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 LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 
 
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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
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 * CINCINNATI: 
 
 ROBERT CLARKE & CO. PUBLISHERS, 65 WEST FOURTH ST. 
 
 1867. 
 
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Southern j-^rance and Spain. 
 
5 
 
 O N T E N T S . 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Lyons i 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 Avignon ■ 14 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 Nismes — Pont du Gard . . 21 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Toulouse — Bordeaux — Pau — Bayonne 29 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 Irun — Burgos - 37 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 Valladolid — Escorial 49 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 Madrid rr 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 Toledo — La Mancha 70 
 
CONTENTS.— Continued, 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Cordova 8i 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 Seville 86 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 Cadiz — Gibraltar 99 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Malaga 112 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Granada — Madrid — Saragofsa — Barcelona . . . i 20 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 Leaving Spain 131 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 General Remarks 139 
 
REF ACE . 
 
 J 
 
 This little book^ composed during my leisure 
 hours^ is mainly transcribed from letters and 
 a journal written during a short trip through 
 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 I can only hope that its readers will find as 
 much amusement in the perusal^ as I have found 
 in the writing of it. 
 
 Cincinnati^ March^ 1867. 
 
Chapter I. — Lyons. 
 
 the 25th of January, 1865, we left 
 J/^^^ Paris by rail, for Lyons. The dis- 
 ^^ tance is 3 id miles, which we traversed 
 
 in about 11 hours. And just here, at the 
 beginning of our travel, I wish to record my 
 opinion — founded upon considerable expe- 
 rience — that the commonly accepted theory 
 that second-clafs cars upon the Continent 
 are as good as the first, as well as much 
 cheaper, is a delusion and a snare. They 
 are cheaper, but are neither so luxurious, so 
 comfortable, nor so clean; while they gene- 
 rally contain a clafs of people who are not 
 so agreeable to meet as those traveling in 
 the first-clafs cars. Of course, if one is 
 under the necefsity of studying economy in 
 
 A 
 
2 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 traveling, he must take second-clafs cars in- 
 stead of first, and small rooms in retired 
 quarters, in the place of apartments more 
 commodious and convenient, and dine at 
 plain restaurants instead of at the best, and 
 be content therewith, like a sensible man; 
 but he should not attempt to make every 
 one else believe that he would not have 
 something better if he could afford it. 
 
 The cars are luxurious coaches; the buf- 
 fets^ or eating houses, on the route, unlike 
 those in America, are clean and attractive — 
 provided with snow-white table-cloths and 
 napkins, good food, table wine, first rate 
 coffee, attentive waiters, and withal, reason- 
 able charges. Ample time is allowed for 
 meals, and every five minutes is sounded 
 through the room the voice of a waiter, 
 crying out the number of minutes that re- 
 main before the starting of the train, so 
 that no one is hurried. Hot water foot- 
 stools are in each car, warming the feet, and 
 leaving the head cool, and there are no cries 
 of boys, passing through the cars with ''pies, 
 pies, pies,'' ''lozenges, two cents a roll,'' 
 
Chapter I. — Lyons. 3 
 
 ^'figs, pop-corn and jujube paste," and sim- 
 ilar provocations to dyspepsia. Guards are 
 ready, in uniform, at every station, to 
 answer questions; there is no hurry or 
 confusion, and thus the disagreeablenefs of 
 traveling is mitigated as far as pofsible. 
 
 The country through which we pafsed is 
 fertile, and filled with gardens, and the trees 
 are trimmed, as is the custom in France, so 
 as to yield the greatest amount of small 
 branches tor firewood. The hills pafsed in 
 traversing Burgundy are literally vine-clad. 
 The railroad, like those in England, is built 
 with great care and expense, with bridges as 
 carefully finished as if the stonework were 
 for a dwelling house, and with embankments 
 either sodded or walled with stone. 
 
 About ten o'clock in the evening we ar- 
 rived, and went to the Hotel de V Europe^ 
 where, on the second floor, we secured rooms 
 both comfortable and of moderate price. 
 The town is the second in France in point 
 of population and wealth. It stands on 
 both banks of the Saone and the Rhone, 
 but the larger part occupies the tongue of 
 
4 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 land inclosed between the two. The older 
 portion has narrow and dirty streets, and an 
 atmosphere of fog and smoke hangs over 
 the city, as in the English manufacturing 
 towns, or as in Pittsburgh and Cincinnati; 
 while the newer portion has wide streets, 
 parks, trees, and blocks of stately buildings. 
 The next morning after arrival, we set 
 forth to explore the city, refusing all offers 
 of a commifsionaire^ having previously thor- 
 oughly studied the map and description of 
 it. After visiting the cathedral, we threaded 
 narrow streets, and climbed steep hills, wind- 
 ing between walls of which the form and hight 
 recalled the feudal age, when they were built ; 
 pafsed the Hospital oi Antiquailles^ occupv- 
 ing the site of the Roman palace in which 
 Claudius and Caligula were born — which has 
 given way now, by a sort of poetical justice, 
 to an Hbpital des Incurables — until Vv^c came 
 to the Chapelle de Fourvieres^ surmounting a 
 high hill which overlooks the town and sur- 
 rounding country, and even affords, on a 
 clear day, if is said, a view of Mont Blanc; 
 but the day was cloudy and the air filled 
 
Chapter I. — Lyons, 5 
 
 with smoke and fog, so that we could but 
 dimly discern the city at our feet. The 
 tower of the Chapel is surmounted by a 
 statue of the Virgin, who is said to have 
 stayed the spread of the cholera in Lyons 
 many years ago, while the inner walls, from 
 ceiling to floor, are literally covered with 
 pictures of all sorts and sizes, hung there 
 as votive offerings, in gratitude for special 
 favors granted bv the Blefsed Virgin to suf- 
 fering; mortals. Amono; them are several 
 small copies of the Immaculate Conception, 
 by Murillo, that hangs in the Gallery of the 
 Louvre. There are also a large number of 
 small waxen models of legs and arms, saved 
 to their owners by the Virgin, in answer to 
 their prayers. « 
 
 After a long walk through other narrow 
 streets, and down steep declivities and long 
 flights of stone steps, we were again on the 
 banks of the Saone, which rushes swiftly 
 through the town, as if impatient to join 
 her stately lord, the Rhone, who waits be- 
 low; and crofsing the bridge Fourveueille^ 
 stopped for a moment to look at the women 
 
6 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 who lined the sides of boats moored along 
 the banks, busily employed in washing 
 clothes. We soon attracted their attention, 
 and, like all French people, desisting from 
 their labors, they indulged in a good, long, 
 full stare at us. I lifted my hat in ac- 
 knowledgement of their kind attention, and 
 we proceeded on our way, and soon, crofs- 
 ing the Place des Terreaux^ soaked in the 
 days of the Revolution by the blood of the 
 victims of the guillotine, we entered the 
 Museum. Here are manv relics of the Ro- 
 man age of Lyons; among others, the 
 bronze tables, containing the speech made 
 by Claudius, when Censor, in the Roman 
 Senate, A. D. 48, on the motion that the 
 communities of Gallia Comata should be 
 admitted to the privileges of Roman citi- 
 zens. The letters are beautifully and clearly 
 cut, and as sharp and legible as if Time had 
 not been pounding at them for eighteen cen- 
 turies. There are also two or three rooms 
 filled with paintings and drawings of French 
 artists, among which we especially admired 
 some crayon sketches by Menifsier, of Metz, 
 
Chapter L — Lyons, 7 
 
 exceedingly well done; an Interior Rustique^ 
 by Bail; Henri de Guise^ (Balafre) sworn by 
 his mother to revenge his father's death, by 
 Pierre Chas. Comte; Far Niente^ a picture 
 of an Italian peasant girl, dreamily leaning 
 against a wall in the sunlight; and two small 
 pictures by M'lle Felicie Megret — the one 
 of Galileo in his study — the other of the 
 house of a peasant. There was also a bas- 
 relief worth mentioning, by the Marquis 
 de Parcieu, ^'Mignon aspirant an cie^ after 
 the painting of Ary Scheffer. 
 
 In the public square, fronting the Mu- 
 seum, as well as in the Place Imperial and 
 Place de Bellecour, is a beautiful fountain, 
 always playing. The contrast between the 
 old buildings, walls, and streets, on the west 
 of the Saone, and the wide avenues, spacious 
 quays, and lofty, elegant buildings, on such 
 streets as the Rue Imperiale^ and the quays, 
 is that between old France— venerable with 
 age and laden with the wealth of History 
 accumulated in the progrefs of centuries — 
 and modern France, with the newnefs and 
 lavish elegance that has followed after the 
 
8 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 Revolution. The many tints that the hand 
 of History had laid, ag-e by ag-e, upon the 
 canvas of France, were, for the most part, 
 obliterated in the latter part of the seven- 
 teenth century, by the brush of the Revo- 
 lution, soaked in blood, and in Lyons, as 
 in Paris, the marks of antiquity appear 
 more remarkable than those of the present 
 century. 
 
 Arising one morning, and looking out 
 the window, we saw one of those sights 
 which a foreign and Catholic country alone 
 affords. Along the quays of the Saone, 
 and the bridge of Tilsit acrofs it, w^ere lines 
 of men, boys, and women, all with wooden 
 shoes, and the women with white caps, anx- 
 iously awaiting something that they stretched 
 their necks to see, down the street. The 
 bells of the churches were slowly tolling, 
 and soon appeared a long line of Sisters of 
 Charity, clad in their simple black gowns 
 and white hoods, marching in single file on 
 each side the street. Following these was a 
 great number of priests, bareheaded, bear- 
 ing lighted candles, the choir in their midst 
 
Chapter L — Lyons. 9 
 
 chanting slow, solemn music, with deep bafs 
 voices, accompanied by a brafs instrument, 
 as in the church of St. Roch, in Paris. 
 Next came a coffin, covered with black cloth, 
 fringed with white, borne by men drefsed in 
 black, who were flanked by others, answer- 
 ing to our pall-bearers, all carrying lighted 
 candles. The remainder of the procefsion, 
 which was very long, consisted of citizens, 
 also on foot, but marching close together 
 in pairs, not separated on each side of the 
 street, like the sisters and priests. It was 
 doubtlefs the funeral of some eminent re- 
 ligious person, and was certainly a very 
 strange and picturesque sight for American 
 eyes. 
 
 On another day, sitting by our parlor 
 window, looking out upon the quay and the 
 bridge, we saw just below us a vegetable 
 market — an open space where a number of 
 peasant women were selling their cabbages, 
 onions, and similar vegetables. The buy- 
 ers flock around, and in an hour or two all 
 the articles are sold, and men and women 
 disappear. Picturesque they are — with short 
 
 B 
 
lo Southern France and Spain, 
 
 drefses of some dark stuff which knows not 
 crinoline, a huge pair of sabots below, and 
 above a sack, or a handkerchief of gay col- 
 ors, brought round the neck, over the breast, 
 and fastened at the girdle. Some have the 
 white caps worn by a majority of the French 
 women of the lower clafs, and others wear 
 wide flats of straw, with ribbons or without, 
 while here and there appears a head-drefs of 
 strange form — a flat, round sort of plate, 
 quite large, fastened in some mysterious 
 manner on the top of the head, with a round 
 tower of about two inches in diameter, and 
 three in height, in the center, all covered 
 with a sort of coarse black lace, of which 
 also square flaps, six or eight inches in 
 length, hang at the back of the head. 
 
 Men and women walk briskly along, with 
 well filled baskets poised on the tops of 
 their heads. Here goes a man supporting a 
 couple of parallel sticks, one on each side of 
 him, on the ends of which are built up small 
 mountains of boxes; there goes another, in 
 a blue smock frock, pushing before him a 
 large tray, on two wheels, filled with apples 
 
Chapter I, — Lyons. 1 1 
 
 and oranges for sale ; and through the 
 crowd come a couple of priests, with long 
 black gowns, white neckcloths, and wide, 
 black felt hats, turned up at the sides, 
 like the cocked hat of olden times, closely 
 followed, perhaps, by a Zouave, with his 
 dashing little cap, red trowsers and white 
 gaiters. Now, crofsing the bridge, ap- 
 pear the market women on their home- 
 ward way, in little two-wheeled carts, drawn 
 by little donkeys ; and at the end of the 
 train walks another on foot, leading her 
 little donkey, laden with a couple of large 
 panniers. 
 
 Such were some of the sights our windows 
 afforded, while over the river rose the 
 heights of Fourvieres^ where, crowning the 
 highest steeple, stands the gilded statue of 
 the Virgin, stretching out her protecting 
 hand, as if in benison upon the city at her 
 feet. 
 
 One morning we engaged a carriage for 
 half a day and drove about the town. After 
 a call upon our banker, — a very courteous 
 old gentleman, head of one of the principal 
 
1 2 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 silk-houses, — who received me very politely, 
 and related with great satisfaction that ex- 
 President Van Buren had once sat upon the 
 same sofa that I occupied, — we drove through 
 the park, a tastefully laid out space, adorn- 
 ed with trees and a small lake, on which 
 some swans were swimming ; visited the 
 Jardin des Plantes^ traversed the principal 
 streets, and saw the several squares, with 
 fountains playing in the centres, and finally 
 came home to dine at fixve o'clock. After 
 dinner we decided to visit the Grand T' he atre^ 
 to see the Barber of Seville, and as it was 
 raining, ordered a carriage. When we des- 
 cended, our grand carriage, covered now, 
 and the liveried driver, were waiting. It 
 was nearly midnight when we came out from 
 the play, and the rain having ceased, and 
 the stars shining brightly, we decided to 
 walk home, as we had not ordered our car- 
 riage to wait. Hardly had we gone two 
 squares, however, when it drove up, and 
 our driver jumped from his box to open 
 the door for us. So we learned that half a 
 day in Lyons lasts from twelve at noon 
 
Chapter I. — Lyons. 13 
 
 until twelve at night, and that he who pays 
 fifteen francs for a carriage gets the worth 
 of his money. 
 
 Early the next morning, before the day- 
 light had appeared, but not before the mar- 
 ket women had afsembled and were arrang- 
 ing their vendibles, we rose, and having 
 breakfasted, started for Avignon. A ride 
 of five and a-half hours in the cars, along 
 the right bank of the Rhone, took us 
 thither. By the road runs the rapid river, 
 through a valley cultivated to its utmost 
 extent and capacity, beyond which stand the 
 sentinel mountains, dotted here and there 
 with villages that shine white in the sun- 
 light, and crowned at intervals with castles 
 and chateaux, many of which have long 
 since crumbled into ruins. 
 
Chapter II. — Avignon. 
 
 RRIVED at Avignon, we entered 
 an omnibus and drove to the Hotel 
 "=^^^^^ de r Europe^ where we found very 
 comfortable, large rooms, a capital table, 
 attendance and bed. The bread and coffee 
 were excellent, the butter delicious, and the 
 lamb chops fairly melted in the mouth. 
 
 Avignon was the ancient city of the 
 Popes, having been conveyed to them by 
 Joanna of Naples, in 1348, although occu- 
 pied by them, by the invitation of Philip 
 the Fair, from 1305, during the term of 
 their exile from Rome in the fourteenth 
 century, and afterwards by the schismatic 
 Popes for about forty years more. It is still 
 surrounded by lofty walls flanked with watch- 
 
Chapter II , — Avignon, 1 5 
 
 towers^ and surmounted with battlements, 
 except on the side of the river, where the ab- 
 rupt cliffs render defense unnecefsary. The 
 streets are paved with small boulders, — (pet- 
 rified kidneys as some one called them) — on 
 which one must needs do penance in walk- 
 ing, for there are no side-walks — and are 
 lined with low, heavy, whitewashed houses. 
 The chief attractions are the Palace of 
 the Popes, and the Cathedral adjoining. 
 The former is now used as soldiers' barracks, 
 but the larger portion has been presented 
 by the Emperor to the Archbishop of that 
 diocese, to be delivered as soon as new 
 barracks, now in procefs of erection, shall 
 be completed. ^^ It partakes of the mixed 
 character of a feudal castle and a convent. 
 Its walls are one hundred feet high, and 
 some of its towers one hundred and fifty 
 feet, with a proportionate thicknefs of 
 masonry. It is an edifice rich in afsocia- 
 tions. It was founded by Clenient V, in 
 1309, and during the greater part of the 
 fourteenth century it was the seat of the 
 Papal Court. In those halls, now echoing 
 
1 6 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 to the blasphemous oaths of prisoners, or 
 subdivided and filled with soldiers' cribs 
 and accoutrements, the conclave of cardinals 
 sate, by whom the Pope was elected. Here 
 Petrarch was a guest, Giotto and his schol- 
 ars adorned its walls, and in its dungeon 
 Rienzi was a prisoner/' 
 
 Here, too, was the chamber of torture for 
 the victims of the Inquisition, and later, in 
 the short life of the French Revolution, 
 deeds of blood were done, from the perusal 
 of v/hich we turn awav in horror. 
 
 In the Cathedral we saw a chapel of the 
 time of Charlemagne, a tomb of Pope John 
 XXII, whereof the statue, as well as the 
 bones of the Pope, was broken and scattered 
 by the fierce revolutionists, and a statue of 
 the Virgin, by Pradier, very graceful and 
 beautiful. Here also, as in several other 
 churches that we visited, is a representation 
 in figures of the birth of Christ. The in- 
 fant lies in the cradle, with Joseph and 
 Mary on either side, while at its head stand 
 an ox and an afs, gravely looking down ; 
 two or three other figures are added, gener- 
 
Chapter II , — Avignon. 17 
 
 ally of the kings of the east bringing pres- 
 ents, among whom is always a negro, with 
 robe and turban surmounted by a feather. 
 
 From the Cathedral, which forms the 
 easternmost portion of the palace, a walk 
 leads into gardens, from which a magnificent 
 view of the fortrefs of Villeneuve, opposite, 
 and of the surrounding country may be ob- 
 tained. At your feet runs the swift river ; 
 beyond it are the villages and the fortres, 
 and still beyond rise the mountains — one 
 covered with perpetual snow — which com- 
 mence the chain of the Pyrenees. On the 
 other side are Avignon and the plains be- 
 yond, dotted with white stone and mortar 
 houses, and strange looking tiled roofs, 
 surrounded by gardens and shaded by trees. 
 
 Dismifsing our old conimifsionaire^ we 
 
 wandered through the narrow, crooked 
 
 streets. On the hills were olive trees, and 
 
 in the town were wine shops, with a bush 
 
 hanging over the door, reminding us of 
 
 Shakspeare's ^' Good wine needs no bush/' 
 
 Where white wine is sold, white paper or 
 
 rags are tied to the bush. 
 
 c 
 
1 8 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 The mistral^ a strong wind which blows 
 at intervals during the whole year, was pre- 
 vailing while we were there, but whereas, in 
 summer it is pregnant with discomfort and 
 disease, it was then merely cold, while the 
 sky was without a cloud. 
 
 Near the Cathedral is an open square 
 unenclosed, and smoothly graveled, where, 
 at times, the military band plays, and the 
 people gather for promenade and chat. On 
 one side are cafes and shops, and on the 
 other a theatre, with two fine statues flank- 
 ing its entrance, — one of Moliere and the 
 other of Corneille, — a music hall, formerly 
 the mint of the popes, and between the 
 two the Hotel de Ville^ a large building sur- 
 mounted by a clock-tower, in which stand 
 life-size figures of a man and woman, with 
 hammers in their hands, with which they 
 strike the hours. 
 
 The Museum contains many relics of the 
 Roman period, and the tomb of Petrarch's 
 Laura, — a crofs, upon which hangs a wreath 
 of flowers, standing on a globe. In the 
 building is a gallery of modern paintings, 
 
Chapter IL — Avignon. 19 
 
 chiefly by artists born at Avignon, but by 
 no means confined to that city. There are 
 three portraits by Grimou, in style resem- 
 bling the beautiful paintings of Greuze, 
 which no frequenter of the galleries of the 
 Louvre can forget; an exquisite moonlight 
 scene by Vander Neer ; Mazeppa pursued 
 by wolves, by Horace Vernet — a most re- 
 markable picture ; also paintings by Claude 
 Joseph and Charles Vernet, some of which 
 are very spirited. Best of all, however, are 
 two by French artists, little known in our 
 country, — Evariste Bernardi de Valernes, 
 and Eugene le Poittevin. By the former 
 there is a Sister of Charity in her conven- 
 tional drefs, in the face of whom are re- 
 flected all the virtues that the poor and 
 needy, and the sick and suffering soldiers 
 of our civil war have learned to asfociate 
 with any member of that order. The latter 
 has .Cinderella, sitting in the chimney cor- 
 ner gazing into the fire, seeing in the coals 
 and flames shifting pictures of the bright 
 and beautiful world that young girls all 
 long to enter, but saddened with the 
 
20 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 thought that she never could realize her 
 dreams. There is a mezzotint of this at 
 GoupiTs, in New York, which, though a 
 beautiful picture, conveys but a faint idea 
 of the exquisite original. 
 
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 Chapter Ill.—Nismes—Pont du Gard. 
 
 ^WlWWO hours in the cars bring us 
 "4'^& to Nismes, a beautiful city with 
 "^h r" wide streets, shady boulevards, su= 
 perb Roman remains, comfortable looking 
 houses, and last, though not least in the 
 estimation of a traveler, an excellent hoteL 
 The first visit, of course, was to the 
 Amphitheatre- — built, as were the other Ro- 
 man remains, in the days when the town 
 was called Nemausus^ and was an unimport- 
 ant city of Gaul. It is of stone, 437 i^^t 
 long, 332 feet wide at the centre, being oval 
 in form, and 70 feet high — of two stories. 
 There were thirty-two rows of seats, 
 which would accommodate about 20,000 
 people. Back of the seats are corridors. 
 
^ -^ 
 
 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 surrounding the whole building, roofed 
 with huge stones ; while the facilities for 
 ingrefs and egrefs would be well worth the 
 studv of architects of our easily burned 
 opera houses. It is more perfect, out- 
 wardly, than that of Verona, and altogether 
 more so than the Colisseum ; and work- 
 men are busily engaged in restoring the 
 portions that have been destroyed. 
 
 It was a beautiful morning in February, 
 and the sun was warm enough to tempt us 
 to sit tor an hour on the seats, and conjure 
 up the past, when the Roman citizens sat 
 there, patrician and plebian, feasting their 
 eyes upon the deadly struggle of the gladi- 
 ators, applauding the victor when the cry of 
 '^ hahet'' rang in the air. 
 
 Not far from the Amphitheatre is the 
 Maison Carree^ a most perfect and beau- 
 tiful Corinthian building, which, originally 
 a Roman temple, has pafsed through 
 varied changes — as a Christian church, a 
 city-hall, a stable, a burial house for a con- 
 vent, — and has finally become a museum. 
 In it are various antiquities ; a horrible 
 
Chapter III, — Nis?nes^Pont du Card. 23 
 
 picture by Sigalon, but one of great power^ 
 representing Nero experimenting vipon a 
 slave with the poison destined for his 
 brother Britannicus ; and a celebrated and 
 much more interesting painting, by Paul 
 Delaroche, of Cromwell holding open the 
 coffin-lid of Charles I, and gazing on the 
 features of the dead king. By Guido, is a 
 Jvidith, at the moment when, attired in her 
 richest robes, she is told that it is time to 
 go to Holofernes. Her face is very beauti- 
 ful, and her dreamy eyes and smooth brow 
 would seem to sho¥/ that she was thinking 
 more of the coming conquest of her beauty, 
 and of the consequent triumph among her 
 people, than of the dreadful deed she was on 
 the eve of undertaking. 
 
 The other most noticeable thing in the 
 Museum is a statue of The Dancing Girl, 
 by Pradier. In one hand she holds a harp ; 
 the other is raised ; her head, and the upper 
 portion of her body are thrown back, the 
 m.outh halt open, as if singing; one foot 
 slightly advanced ; the other leg and foot 
 covered with the mantle which has just fallen 
 
24 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 from her shoulders, leaving the form nude. 
 Her figure is lithe, beautifully rounded, 
 perfectly formed and in graceful pose, mak- 
 ing altogether one of the most exquisite 
 statues I saw in Europe. 
 
 In the public square, close by, is another 
 work of Pradier — a marble fountain; on 
 each of the four sides of which is a figure, 
 representing four rivers, presiding over 
 the four streams of crystal water that issue 
 from the marble. This is surmounted by 
 a lofty and commanding female statue 
 wearing a crown, representing on one side 
 the Maison Carree^ and on the other the 
 Amphitheatre. It is a striking work, and 
 especially eflfective by moonlight. 
 
 Back of the town rises a hill of consider- 
 able height, on which stands a hollow, coni- 
 cal shaped structure, much battered by 
 time, called La Tour Magne^ supposed to 
 have been a Roman tomb. We climbed the 
 circular staircase, in its interior, to the 
 summit, and were rewarded with a magnifi- 
 cent and extended prospect, including the 
 Pyrenees, the fertile valley, the city, with 
 
Chapter III, — Nismes^ Pont du Card, 25 
 
 its ancient buildings prominent, and its 
 gardens and long rows of trees ; while afar 
 to the left the white, dim, cloudy looking 
 shapes above the horizon are, the old guide 
 says, the snow-clad Alps, and the glimmer- 
 ing light on the southern horizon is that of 
 the sea. When we had descended, and 
 bought of the old grey-moustached keeper 
 a few photographs, raising his hat most 
 courteously, he offered my wife her choice 
 of card-photographs as a present ''^ si votre 
 maripermittro.y She chose one of the tower, 
 and we parted in high good humor. 
 
 At the foot of the hill a copious fountain 
 bursts from its side, which flows into a 
 large reservoir of cut stone, with a fountain 
 in the centre. These are supposed to have 
 been used by the Romans as baths for wo- 
 men. By the side of the baths is a ruined 
 temple of Diana, and beyond stretch gar- 
 dens which are the pride of this most inter- 
 esting city. 
 
 On the hill-side we saw a soldier and a 
 peasant girl enjoying a lunch, with the in- 
 evitable bottle of red wine, and wondered if 
 
 D 
 
26 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 
 
 ''the old, old story was told again '' there, 
 as it has been at so many other times and 
 places since Adam and Eve talked in the 
 garden. 
 
 In the entrance to the gardens was a 
 bridal party of young peasants, the bride all 
 in white, with veil and orange blofsom 
 wreath, and the bridegroom in traditional 
 black suit and white cravat. It is some- 
 times comforting to think that Adam, with 
 all his troubles, was saved the necefsity of 
 black drefs and white cravat when he was 
 married. Further on was a procefsion of 
 young priests, still in the shell, but with 
 big hats, long gowns, white cravats and low 
 shoes, as if they were already full fledged ; 
 and still further down the street were 
 Punch and Judy, scolding and cracking 
 crowns, and amusing the crowd with En- 
 glish vigor and French vivacity. We sat 
 down for half an hour, on a bench under 
 the trees, to watch the crowd, ostensibly, 
 but I fear that Mr. Punch came in for half 
 the watching. 
 
 It rained heavily when we arose one 
 
Chapter III. — Nismes^ Pont du Gar d, 27 
 
 morning in Nismes, insomuch that we de- 
 cided to forego the pleasure of a visit to the 
 Pont du Gard^ a remnant of an ancient 
 Roman aqueduct, about fifteen miles dis- 
 tant ; but after breakfast the clouds broke 
 away, the sun came forth warm as in April, 
 so the trunks were unstrapped again and a 
 carriage ordered. 
 
 So in an open carriage, through fields of 
 olive trees covered with their rich green 
 leaves, past almond trees clothed in white 
 robes of blofsom, past old-looking tile- 
 roofed houses, against the walls of which 
 were trained rose-bushes, already heavy with 
 flowers, past stone crofses and ruined 
 chateaux, with a good road beneath, and a 
 sky as blue as ever summer showed above, 
 with horses which trotted fast under the 
 combined incentives of jingling bells, and 
 the incefsant cracking of the driver's whip, 
 now and then rolling through a sleepy old 
 village, furnishing thereby much excite- 
 ment to the inhabitants, who all came out 
 to stare at us, we drove to the promised 
 ruins. And well were we repaid. A tier 
 
2 8 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 of six mafsive arches^ spanning a deep ra- 
 vine^ at the bottom of which runs a shallow 
 stream, and supporting a w4de bridge and a 
 second tier of eleven arches, smaller than 
 the first, but still grand in size ; which in 
 turn supports a third tier of thirty-five still 
 smaller arches ; which last are surmounted 
 by the aqueduct — so wide that two people 
 can easily walk abreast in it, and nearly 
 five feet in depth! Imagine all this — built 
 of mafsive stone, of plain and severe archi- 
 tecture, in a wild, though beautiful country, 
 with scarcely a human habitation in sight — 
 1 80 feet high and 870 in length, built 1600 
 years ago; a portion of an aqueduct which 
 brought water twenty-five miles to Nismes, 
 — and you may have some idea of its o-ran- 
 deur, and of the magnificence of the people 
 for whom it was built. 
 
 The day was one of uninterrupted pleas- 
 ure — the ride, the sight, the lunch at the 
 way-side inn, of bread and cheese and spark- 
 ling sour wine — and as we were approach- 
 ing the city on our return, the setting 
 sun touched the clouds with his master- 
 hand, and gave us a glorious picture. 
 
Chapter IV. 
 T'oidouse — Bordeaux — Pan — Ba\onne. 
 
 ROM Nismes by rail to Toulouse, 
 / ji^; jg j^Q^ ^ long ride ; and as we hur- 
 ried along, our thoughts fled away 
 into the past, and we mingled with the 
 gay crowd and listened to the song of the 
 troubadour. But the glory that gilded the 
 city in those days has become rusty and 
 dim : and a city not handsome or attractive 
 in itself, with a hotel about every nook 
 and cranny of which hung an odor which 
 was neither of sanctity nor roses, soon 
 drove fair ladies, and gallant knights, and 
 troubadours, and all, from our minds, which 
 were straightway filled with plans for get- 
 ting away, that were soon formed and put 
 into operation. ; 
 
JO Southern France and Spain. 
 
 As we entered the car, en route for Bor- 
 deaux, there were four gentlemen, evident- 
 ly of one party, who sat each at a window, 
 leaving the four seats in the middle of the 
 compartment vacant. After a few minutes 
 one of the gentlemen rose and offered my 
 wife his place. She declined taking it. 
 Another rose and begged her to take his, 
 and then the third and fourth followed. 
 Finally one of them changed his seat and 
 would not be satisfied until she took the 
 place he had left. This last was a very 
 intelligent and pleasant gentleman, and we 
 kept up a long conversation. By the 
 way, nothing strikes an American traveler 
 more than the custom in France, and partic- 
 ularly in Spain, of each man, on entering or 
 leaving a car, raising his hat and bowing 
 politely to his fellow travelers, and im- 
 mediately offering to converse with his 
 neighbor. 
 
 We went through the valley of the Gar- 
 onne, one of the most beautiful in France, 
 fully one half of which, however, was under 
 water, caused by rains, said to have been 
 
Chapter IV, — Toulouse to Bayonne. 31 
 
 heavier than at any time for one hund- 
 red years. 
 
 It is remarkably fertile, and, as is common 
 in France, the land is nearly all owned by 
 peasants, who buy strips often to fifty feet 
 in width, and from one to three hundred feet 
 in depth. As soon as a peasant collects a 
 few hundred francs he buys a little strip of 
 ground with it, and raises a few vegetables 
 and vines, some owning but a single furrow. 
 
 Bordeaux is a truly lordly city, with its 
 broad stone quays, — said to be the finest in 
 the world — beautiful gardens, lofty build- 
 ings, and its Cathedral, through the exquis- 
 itely painted windows of which streams the 
 varied colored light. 
 
 The gardens are large and tastefully laid 
 out, with a stream running through them 
 almost literally filled with gold fish, and 
 adorned with numerous fountains, groves 
 of various trees, and parterres of brilliant 
 flowers ; and on Sunday afternoon one may 
 see hundreds of people walking about the 
 avenues, listening to the music of the band, 
 watching the swans or the gold fish, or the 
 
3 2 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 large number of children who in a broad 
 open graveled space are busy with their 
 games. 
 
 There is an Art Museum, but its treas- 
 ures are few, — a couple of Grimoux, a beau- 
 tiful Achenbach, a Claude, and a remarkable 
 painting, by Cogniet, of Tintoret painting 
 the portrait of his dead daughter, comprise 
 the best of the collection. There are many 
 others, which they told us were Titian's, 
 Rubens', Rembrandt's, Van Dyke's, and 
 the like, but we took the liberty of dis- 
 believing what they told us, out of respect 
 to those great names. 
 
 We had a capital hotel near the quay, — 
 the Hotel de Nantes — about which will ever 
 linger for me the delicious perfume of La 
 Tour Blanche and Chateau Margaux. 
 
 I was struck with the difference between 
 the hours of businefs here and those preva- 
 lent in England and our own country. 
 Calling on my banker, who had one of the 
 largest houses in the city, about one in the 
 afternoon, I was told no one was in, but I 
 could call at three and find the partners. 
 
Chapter IV, — T'oulouse to Bayonne, 23 
 
 Subsequently I inquired their office hours, 
 '' From nine to twelve" was the reply, and 
 '^from half-past past two till six/' ^' But 
 why this closing for two hours in the mid- 
 dle of the day ? " '^ Ah, monsieur, we go 
 to take our breakfast ! " 
 
 Leaving Bordeaux, we proceeded south- 
 ward to Bayonne, stopping en route at Pau, 
 for two or three days, to see some friends 
 from home. Hitherto we had been pre- 
 sided over by a special genius of the 
 weather, for we took clear skies with us 
 wherever we went, and were becoming some- 
 thing of fatalists in our belief in our good 
 luck, but at Pau the presiding genius of 
 the place triumphed over ours, and the 
 rain was almost incefsant during our stay. 
 In spite of that, however, we drove along 
 the banks of the beautiful Gave^ and among 
 the hills, which gave promise of great beauty 
 when the leaves should clothe the trees, and 
 the sun should shine again, lamenting only 
 those lines of stunted and deformed trees 
 of which the beauty and grace had fallen 
 victims to the necefsity for faggots. 
 
34 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 It was a pleasure which only those can 
 realize who for several months have not 
 seen one familiar face, to meet and mingle 
 with friends, and discufs home news and 
 home scenes, but on the third day, having 
 had a glimpse of the fine scenery afforded 
 by a few hours of sunshine, and wandered 
 through the castle of Henry IV, the great 
 hero of those parts, and thought of Berna- 
 dotte, who went from thence a drummer- 
 boy and died King of Sweden, we proceeded 
 to Bayonne, a lively town, but of little 
 interest to us, save for its fortifications, a 
 curious old cathedral, and an exquisite 
 church of modern architecture, which at 
 the time of our visit was all drefsed with 
 flowers for some festival. 
 
 Here we found a courier named Mariano, 
 a Spanish merchant formerly, and well to 
 do, but now poor, and making his bread 
 and butter by acting sometimes as courier, 
 and at others as an employe of the British 
 Consul at Bayonne. Honest and truthful 
 as a gentleman, economical to a fault, and 
 simple as a child, pofsefsed of the French, 
 
Chapter IV, — Toulouse to Bayonne, 35 
 
 Spanish and English languages, attentive 
 and active, he was a gem — nay, a very Koh- 
 i-noor of a courier. But the poor fellow 
 had once had a sun-stroke, which affected 
 his brain in some degree, and at Madrid 
 the rarity of the air and the excitement of 
 the city ajffected him so that I was com- 
 pelled, though reluctantly, to send him 
 back to Bayonne. I afterwards engaged 
 Manuel Bazan, who is recommended by 
 Fetridge, in Harper's Handbook of Trav- 
 el, in whose recommendation, after two 
 months' trial, I most heartily concur. 
 
 The road from Bordeaux to Bayonne 
 runs nearly the whole distance through a 
 flat, sandy pine barren, called JLes Grandes 
 Landes, Scarcely any houses are to be 
 seen, excepting in the few villages on the 
 route, but everywhere the pine and fir trees, 
 with patches of grafs here and there, which 
 serve as sheep pastures. The shepherds 
 of this region, instead of the traditional 
 pipe and crook, have a pair of lofty stilts, 
 and a long stafi^ with a piece nailed across 
 the top. These stilts answer the double 
 
3 6 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 purpose of keeping them out of the sand, 
 and as posts of observation, while the staff 
 is for sitting on without dismounting. The 
 traveler, as he speeds along, will generally 
 see two or three of these strange looking 
 tripods together, conversing and knitting. 
 
 The region is said to have been com- 
 paratively bare at a former period, but 
 proving an excellent place for the cultiva- 
 tion of evergreens, they have been planted 
 in great numbers. It is also said that the 
 Emperor is largely interested in this sec- 
 tion, and when North Carolina seceded and 
 the products of her pine forests rose so 
 rapidly in value, the Imperial speculator 
 realized a handsome profit from his ven- 
 ture. 
 
Chapter V. — Irmi — Burgos. 
 
 
 
 T noon we left Bayonne, by rail, for 
 Burgos, expecting to reach that 
 ^ place at midnight. But human 
 plans ^' gang aft aglee/' And so did ours 
 on this occasion, Bradshaw to the contrary 
 notwithstanding. 
 
 At Irun, the first Spanish station, we 
 changed cars, and sat patiently for an hour, 
 waiting until the gentry in blue and red 
 uniforms, and light straw-colored caps, 
 black moustaches, cigarettes, and dirty fin- 
 gers, had finished searching our baggage. 
 The trunks were verv small, and perhaps 
 therefore the more suspicious, or perhaps 
 the hour before the train would leave was 
 to be filled up some how or other, and this 
 
\ 
 
 3 8 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 presented a tempting method of so doing; 
 but whatever the reason^ most certain it is 
 that our trunks were most thoroughly 
 searched that day. 
 
 Clothes were carefully shaken, parcels of 
 
 gloves unwrapped, brushes examined, and 
 
 nothing contraband discovered, until a box 
 
 ^ was found which seemingly presented no 
 
 ^ means of opening it. The officer turned it 
 
 about and around, looked at its top and bot- 
 
 1^- ^ ^ ^om, shook it, and at last unable to compre- 
 
 ^ \ hend the secret, handed it to our courier and 
 
 ^^^^ asked what it was. He did not know, and 
 
 Y ' asked us. I would not tell. How to get 
 
 it open, and its contents, the officer must 
 
 discover for himself. His temper did not 
 
 seem to be improved by this, but he was 
 
 amusing us, and I had no idea of losing the 
 
 amusement. So he pulled, and worked, 
 
 and shook, and at last seized with a brilliant 
 
 idea unscrewed the top, and found inside a 
 
 bottle. He opened the bottle and smelt 
 
 of its contents, but did not recognise the 
 
 perfume. He asked Mariano what it was. 
 
 Mariano did not know, and I refused to 
 
Chapter V.-^Irun — Burgos, 39 
 
 tell. Up went the bottle to his nose again, 
 but gaining no information by that means, 
 he tasted it. Having done so he spat on 
 the ground with disgust, and looking very 
 savagely at us, who were much amused, 
 put in the stopper, screwed up the cover, 
 and put it back. The bottle contained 
 hair wash I 
 
 Soon after he brought forth a small long 
 newspaper parcel, containing two round 
 barrels. Here was something wrong. Now 
 he could bring los Americanos to grief, and 
 eagerly untwisted the ends of the paper, 
 unrolled it and discovered — -two candles, 
 which, in a fit of disgust at the Toulouse 
 hotel bill, we had carried off and forgotten 
 all about. 
 
 His official sternnefs melted into sur- 
 prise, and as his eyebrows rose, Mariano's 
 mouth expanded, and we burst into a 
 hearty laugh. 
 
 At last we were off again, but in the 
 afternoon were detained a couple of hours 
 at a way-station, waiting for a train, and 
 finally about one in the morning, we were 
 
40 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 aroused from sleep by cries and the glare of 
 torches. Whether the cars were on fire or 
 robbers had attacked the train, or Burgos 
 was reached, we could not tell, but in a 
 nioment came the pleasing intelligence that 
 a tunnel had fallen in and we must walk 
 over the mountain. 
 
 There was no help for it ! so we set 
 forth. Up, up, up we went, until the 
 climbing had nearly taken away our breath, 
 while still above us, and far below, flared 
 the great torches and sounded the cries of 
 the Spanish guides who lighted our path 
 and carried the baggage on their shoulders. 
 
 Up still until we reached the summit, 
 where the cold wintry wind blew strongly 
 and bit shrewdly. Far down below lay the 
 train we had left ; all up the side of the 
 mountain the torches flared in the wind ; 
 by our side stood a guide, with ragged 
 brown pantaloons, leather leggins, slouched 
 hat, and a cloak like unto Joseph's, for 
 variety of color, and to the famous boots 
 of Peter the Great for composition, while 
 away down in the valley below shone the 
 
Chapter V, — Irun — Burgos 41 
 
 lamp of the engine of the train that was to 
 carry us on. 
 
 Not a shrub, nor a tree, was to be seen 
 as far as the moonlight allowed the eye to 
 reach ; and as the torches lit up the motley 
 line of traA/elers, and guides, and porters, 
 and glistened on the arms of the guards 
 who walked at the side of the procefsion, 
 muffled in their cloaks, with their black 
 eyes peering from under their cocked hats, 
 I thought I hadjiev^r., beheld^ a sceiie^sg^. 
 wild and picturesque.^^ 
 
 But it was too cold to stand there long, 
 and therefore down the other side of the 
 mountain, by a zig-zag path so steep that 
 for half the distance we descended by steps 
 cut in the earth, to the new train, which in 
 an hour more took us to Burgos. 
 
 This ancient city, once the proud capital 
 of proud Castile, renowned by the deeds of 
 the Count Fernan Gonzales, and the Cid 
 so famed in story and in song, losing 
 somewhat of its greitnefs by the removal 
 of the Court to Toledo, in the eleventh 
 century, is now a dull, quiet, sleepy town. 
 
42 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 with narrow crooked streets, containing 
 about 25,000 inhabitants, and is interest- 
 ing to the traveler chiefly on account of 
 its Cathedral. 
 
 This Gothic structure, about three hund- 
 red feet in length, by an average breadth of 
 ninety-three feet, rich in carving and orna- 
 ment, is unfortunately situated on uneven 
 ground, and much obscured by surround- 
 ing buildings. In the interior it is divided 
 into three naves, separated by rows of pil- 
 lars. The efl^ect of the length, however, as 
 in all the Spanish Cathedrals, is greatly in- 
 jured by the situation of the high altar and 
 choir, which are placed in the center of the 
 church, instead of at one end as with us. 
 It is built of very light colored stone and 
 appears within as if it were of compara- 
 tively recent erection, although it has been 
 standing about six hundred years. There 
 are neither chairs nor pews in any of the 
 Cathedrals in Spain, but all the worshippers 
 kneel on the stone floor, the women gener- 
 ally afsuming a squatting position when 
 not actually engaged in prayer. They are 
 
Chapter V, — Irun — Burgos, 43 
 
 most democratic institutions ; the ragged 
 beggar boy, that Murillo delighted to paint, 
 may be seen kneeling by the side of the 
 lady whose rich black drefs and fine lace 
 mantilla give evidence of pofsefsion of 
 wealth, and the workman and the titled 
 are on an equality there. 
 
 When the French blew up the castle in 
 1 8 13, the Cathedral was not injured, con- 
 trary to general expectation, but the beau- 
 tifully painted glafs windows were all 
 destroyed. 
 
 The towers, which are three hundred feet 
 high, are triumphs of art — so light one 
 wonders they are not blown away in that 
 stormy region ; and so open one can see 
 the stars through them at night. Viewed 
 from a distance they are exceedingly beau- 
 tiful. 
 
 There is, of course, much to admire in a 
 building almost encrusted with statues and 
 carving, but one of the most interesting 
 objects is the carved wood forming the seats 
 of the choir. This is wrought into all 
 manner of strange shapes, while there are 
 
44 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 two tiers of bas-reliefs, representing scenes 
 from the Old and New Testament, all ex- 
 quisitely finished, while in the centre is an 
 inlaid seat, representing, strangely enough, 
 the rape of Europa ! 
 
 The chest of the Cid is shown by the 
 sacristan, — an old wooden iron-bound box, 
 in which the brave Rodrigo kept his treas- 
 ures. But once when he was going on 
 an expedition, his exchequer was very low, 
 so he sent for two wealthy Jews to dine 
 with him, and warming them with wine, 
 proposed to borrow of them the sum re- 
 quired, depositing in their keeping his 
 chest, which he afsured them was filled with 
 plate, and gold, and jewels. The box was 
 very heavy, and the Cid's word was sup- 
 posed to be very good, so the Jews lent 
 him the money, without opening the box. 
 Afterward, the Cid being succefsful in his 
 expedition and acquiring much spoil, re- 
 turned this money, and apologized for the 
 fact that the box contained only sand. 
 
 For this he is lauded by the Spanish 
 chroniclers ; for the reason I suppose that 
 
Chapter V, — Irun — Burgos. 45 
 
 he was honest enough to pay what he had 
 dishonestly borrowed, a thing perhaps of 
 infrequent occurrence in Spain. 
 
 Around a clock in the corner may gener- 
 ally be found a small collection of people, 
 waiting for the striking of the hour, when 
 an Apostle steps forth, and after striking 
 the four quarters on a little bell, retires, 
 closing the doors after him, upon which 
 a grotesque figure strikes the hour on a 
 large bell, opening his mouth from ear to 
 ear at each stroke. 
 
 In one of the chapels we saw the Christ 
 of Burgos, — a most admirable work of art, 
 — carved, as the legend runs, by Nicode- 
 mus, out of supernatural wood, so that 
 none can say what it is, and found by a 
 merchant of Burgos in the Bay of Biscay, 
 whither it had come of its own accord from 
 the East ; and pofsefsed of the power of 
 working miracles. The effect, however, is 
 much injured by one of the stiff silk petti- 
 coats, embroidered with gold, with which 
 the Spaniards generally drape the figure. 
 
 Not far from the city is a hill, on the 
 
46 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 brow of which stands the citadel. We 
 climbed up to it in the morning, and 
 finding no officer of whom to ask leave, 
 walked in, and acrofs to the ramparts, whence 
 we had a fine view of the surrounding 
 country and the city at our feet, with the 
 lofty towers of the Cathedral overtopping 
 all. After we had been there about half 
 an hour, the commandant sent word that 
 as we had entered without asking permif- 
 sion, we must retire immediately, and as 
 we had seen all we cared to, we cheerfully 
 obeyed ; and taking a carriage drove to the 
 convent La Cartuja^ about three miles from 
 the city, to see the tombs of Juan II, and 
 Isabella of Portugal. 
 
 These wonderful mausoleums are octa- 
 gonal in shape, guarded at each corner by 
 two lions, that support escutcheons on 
 which are carved the royal arms. All the 
 sides are covered with delicate carvings of 
 figures under filagree canopies, fruit, open- 
 worked leaves, birds, animals, and other 
 objects, of perfect form and harmony. On 
 the tops lie the full length figures of the 
 
Chapter V, — Irun— Burgos. 47 
 
 king and queen, with life-like features and 
 most wonderfully worked robes and laces. 
 At the feet of the queen a lion, child, and 
 dog are lying. All these are carved in 
 alabaster, and defy description. 
 
 Near by, in a recefs in the wall, is the 
 statue of Don Alonso, their son, (also of 
 life size,) who is represented kneeling on a 
 cushion. Over him is a Gothic arch, 
 festooned with a grape vine, the whole, 
 like the others, presenting numberlefs 
 leaves, flowers, and figures of exquisite 
 workmanship. This, also, is all of alabas- 
 ter. They were placed there towards the 
 close of the fifteenth century, by Queen 
 Isabella, the sister of the Infanta. 
 
 The sights I have mentioned comprise 
 the chief attractions of Burgos ; and 
 our hotel, dirty and uncomfortable, the 
 weather very cold, with only a brazier of 
 charcoal and ashes to warm ourselves with, 
 (for there are no fire-places in Spain, except 
 in a few new hotels,) induced us to linger 
 no longer, but push on to Valladolid, where 
 the chances for comfortable housing might 
 
48 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 be better. We did so, but after a sleep and 
 a breakfast we decided not to spend another 
 night there, for we had come from the fry- 
 ing-pan to the fire. 
 
Chapter VI. — Valladolid — Escorial. 
 
 ND indeed, one day is sufficient to 
 see all thatj/alladolid offers. Situ- 
 "^^^ ated on a wide plain, the cold winds 
 have free course in winter, and the Span- 
 iards who were walking on the Prado when 
 we went to see it, must have been taking a 
 serious constitutional. 
 
 Philip II, who was born here, did much 
 to embellish and adorn it while it still re- 
 mained the Capital of Spain, and it was a 
 large and flourishing city. After he re- 
 moved his Court to Madrid, however, the 
 population diminished, and the city has now 
 43,000 inhabitants. 
 
 We rambled about the dead old town, 
 with its crooked streets and white buildings, 
 
 G 
 
50 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 old churches, and dirty beggars, crouched in 
 the corners where the sun had most power, 
 until we came to the Museumx, which, among 
 many pictures, statues, and other objects, 
 contains few worthy of notice, and fewer 
 still to be recollected. The most curious 
 of all was a considerable series of pictures, 
 representing various scenes in the life of 
 Christ, in which all the prominent figures 
 are made of mother-of-pearl. The author- 
 ship is unknown, but they are said to be of 
 great antiquity. 
 
 While walking on the Prado I gave a beg- 
 gar a copper. '^ Don't, for God's sake, Mr. 
 M.," said our old guide. '^If you give to 
 one, they will smell you a mile.'' And in 
 truth, they were plentiful enough. One 
 ludicrous instance occurred. Two blind 
 men sat on one side of the street. On our 
 approach a little girl was sent acrofs to beg. 
 She, mistaking her instructions, accosted 
 two Spaniards in front of us, which the 
 blind men seeing^ called out to her to cease 
 and turn to us, which she did, with the 
 usual ^'^^r amor Dios^ Senor^'' but which only 
 
Chapter VI, — Valladolid — EscoriaL 51 
 
 provoked laughter on this occasion, and the 
 reply, ^'Vaya con DiosJ' which turns away a 
 Spanish beggar about as surely as a soft 
 answer turneth away wrath. 
 
 From Valladolid we went by rail to the 
 village of EscoriaL about twenty miles from 
 Madrid, arriving; about five o'clock in the 
 morning, and were glad to find a comfort- 
 able bed, and a good breakfast afterwards. 
 
 At a short distance is the famous palace 
 of the Escorial, the reflex, in stone, of the 
 character of its half-monk, half-king, builder, 
 PKiTip 11. Built of granite, with long cor- 
 ridors of low, flattened arches, of immense 
 size, in a rocky, desolate region, it is as 
 gloom.y an abode as even its royal owner 
 could desire. 
 
 Pafsing through the principal entrance, 
 over which are placed colofsal figures of the 
 six kings of Judea who are said to have 
 afsisted in the building of Solomon's Tem- 
 ple — all of granite, with heads and hands of 
 white marble — we proceeded directly to the 
 Church. This is also granite, of the Doric 
 style, and the greatest simplicity, but of in- 
 
52 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 exprefsible grandeur. It is of large size — 
 320 feet long, 230 feet broad, and 320 feet 
 to the top of the cupola; but the secret of 
 its grandeur is in its perfect proportion and 
 severe simplicity. The Cathedrals of Bur- 
 gos and Toledo are more rich in carvings 
 and more gorgeous in appearance; that of 
 Seville is greater in size and adorned with 
 world-famous paintings; those of Cologne 
 and Milan more beautiful, and St. Peter's 
 more vast and better suited for the capital 
 where the head of the church may lead in 
 worship, and all the gorgeous ceremonies 
 of the Catholic Church be performed ; 
 but more in this than in any other did 
 I feel that sense of awe which he felt of 
 old who knelt in the very Holy of 
 Holies. If ever there was a temple 
 where one must hold his breath and feel 
 that '^ God alone is great,'' it surely is 
 this. 
 
 Immediately under the altar, which is 
 composed of the variously colored marbles, 
 is the dome of the tomb, curiously named 
 the Pantheon, an octagonal chamber, of 
 
Chapter VI. — Valladolid — EscoriaL ^i^ 
 
 highly polished marble, on shelves about 
 the sides of which are metallic coffins, in- 
 closed in porphyry urns, in which rest the 
 bodies of the kings and queens of Spain, 
 placed there in fulfillment of the vow of 
 Philip II, to have high mafs said for their 
 souls, over their bodies, every day. 
 
 The palace is exquisitely fitted up with 
 inlaid woods, gilding and tapestry, and was 
 formerly the repository of many fine paint- 
 ings, of which, however, but few are now 
 left, the remainder having been transferred 
 to the Museum at Madrid. At last, after 
 inspecting the Convent, we visited the 
 rooms of the king who built all this. A 
 small antechamber, or salon, where he re- 
 ceived his ambafsadors, a narrow, dark, 
 unventilated bed-room, and a small study, 
 where are his chair, the support for his 
 gouty foot, and his writing materials, all of 
 the plainest sort, — all the rooms having 
 earthenware floors and walls of blue Dutch 
 tiles, — form the apartments he delighted to 
 occupy. Close beside them is a narrow 
 recefs, from which a small door opens into 
 
54 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 the church, where died this singular com- 
 pound of pride and self-abasement, cool 
 ferocity and superstitious piety— who de- 
 ceived his friends and confefsed his sins 
 daily, and deluged the land in blood for the 
 glory of God and the honor of his royal 
 line. 
 
 The building was erected both in com- 
 pliance with the wish of Charles V, and in 
 fulfillment of a vow to St. Laurence, on 
 whose day the victory of St. Quentin was 
 won, and being a rectangular parallelogram, 
 with long corridors and a tower at each 
 corner, is thought to have been purposely 
 constructed in the form of a reversed grid- 
 iron, in honor of the method of martyrdom 
 of that saint. 
 
 After spending the whole day in this 
 wonderful pile, we returned to the hotel, 
 and after dining, again took the cars, arriv- 
 ing at Madrid about nine o'clock, when we 
 drove to the Grand Hotel de Paris ^ the largest 
 and best hotel in the city, situated on the 
 Puerta del Sol, 
 

 ^S 
 
 ^^^^^^^ 
 
 wj^^^ »f^**^friw 
 
 i 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^^S^ 
 
 F%^P^ 
 
 
 
 
 i^O 
 
 Chapter VI I. — Madrid. 
 
 N inquiring for rooms we were 
 shown two on the first floor, (or 
 second story in our understanding,) 
 which seemed very pleasant, but had no 
 fire-place. These were six dollars per day. 
 On the floor above, we found two others 
 with a fire-place, which were eight dollars a 
 day ; but they were on the shady side of 
 the house, and consequently very cold, and 
 we subsequently changed to two others on 
 the floor below^, on the sunny side, for 
 which we paid ten dollars per day, — or, as 
 I estimated it, six for the rooms, two for 
 fire-place, and two for sunshine. These 
 prices include dinner, and breakfast of eggs, 
 wine and bread. As an Englishman once 
 
^6 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 said to me, '^ He who wishes coffee, cham- 
 pagne and such luxuries must expect to pay 
 for them," as well as for fire, lights, service, 
 and other extras. 
 
 But it was a very comfortable house, and 
 for the first time since leaving Bayonne 
 we luxuriated in an open fire-place with a 
 blazing fire in it, and soon lost the colds 
 contracted on the way thither. 
 
 Every one has read of Madrid, — its 
 Puerta del Sol^ the lounging place of all 
 clafses of people, — its Prado, lined with 
 trees, with carriage road and broad side- 
 walks, where, on pleasant afternoons, the 
 Madrilenians may be seen walking or driv- 
 ing ; the palace, a vast stone structure of 
 fine architectural effect ; its museums and 
 its galleries of paintings; and I shall rather 
 endeavor to give an idea of our life there, 
 and the strange and beautiful sights we saw, 
 than of the appearance of the city itself. 
 
 Of course our first walk on the morning 
 after our arrival, (after a visit to my 
 banker's for letters,) was to the Gallery of 
 Paintings, whither we resorted almost daily 
 
Chapter VII , — Madrid. 57 
 
 during our stay, and always with increasing 
 pleasure. 
 
 This collection, begun by Charles V and 
 Philip II5 the friends and patrons of 
 Rubens, Titian and Velasquez, and after- 
 wards largely increased by Philip IV and 
 Philip V, is one of the most attractive, 
 as it is said to be one of the finest galleries 
 in the world, in which opinion, after seeing 
 those of Rome, Florence and Dresden, I 
 concur. From the Netherlands, from Italy, 
 and from France, they drew their treasures, 
 and when the Commonwealth of England 
 sold the Van Dykes and other gems of 
 the collection of Charles I, Spain was a 
 large purchaser, and in that dry, conserv- 
 ative climate, time deals gently with works 
 of art. 
 
 Besides the Raphaels, Rubens, Titians, 
 Tintorettos, Paul Veroneses, Claudes, Van 
 Dykes, — all of whom are represented by 
 some of their best works, and large num- 
 bers of Teniers, Wouvermans, Both, and 
 many other well known artists, — is a larger 
 collection of Spanish masters than is to be 
 
 H 
 
58 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 found in any other place in the world. 
 Zurbaran, Ribera, Valasquez, and Murillo, 
 can be studied to more advantage here than 
 in any other place. Indeed, nearly all of 
 the works of Velasquez are to be found here, 
 and more of Murillo's best than elsewhere, 
 excepting at Seville. 
 
 It would need a better art critic than 
 myself, to comment on the riches that 
 cover the walls, so as to describe without 
 wearying the reader. One has literally emhar- 
 ras de richesse. But the " Pearl " of Raphael ; 
 a ^'Conception'' by Murillo — who, if ever 
 painter drank of the cup of inspiration, 
 had quaffed largely ere he so painted 
 purity and innocence itself, enshrined in 
 beauty — the child Christ giving his play- 
 mate, St. John, to drink from a shell, by 
 the side of the stream ; the Magdalen, 
 weary with watching, and worn with grief; 
 Rebecca at the well; and others by the same 
 master; Titian's Charles V, on horseback; 
 Valasquez' wonderful portraits of the royal 
 family of Spain ; Tintoretto's Shipwreck, 
 from out which looks a woman's face of 
 
Chapter VII. — Madrid, 59 
 
 remarkable beauty ; and four exquisite 
 Claudes, would of themselves well repay the 
 lover of art for a journey to Madrid. 
 
 We visited, one morning, the Royal 
 Armory, where we saw the armor of Charles 
 V, Philip II, Isabella I, — as well as those 
 of other celebrated characters, — but most 
 interesting of all, to us, that of Cortez and 
 Christopher Columbus, in which we be- 
 lieved firmly, caring naught for historic 
 doubts suggested by sceptical guide-books. 
 Here, also, we saw the swords of Ferdinand 
 and Isabella ; of Don John, hero of Le- 
 panto ; of Pizarro, conqueror of Peru ; of 
 Cortes, and of the unfortunate Boabdil, 
 last Moorish sovereign of Grenada. 
 
 The Palace we could not enter, as the 
 royal family were residing there during the 
 period of our stay. We often saw the 
 Queen, — a fat, sensual looking woman, 
 whose appearance by no means contradicts 
 the general report of her character, — in an 
 open carriage, accompanied by the King, 
 her husband, who has rather an intellectual 
 face, and was constantly bowing to those 
 
6o Southern France and Spain, 
 
 upon the sidewalks, who raised their hats 
 as they pafsed. The carriage was drawn by 
 eight or ten horses, preceded by a company 
 of mounted guards, with brafs helmets and 
 flowing horse-hair plumes, and followed by 
 another carriage containing the children. 
 The young Prince and heir to the throne is 
 a very dark, black eyed, active boy, of intel- 
 ligent countenance, and seemingly remark- 
 able only on account of his position, and 
 for being the son of such a mother. 
 
 The royal stables are large and interest- 
 ing. Some three hundred horses, including 
 several American brood mares, Eno:lish, 
 Arabian, and Spanish horses, and about 
 two hundred mules, are kept there, and 
 adjoining is the carriage house, where are 
 the magnificent but heavy, lumbering state 
 coaches. 
 
 We frequently visited the theatres, and 
 one evening saw a spectacle called 1864 and 
 1865. The former, as an old man with 
 long white beard and hair, shows the latter, 
 — a man ludicrously arrayed as a child, 
 who is taken out of a cradle — the various 
 
Chapter VII , — Madrid, 6i 
 
 matters and things which it is necefsary for 
 him to encounter during his life. The 
 steam-engine pafses^ and the telegraph and 
 the printing prefs, and other motive powers 
 of the world. Then appears a man bear- 
 ing a banner, half of which is torn off, 
 labeled '' Spanish credit.'' Next is seen 
 the front of the existing Academy of Art, 
 <-/ — -Murillo and Valasquez pafsing by, sud- 
 denly stop, read the sign, raise their hands 
 in horror, and rush from the stage. Various 
 other tableaux succeed, and finally appears 
 a statue of I.iberty, draped in mourning. 
 People of different clafses pafs by, when 
 the statue glides away, and in a moment 
 there rushes on the stage a genuine street 
 mob, composed of people from all ranks 
 of life, the gentleman, artisan, and beggar, 
 armed with all manner of weapons, led by 
 a small man in his shirt-sleeves, waving a 
 sword, and all shouting Libertad^ Libertad^ 
 while the orchestra plays the Marseillaise. 
 
 The excitement of the audience was in- 
 tense. Handkerchiefs waved, hats were 
 thrown into the air, vivas were shouted. 
 
62 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 and three times the scene was repeated with 
 equal enthusiasm. 
 
 Upon inquiry why such demonstrations 
 were not stopped by the government, I 
 was informed that at first the government 
 affected to laugh at it, but afterward a num- 
 ber of other theatres took up the play, and 
 the excitement was so general and great that 
 it was feared the threatened revolt would be 
 hastened by endeavor to put down the rep- 
 resentations. Great difsatisfaction certainly 
 exists, and it is evident that the time must 
 come when the present government must 
 accept liberal ideas, or be overwhelmed by 
 the march of humanity. 
 
 I was amused one day by the title of one 
 of the plays — Pan y Toros — ''bread and 
 bulls,'' — which seem to be the necefsities 
 of Spanish life at present, as were Panis et 
 Cir censes^ — '' bread and games '' — to the *" 
 Romans, or ''bread and circuses" to 
 young America. 
 
 We attended a bull-fight during the Car- 
 nival season at Madrid, at which, although 
 it was not a regular bull-fight, there were 
 
Chapter VIL — Madrid. 6^ 
 
 five bulls and seven horses killed, but 
 unfortunately, in the estimation of the 
 Spaniards, no man. It is certainly an ex- 
 citing scene, but exceedingly barbarous and 
 cruel. One horse, after being gored on 
 each side so that his entrails dragged on the 
 ground, was still ridden around the ring to 
 seek a fresh encounter. This, however, 
 became too much even for the Spaniards, 
 and he was ordered out of the ring by the 
 Alcalde, or governor of the city, who al- 
 ways presides on such occasions. The 
 horses employed are veritable '' crow-baits,'' 
 and so long as they are in the ring your 
 sympathies are all with them ; but after 
 they leave they are entirely with the bull, 
 and I could not help agreeing with an En- 
 glish gentleman who accompanied us, who 
 '^wished the bull would catch that rascal in 
 yellow.'' 
 
 The bull-fight has been so often de- 
 scribed that it would be uselefs for me to 
 attempt it. Some of the feats are full of 
 daring, and exhibit great skill and agility, 
 and are very exciting ; but I think it can 
 
64 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 scarcely be a matter of doubt that such 
 exhibitions must necefsarily exercise a per- 
 nicious influence upon the people. All 
 clafses, of both sexes, attend regularly, and 
 therefore all partake of the taint, which 
 among a lazy, ignorant, pleasure-loving 
 and pleasure-seeking people, must be much 
 greater than among a diflferent population. 
 
 The ignorance of all clafses in Spain is 
 remarkable. I was asked if America was 
 part of England, by a well-to-do shop- 
 keeper ; and I could fill a page with such 
 remarks, by people of the best social posi- 
 tion, which were told me while we were in 
 Madrid, by those who had lived there a 
 long time, and the peasants, who bear the 
 reputation of being the most honest clafs, 
 are wonderfully ignorant. 
 
 The life of a woman of fashion is divided 
 between eating, drinking, sleeping, driving 
 on the Prado, the theatre, oper^ and balls. 
 Men who have enough to enable them to 
 live plainly and drefs well, lounge about 
 all day, smoking cigarettes, and haunt the 
 theatres and cafes at night. It is an old 
 
Chapter VI L — Madrid. 65 
 
 maxim that idlenefs is the parent of vice, 
 and the family is consequently very numer- 
 ous. The clergy, provided with immense 
 revenues, largely choose their profefsion for 
 the means of livelihood ; and while they 
 discharge the duties required by the forms 
 of the church, care nothing for the educa- 
 tion of their flocks, as witnefs the statistics 
 — which show that out of a population 
 of about 16,000,000, three-fourths, or 
 12,000,000, can neither read nor write. 
 With ignorance travel poverty and crime, 
 and Spain — -blefsed with fertile soil, fine 
 cTimate, rich stores of minerals, coals and 
 marbles — groans under the curses of want 
 of intelligence, want of good government, 
 and want of religion. Let the cause of 
 education be really undertaken in earnest, 
 the government liberalized and reformed, 
 and the church purified, and Spain may 
 yet regain her proud position among the 
 Catholic powers of Europe. 
 
 We accompanied Mrs. Perry — wife of 
 our Secretary of Legation — one afternoon, 
 
 • to the Hall of the Cortes, (the meaning 
 
 I 
 
66 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 of which word is courteous^ to hear the 
 debates. The general style was most de- 
 corous. All the members were well drefsed^ 
 and sat with their gloves on — as we would 
 do at a theatre — evidently debating some 
 question concerning which was much ex- 
 citement ; but their conduct of it would be 
 a good model for some of our Southern 
 brethren in Congrefs — even the valiant 
 Roufseau, or his Egyptian opponent^ or 
 the poetical Cooper. 
 
 The days pafsed rapidly, and when even- 
 ing came, and dinner was over, there 
 generally gathered in our sitting-room Mr. 
 W., Col. F., and Capt. H. — three English 
 gentlemen — to discufs a cup of real English 
 breakfast tea, which we had taken the pre- 
 caution to bring a supply of from England. 
 Many were the political discufsions, the 
 anecdotes of people, and manners in Spain, 
 Portugal and Fayal, in which Col. F. had 
 had many adventures ; and many were the 
 cigars and cups of tea that vanished in those 
 pleasant evenings. One story of the Col- 
 onel's is worth preserving for its singularity : * 
 
Chapter VII , — Madrid. 67 
 
 ^' There grows in Catalonia a weed that 
 will make the fortune of him who shall 
 discover it, for it will eat iron, and cut into 
 the strongest bars in the smallest space of 
 time. Once upon a time, some boys were 
 hunting birds' nests, and they came upon 
 one wherein were some rare and beautiful 
 birds. Afraid to disturb them, one watched 
 while the other went for a cover of iron wire 
 to put over the nest, so as to keep them 
 (the birds) prisoners until a cage could be 
 procured. The cover was brought and put 
 carefully over the nest, and the boys retired 
 in great glee. The next day they returned 
 with a cage, but their cover was gone, and 
 the birds as well. Wonderingly, they 
 searched the ground at the foot of the tree 
 for the cover, but found only some bits of 
 wire. Some weeds were lying about also, 
 and happening to touch the wire with a 
 weed, it straightway fell into two pieces, 
 and the secret was discovered. Other birds, 
 friends of the prisoners, discovering their 
 distrefs, had brought this wonderful weed, 
 and laid it upon the cover, which, falling 
 
68 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 to pieces, left them free. But where the 
 weed came from no one knows to this day, 
 and the discovery is yet reserved for some 
 fortunate man/' 
 
 The hours in Madrid are later than in 
 any capital I have seen. Long after m_id- 
 night the roar of carriages, and the cries of 
 newsboys, peddlers and others, rise from 
 the street, so loud that if one shut his eyes 
 it would be easier to imagine himself in 
 New York, at noon of day, than in a city 
 at noon of night. Businefs, the hotels, 
 and every body, must conform ; and one 
 morning, when about nine o'clock, I rang 
 the bell and inquired what they had for 
 breakfast, the answer was : ''They have not 
 come from market yet, sir. I don't know 
 what we will have." 
 
 On Sunday commenced the Carnival. 
 For two or three days previous had the 
 tomtoms sounded in the streets ; but now 
 began the real masquerade. Companies of 
 men, in almost every imaginable variety of 
 costume, paraded the streets ; some with 
 brafs bands, some with flutes and tam- 
 
Chapter VII, — Madrid, » 69 
 
 bourines, some with bag-pipes, and some 
 with castanets ; stopping here and there in 
 the crowded street to dance, while the scouts, 
 with their caps or tambourines, begged 
 from all pafsers ; jumping on the steps of 
 carriages, putting their arms around the 
 men and women they met, calling to the 
 spectators who crowded the windows, and 
 carefully collecting any amount of copper 
 coins which were thrown to them. The 
 Calle Alcalde a street leading to the Prado, 
 was thronged with carriages, and the Prado 
 and the principal streets filled with all 
 manner of people, masked or unmasked, 
 on foot, on horseback, or in carriages. It 
 was one constant, universal frolic, and so 
 continued, with masked balls at night, for 
 three days, when the Lenten season com- 
 menced. 
 
Chapter VIII. — Toledo — La Mancha. 
 
 EAVING Madrid in the afternoon, 
 ^^^ pafsing through Aranjuez en route^ 
 we arrived at Toledo at ten P. M., 
 and were conveyed by the one solitary 
 omnibus of the town to our hotel, where 
 we got tolerably comfortable beds and 
 meals, but, for the first time, no butter. 
 One can always find excellent chocolate, 
 bread, salad, and generally a good cutlet or 
 chop, however, wherever he goes. 
 
 The sun was very warm the next day, 
 when we set out for the sword manufactory 
 on the plain below the city, about half an 
 hour's walk, — but if we had chosen to ride 
 we could not have done so, for carriages are 
 not to be obtained. We walked, therefore, 
 
Chapter VIII, — Toledo — La Mancha. 71 
 
 and went through the building, seeing the 
 various procefses of manufacture, and the 
 elastic blades that bend in circles without 
 breaking. 
 
 On the way back, we visited the old 
 Roman Amphitheatre, now but a mafs of 
 ruins, crofsed the old Roman bridge, and 
 mounted the hill on which the city stands, 
 preceded by a water-carrier, driving a 
 couple of donkeys loaded with panniers 
 full of jars of water. He sang one of 
 those peculiarly monotonous, plaintive 
 songs to be heard in Spain, and was lazily 
 walking and watching the strangers. Nearly 
 all the music of Spain has a burthen of 
 sorrow^, as if the lofs of its former greatnefs 
 had unconsciously saddened its people. 
 
 We visited old Moorish houses, with 
 their singular ceilings and tiled walls, and • 
 courts in which are sunk deep wells ; the 
 old palace, or Alcazar, ruined by the French 
 at the time of the invasion ; the College, 
 adorned with exquisite marble work, built 
 by Cardinal Ximenes; saw the old Moorish 
 walls and gateways, and the churches, and 
 
7 2 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 finally came to the celebrated Cathedral, 
 ornamented with carvings of wood and 
 stone, and lighted by exquisite painted 
 windows. 
 
 It is about 400 feet in length by 200 in 
 width, built in the Gothic style of archi- 
 tecture, surmounted by a tower 329 feet 
 high, of great beauty, although not so 
 beautiful as those of Burgos, and, like that 
 Cathedral, is hidden by surrounding build- 
 ings. In one of the chapels we were shown 
 the stone, surrounded by red jasper, on 
 which the Virgin alighted when she appeared 
 to San Idefonso, on this very spot, and, in 
 return for his championship, clothed him 
 with a chasuble of great splendor. 
 
 A very curious sight, too, is a statue of 
 the Virgin, carved in black wood, seated on 
 a silver throne, crowned with a tiara full 
 of precious stones, and clothed in silk and 
 brocade embroidered with gold and pearls. 
 It is supposed to be 1,100 or 1,200 years 
 old. 
 
 Toledo, on a rocky eminence, skirted 
 by the 'Mordly Tagus,'' is the most pic- 
 
Chapter VIII, — Toledo — La Mancha. 73 
 
 turesque city we saw in Spain. At present 
 it is even more dead than Valladolid in ap- 
 pearance, and now but about 17,000 people 
 live where once were courts of mighty 
 monarchs, wealthy nobles, the celebrated 
 Archbishops, who guided States and mar- 
 shalled armies — familiar alike with court 
 and camp — where 30,000 fighting men were 
 mustered, and 10,000 hands were employed 
 in its factories. 
 
 For 150 years Capital of Gothic Spain, 
 373 of Moorish Spain, and again the seat 
 of the court of Charles V, now but a de- 
 serted town, with narrow, crooked streets, 
 and interesting chiefly as a remnant of the 
 past, ^^Ichabod" is written upon its gates. 
 
 Hence ifsued forth Don Roderick — to 
 fight the invading Moor — in splendid state, 
 attended by his noble cavaliers, — but hither 
 returned he never. Here was born Perez 
 de Vargas, that flower of chivalry, renowned 
 in Spanish song. To-day the beggar sleeps 
 in the sun, the water-carrier drones his 
 monotonous song, and the glory of the 
 past has faded. 
 
 K 
 
74 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 After two or three days spent in Toledo, 
 we set forth again for Cordova at six P. M. 
 In a couple of hours we arrived at Castillejo, 
 where we waited three more for a train. 
 We talked with an old guard, to while away 
 the time ; and seeing him eat a sort of 
 sugar-puff, soaked in a large glafs of water, 
 tried it ourselves, but not with such great 
 succefs as to induce us to repeat the ex- 
 periment. Finally I borrowed from the 
 bar-keeper (as we should call the man who 
 sold water, wine, oranges and sugar,) a 
 pack of cards. Spanish cards have no eight, 
 nine or ten spots, nor are the face cards 
 marked similarly to ours. Distinguishing 
 them, however, as sw^ords, cups, clubs and 
 round things, it was pofsible to make a 
 game of euchre, and so beguile the time 
 until the train arrived. 
 
 We were told that- we should reach Al- 
 cazar in an hour, but we fell asleep, and 
 finally awaking, I found it was quarter to 
 one, and there we were, flying along at a 
 rate never before or since known in Spain, 
 and only to be accounted for upon the 
 
Chapter VIII . — Toledo — La Mancha, 75 
 
 theory that the locomotive had a sweetheart 
 in Valencia, whom he was anxious to reach 
 as soon as pofsible ! ♦ 
 
 Painful surmises of our courier's having 
 gone to sleep, as well as ourselves, flashed 
 through our minds, and that instead of 
 having changed cars at Alcazar, as v/e should 
 have done, we were on our way to Valencia, 
 while our baggage was en route for Cordova, 
 (as happened to Commodore Mackenzie 
 once tipon a time — -as told ttl~ "tiiF capital 
 ^'Year in Spain,") and our large invest- 
 ment in diligence tickets was a failure. We 
 had already begun to speculate on what we 
 should do on arrival at Valencia — where we 
 should be without a courier as well a^ bag- 
 gage, for of course he would never appear 
 before us again — when the train stopped, 
 and the guard shouted ^'Alcazar!'' 
 
 What was the matter with that place I 
 do not know, but as it was a very cold 
 night, I strongly suspect it had run down 
 the road for twenty miles or so, in order 
 to keep warm, and forgot to come back in 
 time for the train. 
 
76 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 Here we disembarked, and were shown 
 into a huge room, where were perhaps an 
 hundred men and women, dividing their 
 attentions between coffee and sandwiches, 
 and the endeavor to imitate the sounds at 
 Babel, after the confusion of the builders' 
 tongues. The nasal French, soft Italian, 
 sonorous Spanish, and guttural German, 
 were all heard, and close by us, from a form 
 clothed in a capacious fur-lined coat, came 
 the sound of sneezes ending with ski^ which 
 betrayed the Rufsian. Unwilling that 
 America should be unrepresented in such a 
 congrefs of nations, we contributed our 
 share to the conversation, and attended to 
 the coffee and sandwiches. 
 
 Being well warmed, we entered the cars 
 again, awaking at five A. M. at Santa Cruz. 
 Many drivers of rival diligences accosted 
 us, upon whom we smiled blandly, answer- 
 ing them not again, while our excellent 
 Manuel secured us our coupe, (or front 
 compartment,) in the '^ Madrilena,'' a huge 
 concern drawn by ten mules. 
 
 A woman presented hot chocolate, which. 
 
Chapter VIII , — Toledo — La Mane ha. 77 
 
 as the morning was frosty, was very refresh- 
 ing, and we prepared for our long ride. 
 Before leaving we received a number of 
 calls from gentlemen resident in Santa 
 Cruz, who addrefsed vis with a series of re- 
 marks in Spanish, which, unfortunately, we 
 were unable to understand. From their 
 tone, and the frequent use of the words 
 ^^ amor di Dios'' we concluded that they were 
 either religious persons wishing to touch 
 our hearts, or persons in impecunious 
 circumstances, who desired to touch our 
 pockets. We smiled benignantly upon 
 them for some time, distributed a few cop- 
 pers, and then, weary of their attentions, 
 pulled up the windows of the coach. From 
 their tone of voice as they turned away, 
 we judged that the interview had not been 
 altogether satisfactorv to them, which we 
 of course regretted. 
 
 ^' Crack went the whip, round went the 
 wheels," and amid shouts and cries of the 
 driver and whipper we were off. The 
 whipper is an institution peculiar to this 
 route, and, so far as I know, to this par- 
 
7 8 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 ticular diligence, for I have never seen him 
 described in anv books. Drefsed in 
 breeches, leg:ging;s and shirt, with a slouch 
 hat and a gav waistband, he sits beside the 
 driver, and makes it his businefs to see 
 that the proper rate of speed is kept up. 
 Should the stretch of level road be long, 
 and the mules given to slow progrefs, or 
 be thev inclined to walk, or even trot slowly 
 up hill, down jumps the vigilant whipper, 
 runs to the front, and as each pair of ani- 
 mals pafses, he makes a long;, limber stick 
 bend over their backs, compelling them 
 into a full gallop, and then picking up a 
 few stones wherewith to pelt particular pets, 
 he runs up again, swings himself lightly to 
 the seat, and with his hand beating on his 
 mouth, gives vent to a long howl of en- 
 couragement. As this ceremony is being 
 continually performed, the whipper, though 
 a verv agile, active, spare voung man, is 
 changed with the mules every hour. 
 
 It was a lovelv dav for our ride. Unlike 
 all other travelers who ever wrote concern- 
 ing that route, we had no accidents, delays, 
 
Chapter VIII , — Toledo — La Mancha. 79 
 
 or other matter, to complain of. The mules 
 did not tangle up, nor stand on their heads; 
 the dilio^ence lost neither a wheel nor its 
 balance ; the road was in capital order ; we 
 had the best seats in the concern ; and, 
 with a o;ood basket of cold chicken and 
 partridge, and a bottle of Valdepenas, we 
 cared nothing for poor hotels by the way — 
 in which, however, one can always procure 
 good omelettes and Bread, and excellent 
 chocolate. 
 
 The road acrofs La Mancha is over a 
 great sandy plain, with few villages of adobe 
 houses, and a beggarly population. Corn 
 and wine are the chief productions. Wind- 
 mills tofs their long arms in the air, inviting 
 attack from Don Ouixote, and, as in the 
 rest of Spain, few trees are to be seen. 
 
 The pafsage of the Sierra presents some 
 interesting and wild mountain views ; and 
 here and there one sees parties of workmen, 
 who are driving tunnels through the granite 
 hills for the railroad to Cordova. 
 
 Although the ride was a pleasant one, 
 and the day was fine, we were not sorry 
 
8o Southern France and Spain, 
 
 when, at ten o'clock in the evening, the 
 diligence stopped before the door of a 
 comfortable hotel in Cordova. 
 
 The postillion, who had ridden the fore- 
 most animal for seventeen consecutive 
 hours, followed us into the hotel to claim 
 his perquisite, and when we gave him half 
 a dollar, retired fully satisfied. 
 
Chapter IX. — Cordova. 
 
 GOOD sleep and an excellent 
 breakfast caused us to forget the 
 fatigues of our trip ; and the next 
 morning we first visited the Cathedral. 
 The day was warm and sunny, presenting a 
 great contrast to the climate of the northern 
 elevated plains, — and as we pafsed along the 
 clean streets, between rows of white houses 
 with green balconies and blinds, and peeped 
 through the gateways into the open courts, 
 where orange and lemon trees were growing, 
 laden with golden fruit, and the lofty palm 
 towered above the plashing fountain, — we 
 felt the charm of this beautiful Andalusia; 
 and in answer to the question of our courier, 
 how long we should stay in the city, my 
 
 L 
 
8 2 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 answer was instantaneous and earnest : ^^ I 
 don't feel now as if I should ever quit this 
 place." 
 
 Entering the gate of the court of the 
 Cathedral, we found ourselves in a grove 
 of orange trees loaded with fruit, sur- 
 rounding a fountain at which the faithful 
 Moslem performed his ablutions before 
 entering the sacred building — a practice 
 which might be imitated by his Christian 
 succefsors, greatly to their advantage. 
 
 Pafsing in through the principal entrance, 
 we looked upon a building as singular in 
 architecture as in beauty. With a low roof 
 — seeming lower than it really is, by reason 
 of the forest of marble pillars which sup- 
 port the double arches upon which it rests, 
 and of great size, — it contrasted strongly 
 with the Gothic Cathedrals we had lately 
 visited. The effect is injured by the great 
 choir and high altar erected in its centre; but, 
 as we stood looking from one end through 
 the pillars and arches, we remembered the 
 days of its glory, when from fretted arches 
 swung hundreds of lamps, the light of which 
 
Chapter IX. — Cordova. 83 
 
 illumined the vast interior, and was reflected 
 back from thousands of precious stones, 
 while on the floor the turbaned Moslem 
 bowed his head before the holy place where 
 was kept the Koran, and we forgot the 
 defect. 
 
 Niiie^Jiundred years ago, Cordova was 
 
 the home of a million of people; the centre 
 of learning and intelligence in the world ; 
 its rulers vied with oriental princes in. 
 luxury and state ; the minarets of three 
 hundred mosques rose in the air, while 
 twice as many inns, and three times as 
 many baths, were provided for the comfort 
 of the inhabitants, and the crowds of 
 strangers who resorted thither ; and its 
 chief mosque was inferior only to that of 
 Damascus in size, and to the Caaba of 
 Mecca in holinefs. Now — here and there 
 — the quotations from the Koran may still 
 be seen upon its walls ; the pillars of 
 marble, and jasper, and porphyry, brought 
 from Nismes, and Narbonne, and Carthage, 
 and Constantinople, still support the light 
 arches ; but the sixteen hundred lamps no 
 
84 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 longer are suspended from the roof; the 
 brilliant coloring is hidden with whitewash ; 
 the organ peals and the censer swings within 
 it ; and the Moslem has left only the relics 
 of his proud and elegant dominion. The 
 grafs growls in the streets ; learning and 
 power have departed ; and where a great 
 multitude once gathered, but forty thousand 
 now exist. 
 
 Not very far from the mosque, just out 
 of one of the gates of the city, the Guadal- 
 quiver is spanned by a bridge, built by the 
 Romans, guarded at the further end by a 
 Moorish tower ; while, at the other end, is 
 the gate of the city erected by Ferdinand 
 and Isabella, — presenting thus, hand in 
 hand, relics of the three proudest of Spain's 
 rulers. 
 
 In Cordova, as in Seville, the houses are 
 built about square open courts, with covered 
 arcades on each side, and fountains, orange 
 and lemon trees, the cactus and other plants, 
 and palm trees, in the centre. In the 
 summer rods are put acrofs, over this open 
 space, and the whole covered with an awning ; 
 
Chapter IX. — Cordova. 85 
 
 and the family, thus protected from the sun, 
 having no rain to fear, bring down their 
 furniture into the arcades, and spend their 
 days in the open air. 
 
 After a short stay we went to Seville, the 
 road running near the river, through fields 
 hedged with the aloe and prickly pear, with 
 here and there orchards of orange and olive 
 trees, and now and then a palm. It is said 
 that th e first^ palm tree ever planted in 
 Spain was brought there by one of the 
 Moorish monarchs, who desired to thus 
 keep green the memory of his beloved 
 Damascus. 
 

 HAPTER X. — Seville. 
 
 F course, in Seville, as in Cordova, 
 ]^:^ the first visit is to the Cathedral, a 
 i^^ Gothic building;, said to be the largrest 
 in the world, except St. Peter's in Rome, of 
 which, however, I shall not attempt to give 
 a labored description, as, like that, it has 
 been so often described by others. At its 
 side rises the Giralda — a tower 350 feet in 
 height, built originally by the Moors, but 
 changed at the summit and added to by the 
 Spaniards subsequently. It is thirty-five 
 feet square, and ascended, not by steps, but 
 by a winding inclined plane inside, up which 
 one could easily ride a horse. From the 
 summit the view is very extended over the 
 city and surrounding plain, through which 
 
Chapter X, — Seville, 87 
 
 winds the Guadalquiver, sparkling in the 
 sunlight. Near its top hangs a chime of 
 twenty-five bells, being the same number 
 as the churches in Seville. 
 
 On the summit of the tower is mounted 
 an immense bronze figure of a woman 
 holding a shield, said to weigh 9,000 
 pounds, so lightly poised as to turn with 
 every breeze. It is singular enough that 
 this weathercock bears the name of Faith. 
 
 Pafsing through the court, we enter the 
 wondrous structure, and walk with reverence 
 through the lofty naves, lighted with the 
 ^'dim, religious light" that streams through 
 the painted windows; stop before the tomb 
 of St. Ferdinand, and muse of home as 
 the eye rests upon the slab of marble that 
 marks the grave of the son of Columbus. 
 
 But often must the traveler return in 
 the morning to linger before the wonderful 
 achievements of Murillo — '^The Guardian 
 Angel," and '^St. Anthony of Padua." In 
 the former, the angel, leading a little boy 
 by the hand — the countenance of the angel 
 filled with benignity and wisdom, that of 
 
8 8 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 the child exprefsive of innocence^ franknefs 
 and hope — fully justify the high praises 
 bestowed upon the painting. The latter is 
 thought to be one of Murillo's grandest 
 works. The infant Jesus, in the midst of 
 cherubs, angels, and light, descends to blefs 
 his faithful follower in answer to his prayers. 
 The Duke of Wellington is said to have 
 offered to cover the picture, which is very 
 large, with gold pieces, as the price for its 
 purchase, but the chapter refused to sell. 
 
 In the Hospital, La Caridad^ we saw two 
 other celebrated works of this great master 
 — one called '^The Thirst" — La Sed — 
 representing ^' Moses Striking the Rock,'' 
 from which gushes the water eagerly caught 
 by the famished multitude, — the other, 
 '^The Miracle of the Loaves and the 
 Fishes." Here formerly hung also ''Santa 
 Isabella," washing the sores of a beggar- 
 boy's head — a picture remarkable alike for 
 the beauty of Isabella and her attendants, 
 and the accurate loathsomenefs of the 
 sufferers ; but after Marshal Soult had 
 carried it to Paris, and it had been restored. 
 
Chapter X, — Seville. 89 
 
 it remained in Madrid, instead of being 
 returned to its original position, for which 
 the subject is peculiarly suited. 
 
 Two of the most interesting sights in 
 Seville are the Casa Pilata^ or House of 
 Pilate, and the Alcazar. 
 
 The former, a curious mixture of Moor- 
 ish and Gothic architecture, is so called 
 because it has a room said to resemble in 
 every particular a portion of the house of 
 Pilate of Judea, and a stone pillar is said 
 to be the fac simile of that at which Christ 
 was scourged. 
 
 The latter was formerly the Moorish 
 palace, added to and enlarged by the various 
 rulers of Spain ; restored to its ancient 
 style of ornamentation and splendor, it is 
 now kept as one of the royal palaces. 
 
 In no place in Spain did I experience the 
 same sense of the physical luxury that the 
 Moors delighted in. Standing on the cool 
 marble floor, in a room of which the walls 
 are richly adorned with delicate tracery of 
 stucco, colored with gold, and red, and 
 blue, and green, — looking through a long 
 
 M 
 
go Southern France and Spain. 
 
 vista of gorgeous rooms — through arches 
 fretted with seeming lace-work, with the 
 sun pouring his golden light in at the 
 windows — while the cool breezes are laden 
 with the fragrance of tropical flowers and 
 the rich scent of orange blofsoms, and the 
 song of birds and the plash of fountains 
 fall upon the ear — one can not help wishing 
 for a day to spend with the learned, elegant 
 and luxurious Moor. 
 
 '^ It is impofsible/' says Irving, ^^ to 
 travel about Andalusia, and not imbibe a 
 kind feeling for those Moors. They de- 
 served this beautiful country. They won 
 it bravely; they enjoyed it generously and 
 kindly. No lover ever delighted more to 
 cherish and adorn a mistrefs, to heighten 
 and illustrate her charms, and to vindicate 
 and defend her against all the world, than 
 / did the Moors to embellish, elevate and 
 enrich their beloved Spain. Everywhere I 
 met traces of their sagacity, courage, ur- 
 banity, high poetical feeling, and elegant 
 taste. The noblest institutions in this part 
 of Spain, the best inventions for comfort- 
 
Chapter X, — Seville, 91 
 
 able and agreeable living, and all those 
 habitudes and customs which throw a pecu- 
 liar and oriental charm over the Andalusian 
 mode of living, may be traced to the Moors. 
 Whenever I enter these beautiful marble 
 patios, set out with shrubs and flowers, 
 refreshed by fountains, sheltered with awn- 
 ings from the sun ; where the air is cool at 
 noonday, the ear delighted in sultry summer 
 by the sound of falling water; where, in a 
 word, a little paradise is shut up within the 
 walls of home; I think on the poor Moors, 
 the inventors of all these delights. I am 
 at times almost ready to join in sentiment 
 with a worthy friend and countryman whom 
 I met in Malaga, who swears the Moors 
 are the only people that ever deserved the 
 country, and prays to heaven they may 
 come over from Africa and conquer it 
 again." 
 
 I think that friend a most sensible person, 
 and if they should return with the keys to 
 their dwellings, which they have handed 
 down from generation to generation, to 
 take pofsefsion and dwell there, and again 
 
92 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 make the fertile soil bring forth its fruit by 
 their patient toil, and restore the magnifi- 
 cence of the olden time, I, for one, would 
 bid them God speed ! 
 
 From such buildings as the Alcazar, to 
 go to the Cannon Foundry, and the Tobacco 
 Factory, where 5,000 women are employed, 
 and where the stranger must endure the 
 ordeal of 5,000 tongues and 10,000 bright 
 inquisitive eyes, is like awaking from a de- 
 licious reverie after reading the '^Arabian 
 Nights," to find oneself in the reality of a 
 political meeting. 
 
 An intermediate step is the Museum, 
 where are collected several works of Murillo 
 and a number by other Spanish artists of 
 note. Zurbaran has one representing a 
 dozen or so of monks, with white robes 
 and red caps, seated at a table on a fast-day, 
 whereon are dishes laden with smoking 
 meats and such carnal luxuries. Enters 
 unto them the prior of the convent, with 
 stern visage, and the surprised sinners are 
 filled with the empty wind of consternation, 
 instead of the anticipated forbidden flesh. 
 
Chapter X. — Seville, gi^ 
 
 The attitudes and exprefsion of the coun- 
 tenances are capital. 
 
 One of the principal streets in Seville, 
 where ladies go shopping — for as babies in 
 all countries cry in the same language, so 
 do women in all countries alike delight in 
 shopping — has rods extended acrofs from 
 the roofs of the houses, over which in 
 summer an awning is drawn, keeping the 
 walk — for no carriages are allowed to enter 
 — clean and cool — a fashion to be envied in 
 our heated terms. 
 
 As we were riding along in the city one 
 day, we had a rather exciting opportunity 
 to see one of the favorite amusements in 
 Seville. The street was not wide enough 
 to turn in, and straight before and trotting 
 towards us was a wild bull, with lofty head 
 and fiery eye, followed by a crowd of 
 screaming boys and men. If he had taken 
 a fancy to pay attention to our horses, we 
 should have had a private bull-fight that we 
 did not relish the prospect of, the advantage 
 being all on the bull's side. But he pafsed 
 by and made for an old woman, whose gaily 
 
94 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 covered cloak attracted his attention. She, 
 called to a sense of her situation bv the 
 clamor ot the crowd, rushed into an open 
 doorwav and escaped, and the animal pro- 
 ceeded on his wav, monarch of the street. 
 
 The citv itself lies on the left bank of 
 the Guadalquiver, which winds around its 
 walls, which are about five miles in circum- 
 ference, with sixtv-six towers and fifteen 
 
 gates. 
 
 A prosperous trading seat under the 
 Phoenicians ; favored bv the Romans ; 
 erected into the capital ot Boetica bv Julius 
 Caesar ; the court of the Gothic monarchs 
 for hftv vears ; the most important city in 
 Spain, after Cordova, under the Moors ; 
 famous for its silks and other fabrics, its 
 schools and universities, and its extensive 
 trade, — it was taken bv Ferdinand, A. D. 
 I 248, and its population of 400,000 Moors, 
 Jews, and Arabs, driven without its walls. 
 
 '' It was the beloved citv of the Moslem 
 — the gold and lace tent of the sensual 
 Eastern — who planted it on the banks of 
 the Guadalquiver^^to dream life away amid 
 
Chapter X, — Seville. 95 
 
 the enchantments of refined taste, which he 
 lavished his gold and genius to adorn, and 
 his blood to defend and fortify. Here 
 once, in the evening twilight, the muezzin's 
 monotonous cry rang through the still air 
 from the rosy towers of the Giralda, calling 
 myriads of Moslems to prayer. The halls 
 of the Alcazar, all glittering with gold and 
 vivid colors, bathed in an ocean of light, 
 were thronged with crowds of courtiers, 
 garbed in long flowing robes, haughty war- 
 riors in floating burnooses, grey-bearded 
 Alfaquirs, and obsequious ambafsadors 
 from the courts of Castile, Arragon, 
 Genoa, and other States. Its voluptuous 
 harems extended amidst palm and orange 
 groves to the river's banks, where black- 
 eyed houris whiled their listlefs hours away, 
 gazing on the Guadalquiver, where rocked 
 on its crystal bosom heavily-laden, white- 
 sailed feluccas, bearing the commerce of the 
 world. Its bazaars were then full of the 
 richest silks, in the manufacture of which 
 upwards of two hundred thousand persons 
 were employed. Its schools — rivals in 
 
g6 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 learning of those at Cordova and Grenada 
 —were frequented by the very Castilian and 
 Arragonese princes, whose fathers envied 
 the magnificence of this court and dreaded 
 the valor of its armies. ^ -^ =^ Not only a 
 city of pleasures and the repository of arts, 
 but the centre, with Cordova, of European 
 civilization/' 
 
 Over one of its gates is inscribed the 
 following couplet : 
 
 " Condidit Alcides — renovavit Julius urbem, 
 Restituit Christo Fernandus tertius heros." 
 
 And the Sevillians declare that he who 
 hath not seen Seville, hath not seen a 
 wonder. 
 
 " Quien no ha visto Sevilla, 
 No ha visto maravilla." 
 
 And certainly no book can give one a clear 
 idea of the charms of the cities of Anda- 
 lusia; they must be seen in order to be 
 appreciated. 
 
 At the siege of the city, by Ferdinand, 
 occurred the gallant act of Don Garcia 
 Perez de Vargas, who rode, as told by 
 Lockhart in his ballads, through a band of 
 
Chapter X, — Seville. 97 
 
 seven Moors, and then having dropped his 
 scarf, rode back again alone for it, his 
 enemies each time fearing to attack a knight 
 of such renown. 
 
 We had pleasant rooms at the Hotel de 
 PariSy looking out upon an open space, 
 through which the cavalry marched every 
 day to the music of the ^^barbarous horn ;" 
 and when tired with rambling about, we 
 would sit by the window, looking out upon 
 the little booth below — where water, lemon- 
 ade, almond-water, and similar beverages, 
 were sold to thirsty Spaniards — and watch 
 the pafsers-by, — now a couple of priests, 
 with long black gowns, and felt hats, with 
 wide rims rolled up at the side, and pro- 
 jecting half a yard in front and rear — now a 
 woman, with glofsy black hair and graceful 
 mantilla- — now a water-carrier, with his jar 
 upon his head, crying his " acqua frisca ;'' 
 and here and there a beggar — such as 
 Murillo would have loved to put upon the 
 canvafs — with sun-browned skin, and coun- 
 tenance exprefsive of content with rags. 
 
 When tired of these amusements, and 
 
 N 
 
4 
 
 98 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 of eating oranges freshly pulled from the 
 blofsom-covered tree, it was delightful to 
 turn to the pages of Prescott and Irving, 
 and bring the past vividly to mind. 
 
 One morning I started out to see the 
 Barber of Seville, His house I found, but 
 Figaro is no longer qui nor la ; but a sober 
 carpenter occupies his premises. Not 
 fancying being shaved with a plane, I re- 
 turned to the hotel. 
 
 It was delightful at Seville, with its grand 
 Cathedral and gorgeous palace, its clean 
 streets, pictures, balconied houses, and 
 walks through groves of orange trees, 
 whose golden fruit peeped from the dark 
 green foliage, while the blofsoms perfumed 
 the air ; but time was precious, and reluc- 
 tantly we left for Cadiz. 
 
Chapter XI. — Cadiz — Gibraltar, 
 
 HE hotels of Cadiz are all poor, 
 says Harper's Handbook, and so 
 Wj^ r far ^s my experience goes, it leads 
 me to credit that afsertion. Certainly the 
 hotel was poor in comparison with those 
 of New York and Philadelphia, the quiet 
 inns of England, or the luxurious palaces 
 of Switzerland ; but compared with those 
 of Burgos and Valladolid, our hotel was a 
 luxurious abode. It was cold in the even- 
 ings certainly, and when tired of shivering 
 in shawls and overcoats, we inhaled headaches 
 from the brazero^ and were not in a frame of 
 mind to praise the hotel very highly. But 
 the bed was clean, the table fair, and the 
 sherry cheap and exceedingly dry. 
 
I oo Southern France and Spain, 
 
 We intended to spend but a day in 
 Cadiz ; but in Spain things are never done 
 as in other countries, and so it happened 
 that every day we walked down the street, 
 and read one or more advertisements of 
 velsels to sail on the morrow posted on the 
 walls, and comforting ourselves with hope, 
 proceeded to the Alameda^ where we walked 
 up and down the long gravelled promenade, 
 looking out upon the sparkling sea, or up 
 at the two tall palms v/hich stand like 
 sentinels near the church ; or sat in the 
 sun in the open square, eating bananas, in 
 contemplative mood ; or rambled by the 
 city walls, watching the fishermen, and en- 
 joying the lovelinefs of the beautiful bay. 
 And these amusements, except that of a_ 
 cigar and a New York paper at the ConsuTs^ 
 office, of a morning, were about all that 
 Cadiz had to offer. 
 
 There is no sight-seeing to be done, 
 which perhaps is rather a relief than other- 
 wise ; and in spite of Byron, and travelers 
 in general, I could not rouse any enthusiasm 
 whatever over the beauty of the ladies. 
 
Chapter XL — Cadiz — Gibraltar, loi 
 
 They walk well, and show now and then a 
 dainty foot and ankle, but English and 
 Germans are not good judges of such 
 matters. The English, who are born with 
 umbrellas, rave over the skies of any 
 country where it does not rain every day, 
 and neither m_all^ England nor Germany, 
 are there so many pretty women as in New 
 York Cit)rr^^But an American, who has 
 lived among beautiful women all his life, is 
 more critical. One whose knowledge jq£ 
 
 -v lis"^'*' ^=^'">"''^*'^*m<m"j 
 
 art is confined to the photographic gallery 
 of a small town, will vastly admire a paint^ 
 ing which he who is accvistomed to the 
 treasures of Florence and of Rome, wiU 
 pafs by witBout a second glance. 
 
 One morning, strolling into a church 
 which oflfered no particular architectural 
 attraction, I noticed one of the Cadiz ladies 
 on her knees before the altar. A young 
 man pafsing through a side aisle called to 
 her, and some pleasant remarks pafsed 
 between them, when he proceeded on his 
 way, and she took up her prayers again. A 
 few such sights as this will cause one to ask 
 
I02 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 himself, v/hether the prohibition of all 
 conversation between men and women, 
 posted up in large letters on the walls of 
 the Cathedral at Malaga, under the penalty 
 of ?ijine of two dollars and excommunication^ is 
 altogether needlefs. 
 
 One fine morning we were to start for 
 Xerez, under the care of our obliging 
 Consul, but he not being able to be absent 
 long enough for that trip, we went to 
 Puerto Santa Maria, to see the wine-cellars 
 there. An Englishman, acting as American 
 Vice-Consul, received us very politely, and 
 was our guide for the morning. His name 
 was Crusoe, and he was, he averred, a lineal 
 descendant of the famous Robinson. He 
 himself had a small wine-house, which we 
 examined ; but the chief interest of the trip 
 was centered in one — the name of the owner 
 of which I do not remember — containing 
 8,000 casks. These wine-houses, or bodegas 
 as they are called, are on the surface of the 
 ground, instead of being below it ; but 
 being large, lofty and dark, are cool and 
 pleasant. We tasted many varieties of wine. 
 
Chapter XL — Cadiz — Gibraltar, 103 
 
 and listened to a long account of the man- 
 ufacture of the wine, through all the stages ; 
 but I may be excused from attempting to 
 give a long recital of it, with my recollection 
 impaired by the time that has elapsed since 
 then. Suffice it to say, it was very inter- 
 esting, and, with delicate Manzanilla and 
 Amontillado, by no means dry. 
 
 On the way home we occvipied the same 
 car with a muscular mifsionary from Africa, 
 who was taking Cadiz en route for England, 
 whose tongue being loosed, gave us some 
 wonderful stories of boar hunting, and 
 explained how much more safe it was to 
 knock down Jews than Moors. The gentle 
 mifsionary was also returning from a visit 
 to the bodegas^ and was seemingly much 
 elated by what he had seen. 
 
 At last, one afternoon, we were notified 
 that a boat would certainly start that evening 
 for Gibraltar precisely at nine o'clock, and 
 that we must be on board before dark. So 
 hastening dinner, we got together our traps, 
 and set out. In a few minutes we were 
 rowed to the vefsel, and having secured a 
 
1 04 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 state-room, retired early, expecting to wake 
 at Gibraltar. But we did not yet under- 
 stand Spanish ways. It was four in the 
 morning before we started, and we reached 
 Gibraltar about noon. 
 
 In a few mJnutes we were pulled along 
 shore by some Spanish boatmen, and our 
 baggage followed us to the Custom-House, 
 where, for the first time in Spain, my 
 pafsport was demanded by a tall, awkward 
 soldier, with a tight, red jacket, little skull 
 cap, fastened to the side of his head, and a 
 short rattan. Producing this, examination 
 of baggage was waived, and I received a 
 permit to remain three days in the town, 
 which, however, I did not take the trouble 
 afterward to have renewed. On the landing 
 was gathered the most motley crowd I 
 ever saw — turbaned Turks and Moors, red- 
 capped Greeks, English soldiers and sailors, 
 dirty Italians, and Spaniards, and Jews, 
 with a very Babel of sounds. 
 
 Moors are plentiful at Gibraltar — some 
 with long robe and turban, but the great 
 majority clothed in a simple garment like a 
 
Chapter XL — Cadiz — Gibraltar, 105 
 
 shirt of dirty white, leaving the arms and 
 legs below the knee bare, skull cap on the 
 head, and heellefs slippers on their feet. 
 The most remarkable thing about them is 
 their walk. Large and well made, they 
 have an erectnefs of figure and elasticity of 
 step, which always commanded my admira- 
 tion. 
 
 We found a very comfortable sitting- 
 room, with two most remarkable pieces of 
 furniture — a piano and a fire-place — at the 
 King's Arms Hotel, and a bed-room, which, 
 though of the plainest, was most comfort- 
 able ; and, of course, at an English hotel, 
 plenty of water, and the invigorating 
 blefsing of Bafs, whom a Cambridge 
 student is said to have once pronounced 
 the greatest benefactor of mankind. 
 
 Having letters to the Governor-General, 
 and to Col. B., commanding an infantry 
 regiment there, I took a hansom — just 
 think of a hansom in Spain — and delivered 
 them. Their receipt was followed by invi- 
 tations to lunch and dinner, and many kind 
 
 attentions on the part of Col. B., who also 
 
 o 
 
io6 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 entertained us at his quarters, and took us 
 all over the rock. 
 
 The rock rises abruptly from the sea on 
 the eastern side, sloping down to Europa 
 Point at the southern end, with an almost 
 perpendicular face towards Spain. The 
 slope on the western side is gradual, afford- 
 ing good roads and walks, while at the foot 
 of the descent lie a few acres of almost level 
 ground, whereon are situated the gardens 
 and town. 
 
 The town itself is old, dirty, and unin- 
 teresting ; but the gardens, with groves of 
 trees and shrubbery, lawns, and gravelled 
 walks lined with geranium, cacti, and other 
 flowers, are very beautiful, and afforded us 
 many hours of pleasure. Contiguous to 
 the gardens is a large, open, gravelled space, 
 where the garrison is drilled, affording quite 
 a brilliant scene in the mornings. Toward 
 the southern end of the rock are the bar- 
 racks and officers' quarters — some of the 
 latter having neat little cottages, with gar- 
 dens, and a profusion of flowers. 
 
 One morning, after walking over to 
 
Chapter XL — Cadiz — Gibraltar. 107 
 
 Col. B/s quarters, a couple of miles from 
 the hotel, and lunching with him, we walked 
 to Europa Point, where he showed us the 
 triple line of fortifications, each higher than 
 that in front of it, that defend the southern 
 approaches, and then wound round by a 
 road to the eastern side. At some dis- 
 tance up the side of the rock is a cave, 
 to which entrance is now forbidden, on 
 account of the lofs of a couple of ex- 
 ploring soldiers in it some time since. 
 The inhabitants of the rock believe that 
 there is a great hole in it extending down 
 into the sea. Reaching about the middle 
 of the eastern side, the road ends, and we 
 mounted stone steps, partly natural and 
 partly artificial, to the summit, and after 
 walking a few minutes longer, arrived at 
 the highest point — 1,430 feet above the sea 
 — where is the signal station. A small 
 house stands there, to accommodate the 
 signal-master and his family, who, by re- 
 quest of the Colonel, brought us ^' shandy - 
 gaff^'' a drink made by mixing one bottle 
 of pale ale with two of ginger-beer, and one 
 
io8 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 which we found very refreshing after our 
 tramp. There were formerly many mon- 
 keys living on the rock, but they have all 
 disappeared except seven, which are forbid- 
 den to be molested, and of the appearance 
 of each of which a record is kept by the 
 signal-master. 
 
 Three great guns are mounted there, 
 pointing over the town, of which one is 
 fired in the morning, one in the evening, 
 after which all ingrefs and egrefs beyond 
 the lines are forbidden, and a third at noon. 
 When it is desired to give an alarm, as in 
 case of fire or mutiny, the three are fired in 
 rapid succefsion. 
 
 Somewhat fatigued with climbing up the 
 mountain, we sat sipping our shandygaffs 
 and enjoying the magnificent prospect. 
 To the east was the blue Mediterranean, 
 on whose shores were raised the cities, and 
 on whose bosom sailed the argosies of 
 the nations of the dim past, now covered 
 with the white sails of western bound 
 vefsels, detained by contrary winds. To 
 the south stretched Africa, land of the 
 
Chapter XL — Cadiz — Gibraltar. 109 
 
 unknown. Before us rose the twin pillars 
 of Hercules, and near by lay Tangier, 
 from which embarked the Moslem on his 
 conquering mifsion. On the east, Tarifa, 
 where he landed, shone white in the sun ; a 
 little further stood the lighthouse of Cape 
 Trafalgar, off the shore of which Nelson 
 - won his famous victory ; and beyond rolled 
 the waters of the turbulent Atlantic, over 
 which fancy easily wafted us to the society 
 of friends and home. To the north lay 
 the plains and mountains of Spain, the 
 white village of San Roque, a few miles 
 distant, the dark shadows of the cork wood, 
 and, between us and them, the neutral 
 ground, on the respective borders of which 
 paced the sentinels of either country. 
 
 Not far southward from where we sat, 
 was an old ruin, which we visited, of a 
 tower built long ago by Governor O'Hara, 
 with the idea that from its summit, with a 
 proper glafs, one could see over the inter- 
 vening hills, and command a view of the 
 Bay of Cadiz. As might be supposed, it 
 was labor lost. 
 
no Southern France and Spain, 
 
 Descending the western side of the rock, 
 sometimes by winding walks, and again by 
 long flights of steps^ which shortened the 
 distance, we were overtaken by a shower, 
 and hastened to our hotel, arriving just in 
 time for an English roast of beef, which, 
 after over five hours' constant walking, we 
 were not sorry to see. 
 
 One of the chief curiosities of the rock 
 consists in its galleries, or tunnels, cut into 
 the northern end. These are pafsages of 
 several feet in width, and of an average of 
 eight or ten feet in height, from which, at 
 intervals, open chambers of considerable size, 
 their windows forming port-holes, through 
 which cannon keep watch upon all the Span- 
 ish frontier. There are several of these gal- 
 leries extending to the eastern side of the rock. 
 
 This great natural fortrefs is mounted 
 with seven hundred guns, mostly of the 
 Armstrong pattern, and furnished with 
 cisterns of water, and magazines of am- 
 munition and provisions, hollowed out of 
 the rock, sufficient to enable a proper 
 garrison to resist a five years' siege. 
 
Chapter XL — Cadiz — Gibraltar, 1 1 1 
 
 The weather, while we were there, in 
 March, was most delightful, not too warm 
 for exercise, nor too cool for open windows, 
 and the gardens were filled with flowers. 
 
 Our Consul, Mr. S. — to whom, as to 
 his accomplished wife, we were indebted for 
 many kind attentions, and for keeping us 
 au courant with American news — has a farm 
 a few miles from Gibraltar, to which we 
 drove one morning, returning laden with 
 beautiful flowers. 
 
Chapter XII. — Malaga. 
 
 ^^^&, E had intended to remain but two 
 ^'S^ o^* three days in Gibraltar, but there, 
 as in Cadiz, boats were uncertain, 
 and it was a week before we departed. 
 
 At five o'clock, on a bright, warm morn- 
 ing, we were rowed out to a small steamer 
 lying in the bay, bound for Malaga. 
 Climbing on board, we found an English 
 peer — a young English gentleman whom 
 we afterward learned to call Viscount — and 
 his tutor, and a couple of Spanish girls, 
 in black drefses, black mantillas, black 
 eyes, and black hair, carefully arranged. 
 Afterward appeared a tall Spaniard, with a 
 rich cloak, bordered within with maroon- 
 colored velvet, and a dirty old fellow, who 
 
Chapter XII. — Malaga. 113 
 
 turned out to be one of the rich merchants 
 of Malaga. 
 
 The boat was small, with one tiny cabin 
 below deck, and seats along the sides of the 
 deck where all sat down. In an hour or 
 two we started. We sailed round the great 
 rock, the shadow of which lay resting on 
 the sea, through the straits, and into the 
 blue waters of the Mediterranean. The 
 sea was as smooth as glafs, and as we coasted 
 along, we watched the changing shores, and 
 the half-naked boatmen busy on the water. 
 
 About nine o'clock, feeling the want of 
 breakfast, I went below, and found two or 
 three sitting at the table ; and inquiring 
 what I could have for breakfast, was an- 
 swered : ^^Any thing you wish, Senor." 
 ''Any chicken?" ''No chicken, Senor ; 
 but any thing else.'' " Any ham V " No 
 ham, Senor ; but any thing else Senor 
 wishes." After a variety of questions, I 
 learned that "any thing" meant eggs, 
 bread without butter, vile coffee without 
 milk, and beer. I ordered some eggs and 
 bread, and we were falling into travelers' 
 
114 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 conversation, when we were startled by a 
 loud ^^Ahal Aha!" at the door. Looking 
 round, we perceived the dirtv old merchant, 
 who, coming in, pafsed on to a vacant place 
 at the head of the table, stopping to pat the 
 young viscount on the head, much to the 
 latter's disgust. Having ordered some 
 eggs and bread, he pulled from his trowsers' 
 pocket a newspaper parcel, which being 
 unrolled proved to contain a thick sausage. 
 Laving it on his plate, and gazing on it 
 fondlv, he gave vent to another loud 
 ^^Aha!" Then slicing off some pieces 
 with his knife, he shoved them upon the 
 plate of his neighbor, who protested against 
 it. But not understanding that anv one 
 would not reallv like his sausage, he only 
 smiled, and did the same good office for his 
 neighbor on the other side. Fearing his 
 kindnefs might reach me, I pushed away 
 mv plate. Soon he sliced up the remainder 
 — about a pound — on his own plate, and 
 once again vented his satisfaction in a 
 resonant '^ Aha !'' 
 
 I left the room and came on deck. For 
 
Chapter XI I. — Malaga. 115 
 
 a time the scene was delightful, but about 
 noon the wind began to blow, the sea to 
 rise, and soon we were in the midst of one 
 of those southern gales for which the 
 Mediterranean is famous — sinking now so 
 that we could only see the spars of a sailing 
 vefsel at a little distance, and then, mount- 
 ing to the top of a wave, having a view of 
 the whole craft. It was disturbing, to say 
 the least of it, and every one finally paid 
 unwilling tribute to Neptune, the Spaniard 
 alone excepted. Sitting near the edge of 
 the deck, he extended his arms about the 
 miserable Spanish girls, encouraging them, 
 when any more violent paroxysms occurred, 
 with the philosophical remark that it was a 
 capital thing for them ; in the meantime 
 addrefsing them tenderly as his dearest and 
 most beautiful, much to the amusement 
 of all who were not too sick to watch him. 
 The sausage-man had disappeared, and I 
 did not see him until we had anchored in 
 the Bay of Malaga, when, descending to 
 the cabin for my bag and umbrella, I saw 
 the old fellow stretched upon a sofa, neither 
 
1 16 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 saying, looking nor thinking ** Aha !" As 
 I turned to go out, he miie an effort to 
 r:sr, but the velsel giving another roll, he 
 tell aeain to work, and I siw him no more. 
 Pr :?aoly, as the poe: says, *'If he hasn t 
 ^:r up, he lies : rre still." 
 
 A good hoccx, a goovi g^^is ot sherry, a 
 hot ?:ith, and a good din: er. s : set all 
 right again. ^^ e met some B rstonians, 
 who were ver\' :'e-,sir: people, and if ': 
 had nc : : e - : for an opera singer, who was 
 screec^-'-:g iier iouies: in :he next room, 
 until : -r small hours, greatly to the grati- 
 fication of a party who were loudly ap- 
 plauding, we should have enjoyed our first 
 nigrht in ^lalaga verv much. 
 
 The city prescr.:s a fine r r e ^- 
 
 :he sei, and is a - ^r^e town of son::: ^ :, : : : 
 inhabitants, chiedy occupied with wine- 
 growing and trade. Screened by the north- 
 em hills from cold winds, and open on 
 : ^ea to the warr.: cistern and southern 
 breezes, it is a favorite winter resort for 
 invalids. Abou: : e fourteenth cerrury 
 :r.e climate was much more moist, owing 
 
Chapter XII . — Malaga. "117 
 
 to the thick forests with which the hills 
 were clothed ; but during the wars waged 
 against the Moors, these were cut down, 
 and if it were not for the abundant dews, 
 vegetation would disappear, and the coast 
 become a barren desert. 
 
 The harbor is deep and capacious enough 
 to accommodate over four hundred ships ; 
 and wines, raisins, figs, lemons, oranges, 
 almonds, and other fruits, are largely ex- 
 ported. The dry Malaga wine is manufac- 
 tured in great quantities, and the exquisite, 
 but very sweet, ^' Lagrimas^'' or '^ tears,'' 
 made from the first juice of the grape 
 without prefsure, is celebrated. 
 
 There is said to gather pleasant society 
 at Malaga ; there is a promenade along the 
 sea shore, a library, and conveniences of 
 correspondence, but few objects of interest. 
 The Cathedral is chiefly attractive for its 
 fine marbles, taken from the native moun- 
 tains, and one or two paintings by Alonso 
 Cano ; and the public fountain, with little 
 jets of water spouting from the mouths of 
 toads, ducks, snakes, etc., is more curious 
 than beautiful. 
 
{ 
 
 1 1 8 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 \ 
 
 The reader of Irving's ''Granada" will 
 
 find a charm ot historical reminiscence 
 hanging about the city and its environs, 
 but the o;eneral traveler will find little to 
 detain him. 
 
 The regular diligence for Granada starts 
 in the evening, compelling the traveler to 
 lose the fine scenerv of the route, while the 
 mail-stage, Vy'hich has two spare seats onlv, 
 leaves just before daylight. We decided 
 therefore to send our courier forward with 
 the baggage in the evening;^ and follow 
 ourselves the next morning;. So at half- 
 past two we were called, and set torth for 
 the starting place ot the mail-dili2:ence. 
 Traversing; various streets, dimlv lig;hted 
 by strag;g;ling lamps, we reached a court as 
 dark as midnight, in which, feeling about, 
 we found a seat. In an hour more the 
 horses were hitched, and taking our places, 
 we rattled out of the town. 
 
 Our course stretched nearly due north to 
 Loja, over the mountains, and for some 
 hours we enjoved most beautiful mountain 
 scenerv. An hour or so after leavingr 
 
 4 <J 
 
Chapter XI L — Malaga, 119 
 
 Malaga, one obtains a superb view of the 
 city and surrounding country, and the blue 
 sea beyond ; and afterwards, as he winds 
 along between the lofty peaks of granite 
 and marble, with here and there a verdant 
 valley, or a peak covered with snow, he 
 will not regret his early start instead of the 
 night ride. The air was sharp when we 
 started, and after a few hours' ride, we had 
 reason to praise our own forethought in 
 bringing along a well filled basket and 
 bottle. 
 
 At Loja we entered upon the famed Vega 
 — or plain — of Granada, stretching some 
 thirty miles in length by about twenty-five 
 in breadth, watered by the Douro, and the 
 Xenil and its tributaries, intersected with 
 canals, dug for purposes of irrigation by 
 the Moors, and rich in beauty and fertility. 
 
 About five o'clock we arrived in Granada, 
 and wearied with the journey, sought water, 
 food and rest. 
 
Chapter XIII. 
 
 Granada — Madrid — Saragojsa — Barcelona, 
 
 :J^^3r. 
 
 If 
 
 ^ ^ N the town there is little of interest 
 \(f^\ ^^c^p^ ^^ Cathedral^ of considerable 
 ^'^'''' dimensions^ enriched with beautiful 
 Spanish marbles. It is called the Cathedral 
 of Ave Maria^ and the story of the name is 
 as follows : 
 
 When Ferdinand and Isabella were be- 
 sieging Granada, Count de Pulgar, a knight 
 of great prowefs and audacity, fired with 
 zeal to revenge the daring outrage of a 
 Moorish warrior, who, sallying forth, had 
 thrown his javelin so that it quivered in 
 the ground hard by the tent of the Spanish 
 sovereigns, gathered together a small band 
 of cavaliers of kindred spirit, and riding to 
 
Chapter XIII , — Granada^ i£c, 121 
 
 an ill-defended gate, on a dark night, at- 
 tacked and overpowered the guard there 
 stationed. Leaving his companions to 
 continue the fight, and keep the gate, he 
 put spurs to his horse, galloped to the 
 mosque in the centre of the city, and nailed 
 to its door with his dagger a placard bearing 
 the words ''Ave Maria/' Then he rode 
 back again, and, rejoining his companions, 
 returned to the Spanish camp. There was 
 great indignation of the Moors, and cor- 
 responding joy among the Spaniards, when 
 the exploit became known, and afterwards, 
 when the city was taken, the mosque was 
 converted into a Cathedral — on the site of 
 which the present Cathedral stands — and 
 named the Church of Ave Maria. 
 
 On the high altar of the Royal Chapel is 
 a curious bas-relief, representing the sur- 
 render of the city by Boabdil ; but the 
 most interesting objects are the tombs of 
 Ferdinand and Isabella, of most delicately 
 wrought alabaster, surmounted by full- 
 length figures, of which the attitude and 
 exprefsion are most admirable. 
 
 Q 
 
o -> 
 
 Southei'n France and Spain, 
 
 Before its capture, ''the citv was sur- 
 rounded/* savs Irving; in his Granada, " bv 
 high walls, three leagues in circuit, furnished 
 with twelve o-ates and a thousand and thirty 
 towers. Its elevation above the sea, and 
 the neig^hborhood of the Sierra Nevada, 
 crowned with perpetual snows, tempered 
 the ferv^id ravs of summer; so that while 
 other cities were panting w^ith the sultry 
 and stifling heat of the dog-days, the most 
 salubrious breezes played through the mar- 
 ble halls of Granada/' 
 
 On one of the hills, twenty-six hundred 
 and ninety feet long, and seven hundred 
 and thirty broad, in its widest part, sur- 
 rounded with lottv walls and towers, stands 
 the famous Alhambra. 
 
 Entering the gate, and ascending bv a 
 winding; road throug;h groves that are the 
 homes of hundreds of nightingales, by the 
 side of a stream of crystal water, which, as 
 well as the fountains, are furnished by 
 canals from the snows of the mountains, 
 we soon arrived at the xVlhambra proper, 
 or royal palace. 
 
Chapter XIII , — Granada^ i^c, 123 
 
 This formerly was about four hundred 
 feet in length, by two hundred in breadth, 
 but portions of it have been torn away for 
 various purposes ; and in one part is an 
 unfinished palace commenced by Charles 
 the Fifth. The Hall of the Ambajsadors^ 
 however, thirty-seven feet square, and 
 seventy-five in height, overlooking the 
 Douro ; the Court of the Lions^ with its 
 beautiful fountain, guarded by twelve lions 
 little resembling the live animal, surrounded 
 by arcades supported by pillars of marble 
 and alabaster, and covered with exquisite 
 designs, and Arabic inscriptions in stucco ; 
 the Hall of the Abencerrages^ where they are 
 said to have been murdered, and other 
 rooms, are still remaining, and are of 
 wondrous beauty, although their ancient 
 splendor of gold and brilliant colors has 
 been obscured by whitewash. At present, 
 however, workmen are busy restoring the 
 rooms to their original condition. 
 
 The appearance of these celebrated halls 
 has been rendered too familiar by other and 
 more al3le writers to warrant me in attempt- 
 
1 24 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 ing the task^^^^Suffice It to say, that no 
 description can do them justice, or repay 
 one who is able to do so, for not seeing 
 them for himself, and enjoying, on the 
 spot, the charming descriptions and legends 
 of Irving and other accomplished writers. 
 
 As we stood upon one of the towers, on 
 which was a slab recording the date of the 
 capture, by Ferdinand and Isabella, in 1492, 
 at our feet lay the city and the winding 
 stream ; far down as the eye could reach, 
 extended the verdant Vega, to the left rose 
 the hill where the departing Boabdil took 
 his last look upon his beloved city, and 
 
 ^*"'~''*->**i<i^,,^ im < i|i| i»i nn « 1111111 ■» m i« ■ii»Tiiirii i w«ii,|| , i - ii -n, ,, ^ ^^ ^^^^ 
 
 behind, seemingly so near that one could 
 walk to them in half an hour, rose the 
 snow-covered summits of the Sierra. I 
 remember no view in Europe, which, for 
 beauty and variety, mingled with historic 
 and poetical afsociation, can equal it. 
 Profefsor Longfellow somewhere exprefses 
 a doubt whether Heidelberg or the Alham- 
 bra be the finest ruin, but to me the latter 
 is very much the more interesting and 
 beautiful. 
 
Chapter XI I L — Granada^ ^c. 125 
 
 On the breast of the hill above the Al- 
 hambra is the palace of the Generalife^ 
 embowered in flowers and trees, and form- 
 ing as fine a summer retreat as one could 
 wish ; but the owner has never visited it, 
 and it merely serves as a home for the old 
 guardian, and an object of interest to the 
 traveler. 
 
 Granada was the last remaining kingdom 
 of the Moors, after eight hundred years of 
 power. In it were gathered all the learning, 
 luxury and splendor of the race, and while 
 they clung to it with all the ardor of their 
 natures, they were long compelled to defend 
 it with the sword. But at last, after a long 
 siege, during which deeds of desperate valor 
 were performed on both sides, Boabdil was 
 compelled to surrender his last stronghold, 
 and present to the conquerors the golden 
 keys of the city. 
 
 "There was crying in Granada, when the sun was going 
 
 down. 
 Some calling on the Trinity, some calling on Mahoun ; 
 Here pafsed away the Koran, there in the Crofs was 
 
 borne. 
 And here was heard the Christian bell, and there the 
 
 Moorish horn. 
 
\ 
 
 126 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 ^^ Te Deurn Laudamus^^ was up the Alcala sung; 
 Down from the Alhamra's minarets were all the cres- 
 cents flung ; 
 The arms thereon of Arragon they with Castile's display ; 
 One king comes in, in triumph, one weeping goes away." 
 
 Cui bono? There was the triumph of 
 the Christian King over the infidel, but the 
 fruits have been allowed to wither and 
 decay, and J.n.,^^jg_jcontrast of the ignorant 
 and degraded population of the present day 
 with the intelligent and laborious inhabi- 
 tants who were dispersed, one can read that 
 the glory has turned into ashes in the 
 victors' grasp, and one more witnefs testifies 
 to the fact that the true triumphs of Chris- 
 tianity are to be sought, not by means of 
 the cannon nor the sword, but through the 
 gentler and surer influences of reason, 
 aff^ection and example. 
 
 ^^From Granada to Madrid, by diligence, 
 twenty-two hours, and by rail ten,'' says 
 my note-book. And a long and wearisome 
 journey it was, for a great part ot the way 
 over the same road we had come en ronte 
 for Cordova. The change from the charm- 
 ing country of Andalusia to the plains of 
 
Chapter XIII . — Granada^ ^c. 127 
 
 La Mancha, and the cold air of Madrid, 
 was not altogether pleasant. Arriving at 
 Santa Cruz about eight in the morning, we 
 had to wait some four hours for a train. 
 We secured a room to lie down in, to which 
 we mounted by a ladder. Through the 
 cracks of the floor was visible the table 
 spread below, and the conversation was, as 
 it were, in the same room with us. The 
 floor of the first story was literally the 
 ground floor, being of hard-beaten earth. 
 It was, however, the best accommodation 
 the town aff'orded, and we were glad to get 
 a little rest. 
 
 We had not been there half an hour 
 before half a dozen men and boys were 
 playing cards in front of the house, with a 
 board for a table, staking copper or silver 
 coins, according to the ability of the owners. 
 The pafsion for gambling is universal in 
 Spain, and there is hardly a person who 
 does not have a chance in one of the lot- 
 teries, which, a Spaniard told me one day, 
 were '^ the only fair things carried on by 
 the Government.'' 
 
12 8 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 Arriving at Madrid in the evening, we 
 found our former rooms vacant, and for 
 two or three days enjoyed the comforts of 
 a good hotel, and the pleasure of the society 
 of our friends. 
 
 From Madrid to Sarag^ofsa is only two 
 hundred and fifteen miles, but the exprefs 
 train was thirteen hours in reaching it. 
 Enough of daylight remained for a walk 
 about the town, to see its Square and Lean- 
 ing Tower, and general characteristics ; and 
 in the evening we recalled its military re- 
 nown and the fame of the Maid of Saragofsa, 
 who performed such wonders in its defense, 
 and is rendered immortal by Byron in his 
 ^^ Childe Harold.'' The city is the resort 
 of the pious for the purpose of worship at 
 the '^ Pillar of the Virgin'' — a jasper pillar 
 on which she is said to have alighted 
 from heaven ; and crowds of people resort 
 thither on the I2th of October. There are 
 about 70,000 inhabitants, but the city is 
 not very interesting except to the artist, so 
 we proceeded the next day about the same 
 distance, at the same rate of speed, to Bar- 
 
Chapter XIII, — Granada^ i^c, 129 
 
 celona, which derives its name from Barca, 
 father of Hannibal. 
 
 Favorably situated in regard to climate^ 
 and the chief shipping port of Spain, it 
 ranks first among the commercial cities, 
 and is second only to Madrid in population 
 — having about 184,000 inhabitants. The 
 streets are wide, clean, and well paved ; the 
 public walk — here called the Rambla — is 
 lined with trees, and is a favorite resort of 
 both sexes ; and the Opera-House, which, 
 however, was closed when we were there, is 
 said to be larger than either that at Milan 
 or Naples. It is the only city in Spain 
 which bears evidence of commercial pros- 
 perity, and the bustling, busy lire that 
 prevails in commercial cities of other coun- 
 tries. Wide avenues, lined with stately 
 buildings, are rapidly extending, and the 
 population seem to have cast off the cloak 
 of the past, which so closely enwraps the 
 Spanish character, and to have learned to 
 share with the rest of the world in the ac- 
 tivity of the present. 
 
 The country through which we pafsed, 
 
 R 
 
I JO Southern France and Spain. 
 
 coming trom Madrid, is very attractive, 
 with wild and rugged mountains, quaint 
 villages, old castles, dark olive orchards, 
 and beautiful and fertile valleys. The 
 people are tall and fine looking, and have 
 an air of sturdy independence that one ac- 
 quainted with their history might expect to 
 find. 
 
^^H 
 
 B 
 
 B^Bg^g^aj 
 
 
 M 
 
 M 
 
 
 ^^ 
 
 
 iKfliS 
 
 Chapter XIV. — Leaving Spain. 
 
 FTER a short stay in Barcelona, we 
 proceeded by rail northward, to 
 Gerona, where we bade good-bye 
 to Manuel, and took the diligence for Per- 
 pignan. Soon after starting it began to 
 rain, for the first time since we left Bay- 
 onne, and soon fell in torrents. When we 
 reached Boscara, about twenty miles on the 
 way, at the beginning of the mountains, 
 the diligence stopped, and the conductor, 
 opening our door, said, touching his hat, 
 '' II faut coucher ici^ Monsieur '' Sleep there ! 
 Why should we not go on ? The rain had 
 melted the snow on the mountains, and 
 the stream before us in the valley, usually 
 fordable, was now a raging torrent, and still 
 
132 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 rising. What was to be done ? There 
 were no inns fit to stay in, and we might 
 remain there — as we in fact did — twenty- 
 four hours, and it rained harder than ever. 
 Slipping a gold piece into the conductor's 
 hand, I begged him to see what he could 
 do for us, when he recollected a peasant's 
 house hard by, where he thought we might 
 pofsibly be accommodated. He went to 
 ascertain, and presently returned, saying 
 that the woman wanted to see us first. 
 Luckily, the personal inspection proved 
 favorable to our interests, and the good 
 man consenting, we were taken to the best 
 room in the second story. A very nice 
 room it was, too — very plain, and simply 
 furnished, and floored with brick, but as 
 neat and clean as pofsible. 
 
 Soon came the question what we would 
 like to eat, and by dint of help from our 
 French-speaking conductor, who came to 
 our afsistance, we had a capital meal of 
 cutlets and delicious salad — which none 
 know so well as Spaniards how to prepare 
 — bread, and wine. After dinner we pro- 
 
Chapter XIV. — Leaving Spain. 133 
 
 ceeded to the kitchen, where the hostefs was 
 cooking dinner for her husband, and his 
 son and workmen, who were all busy fin- 
 ishing an addition to the house. It was a 
 veritable olla podrida — such as we had heard 
 of, but never tasted. 
 
 Over a small fire of little faggots, in the 
 corner of the kitchen, hung a pot, into 
 which were put water, cabbage, vermicelli, 
 potatoes, bread, salt, an onion and a bit of 
 garlic, and a piece of meat. When the 
 stew was ready, they all came in and seated 
 themselves round the table, in the centre of 
 which stood a capacious dish filled with the 
 savory mefs. Each had a soup-plate and 
 spoon, and proceeded to help himself to the 
 olla^ as well as to large slices of bread from 
 the loaf. In the dish of the proprietor and 
 his wife and son, a thicker stew of potatoes 
 and meat was poured. Wine was upon the 
 table, in a glafs vefsel of conical form, with 
 a small spout at the side, shaped almost 
 exactly like a tin oil-can. There was 
 nothing to drink out of, however, and I 
 was curious to see how the operation would 
 
134 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 be conducted. We were invited to sit 
 down, and having a curiosity to taste the 
 olla^ we did so. It was simply a very nice 
 thick soup, with a slight flavor of garlic, to 
 which, however, one soon becomes accus- 
 tomed when traveling in Spain. Presently 
 our host lifted the wine jar, and raised it 
 towards his mouth, but instead of putting 
 it to his lips, he inclined his head a little 
 backward, and holding it about four or five 
 inches from and above him, let a stream 
 flow dextrously down his throat. Each 
 followed in turn, and spurred with emula- 
 tion, I tried the experiment, succeeding in 
 getting some into my mouth, and more 
 upon my chin and shirt, much to their 
 amusement. 
 
 In the morning, when we rose, a cup of 
 hot chocolate was ready for us, and after- 
 wards a breakfast much like the dinner of 
 the day before. The hostefs, whose heart 
 we seemed to have won, took us into her 
 private room, and showed us their treasures 
 — a large image of the Virgin, richly drefsed, 
 and kept in a sort of niche made for the 
 
Chapter XIV, — Leaving Spain. ^ZS 
 
 purpose, and two large books. These, she 
 said, with great pride, their son could read, 
 although neither she nor her husband could 
 either read or write. During the course of 
 conversation, which was carried on chiefly 
 by signs, pointing to her husband with one 
 hand, she said, ^^Gerona;'' then to herself 
 with the other, said, ^'Valencia;" then 
 placing her two forefingers together, said, 
 ^' Barcelona;*' all of which clearly explained 
 where they came from, and the place of 
 their marriage. 
 
 Finding they had no clear idea as to what 
 an Americano might be, I tried to explain 
 by saying that we were descendants of 
 Christopher Columbus, but although in 
 most towns there is a street called by his 
 name, they shook their heads with no idea 
 at all who Cristobal Colon might be. 
 
 In the morning it cleared off bright and 
 warm, and we walked down to the village, 
 and found how extremely fortunate we were. 
 Four other diligences besides ours had ar- 
 rived the previous afternoon, containing in 
 all about an hundred persons, men, women 
 
136 Southern France and Spain. 
 
 and children. A few tried the village inn^ 
 but returned to the diligence instead, and 
 there sat all night as uncomfortable as well 
 could be imagined. At the road side, fires 
 were blazing, and the hungry party, having 
 procured something to eat, were engaged in 
 cooking it. Looking at them, all wet, 
 hungry, and bedraggled, we blefsed the 
 power of the piece of gold. One stout, 
 tall woman, with a little, insignificant hus- 
 band, was particularly miserable, and poured 
 forth volumes of bad French, while her 
 lord stood meekly by, much like a bantam 
 rooster well soaked with rain. 
 
 Strolling down to the stream, we found 
 it a river half a mile in width, rushing 
 furiously along, carrying awav fences, crops, 
 and trees. Small hopes of crofsing that 
 day — so we walked up to the village, and 
 congratulated ourselves that we were not 
 compelled to stay in such a wretched, ill- 
 favored, dirty place. The sun was warm, 
 and we pafsed the morning in walking. 
 About noon the water had decreased con- 
 siderably, and by four o'clock a rope ferry 
 
Chapter XIV, — Leaving Spain, 137 
 
 had been organized, sufficient to convey 
 pafsengers and baggage. So bidding good- 
 bye to our kind host and hostefs, and 
 leaving a substantial testimonial in her 
 hand, we set forward again. Arriving on 
 the other side, we took in exchange the 
 diligence which had been detained there on 
 the southward route, and proceeded on 
 our way. 
 
 The ride over the Pvrenees is a verv fine 
 one, and the full moon, silvering the tops 
 of the mountains and deepening the shadows 
 of the valleys, perhaps rather heightened 
 the effect. 
 
 In the middle of the night we reached 
 the French frontier, and were compelled to 
 dismount while the baggage was being 
 searched. Accordingly about twenty sleepy 
 people gathered in a small room, while all 
 the baggage was unloaded and ranged upon 
 the counter. Getting my pieces together, 
 I called the attention of the official, and 
 answering the familiar, ^^ (^uelque chose a 
 declarer^ Monsieur^'' in the negative, had my 
 trunks marked without opening them. 
 
 s 
 
138 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 The little man and his big wife were in a 
 great stew. They were moving into France, 
 and had all their worldly goods with them 
 in trunks and boxes, and bundles, carefully 
 corded up. Very minute inquiries were 
 made concerning the contents of so much 
 impedimenta^ and suggestions of the necefsity 
 of cutting the cords for the purpose of ex- 
 amination, were thrown out, causing the 
 little man to turn pale with fright, and the 
 large woman to grow scarlet with indigna- 
 tion. At last, after much talking — and 
 perhaps the exchange of a few pesetas — 
 quien sabe? — the packages were all marked, 
 and with relieved minds the owners climbed 
 into the stage again. About three o'clock 
 we arrived at Perpignan, and were at last 
 fairly out of Spain. 
 
Chapter XV. — General Remarks, 
 
 PAIN, as regards climate, is divided 
 
 into three sections, running from east 
 to west. The northern, with its rivers 
 fed by the snows of the Pyrenees, is better 
 irrigated than the rest of the country, but 
 has cold winters and wet springs. The 
 middle section is generally composed of 
 vast and elevated plateaux of a mean ele- 
 vation of about 1,900 feet, bounded and 
 traversed by mountain ridges, which, how- 
 ever, are destitute of trees, and in conse- 
 quence the country is dry. In winter the 
 winds sweep unobstructed over the land, 
 rendering it very cold, and in summer 
 every thing is parched and withered by the 
 blazing sun. The southern section, lower 
 
140 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 and sheltered by the mountains on the 
 north, is more tropical in its temperature, 
 with winters rather rainy than cold, hot 
 summers, and delicious autumns and 
 springs. 
 
 The mountains are rich in minerals and 
 metals, and the products of the temperate 
 and tropical zones may be cultivated in 
 profusion. 
 
 The want of trees is a serious injury to 
 the country. Mr. Marsh, in Tiis "Man 
 and Nature," says : " The laws of almost 
 every European State more or lefs ade- 
 quately secure the permanence of the foresx^-- 
 and I believe Spain is almost the only 
 European land which has not made some 
 public provision for the protection and 
 restoration of the woods — the only country 
 whose people systematically war UporTTEe 
 garden of God.'' 
 
 In a note he adds: "Antonio Ponzsays: 
 ' Nor would this be so great an evil, were 
 not some of them declaimers against trees^ 
 thereby proclaiming themselves, in some 
 sort, enemies of the works of God, who 
 
Chapter XV. — General Remarks, 141 
 
 gave us the leafy abode of Paradise to dwell 
 in, where we should be even now sojourn- 
 ing, but for the first sin which expelled, us 
 from it/ 
 
 '^ I do not know at what period the two 
 Castiles were bared of their woods, but the 
 Spaniard's proverbial 'hatred of a tree' is 
 of long standing. Herrera vigorously 
 combats this foolish prejudice ; and Ponz, 
 in the prologue to the ninth volume of his 
 '^ Journey,'' says that many carried it so far 
 as wantonly to destroy the shade and orna- 
 mental trees planted by the municipal au- 
 thorities. 'Trees,' they contended, and 
 still believe, ' breed birds, and birds eat up 
 the grain.' Our author argues against the 
 supposition of the ' breeding of birds by 
 trees,' w^hich, he says, is as absurd as to 
 believe that an elm tree can yield pears ; 
 and he charitably suggests that the ex- 
 prefsion is, perhaps, a maniere de dire — a 
 popular phrase, signifying simply that trees 
 harbor birds." 
 
 Madrid is the great railroad centre of 
 Spain. Thence ifsues one road north-west to 
 
1^2 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 Bayonne, one north-east through Saragofsa 
 to Barcelona, one south-easterly to Valencia, 
 one southerly to Toledo, Cordova, Seville 
 and Cadiz, and one westerly to Lisbon. 
 
 From a recent letter of W. C. Bryant, I 
 extract the following : 
 
 ^^ When I was in Spain, nine years since, 
 there were but two good macadamized 
 highways in the kingdom, of any consider- 
 able length, and these traversed it from 
 north to south, connecting some of the 
 principal cities. There were a few other 
 carriage roads, scandalously neglected, and 
 pafsable with difficulty, like that from 
 Madrid to Alicante, or that between Ali- 
 cante and Carthagena ; but in general the 
 realm was only intersected by bridle paths, 
 along which the products of the country 
 were conveyed to market on the backs of 
 donkeys and mules. Nine years since 
 there was only a bridle path to connect the 
 two capitals of Spain and Portugal, and 
 travelers went from Madrid to Lisbon on 
 horseback — a curious illustration of the 
 little intercourse between the two nations. 
 
Chapter XV, — General Remarks. 143 
 
 Now you step into a railway carriage at 
 Madrid, in the centre oF the Peninsula^ 
 and in a few hours are at Lisbon, on the 
 Atlantic;"^ Railway lines now connect Spain 
 wittr^Trance, and form channels of com- 
 munication between each province and the 
 capital, and between each of them and the 
 rest. The great line which takes the trav- 
 eler southward from Madrid to Cordova, is 
 one of the grandest enterprises of its kind. 
 Ascending the Sierra Morena by a track 
 winding along its northern slopes, it threads 
 the grim defiles of that mountain range, 
 between lofty precipices, crofses fearful 
 chasms, pierces the ridges with frequent 
 tunnels, spans torrent after torrent with 
 iron bridges, runs in galleries hewn in the 
 living rock, or between walls of masonry 
 built to uphold the sliding soil, pafses 
 along high and solid causeways, and de- 
 scends into Andalusia by extensive sweeps 
 on the mountain sides, overlooking the 
 fertile valleys below. At every step it 
 gives tokens of the vast expense at which 
 it was constructed. 
 
 
1 44 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 '' But those who build railways expect to 
 deriv^e a profit from them, and those of 
 Spain, with an inconsiderable exception or 
 two, are a constant lofs to the proprietors. 
 How could it well be otherwise ? Here is 
 a country which has so little commerce be- 
 tween its different districts, that it has not 
 found it expedient to connect them by 
 highways — and how can it be expected that 
 its internal commerce will support an ex- 
 pensive system of railroads ? 
 
 '^ I heard two Spanish gentlemen dis- 
 cufsing this subject the other day. One of 
 them was sayino- that there was not trade 
 enough to make the railways profitable, 
 althouq;h the number of pafsengers was 
 considerable. ''Yes,'* said the other, ''but 
 trade will choose the cheapest methods of 
 conveyance. The donkey's back is the old 
 Spanish way of sending o^oods from place 
 to place, and wall continue to be used till 
 we get something cheaper. The railway 
 must underbid the donkey before it will be 
 accepted as a substitute.'' He then went 
 on to complain that goods sent by rail did 
 
Chapter XV, — General Remarks. 145 
 
 not always reach their destination. One 
 man had sent a number of skins of oil, and 
 only a part of them came to hand. An- 
 other had put a different commodity on 
 board of the train, with the same bad luck. 
 
 '' Th^ trutL is, that _ the whole manage- 
 ment of the Spanish railwa ys is m iserably 
 slipshod, and deficient in order and punctu- 
 ality. _Long delays occur at the stopping 
 places ; petty accidents are always taking 
 place; a train which should connect with 
 another arrives kOO late, and the traveler 
 finds himself obl'ged to wait twenty-four 
 hours before he can proceed. It would not 
 be at all strange if goods entrusted to such 
 negligent hands should sometimes mifs 
 their way. 
 
 '^When, however, caution occasions de- 
 lay, the Spanish railways are managed cau- 
 tiously enough. The trains proceed slowly 
 over bridges and along hillsides ; they begin 
 to slacken the speed of the engines for two 
 or three miles before the train stops, so as 
 to come to a pause in the most gradual 
 manner pofsible. In pafsing the Sierra 
 
146 Southeryi France and Spain. 
 
 Morena, we came to where a torrent had 
 carried away one of the brido-es, and a tern- 
 porarv support of the rails had been sub- 
 stituted. The train stopped^ and we were 
 detained an hour while this support was 
 further strengthened. xA. French eng^ineer 
 connected with the road was on the train, 
 and went out to see what was 9;oing on. 
 When he returned he told us that there 
 would not have been the least danger in 
 pafsing the stream without a moment's de- 
 lav, but that the conductoV had refused to 
 take the responsibility. 
 
 "^^ The tares paid by pafsengers are high, 
 and so, I hear, are the rates of freight ; but 
 that does not help the matter. There are 
 interruptions in some ot the railway lines, 
 which, in consequence ot their unproduc- 
 tivenefs, will probably remain as they are 
 for some time to come. One of these we 
 meet in crofsing the Pyrenees between Per- 
 pignan and Gerona; another is between 
 Tarragona and Valencia. A railway has 
 been completed leading from one of the 
 main routes to Granada, but there is no 
 
Chapter XF. — General Remarks, 147 
 
 train running upon it, and nobody knows 
 when there will be. Spain, in short, is 
 earlier with her railways than with her com- 
 merce, and the donkey still maintains a 
 succefsful rivalry with the locomotive. 
 Her railways are much like her rivers — 
 channels for a current to flow in, but the 
 current bears no proportion to the spacious- 
 nefs of the channel/' 
 
 One of the chief influences of the rail- 
 roads in Spain will be the introduction of 
 new and liberal ideas, for it is a fact that 
 railways, facilitating commerce and travel, 
 constitute a moral power which no religious 
 or secular opprefsion can, in the end, suc- 
 cefsfully withstand. 
 
 Of late, her manufactures and commerce 
 have largely increased, and education, 
 though at a shamefully low ebb, has begun 
 to revive. The confiscation of large church 
 revenues afforded means for attracting for- 
 eign enterprise, and when the last of the 
 Bourbons shall have disappeared, her ad- 
 vance bids fair to be rapid. 
 
 It is curious to examine the laws of Spain 
 
148 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 in force only sixty or sev^entv years ago, in 
 estimating the progrefs of the nation. I 
 cite a few from a work published in 1805, 
 and translated by an English barrister in 
 1825: 
 
 '^Natural born subjects are prohibited, 
 under pain of lofs of property and perpetual 
 banishment, from going out of the kinQ;dom 
 for the purpose of study, excepting in the 
 uniyersities of Bologna, Coimbra, Rome, 
 and Naples/' 
 
 '^ They can not wear other clothes than 
 those manufactured in the kingdom/* 
 
 It was prohibited to g;rant the rights oi 
 naturalization to foreigners, who wxre only 
 permitted to use the clothes they brought, 
 contrary to the ordinance, for the space of 
 six months after they entered Spain. 
 
 ^^ It may be added that amono-st us the 
 following, and other like punishments, 
 being considered barbarous, are obsolete : 
 Burning alive, unlejs for being a Jew^'' etc., 
 
 etc. 
 
 '^ Advocates who do not practice or pur- 
 sue their profefsion according to law, or are 
 
Chapter XV, — General Remarks. 149 
 
 guilty of falsehood and malice, pay all the 
 damages and prejudices they may cause to 
 the parties, besides double the amount^ This 
 might be advantageously re-enacted in most 
 cities of the present day. 
 
 Blasphemers were of two kinds. The first 
 of God and the most holy Virgin [Maria 
 Santijsima). These had their tongues cut 
 out and received one hundred stripes, if the 
 crime were committed in court, and if out 
 of it, had half their property confiscated, 
 instead of receiving the stripes. The sec- 
 ond clafs — blasphemers of the king — had 
 half their property confiscated if they had 
 children, and all if they had none, besides 
 suffering ten years' condemnation to the 
 galleys. This rule might seriouslv affect 
 Mr. Ashley and General Butler, if it were 
 in force in our country at present. 
 
 These laws, however, are not severe 
 enough for the present Government of 
 Spain, as the Governor of Castile has lately 
 ifsued a proclamation that all persons who 
 write, edit, or print papers against religion, 
 the Queen, or the Government, shall be 
 
1 50 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 punished with death ! From writing, the 
 progrefs to speaking will be easy, and the 
 subjects of Queen Isabella will have as great 
 religious, but not as great civil liberty, as 
 those of Philip II. 
 
 The sender of a challenge forfeited his 
 property, and fighting a duel was punished 
 with lofs of property and life. The re- 
 ceiver of a challenge was punished with 
 banishment. 
 
 For being excommunicated thirty days, a 
 man was fined six hundred maravedis ; if he 
 should remain so six months, he must pay 
 six thousand maravedis ; after that he was 
 fined one hundred per day, and banished 
 from the place, under pain, in case of re- 
 turning, of confiscation of his property. 
 So that a party who paid his tv/o dollars, 
 and was excommunicated for speaking to a 
 woman in the Cathedral at Granada, stood 
 a chance of paying dear for his thought- 
 lefsnefs. 
 
 Heretics could neither inherit nor be 
 witnefses, and were liable to be punished 
 with confiscation of property. They were 
 
Chapter XV. — General Remarks, 151 
 
 pronounced heretics by the Inquisition, 
 but the penalty was inflicted by the civil 
 tribunals. 
 
 Playing at cards, or dice, in public, was 
 forbidden, unlefs something to eat imme- 
 diately was played for. 
 
 Beggars who could work might be 
 driven out of the place, and receive fifty 
 stripes. 
 
 The following niay be commended to 
 the various clerical and lay patrons of lot- 
 teries : 
 
 '^ Raflles and games of chance, even under 
 pretense of devotion^ are prohibited under the 
 penalty of forfeiture of the things rafiied 
 for ; and, besides, the price put down or 
 paid to raffle, with as much more on the 
 part of those who put it dow^n or pay it." 
 
 Just now, it would be difficult to state 
 whether any law except the will of the 
 Oueen and her advisers will be observed. 
 Having laid aside the constitution, banished 
 her husband and sister, and various promi- 
 nent Liberals, and entrusted herself to the 
 guidance of the absolutists in Church and 
 
152 Southern France and Spain, 
 
 State, those who hope for the future wel- 
 fare of Spain can only trust to the moral 
 certainty that a re-action must result sooner 
 or later. 
 
 The traveler in Spain, as in other coun- 
 tries, must expect to put up with many 
 inconveniences. He must not get into an 
 ill humoT^f the cars be slow, or the dili- 
 gences meet with disaster; if men insist 
 upon closing""^windows, while they smoke, 
 through the night, in a confined space, or 
 puff cigarettes between the courses at 
 breakfast ; or, in small towns, sit with their 
 hats on at meals ; if the waitrefs at a hotel 
 is crofs, and leads him about from one un- 
 comfortable room to another, without 
 showing him the best for a time, when he 
 arrives at a town at a late hour, he must 
 forgive her ; if the beggars pester him, he 
 must be ready to smile, and if not willing, 
 or prepared, to scatter coppers, to say, 
 '^ God go with you;'' he must submit 
 with good grace to the extortion of paying 
 three or four dollars for a lunch of a 
 chicken and a few sandwiches, or three or 
 
Chapter XV, — General Remarks. 153 
 
 four per cent, for exchange on London, 
 payable in paper, which he must afterwards 
 exchange for gold at a lofs of two or three 
 per cent. ; he must forego the luxury of 
 fires, and of good tea and coffee, contenting 
 himself with a brazier and excellent choco- 
 late ; he must be willing, with Sterne, to 
 spend a shilling or two, more or lefs, without 
 being made unhappy thereby, just as if he 
 were riding in a hack, in one of our Ameri- 
 can cities ; in a word, he must be prepared 
 to encounter either evil or good fortune in 
 the spirit of a true traveling philosopher. 
 
 So doing, shall he reap great pleasure and 
 profit from his labor of travel. 
 

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