! What a " land of steady habits" theirs_
might be, if wisely and beneficently governed ! What a
blessing, U, in the spread: of liberal and just opinions now
going through their country, some seeds should fall on fertile
ground among them, and spring up to happy fruit !
Q

CHAPTER XXXII. .
Conclusion— French, EngHsh, and American Views of Spain — Spirit
of Travelers — Spanish Character, Social, Political, and Religious —
Origin, Condition, and Remedy of their Political System — A Moral
for Ourselves.
The mid-day sun was high above the hills of Vigo, when
we started, once again, upqn our way, and as I gazed my
last, regretfully, upon the pleasant. land of Spain, the ocean
and the deep-green shores looked beautiful and glad. The
little period within which my visit had been narrowed, un
expectedly, might have been devoted, I felt conscious, to
studying, in other lands of better fortune, a higher scale of
national development and cultivation, yet in no country could
I have enjoyed more fully the charm- of novelty and fresh
ness; from none could J have. parted with kindlier or more
pleasant recollectiens.
The traveler who visits Spain, for pleasure or improve
ment, will fail egregfously, he may be sure, of both, unless
he makes his mind up to forget the fables and the follies he
has read and heard — the prejudices ef his spcial, pelitical,
and religious education- A Frenchman, for example, must
work a revolution in himself — the only revolution, by-the-
by, which he is not willing to undertake. France has, as
yet, sent no De TocqueviUes into Spain. The better class
of her traveleis have generally carried with them that sys
tematic devotion to their own " ide.es" and national "pre
scriptions," which so frequently interferes with a French
man's judgment, and nowhere so decidedly as in -the Penin
sula ; for France and Spain, like
" Oil and water, woman and a secret,
Are hostile properties."

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 363
Joined with this usual disqualification, there is also the notion
so prevalent in France, that the Peninsula is hut an appan
age of hers, and should be judged and dealt with on that
theory. Of the less grave and philosophical French trav
elers, ¦ the great majority have their ideas of the Span
iards chiefly from the Barber of Seville. They find you,
every- where, " des Figaro, des Almavivd," and seem to
think that they are wandering among the heroes of an opera
or melo-drame, who disappoint them, hugely, when they fall
below the Paris standard of stage-scenery and decorations.
In cookery,- too, the Gaul holds his neighbors to be merely
savages. He could endure them as cut-throats and banditti,
but then -they villainously feed on garlic and garbanzos, the
moral obhquity of which he can not tolerate. With feehngs
and ideas such as these, of course, he travels pleasantly and
usefully. The Spaniards caU him a " gavacho," and he
writes that they are "des barbares .'" The reader who
may think this highly colored, wiU change his mind, per
haps, on reference to Dumas.
The English traveler, though less abstract and artificial,
and more practically sensible than his mercurial rival, is
more impregnable, if possible, in hispersonal prejudices and
social and individual habitudes, than the Frenchman in his
theories and fanatical generalizations. He has, in a ten-fold
proportion, what might be called the traveling-carriage-pro
pensity — a sort of congenital affinity with the snail, in that
turn of mind which suggests to him the necessity of carrying
his own home, bodily, with him, wherever he goes. Edu
cated and clever as he may be, his prejudices are a portion
of his mind and education. Protestantism is the part of his
moral wardrobe which he especially furbishes and puts on,
for a jaunt to Catholic countries. To Spain, in particular,
he carries a few of the notions and impressions which have
come down from the days of the invincible Armada ; not
diminished, perhaps, by the view he has had, in his childhood,
of the captured instruments of torture still on exhibition at

3"64 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

the Tower. Comfort, of all -the Dii minorum gentium, is the
deity whose image he specially packs up among his valuables,
when he goeS to see a people, whom climate and circumstances
have taught to despise it. To Spain, he carries the persuasion
also, that he ought to be regarded by the natives as one of
their national patrons and benefactors, for his services and
those of his compatriots, during the war of the Peninsula ;
forgetting that England selected Spain as a battle-ground,.
for her own salvation not that of the Spaniards, and that
she has. endeavored, as far, as she has been able, to make
Spain pay 4he piper. More than that, too, he forgets that
the last way in the world to excite the gratitude of a proud
and sensitive people, is-to throw their obligations always in
their teeth, and to demand as tribute, what is contemptible,
unless it spring from a spontaneous sentiment. That a
traveler, in such a frame of mind, is hardly a fair or candid
judge of what he sees, it needs no ghost to tell. That he
is not likely to elicit frorii the people whom he visits, a dis
play of their mqst excellent or -pleasant qualities, seems just
as obvious, on every rational theory of human- nature.
The book of Mr. Ford is a perfect illustration of what has
just been said. It is learned,, able, humorous, and full of a
profound acquaintance with Spanish politics, society, and
history. Yet it views every thing through an exclusively
English medium. It judges every thing by English tastes,
maxims, and prejudices. It is full of English passions,
grudges, and partialities. The Peninsular war is its absorb
ing theme. Like the- unhappy gentleman in Punch — who
was persecuted by the migrations, of the Wellington statue,
which haunted him all night and looked awfully iri at his
chamber-window, in the morning — Mr. Ford sees the semp
iternal "Duke," in highways and by-ways, on land and on
water; in town and country. What "the Duke" said is an
oracle ; what, he did, is the standard of right. As the
Spaniards agree or disagree with that standard, so are they
held worthy or unworthy. They and their country are made

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 365
merely secondary objects, in the background of the picture,
and are dwarfed and draped according to the effect which is
sought for the principal figure. This may be all right, in a
patriotic point of view, but, as to its being sensible or just
to the Spaniards, it can hardly be deemed impertinent for
one to entertain his own opinion.
In our cquntry, the common opinion of Spain is mostly
based upon the English notion, which we principally read
and follow, as indeed we very frequently do, in regard to
other countries and matters, to our manifest stultification.
We have added to it some trifling improvements of our own,
predicated upon our experience of the half-breed Indians
and negroes in Mexico and South America, whom we call
" Spaniards," and take to be types of the race. Seeing
but few of the natives of the Peninsula among us —
knowing but Uttle of their language, and still less of their
literature — rarely visiting their country, too — we have a
sort of indefinite idea of the Spaniard, which places him
about half-way between a bloody-minded grand-inquisitor
and an " illustrious hidalgo" of Major Monsoon's Portuguese
regiment. I speak of vulgar opinion, merely, as it shows
itself, upon occasions, in Congress, in "literary essays," school-
books, and the less cultivated branches of the periodical press.
A literature, of which Prescott's and Irving's productions are
a portion, is least of aU obnoxious, in its higher walks, to
any such imputations of ignorance or injustice.
Be the traveler Frenchman, Englishman, or from among
ourselvesv he must remember, U he would do justice and
have pleasure, that he goes among a people whose manners,
customs, tastes and thoughts, are different from aU that he
has seen. If he should be disposed to think them barbarous
"and benighted, because of that difference, he had better stay
at home. They are proud, sensitive, and quick to feel an
insult or a slight. If he is determined to square them by
his standard, not their own ; to laugh at what they venerate,
and violate or ridicule the maxims they respect ; he and they

366 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
will soon cordially despise each other, and no good will come
of their contact. If he plays the Pharisee upon them, and
thanks Heaven perpetually, in their presence, that he is not
like such publicans, he will only harden their hearts, and
stiffen their necks against him. Let him meet them, how
ever, in a tolerant and kindly spirit, and there is no people
whose confidence and friendship he can more thoroughly or
promptly win. Let him feel and manifest an honest and a
liberal Wish to understand their country fairly, and they will
open their bosoms to him. They will speak to him of what
is bad as well as what is worthy, and though he may dis
cover that they prize their country more than all the world,
it is not, he will find, because they close their eyes upon its
weaknesses, but that they love and venerate it, notwith
standing. In dignified and manly courtesy— the bearing
which can only spring from a just sense of what is due to
others and one's self — they have their rivals nowhere.
With few appliances of luxury or wealth (comparatively
speaking), they will bid him cordially and kindly welcorhe
to the much or little that they have. Among them he will
meet, wherever he may go, intelligent and educated persons,
whese society a man might profitably cultivate in any coun
try. In almost all of them, in every rank, he will discover,
particularly prominent, a quick perception and a striking
power of shrewd and ready observation. Exclusive as their
system of religion still continues, in its connection with their
politics and laws — in private life it does not enter to disturb
or irritate. At this day, indeed, there is more indifference
than intolerance. Decorum is exacted, where a stranger bears
a part in public demonstrations ; but it is only the respectful
observance, to which no gentleman needs, prompting. His
private ways of thinking, they as little pry into pr care for,
as any peeple -that I knew. If alluston be made tp them,
they dismiss the subject with the charitable, quiet proverb,
" su'alma, su palma" — (as his seul is, sp shall his reward
be). In ccnversatien, they are fluent, sprightly, and acute ;

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 367

tolerant and affable in social intercourse ; tender and affec
tionate in their domestic relations. Yet these things, and
all the other good that may be in them, are a sealed volume,
never to be 'Opened by one who will insist on taking the
people upon his own terms. Their good-will is essential to
any thing like a fair opportunity of comprehending or ap
preciating their character. " From the prince to the beg
gar," says Captain Widdrington, " possessing it, you do
every thing, and without it, nothing."
Writers who are in the habit of defining the Spaniards
with a dash of the pen, forget or do not know that the
nation is made up of provinces, which, with some general
similarity of characteristics, are, in many things, as utterly
unlike as separate countries. They forget that these provinces
have grown old, with laws and institutions often totally
dissimilar, and under the operation of physical and geograph
ical influences, producing the most contrary effects on char
acter and customs. What is true of Catalonia is a libel on
Andalusia — what is reasonable in Castile Or Estremadura is
ridiculous in Biscay. A man who travels, writes, or thinks,
in view of any other or imaginary state of things among
them, might as weU pubUsh a supplement to Gulliver. The
hmited sphere of my own observation would make it quite
ridioulous for me, therefore, to set up my judgment or the
results of what I saw, as any thing but very partial and
imperfect. The reader has had the few facts of my journey :
he may draw his own conclusions, so far as the limited pre
mises go.' I may commend him, however, if he has a real
interest in the matter, to the works of Captain Widdrington,
so often cited. I have nowhere seen, in any books of travel,
a more candid, honest, and impartial spirit, coupled with
better judgment, or more Uberal intelligence. So far as I
had opportunities of testing, I found him always sensible
and accurate ; and I have no doubt that his books contain
a fairer and a juster view of Spain and Spaniards than any
volumes- extant.

368 GLIMPSES OF SPALN.
Whatever may have been the case, heretofore, there is no
room for doubt, that, now, the face of things in Spain is
changing, steadily and surely, .for the better. This is not
only obvious, from a comparison with what trust- worthy
travelers have written,- but from what is daUy. going on
before one's eyes. It may be, that the movement is a slew
one, ccmpared with what 'we see in other ccuntries, and
especially our own. It may be, that there are impediments
not easy to surmount — delays, protracted and vexatious, de
manding more than common energy and patience. But both
of these are elements that enter largely into Spanish charac
ter ; and when we think on all the past, and see what has
been done in spite of it, instead of fearing for the future, we
should see it full of hope and promise. For centuries, the
Peninsula has 'been the prey of despots or the scene of strife.
Eternally in conflict, she has had no time to build again what
every struggle has hut aided to puU down.. Her treasury
drained — her resources dried up. — her population wasted, and
her industry palsied by misgovemment and war— ^she has been
assailed, from without and within, by all the engines of vio
lence and demoralization. To the evils of foreign hostility,
she has seen added the worse evil of foreign friendship ; and
has found herself the prize, for which foreign interventions
and diplomacy have made her own soil the theater of contest.
Broken into separate states by natural divisions — mountains
almost impassable furnishing a barrier to the progress, as well
of sound and national sentiment as of equalizing commerce 
the central government perpetually faithless to its duty of
providing for the general weal — what marvel that she should
have found herself distracted in her counsels, impoverished,
and oppressed ? The sympathy of other nations converted
into speculation, and the foundations of her own self-reliance
broken and uprooted — what wonder that she should have
shrunk within herself, in melancholy, morbid torpor ? When
Ferdinand VII. died, there was a momentary glimpse of
sunshine, soon tp be hidden by the 'smoke of civil war. That

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 369

ended, her elastic spirit still had life enough for a rebound,
and from that time, through chance and change, pronuucia-
miento and intrigue, sometimes well and sometimes ill, in
spite of Salvandy and Bulwer, she has been, always, moving
forward. When I was in Spain, the royal quarrel was the theme
of aU political vaticination. The king and queen and Gen
eral Serrano were in every body's mouth. Who was right ;
who wrong ; what was to come of it, and who was to be
sacrificed ; were matters puzzling the quidnuncs. The Pa-
checo or Salamanca ministry was then in power, though, as
it seemed to me, with but a mederate pepularity. What
struck me, most of all, was the strange unanimity, with
which, in private, all persons of inteUigence with whom I
spoke expressed their utter want ef confidence in all the
politicians* of all parties. ^The capital, all seemed to think,
was but a store-house, of corruption and intrigue, and every
man a huckster for himself. Lord Brougham, in pne of his
books, has stated, as his grave conclusion from the history of
British parties, that all their struggles have been moved and
kept alive, by private interest and personal ambition. The
Spanish people, not pausing to philosophize, seemed to have
reached the same conclusion, by plain inference of feet. With
such impressions on the public mind, strengthening and widen
ing daily, sooner or later there must come a reformation.
Existing interests and institutions, old ingrained habits and
prescriptions, may impede it; political and physical divisions
and obstructions may delay it ; but the day must come, at
last, when those who rule must serve the public welfare,
as .the sole condition upon which they wield the .public
power. An intelligent and high-souled people, teeming with
resources and conscious of strength, can not be, possibly,
prevented, long, from thoroughly reforming evils, whose op
pressiveness they feel and whose causes they can not but
know. The vices of the present Spanish system are relics of the
Q*

370 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.

past. The nobles, carried by their politic monarchs to Ma
drid, in order to destroy their power and influence in the prov
inces, soon dwindled, necessarily, into mere court-intriguers.
The favor of the throne becoming, soon, sole arbiter of place
and greatness, all those who sought the prizes and the prof
its of ambition gathered round it. A class of " waiters upon
Providence" was formed ; men,' looking to the throne, not
merely for its honors, but for bread. Intrigue became a
trade ; corruption a familiar road to fortune ; and, for cor
ruption and intrigue, the youth and talent of the nation de
serted the paths of toil and honorable independence. Place
—un empleo — grew to be every man's goal, and empleo-
mania, or the mania for place, became, as it still is to a
degree, the national misfortune and disease. Of later days,
the military element has been introduced", to make bad worse.
Officers of the army, stationed at Madrid, comfortably idle
and on pay, have found back-stairs intrigues and paltry rev
olutions a surer and more "rapid method of promotion and
distinction, than the honest, ordinary duties of their calling.
Hence, nowadays, so many ministers are generals ; hence,
now, so much depends upon the army and its temper ; hence
the caprice, and suddenness, and folly of so many of the
changed, which have made the Spanish government, of late,
a by-word and a jest. Hence, and from all combined, has
sprung the almost total extinction, among the politicians, of
even ordinary patriotism — selfishness, venal and unblushing,
standing naked in its place.
To- remedy these evils, much is to be done, and yet the
way is simple. The nation must govern itself, and not be
governed by the capital. Every analogy seems to suggest
a federal system, as the only one by which this end can be
thoroughly compassed. The very separation of the Penin
sula, by nature, into provinces, and the historical, deep-rooted
difference of laws and customs among these, would seem to
negative (if experience did not) the possibility of a consoli
dated government worthy of fhe name. ' The Very commu-

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 371

nity of interests, existing among the various divisions, appears,
upon the other hand, to demonstrate the necessity and pro
priety of a common system. A federation is the only form,
by which the independence and prosperity of the parts can
be blended with the power and efficient nationality of tho
whole. The idea has, already, occupied the minds and
hearts of some of the best and purest of the Spanish states
men. Now, that royalty has lost, and never can re
gain the prestige of omnipotence and sanctity — now, that
the irrepressible instincts of the popular intelligence have
begun to make themselves manifest, in imperative demands
upon the government to do its part, not merely to the letter,
but in substance and in spirit — the suggestions of physical
nature and political experience must begin to have their
Weight. How far the separate national existence of Portu
gal is destined to thwart these plans, or whether the two
nations, combined, are to take their place among the liberal
powers of Europe as a mighty and prosperous confederacy,
are matters which depend upon contingencies too compli
cated and too numerous for present calculation. That it
should be the policy of France and England — instead of
squabbling for the pickings of the Spanish custom-house — to
aid and foster every effort of the Peninsula to reassume its
ancient rank, seems too obvious to require a second thought.
Nations were meant for something more than markets, and
it is a vulgar and peddling political economy which takes no
higher note of therii. The time may come — perhaps is not
far distant — when rational progress and liberal institutions
may have need of allies in the west of Europe, and when it
may be found that even Spain is worth regarding, by the
proudest, in some other than the " cotton" point of view.
Looking from the vantage-ground of our political pOsition,
we are apt -to be persuaded, here at home, that we are fit
to teach the world, having ourselves now nothing left to
learn. Strange, nevertheless, as it may appear to some, there
are grave lessons in the history of Spain, which point a moral

372 GLIMPSES OF SPAIN.
for no nation half so justly as for ours. - I do not now refer
to the more common topics cf extended empire and possessions
too remote, or even to the lust and search for gold ; though
these and each of them are worth some thought, unless our
country bears a charmed life, .and has some Mithridatic and
mysterious exemption from the natural effects of poisons, social
and political. More dangerous than all these, and more in
sidious, is the selfish principle, which makes the- state and
the emoluments and honors of its service a scheme of prizes,
to be fought for and enjoyed by private men, with other aims
and objects than the public weal. More dangerous, in repub
lics than monarchies, must ever be a class which speculates
and hangs on government ; which segregates itself from all
productive labor, and traffics in mere place. Empleo-mahia
may be found beyond the limits pf Madrid ; and where it ence
has taken roct, effectively and firmly, the purity and honesty
have gone, without which a republic is a whitened sepulcher.
Things, seen far off, look strange -to us, which, seen more
near, are every day's occurrence. A change of ministry, in
Spain, is often less productive of confusion, than a change
of cabinets, and always less so than a change of Presidents,
with us. A pronunciamiento (without the soldiers) is often
hardly above the importance of a " mass indignation-meeting,"
and a new constitution is, frequently, of no more practical
innovation, than one of our conventional " platforms" of consti
tutional construction. The machinery goes by a different
name, but if the same lack of patriotic sympathy, the same
self-seeking and self-making be, or should become, the mov
ing principle with us, what Providence have we a right to
call on, to alter the results? A small and scattered popula
tion-may afford some temporary safeguard ; a new and bound
less territory, teeming with riches unexplored, may furnish
outlets, for a time, to -restlessness, ambition, and cupidity ;
but the laws of the moral world are as inexorable as those
which rule the tides, and turn the wheel of the seasons.
Nations, as well as individuals, must bend to them, and

GLIMPSES OF SPAIN. 873

the evil day wiU come, at last, if there be causes for its
coming. But lay-preaching is no part of the reader's contract, or
of mine. If I have managed to correct some errors in regard
to a noble and much-injured country, I have done quite
enough without pretending to set up reforms at home. Let
me, then, commend the Spanish people to the reader. He
will like them better, on acquaintance. He may travel, if
he will, among them, generaUy with comfort, always with
pleasure. If they rob or murder him on the highways, poison
him in the kitchens, or burn him in a Plaza, as a heretic,
he will have worse luck, I can assure him, than has befaUen
any body, lately, out of the pages of a traveler's story.

APPENDIX.

I. (P.-216.)
The Spanish epitaph of Ferdinand Columbus is, word for word, as
follows  %
Aqui yaze el m. magnifico S. D. Hernando Colon, el qual aplicb y
gastb toda su vida y Hazienda en aumento de las letras, y juntar y
perpetuar en esta ciudad todos sus libros de todas las ciencias que en su
tiempo Hallo y en reducirlos a quatro libros. Fallecib en esta ciudad a
12 de Julio de 1539 de edad de 50 anos 9 meses y 14 dias. Fue hijo
del valeroso y memorable S. D. Christ. Colon primero almirante que
descubrio las Yndias y nuevo mwndo en vida de los caf' r. d. Fernando
y D. Ysabel de gloriosa memoria. AW de Octubre de 1492 con tres
galeras y 90 personas, y partib del puerta de Palos a descubrirlas a 3 de
Agosto antes y bolvib a Castilla con victoria a 7 de Maio del ano sigui-
ente y tomb dcspues otras dos veces, a poblar lo que descubrio. Fallecib
en Valladolid a 20 de Agosto de 1506 anos.
Rogad a Dibs por ellos.
Which may be literally translated : —
"Here lies the very magnificent Lord, Ferdinand Columbus, who
applied and spent all his life and treasure in the increase of letters, ahd
in collecting and perpetuating in this city all his books of all the
sciences which in his time he found, and in reducing them to four
books. He died, in this city, the 12th day of July, 1539, aged 50.
years, 9 months and 14 days. He was son to the valorous and mem
orable Lord Christopher Columbus, first admiral, who discovered the
Indies and new world, in the life of the Catholic sovereigns, the Lord
Ferdinand and Lady Isabella of glorious memory, on the llth of Octo
ber 1492, with 3 galleys and 90 persons, and he set forth from the
port of Palos, on the 3d of August preceding and returned to Castile
with victory, on the 7th of May of the following year, and went back
afterward two other times, to people what he had discovered. He
died in Valladolid, on the 20th of August, in the year 1506.
Pray to God for them."

APPENDIX. 375

The Latin inscription, at present, is as follows.
" Aspice quid prodest totum sudasse per orbem
Atque orbem patris ter peragrasse novum,
Quid placidi Boetis ripam finxisse decoram
Divitias genium post habuisse raeum,
Ut tibi Castallire serarcm numina pontis
Offerrem que simul quas Tholomeus opes,
Si tenui saltern transcurrens murmure saxum,
Nee patri, salve, nee mihi dicis, ave."
(The words italicized, have, as the reader will have observed, neither
prosody nor sense. Zuniga gives them "Castalii reserarem," which
must have been what was meant. My copy, however, is exact, from
the tomb.)
In the Appendix (No. 3) to Mr. Irving's Life of Columbus, we find the
following sketch of Fernando's literary labors. " Don Fernando de
voted himself mnch to letters. According to the inscription on his
tomb he composed a work in four books or volumes, the title to which
is defaced on the monument, and the work, itself, is lost. This is
much to be regretted, as, according to Zuniga, the fragments of the
inscription specify it to have contained, among a variety of matter, his
torical, moral, and geographical notices of the countries he had visited.
but especially of the New World, and of the voyages and discoveries
of his father."
The reader will perceive, by reference to the epitaph, that it says
nothing whatever of Fernando's having " composed a work in four
books or" volumes" — but simply that he spent his time and means in
collecting works of science, and " reducing them to four books." The
epitaph, given by Zuniga, differs in nothing from the one I have trans
cribed, except in the insertion of the words " segun estan aqui senala-
dos," after " quatro libros" making it read thus — " in reducing them
to four books, as they are here designated." There was no trace upon
the monument of any of the words so added, or of the designation of
the books — indeed, there was no space where such things could have
been inserted, and I have been unable to find any statement, any where,
that the present monument and inscriptions are any other than those
originally placed over Fernando's remains. They bear, upon, the
contrary, intrinsic evidence of an antiquity which may well go back
three hundred years.
After quoting the inscriptions and translating the Latin portion,
ZuBiga proceeds to speak of the library which the deceased bequeathed
to the Cathedral.
"La libreria, famosa en numero y calidad pitso el cabildo de la

376 APPENDIX.

Santa Iglesia en una piefa que antes hauia seruido de Capilla Real, sobre
las capillas Je la naue del Lagarto en el claustro, adornandola con
estantes de Caobaje linda traza y en sus paredes y bouedas de pinturas
al fresco, al proposito, en que permanece despojo del tiempo, mas
olvidada y menos frequentada que la quiso su dueno, dificil de gozar y
facil de consumirse. Y de los quatro libros originates, cuyos titulos estan
borrados en la losa de D. Fernando, solo he hallado ,yo en ella algunos
fragmentos, que muestran contenian variedad de materias Historicas,
Morales y Geograficas de las tierras que peregrinb y, de las Indias, des-
cubrimientos y conquistas de su padre" &c. — Anales de Sevilla, lib. xiv.
p. 477 (Ed. Mad. 1677, fol.)— in the Library of Harvard University.
Which may be translated, thus : —
"The library famous for its size and quality was placed by the
Chapter of the Holy Church, in a portion of the building which once
served for the Royal Chapel, above the chapels of the aisle of the
Crocodile, in the cloister." [The stuffed remains of a huge animal of
the crocodile family, still hang beneath the gallery' of the Columbian
Library, in front of the entrance to the northern .transept of the Cathe
dral. Some say that the creature was taken, alive, in Seville : others
that it was sent to Alonzo the' Wise, by the Soldan of Egypt, when
he invited the Infanta to become a Sultaness. It gives its name to
the entrance before which it is to be seen, and which is known always
as la Puerta del Lagarto — the Door of the -Crocodile.] " It has been
adorned with book cases of mahogany, of 'graceful design, and the
walls and ceilings are ornamented with appropriate paintings in fresco.
There it remains, the spoil of time, more forgotten and less frequented
than its master wished it ; difficult to be enjoyed and easy to decay.
And of the four . original books, whose titles are obliterated on the
tomb of Don Fernando, I have only found in it, some fragments, which
show that they contained a variety of matter, historical, moral, and
geographical, relating to the lands which he had visited, and to the
Indies, the discoveries and conquests of his father," &c.
It was not, therefore, from "the fragments ofthe inscription," but
from fragments found in the library, that Zuniga derived his idea of
the contents of the " quatro libros." Mr. Irving has fallen into the
natural mistake of making the words " en ella" refer to the monument
-—not to the library — and of translating them " on it," instead of " in
it." So, at all events, it is with deference suggested. The differ
ence is by no/ means unimportant; for if the contents of the books
could have been gathered from the inscription, there would have been
no room for question, whereas, if they depend upon Zuniga's researches
in the library, we have a better right to our own investigations and
opinions. The large volumes which the . librarian showed me, as

APPENDIX. 377

related in the text, answer in charaoter and number to the description
on the epitaph. They contain, in fact, a reduction of all Fernando's
collection- within the compass of four books. They constitute a sum
mary or digest of the whole library, and must have required no small
expenditure of learning, intellect, and labor. In a note to the smaller
or mere index, Fernando speaks, himself, thus, of them : " In inven-
torio, per facultates seu materias  libri hie contenti inveniri
valeant." Saying, on his tomb, that he had "reduced them all to
four books," and in this passage- «hat they might " all be found" in
th^ " inventory," according to their subjects or topics — he may, with
out straining, be supposed to fix the identity of the " inventory" and
the " quatro libros." II. (P. 219.)
The first of the old books referred to in the text, is called "Opus-
cula Petri de Aliaco, Cardinalis, et Joan. Gerson." Attached to one
of the blank leaves, is a passage from Las Casas, said by the librarian
to be in Mr. Irving's handwriting, which identifies the work as one
belonging to the admiral, and of wnich he made familiar use, filling
the margins with notes of his reflections and things which he had
read elsewhere. The work is without date, though obviously one of
the earliest efforts of the press. Pedro de Aliaco, Archbishop of
Cambray, lived at the close of the fourteenth, and beginning of the
fifteenth centnry, and was, Las Casas mentions, at the Council of
Constance, in 1416. The opening of the volume tells us that he was
"inter omnes evi sui facile doctissimus," as Cicero wrote of Varro,
"and that he suffered himself to be ignorant of nothing, which could be
comprehended by the human mind." The work is divided into thirteen
treatises or " tractaculi," by Aliacus, and several by Gerson, relating
generally to cosmography, geography, and astronomy, with occasional
historical, moral, and theological episodes. The blank leaves are
filled with tables of solar phenomena, projections of the sphere, and
sundry mathematical and astronomical figures and calculations drawn
in black and red ink. The marginal notes are so full of the abbrevia
tions in which Columbus delighted, that it is quite a study, often, for
one wfio is unfamiliar with them to find out their meaning.
The first treatise is "de Ymagine mundi," and it may be interest
ing to translate a passage, from the eighth chapter " de Quantitate
terre habitabilis." It is to this effect : —
" In the investigation of the quantity of habitable earth, it must be
understood that habitableness is to be regarded in a double point of
view. First, with respect to the heavens, and as to how much can
be inhabited, on account of the sun, and how much can not be. Con-

378 APPEN'DIX.

cerning this, however, enough has been already said. The other
point of view has respect to the waters, and how much they may
hinder habitation. Concerning this, it is now to be considered. Th_ere
are various opinions, among wise men, on the subject. Bartholomasus,
in his book " de. Dispositione sphere," insists, that nearly the sixth
part of the earth is habitable, in respect of water, and' that all the
rest is covered with water. And so in Algamestus, lib. ii., he says
that habitation is not known, except in a fourth part of the earth we
occupy j which fourth part runs in length, from east to' west, and is
half the equinoctial line, its breadth being, from the equator toward
the pole, the fourth part of a colure. But Aristotle, at the end of his
book on the heavens ahd earth, insists that more than the fourth part
is inhabited, and Averroys confirms this. And Aristotle says that the
sea is inconsiderable, between the extremity of Spain on the western
side, and the beginning of India, on the eastern side. [Here, is the
Marginal annotation — " Inter fines Ispanie et principium ' Indie, est
mare parvum et navigabile in paucis diebus."] And he does not
speak of Spain, on this side (citerior), which is now commonly called
Spain, but Spain on the other side (ulterior), which is now called
Africa, concerning which, certain authors speak, as Pliny, Drosius,
and Ysidorus. Moreover, Seneca says, in the fifth book of his
"Naturalia," that the sea is navigable in a few days, if the wind be
suitable. And Pliny also says (in Naturalibus, lib. ii.), that men
have navigated from the Arabic Gulf to Cadiz (Gades Herculis) in
no very long time. [Here the note upon the margin, is, " Plinius.
Navigatwm est a sinu Arabico usque ad gades herculis, non multum
magno tempore."] Wherefore, from these and many other reasons,
which I shall touch more closely, when I shall speak of the ocean,
some persons conclude, apparently, that the sea is not so large as to
be able to cover three-fourths of the earth. This is supported by the
authority of Esdras, in his fourth book, wherein he says that six parts
of the earth are inhabited, and the seventh is covered with water
[Marginal note — " Esdre. Sex partes terre sunt habitabiles, et 7" est
co-operta aquis"], the authority of which book the saints have held in
reverence, and have confirmed the sacred truths thereby. And so, it
seems, that although the habitable part of the earth known to Barthol-
om*us and his followers was confined within the limits of one-fourth, ,
a greater part is nevertheless habitable. And Aristotle, in regard to
this, was able to know more by the aid of Alexander, and Seneca by
the aid of Nero ; both of which princes were very curious in investi
gating the doubtful things of this world, as Pliny testifies in regard to
Alexander, in his eighth book, and Solinus also. And Seneca so nar
rates of Neroj in his book de Naturalibus. Wherefore it appears more
proper to adopt that belief, than that of Bartholomasus, or that of
Albategnus, who thinks still less of the earth to be habitable, namely,

APPENDIX. 370

the twelfth part only. He (Albategnus), however, is wanting in
proof, as might be shown, but I pass on for the sake of brevity : the
rather that this matter will more fully appear in the sequel.
" From the premises, and from what will hereafter be said, it will
appear, that the habitable earth is not round, after the manner of a
circle, as Aristotle says, but rather like unto the fourth part of the sur
face of a sphere. Of this fourth part, two portions are slightly cut off
toward the extremities, that is to say, the portions which are not habit
able on account of excessive heat or excessive cold. This can not be
as conveniently delineated upon a plane as upon a spherical surface."
In the same essay, pursuing the same subject, the author speaks
(fol. 18) of "a great branch of the sea, descending from the ocean,
which is between India and lower Spain or Africa." Upon this, the
marginal note is "Ambit brachium maris inter Indiam et Ispaniam."
Further on, the same essay speaks of India and its mountains, and
there are two marginal notes, both of which would seem to indicate a
more decided hankering after filthy lucre, than is generally attributed
to the philosophical mind of the Discoverer. The first is carefully
prefixed by an index — " 03^* Inter montes istos, sunt insula innumer-
abiles, inter quas sunt qumdam plena margaritis it lapidibus pre-
ciosis." The second is of similar burden. " India, multas fruges habet, et
species aromaticas, et lapides preciosos plurimos, et montes auri. Ipsa
est tertia pars habitabilis."
In the " Tractatus Cosmographie" (f. 80) the text runs thus : —
" According to the philosophers and Pliny, the Ocean which extends
between the extremity of further Spain or Africa, on the Westj and
the beginning of India on the East, is of no great breadth. For it has
been found, by experiment, that this sea is navigable in a few days,
with a prosperous wind ; wherefore that beginning of India on the
East can not be at any great distance from the end of Africa, under
the earth : that is, under the half of the earth which is here described
in the figure. Whence it follows that the sea is not so great as to be
able to cover three-fourths of the earth, as some think." It is to be
hoped that Columbus felt the force of the logic.
The marginal note is — " Finis hyspanie, et principium Indie non
multum distant, Mis partibus, et expertum est quod hoc mare est navi-
gabile, inpaucis diebus, ventis convenientibus. Mare non potest co-operire
itas terre."
These extracts will suffice to give some idea of the philosophy of
the day, and of the impressions which it fixed upon the mind of the
great Discoverer. That the passages of Aliacus which I have quoted
sank deeply into his thoughts, will be seen by the careful and almost

380 APPENDIX.

literal reference to them and the authorities by which they are illus
trated, which he makes in his letter to the Sovereigns, written from
Hispaniola in 1498 and containing the history of his third voyage. This
profoundly interesting document may be found in Navarrete's Colepcion
de Viajes, vol. i., p, 242 (Madrid, 1825), and the part I allude to, on
pp. 260, 261. The reader who is curious, will find the subject further
pursued, in Humboldt's Cosmos, vol.'ii., p. 621 (London, 1849), and
in other dissertations of the same author to which he. there refers.
Neither the work of Aliacus nor the Book of Prophecies had been seen
by Mr. Irving, until after the publication of his first edition of the
Life of Columbus. A notice of the one, however, will be found in a
note to Book viii., Ch. i., and of the other, in a note to Book xiv.,
Ch. v., in the subsequent editions of that work.
The Book of Prophecies, or the " Jerusalem," as it is sometimes
called, is noticed, at large, by Navarrete, in his " Coleccion de Viajes,
&c." and many copious and interesting extracts from it will be found
in his second volume (p. 260, Num. cxl.) The greater part of the
manuscript is said to be in the handwriting of the Friar Gaspar
Gorricio, who aided Columbus in the preparation of the work. But a
small part of the copy is attributed to the actual handiwork of the
Discoverer himself. At the head of the inner margin of the first page,
is the following title, which is said to be in the handwriting of Ferdi
nand, his son : —
" Profecias que junto el Almirante Don Christoval Colon, de la
recuperacion de la santa ciudad de Hierusalem y del descubrimiento de
las Indias, dirigidas a los Reies Catholicos."
(" Prophecies which the Admiral Christopher Columbus, collected,
concerning the recovery of the hoi/ city of Jerusalem and the discovery
of the Indies : directed to the Catholic Kings.")
The work opens with a letter, from " the very magnificent and most
prudent Sr. D. Christobal Colon, Admiral, &c., to the Rev. Father
Don Gaspar Gorricio," bearing date, September 13, 1501. This letter
is prefaced by the pious jingle —
Jesus, cum Maria, sit nobis in via. Amen."
It then proceeds to state, that when the writer arrived at Granada
(whence it is written) he had commenced collecting the authorities
which seemed to him to relate to Jerusalem, in order that he might
afterward review them and put them suitably into rhyme. His occu
pations, however, had prevented him from prosecuting the work farther,
and he commends it to Don Gaspar to be finished, praying that the
Lord may enlighten him with " autoridades muy autenticas."
Don Gaspar replies .- That he has received the admiral's letter and

APPENDIX. 381

book of " prophecies, touching the case of Mount Sion and Jerusalem,
and the people of the Islands and Universal .nations." and has labored
upon the work as a very holy exercise, " salutifera, consolatoria, admon-
itoria, y provocativa al servicio de nucstro Senor Dios," &c. Where
fore he adds, " by the grace of the Holy Spirit, and the guidance of
the admiral's labors, who has gathered the flower of such numerous
and truthful authorities, sentences, sayings, and prophecies, he (Don
Gaspar) has interposed and added some remaining ones, as a. man
may gather the gleanings of the grape, the olive, and the wheat-
harvest." He has not (he prudently adds) taken the trouble to
establish any "concord among the sayings and matters, &c," but
has merely added a few rules, &c.
The letter is dated from " the holy house of the Caves, March 23d,
1502." Then follows : —
" Incipit liber, sive manipulus de auctoritatibus, dictis, ac sententiis,
et prcphetiis circa materiam recuperandce sanctte civitatis et montis Dei,
Sion: ac inventionis et conversion-is insularum Indite, et omnium gen
tium atque nationum. Ad Ferdinandum et Helizabeth Reges nostros
Hispanos," &c.
After a few preliminary pages, comes a letter of the admiral to the
king and queen, of which the reader may find interest in the opening
paragraphs : —
" Most Christian and very high Princes :
" The reason which I have for the restitution of the holy habitation
to the holy church militant, is the foUowing : —
" Very high Sovereigns :
"From very early years I entered upon the navigation of the sea,
and I have continued it to this day. That art inclines whoever
follows it, to wish to know the secrets of this world. For more than
forty years, such has my custom been. Whatever is navigable, down
to this day, I have gone over. Intercourse and conversation I have
had with wise people, ecclesiastics and laymen, Latins and Greeks,
Jews and Moors, and many others of other sects.
" To this my desire I have found our Lord bountiful, and I have had
for it, from him, the spirit of intelligence. In seamanship he made
me abounding : of astrology he gave me a sufficiency, and likewise
of geometry and arithmetic : also ability in my mind and hands to
draw the sphere, and on it, cities, rivers and mountains, islands and
ports, all in their proper places.
"During this time, I have seen and studied to see, all writings, cos-

382 APPENDIX.

mography, histories, chronicles, and philosophy, and other arts ; so that
our Lord opened to me, with palpable hand (con mano palpable) the
understanding that it was practicable (hacedero — do-able) to navigate
from here to the Indies, and opened my will to perform it; and with
this fire I came to your Highnesses. All those, who knew of my
enterprise, refused it with laughter and scorn ; all the sciences, of
which I have spoken above, and their authorities, availed me nothing ;
in your Highnesses only, was faith and constancy. Who doubts but
that this light was from the Holy Spirit, as well as from me?" &e.
The same Holy Spirit, he adds, now urges him to the rescue of the holy
habitation in Jerusalem, and he enters upon the Scriptures for authority
and reasons. Various and long citations follow, from sacred writers
and learned Jews, &c, which, though curious, would require too much
space here.
Occasional specimens of his versification appear, which are not
particularly poetical, as an example will show :
Rejoicings on the Birth of' St. John, the Baptist.
" Gozos den mas regocijo,
Este dia que.otros dias,
Que hoy nascib el muy santo hijo
De Ysabel y Zacharias.
Gozose el verbo divyno
Quando su primo saltava
En el vientre viejo digno
Que su madre visitava:
Ytu, Virgen que estavas
Al parto de tal sobrino,
Gozo sin tiento ny tino
Rescibe con Zacharias."
Upon fol. 59, in the handwriting of Columbus, is inserted the oft-
repeated passage from the Medea; the orthography and translation
of which, by the admiral, are rather singular ; thus :
" Seneca in 7° tragetide
Medee, in choro, audax nimium.
Venient annis
Secula seris, quibus Oxeanus
Vincula rerum laxet, et ingens
Pateat telus, tiphisque nobos
Detegat orbes, nee sit terris
Ultima tille —
" Vendran los tardos anos del rmndo, ciertos tiempos, c« los quales el

APPENDIX. 383

mar oceano aflojara los atamientos de las cosas y se abrira una grande
tierra, y un nuebo marinero como aquel quefue guia de Jason, que tubo
nombre tiphi, descubrira nuebo mimdo, y entonces no sera la ysla title
la postrera de las tierras!"
Literally done into English, this may read as follows : —
" There will come (in) the slow years of the world, certain times,
in which the ocean-sea will loose the fastenings of things, and a great
earth will open itself, and a new mariner, like him who was guide of
Jason and had for name Tiphi, will discover a new world, and then
the Island Tille will not be the last of the lands."
Then follow notices of two eclipses of the moon which he had seen
in the West Indies in 1494 and 1504 — the latter of which dates
proves that the entry was made, subsequently to the rest of the manu
script and to his return from his fourth and last voyage.
III. (P. 226.)
Prohibitio, ne in Ecclesiis Civitatis et Dicecesis Hispalensis sumatur
Tabacum. Urbant/s Papa Octavtjs.
Ad futuram rei memoriam.
Cum ecelesias divino cultui dicatae, domus sint orationis, easque
propterea omnis sanctitudo deceat, merito Nos, quibus cunctarum per
orbem universum Ecclesiarum cura a Deo commissa est, advigilare
convenit, ut ab eisdem Ecclesiis quicumque actus profani et indecentes
procul arceantur : itaque cum sicuti pro parte dilectorum filiorum,
Decani et Capituli Eeclesiae Metropolitanse Hispalensis, nobis nuper
expositum fuit, pravus in illis partibus sumendi, ore vel naribus, tabac-
um vulgo nuncupatum, usus adeo invaluerit ut utriusque sexus
personam ac etiam sacerdotes et clerici, tarn seculares quam regulares,
clericalis honestitatis immemores, illud passim in Civitatis et Dicecesis
Hispalensis Ecclesiis, ac quod referre pudet etiam sacrosanctum missa?
sacrificium celebrando sumere, linteaque sacra fcedis quae tabacum
hujusmodi projicit excremehtis, conspurcare, Ecclesiasque praedictas
tetro odore inficere, magno cum proborum scandalo rerumque
sacrarum irreverentia non reformident.
Hinc est, quod nos  ne de caetero in quibusvis Civitatis et
Dkp.cesis praedictorum Ecclesiis earumque atriis et ambitu tabacum,
sive solidum, vel in frusta concisum, aut in pulverem redactum, ore,
vel naribus aut fumo per tubulos, et alias quolibet, sumere audeant vel
prasumant, sub excommunicationis latee sententiae, eo ipso, absque
aliqua declaratione per contrafacientes, incurrendo pasna, auotoritate
apostolica, tenore prassentium interdicimus et prohibemus."

384 APPENDIX.

IV. (P. 328.)
" Haviendo Muley Boaudeli, ultimo rey moro de Granada, entregado
las llaves de esta dha. ciudad, el viernes 2 de Enero de 1492, a las tres
de la tarde, en la puerta de la Alhambra, a, nuestros catolicos monarcas
Don. Fernando V. de Aragon y Dona Ysabel de Castilla, despues de 777
anos que esta ciudad sufria ¦el yiugo Mahometano, desde la perdida de
Espana acaecida Domingo 11: de Noviembre de 714, salib dho. catolico
rey a Sespedir al espresado Boaudeli, hasta este sitio, antes mezquita
de Moros .y entonces erigida en Hermita de San Sebastian, donde dieron
graci(a)s a Dios nuestro Senor el glorioso conquistador y su ejercito,
entonando la real capilla el te dewm, y tremolando en la torre de la vela
el estandarte de la Fee, en ouya memoria se toca a dha. ora la plegaria,
y se gana indulgencia plenaria, rezando tres padres nuestros y tres ave-
marias."

THE END.

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1813