^
ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
r
ON FOOT IN SPAIN
A Walk from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean.
BY J. S. CAMPION,
Author of "On the Frontier''
SECOND EDITION.
Hlu^tiattH J)i) (©lisinal ^fectdjcjJ.
LONDON :
CHAPMAN & HALL, 193, PICCADILLY.
1879.
lAll Right Reserved.^
BRADBUR^ X»i5lEW, & CO., PRlNlfeftS, WHITEFRIARS.
f
TO
THE TRAVELLING PUBLIC,
WHOSE STEAMER IS THEIR SOFA, AND WHOSE RAILWAY CARRIAGE IS A
LIBRARY CHAIR,
AND TO
ALL PEDESTRIANS FOR PLEASURE,
i:his SEork is most rtspcctfttUs ^ciwst^b.
ivi 81)39
PREFACE.
As a majority of Anglo-Saxons delight in foreign
travel, while those whose circumstances or avoca-
tions forbid indulgence in personal experience
gladly substitute genuine narratives thereof, the
Author has felt emboldened to publish the notes
made by him during a recent pedestrian trip
across Spain. Nor does the fact that many
and valuable works on that country are accessible
seem a sufficient reason for not doing so,
because the experiences of a traveller over an un-
hackneyed route, journeying in a different manner
from any preceding him, must be more or less
unique and novel — therefore, if conscientiously told,
interesting.
The following pages are full of trivialities and
minor incident. But truly the small things of life,
taken in the aggregate, are the most important;
viii PREFACE.
and, as a general rule, comprise all that in it is
entertaining-.
He who reads will find more gossip than guide-
book ; more frank confession than egotism. The
Author has tried to convey ideas of persons, things,
customs, and occurrences, precisely as he found,
saw, and experienced them. He has also preferred
being reliable to being startling ; has chosen the
rather to risk a charge of commonplaceness than
to aim at " dignity of narration," perchance only to
achieve pomposity and dulness. To paraphrase the
oft-quoted " Veni, vidi, vici," he has seen, returned,
told ; has done his little best to fulfil the wish of
Catullus to Veranius :
Visam te incolumem, audiamque Iberum
Narrantem loca, facta, nationes,
Sicut tuus est mos.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
Preface vii
CHAPTER I.
Where would I go ?— The Affair decided— Preparations— My little All
— The "Pleasant Land of France" — Run from Bayonne to San
Sebastian— The Land of historic Romance — Disarmed — Iran — The
Gibraltar of Northern Spain ." I
CHAPTER n.
"Go with God "— Mullet-fishing— " Volver Manana "—Comfortably
housed— Miss Evans—" That Man is your Cousin "—Bass-fishing—
The Woodcock Passage— Fox " Hunting"— Adventures of a Letter
—A Day's Shooting— In the old Mill- Prospect for Birds . . lO
CHAPTER UL
Guipuzcoa's Peasantry— Ancient Works— The Women— Garrison of
Occupation— Entomological Excursion— Aggravating little Monsters
—A Spanish Breakfast and Dinner— Another Day's Shooting— A
Theatre's Audience— A Theatrical Performance— Spanish equivalent
for Cricket — Markets and Market-houses — Sardines — Peasant
Costumes— A fine Catch— Spanish Copper Coinage— Or/4awj— Old
Roman Coins for Change 24
CHAPTER IV.
La Concha— Spanish Crier— Wild-Boar Hunting— Alfonso's Fete-Day—
A Review — Spanish Cavalry— "But you are not going alone?" —
An emphatic Warning — Scenery around San Sebastian ... 42
PAGE
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER V.
A Start for the Mediterranean — Hernani — An unfortunate Hamlet —
A Ventorrillo — Beau-ideal Trout Stream — Arrival at Tolosa — A
Spanish Country-town Inn— La Santa Maria— Pleasant Company —
A Mountain Road — Extraordinary Tillage — Thoroughly drenched —
A Posada — An admirable Landlord — Astonishing Fare. . . . 5^
CHAPTER VL
A typical Spanish Country Inn — Antique Fireplace — The Posada Family
— Satisfactory Entertainment — Hygienic Springs of Betelu — Sum-
mit of La Sierra de Aralar — The Parting of the Waters — "The
Two Sisters" — The Hacienda — The Don — A weird Scene— "This
is your House " — Expert Thieves— Basque Melodies— Basque Hos-
pitality—War-Cry of the Basque— A human Beehive . . . 65
CHAPTER VII.
Quarters in Pamplona — A Gran Funcion Cristiano — San Satitrnino —
The Captain- General of the Spains — The Revolution wanted — The
Promenade — A Tcrtulia — Ladies' Feet and Conduct — Navarra
Boarding-House Life— My Apartments— A Navarra Family— The
" Awful " Lieutenant — Impromptu Dance — A dark Incident — Le
Lieutenant s' amuse — The Conspirators' Chorus , . . -7^
CPIAPTER VIIL
My faithful Friend— Our Menu—T\vQ Variation — Fish and Fishing-
Shooting— The San Cristobel Mountain — A little Dog-breaking —
Environs of Pamplona— Residences oi Hidalgos— La Jota — "Cursed
Bad Wine is better than Holy Water"— Z(7J Serenas— " Aleri-o"—
Threat to "Barlow" the Reader 94
CHAPTER IX.
The City of Pamplona— Pamplona's Fortifications— Ignacio Loyola and
Jesuitism— Gateways of the City— The encircling Country— The
Blockade of Pamplona— Z^j ^/a'/V«.v— Departure from Pamplona—
A charming View — Tiebas — An ancient Ruin — Vcnla de Las
Cam/>an as— Roman or Carthaginian Camp— Arrival at Tafalia . 108
CHAPTER X.
The chief Hotel at Tafalia— An affable Maid— Hard Dancing—" Fiva
Ingleterra y Los £spartas"—Y)a.\\gcr: aliead— An Offer of Marriage
—The Storm at last— The Garden of Navarra— Uncommonly Short
Commons— Homes of Knights of o\<X—La Santa /'iw,/<j— Cheap
and Nice— Zrt5 Bardenas A'ea/es de A^avarra— An Exiiortalion—
Robberdom 121
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XI
PAGE
A dreary Ruin— The Valley of the Ebro— A Potato Hunt— A dese-
crated Mansion— " We are going to have Stewed Cat "—Strolling
Musicians — It went very well — An enchanting Composition —
Summer Pasture of the Arena Bulls— Almost Dreamland— A happy
Accident— Good Quarters— A Military Anglomaniac—The Price
of Provisions — Wages 13S
CHAPTER XII.
Tudela— Zrtt Plaza de la Constitucion—k. Curse in Stone— Extraordinary
Bridge — A sporting Excursion — Ancient Mound-Fort — Christmas-
Eve Festivities — The National Dance of Navarra— Midnight Mass
at San Nicolas—^lxYxX.'Xxy Mass in La Santa Maria—A. wonderful
Piece of Carving— A strict Catholic Fast— The Liquorice Field of
Spain — Esparto Grass . . . . . • • ..151
CHAPTER XIII.
Dry Docked — Domestic Arcana— A fair Senorita — " Oh ! my Aunt !"—
Departure from Tudela — The Imperial Canal — El Palacio del Bocal
— A Palace of the Emperor Charles V. — Palace Chapel and Gardens
— Canal Barge— A superb Canal Bridge — No villas — Quail Ground
— " Norfolk Howards " — In Aragon 164
CHAPTER XIV.
A contrast of Fertility with Sterility —Multitudes of Birds — Gallar—
Comfortable Tavern — Admirable Engineering — Primitive Hus-
bandry— Pedrola— A cross Mariatomas — A Dragoness of Propriety
— In bad Company — A dark Reception— Preparations for a Way-
lay — Horrible Thought— A lonesome Walk — Alagon . . . 178
CHAPTER XV.
A Haven of Rest — Inquisitiveness of the Natives — A Revel — Aragonese
Peasants — Picturesque Costume — Catch-Water Fields — Guardias
Civiles — A cosy Kitchen — An " Ingenue "—Wooden Spoons and
Forks — A Spanish Welcome 192
CHAPTER XVI.
El Pilar — Al fresco Peasant Ball — Fine Canal Locks — Remarkable
Wine — Liquorice Works— A splendid View — Waterworks better
than Redoubts — A Theatrical Entertainment — A Z^_§itiniate Specu-
lation—The Cathedral of El Sat— A "Gran BaiW' — Riotous
Proceedings ........... 203
COXTENTS.
CHAPTER XVII.
PAGE
El Pasco de Santa Eiigracia—S. motley Throng— Spanish "Fashions"
— The Land of the Picturesque—^/ Puente dc Zara^oza— Ancient
Hotel de Ville—La Casa /n/hnta—Sponini; Information— House-
warming and Ventilation — The King's Birthday — Beauty — A
Review — A gilt, silvered, and jewelled Rainbow — La Casa de
Deputacion 215
CHAPTER XVin.
The Start from Zaragoza — Too much Railway Station— The Charon of
the Ebro — "Every man must march when the drum beats for
him" — An ugly Prospect— Getting into Difficulties— In Peril-
Candle to the Virgin for safe Deliverance — Astray — Liquorice-
Digger's Camp— Osera— Rough Fare— A delighted Child . . . 228
CHAPTER XIX.
A hard Road to Travel— An inhabited Smoke-bottle -" Everything in
the House " — Bujaralos — Wandering Knife-grinders — An Education
in Patience— A sweet Picture— Wolves— Zr'^ Monegros and New
Mexico — Penalba— An exceptional Landlord— Suspicious Charac-
ters— "The usual Assistance"— "The Priest's Business, not Mine" 240
CHAPTER XX.
Typical Purgatories— Political Economists!?)— Highway Robbery— New
Arrivals— Turning the Tables— An "Itinerant Merchant "-Moorish
System of Irrigation -Fraga— A vile Town— Disgusting Quarters-
Novel Ablutions— A black Hole 253
CHAPTER XXI.
Mistaken Identity — Joined by Tramps — Under Police Suspicion —
Alcarraz— A charming Panorama— A happy Decision— In Clover—
A philosophical t/zc/— The Duke Decazcs's Boots— Fellow-Guests
of the /c^wfi./— Reunion of the Privileged 265
CHAPTER XXII.
El Castillo de Ztr/</a — Gothic Cathedral of exceeding merit— .A young
Spanish Officer— Ecclesiastical Buildings-" Society of Arts and
Belles- Lettres of \.MxVW—Iucstadc Ajw />"/-«— Lerida and Vicinity-
Death of Herodias and Daughter — Catalan Thrift — An unfortunate
Toast— Catalan Costume— A Spanish Cemetery .... 276
CONTENTS. xiii
CHAPTER XXIII.
PAGE
Preparations for tlie Carnival — Playing the Fool— The Carnival Pro-
cession — "Seeing the Folly of it"— The Bal Masque — Midnight
Ceremonies — The Devil takes " Pau Pi "—Tender Farewells — De-
parture from Lerida — Spanish Peasantry — On the Way — A badly-
matched Pair 289
CHAPTER XXIV.
A nearly "adorned the most" Maid — Interesting roadside Objects —
A simple Matron — Tarrage —A lovely Prospect — Carlist Attack on
Ceverra — Illuminations — Catalan Loyalty (?) — The University of
Ceverra — Mountain Scenery — A good vegetarian Repast — Strange
ruined Castle 302
CHAPTER XXV.
Moorish Stronghold — La Sierra de J/.;«te/';vj/ —Igualada— Manufactories
— A safe Drink —" Halt ! '' — Levelled Carbines —A captured Robber
— Queen Victoria's Conversion (?) — A modern Miracle— A Resting-
place 313
CHAPTER XXVI.
Monasterio de Montserrat — Income of "The Queen of Montserrat " —
Arrangements for Pilgrims— Ascent to the Summit — The Mediter-
ranean sighted — A Tourist— Suggestive Services— A Dreamland —
A Honeymoon Couple — A Ramble over the Mountain — La Mon-
tana de Montserrat— K Mountain of Delight 323
CHAPTER XXVII.
La Santa Imdgen de la Virgen de Montserrat — Translation of "The
Pearl of the Apostle"— Celestial Entertainment — "Invention" of
the Image — The Garin Legend — The Devil's Conspiracy — Un-
happy Requilda — A very precocious Infant— The Friars Cave —
Miraculous Skull and Water ........ 334
CHAPTER XXVIIL
Descent to the Plain — Esparagueva — The Devil's Bridge— Inscription
Tablets — Historical Associations— Semaphore Stations— Z^ Ptiente
del Molins del Rey — A Poor Man's Eating-house— Arrival at Bar-
celona — Astonished Crispin— A Spanish Tailor and his Rooms-
Hotel Charges— We are Eight 343
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXIX.
PAGE
Barcelona— The Royal Visit— "The same Dogs with New Collars"—
Landing of King Alfonso— The King's Reception— A " Red " —
Ominous Demonstrations— A terrible Court Scandal— A Scene not
soon to be Forgotten — G)-att Tealro de Licco—" Kida." . . 356
CHAPTER XXX.
The Industrial Exhibition of Cataluna — Inauguration by King Alfonso —
Grand Review — Sainete at El Teatro Principal — A gay Boy — La
Capitolana — " Then he is yours " — Monjuich — Highway Robberies
— The Cafes of Barcelona — Gallant Company — Arena of the Psycho-
logical Contest ........... 368
CHAPTER XXXI.
Summary of Opinion— The Holy Inquisition — Spanish Wives — The
Start Home — Interesting Objects — Arciiys dc Mar — A Skirmish for
YoxAgQ— Diligence Travelling in Spain — Figueras — Ascending the
Pyrenees — Crossing the Frontier — The French Customs' Post — The
"Straight Tip" to pass the Customs — Fort Bellegarde— Ho for
Home! — " Vaya usted con Dios''^ 381
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
1. TUDELA AND La Sierra DEL MoNCAYO . . . Frontispiece
2. Pamplona and La Sierra de Aralar . . . . to face 102
3. Palace of Charles V. on the Ebro .... ,,172
4. Zaragoza, the Sierras de Alcudierre and Guara,
and the Pyrenees „ 208
5. City, Citadel, and Gothic Cathedral of Lerida . ,, 276
6. Monastery of Montserrat „ 332
ON FOOT IN SPAIN,
CHAPTER I.
Where would I go ? — The Affair decided — Preparations — My Little All — The
" Pleasant Land of France " — Run from Bayonne to San Sebastian — The
Land of Historic Romance — Disarmed — Irun — The Gibraltar of Northern
Spain.
The winter of 1876 was fast approaching, and I found
myself an idler who had no programme, absolutely without
engagements, having no special inducements to go any-
where in particular, nor reason to remain where I was.
And so the wandering spirit born of past adventures —
that feeling, near akin to the impelling instinct of migratory
birds when their time of flight draws near, which becomes
part and parcel of the man who has travelled far and wide
— irresistibly tempted me, like them, to spread my wings
and take a flight. Like them also I would seek a better
clime, for an English winter has few charms for me.
Where would I go .'' Not, if possible, on a tourist beat ;
certainly not anywhere I had been before. Spain at once
presented itself to my mind, a country I had long wished
to see something of, and the nearest one not tracked over
2 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
by holiday travellers, as a rabbit-warren is by runs. I
would go to that museum and last coign of refuge of all
the odd ways, customs, and trains of thought that have
existed in Europe since the beginning until now. And
the better to observe the same, and amuse myself, would
make my sojourn in that country a pedestrian trip.
Considering Murray the best practical guide to any
country he treats of, I at once procured his " Spain ; " and
though an adrairable handbook, which, had I not feared to
ov?v weigh; m.yself, I certainly should have taken along, I
must confess to disappointment at finding it to be, to so great
an extent, but the reprint of what was written for the last
generation, which though good in its time, is now, like the
country treated of therein, rather behind to-day in matters
of practical utility. A glance through its leaves greatly
strengthened my resolve ; and when I read on page 22 :
" As a pedestrian tour for pleasure is a thing utterly un-
known in Spain, walking is not to be thought of for a
moment," the affair was decided. I would prove a pedes-
trian trip in Spain, and a longish one, too — for my walk
should be from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean —
could be achieved. Surely, if the man who makes a blade
of grass to grow on a before barren spot deserves to be
well spoken of, he who shows a new path available to the
pedestrian would in these times of pleasure pilgrimages be
doing to the fraternity of wanderers a service he might
contemplate with satisfaction.
To find a congenial companion, a friend, who with the
physical qualification requisite to sustain, without serious
inconvenience, the probable hardships of the undertaking^
TRAVELLING COMPANIONS. 3
uniting a natural or acquired disposition towards patience,
contentment, and compromise, would, I well knew, more
than double Its enjoyment, halve its trials. Such a one I
unfortunately did not find, so a pleasure excursion in
solitary selfishness alone w^as decreed. One substitute for
the companionship of a friend presented itself to my mind :
I would make a comrade of my note-book, repeat to, or
rather in it, whatever should happen that was not con-
fidential, whatever I should see and hear that was
interesting, everything that might be useful to be known
to others following in my steps, my impressions and my
reflections as they came to me. While to give a link with
humanity to my labour, I would do so with a hope the result
would prove sufficiently interesting to warrant publication.
That so, I should, in fact, have many companions travelling
with me — companions who, while spared the fatigues and
worries, would enjoy the pleasures and charms of the
excursion, and who, however much I might ultimately try
their patience, I should certainly not quarrel with by the
way. I would write up my journal from time to time,
as occasion served, and revise it only so far as to extract
vain repetitions and cut down verbosity ; for to review and
modify first impressions by the light of after experience,
though it might prevent self-contradictions, would certainly
not be making a reader a travelling companion, while to
indulge in " dressing up " or " pointing " of the scenes and
incidents, though so doing w^ould make the narrative more
amusing, would be to totally deprive it of its only value —
the being an unexaggerated account of personal experience.
Indeed, I determined rather to err, and have probably
4 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
done so, on the other side, preferring to be somewhat flat
in description than unrcHablc in fact.
Preparations were soon made, and an outfit, h'ght, port-
able, and compact, provided. Having found the inconveni-
ence of a knapsack, out of which, without stopping and un-
harnessing, nothing can be taken, into which nothing put, I
had made for me a substitute, which prior experience had
taught is a far better arrangement as a carryall.
Out of waterproof canvas, from a full-sized pattern in
calico cut out and stitched together by myself, to prevent
mistakes, was constructed an affair of many pockets in one,
like the skirts of a gamekeeper's shooting-jacket. It is
supported by webbing straps, disposed after the fashion of
trouser-suspenders, extends roimd the hips and fastens,
when wished, in front by strap and buckle. Slits, an inch
in length, with opposite metal slides, placed along the edge
of the opening to the outside, and enclosing pocket, and a
running strap, to be passed through them, fastening at each
end by snap padlocks, furnish the means whereby its con-
tents are, when advisable, made secure from the over curious,
or from the plundering of petty pilferers, who care not to
betray a robbery by use of knife or scissors.
A change of under-clothes, a couple of pairs of socks,
half-a-dozen handkerchiefs, some paper collars and cuffs —
to " put on airs " with — a barber's comb and toothbrush, a
towel and piece of soap, is my ample outfit of personal
effects. To buy and throw away as I go along will be
better than to burthen myself. Indelible-ink-pencils, a
small and wcll-fillcd writing-case, a compact little house-
wife, the necessaries for smoking, my Foreign Office
MY LITTLE ALL. 5
passport in a case, and a map of Northern Spain take but
little room. A large powder-flask, full of Curtis and
Harvey's best, a shot-pouch, caps, wrench, screwdriver, and
other etceteras, necessary to have if one carries a muzzle-
loader, are, however, both bulky and heavy. I take a gun
on the advice of a friend, a Spaniard. He said I must have
a gun with me, and for fear of difficulty about fixed am-
munition, a muzzle-loader. A money-belt, worn under my
shirt, carries my circular notes and all coin, excepting such
as is wanted for immediate use. An old greatcoat that has
seen many a day's and night's service, a soft felt hat, a fish-
ing suit, and a pair of ankle-jacks, comprised my costume.
I burdened myself with a gun and apparatus not merely as
a protection, as insisted on by my Spanish friend, but
because of vague but glowing accounts concerning the
shooting to be had in Spain, and the hope that by ex-
perience of a sport that is one of my chief delights, I may
obtain reliable and definite information for the benefit of
brother-sportsmen.
A railway trip through the pleasant land of France
was not devoid either of interest or incident, for the journey
was broken at many places, at which short stays were
made, to renew old friendships and revisit once-familiar
scenes ; and on the 14th of November I found myself
making its last stage, the run from charming Bayonne to
the Spanish frontier, and the proposed end of my rail-
roading — San Sebastian.
From Bayonne to San Sebastian is not far, only fifty-
five kilo. The road, however, is one whose construction
must have presented some engineering difficulties, and
6 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
cost much ; for the country is mountainous all the way,
four rivers have to be crossed, and many miles of gradient
has been blasted out of the solid rock.
It is an interesting and picturesque journey, that turning
of the west flank of the Pyrenees. Pretty dells, little
mountain valleys, rocky gorges, timber-covered slopes,
open grassy glades, willow-fringed streams, present them-
selves in ever-changing combination. The rugged and
serrated combs of the distant mountains in the east, now
seen, then lost, always reappearing with changed aspect,
afford an ever-varying background, and give additional
interest and finish to a succession of most charming natural
pictures. The weather was perfect, and except during the
arrcte at Hendaye station I spent the time pleasantly,
luxuriating in the prospect, enjoying the balmy, invigor-
ating mountain air, and trying to recall some of the stirring
incidents connected with the country I was passing through ;
for I was in the land of historic romance.
Soon after leaving Bayonne, the ruins of Chateau
Marrac suggested the story of Charles IV., for therein he
had been a prisoner ; then of the shameless act of villany
perpetrated in that very chateau by the first Napoleon, for
there, outraging the sacred laws of hospitality, violating
his pledged faith, the conqueror of Europe and greatest
scoundrel of the age sent his invited guest, Ferdinand III.,
" from his table to a dungeon." Then came a peep at the
cathedral of St. Jean de Luz, scene of the nuptials of
Louis XIV. and the Princess of Philip IV. of Spain, the
ill-fated Maria Theresa. A little farther on appeared the
ancient Chateau d'Urtubie, where Louis XI. and the kings
DISARMED. 7
of Aragon and Castile met in state ; and then the frontier
stream, the historical Bidassoa.
On the right bank of the Bidassoa stands the Hendaye
station, and there I had to pass the custom-house, and also
change trains ; for, with a precautionary eye to a possible
future invasion from France, the Spanish Government
insisted on a break of gauge where the railway crossed the
frontier line, so that trains carrying troops could not be
run into Spain ; but foolishly, it appears to me, they fixed
on a wider gauge instead of a narrower one. It is no
great trick to raise the rails on one side of a road and put
them down again closer to the others. To widen a narrow
track, having " ties " with nothing to spare, is a heavy
contract.
My first experience with Spanish officials was un-
pleasant. As I stepped over the air line between the two
national jurisdictions, as I put my foot in Spain, I was
disarmed, my double-barrel was taken from me. It was of
no avail that I showed my " Derby," and explained my
gun was for sporting purposes solely. I must give it up ;
there was no remedy ; their orders were imperative. A
superior officer came and explained to me. The province of
Guipuzcoa was in a state of siege ; a proclamation had been
issued ordering the disarming of all its inhabitants unpro-
vided with a Government licence to carry weapons. All
custom-house officers and frontier guards were instructed
under no pretence to allow arms to enter from France, and
to arrest anyone attempting to smuggle them. But, he
added, your gun is only temporarily withheld from you ; it
will be returned on your producing an order for it from the
8 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
Governor of Guipuzcoa, which you will have no difficulty
in obtaining, and it shall be taken good care of. This
relieved my mind, and resigning myself to the inevitable,
and my gun to him, I resumed my journey, reflecting that,
considering the recentness of the late civil contest, the fact
that the Carlists had obtained their arms chiefly across the
French frontier, and the apprehension entertained of
another rising, I could not reasonably consider myself
ill-used, though it was a nuisance and a bore. But the
striking view before me, the associations connected with
the points of interest in sight, drove for the time being all
thought of petty annoyance from my mind.
Stirring episodes of history had been enacted all around
me. " The dolorous rout " of Roncesvalles is as identified
with the town, whose ruined fortifications and quaint old
buildings appeared to my sight, as that of the Saxons is
with Hastings, while, coming into view below, Fuenterabia
recalled a flood of half-forgotten history. There more than
half-a-million French soldiers entered to conquer Spain,
over 300,000 of them never to see France again. There our
"great captain" forced the river and defeated Soult,
driving him from an almost impregnable position. To the
left rises San Marcial, scene of an earlier French defeat.
There, in 1522, Beltran de la Cucva overthrew the troops of
Bonnivel ; while again, in 181 3, it witnessed 18,000 French
repulsed and routed by 12,000 Spaniards. I^clow, in the
centre of the river's bed, lays an island, small in size but
great in renown — I'lle de la Conference, where Louis XL
and Henry V. negotiated the marriage of the Duke of
Guicnne ; wlicrc k'rancis I. was exchanged by his captor
THE GIBRALTAR OF NORTHERN SPAIN 9
the great Charles V., for his two hostage sons ; where the
treaty of the Pyrenees was concocted by Cardinal Mazarin
and Don Luis de Haro. Then came Irun, captured by
De Lacy Evans from the Carlists in 1837, after a desperate
assault, that cost the enemy 700 men ; soon after Pasages,
a picturesque old town, apparently situated on the shore of
a lovely little mountain lake, surrounded by redoubt and
tower-crowned heights — really a land-locked harbour ; and
at last San Sebastian, " the Gibraltar of Northern Spain,"
the end and terminus to my railway travelling. Thence-
forth I would foot it.
CHAPTER II.
" Go with God " — Mullet-fishing — " Volver Maiiana "—Comfortably housed —
Miss Evans — " That Man is your Cousin " — Bass-fishing — The Woodcock
Passage — Fox "Hunting" — Adventures of a Letter — A Day's Shooting —
In the Old Mill- Prospect for Birds.
November 20, 1876. — The San Sebastian railway station
is on the north side and close to the banks of the river
Urumia. The city lies on the south. I walked across the
bridge, the Puente de Sta. Catalina, and took up my quarters
at the first hotel arrived at : a large house of good appear-
ance called Hotel du Commerce. From its windows is a
fine sea view. It was sufficiently well furnished, clean, and
comfortable ; the attendance and commissariat very good ;
the proprietor and his family attentive and polite.
After breakfast my first care was to obtain an audience
with his Excellency Don Laureano Casado Mata, the
governor of the province, to arrange the matter of the
recovery of my gun. This I did without difficulty. I was
courteously received, and assured that to-morrow an order
from him on the custom-house for it would be issued
to mc, but that it would be first necessary for me to
take out a licence to carry arms, and that when my gun
''GO WITH GODr II
was delivered there would be a duty to pay, " Return to-
morrow," he said, and " Go with God " — a polite dismissal.
Leaving the Oficinas de Gobernacion, I strolled ofif to the
sea-wall at the mouth of the river, attracted by the roar of
a magnificent surf: immense rollers from the Bay of Biscay
breaking on the shore in glittering spray. Seated on the
stone parapet were some fishermien whom I watched with
interest. They were catching gray mullet. I entered into
conversation with them, and learned the season for good
sport was over, but that in summer and autumn the wall
was lined with fishers whenever the tide served, and not an
instant passed without a capture along the line, while
frequently as many as twenty fish might be seen in the air
at once, as they were being slung out of the water. Then
also many other varieties of fish were to be caught ; the
takes being, too, not only more numerous, but including
larger fish, many seven and eight pounders. However, the
four fishermen I was watching seemed to me to be doing
well enough. I remained a long time, and they averaged,
to the man, a mullet to the quarter of an hour, the fish
running from half a pound to two pounds in weight. The
water was so clear I could see the rocks at its bottom, and
swarms of little fishes swimming about. Occasionally, also,
I saw a passing mullet take the bait with a rush like that
of a lively trout. The tackle used is a rod of about twenty-
four feet in length, the butt pine, the rest a bamboo
cane. A long twisted hair line, salmon-gut points, three
small white-metal sea-hooks, baited with pieces of salted
and dried fish, a cork float, and a lead sinker. The "swim"
is constantly ground-baited by lumps of mashed refuse-fish
12 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
being thrown in, and a sharp eye and quick wrist are
necessary to strike at the right moment.
At dinner acquaintance was made with two fellow-
guests, a captain of cavalry and another of artillery, pleasant
gentlemanly men and great dandies, and the evening spent
smoking cigarios, sipping cognac, and chatting with the
three daughters of the house who joined us, the mother
occasionally looking in by way of playing propriety, I
suppose.
Next morning I applied for the licence to carry arms,
and was informed my request must be made in writing on
stamped paper, and accompanied with a payment of
eighty reals — sixteen and eightpence — made in government
revenue stamped notes to that amount, which I could
obtain at a tobacconist's, I got them, wrote out my
application, signed it, returned to the governor's office,
and handed it to the proper official. He bowed, told me to
" Return to-morrrow " and " Go with God" — pretty phrases,
but becoming too frequent. I remonstrated ; said I was
in a hurry ; should like the licence directly. He said,
" Impossible ; besides, to-morrow will be soon enough."
" Ah ! " said one of the officers, when in the evening
I was relating to him my experience at the Government
House, " this is truly the land of to-morrow, though not as
much for foreigners as for us ; you, perhaps, will get the
papers you want to-morrow ; were }-ou a Spaniard, }-ou
would be in luck to obtain them in a week or ten days.
Two hundred years ago a witty Spanish author wrote a
work called ' Voher Manana' (return to-morrow) ; we arc
just as bad now."
COMFORTABLY HOUSED. 13
And next morning I did get both order and licence.
The latter, I found, was good for a year from date, and
practically, leave to shoot all over Spain, for I learnt that
only near a few towns in the south was any attempt made
to preserve or to drive off trespassers. When, in reply to
the official's question, as he handed order and licence to
me, " When are you going for your gun ? " I answered
" By the next train," he was perfectly aghast. To make
but one day's work of getting the documents and the gun
was a display of energy evidently unprecedented. " Im-
possible ! " said he, " they will never give it you the day
of the date of the order ; wait till to-morrow and go with
God."
My travelling experience on the continent of Europe
is, that to expect to " take mine ease in mine inn " is to
foster a delusion. I have found hotel living there not only
much more expensive, but not nearly as comfortable as
furnished apartments and eating at restaurants ; so, though
I had no fault to find with the house I was stopping at, I
started out to seek lodgings, or some good boarding-house,
for I had been told Spanish ones were often comfortable
and pleasant.
San Sebastian being, in the season (summer time), one
of Spain's most fashionable watering-places, I found this
town was full of Casas de Huespedes, and, so, soon dis-
covered my affair. I am domiciled, piso segitndo, in one of
the best-located houses in the town. A small bedroom,
fair-sized sitting-room en suite, and both well furnished —
the former containing a most comfortable bed, and plenty
of washing and toilet apparatus — are my apartments.
14 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
Three meals daily ; namely, at nine o'clock, or earlier if
wished, chocolate, rolls, &c. ; at noon, breakfast a la fonr-
cJiettc ; at seven, dinner, comprises the board. I^^or all
these mercies I thankfully pay the sum asked of one
dollar per day and no etceteras, wine, attendance, and
everything included. On taking my room the landlady
told me she was a widow, her clientele chiefly military men,
and that the company then staying in her house consisted
of the secretary of the leading bank in town, a staff captain,
a major of artillery, and another of the military administra-
tion ; and that a general of brigade and wife, and one of
his aides, who were expected to arrive in a few days, had
engaged all the remaining rooms, excepting the two she
had given me. The class of inmates was recommendation
of the house enough for me ; otherwise, not being used to
Spanish cheapness, I should have, in spite of the good
appearance of the rooms, doubted the firstrateness of one
dollar a day board, and so gone farther to have, perchance,
not fared so well. My bill at the Hotel du Commerce was
at the rate of eight pesetas a day inclusive, and no little
French swindles about attendance, candles, soap, &c., &:c.,
nor did anyone on my leaving ask mutely or otherwise
for a pour boire ; but I noticed a little money-box near
the front door inscribed, " For the servants," and dropped
what I thought right into it. It struck me as a modest,
considerate way of soliciting vails, and far preferable to
being mobbed on the doorstep by the whole posse comitatus
of an inn's staff after the French and English manner.
On the morning of the l6th I took the ten A.M. train,
and retraced my way to the frontier to get my gun. Arrived
Af/SS EVANS. IS
there I caught a commissionaire, tipped him the usual fee
{two-and-a-half pesetas — two shillings and a penny), and
after seeing, with him, some half-dozen officials, at as many
bureaux, and paying ten pesetas duty, for which a custom's
receipt was given, at last I recovered it. Part of four days,
no end of trouble and bother, and some expense, to transact
an affair that in England or France would have been one
of only as many minutes. I have laid the lesson to heart.
My first experience of how things are done, or rather, if
avoidable, not done, in this country, has determined me,
under no circumstances, to allow myself to become im-
patient w^hile in Spain, that only so can I comfortably
sojourn or travel in this country.
As I passed the pretty enibarcadero of Pasages a
familiar-looking craft caught my eye. A glance under her
sternboard told me it was the Miss Evans, Aberystwith ;
she brought a flood of home recollections to my mind.
By-the-bye, that reminds me that the first time I went into
the Plaza de Guipuzcoa (the chief square), I was astonished
at seeing, staring me in the face, carved in gilt letters each
a foot square over one of the handsomest shops there, my
own surname. I went in, asked a gray-eyed, light-haired,
prominent-nosed man, who was reading a newspaper, if he
was the sefior whose name was over the shop. He was,
could he do anything for me .? I bought some trifle,
entered into conversation, and incidentally asked what
countryman he was, remarking his name seemed to me
foreign. He replied, " Not so ; we are a Spanish family
and of this place." I was rather pleased by his reply ; it
is in many ways convenient, when travelling in a strange
1 6 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
country, for one's name not to stamp a man as a foreigner,
or, as is sometimes the case, be unpronounceable by the
natives. But it was a strange coincidence, and I men-
tioned it at dinner. The artillery captain asked me,
"Was your grandfather ever in this country .-' " "Yes,
and remained here. He was an officer in the unfortunate
Sir John Moore's expedition, and died at Corunna." " All
is explained," said he, with a quiet smile and wave of the
hand. " That man is your cousin. When one's grand-
father has been an officer on foreign service, one never
knows where one may meet with cousins." Then every-
body laughed. The girls seemed to think it an excellent
joke. But the strangest thing is to come. A day or two
after I was again in the shop, and an old man entered from
the street, Laving in features, complexion, and expression
a great likeness to one of my ancestors. I said to the
proprietor of the shop, " That's your father."
" It is," he replied. " How do you know } "
" I see a family likeness."
" I do not, but perhaps I shall look like my father when
I am eighty."
I was quite intrigued, and have taken considerable
trouble to find out all about the family ; not a difficult
thing in this country of genealogies. They are a branch
of an old Pampeluna family, who came to Spain early in the
sixteenth century, from Naples. There certainly is not a
particle of an Italian look about the father and son. And
I am told their Pampeluna relations are notorious for their
light hair, fair skin, gray eyes, and family look. That it is
one of the rare cases of preservance of type in a family
BASS FISHING. 17
occasionally occurring, strikes me as the only possible solu-
tion. Perhaps the captain was right when he said, " That
man is your cousin," but by how many generations of
removes ?
Each day I have a look at the fishermen. The river-
wall is such a nice place to take the after-breakfast smoke
on, and the view thence is glorious. On several occasions
some of these anglers were fishing for bass,usinga different
tackle from the mullet catchers. They were provided with
a strong hemp line, sixty feet long ; no rod ; a gimp or
wire trace, a foot in length ; a heavy lead sinker (3 oz.),
and large white-metal sea-hook, on which, in precisely the
same manner the hook of a trimmer set for pike would be
baited, is placed a sardine. I saw many splendid fish taken.
The vwdiis operandi is as follows : You coil your line care-
fully on the parapet of the sea-wall, take hold of it a dozen
feet from the hook, swing it round a few times, and launch
it into the breakers. Then you feel the line lightly till you
get a run. You will know it when you do. It will be
snatched with a rush, and your capture will give plenty of
sport to land.
I am told, but not on authority I know to be reliable,
that trout are to be caught three or four miles up the river.
But there is no doubt the Orio, within a day's easy drive,
contains plenty. And I was informed sewin and salmon
abound also.
I have made the acquaintance of several ardent sports-
men, and eagerly sought information from them. I find
the immediate prospect for sport is very bad. The weather
has been too warm. Since my arrival the thermometer has
c
1 8 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
only ranged between 24° and 27° Reaumur, in the shade,
night and day. Not a speck of snow has fallen on the
mountains. And, as the " passage " takes place between
the first and twenty-fifth of this month, only a few days
remain. Such a season is unusual. November generally
sees the peaks of the Spanish Pyrenees white with snow ;
and a northerly storm or two is regularly expected to
accompany the advent of this month. In such cases the
flights of cock alight as they arrive — there are thousands of
birds I am told — till the country is alive with them ; and
the marsh grounds and rivulet banks swarm with snipe.
Once settled they remain till spring, and the shooting, of
its kind, is not to be surpassed. Resident game, however,
such as partridges, hares, rabbits, and so forth, have become
almost extinct in this neighbourhood. They were killed
off by the Carlists during the war, who were mostly
armed with shot-guns, had opportunities in plenty to get
sporting ammunition ; and the mode of warfare being a
" Return to-morrow — go with God " affair, pot-hunting was
a regular pastime and the order of the day. Ducks, usually
plentiful and in great variety at this season, are also very
scarce, owing to the mildness of the weather. In the
mountains there are a few boucketins and bears, and wild
boar are plentiful. None of them, however, can be got at
until after the fall of the leaves, the cover being now too
thick for stalking to be possible, I am too late for the
quails, whose season here is the latter part of summer,
when the country is literally alive with them. Foxes are
innumerable, and hunted with avidity. They arc in fact
the sportsmen's (?) chief game. Here foxes are "done to
ADVENTURES OF A LETTER. 19
death" with shot-gun and dog, in a like manner as
hares are in France, and arc sought after for their
skins,
I have had a specimen of Spanish postal arrangements.
My daily call at the Correo was invariably a disappoint-
ment, and I had commenced to wonder why I never got any
letters, when one day a stranger, a Frenchman, stepped
up to me in the street and saying, " I think this is yours,"
produced one from his pocket and handed it to me. It was
properly directed after the Spanish manner :
Al Senor Don Juan S. Campion,
San Sebastian,
(ruipuzcoa,
Lista de Correo. Espaiia.
There was no excuse for mistake. And it ought to
have been delivered to me at the office.
This is the history of that letter's adventures. The
summer visitors here have introduced the bad custom of
tipping the letter-carriers who bring them their corre-
spondence ; hence, instead of, as by law bound, leaving
foreign Lista de Correo letters to be called for, they hawk
them about town to find the owners and get the tips.
I had been tracked to the Hotel du Commecce and my
letter taken there. But I had left. So also had a recent
French guest. The landlord did not know my name, nor
where I had gone ; neither did he know the name of the
French traveller who had just left his house. But he did
the place where he had gone to, so, on spec, forwarded my
letter to the Frenchman, then sojourning at a little village
20 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
in the mountains called Atocha. The Frenchman was out
when it arrived, and the letter was left. On his return,
seeing it was not for him, he pocketed it ; and the first
time he came to town asked amongst his friends if they
knew of such a person as myself. One of them was for-
tunately a lately-made sporting acquaintance, and de-
scribing my appearance accurately, enabled the holder of
my letter to recognise me. I went to the Oficina del
Cor no and presented the officials with a piece of my mind.
I hope they liked it.
Wishing to have a look at the country and to see if I
could find any game, though the weather had remained fine
and as warm as the hottest English summer-time, I started
out yesterday for a day's shooting. Leaving home at a
quarter to seven, without breakfast, of course — no man
expects to get anything to eat at that early hour in Spain
— but I laid in a supply of bread at an early-opened bakery
that I passed, and at a vcntorrillo disposed of a " go-down "
of aguardiente. Awful stuff— liquid lightning.
The temperature of the morning was so warm that I
dressed very much in my old Arizona style : a loose flannel
shirt, no collar, no necktie ; trousers without braces, no
underclothes ; cotton socks, and the peasant shoes of the
country, alpargatas, or, in plain English, linen shoes with
soles of thick hcmp-wcbbing and without heel-taps, looking
much like, and feeling exactly the same to walk in, as
Mexican Indian moccasins.
Crossing the river Urumia by the Piiente dc Sta. Catali/ia,
I took a road leading diagonally up its course, recrossed it
by another bridge, and found myself on an alluvial flat of
A DAYS SHOOTING. 21
about fifteen hundred acres. A tract of land partly-
cultivated, partly in rush-grown ponds and waste ground.
Evidently the sea backed the river water up, at high tide, to
beyond the head of the flat, and to protect it from overflow
was an enclosing embankment, and several transverse ones ;
while to drain it Avere intersecting ditches, crossing in all
directions ; most of them about the width of an easy jump,
all nearly choked with reeds, rushes, and flags. Around
this flat the river curved for more than a half-mile. For
the remainder, its edge was met by hill sides, covered with
low trees, with tangled brakes, and beds of fern ; hill sides
full of little springs, miniature bogs, and rills of water. If
there were any cock, snipe, or duck in the country, before
me was the ground to find them on.
I first tried the flat ; beat it closely and carefully. No
go, nothing on it. While doing so, the sky became over-
cast, and ere long it commenced to drizzle, a soft, warm
rain, but very wet. At last I flushed two plover. They
were of a kind unknown to me, and got away, far out of
shot. As I was leaving the flat to try the hills, I put up
a fine snipe. He rose at thirty yards, and I covered him
before he had gone ten feet ; but it had been raining then
for two hours, a fine soaking rain, my gun hung fire, and a
miss was the result.
While wandering amongst the hills, or more properly
speaking, mountain spurs, I came across a ruinous old
water-mill, a most dirty, tumble-down, miserable hovel ;
but having an announcement over its entrance that wine
was procurable within. It was an opportunity not to be
missed. I could there make my breakfast, and pleasantly
22 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
reverse the state I was in, for I felt dry inside and very
wet without. In the mill were two men cobbling- up the
wheel's machincr}', which to English eyes, albeit those
of one who had been a backwoodsman, seemed totally
wrecked, and quite unmendable. The living-room con-
tained some half-dozen children, most of them girls, and
two young women busy doing nothing. A bloated goat-
skin lying on the window-sill, stained a dark blood colour,
and having a piece of bamboo reed, stopped with a spigot,
sticking out of one corner of it, was ocular evidence there
was wine in the house. It was Vino dc Navario, and in
quality a fine, full-bodied, fruity burgundy, very grateful to
a wet and tired chasseur. I drank tv/o big tumblers full
of it while eating my bread, smoked a pipe, and felt
refreshed. The flavour of the skin, in the wine, I did not
quite like (I am told strangers do not, but soon get
accustomed to, and then rather prefer it), otherwise it
was better wine than I have ever got in France, and it
cost me less than three halfpence per tumbler — a iral
(twopence-halfpenny) per pint. Vifio dc Navcirio proved
much stronger than I supposed, for notwithstanding wet
and exercise, it got into my head, and very nearl}- into my
legs too.
I beat the cover on hill and mountain side until three
o'clock, and only saw one cock. It was flying, and too
high up to be shot at, with any possibility of success ; then
I faced for home. Soon after four o'clock I arrived as wet
as the false-keel of the Ark when it grounded on Ararat,
and quite satisfied 1 had been correctly informed, that
as yet tliere were no cock or snipe to speak of in the
PROSPECT FOR BIRDS. 23
country, and as sure I had never, in as many hours, walked
over better cock and snipe ground before.
It has been raining steadily ever since yesterday
morning, and looks as if it might continue to do so till
doomsday, but it is a warm rain. What little wind there
is comes from the south, and the prospect for birds is
very bad. It is just the weather for them to travel ;
but while the wind holds in its present quarter they
will continue going north, and not alight this side the
Pyrenees.
CHAPTER III.
Guipuzcoa's Peasantry— Ancient Works— The Women— Garrison of Occupation
—Entomological Excursion — Aggravating little Monsters— A Spanish
Breakfast and Dinner — Another Day's Shooting— A Theatre's Audience—
A Theatrical Performance — Spanish equivalent for Cricket— Markets and
Market-houses— Sardines— Peasant Costumes — A fine Catch — Spanish
Copper Coinage— ft/^rtzw— Old Roman Coins for Change.
November 24, 1876. — I have been staying in San
Sebastian much longer than I intended. At this rate I
shall never get to the Mediterranean. But really the place
is a hard one to leave. I am very comfortable. Politeness
and kind attentions have been showered on me from all
sides. The country and town is so thoroughly Spanish,
notwithstanding its proximity to France, as to be quite
new and strange ; and since the rain ceased — it only lasted
two days — the weather, with a slight exception, has been
delicious, and my time most interestingly occupied ob-
serving the inhabitants, their ways and customs, and in
viewing the neighbourhood, taking long walks to the
numerous points of special interest, and vainly looking for
game.
These Guipuzcoans — the peasantry — seem a hardy,
good-sized, stout, industrious, and when not fighting.
ANCIENT WORKS. 25
energetic people. In every little field— and they are little,
for ground level enough for cultivation is scarce, and in
small patches — I was sure to see some of them at work,
working, too, with a will, not "putting the time in,"
like English farm labourers. Still, these people live in
wretched hovels. Not that the buildings in which they
sleep always were such ; on the contrary, they are the
remains of good, substantial, occasionally large, solidly-
built, stone houses — ancient casas solares — whose fronts
are frequently adorned with armorial shields, sculptured in
stone. But they all look, not only some centuries old, and
as if no repairs had ever been done to them, but also as
though they had been regularly battered and sacked, which,
indeed, every one of them has doubtless been many times.
One or two rooms in these ruinous buildings, more or less
roughly roofed over in recent times, is the present dwelling-
place of the farmer and family, his help, and his cattle.
The largest and most remarkable of these old places that I
came across is situated some distance up, in fact, on a spur
of the mountain immediately south of the San Sebastian
bathing-bay. Its roof has gone — literally gone — to grass,
ever so long ago. Its windows are ragged holes in the
walls. The only thing in tolerable preservation about it is
an admirably well carved in stone coat-of-arms, most
elaborately quartered, and surmounted with a many-
pointed crown — one like the David's crown of Bible
pictures.
On the height immediately above are the remains of an
old fort of the redoubt order, apparently the key of the
position ; for the whole summit of the mountain has once
26 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
been intrenched, and the traces of the zigzag, wliich cork-
screws up its face, lead immediately thereto. A Spanish
gentleman of this place informs me the fortifications are of
the time of the Emperor Charles V., but can tell me
nothing about the old house, or why there is a crown over
the coat-of-arms above its entrance. Most certainly the
crown is not an imperial one.
The personal appearance of the females of the peasantry
is a daily source of astonishment to me. They are con-
tinually exposed to the weather, wear nothing to protect
their faces, their head-dress is but a party-coloured kerchief,
bound round their back hair ; yet the majority of them
have really beautiful complexions, not swarthy, not rough,
but fair and quite delicate, with a rosy tinge and very
smooth skin. The thoroughly fair type is, however, scarce ;
most of these women having very dark brown eyes and
raven hair, enhancing greatly by contrast the fairness of
their skin. I suppose the Northmen conquest of the
country in eight hundred and something is the remote
cause of their fairness of complexion. These women on
working days wear neither shoes nor stockings, and have a
reckless naivete ^hoxxi the displaying of their limbs, gene-
rally very good ones, that is not surpassed by even the
I^oulogne shrimp-girls when following their vocation. They
seem a good-natured, cheerful lot ; there are always groups
of them to be seen round the pumps, springs, and wells,
some w^ishing, some drawing water ; others balancing,
without help of hand, huge oriental-looking water-jars on
their heads ; and all laughing, chatting, singing, and
making sport. The shop-girls of the town seem quite of a
GARRISON OF OCCUPATION. 27
different type. They, or I mistake greatly, show more or
less Jewish blood.
The hauling of the country is chiefly done by oxen,
smallish, but well-built, active animals ; in shape a little
like Devons ; all of one colour — light dunnish bay. These
draught animals are yoked by the horns ; a troublesome
way of hitching, but unquestionably the method enabling
them best to use their strength. Over the yoke is drawn
a sheep-skin with the fleece on, and round the forehead of
the steers is bound an ornamental fringed fillet. The
waggon is generally a two-wheeled affair, made after a
most ancient pattern, the wheels being solid discs of wood.
The " iron work " of many of these primitive vehicles is
raw hide, and the axles of all of them are " greased with
curses " only. You can hear them squeak and groan long
before you can see them.
The town is at present full of military — migiieletes
mountain militia ; and a permanent provincial force,
guardias civiles, the Spanish equivalent for the gen-
darmerie of France, and the regulars of all arms, swarm
everywhere. Guipuzcoa has the garrison of a country
conquered but not trusted. These troops, officers and
men, are very well uniformed. Ease, elegance, and utility
are combined in a way that is an example to England,
France, and even most practical America.
I perceive the officers here have the same custom as
obtains in England, with regard to the wearing of their
uniforms ; only doing so when on duty. Directly they
come off, so does their harness, and they clothe them-
selves in mufti. When en paisano, these Spanish officers
28 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
are dressed more like Englishmen than Frenchmen, as far
as style goes, and have all a thoroughly well-groomed
look about them, and a quiet repose of manner. In fact
their " form " is excellent. And they must certainly take
great care of their hands, which, as a rule, are small, well-
shaped, soft, and white.
The Spanish newspapers I have come across are but
poor affairs, and their foreign intelligence is, I suspect,
like a good deal of the cognac drunk in England, chiefly
a domestic manufacture, flavoured to suit customers'
palates. At dinner, I regularly hear the political news of
the day discussed. Sunday last there was great excite-
ment. Two coalitions had been formed, and war was
about to be declared — Russia, Germany, and Italy against
Turkey, England, Austria, France, and Spain. " Why
Spain ? " I innocently inquired. " What earthly interests
has she in the matter, calling for the extravagance of
going to war } " One of the officers gave triumphantly
the — to all except myself — conclusive answer : " Spain
cannot permit a European war to take place and remain
inactive, not take the front position her rank amongst
nations demands ; and Spain, England, and France, being
the leaders of civilisation, i/iiist pull together." It all
sounded very queer to me, premises and conclusion ; I
give it as a specimen of Spanish sentiment.
In pursuance of a promise, I have made a commence-
ment at beetle-collecting. My first step was to get laurel
leaves ; for, I had been told, mashed laurel leaves, in a
closely-stoppered bottle, would quickly kill these insects.
It took mc half a da}''s searching to find any laurel trees.
ENTOMOLOGICAL EXCURSION. 29
At length, spying some in a walled garden, I made a rapid
raid, committed trespass and petit larceny, and fell back
on my base of operations, with a pocketful of tender
upper leaves. Then I went and bought the bottle— an
old sulphide of quinine bottle— at an apothecary's shop.
I told the chemist what I wanted it for. He disgusted
me by saying no beetles were to be found in winter, no
matter how warm the weather was-; that in summer, any
quantity of numerous varieties could be procured, but not
so now. However, I cut and mashed my laurel leaves,
filled my bottle with them, ate my twelve o'clock break-
fast, and sallied forth. I turned over rocks and stones,
exploited a quarry, tried the cliff's face, the roots and
bark of trees, hedge bottoms ; I nettled myself well, dis-
turbed a colony of ants, was charged by their entire army,
well bitten, and ignominiously put to flight. At last
I made two captures — two wretched, half-dead-looking,
black beetles. They were all I could find, and I bottled
and took them home. Those are the two most contrary,
disobliging, aggravating little monsters I ever heard of.
They won't die. They walk about in the bottle, and
fatten on those leaves. I found them looking miserable
and half-dead ; they have grown proud, and mightily exalt
their horns. If those beetles continue in their present
outrageous course, I shall, at the expense of the loss to
science of their interesting carcasses, take them to a
blacksmith's shop, lay them on an anvil, and try if they
can be killed with a sledge hammer. Apropos of insects,
I have been pleasingly disappointed by the absence of
"the midnight marauder." Already I have been some
30 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
little time in Spain, and, contrary to expectation, have
not encountered " the wicked flea." But " the oldest
inhabitant " assures me that, in summer, they, like the
beetles, are not scarce.
More rain, but not for long, only an afternoon ; a
steady, soaking, warm rain, with a light westerly wind.
Then a clear up. After the rain, I took my usual
evening's constitutional round the Plaza dc Guipuzcoa.
The air resounded with the cries of migratory birds,
hovering and wheeling over the town, attracted by the
lights. The companion of my promenade told me that
when, during the passage of the woodcock, it was good
" settling " weather, flights of them often alighted in the
plaza, and Avere flushed by the earh' risers who first crossed
it in the morning.
Eating being an interesting incident of life everywhere,
I will give a fair specimen of a San Sebastian boarding-
house breakfast, at the latter end of November. Table
covered with a clean white cloth ; a ditto napkin ; and a
roll of fresh bread before each person. In the centre of
the table a handsome bouquet of natural cut flowers —
heliotropes, roses, carnations, &c. &c. — all grown out of
doors. Set around, are little plates containing cheese — a
sort of gruycre ; fresh butter — very good ; excellent grapes,
apples, walnuts, and other fruit. A neat, clean servant-
girl goes round and pours out a large goblet of wine
and a tumbler of water for each person, and the following
courses are handed round : a beetroot salad, omelettes,
sausages on toast, mutton chops and fried potatoes,
pastry, black coffee, and clj^ar/os. During the meal, wine-
A SPANISH DINNER. 31
glasses are refilled by the servant as often as emptied.
Everything that ought to be hot is so — piping hot. The
dishes are passed through a sliding panel in the wall,
from the kitchen to the waitress in the room, and plates,
knives, forks, and spoons changed with each course.
The meal lasts about an hour, and there is to spare of
everything.
Dinner of the same day. Table set out as at break-
fast, excepting that there are no flowers. Wine helped
and courses as follows : vermicelli soup ; boiled gray
mullet and parsley sauce ; lentils, potatoes, and chopped
cabbage; pieces of boiled beef and sausages; rissoles made
of no man knows what, might have been veal, perhaps
fowl, or possibly — but hold ; if, as is said, confidence is
necessary to the enjoyment of love, how much more so
is it to that of Spanish rissoles .!* Sufficient to say they were
egged, bread-crumbed, nicely browned, and very good.
Then, beef a la jardinih-e ; salad ; custard of some kind
unknown, for I do not usually eat such things. In search
of information much may and ought to be done, but a line
must be drawn somewhere : I draw it at experimenting on
my stomach with sweets and pastry. Finally, a dessert of
all fruits in season, black coffee, the weed, and topics of the
day.
The night succeeding the afternoon rain there was a
light white frost, and thinking some of the birds, whose
cries I had head, might have settled, I turned out early
the following morning for a chasse. It was a magnificent,
bright, clear, warm day, but I was again disappointed, and
did not see any game, excepting two snipe, who got away
32 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
out of range. During the day's tramp I saw a native
sportsman with a cross-bred dog, one between setter and
pointer ; also two others with a couple of highly-bred red
setters that were ranging and quartering their ground
beautifully. Neither party had seen any cock ; evidently
there are none in the country now.
Last Thursday night the principal theatre opened for
a short season, though it is the deadest time of the year ;
not only are there now no visitors here, but the resident
gentry are all away wintering at Madrid, or farther south,
the good country houses being almost all empty and shut
up. It was my first opportunity to attend a Spanish
theatrical performance, and was not neglected. I found
the theatre a very pretty, well-arranged one, much after
the style of the Princess's, and admirably ventilated and
lighted. All the evening, its temperature left nothing to
be desired. Wishing to see and hear to the best advantage,
I took a butaca, the equivalent for a stall, the most expen-
sive place in the house, but only costing seven reals (one
shilling and fivepence-halfpenny). I estimated the build-
ing would conveniently contain eight hundred persons,
but this is probably an under estimate. In round numbers,
there were four hundred present. A very well-conducted
audience ; no shouting, stamping, or catcalling, in the
gallery — if it was only twopence-halfpenny admittance ;
no oranges, pop, and trash hawked about ; no talking
while the acting was going on. Ever>'one seemed there
to attend to the play, and not to annoy other people.
There was no full dress, as we understand the term. The
gentlemen were in calling costume, the ladies en toilette
A THEATRICAL PERFORMANCE. 33
de villc, and very well dressed too were both the sexes.
There were present many good-looking women, hardly
any really plain ones, and some downright beauties. I
counted them — there were seven. I am tolerably sure
I never saw seven as handsome girls at one time in a
London theatre.
Between each act most of the men went into the
corridors and walked up and down them, smoking cigaros
and chatting, or they paid calls on the ladies of their
acquaintance in the palcos and butacas. There was no
refreshment-buffet, and I do not think anyone left the
building to " take a drink." Applause was only occasional
and judicious. I had been told the company was indif-
ferent, that it was one of no reputation. That being true,
I am anxious to see a Spanish one that has a reputation,
for the acting was capital. The troupe consisted of six
performers, three men and as many actresses, and of a
few "sups." It was a very even company, and nothing
"sticky" about any of them ; no awkward pauses, no
hitches, no exaggerations. They were dressed to their
parts, not beyond them. And they did not "act" — that
is to say, there was no posturing, mouthing, or obvious
making of points. Altogether it was a very pleasing per-
formance, and, from its excessive naturalness, a refreshing
novelty. Three light comedy pieces composed the bill. The
first, principal, and best, was entitled " Un Ingksc" and was
a "take off" on the travelling "'Miloi-y The Englishman
was got up to perfection. I declare when he came on the
stage he looked so typically the London middle-aged swell,
that had I met him in the street, I should have thougfht it
34 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
somebody I knew but could not exactly place. I was told
the actor was a Spaniard, who did not know any English
excepting the words in his part, so the way he talked
broken Spanish with an English accent, and mixed in
correct English phrases, was very clever. The orchestra,
twenty-eight performers and a conductor, was a fair one.
The performance conmicnced at eight sharp and finished
at eleven. There were no carriages in attendance, and
the ladies of the audience all walked home without don-
ning wraps, and either bareheaded or with only light lace
veils on. It said much for the climate.
While on the subject of amusements, '' P dotal'' the
national game of Northern Spain, that country's equivalent
for cricket, the ^dSdc par cxccllatcc of the people, must not
be passed over. There is a very fine pelota court here,
and I have lately been a spectator at a grand match. The
game resembles in many respects both fives and rackets,
and can only be properly played in a court constructed
purposely. But it can be indulged in, after a fashion,
wherever there is a high wall and open space. And, in
spite of notices forbidding, and announcing fines for so
doing, the street gamins are eternally at it, making every
public building and ecclesiastical edifice in town a make-
shift pelota court, the forbidding notice serving admirably
as " the line." So early does the young idea here learn to
practise the Sj^anish maxim as to how an unpopular law is
to be observed — obcdcccdo pcro no cnmplido.
The pelota ball weighs three ounces, and is as like as
maybe to a racket-ball. It is "served" \\ith the naked
hand, l^ut the rest of the players are each furnished with
MARKETS. 35
a species of racket ; a strong leather glove firmly bound
on their right hand, and having a wicker-work spoon, two
feet long and six inches wide, stiffly fastened to it, being
used.
The match in progress was between crack players, and
tolerably heavy betting was going on. The playing was
very violent exercise for such hot weather, and consider-
able address, activity, and expertness displayed ; and
judging by the frequent and hearty applause, the play was
very good. However, not understanding the game, I
could not properly appreciate the points.
The markets here are scenes of considerable interest to
me. They are held daily, Sundays included. The principal
are, the fruit, flower, vegetable, and game market ; the
meat and fish one ; and in an open square a general
mart of all kinds of frippery, earthenware, pots, pans, and
charcoal — the last brought to town on donkeys, and sold
by charcoal-women, looking like so many duchesses dis-
guised as sweeps. The daily supply of vegetables and
fruit is astonishing, both for its variety and quantity. All
English summer vegetables and French autumn fruits are
in profusion, as are also many, to me, new and strange
ones ; and as the gardeners are now busy planting out
young cabbages, cauliflowers, and lettuces, it looks as
though they always had summer vegetables here. Indeed,
the large oleanders and heliotropes, which flourish unpro-
tected in the gardens all the winter, vouch for the mildness
of the climate.
Nor is the fish market less well supplied. Indeed, the
variety of fish seems almost infinite. Unfortunately, not
D 2
36 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
being a learned piscatorial swell, I cannot give a list of
them. I really do not know the English names for any,
excepting the red and gray mullets, the bass, and
the sardines. The last-mentioned fish are caught here in
tolerably large quantities ; though smaller they are much
better flavoured than their Mediterranean cousins. I can
vouch that when just caught, fried crisp and brown in new
olive oil, and eaten with cucumber, salt, and cayenne, they
are delicious. As yet, no sardines are "put up" here.
The bulk of the takes are purchased by some Frenchmen
of this place, who expedite them to Bordeaux ; but intend,
when sufficiently " ahead of the game " to have the neces-
sary capital, to start canning works, and export them,
cured and boxed, in the usual way.
The market-houses here are large, commodious, sweet,
and airy ; would be a credit to any place. The chief one
is a handsome stone, iron, and glass edifice ; in shape a
hollow square, whose sides of one hundred and ninety feet
each in length enclose an open flagged yard, having a fine
fountain in its centre. It is quite lofty — about sixty feet
in height from floor to ceiling. The fish and meat market
is a large semicircular building, equally well arranged,
lighted, and ventilated. Both these market-houses are
kept scrupulously clean.
At present game is not plentiful, the few partridges
and hares exposed for sale coming from Navarre. But
poultry of all sorts and eggs are in profusion. I find the
markets a pleasant lounge before breakfast, and a capital
])lace to study the peasantry, especially the pretty girls
from the mountains, and the hardly less comely fish-maids ;
A FINE CATCH. 37
these latter being here, as everywhere else, seemingly
belonging to a race apart and to themselves.
I have been disappointed by a lack of picturesqueness
and variety in the peasant-costume of the province. This
is the usual male one : On the feet, alpargates — no
stockings — trousers and blouse of blue cotton, just like a
French peasant's ; under the blouse a coarse white linen
shirt ; round the neck a loosely-tied kerchief ; in many
folds and winds a wide red stuff sash, encircling the waist ;
surmounting all, and completing the costume, the Biscayan
gorra, a head-covering wove all in one piece, looking like
a compromise between a cricketing-cap and a Lowland
Scottish bonnet, and having a tuft on its top. These caps
are all either red or dark blue. Red is Royalist ; blue is
Carlist. For one red cap, fifty blue are to be seen.
After doing the markets — not being a purchaser, the
fair vendors do not do me — the market-houses being close
to the sea-wall, I usually go and spend a short time
watching the fishermen. On the last occasion, though the
sun shone in a clear sky, and the air was balmy, it was
evident that either a gale was blowing to seaward, or there
had recently been a storm in the Bay of Biscay ; for the
rollers that coursed one another up the Lazurriola, and
with flashing light and thunder roars broke into snowy clouds
of spray at the mouth of the Rio Urumea, swept in, in
height and volume like unto the surf of the Pacific on a coral
reef. Ju.st within the breakers' edge, right in the churning
foam, a long-line fisherman was trying his luck. I had
not watched him two minutes before he got a run, and
struck and landed a splendid fish, a rock bass, in excellent
38 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
condition, and very deep and thick, at least two feet in
length, and whose silver sides glistened like a salmon's.
He gave it to a companion, who took it immediately to the
fish market to sell " all alive ho ! " rebaited with a fresh
sardine, and resumed his fishing. Before long he had
another run. The line was snatched right out of his
hands, and twenty yards carried out before he could catch
hold of its coil. After a short and lively tussle the fisher-
man landed his capture — a different and much larger fish
than the other. Being close to him as he unhooked his
captive, I had a good chance to inspect it carefully, but did
not recognise the species. The fish was as silvery as the
bass, had very small scales, and spots like a salmon trout.
The fishermen called him a luena, but that may be only a
local name. These Guipuzcoans have one for everything.
But whatever he is called, that the fish is good eating, firm,
flaky, and delicate of flavour, I do know, having done my
part at table in the demolishing of several.
Sunday morning I attended a requiem mass in the
Iglesia de Santa Maria, the chief church in town. The
congregation was numerous, well dressed and devout, and
the music good. In the afternoon the militar\- band of one
of the regiments stationed here played in the Boulevard.
This promenade is a wide opening right through the centre
of the town ; it runs from the sea-wall of the river Urumea at
its east end, to that of the Aconcha, the bathing ba\-, at
its west extremity. It is about five hundred yards long,
well planted with shade trees, has a pretty fountain at each
end, and there is a pleasant draught of air almost alwa\-s
drawinLT throutrh it. h'or the occasion the Boulevard was
COPPER COINAGE. 39
crowded with listeners walking up and down, principally
servant-girls, soldiers, and peasantry. The band was a
wretched affair ; the twenty musicians played about as well
as, and their instruments were, in tone and accord, like unto,
a London street German brass band ; but, if possible, in
worse condition. They — the instruments — were as dirty as
could be ; had certainly never been cleaned since issued.
I have never seen dirtier brass in any marine store. What
a contrast to the, in every sense, splendid French band I
had so lately heard at Bayonne !
The relative value of the copper coins in use here seems
at first a conundrum which "no fellow can find out." But
this question, like " Bradshaw," is to be understood by
giving one's whole mind to it, and though it seems a very
small matter to trouble about, is yet really worth while
mastering, because in all countries a display of ignorance
of small change stamps a man as a stranger unused to the
business ways of the locality ; in fact, as a person to be
overcharged and otherwise imposed on in greater matters.
Legally or theoretically — the two expressions are often con-
vertible terms in Spain, I fear— the question is easy. The
peseta, a silver coin worth twenty-one French sous, and
practically replacing our shilling, consists of one hundred
centimos, and is the standard of value ; and thecentimos are
coined in copper pieces of one, five, and ten centimos, value
respectively ; but, practically, values are almost always
reckoned in reals, a silver coin worth twenty-five centimos,
or else in cuartos and ochavos, dos-cuarto pieces replacing
our penny as a circulating medium. Now there are in
general use here two dos-cuartos, each of different value,
40 OA' FOOT IN SPAIN.
i.e. the old coinage and that of Isabella II., so I have
tabulated their relative values for my guidance and
convenience :
2 diez-centimos and i cinco-centimo \
3 dos-cuartos, i cuartos, and i ochavo (old coinage)
/r , ,, • N ) =1 real.
2 cuartos and i dos-cuartos (Isabella coinage) ■
17 ochavos ]
An old coinage dos-cuartos is much heavier than an
Isabelleta cuarto, and yet it takes four of them and one
ochavo to make a real, while four Isabelleta cuartos are
taken for one real ; verily, it is at first puzzling, and the
reason thereof not obvious, nor can I see what the cuarto
piece is a quarter of The new one-centimo piece passes
for an ochavo, so does any ancient or foreign copper coin,
an English farthing or penny, an old French liard, or a two-
sous piece. I am sequestering all strange ochavos that
come to me as change, forming a collection of them. I have
already put by a modern centimo, an old Egyptian inscribed
coin, several Moorish ones of the period when the Moors
governed Spain, a coin covered with Arabic characters, one
of the Kingdom of Castile, a Roman one, a Gibraltar
" two-cuarts " of 1842, a Don Carlos VII., and a Waterloo
halfpenny ; this last coin bearing on one side the head and
bust of the old duke. He is represented as wearing a laced
uniform coat and epaulettes and a huge frill shirt ! Round
his head is a wreath of bay-leaves and the words, " The
Illustrious Wellington ;" on the obverse an Irish harp and
the date 18 16. I am told by a collector it is a very scarce
piece in Spain. A gentleman showed me the other day
OCHAVOS. 41
some very rare old Roman coins in a splendid state of
preservation, which he had received as ochavos when
making purchases in the market. He would not part with
them. One of my Moorish coins is as heavy as an old
English penny, another weighs about the sixth of a
farthing ; to-day they are of equal value, both ochavos.
It seems queer to have such coins handed to one in
change. Until habituated to the fact that he is in the
old curiosity shop and museum-corner of Europe, a man
wonders how they ever all got here.
CHAPTER IV.
La Concha— Spanish Crier— Wild-Boar Hunting— Alfonso's Fete-Day— A
Review — Spanish Cavalry — "But you are not going alone?" — An
emphatic Warning — Scenery around San Sebastian.
November 28, 1876.— I am getting more in love with this
place every day. The air is so soft and balmy, the sea so
blue, the encircling mountains so charming. My only
regret is that now is not the bathing season, for La Concha
is an unsurpassable bathing beach. It lies to the south-
west of the town, and is the inner edge of a circular bay,
something over a mile wide. This bay is the harbour of
San Sebastian, and has but a narrow opening to the sea,
its mouth being more than half closed by the Isla de Santa
Clara, a handsomely-wooded, rocky island, rising to the
height of one hundred and sixty feet, and surmounted with
a lighthouse. This island breaks the swell of the ocean into
gentle waves. The water of the bay is clear, clean, bright,
and warm, and there is absolutely no current. The sands
are sloping, without a stone, shell, or rock, firm and smooth.
The Perla del Oceano, or range of bathing-rooms, is admir-
ably convenient for toilette arrangements. Ropes floated
by buoys extend out nearly two hundred yards. In short.
SPANISH CRIER. 43
every care has been taken by the municipality for the
safety, comfort, and convenience of bathers, of whom, I am
told, hundreds at a time are to be seen, dressed in all
varieties of costume, sporting in the water ; for San
Sebastian has of late years become a fashionable resort
from Madrid and other large Spanish towns, and in the
summer and early autumn is full of gay company. Then,
too, is the time for bull-fights, and the large bull-ring is
crowded with beauty and fashion. Now it is shut up, for
which I am sorry, for Guipuzcoa is famous for fine and
strong bulls ; and though much may be said against bull-
fighting, it is certainly a sight to be seen occasionally,
and if seen at all, may as well be seen thoroughly well
done.
San Sebastian is evidently determined to be up to the
times. On the old walls of the Plaza de Toros are flaming
advertisements of a new skating-rink. Thus is a sport
dating anterior to the Dark Ages and the last modern
invention for amusement brought into close connection.
Yesterday I met a town-crier. In the most important
particular of his office he exactly resembled the crier of Old
England, for no man could make out what he was pro-
claiming. But he differed from his English equivalent in
that he had no bell. He had, however, a striking substitute.
A young man accompanied him, bearing a treble drum, on
which he from time to time beat a roll to attract attention.
Both crier and drummer were dressed in a neat — it might
almost be called handsome — municipal uniform : dark blue
frock-coat and trousers, brass buttons, and narrow silver-
lace facings, and a glazed cap with a silvcr-lace band.
44 ON FOOT jy SPAIN.
I have got a companion for my journe}' ; I have bought
a dog, a setter, aged fifteen months. He is not exactly
the style of dog I should have chosen, were there choice to
be had, but there is not ; for though I have seen plenty of
high-class, well-broken pointers and setters here, there is
no buying them, there are none of them for sale. I object
to the one I have obtained on two accounts. His size, for
he is the biggest, heaviest setter I think I have ever seen,
and it may bother me to keep him in condition on the trip
before me; and to his tail, which is inclined to the "club"
order, and carried too straight upright. However, he has
his good points— splendid feet, a fine intelligent head,
magnificent eyes, and great power. His late owner parts
with him because he cannot find a good man to break the
dog, does not go out sufficiently often to do so himself,
and has the promise of a thoroughly broken one from his
brother. He tells me the dog has had a few quail and
cock killed over him ; that he possesses an excellent nose,
and ranges well ; is tractable and afi'ectionate, and of clean
habits. This gentleman has invited me to join a wild-
boar hunt, now being organised, and to come off as soon
as a snow-storm in the Pyrenees drives the game into the
foothills ; but there is no immediate prospect of a change
in the weather, and the delay is too indefinite ; besides,
snow is the very thing I fear and wish to avoid ; a heavy
fall would play the mischief with a pedestrian trip in this
nest of mountains, I am promised, if I stop, a certainty
of sport, for the breeding-season has been very propitious.
Two litters have been the rule, not the exception, and wild
boar are in plenty ; a herd of forty-seven has already been
WILD-BOAR HUNTING. 45
marked in one of the high valleys, and the snow will drive
down numerous more such herds.
The hunt is a regular battue ; those having guns are
posted in likely places, in a circle extending miles, and
a crowd of persons armed with clubs, forks, spears, pikes,
&c., and hounds and curs, dogs of high and low degree,
make a regular drive. The sport is not devoid of danger.
My friend possesses the stuffed .head of a boar, at whose
killing he assisted, who sold his life at the price of that of
three men. The hunter stationed where he attempted to
break the line struck him in a vital spot with an ounce
ball, but without stopping him. Making a last desperate
charge, the boar floored his man and ripped him up, and
two out of the number of beaters and hunters who rushed
to the assistance of their fallen comrade were so badly
injured as not to recover ; really we English have no right,
as we often do, to assert the Anglo-Saxon is the only true
sportsman. The boar's head was an immense one, and
I am credibly assured that the wild boar of the Spanish
Pyrenees dwarfs in size and ferocity the ordinary European
wild boar to a " pig."
To-day is Alfonso's fete-day, and all the flags are flying.
The troops are en grande tcnnc. Bells are ringing, powder
is burning. "Viva Don Alfonso! El Rey de las Espafias!"
For how long .'
This afternoon, in honour of the day, there was a review
of the garrison, three thousand men, infantry detachments
from several regiments, a general's escort of cavalry-
chasseurs, and the artillerymen from the forts. Several
regimental bands attended, all about much of a muchness
46 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
with the one I have described. The general, a fine soldier-
Hke man, and his staff and escort, were in gorgeous array.
I was struck by the marching of the men. It was most
admirable. Though in heavy order, carrying knapsack,
haversack, overcoat, &c., they went past at a killing pace—
t\iQpas gymnastique — and though they continued at the same
speed, marching and countermarching for over half an
hour, they looked as fresh as though they had been stand-
ing still ; indeed, it seemed as if they could keep at that
gait all day. I inspected their arms and accoutrements.
Nothing was rusty, dirty, or muddy ; but nothing was
clean as a British sergeant would understand that word.
All metal-work, gun, bayonet, buckles, &c., though they
had been wiped often enough, had certainly never been
scoured ; a system that has two practical advantages : the
men lose less time cleaning, and there is nothing bright
about their accoutrements — nothing that by catching a ray
of sunlight might give a flash, betraying from a distance
their movements to a foe.
After watching for two hours march and manoeuvre,
I came to the conclusion that the infantry before me were
admirable to form the skirmish line of an advance through
a difficult country. There was an " on my own hook "
look about them and their movements, and they had the
physical appearance of men who could stand hard work,
fast marching, and short rations. Comparisons may be
objectionable, but they are permissible to convey a clear
idea. It seemed to me such soldiers could easily, in a
rou"h hard campaign, out-march, out-starve, and perhaps,
after so doing, out-fight liritish soldiers ; but under ordinary
SPANISH CAVALRY. 47
circumstances they would be no more able to meet their
charge in the open than would so many children. They
would go down like ninepins, or scatter like sheep ; the
individual- weight was not there, nor the solidity in mass,
to give them the remotest chance in such an encounter.
May it never occur.
The cavalry, so far as the rough material of horseflesh
went, were very well mounted, their steeds being strong
and serviceable, with a fair turn of speed and considerable
dash of blood about them ; though as for being chargers,
they would have been considered but unbroken horses in
England, and they looked as wild as rabbits. The saddles
were as much as could be after the fashion of English
hunting ones, which surprised me, for I expected to see in
use a modification of the old Spanish saddle, one like that
now used in Mexico and California — a saddle which in my
humble opinion is in every respect superior for campaign-
ing purposes to the hunting-saddle. The men rode very
well as individuals. Once they passed at a gallop. They
were supposed to be in the formation column, four abreast.
They went by in a ruck, like a close Derby finish, or a
charge of wild Arabs.
To-morrow (d.V., and weather permitting), I shall take
up my line of march — horse, foot, and artillery ; in other
words, dog, self, and gun ; for, after much trouble and more
advice, I have got my itinerary, and, subject to unforeseen
alterations, my route as far as Zaragoza is decided upon.
My best and most reliable informant has been a banker
here, Don Pepe Fuliano, who in his younger days has often
travelled the country in question on horseback, and quite
48 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
lately gone through it several times b}- rail. My halting-
places are to be Tolosa, Lecumberri, Pamplona, Venta
de las Campanas, Tafalla, Caparroso, Valteirra, Tudela,
Mallen, Alagon, Zaragoza — all long marches apart for a
man carrying gun and ammunition, heavy overcoat, and
all his baggage. I am assured that at many of these
places I shall find the accommodation wretched ; that
some of them are not fit for Christians to enter, much less
to eat and sleep in.
" But you are not going alone ? " said Don Pepc.
" Indeed I am." »
" Impossible ! Look you, two companions may travel
the whole of this country — excepting parts of Andalucia,
where there are organised banditti, with the utmost safety ;
but a solitary man must not. In this country occasion
makes the robber. Some men working in the fields, some
peasants travelling the road, will see you ; will say, ' See,
there is a man travelling alone ; let us run ahead of him,
hide, jump on him from behind, and kill him ; nobody will
know.' You may get as far as Pamplona without danger,
for the peasantry of Guipuzcoa and Navarrette are quite
honest ; they are smugglers. Below, thieves and bad
people are not scarce, and if you travel alone beyond
Tudela, something evil will certainly befall you. I would
not undertake to do so for any money. You must
absolutely have a companion, or " And he executed
a most impressive pantomime.
Don Pepe's opinion was corroborated by a Frenchman
with whom I talked the matter over ; one who had lived
ten years in Spain, and who not onl)- talked Castellano
AN EMPHATIC WARNING. 49
(Spanish) perfectly, but the Vizcayan and Catalan dialects,
lie said :
" I have travelled all over the country you are going-
through, most of it alone. You certainly risk being assassi-
nated, if only for your gun and clothes."
"But if you have gone in safety alone, why not I .'' "
" Look at this," pointing to the cicatrice of a gash
across his cheek ; "and at this," opening his shirt-front and
showing the mark of an ugly stab in the ribs. " Those arc
what came of travelling alone in the byways of Northern
Spain. But," he added, "you are an Englishman, and may
get through all right. You English are not vive as w^e are.
You do not meddle with what does not concern you ; do
not, when there is danger or excitement, lose your heads.
But be very careful. Never give a light from your pipe or
cigar to a stranger, for, doing so, you give him the drop on
you ; and sleep with a weapon handy."
The officers with whom I mess say this is all bosh. If
I make a point of travelling exclusively by daylight, do
not tell anyone where I am going, make my payments out
of an old rubbishy Spanish purse, with many coppers, little
silver, and no tempting gold in it, wear old clothes, and
mind my own business, I shall run no danger. They
prophesy the chief fear is my being snow-blockaded at
some miserable roadside tavern, with a vile bed, abominable
and scanty fare, fleas, and low company. However, it
seems to me that an Arizona pioneer, one who has gone
through some Indian warfare, and several first rushes,
ought to pull through without difficulty. We shall see.
In conclusion, I will give a short description of the
so ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
scenery surrounding San Sebastian. Take all the moun-
tains in Wales, north and south, tear them up by the roots,
pitch them endways in heaps all over the country ; cover
the portions lying uppermost with heather ; clothe the
lower slopes, when not so steep as to be bare rock, with
thickets and woods of oak and chestnut ; fill every ravine
and hollow with brawling streams, having swampy sides
and fringed with cock covert ; scatter through it, wherever
the ground approaches to a workable level, small and far-
apart fields of from a quarter to half-a-dozen acres in size ;
crown every eminence with ancient and modern entrench-
ments ; place ruinous old stone mansions, straggling
villages, apparently built in the Middle Ages, and big old
churches in every valley ; enclose with a rock-bound sea
and towering mountain ranges — and you have it. No
wonder the Carlists held it so long. Cavalry is useless,
cannon cannot be moved in it. There is no question of
finding an impregnable position ; the difficulty would be to
find one that was not. The country is one vast natural
ambush. Apache Indians would hold it against the whole
Spanish army ad infinituui. But Carlist troops had to be
paid ; that beat Don C.
CHAPTER V.
A Start for the Mediterranean — Hernani — An unfortunate Hamlet — A
Ventorillo— Beau-ideal Trout Stream — Arrival at Tolosa — A Spanish
Country-towTi Inn — La Santa Maria — Pleasant Company — A Mountain
Road — Extraordinary Tillage — Thoroughly drenched — A Posada — An
admirable Landlord — Astonishing Fare.
November 30, 1876. — Wednesday's sun rose in a cloud-
less sky, a light balmy breeze blew from the south, and
after despatching my little cup of chocolate I sallied
forth on my long walk. A blessing on Spanish chocolate,
Mexico's best gift to Spain, better than all its gold and
silver. Speaking generally, we English have not the
remotest idea what a good cup of chocolate means, and
the Pope and College of Cardinals who have decided
drinking it does not break fast ; to the contrary, notwith-
standing, it is the Spanish national, and for a person who
takes an eleven o'clock meal, a really sufficient break-fast.
Made thick enough nearly to stand a spoon up in, it
is full of nutriment ; and a glass of cold water drunk
immediately after a complete preventive to its causing
biHousness.
My gun was slung, coat rolled up and strapped to my
52 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
back, haversack swung from my shoulders, my new dog
Juan secured by a strong collar and chain, and taking
the road going south-east, I started for the Mediterranean.
So soon as the town was left the way commenced to
ascend, and an hour's climbing brought me to the top of
the first summit ; there I turned to take a last look and
bid farewell to San Sebastian and the Bay of Biscay.
The white clean houses of the town, the crescent bay, the
winding river, the fort-crowned mountains, the blue ocean,
on whose surface occasional flaws of wind and catspaws
glistened in the morning sun, seemingly so many splashes
of liquid gold, formed indeed a lovely view.
Juan behaved in a most extraordinary way. Evidently
he did not object to leave his native town ; on the contrary,
instead of my having to drag him he dragged me. The
way that dog threw his weight into his collar and deter-
minedly hauled me along was most fatiguing. But it was
no use remonstrating by word of mouth. Ere gaining his
affections I dare not do so by word of whip. I had
therefore to submit, and suffer him to fill the contract
to do the hauling he seemed to consider that he had
undertaken.
Early in the day I arrived opposite a conical hill
whose side seemed inaccessibly steep, and which was
crowned with the fort of Hernani ; an ancient fort refitted
and rebuilt, and, as I could see, containing a garrison, for
its ramparts were paced by sentinels. Leaving it on my
left, and rounding the hill, the first valley seen since
starting came in sight, lying a few hundred feet below
me. A long narrow valley, with steep rugged mountains
HERNANL 53
beyond ; and in its centre, on the banks of a mountain
trout stream, the town of Hernani, a poor dilapidated
place, looking almost deserted, although "returned" as
having a population of four thousand souls.
It was clearly perceivable that the town of Hernani
is a place of antiquity, and also that it was for its pro-
tection that the fort on the hill had been originally built.
Its recent way of fulfilling such mission had been, judging
by the appearance of the houses, the lack of roofs to many
of them, the round ragged holes in their walls, to knock it
into a cocked hat.
The only chance for refreshment I saw at Hernani
was a tumble-down little bakery, whereat I purchased,
for dos-cuartos, some stale rolls for self and dog; and,
after walking along a few hundred yards of comparatively
level road, I again commenced to climb. Soon a bend
to the right brought me to another little valley and
village, also with its commanding fortified eminence ; for
on a low but very steep and rugged flat-topped moun-
tain of bare rock, overlooking valley and village, was
another fort. On looking back, it became evident the
road had curved more than a semicircle, and that this
little village also was under the guns of Fort Hernani.
Whether the two forts had had a long range duel and
caught that poor little place between, or they purposely
had been paying their respects to it during the late civil
war (if a succession of skirmishes, surprises, assassina-
tions, and running-aways — especially running-aways — can
be called war), I do not know, but that village had
certainly come to most unmitigated grief.
54 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
At Andoain, two miles farther on, a dilapidated,
tumble-down, poverty-stricken mountain town, I had
intended k) breakfast; but failing to find any place where
such a meal could be had, I hunted up a ventorillo,
walked in, called for a tumbler of wine, and sat down to
breakfast on it and a roll of bread, which had remained in
my pocket.
The host of this wayside tavern and a well-to-do-
looking customer were the only individuals present besides
myself, and their manner of returning my salutations was
uncordial almost to rudeness. By-and-by the customer
asked what Department of France I belonged to, and then,
learning I was English, his and the venterds countenances
and manners changed to great friendliness, and they assured
me, with much e^nprcssement, it gave them the utmost
pleasure to welcome an Englishman, for, said they, the
English are a good people, helped us against the c -jo
French, saved San Sebastian in the old war, and furnished
money to Don Carlos.
After conversing awhile on politics, these men showed
me some rich specimens of argentiferous galena, alleging it
came out of a mountain quite close by, and we had a long
talk on mining matters. I think they suspected me of
being a " prospector." The wine at that rubbishing
" Deadfall," drawn as it was out of an old goat- skin bag,
was the best I have yet drunk in Spain — Navarra wine of
the first quality. It was too strong for me to venture on a
second tumbler, for the tumblers were very big ; what I
took cost the equivalent of three-halfpence. It was better
wine than I ever got in a French restaurant at any price.
BEAU-IDEAL TROUT STREAM.
55
A continuously ascending walk, through rugged moun-
tains, and passing by villages of most ancient aspect,
brought me towards the close of evening to Tolosa — the
end of my day's tramp. It was a charming walk. The
latter half of it had led along the edge of the Orio, a clear
stream of about the size of the Usk in South Wales, from
below Brecon. On its banks were some paper and several
flour mills. It was joined by numerous mountain rills,
and being a succession of deep pools, falls, and rapids,
was the very beau-ideal of a trout stream. A peasant, of
whom I made inquiry, informed me it was full of fish,
especially trout, the latter running up to four pounds in
weight, but that it was much fished by casting-net and
worm-angling: I could not make him understand my
inquiries as to its being fly-fished, and when I showed
him some flies I had in my pocket-book he was much
astonished. He had never heard of such a mode of
fishing. The peasants along my route (for the present)
only talk Basque, and before leaving San 'Sebastian I was
assured I should neither comprehend a word they said, nor
be able to make them understand ]what I wished to convey
to them ; but I am glad to find such is not quite the case.
I have adopted the plan of putting -my questions into the
simplest form possible, 'and into plain, slow Castellano,
accompanied with expressive signs, and then to imme-
diately repeat them in French, using the same signs. So
far, I have always succeeded in rendering myself intel-
ligible ; indeed, to my great satisfaction, I not only find that
I comprehend tolerably well their answers, but that I have
already commenced to pick up a few words of Basque, the
5 6 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
which I do not fail to fire away at every peasant I meet,
and during the day they have been continually passing me,
accompanied with their pack-asses. These Inirricos are
the very smallest donkeys I have seen since I left Mexico
— very dwarfs of asses. Occasionally, too, I met small
trains of covered waggons, two-wheeled concerns, each
drawn by from six to eight mules. These fine animals
ranged from fifteen to sixteen hands in height, and were
harnessed in single lines by rope traces. The waggons were
all heavily loaded with wine, in casks and skins. The
peasants seen during the day had quite the characteristic
mountaineer air and gait, walking with a springing step
and independent swagger ; men, women, and children,
true mountaineers, every inch of them.
I arrived at Tolosa about four o'clock, having walked
at a fair pace six-and-a-half hours, exclusive of stoppages.
The continual climbing, the weight of my traps, and the
way that powerful brute of a dog pulled at his chain, had
quite tired me out ; in fact, my arms felt as though I had
been driving a runaway four-in-hand all day. I was
hungry too. At that time of day a meal was not to be
expected in Spain ; but I hunted up an hotel, to engage a
room, and relieve myself of my burden and my hauling
dog.
Tolosa can boast of two hotels. I chose the one
looking least objectionable ; but it had a most forbidding
aspect. It was a dismal old stone building, with a gloomy,
dark, dirty passage entrance, leading to a rickety flight of
wooden steps. There was nobody to make inquiry of; no
bell or knocker visible. Preceded by Juan, who did not
■A SPANISH COUNTRY-TOWN INN 57
seem to care a rap where he went so long as he went
ahead, I clambered up the stairs, opened the first door I
came to, and walked in. I found myself, to my surprise,
in a large, clean, nicely-furnished reception-room, and, on
clapping my hands, a really stylish-looking woman, showily
dressed, whether maid or mistress I could not tell, ap-
peared. By her I was shown into a nice clean room,
having a well waxed and polished oak floor, containing a
large and comfortable bed, with snowy linen, but where the
toilette appliances were on a very reduced scale from what
I had been furnished with at San Sebastian. Perhaps
Spaniards do not wash much when travelling, for fear of
catching cold.
After making myself comfortable, and leaving Juan
chained to a leg of the bedstead, with a promise of a
thrashing if he got on it, I strolled out to see the town,
and kill time until six o'clock should bring dinner.
Hearing martial music, I walked in the direction the
sounds came from, and arriving in a wide boulevard
planted with young trees, found myself fronting extensive
barracks and a pelofa court. At the gateway of the
barrack-yard a number of buglers were playing, and
immediately on my arrival, out poured the soldiers, at the
same terrific pace those seen reviewed at San Sebastian
marched at. Five hundred men were coming out to
drill. I watched them go through many manoeuvres. The
men appeared to be principally new joined, for though
they seemed anxious to do right, and the officers, who
evidently knew their business, took great pains with them,
thev had a most hazy notion of Avhat they were about,
5^
ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
and got continually fogged. The patience and temper of
the officers, from commander to corporal, were quite pleasing
to see.
Tolosa is a long straggling town, with nothing striking
about it, that I saw, except its church — the Santa Maria —
which, though a plain square building of rough stone, ugly
on its outside, is singularly beautiful within. It is Gothic,
with a very lofty groined and carved roof of stone, sup-
ported by six pairs of admirably-proportioned monolith
pillars of fine-grained sandstone ; is profusely decorated
with marble of the country ; has a gorgeous shrine and
altar ; while high up on each side, close to the roof, are
three pictures in a row of Bible subjects, those on the
right being from the New, and those on the left from the
Old Testament. The six pictures are in fresco, their
composition excellent, their drawing and colouring good.
They are undeniably works of great merit, but by what
artist I could not ascertain. The church was lighted by
small stained-glass windows, just under the eaves, and by
numerous candles on the shrine, and there was a simplicity
and beauty of proportion about that interior which was
mo.st impressive.
At dinner — an excellent dinner by-the-way — I met five
paper-mill men, well-dressed, well-mannered dons. They
were surprised at hearing I had walked from San Sebastian,
and still more so when informed I intended walking to
Pamplona ; but they agreed it was the proper way to see
a country, one of them adding : " Many foreigners have
rushed through this country by rail, from city to city, and
gone home and told a pack of lies about it and us because
PLEASANT COMPANY. 59
they knew nothing of what they were talking about, except
what they had heard or suffered in hotels kept by rascally
thieving Swiss and French. From their carriage-windows
they saw men looking exactly like the brigands of the
opera, but who were really honest hardworking peasants
in the garb of the country, and so they have reported that
out of the big towns we are a nation of robbers. You will
find we are no such thing. The only thieves you will
meet with are the innkeepers. From them there is no
escaping. And recollect our proverb :
Veiitera hernwsa
Mai para la bolsa.*
These gentlemen said that before arriving at Irurzun
I should pass the Jiacicnda of Don Ramon, a gentleman
who owned iron and copper works at a place called Las
Dos Hermanas, and that I ought not to pass without
seeing them. They gave me a card of recommendation,
signed by all, assuring me I should be well received, and
we parted for the night ; for being tired, and not wishing
to sit up late, I declined their invitation to accompany
them to a cafe,
I persuaded the ventera kcrviosa to bring me a couple ot
eggs with my chocolate next morning. My bill was four-
and-a-half /^.y^/rt.s-. I gave her 3. propina that fulfilled the
proverb, and again started, Juan in the lead as before.
The morning was a cloudy, windy one. The mountain
peaks, hemming in the view, were from time to time
* A handsome hostess is bad for the purse.
6o ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
enveloped in thick mantles of vapour, and heavy gusts of
wind rushed frequently down their gorges and ravines with
a violence that sometimes brought me to a standstill.
The winding road led up the narrow valley of an east
fork of the Orio, in many places scarped out of the face
of the bare rock on one side, and built up with solid
masonry on its other ; a wide, well-engineered and con-
structed highway, with a continuous stone-wall parapet,
two feet high, on its precipitous side. The numerous
bridges by which the stream was crossed and recrossed
were massive in construction and of good design, but after
a most ancient pattern, and evidently quite old. Soon the
valley became a close canon, the mountains closing in on
each side and becoming almost perpendicular ; but every
little patch of available ground was under cultivation, and
there was considerable timber in sight growing in side
carions, and on flattened summits — chiefly chestnut and
walnut trees ; these, though probably wild, planted there by
Nature's hands, were nevertheless attended to and taken
care of. Little diagonal trenches, in soil and rock, inter-
cepted and brought to their roots the surface drainage
from rainfalls ; and as before the door of every house I
passed lay large heaps of husks, doubtlessly these chestnut
and walnut groves and woods furnish the inhabitants
plentifully with a cheap article of food.
In most of the little fields the soil was being turned
up for the reception of seed by a method quite novel to
me, a laborious but most thorough one. The implement
employed was a two-pronged steel fork. The prongs were
over two feet long and six inches apart, and joined together
EXTRAORDINARY TILLAGE. 6r
with a square shoulder from which a straight wooden
handle three feet in length extended. These tools weighed
altogether ten to fifteen pounds, and were very strongly
made. The operation is as follows : The diggers, generally
five in number, stand in a row close together, working
backwards. Simultaneously they raise their forks per-
pendicularly up, as high as possible, and then bring them
down with all their force, driving the sharp prongs eighteen
inches more or less into the hard ground ; then, taking
hold of the extremities of the handles with their two
hands, to get the utmost leverage, they throw themselves
backwards, each prizing up a huge chunk of heavy soil.
Two other labourers follow in front, and, armed with
heavy hoes, break all extra large chunks to pieces with
smart blows. Seven men so working get over the ground
astonishingly quickly, and turn it up in a most effective
manner. A heavy wooden harrow, of primitive construc-
tion, drawn by a yoke of oxen, finishes the preparation of
the soil.
Wherever a break in the mountains afforded a site for
building was perched a dilapidated and decayed-looking
old village with its huge church or two. Not unfrequently,
also, a big church, convent, or some other ecclesiastical
edifice appeared without any village. It seemed as though
the country had been monopolised for clerical use and
benefit, and that the villages were but the shelters for
the necessary working population to supply the creature
comforts to the inhabitants of religious strongholds.
The numerous little rills, trickling down the mountain
sides, fell into a paved ditch, constructed on the upper side
62 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
of the road ; which, in many places, was almost choked
with delicious watercresses.
Ere long the rain descended in a steady pour, and
when at noon I arrived at a little village through which —
unlike those I had passed — the road ran, I was thoroughly
drenched.
The first building I came to was a posada, a rough-hewn
stone house, its windows small square holes in its walls,
without glass or sash. It was shut up, and looked un-
inhabited. A few heavy knocks on the double door brought
a face to one of the holes, and the demand, "What is
wanted ? " It was the face of the posadero, who seeing a
stranger demanded admittance, descended immediately and
let me in. The entire lower story of the inn was one huge
stable and coach, or rather, waggonrhouse, but at the time
there were no animals there, excepting fowls ; but hay,
litter, old harness, wrecks of waggons, and rubbish of all
kinds, was strewn plentifully around. A flight of wooden
steps led to the upper story, and following my host, I
found myself in the dwelling portion of the building ; for
we emerged through a hole in the floor immediately into
a long, narrow, low chamber running directly across the
house, and having in one of its corners a large bench-like
oak table, black with age and old dirt, and two correspond-
ing-looking wooden benches, one on each side of it. A
cupboard resembling an old v/atchman's box, and a bloated
wine-skin completed the furniture. I told the landlord I
wanted breakfast.
"All right ; are you very hungry V
" Yes, I am."
ASTONISHING FARE. 63
" It is well. Behold ! Eat and drink."
Then he produced out of the watch-box a large loaf
of white wheaten bread, a big-bellied bottle of wine, and
a goblet, and left the room. I thought that was the
breakfast, so sat down and commenced, for I was hungry.
Presently mine host returned and asked would my worship
like some soup. Certainly I would ; and I stopped eating
the dry bread. Soon he reappeared, placed before me a
clean napkin, laid a white tablecloth across one end of
the table, and placed in position plates, knife, fork, and
spoon. Then he brought in the soup. It was contained
in an old iron utensil, in appearance exactly like the bottom
of an immense, badly-battered old candlestick, and con-
sisted of slices of bread boiled in olive oil, with a handful
of lentils mixed in, and a poached Q.gg in its centre, the
mess being nearly solid. But though the bread I had
eaten had taken off the edge of my appetite, I yet found
the soup very good, for it was savoury, hot, and well-
seasoned ; and not knowing when I should get my next
meal, or how bad it might be, I tried to eat it all as a
matter of precaution, and had nearly succeeded, when in
came another course, a hot plateful of black pudding, con-
taining morsels of fat, chopped herbs, and cabbage sprouts.
It was absolutely delicious ; and so, giving the remainder of
the soup and half the loaf to Juan, I put out of sio-ht
in toto, the contents of the platter placed before me, and
felt I had done my duty to myself and fared well. But
that admirable landlord's resources were not exhausted,
for in came some lamb chops. I felt I could eat no more,
but out of curiosity tasted them. One mouthful settled the
64 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
matter. I would cat the chops if they killed me. They
were the very best ones I had ever tasted ; juicy, tender
as butter, cooked to a nicety, piping hot. They were
crumbed, fried to a hght brown in sweet, fresh, olive oil,
had been just touched with garlic, and were garnished
with thin slices of crisp fried potatoes. A dish fit to set
before a king. Truly, though that posada was a ding}',
grimy, unfurnished stone barn, I have a great respect for
its landlord. My only regret was that, being dripping wet,
muddy, and tired, I was not in a proper state to enjoy
such cooking. But there was more to come. Black coffee
and aqiiardientc, excellent apples and grapes were served.
For that most excellent feed for man and dog, with good,
very good wine at discretion, and which I had punished
heavily, I was only charged two-and-a-half pesetas, or, in
plain English, two shillings and a penny !
By the time I had enjoyed coffee, dessert, and a pipe,
the weather had cleared, and my wet garments being un-
comforable and chilly, I was glad to try to warm up by
taking the road again.
Soon it recommenced to rain ; so, when at three o'clock
I arrived at the little mountain hamlet of Betelu, and saw
rising up before me a lofty chain of steep mountains — the
pass over which was evidently a high one — I determined
to go no farther, and, good quarters or bad, to stop for
the night at the \\\.\.\c posada that fronted mc.
CHAPTER VI.
A typical Spanish Country Inn — Antique Fire-place — The posada Family —
Satisfactory Entertainment — Hygienic Springs of Betelu — Summit of La
Sierra de Aralar— The Parting of The Waters— " The Two Sisters"—
The Hacienda — The Don — A weird Scene— "This is your House" —
Expert Thieves— Basque Melodies— Basque Hospitality— War Cry of the
Basque — A Human Beehive.
December 4, 1876. — Judging from what I have hereto-
fore heard and seen, the Betelu posada was a thoroughly-
typical country inn of northern Spain, in unfrequented
parts. The lower portion was barn, stable, poultry-house,
and outbuildings all in one, and the usual stairs led to
living-rooms above.
I walked in and up, and meeting no one, went into
the kitchen. There a middle-aged woman sat sewing
and cooking, while half-a-dozen, more or less, children
played about her on the floor ; and a very pretty girl of
some sixteen years of age, kneeling before the fire, was
feeding it with broken brushwood, and blowing it into
a blaze with her breath. All answered my salutation
with a chorus of " Welcome, your worship ; " and on re-
questing to be shown a bedroom, I was ushered by the
girl into an adjoining chamber — an attic — whose rough
flooring had holes through it, affording a view into the
66 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
stable below, but containin<; two clean, comfortably-
appointed beds, and whose otherwise bare walls were
hung with coloured prints of virgins and martyrs most
hideous to behold.
Taking such a wash as the diminutive basin and tiny
water-jug permitted, I left my traps on an old worm-eaten
chest of drawers standing opposite one of the beds, re-
turned to the kitchen, and stretched myself to dry at full
length on a bench that was close alongside the fire.
The fireplace in the kitchen of this posada must be
particularly described, it being also a typical one. Almost
in the middle of the room was a rough hearth, about four
feet square and a foot high, and composed of tiles, flat
stones, pieces of iron — anything that would not consume.
In its centre burned a fire of three sticks, laid star-
fashion, with a pile of blazing brushwood heaped on them.
Around stood, with different messes stewing in them, a
goodly number of pottery pipkins and utensils — in shapes
and patterns identical with the Roman ones in use before
Christ. A large wooden hood, supported by massive
rafters, caught and conducted such portion of the smoke
as did not circulate about the room to a hole in the roof
furnished with a rough louvre, through which it escaped,
and from a cross iron of the hood hung a stout chain,
terminating in a hook, by which was suspended a large
pot full of potatoes slowly simmering. In a corner stood a
primitive-looking casserole range, for cooking with charcoal
in little hollows. A few coarse, badly-constructed chairs,
with bottoms of raw hide, and an old chest, completed
the furniture.
THE POSADA FAMILY. 67
There only seemed to be one man about the posada
a tailor, working in a room on the other side of the
kitchen from mine, who often came in to heat the himp
of old iron which served him for a goose— rl think it was
the broken-off horn of an anvil — and who had almost
always something pleasant to say. The children belonged
to the posadera. The pretty girl was her cousin. It did
not transpire whether my hostess was a widow or not, nor
did anything reveal the status of the tailor, and I discreetly
asked no questions.
At six o'clock a clean tablecloth was spread on the
old chest of drawers in my room, a large white napkin
furnished — one nearly twice as large as the towel — and
a very fair dinner of several courses served, of which the
best dish was an excellent omelette souffle, a much better
dinner, both as regards cooking and material, than I ever
got in any English country inn. And the wine was a
good sound Spanish burgundy. The only failure was in
the cafe noir. It was wretched. However, the next
morning's chocolate was as good as possible, and — which
I had not expected in such a hole of a place — with it
wore served azucarilhs (sweetmeats of flour, sugar, and
rosewater). I had had an excellent night's rest, felt
well refreshed, and my bill — wine, attendance, everything
included — was but nine reals.
It rained no longer, but the mountain peaks were
obscured by clouds, and a hard head-wind blew as I
started up the pass that would take me over La Sierra
de Aralar.
About a mile beyond the village of Betelu I passed
68 Oy FOOT IN SPAIN.
the bathing establishment of that name ; a large, hand-
some building apparently capable of accommodating two
to three hundred guests, but shut, for summer is the
season for Bctelu springs. The waters are thermal and
sulphuric, and have considerable reputation.
Midday was passed when the summit was achieved,
and the prospect, which had been bounded by steep faces
of bare precipitous mountains on each side of the road for
many miles, suddenly became a striking panorama of
peaks, alps, and valleys ; and perched on seemingly in-
accessible ledges, nestled in sequestered hollows, stood
either groups of quaint buildings, picturesque villages, or
huge churches. Wherever two or three houses were
gathered together, there certainly was to be seen a church,
often bigger than all the houses of its parish put together.
Where, in the name of common sense, did the money and
labour come from to plant churches everywhere, and
support their officiating priests .-* No wonder Spain is
poor.
A few yards farther and a small brook appeared
coming from my right out of a bed of rushes and osiers.
I turned my head and looked back. The spring sourcoof
the stream up whose course I had been travelling was
within pistol-shot. I regarded with a feeling of interest
those two tiny rills. One of them went to the Bay of
Biscay, whose blue waters I might never see again ; the
other was going the same course as myself, its bourne the
Mediterranean. I stood on the comb of the divide — the
meeting of the watersheds ; before me lay the ancient
kingdom of Nax'arrc.
THE TWO SISTERS. 69
By eleven I arrived at Lecumberri, a village just like
any of the other ones, and after despatching a good
breakfast and enjoying a rest, pushed on again.
The general slope of the country proved but slight,
compared with the sudden rise of the other side of the
range ; the view was open, the mountains well wooded,
the fields larger and more frequent. Numerous mountain
watercourses paid their tribute to and swelled the stream
I was following, which soon became a little river ; and
dams, mills, and watercourses succeeded one another until,
at half-past three of the afternoon, I arrived at the hacienda
of Don Ramon A , Las dos Hermanas.
Las dos Hermanas — or The Two Sisters — are a couple
of sharp, narrow, but Bute-like ridges of bare granite,
inaccessibly perpendicular, rising about five hundred feet
higher than their base — spurs, almost detached, of adjacent
mountain ranges, and barely far enough apart to leave a
gateway sufficiently wide for road and river to run through ;
and on a little flat immediately above this singular cleft
stood the dwelling, buildings, and furnaces of the Don.
The house was a neat, pretty villa, with a nice garden
adjoining, and having a paved and enclosed yard, well
furnished with shady trees, in its front. In this yard two
immense and handsome mastiffs ran at large, but they
evinced no hostility, evidently were the dogs of a hospit-
able house, for they contented themselves with a sniff
at me and Juan, and then laid down in the shade of a tree,
wagging their tails and watching us.
A servant-girl appeared in answer to a knock, and to
her I handed the card of introduction that had been so
70 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
politely given to me at Tolosa, and my pasteboard, with
" E. P." {en persona) in its corner. The young woman, who
evidently could not read, twisted the two cards all ways
with a bewildered air, stared at me as though I were a wild
beast, turned suddenly round, and without a word bolted
down the hall passage. Almost directly, a middle-aged
man (who, I subsequently learned, was the major-domo,
and who, in dress and look, was the counterpart of a regular
West of England mine " captain ") came forward and bid
me welcome. He told me Don Ramon was absent, but
would shortly return. He then ushered me into a recep-
tion-room, and begged to know what refreshment I would
like to have prepared for me. Assuring him I had break-
fasted heartily and lately, and could eat nothing, he seemed
but half satisfied, and insisted, if I would not eat, I
must drink ; I therefore accepted a petit verre of French
cognac, which I sipped as we sat conversing.
It was nearly five when a carriage drove up, from which
descended four gentlemen, to whom I was presented by the
major-domo. One of them — a man considerably abo\e
six feet in height, and of powerful build, with hair and
beard a I Anglaise, attired in a dark velvet shooting
jacket, " horsey " waistcoat of the same material, Bedford-
cord trousers tucked into Wellington boots, a heavy-twilled
check linen shirt, with large turn-down collar, a loose
silk necktie round his throat, holding a wide-brimmed, low-
crowned gray felt hat in his hand, and sporting a hand-
some gold watch-chain and massive cufi*-studs — stepped
f<-)r\vard and said :
" I am Ramon A , your ser\'ant, and glad to see
A WEIRD SCENE. 71
you. This is your house ; I and mine are at your disposi-
tion." The other gentlemen were a government commis-
sioner of raih'oads and two mining experts connected with
iron and copper interests, and they had come to witness
some experiments of a newly-discovered process for forging
iron-ore which were that evening to be made in Don
Ramon's furnace rooms.
After due introduction to his friends, the Don said if
such things interested me, he should be glad of my com-
pany with them over his foundry, and he would promise
to show me iron bars forged direct from the ore by the
old Catalan process — the method used by him, and
one identical in all particulars with that employed in
England prior to the use of coals — in fact, as he believed,
the most primitive way known ; then he would conduct
me to his copper works, and finally I should see the
experiments. I gladly consented. We took a little " nip"
all round and descended.
The interior of the works, which were mostly under-
ground, was picturesque in the extreme. The walls, built
of rough-hewn unfaced stone, the dark passages, the huge
smoke-stained beams supporting the vaulted roof, half in
deep flickering shadow, half brightly illuminated by the
ruddy glare and blaze of furnaces, were strikingly in
keeping with, and fitting background for, the workmen —
stout Basque mountaineers, black with grime, shiny with
perspiration, and clothed only in coarse linen garments
like scanty nightshirts without sleeves, and wearing the
national ^^r/'(3 and the sandals of Scripture pictures — fitting
gnomes for such a weird scene.
72 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
After witnessing the forging of a number of bars direct
from the ore — without smelting — which I was assured
were, as they lay, marketable as best quality iron, and, as
I had seen, worked like lead, and were tough, malleable,
and fine-grained as the best Swedish iron, I was taken to
the copper rooms, and there saw basins of copper made
from Rio Tinto ore. Then we proceeded to the ironworks,
for all was ready for the experiments.
As it was getting late I began excusing myself, alleging
that if I further delayed my departure I should not arrive
at my stopping-place that night.
" You have arrived. Your stopping-place is here," said
the Don. " There are five of us, without you. Well ! where
there is enough for five to eat, room for five to sleep,
there is plenty for six. When I said ' This is your house,'
I meant it."
So I stayed and saw the experiments, which, for my
entertainer's sake, I gladly perceived were great successes.
The new process saved time, fuel, and labour, and was
therefore calculated to put money in his pocket.
At half-past seven we sat down to a most excellent
repast ; and a large dish, heaped with trout, averaging ten
inches in length, had irresistible attractions for me. I learned
the river abounded with such fish, but that it was too late
in the season for them to be catchable by rod and line;
those before us had been taken that morning by the casting-
net. The wine was choice, and pushed sharply round. After
dinner and black coffee, cognac, little glasses, and cigars
were placed on the table, and all smoked and drank neat
brandy. The conversation then took a mining turn, and
EXPERT THIEVES ii
happening to mention the Comestock Lode and Nevada
mines and works, I was assailed with questions concerning
them. Fortunately I was " well posted ; " but though, pur-
posely, being an unauthenticated stranger, and not wishing
my veracity to be doubted, I considerably understated the
yield of the Virginia City mines, the commissioner in-
sisted I asserted impossibilities — must have had wrong
information given me ; and, to prove it was so, went into
long calculations, to the great amusement of the company,
who said I must excuse him, it being well known that the
Spanish railway companies had driven him quite crazy.
" Would you believe it," said my entertainer ; " the other
day an engine arrived without wheels — they had been stolen
en route, for there are very expert thieves in Spain — and
our lunatic commissioner actually attempted to prove
statistically that they had not been stolen ; that the engine
had started without wheels ! "
This changed the conversation to the subject of Spanish
railway management, and a state of affairs and way of doing
business was revealed to me, that, had the commissioner
been really non compos mentis, would have fully accounted
for the " milk in the cocoanut," and that would drive any
public but a Spanish one to distraction.
By-and-by champagne was brought in, glasses filled,
and songs sung — and very well too. My new friends were
no mean proficients, and being old chums, and accustomed
to sing together in parts, rendered the airs with great
effect. Until then I had no idea how fine were the old
Basque songs, or, more correctly speaking, chants ; some of
them being perfectly charming. Then they astonished me.
74 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
by singing, in my honour, without words, for they did not
know them, but exxessively perfectly as to tune, " God sa\'e
the Queen ;" and I was fairly aghast when, refilling their
glasses, and standing up, they roared out the rattling
chorus of " Dixie." My host then reseating himself, and
blowing out his cheeks, assuming a pompous deportment,
and bringing the guests to order by tapping his glass with
a spoon, delivered himself in this wise : " I am der Lor
Mayor London," and continued in Spanish, for his English
broke suddenly down : " Our right worshipful visitor will
now make a speech in English. We, to our great loss,
shall not understand a word he says, but we shall know
what he means ; and as we have never listened to an
English speech, we wish to hear what it sounds like." So
I turned the word- tap on, and myself loose, to loud
applause.
Then the commissioner brewed punch. If he under-
stands his country's railway system as well as he does
punch-brewing, that extremely valuable official is a very
Solomon of railwaydom. After punch, and more songs, we
took a look below to sec how the smelting progressed, for
the Don's furnaces burn day and night, and at half-past
six in the morning retired to bed.
Taking them both together, it was as heavy a day's
and night's work as I ever creditably got through ; but all
arose at nine, and, thanks to the genuineness of the Don's
tipple, none complained or looked seedy, and everybody
eat heartily of the dejeuner a la fourehette, to which, at
eleven o'clock, we all sat down. I had had but short time
sfor sleep, but made the best of it, and reposing with all my
BASQUE HOSPITALITY. 75
might, slept hard, if on a soft bed ; indeed, I was most
comfortably quartered. While making my toilette in the
morning I also made a discovery. By the litter of the
room and toilette-table ; by the initials on dressing-cases,
silver -mounted whips, and other nicknacks scattered
around ; by the crest on studs and rings ; it was plainly
evident that my host had bestowed me in his own chamber,
and, as I afterwards found, made his couch of a sofa in the
drawing-room.
Such was the reception, such the hospitality, given to
a wandering Englishman — an unknown stranger, meanly
dressed, tramping on foot — by the courtesy of a Basque
gentleman !
At breakfast Don Ramon strongly advised my taking
the train at the railway station, two miles off, as thence to
Pamplona was but a short way ; while the station and
Pamplona being in the same valley, I should not, by so
doing, miss seeing any country, all of it being visible from
the ramparts of that city, while I should so be enabled to
arrive sufficiently early to hunt up quarters before night,
and, added he : " I have ordered my carriage to be at the
door for you in time to catch the half-past three P.M. train,
our only one, there being but one passenger train each way
daily. To be sure, we shall hardly have finished by that
time, but we will not hurry ; no man is ever too late to
catch our trains."
All accompanied me to the door, and, as they wished
me God-speed, cordially shook me by the hand. I jumped
into a light comfortable chaise, followed by Juan — who
took to a carriage as though used to ride in one — and
76 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
behind a fast trotter, clri\cn by a liveried servant,
started.
As we passed between "The Two Sisters" I glanced
back. In the road stood my recently-made friends, and
a group of forgemen, looking after me. Jumping upon
the carriage-seat, I swung my hat in the air, and shouted
out the old war-cry of the Basque : " Gu-bagaitite ha ala
jaincoa !" Up went ihc gorros with a yell of delight, and
we had seen the last of each other.
The railway station was a heap of ruins. It had been
burned by the Carlists, and not yet rebuilt ; a little tem-
porary clapboard shed, like a large sentry-box, serving
for the office. The train came slowly up. Being only
an hour behind time, there was no necessity for hurry.
After dawdling along a few miles I found myself arrived
at the Pamplona station, but a good half mile from the
nearest gateway through the city's fortifications. Why,
excepting to benefit the 'bus interest, this is so, passes my
comprehension. There is no engineering or other visible
reason that the station should not be at the foot of the
glacis. I was told it was for strategic reasons. Every-
thing they do in this country that seems absurd and
foolish is done for " strategic" or " fiscal" reasons. I am
getting tired of those two words.
Small boys besieged me to carry ni)- traps from the
station ; so giving haversack to one, gun to another, and
dog to a third, we made a procession, and marched into
the city. In the Plaza de la Constitucion I deposited my
plunder in a shop, delighted the bo)'s with ciKxrtos and
ochavos, and leading Juan by his chain, who, subdued
A HUMAN BEEHIVE. 77
I suppose by the city's strangeness, noise, and bustle,
followed at heel in a submissive manner, commenced
prospecting for a casa de Jmespades.
It was no easy matter to get housed in this old
capital. Its population amounts in number to twenty-
three thousand ; its surrounding fortifications have pre-
vented expansion ; it has no extramural suburbs, excepting
the faubourg of Rochapea, consisting only of a fine well-
arranged and constructed public slaughter-house, a couple
of agricultural implement manufactories, and some laundry
establishments ; it covers a comparatively small area, con-
sequently it is like a beehive. Still, under ordinary cir-
cumstances, admittance into boarding-houses, or rather
boarding-flats, is not difficult to obtain, for they are plen-
tiful, and Spaniards understand close packing. Indeed,
most families of limited means take boarders, I am told.
At present, however, Pamplona is the head-quarters of
the " Army of Occupation ; " General Quesada and staff,
and four thousand men and their officers, are quartered
in it, and every hotel, lodging, and boarding-flat seemed
full, and it was almost dark ere, at last, I obtained what
I required — that is to say, as nearly so as it appeared
possible to get under such circumstances.
CHAPTER VII.
Quarters in Pamplona — A Gran Funcion Cristiano — San Saturnino — The
Captain-General of the vSpains — The Revolution wanted — The Pro-
menade — A Tertula — Ladies' Feet and Conduct — Navarra Boarding-
house Life — My Apartments — A Navarra Family — The "Awful" Lieu-
tenant — Impromptu Dance — A dark Incident — Le Lieutenant samitsc —
The Conspirators' Chorus.
December 12, 1876. — In many respects my present
quarters compare sufficiently unfavourably with those I
had the good fortune to occupy at San Sebastian. My
bedroom is small, almost destitute of conveniences, very
dark, and by no means overmuch swept and g-arnishcd.
The bed, however, I am glad to say, is scrupulously
clean, and, though small, comfortable. I should cer-
tainly have declined such accommodation had I not been
wearied looking for lodgings and finding none, every
place full, and night approaching fast. I was shown
my present rooms by a young scfiorita, who I now know-
as the eldest daughter of the house. She stated that the
terms, including board, for each guest were three pesetas
a day — no difference being made as to which of the couples
of rooms they occupied — and added she was onl)- too
GRAN FUNCION CRISTIANO. 79
sorry the pair of rooms untenanted were not the best. But
the dog was a difficulty. I must see her mamma about
him, said this fair maid. (By-the-bye she was a brilHant
brunette.) Would I wait till mamma came home ; she had
only gone to rosario ; the church was close at hand ; she
would be back in five minutes. " Will you walk into the
parlour," said the spi (no, I mean the sefwrita), " and
wait .'' "
When the old woman appeared I would have certainly
bolted, but had come to the conclusion I must take such
quarters as I could get, or should find myself without any.
I did not like the looks of " mamma." If I knew anything
about physiognomy, and the deductions drawable from
personal appearance, the fare would be indifferent. There
was a look about her of careful shabbiness, cunning, and
sanctity that argued ill for the liberality of her menu and
the general comfort of her establishment. This highly-
respectable octopus immediately proceeded to verify my
hastily-formed opinion. She said a dog was much trouble
and ate a great deal ; but if I would keep mine in my bed-
room, and pay for his food an Q^ir:i peseta a day (equal to
paying a florin a day in London), I could stay. There was
nothing for it but to accept the inevitable ; so in her house
I stopped and still remain.
Hearing last Friday that in celebration of its being the
eve of La Piirisiiiia conccpcion de Nncstra Scfiora, La
Capitana-General dc las Espanas, there would be a gran
funcion at the church of San Saturnino ; that "all the world "
would be there ; and that attendance would confer upon
every member of the congregation the reward of two
8o ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
thousand four hundred and eighty days let off from purgatory
which he or she could appropriate to his or her own personal
and private use and benefit ; or, if so inclined, turn over to
some departed soul in that uncomfortable region for theirs ;
I determined not to neglect so favourable an opportunity,
and so, in company with one of the daughters of the house
to show the way, marched off, just as it was getting dark,
to church.
San Satiiniiiio—:i Gothic church of the fourteenth
century — proved, in many respects, an interesting building.
Its south doorway is remarkable : on its right capital are
illustrations of our Lord with His Cross, the Descent there-
from, the Resurrection, and the Descent into Hell ; on the
left is the Annunciation, Salutation, Nativity, and Flight
into Egypt ; the Crucifixion forming the canopy of the
doorway. It is not a big church, but so arranged in its
interior as to accommodate, for its size, the largest possible
number of worshippers. I should judge a congregation of
from six hundred to seven hundred persons would fill it
comfortably full.
For the occasion the Virgin's shrine and image was as
showy as draperies, gilding, gems, and wax candles could
make it, and the floor of the church covered with people —
about a thousand — all as closely jammed as they could
stand or rather kneel, for all were on their marrow-bones
on the hard stone pavement ; no chairs, no cushions, no
mats ; for was I not in bigoted Navarra, where to worship
comfortably would be sinful ! — excepting for priests, who, I
observed, had luxuriously-stuffed velvet couches or chairs
to repose on between whiles. There were very few men
THE CAPTAIN-GENERAL OF THE SPA INS. 8i
present — perhaps a proportion of one for every twenty-five
women. The latter were all dressed in complete black,
with veils and mantillas on ; giving a strikingly funereal
aspect to the body of the church. The men, without ex-
ception that I could see, were of the very lowest class.
Some of these unfortunates were close to me. They were
nasty, dirty, sandled bundles of brown rags ; wretches who
had never voluntarily touched water since they had been
baptised, except holy water ; walking pestilences, whose
persons poisoned the atmosphere. The strongest incense
could not disguise the smell. Feeling, as I had walked to
church in a generous frame of mind, I had intended to turn
those two thousand four hundred and eighty days over to
the ill-used friend of my youth, old Guy Fawkes ; but after
suffering the smell of those animated atrocities, and getting
pains in my knees and back from remaining so long in a
most unaccustomed posture — for all knelt upright, no sitting
back on the heels — I determined to keep them for myself.
I may not want them, but if I do, they will average things
as against what -I suffered ; otherwise, I am, to that extent,
an injured and outraged individual for ever.
As I looked up at the beautiful image of the " Captain-
General of the Spains," gazed on her lovely face and
splendid raiment, and then on the dark mass of worshippers
kneeling at her feet, the reflection was forced upon my
mind, that I knew of but one religion, ancient or modern —
Judaism — that with its lineal descendants and continua-
tions, the churches of the Reformation, the beliefs of Ma-
hometism, and the Mormon faith, is without a female deity.
As I knelt I could almost have fancied myself a Pagan.
G
82 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
The following day I attended high mass at the cathedral
and parish church of St. yuan Bautista, for the bishop was
to officiate, the apostolic benediction would be conferred by-
proxy, and a huge indulgence granted to the congregation.
How far the indulgence was to extend I did not concern
myself Had I not those two thousand four hundred and
eighty days in hand ? The large and handsome Gothic
edifice was crammed. So closely, indeed, was it crowded
that to kneel, or, when down, rise up again, was nearly
impossible. The male attendance was proportionally much
larger than it had been at San Saturnino, but of the same
class. I doubt if in the multitude present there were twenty
educated men. Almost all the males were the lowest of
the low. Though I suffered in consequence, for the smell
was dreadful, I was glad of it. Such fact plainly indicated
that even in the very hotbed of Carlistism, even in the most
priest-ridden part of Spain, the sceptre is departing from
the hand of superstition, that the feet of clay are crumbling,
that Spain's long night is drawing to an end, that the race
between darkness and enlightenment has become a close one,
that at last the schoolmaster has collared the sacerdote.
What this country now requires is an Oliver Cromwell,
with plenty of earnest, truth-loving " croppies " behind him.
That is the revolution wanted, not a succession of military
conspiracies. When the day of his and their advent arrives,
Spain will emerge from her long infanc}', will become a
nation of men and women, not of full-grown children. If
it never comes, tlicn, assuredly, she that was once the first
will at the end be left the last of civilised peoples.
By-the-bye, the idea these Spaniards have of their
THE PROMENADE. 83
country's martial power is simply preposterous ; for in-
stance : the other day, the conversation having turned on
the Eastern Question, the remark was made that in a con-
test with Russia England could do nothing without help,
her military strength being so insignificant ; and I was
asked by an officer of high rank if I thought England
would offer Gibraltar to Spain to purchase her assistance
to save the British Empire in India ! As if the help of a
country unable to put down a beggarly one-horse nigger
insurrection in Cuba was worth purchasing, even for the
small cost of the value of the powder expended in a royal
salute !
The ceremonies of the fiesta of the " Patrona " of Spain
terminated with a discharge of fifteen guns at sunset.
Trumpets sounded all over the place. The church-bells
were clanged — that's the proper descriptive name for bell-
ringing in this country — all in honour of the " Queen of
Heaven, Captain General," &c., &c. Then everybody whose
duties, infirmities, or poverty (the ragged go to church
only, not to the promenade) did not keep them indoors,
paraded for a couple of hours round and round the spacious
arcaded Plaza de la Constitucion, and up and down the
tree-planted avenues of La Taconera and Plazucla de
Valencia. It was quite a crowd. I do not doubt half the
population and all the military not on duty were there —
ten thousand would be under the mark — so it was an
excellent opportunity to make observations.
Though doubtless in their best, yet only a few ladies, and
the military, were really well dressed, but all looked neat
and respectable. It was hard, though, to discern how the
84 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
male citizens were attired, for most of them — certainly all of
the better class — were enveloped in the national capa, and
that too though the temperature of the evening was milder
than it had been for some days, it being about as warm as
a South-Walean one at the end of June. But few men
wore " top " hats. " Billy-cocks " of all shapes were the pre-
vailing coverings for the head. Amongst the women I
looked in vain for bonnets or hats ; I do not believe there
were any in the entire assemblage. All wore the high
comb, with long black veil falling behind, and the mantilla
(generally of lace)— a fashion giving even to the plainest a
certain air of grace and refinement. Not one of them but
w^as well gloved and shod ; and, excepting the fat and old,
all walked with grace. Still, though I saw many handsome,
some pretty, faces, the seuoras did not, as far as beauty is
concerned, average with the cream of French beauty, the
Bayonnaise. To be sure, they had not the en evidence
" got-up " look Frenchwomen so often have, and their
dresses fit figures, not sta}'s.
After dinner a number of scfioritas came to visit the
daughters of the house, and a very pleasant Tcrtiila was
enjoyed. Games of forfeits were played, and we otherwise
conducted ourselves like children. Our visitors were good-
looking girls, one of them a beauty. At parting the women
all kissed each other and shook hands with the men.
Heretofore I have been under the impression that hand-
shaking between the sexes was not considered correct in
Spain, but I am graduall)- being disabused of many notions
as to the cosas dc Espafui obtained from reading and
.Spanish-American experience ; for instance, I thought the
LADIES' FEET AND CONDUCT. 85
women of the country had all very small feet, and smoked.
As yet I have not found myself among a small-footed
population. The boot, or shoe, worn by females, who do
not go barefooted or shod with sandals, is generally a
number four, I can only account for the fact that their
feet do look smaller than my fair countrywomen's, by their
not only being very symmetrically shaped, but very well
cJiaussce, and that, as a general thing, the women here are
much heavier built from the ankle up than are English-
women ; for though, theoretically, Spanish females are sup-
posed, like the bird of paradise of the ancients, not to have
legs, the majority have very fine ones — at least the winds
that blow have so credibly informed me. As for their
smoking, not only have I never seen so much, or rather
little, as a cigarilla between their lips, but have been
assured by natives of all parts of Spain that no Spanish
women smoke excepting returned Cnbauas, Majas, and the
class that in all countries does so. But I may yet arrive
where seiloritas have little feet, do not shake hands, and,
notwithstanding what I hear, do smoke ; if so, will make a
note of it.
While writing of the houses stopped at, if I restrict
myself to descriptions only of quarters and commissariat,
and neglect to give any of inmates and their ways, how
can I hope to convey a just and lively idea of the most
interesting feature of this trip — the characteristics of the
people met with 1 On the other hand, how avoid the impu-
tation of a want of delicacy, the charge of betrayal of the
confidence of domestic life, by being explicit } However,
it is quite certain these letters will not be translated into
86 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
Spanish ; therefore, that those written about will never know
what has been said ; and I shall take care to use such harm-
less and allowable deceptions and mystifications concerning
names, exact dates, and particular localities, as to, without
affecting the truth essential to worth of description, make
it impossible for any stray traveller over the road I have
gone before, who may have read these olive-oil-lamp lucu-
brations, to, from them, identify individuals.
The Casa de Hucspcdes, which is my temporary abode,
judging by what I hear, and by what I have seen of the
many boarding-houses that I have paid calls at, may be
considered a fair average specimen of the better class of
such places in this portion of Spain. We live on a flat, for
in this crowded city of many-storied dwellings it is almost
the universal custom so to do. Only a few houses owned
by nobility, or very wealthy people, are not arranged in
flats ; each flat in all essentials being a complete house to
itself, as indeed is customary in many towns in France,
with the difterencc that here concierge and eonciergcrie is
unknown, and the stairway being under nobody's especial
charge, and merely a highway common to all the flats, is
unlighted at night — consequently, then, as dark as a negro
chimney-sweep's face — is never cleaned, and generally smells
abominably — ours does. The door admitting from the
landing of our flat is, like all other " flat " doors, a stout,
strong one, well furnished with bolts and fastenings, and
has a knocker, and a little sliding metal grating through
which seekers for admission can be reconnoitred. The
rooms open one into the other, as little space as possible
being bestowed on passages. My bedroom door will not
MY APARTMENTS. 87
shut by a good inch ; but it does not matter to me. The
little dormitory between mine and the general sitting-room
is not at all objectionably tenanted. My sleeping-room is
seven feet wide by nine long. Its garniture consists of the
following articles : the hereinbefore described bed, a piece
of carpet three feet by eighteen inches, and an iron
construction, like a spiderly umbrella-stand, supporting a
basin and jug, said basin being exactly eight inches across
and three deep, and the jug holding a pint and a half of
water (places for soap, for tooth and nail brushes, mouth
glass, &c. &c., exist not in this uncomplicated washstand ;
perhaps such superfluities are considered unnecessary, or
not known of here), a chair, a towel, and all things are
enumerated.
A double-door of glass opens from my sleeping apart-
ment to my private sitting-room, which latter is but little
• larger than the former, a foot more in length being all the
difference. It is furnished with a table eighteen inches by
thirty, two chairs, and a small looking-glass. In neither
room is wardrobe, cupboard, or chest of drawers. I suppose
a man is expected to keep his clothes in his trunks, or pile
them in a heap on the floor in a corner. The floor is a
waxed and polished one — that is to say, it once was. At
the end of the room a double French window occupies the
entire width of the chamber, and gives access to a narrow
iron verandah that overhangs the street.
It is one of the good streets of the town that my sitting-
room window opens on, one going directly to the chief
Plaza of Pamplona. I have also measured this leading
thoroughfare. It is eighteen feet wide from house-front to
88 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
house-front ; carriage-way, pavements, gutters, all included.
The houses are six stories high, the verandahs overhang
considerably; as a consequence, my room, being on the first
floor, is so overshadowed as to be always dark and gloomy.
The family consists of the old lady — principally of the
old lady — of the old lady's husband, and of several
daughters, I am afraid what has been written about
" mamma " is not very gracious ; perhaps it will be as
well to say no more about her. Of the husband nothing
unpleasant can be said. He is a good-looking man, some
ten years her junior ; was, until the late ci\'il war, a pro-
fessor of some eminence in a college ; then, being a Carlist
of strong convictions, joined "Charles VII.," became in
time a full colonel, was driven over the frontier, interned in
France, returned after the pacification, and is now a man
without occupation — a cultivated, sociable, kindly-disposed,
agreeable gentleman. The daughters range in age from •
fourteen to twenty-two, and excepting one, who when she
gets old will be not unlike her mother, are fine, handsome,
elegant girls.
The boarders besides myself are a captain and lieutenant
of infantry, and a lieutenant of cavalry. These three are
by no means as good style men as were those I associated
with in San Sebastian. They talk " shop," appear only on
rare occasions in mufti, and always eat their meals with
regimental overcoat and regulation-cap on, giving as a
reason its being so cold. It is about as cold as in England
in September. The captain is the most formal of the three,
and a quiet, well-mannered man ; but the other two are
both very " barracky," one very much so.
THE AWFUL LIEUTENANT. 89
Thus does he disport himself : We are seated round the
table waiting for dinner, for he is always late for meals,
sometimes keeps us half an hour. We are in hungry ex-
pectancy. Our only consolation is we can kill time chatting
with the girls, who, though the family do not eat when we
do, usually bring their sewing and sit at table, sandwiched
between us, during our repast, " for company's sake."
The step of the " awful lieutenant " is heard on the
stairs, and in comes the first course, overcooked or nearly
cold, as the case may be.
As the late arrival swaggers along the passage he hauls
an immense cigar out of a case, lights it, takes a whiff or
two as he enters the room, salutes, flings himself into his
seat, and, still smoking, helps himself to soup. He tastes
the soup, says something facetious about it, lays down his
cigar on a plate, reaches out his hand for an old guitar that
" lives " in a corner convenient to his seat, and alternately
tunes a string and swallows spoonfuls of soup.
Then, for awhile, doth he play and sing with all his
might. The lieutenant plays very well, is a good improvi-
soi'e, and composes most ridiculous couplets concerning the
fare and the fair then and there present.
After that he gobbles up his soup, roars out " autre
cosa," and goes on with his music, his smoking, and his
eating.
If, in passing to fetch thread, scissors, or anything else
they require, any of the girls come within his reach — and, of
course, some of them are always wanting something — he
catches hold of, and squeezes, or pinches them till they
scream, and then mimics them till the room rings again.
90 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
He pelts " mamma " with bread when she remonstrates,
calls her his dear cousin, and the girls his precious ones ;
and if he gets through dinner without breaking a plate or
wineglass, upsetting a dish or the wine, he does well.
This gay caballcro generally goes straight from table to
the cafe, but if he remains is sure to start some game
going ; for instance, two evenings ago three selioritas came
in after dinner to see the girls, and our lively warrior in-
sisted on everybody's going into an adjacent room to
dance. The infantry men, being on duty, were obliged to
return to the citadel, and so excuse themselves ; but he
would not be denied by the rest, and drove us all before
him like a flock of turkeys.
Throwing himself into a chair, sticking his lighted cigar
between his teeth, he started a wild waltz, joining in,
between whiffs, with snatches of peasant songs, and
admirably mimicking the peasants' twang.
It was more than the girls could stand, and t\\ o of them
jumping up commenced dancing opposite each other like
mad, playing castanets with their fingers and thumbs.
The infection spread like fire in a stackyard, and, imme-
diately, as many couples as the room contained were setting
to each other, or whirling round, dancing the national
dance of Navarra, La Jota.
The room was a bedchamber, lighted with a single
flickering candle, casting giant, shifting shadows ; in one
corner was the bed— a bed without the valance of con-
cealment. Certainly it was a strikingly novel scene, and
a queer performance to English eyes.
La Jota finished, the lieutenant flung down cigar and
A BARK INCIDENT. 91
guitar, and declared his determination to dance, in rotation,
with every woman present ; and, one and all, the senoritas
declaring in chorus they would not dance with him, this
son of Mars, true to the military traditions of the sabre,
stopped not to palaver, but gallantly charged the bevy,
singled out the prettiest girl, and, vi et annis, and singing
the tune, dashed into a gallop with his captive partner.
After a few rounds he let her go, caught another, and so on,
with them all. Waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, all well danced.
He was really an accomplished partner. But the way his
overcoat and sword (for he had never taken them off)
swung round was perfectly dreadful. At last the skirts of
his garment — I believe purposely — swept the candle from
the place where it had been standing, and we were in dark-
ness. Perhaps, also, the swinging sword may have hurt
some senorita, for I heard a smothered scream ; then " Old
Sanctimonious" appeared, interfered, read the Riot Act,
stopped the ball, and dispersed the rioters.
It is amusing to watch the girls make eyes — beautiful
ones too — at, and coquette with, that young fellow, especially
the least pretty one, who is the most demonstrative. Either
each of them thinks he is in love with her, or else, being
Spanish girls, and handsome, they cannot help coquetting.
That the mother, however, being an old huntress, and
having so many daughters to settle, has her eye on the
bold lieutenant with speculation in it, is quite plain to a
close observer, and who knows .'' a lover affair may be
going on ; but, so far as he is concerned, I think not — le
lieutenant s amuse.
Apropos the girls bringing their sewing to table.
92 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
yesterday, during dinner-time, they were embroidering for
themselves garments of " a dual form." Verily, different
countries have different standards of the proprieties. Here
these people are considered gentry, and, though not rich,
would certainly if English be recognised as such in England ;
but then they would not make their income comfortably
sufficient by taking boarders, and the girls would be as
demure and quiet as the daughters of an English ex-college
professor, or retired distinguished colonel, would there be.
Besides, they would not then have Spanish vivacity, and
the graceful gestures, flashing eyes, and modest assurance
of " Las Hermosas de Navarra!' I, as a foreigner, often, no
doubt, mistake natural graciousness of manner for coquetry;
and worse, it has been explained to me that I have said
and done things that quite outraged les convenances, while
all the time I innocently thought I was behaving beautifully.
From now out I shall bear in mind that I must judge
conduct by the country's standard, and not by any pre-
conceived one of my own, when estimating people and
their actions, and be most careful and circumspect also in
what I say and do, so as not to bring discredit on my
country's breeding by conduct, there all right, here all
wrong. I am, too, discovering that a multitude of small
things are done in Spain in a reverse way from what obtains
in England ; by-and-by, I shall probably find out this rule
extends to matters of greater importance. Last evening I
took a hand at some round games of cards, and learned the
custom of the country is to cut from the dealer, deal from
the bottom, anil against the course of the sun. Here the
same noise is made to quiet a dog that we make to set him
THE CONSPIRATORS' CHORUS. 93
on. Here they clip the hair off the back and sides of
horses and mules, and leave it on the legs. I bought some
string whereby to suspend my dog-whistle — whip-cord was
not procurable — and on " double-twisting " the same found
it had been " flung " the opposite way from that I am used
to. But I could give instances without end.
This morning the girls heard me whistling, " The Con-
spirators' Chorus," from *' Madame Angot." They were quite
pleased at my knowing the air, declared I was " Bucna
Carlistal' and joined in with " rebel " words. On inquiry I
find the tune is claimed as an old Basque air. Whether
this is a delusion, the fact being that, chiming with a
musical chord of the Viscayan soul, it has become so
popular they think it native, or that it is Viscayan, and has
been utilised by Lecocq, I cannot tell. But that, acci-
dentally or otherwise, there is in its music the Basque
" lilt " is without doubt.
CHAPTER VIII.
My faithful Friend — Our Menu — The Variation — Fish and Fiahing — Shooting
— The San Cristobcl Mountain — A little Dog-breaking — Environs of
Pamplona — Residences of Hidalgos — La Jota — " Cursed had Wine is
hotter than Holy Water" — Los Screnos — "■ Ah'it-o''' — Threat to "Barlow"
the Reader.
December i6, 1876. — The old lady is right; "a dog is
a great deal of trouble " when he has to live in a house.
But it is to me, not to her, that Juan is one; for I have, the
first and last thing each morning and evening, to take him
for a walk ; and to do so is sometimes very inconvenient ;
when I am lazy or have " fish to fry.'' Besides, while
leading him along the streets, on my way to some open
space where he can be let loose, I am annoyed by numerous
curs who swarm in every street, and charge upon, or "dog,"
our steps. Fortunatel)% though well able to take care of
himself, he is not quarrelsome, and so big, and of such a
bold presence, these street dogs fear to close with him. I
am getting quite fond of Juan, for he is extremcl)- affec-
tionate to me, and really the most gentlemanly animal I
ever possessed ; admirably clean in his habits, and ne\cr
makes the least noise in the house. I fear, though, lie has
not much "point " about him, for A\hcn loose he runs after
OUR MENU. 95
and tries to catch every chicken and pigeon he sees ; and
has in no instance " set " or " drawn " on one. The weather,
too, is not now always pleasant to turn out in early and late,
for though not absolutely cold, it is sometimes quite chilly.
Latterly the sky has been generally overcast, and it has
threatened to rain all the time — occasionally done so — and
as fireplaces, excepting in kitchens, seem to be unknown
in this part of the world, a little cold goes a long way. I
have nowhere before witnessed such a continuation of heavy
threatening weather without rain, for what little has fallen
has been merely light showers. But I shall certainly stop
where I am until the sky clears. I have no intention, if
avoidable, to be caught travelling on foot in wet weather,
without change of raiment, and while here find no difficulty
in amusing myself.
The only drawback to my present quarters that I care
for is that, as compared with my happy experience at San
Sebastian, and en roHtt%\\\Q. commissariat of the house is not
good. To be sure (excluding the imposition for the dog), I
only pay \\\xtQ pesetas a day as against five at San Sebastian,
but here rents and provisions are so much cheaper than
there, that were it not for the town's being so extraordinarily
full, I could have extremely nice rooms, and the very best
of fare, at the price I am paying. Really, Spain is by far
the cheapest civilised country I have ever lived in.
Comparisons being odious are appropriate to my present
boarding. To begin : The morning chocolate, instead of
being made with milk, and accompanied with azncarillos,
finger biscuits, or milk rolls, as it ever heretofore has — yea,
even at the roadside posadas — is in this house made with
96 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
water, and with it only served three diminutive strips of
crust, each about the size of your third finger, and evidently
trimmings of the scraps left from the previous day's dinner.
I have vainly tried to make "mamma" understand I want
a better desaymno. Breakfast, nominally at twelve o'clock,
but really at any time it suits the mistress's religious
exercises, or the servants' convenience, is a hash-up of
oddments ; and I could often eat up myself all the choice
portions of what is provided for the four of us. It is well
cooked, but badly served, being generally half cold, while
the quality of the raw material is far, very far, from being
the best of the market, and after the meal no coffee is
provided. My stand-bys are bread and wine : the former,
as it always has been since I crossed the frontier, is excellent,
and the latter good. I begin to doubt that there is any bad
wine in Navarra ; were there, I am sure we should get it.
The lady of the house is, however, very careful with " the
ruddy." There is no liberal helping by the servant, and
each time anyone takes any, the bottle is recorked by her.
Six o'clock dinner, not often served till seven, is also com-
paratively indifferent, and excepting one of the courses,
always exactly the same thing over and over again. Here
it is ! First : soup made by boiling vermicelli, almost to a
paste, in water with mutton bones, said bones being care-
fully extracted before serving. Secondly : a vegetable
course ; a dish of mixed together, chopped up, white cabbage,
coarse white beans, and chunks of potato, boiled in water,
with a suspicion of grease, and served nearer cold than hot.
Thirdly : the old bones fished out of the soup. Now
come the variations. The fourth course consists of cither
TFIE VARIATION. 97
a dishful of boiled scraps of mutton, or of a piece of neck
or shoulder ; or of a portion of a month-old lamb — the
entire animal being no larger than a hare. Afterwards
follows the regular salad, naturally good, but ruined by
being drowned in vinegar. This is all — no coffee — and
where, oh where, in this land of fruit, is the dessert 1
The way that woman has of watching each mouthful
you take, and when everything has been devoured of
spreading out her hands and exclaiming, "Well, gentle-
men, I hope you have dined well.^" as though we had been
partaking of a sumptuous feast, and made gluttons of our-
selves, is most amusing. I wonder if the careful old
humbug really believes that deportment can impose on
stomachs .''
There is no excuse for failure in excellence of table. I
have visited the markets and they are well supplied. Every
English vegetable of all the year round is in the utmost
profusion, and extremely fine in both quality and size; and
besides, a multitude of vegetables we have not. In fruits,
there are oranges, grapes, pears, apples, raisins, plums,
walnuts, chestnuts, and divers others, all fine and plentiful.
Poultry of all kinds abound. Eggs are there in thousands.
Meat is good, abundant, and cheap. I certainly "gaited"
the lady of the house rightly when I first set eyes on her.
Nor is the fish-market a bad one for that of an inland
town, as a sufficiency of sea-fish is daily brought by the
train from the coast, but it is comparatively dear. The
river here — the Arga — at present affords but little. Eels
and dace are the most usual. Occasionally, however,
trout are netted. When it is the fishing season the
H
93 av FOOT IN SPAIN.
neighbourhood of Pamplona must be a piscatorial paradise;
one cannot go far in any direction without seeing mountain-
streams full of falls, rapids, eddies, and pools, everyone of
them easily fishable, there being scarcely any trees on their
banks, and all well stocked with trout in spite of cast and
drag net, for there are but few places v.here rocky shelves,
boulders, and ledges do not afford inaccessible harbours of
refuge against nets. Still, trout are captured by their
means. I saw a young girl in the market with a basketful
for sale— a wide, deep basket, bigger than a bushel measure,
and heaped full of trout ; none were under a pound, most
of them four and five pounders, several seven and eight. I
never saw such another basket of trout in my life. All of
them were, however, out of condition, lately off their
spawning beds. What beauties they would have been had
they been fat! They had all been taken the evening before
m a drag-net, close to town, just under the Rochapea
curtain of the fortifications.
I am afraid I shall get no shooting here, for the wide
rolling plain in which Pamplona is situated is now devoid
of covert, and the mountains encircling it are too far off to
go to shoot on and return the same day ; while amongst
them are no places advisable to put up at — in fact, they are
all very advisable to keep away from. I am told that just
after harvest the miles of stubble commencing at the base
of the fortifications are alive with quails, and the vines full
of hares and partridges; now, there being neither co\-ert
nor feed on the plain, hares and partridges are in the
mountains, where there is plenty of both, and the quails at
this season are in Africa. There is one mountain, to be
THE SAN CRISrOBEL. 99
sure — the San Cristobel — that may be considered in the
plain and not far off, but it has some little villages on its
farther edge, several roads crossing it, and is so much
travelled over and hunted as to be nearly devoid of game.
I have tried it as much to see what Juan would do as in
expectation of sport. The base of the .San Cristobel is
only about half a mile from the city wall, but to its top
was a severe climb. The side of the mountain towards
Pamplona is a precipitous face altogether too steep to
beat.
I was an hour gaining the summit ridge, arriving there
at the point where stand the remains of the Carlist battery
established when the city was invested. I found the farther
slope of the mountain covered with species of heather, tuft-
grass, and strange-looking prickly plants, splendid laying
ground, the covert being thick and about a foot high, but
very fatiguing to walk over.' Slipping Juan, away he went,
careering over the ground like mad, and not paying the
least attention to voice or whistle. By-and-by, accidentally,
I think, for he had evinced no knowledge of their being
there, he dashed right through the midst of a small covey
of red-leg partridges, and away they went with him in full
chase, till birds and dog were lost to sight over a spur of
the mountain. Soon Juan came back, tearing along as
though he had a tin can tied to his tail, and ran up a single
bird. All efforts to control him proved abortive, so he was
left to his own devices, and I proceeded quickly in the
direction the birds had gone, hoping to find them for
myself when he was a mile away, but the dog ranged
too fast and thoroughly for that little scheme to succeed,
H 2
loo ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
and galloped them up again quite out of range. Soon
after, I heard a shot fired on the other side of the comb
of the mountain, and off Juan tore in the direction the
sound had come, and trusting I was rid of him for some
little time, I made, at the double, for a copse of dwarf
oaks, half a mile off, towards which the birds last put up
had flown, hoping to arrive there before he could. Alas !
he was again one too many for me, and, for the third time,
flushed the partridges out of shot. Eventually I caught
my dog, put one of his forefeet in his collar, and started to
cast towards home, for dusk was approaching. On three
legs he, notwithstanding the thickness of the covert,
managed to charge around in a wonderful way. He is
certainly a most active, strong, determined devil of a dog.
However, we found no more game,
Juan's wildness I care nothing about. It is simply
indicative of " go " in him. I can break him of that. But
I fear there is neither " point " nor " set " about him, and
that to act the part of a mute spaniel, and perhaps retriever,
is all I can train him to. It may not prove so though. If
ever we get amongst plenty of birds he may take to point-
ing ; then all will be easy enough, and he will soon become
a splendid .sporting dog.
There are charming walks all round this city, so I go a
few miles out into the country every day to see the views
and do a little dog-breaking. I have already completely
worn out a two-and-a-half /^j-<?/^z dog-whip, and my pupil is
only so far advanced as to "downcharge" at the uplifted hand,
but he will do it as far off as he can hear the whistle. At
the furtlicr expense of two or three more of those rubbishy
ENVIRONS OF PAMI^LONA. V^yVy^X^'^
Spanish apologies for dog-whips I hope to finish his course
of "competitive education." SHght corrections have no
effect, he thinks you are playing with him.
The main roads leading from this city are most excel-
lent, and would be a credit to any country : straight as
practicable, broad, smooth, well graded, and thoroughly
repaired ; mostly, also, planted with avenues of well-
trimmed, shady trees. In many places are double rows of
such, on each side one, overhanging a wide footway. All
these roads are well furnished, at convenient distances
apart, with handsome cut-stone seats and frequent drink-
ing fountains — excellent arrangements for walkers in hot
Aveather ; and for hot weather all the preparations of this
country, even to the way the city is built, seem to have
been made. Pamplona's streets are very narrow, her
houses many storied. Porticoes, covered balconies, wide
overhanging eaves are the general rule. There are not
half-a-dozen streets in this city in which the sun's rays
ever reach the pavement. In summer the result may be
a refreshing coolness, a pleasant shade. Now it entails
gloom and dampness. Step into one of these streets out
of a sunlit Plaza or Plaziiela, and it seems as though you *
had entered a cold cellar.
The drinking fountains just mentioned have generally
fronts of dressed stone measuring two hundred square feet,
and are carved in alto-relievo with the arms of Navarra
and Spanish lions, the lions looking more like trimmed
French poodles than the king of beasts. From the centre
of these fronts protrude, for about a foot, stone spouts
from which flow streams of pure water into long, deep
,0- ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
stone troughs, for animals to drink from ; and shady trees
and seats, for the comfort of wayfarers, are always close at
hand.
In my rambles not even one single " country house "
has fallen under my observation. Indeed, since leaving
the neighbourhood of San Sebastian I have not seen any,
for the numerous casas salaries, the country-seats of the
ancient grandees, I cannot reckon as such now, for to-day
they are the abode of peasants and their animals. I am
told the few titled families, and numerous rich ones, of this
vicinity live cntirel}' in the city, and that it is not now the
custom, in this part of Spain, for people of means to have
country residences. This is the chief reason I have seen so
few " turn-outs," for Pamplona covering but a small area,
and there being no one to drive out to visit, not many
people keep carriages ; seven are all my landlady could
count up for me, and she knows all about cver}-body,
and there is not a cab in town. Probably the chronic
state of insecurity of Navarra is the reason why those
who are rich live but in cities, and by preference in a
fortified one.
There are many good private houses here. Amongst
the best are the residences of the Dnqiic dc Alba, the Condc
de Espeleta, and the Condc dc Giiindiilain— three historic
names. They are old, massive stone buildings, having
wide porte-cocJicrcs and handsome interior court-)'ards.
Their lower windows are heavily ironed, and on their
fronts coats-of-arms are sculptured.
The scenery of this place is \cr}' charming, and from a
little distance Pamplona looks very well indcetl. I wished
LA JO J A. 103
to get views of it as souvenirs, but though there are three
photographic galleries here not a single picture of the city
has been taken by any of the enterprising (?) " artists " who
conduct them, so I have done what I could with my pencil
and a sheet of paper, but it is impossible to render justice
to such a scene without colour ; and, besides, I am not an
artist.
I have been learning La Jota, song, tune, and dance, for
all three go together. The music is very uncommon and
pretty, full of accent and lilt. In the vrords of the song
" it lifts the feet." Until lately La Jota used to be per-
formed every Sunday evening in the Plaza dc la Constitu-
cion, hundreds of couples dancing and singing it to the
accompaniment of a band, ajid the castanets played by
themselves. Since, however, the " Army of Occupation "
has had its head-quarters here this entertainment has had
to be put an end to, for the populace get quite excited
when indulging in their national dance ; and these people
being Carlista, the performance generally ended by their
falling foul of any soldiers in sight, and a general row,
which conduct having led to several riots, public Jotas are
now prohibited. I am sorry ; it would have been a most
interesting sight to a foreigner.
I notice the women here, irrespective of class, have
wretchedly bad teeth ; those of the younger girls are even
and white, but seem to decay ere they reach the age of
maturity. On the other hand the men's teeth are of average
soundness. For some time this has been a puzzle to mc.
I presume the reason is some difference of habit or diet.
The only ones I can discover is in the smoking and drinking.
I04 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
Smoking; I at once dismiss as an efficient cause, for there
are no such smokers as the Spanish-Americans — women, as
well as men, even small children, indulge in the weed, and
they all have splendid teeth ; so I suspect the drinking-
water used contains some chemical constituent conducive
to caries of the teeth, which may easily be the case not-
withstanding its clear, sparkling, tasteless qualities, for it is
all obtained from springs, not out of the river. And for
this reason do I think so : while I have not seen a Spanish
woman touch \\ine, neither have I seen a man drink water.
I have taken a lesson from observation ; out of respect for
my teeth, and on the principle of " When in Rome, &c.,"
ha\'e carefully avoided drinking the less wholesome beverage.
Indeed, for my part, I care not for "the juice of flints," or,
if you like it better " the blood of the earth," though the
Spanish proverb does say it, " no cnfcrjiia no adcuda no
envinda " (neither makes sick, nor in debt, nor widowed).
On the contrary, I incline more to agree with that other
one which rather irreverently asserts, " Jl/tis vale vino
nialdito, que no agna hcncdita " (Cursed bad wine is better
than [even] holy water). Navarra wine is good enough a
drink for me.
This is the first place I have stopped at where the
night-cries are excessive to the point of annoyance. Here
is no peace for the restless. The Scrcnos of Pamplona are
very proud of their voices, and ambitiously strive to e.xcel
one another in the loud, long-drawn cadence of their chant,
while the no less strong-lunged sentinel on the ramparts
also docs his best to murder sleep.
Los Serenos are the Spanish protot)-pe and present
LOS SE RENOS. 105
representative of the obsolete " Charleys " of Old England
—the night-watchmen to whose vigilance is entrusted the
safety of person and property after dark. They are here
mostly middle-aged men of respectable appearance and
staid demeanour, all clad in uniform of dark blue, ample
cloak, and glazed cap ; slov/, sedate, dignified of deport-
ment, terrible in appearance to small boys, but I doubt
their efficiency against criminals. They are equipped with
a long black staff, tipped with brass— of no earthly use —
and carry a light, like a stable-lanthorn, which serves to
render their slow, pompous progress visible from afar,
and prevents their seeing anything half-a-dozen yards off.
Their principal duty is to march along calling out at the
corner of every street on their beat the hour and half-hour,
and adding each time thereto a statement of the condition
of the weather. As one can hear them a dozen corners off,
their prolonged cry falls on the ear of a listener twenty-four
times every hour of the night. If you have the luck (.?) to
live near where two beats meet, you will have the advan-
tage (.^) of your curiosity as to the state of the weather
being enlightened fifty times an hour, but as it is almost
always fine here the statement "jf se-re-no'' prolonged in
an interminable drawl, commencing in a low bass, and
terminating in the highest falsetto note attainable, becomes
monotonous.
That " and serene " should be so nearly invariably the
night-watchman's announcement as to have given him his
appellation speaks volumes for the Spanish climate.
The cry of the " watchman on the walls " is simply
" Alert-o," But they take great pride in that " O " ; set
io6 O.V FOOT IN SPAIiV.
it to music — make quite a complicated tune of it — with
variations. The cry commences at the mainguard of the
citadel every quarter of an hour, and seems almost con-
tinuous, for the sentinels are close together and numerous,
and each waits patiently until his predecessor has done with
his own particular " O," while the town, covering for its
population a small area— the circle of the fortifications— is
not large, and the '' Alcrto'' of every sentinel is plainly to
be heard by each of its inhabitants not fast asleep — trying
for a restless invalid or fidgety character. I like it. It brings
pleasant reminiscences of wild life. In my dreams I hear
again the plaintive howl of the midnight wolf.
There is a fine large theatre here, but at present it is
given up to a " renowned " troupe of " English" acrobats
and gymnasts. I never heard of them in England. Their
names are quite unknown to me. I do not care for such
performances. I did not come to Spain to see my fellow-
countrymen make exhibitions of themselves. I can do so
at less trouble and expense. So I have carefully kept a\\ay.
There is also a fine Pla7.a dc Toros that will seat eight
thousand persons ; but July and August is the season,
and it is now shut up. The pc/ota court is, howe\-cr,
in full swing. It is a very inferior one to that at San
Sebastian.
I have met with a little book that purports to give an
authentic and particular history and description of this
ancient city and of its fortifications and neighbourhood,
with some account of its blockade by, and " heroic " defence
against, the Carlists. As Pamplona is an interesting and
important ]:)lacc, I am going to translate, condense, and
A THREAT. 107
omit — principally omit — and, throwing in a few observa-
tions of my own, make the product serve for a portion of
my next letter, by w\ay of a desperate attempt to combine
instruction and amusement — to, in fact, come Barlow ovet
my readers.
CHAPTER IX.
The City of Pamplona— Pamplona's Fortifications— Ignacio Loyola and
Jesuitism— Gateways of the City— The encircling Country— The Blockade
of Pamplona— Zfj^(//«/x— Departure from Pamplona— A charming View
— Tiebas — An ancient Ruin — Ven/a de las Cai/ipafias—Romvin or Car-
thaginian Camp— Arrival at Tafalla.
December 20, 1876.— Here goes for the translation, &c.
" Elevated one thousand two hundred and ninety-three
feet above the level of the sea, planted in the centre of the
province of Navarra, at the foot of the Pyrenees, and to the
south-west of the same, upon the left bank of the river Arga.
is situated the city of Pamplona, extending on the crown of
high ground which forms a platform whose centre the city
occupies." There ! That is as nearly literal as possible,
and gives a fair specimen of the Spanish way of spreading
it out. Then it appears to be proved " beyond intelligent
controversy " that the city was founded by Tubal before
the dispersion at the bin"lding of the Tower of Isabel, and,
consequently, that the Basque language, being the speech
introduced by those early settlers, is the original tongue of
paradise and the angels. Having then come to grief—
])rincipally from :\\u\ \ suiipose- Pamplona had to be re-
PAMPLONA'S FORTIFICATIONS. 109
built. This was done in less prehistoric times by Pompey,
B.C. 6^.
Conquered by Euric VIII., five hundred and thirty-four
years after its first rebuilding ; by the French nearly one
hundred years later; regaining its independence, and being
retaken by them under Charlemagne, who destroyed it
again ; it was yet once more rebuilt by its indomitable in-
habitants, fortified, and subsequently successfully defended
both against the Moors in A.D. 907 and the Castillians in
A.D. 1 138, and it in consequence rejoices, "of legal and pre-
scriptive right," in the titles of " Muy noble, muy lcal,y inuy
Jieroica " — for in Spain cities as well as families bear titles.
Pamplona's encircling fortifications are an admirable ex-
ample of Middle Age defensive work, and the city is con-
sidered one of the strongest in Europe. It is enclosed
within an irregular rectangular quadrilateral, composed of
eight redans and their connecting curtains, and of the
citadel at the south-west corner.
The faces of the redans and curtains are of most unusual
depth, and excepting where escalade is rendered impossible
by the extreme height of the escarped river bluff, are
covered by deep wide moats, and strengthened by semi-
detached works, covered ways, lunettes, and ravelins.
The five fronts of the fortifications are pierced by posterns,
giving access to the moats, by sally-ports, and by the six
strongly defended gateways by which the roads giving
access to the country leave the town. The river Arga flows
close under the north side of the fortifications, and is
crossed by but one bridge — La Magdalena — which is swept
by the guns of a battery on the walls, and covered by a
no ON FOOT AV SFAIIV.
stronf^ ravelin to its left. The largest and most important
redan is on the south or opposite side from the river, and
is that o{ La Rcina.
La Rcina has in its interior a well-constructed crown-
work, which commands the country on that side, and whose
armament sweeps the glacis. It also protects the powder
magazine in its rear, a most solid construction, of a capacity
of eighteen hundred hundredweight. In times of peace
the powder is stored outside the walls in a magazine, built
in 1842, on the eminence of Ezcaba, v.hich can hold
twenty-six hundred hundredweight. The postern leading
to the moat on the right flank of this redan is known as
" The Gate of Death," for through it are led prisoners
sentenced to be shot in the moat.
It was on the right flank of L.a Rciua, a little way back
off" the face of the curtain, that an event happened, a
casualty occurred, which, in the results developed from it,
has done Spain more fatal damage than all her other cala-
mities put together. An otherwise trifling incident which
was the first and potential cause of torture and death to her
best and noblest sons and daughters, which has done
Christianity more injury than Pagan and Infidel, from
whose effects the world is not yet free, which is still work-
ing evil in darkness, for there, defending the place, fell, in
1521, Ignacio Loyola,unfortunately for humanity, not killed,
but so sorely wounded that he lay recovering long enough
to conceive and mature his scheme of Jesuitry, that most
striking example of what "the cruelty, baseness, and
wickedness of the human, mind can plan, and the folh",
credulit}', and cowardice of mankind can tolerate." Close by
THE CITADEL. iii
stands the chapel of San Ignacio, founded in 1691, to
commemorate the event, and in which may be seen badly-
executed pictures illustrating it.
On the south-west of the place ifarmcs, between the
fronts, La Taconcm and San Nicolas, is the citadel, con-
structed in 1 571, by order of Filipe II., under the able
direction of Gorje Peleajo. It is a regular pentagon of six
hundred and eighty yards of exterior sides fortified on
Vauban's first system ; and has two sets of re-entering
flanks, half lunettes, and counterscarps to its exterior fronts ;
and five redans and corresponding curtains forming the
remaining fronts. The side which looks towards the Plasa,
called De la Victoria y San Antonio, has in its centre a
gateway and drawbridges of communication with the city.
In the fourth curtain is the gateway Del Socorro, which
opens to the exterior and has three posterns in it communi-
cating with the moat and covered ways, and with openings
enfilading the walls that join the redans, Victoria, Santiago,
and El Real. The citadel contains three barracks for
infantry, capable of accommodating twelve hundred men ;
a small one for cavalry having a capacity for eighty men
and sixty horses. Twelve small blocks of houses standing
round the open square, and grouped in twos and fours,
furnish quarters for chiefs and officers. A large building
for an artillery pai-k has spacious bombproofs to the right
and left, and there is a good bombproof powder magazine,
similar to the one in La Reina, capable of holding twenty-
five hundred hundredweight of powder ; also another
underground bombproof, containing four ovens for baking
bread in times of siege, a small engineer park, and a
112 O.V FOOT IN SPAIN.
chapel. There are yet twelve more bombproof cellars,
lying below the terrcplein of the curtain, in which is the
Socorro gateway, that can also serve for safe retreats for a
portion of the garrison in case of necessity.
The gateways through the fortifications, giving ingress
and egress to and from the citadel and the city of Pamplona,
are strong stone buildings, pierced by arched tunnels wide
enough for a waggon to traverse, and sixty feet in length,
are each furnished with drawbridge crossing the moat,
portcullis, and two strongly-ironed folding-doors. On each
side of the tunnel are guard-rooms. These gateways are
faced with smooth-wrought, fine-grained white stone, hand-
somely carved, and bear, immediately above their entrances,
in alto-relievo, the arms and insignia of the kingdoms of
Navarra and Aragon, the city arms, and the date 1666 —
that of their last restoration.
Pamplona owes much to her fortifications. She cannot,
to be sure, claim to be a virgin city ; for, ere they were
erected, Goth and P'rcnch both took her ; but since, she has
been inviolate, a most unapproachable^widow, let us say.
Moor, Castillian, French, have tried to force her, but in
vain ; even that rough and intrepid wooer of cities, the
"Iron Duke," had to content himself with a blockade when
he would fain have captured her ; lately Don Carlos
attempted her for five months with a like result.
Rf)und Pamj^lona lies a valley-plain of elliptical figure,
whose largest diameter is from north to south, and least
from cast to west. It is surrounded by a cordon of moun-
tains, seven Spanish leagues in circumference, and composed
of the EzcabiX, the Scvi Mi^iid dc Miraval/cs, and the 7:7
BLOCKADE OF PAMPLONA. 113
PerdoH y Zanil ranges. Within this elhpse lay the sub-
valleys o{ Echatiri, Aranguen, Egties, and Eloi.':;, the towns
of Huarte and Vi/lava, and the hamlets of Ansoan, Iza,
Tosin, Sular, and Oha. Beyond it is a wild stretch of
mountainous country bounded by the Cordilleras Cantaln'ica
and the Sierras oi Andia and oi Monrcal. The valley of
Pamplona is wonderfully productive and entirely under
cultivation, principally of the vine and wheat. The hills
and mountains are well wooded, and full of small, fertile,
lateral valleys.
Pamplona consists of one thousand nine hundred and
seventy houses, distributed in thirty-seven streets — for the
chief part straight and narrow — and round eight Plazas
and Plazuelas, the largest of which is that o^ La ConstiUt-
ciou, an imperfect square having three hundred and twenty
yards of side. There is too a pretty public garden which
also serves for promenading.
Though Pamplona's citizens are Carlistas, and at the
outbreak of the late civil war the garrison of Pamplona was
but a mere handful of men, the fortifications just described
saved the city to King Alfonso from a coup de main, and
its reduction had therefore to be attempted by blockade.
The investing force consisted of five " companies of
Jesus," five sections of cavalry — viz. four of the 1st Navarro,
and one of ''Los Alagoneses" and a reserve often companies
of the 4th infantry of the line and two batteries of field
artillery.
The defence of such an important place was entrusted
to three hundred Carahiiieros, one hundred and fifty Guar-
dias Civiles, four companies of the Cadis reserve, and one
114 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
hundred and fifty artillerymen of the 3rd foot artillery,
all under the command of the military governor, His
Excellency Don Manuel Andia.
The Carlists cut the aqueduct that supplies the public
fountains on which the inhabitants depend for water,
entirely prevented them from procuring fuel, and almost
completely barred the ingress of provisions from the
3rd September, 1874, till the Alfonsist army, forcing the
pass of the Carrascal, five months after, raised a blockade
that had nearly brought twenty-three thousand persons to
starvation.
There ! I think that is about enough of the " authentic
and particular." Adieu, Barlow, adieu!
At last, there was a lift of the heavy curtain of clouds
that for so long had canopied the earth, obscured the sky,
and hidden the distant mountains, and I judged, while the
evidently brewing storm was concentrating its forces, a few
days of fine weather v/ould intervene before it burst ; so,
believing my opportunity had come to make safely another
stage of my journey, announced my intention to depart
early the following morning.
It was really very gratifying to listen to the prettily-
turned speeches of regret addressed to me by all. The
lively lieutenant was especially demonstrative, and I was
glad of it, for I had got to like him much. With all his
cavalier ways, he had in the background a heap of sound
sense and right feeling ; besides, we had discovered a bond
of union between us. As he wished me good-night for the
last time, he gripped my hand and said, " Remember,
wherever you may happen to be, if I am there, there )-ou
DEPARTURE FROM PAMPLONA. 115
have a friend you can rely on." I liked those girls too —
the youngest especially. She was a very nice child, clever,
pretty, and engaging. She made me promise " never,
never, never " to forget her and Pamplona.
The 20th was a lovely morning. The clouds, ex-
cepting an ominously heavy bank to the nor'-west, had
vanished. The air was just cool enough to be bracing. I
was congratulated by the Colonel on my luck. " You see,"
said he, " we are going to have splendid weather ; do not
hurry away." I laughingly replied, " Deceive not yourself;
look at that black bank over yonder, to-day is the clear-up
before the storm ; ere Sunday Pamplona will be white with
snow. I am escaping — a dios" and I ran downstairs under
a volley of " Via 'sted con dios " from the entire family, my
fellow-boarders, and the servants.
I had intended making an early start ; but, as usual,
found it impossible to do so without leaving before any-
one was up, which would have been considered most dis-
courteous. The delusion that Spain is an early-rising
country has vanished after the others.
It was nine a.m. when Juan and I passed through the San
Nicolas gateway, crossed the drawbridge, and found our-
selves in the open country. I turned and kissed my hand
to Pamplona and " the girls I left behind me." The fool of
a sentinel pacing the drawbridge thought the gesture was
made to him and threw up his hand with an exclamation
of astonishment, then remembering his manners — all men
have manners in Spain- — waved his adieux to the " mad
Englishman." I am considered mad here because I walk
when it is evident I can afford to ride.
I 2
ii6 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
Twenty-five minutes past ten found me at the Carlist-
war-ruined hamlet of Noan, a quarter of a mile beyond
which, on crossing a little ridge, a most charming view was
sighted. Before me lay a long, narrow, shallow, winding
valley, one mass of young wheat of a most brilliant green,
a pretty stream bordered with tall poplars and willows
meandering down its centre, and, crossing stream and
valley, topping willows and poplars, a magnificent aque-
duct, solidly built of hewn stone, but from its great height
and graceful proportions looking light and airy. There
were ninety-seven arches, and where they crossed the river,
the lofty poplars fringing its banks failed by many feet to
reach their curves. They could not have been much under
seventy feet in height, and had a span of about half their
altitude. I estimated the entire distance of aqueduct
supported by them was but little short of half a mile.
The towering, and apparently close at hand, Carrascal
range — rough, precipitous, and bare — made a rugged,
handsome background and contrast to the level
verdure of the valley and symmetrical evenness of the
aqueduct.
A peasant farmer, who was driving his little flock of
goats and sheep along the road, on being questioned, said,
"The Romans made the aqueduct to bring water to Pam-
plona." At the distance it was from me (being ha', fa mile to
the left of the road) the aqueduct looked as new as though
built but a few years ; hut, as we talked, I noticed that
the line of caps to the " ni.in-holes " of the "ditch" — a
Cfjverctl stone one running under ground — crossed the road
to the front of nic. Doubtless they were coeval with the
TIE B AS. 117
archway ; I could test his statement by their look of age
on a close inspection.
'' Muy Ig'os" (very far off) was the most definite in-
formation extractable from the farmer as to the where-
abouts of the " ditchhead ; " but far as eye could see the
square, gray, tombstone-looking manhole caps were dotted,
in a winding course, along and climbed the mountain sides
to my right. Coming to where they crossed the road I sat
down on one to rest, enjoy the prospect, and criticise it.
In colour and weatherstain, in condition of surface and
edges, those hewn blocks were in appearance identical with
the neighbouring rocks in situ. So far as information
derivable by sight warranted a conclusion, the masonry I
sat on was as old as the mountains.
An hour-and-a-half's walk brought me abreast of Tiebas,
a most ancient-looking mountain village, built on a spur
of the Carrascals, and standing a few hundred yards to the
left of, and some hundreds of feet above and commanding,
my road, which there wound along through the narrowest
portion of the pass that led from the elevated valley, in which
is Pamplona, to the lower country beyond the Carrascals.
Close to the village, and occupying the entire top of a
rocky mound, whose form is so regular as to convey an
impression that it is partly artificially so, stand the remains
of an old, a very old castle — in fact, the oldest-looking ruin
I have yet seen in Spain. These mementoes of the days
of chivalry and romance consist of portions of a square
tower and two round encircling walls, one below the other.
The tower is built of roughly-hewn freestone from the
nearest mountain. Its walls are of great thickness, and the
ii8 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
cement or mortar that was used in its construction of
wonderful tenacity, for as time, and perhaps gunpowder,
destroyed the building, the course of cleavage invariably
crossed the blocks of stone and never followed the line of
cement. A large gateway — the entrance to the castle
court — has lost its right support, which, fallen to the
ground, has crumbled away and become but a heap of
grass-grown mould ; still the arch — an inverted U mutilated
of the lower half of one side — hangs in the air carrying a
superincumbent mass of masonry. Take away one of the
supports of the Marble Arch, and how long will the " Iron
Duke" and horse continue from their present conspicuous
elevation to greatly astonish artistic foreigners .''
From Tiebas onward the prospect was hemmed in and
bounded by a mountain's side, and, close at hand, rolling
hills, until Venta dc las Cavipajins was reached ; at which
place I stopped to breakfast.
Vcnta dc las Cainpaiias is not a village, but, as its name
implies, a roadside tavern — the tavern of the bells. Of
course there is a church near it — there is near every place.
This one has a rather fine doorway, with a huge arch above
it, rising nearly to the point of the gable, and a circular
window pierced within, very similar in appearance to some
of the church doorways in Pamplona. The vcnta proved a
nice, clean, decent little inn, and there I enjoyed an ex-
cellent meal, quite a treat after my late fare. Juan, too,
got a good "tuck out," and fifteen pence paid the entire
bill, including excellent wine ad lib., which, being thirsty,
I spared not.
While waiting for breakfast to be cooked, a mule-cart
VENTA DE LAS CAMP AN AS. 119
drove up, stopped, and its driver came in, saluted, and sat
down. On looking around he spied in a corner an old
guitar, and immediately seized upon it. The instrument
lacked two strings. " 'Tis well," he exclaimed, " it matters
not, I am always prepared," and he forthwith produced
from the folds of his voluminous sash an old pocket-book,
containing more guitar-strings than anything else, found
and fitted those lacking, sat down, tuned up, and played
away. Though but a common waggoner the man was full
of music, and played some beautiful airs with charming
chords. Amongst them was an old friend, one last heard
thousands of miles off, years ago : " The Spanish Retreat,"
I closed my eyes, and saw again the waving tree-ferns, the
feathery palms of other days, almost fancied I smelt once
more the night-blooming cereus's intoxicating perfume !
His music made the time of waiting seem but short.
Soon after leaving the venta^ the edge or rim of the
plateau was reached, and the direction of the slope of the
sides of the mountain, on each hand, changed — pitching
from instead of towards Pamplona ; and at a turn of the
road, the prospect opened out to a splendid bird's-eye view
of valleys, ridges, and distant ranges ; the valleys studded
with detached Butes having table-land tops. One of these,
the nearest to the right, showed plainly three broad terraces,
scarped on its front, connected by wide, graded roads,
leading to its top, while the adjacent ridges had evidently
been once extensively entrenched. Undoubtedly I saw
before me the site of some ancient military camp, and no
small nor temporary one either. It was very like, but
larger, what have been pointed out to me in England as
I20 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
remains of early British or Roman camps. Tiie strongest
side of this fortified position faced towards Pamplona ;
evidently, it was intended to accommodate an army of
protection, covering the country in its rear from raids
through the Carrascals from the north, as the Tiebas Castle
had been located for a defence of the pass against the
Moors from the south. The camp was perhaps Roman,
possibly Carthaginian. Hannibal's army may have rested
there — who can sa}' }
A third of the country spread out before me was, as far
as the eye could discern, vineyards or wheatfields, the rest
a jumble of intermixed moorlike waste lands and scattered
mountain elevations, all covered with loose rocks, stunted
brush, and wild herbs ; and appearing in most unlikely
places, were to be seen little villages, made conspicuous
only by the towers of churches and monasteries, the dingy
brownness of their prevailing hue matching so closely with
that of the surrounding ground as to render them otherwise
hardly discernible.
I entered Tafalla over the new stone-bridge, crossing
the river Cidacos. I call it the new bridge, though it looked
older than any I have ever seen in h^ngland, because there
close to it — alongside, but not parallel, as if the river had
when it was built run a slightly different course — was the
old abandoned bridge, still looking in its hoary age solid
enough for the traffic had the river been as unchangeable
as it.
Night had fallen, it was quite dark, and I hastened to
find food and quarters for myself and Juan.
CHAPTER X.
The chief Hotel at Tafalla— An affable Maid— Hard Dancing—*' Viva Ingle-
terra y Los Espanas" — Danger ahead — An Offer of Marriage — The
Storm at last — The Garden of Navarra — Uncommonly Short Commons
— Plomes of Knights of 0\A—L(^Santa Posada — Cheap and Nice — Las
Bardetias Rcales de N'avarra—An Exhortation — Robberdom.
December 22, 1876. — Tafalla appeared to be a town
of some size and importance, as large as all the hamlets
passed near in the course of my walk from Pamplona
put together, but had about it a dirty, dismal, disreputable
air.
I stepped up to the only decently-apparelled and
respectable-looking person I saw, an infantry lieutenant,
arid made inquiry for a stopping-place. By him I was
directed to the leading hotel, a large, rambling stone
building, capable of accommodating a company of men, but
seemingly uninhabited, no lights being visible, no sound
issuing therefrom.
I entered the Fonda, and after groping my way up a
pitch-dark stairway, wandering along a passage, opening
half-a-dozen doors giving entrance to untenanted rooms, at
last found my way into a large kitchen, and in it beheld
122 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
sitting on the hearth with a babe at the breast, and two
young children sprawHng on the floor at her feet, the
mistress, two smartly-dressed girls cooking, and several
travellers or loafers warming themselves at the fire. After
the usual salutations of the country had been given I made
my wants known, and was conducted by one of the maids
to a roomy, clean, and sufficiently-furnished bedchamber,
an astonishingly good one for such a dismal-looking house,
and there made a comfortable toilet, changed my w^alking
boots for the alpargatas I carried in my pocket, and then
returned and joined the group around the kitchen-fire.
My dinner was soon announced, and, following a
maid, I found it set out in a large, handsome, but scantily-
furnished room. It was a very good dinner indeed, of
many courses, admirably cooked. Its crowning glory was
a large plateful of lampreys nicely browned in the sweetest
of olive oil. Oh, how good they were ! I ate them all. I
dined in solitary grandeur all alone. But I did not mind.
I was waited on by, I think, the most talkative, I am sure
the handsomest, servant-girl I ever saw. This affable maid
told me lampreys were awfully dear, the most expensive
dish that could be served, their price being sevenpence
three-farthings a pound, but that they used to be much less
costly.
On my return to the kitchen I found a guitarist had
arrived and was playing merrily. Pieces he executed
indifferently, but accompanied well enough, and having
a rich tenor voice, which though uncultivated was quite
under control, and a good n^pcrtoirc of songs, was quite an
acqvu'sition.
HARD DANCING. 123
Before long the Guitarrista started a Jota, and every-
body importuned me to dance ; they should so much like
to see how I danced it. On explaining the Jota was not
an English dance, that I was English, consequently could
not, they were still unsatisfied, maintaining it was evident
I was no stranger to the ways of the country, and must^
therefore, know the national dance ; so being unwilling to
appear churlish, or to give an impression that English-
men were indifferent to oblige, I told them I would do
my little towards the entertainment of the evening, and
made my bow to the beauty who had waited on me at
dinner.
And she was a most decided beauty, her figure charming,
her face lovely in classical outline, in delicate brilliancy
of complexion, her large lustrous black eyes deadly at a
thousand yards. She had such elegant limbs, and, great
Cffisar— such feet ! Where a peasant-girl got feet like hers
from passeth my understanding ; short, high arched, small
heeled, muscular, symmetrical models !
The young woman played shy ; so, seizing her by both
hands, gentle force was added to entreaty, she was landed
in the middle of the floor, and we started. It was a treat
to see the graceful, hearty agility with which that Mozitda
hermosisama danced ; there was a grace, cJiic, and abandon
about her movements which was quite enchanting.
I believe it is a point of honour to dance down your
partner in the Jota, and mine tried her best to do so. But
my wind was too good, I was not on a pedestrian trip
for nothing, my training was too much for her ; and though
with set teeth and flashing eyes she gamely continued till
124 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
her colour left and her breath failed, I still "kept the
floor," windii^L;- up with a florid pas sail ere I sat down.
" El Ingles " did not disgrace his nationality, as first in all
athletics, and a hearty round of applause rewarded my
exertions.
An old fellow next whom I seated myself declared he
had always thought England a great country, and was now
sure of it. Said he : " I'll tell you what we'll do. We'll
marry the little Alfonzo to the Queen of England's
daughter, if she has one. Then he will be King of Spain
and England, Gibraltar will belong to both nations, and
he will eat up Portugal and France for breakfast, and
conquer the world at his leisure, for there is no fleet like
the English, no armies like those of the Spains. Viva
Ingle terra y los E span as ! "
This old man proved very talkative, and quite bored me
with questions, but in return I managed to get a little in-
formation about Tafalla out of him : that it was a Caba::a
de Partido (district capital), had a population of five
thousand souls, was once a very rich place, but in decadence;
that it could boast of the remains of an old palace, built
for Charles the Noble, king of Navarra, of two Gothic
churches, and of a celebrated hermitage famous as the scene
of the assassination of Echevarri, Archbishop of Pamplona,
by Don Nozen Pierres de Peralta, Grand Constable of
Castile in 1469, and that taxation and the octroi was
quickly sending it to "iT/ Dcinonio." As this respectable old
gossip seemed read up in the history of his neighbourhood,
I in(|uirc(l about the builders of the si:)lcndid aqueduct-
bridge, with whose beauty I had been so much taken. He
DANGER AHEAD. 125
told me the structure now standing was not erected by the
ancients, but by a celebrated " modern " engineer, Don
Ventura Rodriguez, who finished it in 1730, on the site of
the original bridge, which he strove to replace as well in
appearance as in utility. The ditch and its masonry were,
he affirmed, undoubtedly Roman work.
Having learned incidentally from me that I intended
walking to Tudela, this old gaffer most urgently advised
my not attempting to do so alone, assuring me I had to
cross a stretch of country having the worst reputation for
robberies and murders in Spain — Las Bardcnas Rcales de
Navarra— and strongly recommended my journeying in
company with a carretcro sitting opposite us, who, he
informed me, though poor, was a man in whom the utmost
confidence could be placed ; and who, having come from
Zaragoza with a load of figs, and sold them, would start
back empty the next morning ; adding, as further induce-
ments, that I should be able to put my traps in the man's
cart, that should it rain I could take shelter therein, that
the mules would go no faster than I could walk, and re-
turning to the old song that two persons might be safe
when one would be in great danger. So I broached the
matter, and as he seemed well pleased with the idea, it was
arranged that we should travel together so long as it suited
me, he fixing times of departure, halts, stations, &c. ; ten
o'clock the following morning, sharp, being the appointed
hour at which to leave the fonda. That settled, and an
early rise not being necessary, I sat up till late, amusing
myself by listening to the songs sung, and watching the
dancing, for the ice once broken, an alternate Jota and
126 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
Copla was the order of the night, and so the entertainment
was kept up unflaggingly.
Talk about " fast girls of the period," why that fonda
beauty of Tafalla could give any I have ever seen a distance.
She was the rapidest two-footer it has ever been my fortune
to encounter. Before parting, towards morning, she abso-
lutely made me an offer of marriage ! No doubt it was in
fun, to fool me, but it was done with the gravest, most
sincere, and most serious air in the world. She said she
had saved a little money besides her inheritance, and if I
would take her and settle down, she and the money were
ready. Upon my word, if I had been a young fellow of
fortune, and " on the marry," I might have done far worse
than taken her an scriaix. She knew enough, if necessary,
to have stood over my cook, English or French as the case
might be, and prevent her or him poisoning me by bad
cookery, even if she had to show how it was done herself
with her own pretty little hands. She was handsome and
ele"-ant enough to grace the head of any table, to make a
sensation in every ball-room in Europe. Courtly manners,
would have come to her as though by intuition; they
always do to women with well-bred hands and feet. I was
really sorry as I reflected that in all human probability fate
would throw her charms away on an ignorant, half-clad,
half-barbarous Navarra labourer, with about the same appre-
ciation for the beautiful as a jack-snipe has of a fine game
of billiards ; j ay dc mc ! but 'tis a badly mixed up world.
Before getting into bed I looked out of the window.
The night was black dark, and a fitful wind sighed and
moaned through the streets. At half-past twelve I heard
THE STORM AT LAST. 127
the Serenos' cry, Est las docc y media y jiublado. In half-
an-hour, " It is one o'clock and raining." A gentle drizzle
was falling. Soon a steady rattle on the window-panes
showed the rain was coming down in earnest. Rapidly
it increased to a regular deluge. The storm had come at
last, and I fell asleep to the lullaby of a howling tem-
pest.
A little before nine in the morning my proposed bride
brought the dcsayuno to my bedside and awoke me. It
was the old San Sebastian matin repast. There was the
milk chocolate that a spoon could almost stand in, the
azucarillos and the milk roll for which my soul had sighed
in vain at Pamplona. The rain had ceased, but heavy clouds
covered the sky, while the streets were deep in mud and
slush. As I was to leave by ten, breakfast was out of the
question, so I paid my bill — half-a-crown's worth of Spanish
money — had an appropriate leave-taking with the beauty,
and was ready. Not so the carretero, for his theoretical
ten o'clock sharp proved to be, in fact, a quarter-past eleven,
at which time we eventually did get under weigh.
From the very edge of the town extended a succession
of fruit orchards, vineyards, and olive groves, through
which stretched, till lost to sight, a wide, well-made road,
bordered by walnut and other shady trees. The vineyards
were full of pruners, the olive groves of pickers, equipped
with poles, ladders, and baskets. The straight, broad, level
highway seemed the capacious centre walk of a gigantic
garden. The truth was apparent of the local proverb :
De Olite a Tafalla,
La Flor de Navarra.
128 Oy FOOT IN SPAIN.
Some two Spanish leagues south of Tafalla (there are
twenty Spanish Icgiias to tlie geographical degree) lays
Olitc, the first place we arrived at. It is a quaint old
walled village, with two picturesque churches, one in ruins,
the other having a fine tower surmounted with a spire, the
only church-spire I have as yet seen in Spain ; tower and
spire most unique and original in design, and adding quite
a novel feature to the landscape.
The ruins of a once very fine castle attracted my atten-
tion, and I ascertained they were the remains of a royal
palace, built at the latter end of the fourteenth or beginning
of the fifteenth century for Charles III. of Navarra. This
castle is a grand old ruin, and inspection revealed that the
carvings of one of the two churches were pre-eminently
odd and remarkably clever. From this place to Tafalla
there is believed to be a subterranean passage to the
palace there, made also by Doji Carlos d Noble — that is to
say, is believed by the peasants ; I do not believe any
such thing.
Beyond Olitc, whcatfields, pastures, and stretches of wild
land, supplanted the olive groves, and, to a great extent, the
vineyards ; the face of the country became rolling, the
distant prospect strongly accidented.
Arriving at the summit of an acclivity, I turned to
take a look at the country I was leaving behind me.
Though so recently travelled over it was unrecognisable.
My prophecy to the Colonel had been speedily and
thoroughly fulfilled. I gazed on a white world. That round
Pamplona there was a foot in depth of snow was unques-
tionable. The mountains between me and there showed
UNCOMMONLY SHORT COMMONS. 129
not spot or place uncovered. I had got out In time, but
with none to spare. As the day grew older the wind
steadily increased in force ; and, being from the north-west,
coming from snow-clouds, and over many and many a
league of fallen snow, was bitterly cold. A chilling,
drizzling rain began to fall, and I gladly took refuge in the
covered cart; Juan following as though he were a waggoner's
dog. He, too, was glad of partial shelter, and found it by
trotting along between the wheels. As the day wore on I
naturally got hungry, and asked where we were to stop for
breakfast. " Oh, we can't stop," said the carretero ; " we
had such a late start, it will be all the mules can do to get
to Caparroso before dark, by continuous travelling ; I
breakfasted at a friend's in Tafalla, and supposed you would
at the inn, while waiting for me." Evidently I was in for
nothing to eat until nightfall. However, an occasional
short fast hurts nobody who is hardy, and I had made
many a longer one before ; besides, being fortunately a
smoker, I have always at command a meal of two courses :
first, to take up my waistband a hole ; second, a pipe.
But such a diet is too light and virtuous to be a satisfactory
substitute for " cates and ale."
We passed through wretchedly poverty-stricken villages,
each having, though, several large, solidly-built, cut-stone
houses in them — " casas solarcs " — houses with porte-cochere
and court-yard, and on whose front were sculptured coats-of-
arms. On the newest-looking of these old mansions a date
was plainly distinguishable; as compared with some of the
carvings, its engraving looked like the work of yesterday ;
the date was 1617. These houses, the shelter of peasants,
K
130 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
living huddled with their fowls and goats, their cattle,
donkeys, and fleas, had been the homes of belted knights
of old, of the grandees of the kingdom of Navarra, of
Christianity's advance-guard against the conquering Moor.
I begin to differ from my San Sebastian friend, to cease to
look upon Spain, through his spectacles, as the country of
" to-morrow," and to consider it, on the contrary, as that of
a long-passed, almost-forgotten yesterday.
Towards night the cold wind moderated} the rain ceased,
and I gladly exchanged a cramped posture in a cart with-
out springs for the free use of my limbs on the road.
We were within half a mile of Caparroso when I stopped
to admire a very prettily-built, ecclesiastical-looking build-
ing, standing in a grove of trees a hundred yards to the
right of our road. When the carrctero came up he sur-
prised me greatly by saying : " Ah ! you seem to know
where we are going to stop for the night. That is a better
and much cheaper posada than any in the town yonder."
I told him I had been thinking what a pretty church
it was.
" It does look like a church, for you sec it is a santa.
The wing on this side is the part which is the posada.
Almost all the santas in this country have a posada
attachment."
I did not know what a sa}ita meant — did not dare to
ask. My couipagnon de voyage might consider himself out-
raged if he discovered he was travelling with one who was,
so evidently not a " Cristianol' as to be in ignorance on
such a subject. However, ere night I found out. A santa,
or santo, as the case may be, is a chapel of commemoration
LA SANTA POSADA. 131
built over the spot where a ghost of the Virgin, or of some
saintess or saint of renown has appeared, and which is
opened for worship once a year, namely, on the anniversary
of the appearance of the spectre ; on which occasion a
special mass is performed, attended by such pilgrims as the
holiness or other attractions of the spot has brought there.
It is the harvest-day of the santa posada, for there the
congregation eat, drink, and sleep — or rather, spend the
night feasting, guitar-twanging, jota-dancing, singing, and,
generally speaking, in what is called in colder and more
puritan climes immorality.
On entering the santa posada I was glad to find its
interior corresponded with its outward aspect. It was very
clean, smelt pure and sweet, and had been freshly white-
washed. In the kitchen was a trim old woman, cooking at
a most unusually tidy hearth, who greeted the carretero as
an old acquaintance, and, saying we must be hungry, im-
mediately prepared a couple o{ jicaras of chocolate and
presented them, as stays to our stomachs till a regular
meal could be got ready. My hunger vv^as too pressing,
however, to be so easily satisfied ; I therefore begged a big
slice of bread, toasted it on the wood coals, rubbed it with
a lump of salt,' saturated it with fresh olive oil; gave it a
finishing warm up, and washing it down with a tumblerful
of wine, felt more contented and better able to contemplate
with equanimity the preparations of what would really and
truly be my breakfast — my first meal that day, though it
was long past sunset. The old woman gave us an excel-
lent repast : soup, two courses of meat, several dishes of
different vegetables, apples, roast and raw, dried grapes,
K 2
132 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
and roasted chestnuts, wine and bread without stint. I
had a most cheerful bedroom and comfortable bed, and
really felt more "at home" than I had done before in
Spain. In the morning we had the usual desaynno, we
carried away with us a big half-loaf of bread and several
slices of cold meat, to sustain us until we reached Valtierra,
our appointed place for breakfast, my dog had all he could
eat, and the entire charge for man and dog was one shilling
and tenpence halfpenny! I never was more comfortable in
any inn in any country; certainly have never been charged
so low a price for such entertainment
We were to have made an early start, so as to arrive at
Tudela before dark — half-past five A.M. had been the ap-
pointed time. I woke at six, but I did not jump out of bed
and dress in frantic haste ; oh no, quite the contrary. I
carefully went to sleep again. Is not foreign travel to
make a man wise .'' Does not experience make even fools
so.? Have I not already learned what fixing a time amounts
to in Spain ? At seven I was called by the pretty and
engaging granddaughter of the old woman, who brought
chocolate, etc. etc. to my bedside, and at half-past seven A.M.
we were on the road.
Just before arriving at Caparroso we crossed, in the
gray dawn of day, by a fine old bridge of eleven pointed
arches, a clear, sharp stream— the river Aragon, there
about the size of the Thames at Richmond. Its low right
bank extended back in grassy meadows, fertile orchards,
vineyards, and wheatfields. Directly in front of us its left
bank rose in frowning bluffs eight hundred feet in the air,
the precipitous and wall-like face of the table-land desert
AN EXHORTATION. 133
" Las Bardenas Reales de Navarra!' These bluffs showed
a section composed of alternate strata of veined limestone,
gypsum, hard close-grained red cement, and barren gray
clay ; a huge natural scarp, cracked and seamed in fantastic
shapes by the shocks and wear of ages, breached and riven
by the eternal siege of time. On a wide terrace-like ledge,
a third of the way up the face of the bluffs, was perched
Caparroso and its church. A church and Caparroso, I
should have written, for the house of worship was by far
the more conspicuous of the two, being large enough to
hold, not only all the parishioners, but the greater number
of their dwellings as well. The disproportion in the size
and number of churches to the requirements of the popula-
tion is, in this country, continually forcing itself on my
notice. It is Falstaft's suit of clothes for an infant in arms.
How insane of these people to build such churches. But
what they did they did well. Then architects were not
all dead, and builders were not yet invented.
As we left the town the carretero called to me to stop —
I was in advance — and, on coming up, addressed me as
follows :
" I pray your valiant worship to take heed of what I
am about to say. We are now entering a very bad country,
one in which there have been many murders. Load your
gun well. Put good caps on. Carry your weapon in your
hand ready to shoot. Call upon our Lady >J< and Saint
lago. Be watchful ! be brave ! "
I am no stranger to the expression of fear on a man's
face. I looked in my companion's, and saw he was really
seriously apprehensive of danger. I suppose the man.
134 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
having sold his figs, had in his sash what, to him, seemed a
laro-e sum of money, and being aware that all Tafalla knew
he was returning empty, and consequently had the price of
his late load about his person, he considered himself a
possibly-marked prey tc^ be waylaid and assassinated So,
assuring him my double-barrel was all right, and good for
two robbers, and that I was not at all afraid, I cocked and
shouldered it.
We were soon in very nearly as wild a looking country
as can be seen anywhere. Arid stretches of broken table-
land, furrowed with deep ravines, and gullies, studded with
detached butes, crossed by ridges of bare rugged rock,
formed foreground and middle distance. Beyond, bounding
the prospect on every side, rose chains of fantastically-out-
lined mountains ; those to the north sheeted with snow.
Immediately in our front, far beyond Tudela and the Ebro,
but cutting so sharply and distinctly against cloud and sky
as to seem almost at hand, its peaks and domes showing
where they pierced through the mountain's cap of clouds,
brilliantly white with the first snows of winter, and fur-
nishing an appropriate point of culminating interest and
focus to the picture, the clustered summits of La Sierra
del Moneayo towered six thousand feet above our level. A
few scattered trees on a distant ridge to our left, apparently
cedars, was all the timber in sight, and where the surface
of the ground was not bare gray clay, rock, or gravel, it
was but scantily clothed with a sprinkling of tough wire-
grass, low shrubs of wormwood, oklman, and spine-plant.
It was a portion of the wildest part of " The Great Desert
of Norlli America" over again. As I walked along, cocked
ROBBERDOM. 135
gun in hand, " eye skinned and beard on shoulder," neither
man, beast, nor habitation in sight, the old accustomed
tinkle of the mule-bells ringing in my ear, I almost fancied
myself back there again.
It would have been in thorough keeping with the acces-
sories to have heard once more the war-whoop of the
Hualipais, and the swish of their arrows.
CHAPTER XI.
A dreary Ruin — The Valley of the Ebro — A Potato Hunt— A desecrated
Mansion — " We are going to have Stewed Cat" — Strolling Musicians —
It went very well— An enchanting Composition — Summer Pasture of the
Arena Bulls— Almost Dreamland— A happy Accident— Good Quarters —
A Military Anglomaniac — The Price of Provisions — Wages.
December 27, 1876. — Two hours' travelling on Las Bar-
denas Realcs de Navarra, in a southerly direction, most of
the time at a trot, on which occasions I gladly run ahead
or alongside the cart to warm myself, for a cold damp
wiixd was blowing, gave us a few glimpses of better land —
low-lying flats and strips of ground, affording scanty
pickings on which were seen small flocks of goats and
sheep, and their attendant guardians, men and dogs.
Presently, in one of the roughest, deepest, wildest of
ravines — a jagged rift, stretching miles to our right —
appeared on an isolated, rocky bute, the gray ruins of a
huge monastery. The world cannot furnish a more for-
bidding site for habitation of man than where those ruins
stand, but it was one well suited to the spirit of asceticism
of the age when that old-time refuge for the weary, the
disappointed, and — the idle, was founded. Certainly from
its window-holes all creation looked accursed.
THE VALLEY 01^ THE EBRO.
^37
Towards the middle of the day we came in sight of a
square building, standing on the summit of a hill in front
of us. It was a parador—\n plain English, a halting-place.
There, my companion said, we could procure a drink, so
we at once attacked our bread and meat, and, on arriving
abreast of it, left the team to take care of themselves, ran
in, and called for wine. We tossed off a couple of tum-
blerfuls each, and our thirst was quenched. It was most in-
different " Navarrino," but wonderfully cheap. Fancy being
charged at a place of entertainment, out in a desert, where
there was no opposition, five farthings for four tumblerfuls
of pure, unadulterated, drinkable wine ! An hour's farther
march brought us to the upper edge of the bluff looking
towards the wide valley of the Ebro, and the road turning
into, and descending by, a winding ravine, we shortly
debouched by its mouth into the verdant plain. It was a
most charming change. The bluffs sheltered us from the
bleak wind. A bright sun shone in an almost cloudless
sky. Our climate was as instantaneously changed as
though we had be entranslated to another zone. It was as
one of England's balmiest of July days.
The valley — there some four miles wide — was a con-
tinued succession of fruitful verdujip ; vine, olive, and wheat
covered the ground. Two long bold curves of the river
disclosed long vistas of river valley ; its opposite side, like
the one we were travelling, being bounded by the preci-
pitous bluffs of an elevated country, apparently similar in
characteristics to the tract we had just traversed, and
extending to the base of the Moncajo, which, seen through
the warm haze, seemed to have receded by fifty miles.
138 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
And, sufificicntly in our front for distance to lend its
enchantments, lay Valtierra.
On a near approach this little town proved to be a
walled but not fortified one ; and as the main highway
swung round its walls, we turned instead of going through
it. Doubtlessly I lost little by so doing. The peep ob-
tained, as we passed, through one of the gateways revealed
narrow, ill-paved, squalid streets. But our so doing was a
postponement of breakfast until we should arrive at the
next town — Arguedas, This change of plan was necessi-
tated, said the carretcro, by our having made so late a start,
for at Arguedas he hoped to buy a load of potatoes, and
the meal being prepared while he loaded with them, no
time would be lost.
A league's farther travel down the Ebro's valley brought
us to our halting-place, which, though an insignificant town,
has a more cared-for look about it than any seen since
leaving Pamplona. Tt actually appears to be flourishing
in a lazy sort of a way.
Leaving his cart, team, and me in the middle of the
town, my companion of the road started off to hunt pota-
toes, and it was over an hour before I saw him again ; then
he informed me none were to be obtained, and that we had
better drive without further delay to ^posada and get our
breakfasts. As we were about to start an old woman came
up, and informing the carretcro she had a friend who had
plenty of potatoes for sale, carried him off yet again. A
quarter of an hour elapsed and he came back . At last he
had made his purchase ; at length he was ready to proceed
to \\\Q posada.
A DESECRATED MANSION. 139
The little tavern we entered looked tidy enough ; and
being very hungry, I ordered the best breakfast possible,
and confidently expected a fair meal. But I continue to
find that in both great and small, Spain is emphatically the
land of surprises, and sometimes disappointments. That
landlady's idea of a good breakfast v/as a compound mess
of cut cabbage, sliced potatoes, chunks of bread, all boiled
together in water, strained, and served with hot oil poured
over it ; of a loaf of bread, and a goatskin bottle of indif-
ferent wine. Such was " the best breakfast possible "
affordable by \\\-a.\. posada. However, hunger obligeth, and
between us we " worried it down."
The little scheme for saving time, by loading whilst our
breakfast was cooking, that had been propounded by the
carrctcro, proved, like his early starts, a matter of romance;
for when our late in the afternoon breakfast was despatched,
he told me the potatoes he had purchased were in bulk, and
had to be sacked and weighed, which it would take until
after dark to do, so that we could go no farther that day.
There being nothing interesting to inspect in the little town,
I accompanied him to see the operation, by way of killing
time. He led the way along some very narrow alley-like
streets, to a dilapidated stone house, whose handsome
facade, sculptured escutcheons, carved stairway, and general
appearance, proclaimed it had been the residence of some
noble of the past; and, in its ancient banqueting-hall, found
five old women on their knees, or rather, sitting on their heels,
sorting the potatoes that covered its stone floor. Evidently
those mature females would never get the twenty big empty
sacks waiting for the reception of the potatoes filled before
I40 OA FOOT IN SPAIN.
nightfall, for they were taking the tubers up singly, rubbing
off all shoots, and placing them deliberately in a basket,
from which they were to be poured into the sacks. And
they paused and had something to say over every potato.
They talked more and did less than any employees working
by the job that I have ever seen.
The potatoes were splendid ones — finer I never saw —
sound, even in size, plump, and bright-skinned. They only
cost, including the labour of sacking, at the rate of fivepence
the stone of fourteen pounds.
On my return to the posada — I did not remain long at
the potato-sorting — the hostess's mother, a white-haired
wiry dame of sixty-seven years of age, was busy cooking
our dinner. She lifted the lid of a stew-pan to put in some
seasoning, and I noticed it contained the joints and pieces
of some small animal, but not its head, and immediately
had my suspicions. Thinking to ascertain the truth by a
ruse, I rubbed my hands together, as if in satisfaction, and
cheerfully exclaimed : " Ah ! we are going to have stewed
cat."
" Cat, indeed ! It is a rabbit. Does your worship think
I would cook a cat 1 "
" Where is its head .'' "
" Oh, I gave it to the dog. A rabbit's head is not worth
cooking."
At dinner I found the animal I had seen in the pot was
'OpiQ piece de resistance — and most resisting pieces its morsels
were — of a wretched meal. It, and a mess like that had
for breakfast, comprised the entirety.
The old woman had liecn very painstaking as to the
STROLLING MUSICIANS. 141
cooking of the animal ; had stewed it for two hours and a
half, seasoned it with some cloves of garlic first slightly
boiled in oil, with salt and pepper ; had added plenty of
good olive oil. All to no purpose ; it was tough as buck-
skin, flabby as cotton wool in texture, watery and insipid
in taste — in short, unfit for food. Whether it were rabbit
or cat I did not know, never shall know ; but I did most
certainly know it was miserable trash as I ever tried to eat.
If it was a fair sample of cat, then no more cat do I want
while I live. I tried to eat a piece of back, a leg, a shoulder ;
no go, and so generously presented the rejected pieces to
Juan. He is not a dainty dog, eats potatoes, even eats
cabbage. He sniffed, looked insulted, and retired.
During dinner a blind guitarist entered playing, led by
a small boy, who accompanied with the triangle. When
we had finished they supped on what was left of our dinner,
including the pieces refused by my dog ; probably poverty
had educated their taste. They were poor strollers, but
the blind man played very well, while the boy was as sharp
a young monkey as ever followed the road. When they
had eaten and smoked the cigarros I handed them, they
commenced a jota, the sound of which soon attracted
several persons in from the street, some of whom for fun
begged and teased the old woman to dance. She, by way
of a chaffing back-out, declared she would dance with
nobody but the Englishman, thinking, no doubt, I could
not dance the jota. So, to carry on the joke, I remarked I
did not believe she meant what she said, that I was sure
could I dance she would not. Then the ancient dame
swore " by the Holy Virgin " she was no old fool to say a
142
ON FOOT IN SPAIN
thing and not do it. That oath dcHvered her into the hand
of the enemy, and, jumping up, I exclaimed, " I can dance
2.jota with any Navan'ina that wears alpargatas ;'' and the
old girl, not to be beaten, faced me, and, to the great
delight of the company, we started. The plucky grandam
came to time in a wonderful way, but could not last, and
soon yielded the floor. Amongst the spectators was a fine,
fresh-looking, strapping peasant-wench, and, on my ante-
diluvian partner's retiring, I danced up to her, made my
bow, and she took the old woman's place. When the dance
was at its fastest, as an experiment, to see how it would go,
I took a leaf out of the Pamplona cavalryman's book, and
dexterously floored the lamp. It went very well. After
that all the girls in the room were ready to dance with
" El Iiiglcs." But I danced no more. The rest, hov/ever,
did, and I soon saw that, danced by peasants, the jota
is a very queer performance. I cannot give detail ; some
of the movements and gestures are neither produceable
before nor describable to a British public. And to say that
such are not intentionally grossly immodest would be to
state an unmitigated untruth. By-and-by the sharp boy
handed round his gorro for limosna. I had a pocketful of
Spanish coppers, cnartos, ocJiavos, maravedies, not much in
value, only about a shilling's worth, but many in number,
and I dropped them all in the cap. How the boy's eyes
sparkled ! I heartily wished the poor musician's could have
done so too.
I retired to bed, but not exactly to sleep. For the first
time in Spain my bed was a bad one ; the mattress of
chopped hay and straw, the sheets not too clean ; and,
AN ENCHANTING COMPOSITION 143
worst of all, mine enemy was upon me. Queen Mab's
lancers mustered their squadrons to the attack ; a slower
but not less formidable foe marched and countermarched
upon my prostrate body, and in the morning I was a
" speckled victim." So, after swallowing my little cup of
chocolate, I gladly departed from that miserable posada.
As is often the case, extra bad fare and accommodation
was, as a set-off, charged for at extra high rates, and my
bill amounted to considerably more than double what it
had been at the santa where everything was so good and
comfortable.
Arguedas, though a little place, is a walled town ; and
as we approached close to the old arched gateway through
which our road ran, an enchanting composition presented
itself to my view. I beheld an ancient square tower — all
that remained of extensive works the traces of which were
discernible for one hundred and fifty yards, while the bluff
behind was pierced with galleries — a tower, in size, shape,
and proportions wonderfully like -a^'^ old Norman castle's
keep, or donjon. Its base was built of roughly-hewn stone,
the corners of its three sides — the fourth had fallen and
wasted to mould — and occasional cross-courses were stones
rough as they had come out of the quarry, its filling was
rubble. Beyond was a green, smiling river- valley ; then
brown rugged hills ; in the far distance snow-capped moun-
tains ; overhead a bright blue sky; while, to complete the
picture, to give it the interest of life and motion — oh, rare
and happy chance ! — down the road towards us came a squad
of cavalry. The sun lit up their polished brazen helmets
and the steel points of Lheir lances, their accoutrements
144 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
flashed in its rays ; the ruby-and-yellow pennant of Spain
fluttered from their hinceheads. Surely it was a picture of
the Middle Ages, framed and set by that old-time archway.
Had the cavalry been armoured knights, nothing in the
surroundings would have been incongruous.
To behold that living picture was, alone, worth my
journey to Spain.
Our road down the valley ran between the base of the
bluffs and the Aceqiiia Molinar — an irrigating ditch that,
taking its waters from the combined streams of the rivers
Aragon and Cidacos, some four leagues west of Caparroso,
skirts the foot of the scarp of the Bardenas Reales, and
renders fertile the left bank of the Ebro's valley for over
fifty miles.
Soon after leaving Arguedas, the valley is so slightly
above the level of the river that the soil becomes too cold
and wet for vineyards or olive orchards ; and a continuous
meadow of marsh-grass, with frequent' willow-breaks and
beds of reeds, occupies it exclusively. This is the summer
pasture of the fierce bulls of Tudela, famous in the annals
of the arena of Madrid, Sevilla, and Barcelona. Ere long
we passed a range of stone buildings. They were pointed
out to me as being the head-quarter bull-farm of the neigh-
bourhood ; from there Tudela with its many towers was in
sight.
]^y half-past ten I had crossed the bridge over the
Ebro, passed through one of the gates of this cit\', and
was arrived.
Immediately within Tudcla's Avails we were halted by
the octroi officers, and, Avhile they rummaged the cart, I
ALMOST DREAMLAND. 145
took advantage of the stoppage to wish a dios to my com-
panion, for he was going on beyond Tudela before stopping
for his breakfast. He seemed sorry to part with me, and
it was with much difficulty I prevailed on him to accept a
propina. His last words as he pressed my hand were : " A
dios, brave sir, who I hope to meet again, if not on earth,
certainly in heaven," Just fancy a British carter delivering
himself of such a sentiment in such terms, and being diffi-
dent about accepting drink-money ! The people here are,
in their ways, as antique as their country, and sometimes I
can hardly realise I am not dreaming.
I should like to give a short resume description of the
country I have been passing through ; but only to one who
knows the wild parts of North America would it be easy
for me to do so. To him I would say : Take a large portion of
the central Arizonan plateau, substitute chestnuts and oaks
for pines and piflons, living rivers for dried-up watercourses
and arroyos ; take a little of the best and most fertile part
of southern California, a large tract of country exactly like
that below the Lava-beds of the Black Canon district, well
mixed with the Soda Lake country — and you have its physical
aspects. Put every available acre in wheat, vines, or olives ;
stick old, dirty, dilapidated stone villages, large churches,
monasteries, ancient ruins, fortifications of every epoch around
about, on mountain sides, on rocky pinnacles, in valley, plain,
and hollow ; add a few fortified cities having most of the
modern improvements ; place in the open country a scanty
population of half-clothed, ignorant, credulous, but well-fed
and industrious peasantry ; fill its walled towns till they
are like human bee-hives at swarming-time ; let the dress,
L
146 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
utensils, manners, and customs be those of twenty-five
centuries, so mixed and blended, so inextricably confused
together as to be unsortable — and you have the country
and its inhabitants from San Sebastian to Tudela.
On parting- with the friendly camtero^ I at once com-
menced looking for quarters. They were very hard to get.
I was hugely disgusted with this place on my first arrival.
The inns were most unpromising in appearance, and the
boarding-houses I enquired at, all full. There is a large
garrison, part of the " Army of Occupation," here, and the
officers have, of course, helped themselves to the best to be
had in that line. I began to fear I should absolutely be
unable to find a decent place to stop at, when a happy
accident directed me to where I am staying, a house on the
outskirts of, in fact almost without, the town ; a house
cheerfully situated, with gardens in front, large yard and
outbuildings behind. It is a basement and two storeys
high, clean, tidy, and of genteel appearance.
This is a very private Casa de Huespedcs, has neither
sign nor card, and is not advertised. It is conducted and
owned by a very amicable old fellow, and his much younger
and not less agreeable wife ; people of some independent
means, besides being the freeholders of the property they
reside on. They are childless, but have adopted two
orphan nieces, who are living with them. The table is
excellent, better I almost think than at San Sebastian ;
and I have a nice large room, fitted up as bedchamber and
sitting-room combined, with a lovely view from my balcony.
For these and other mercies I am to pay only a dollar a
day. I am told it is a very extravagant price for Tudela,
GOOD QUARTERS. 147
but that I am in what is considered the very best boarding-
house in the place ; a house that had I been a Spaniard, or
any kind of foreigner except Engh'sh, I should not have
been received in without good recommendations from
responsible parties.
The work of the house is all done by one servant and
the two nieces of the proprietor, with occasional help,
principally consisting of scoldings, from the host and
hostess. The domestic is almost as handsome as the
Tafalla girl, and a daughter of poor but honest parents,
like her of the nursery tale. She and the nieces treat each
other on terms of great equality ; speak of one another to
third^ parties as " La Scnorita Josefeta^' " La Salorita
Colonetta',' "La Sefiorita Tomasal' as the case may be ; and
when talking together tJiec and tJwii each other. As a
major of dragoons, who is my fellow-boarder, said to me
yesterday : " Classes are now (in Spain) confounded to-
gether in a manner that you, as an Englishman, can hardly
understand. There is a practical democracy in the domestic
circle like what I have read of in the backwoods of your
Canada. And you must remember, in the country you are
passing through there are no ladies and gentlemen by
profession, as in all parts of your country. The native
families of means and leisure are absentees, living in
Madrid and the chief southern cities now, and at fashion-
able watering-places in summer, and leaving their estates
habitually to the care of aduiinistmdors and major-dovws.
They never go near them."
This officer is evidently an " upper ten " man. Besides
having his orderly to attend to his wants, he keeps a valet
L 2
148 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
de chambrc, wears most expensive linen and jewellery, and
dresses stylishly. He is a well-read and informed man,
with a turn for philosophising ; a thinker of a very
advanced school, and though professedly a Catholic, terribly
severe upon priestcraft. In politics he is most liberal, and
has his eyes very wide open to the faults of his country.
He looks upon his enforced residence in this place in much
the same way as a guardsman would regard being quartered
in an inland town of Galway. He is quite an Anglomaniac ;
ranks " Sah-kay-s-pey-air-re," as he calls " the immortal
William," above Cervantes, and Darwin'as the first savant in
Europe ; and has been most courteous and politely attentive
to me. There are two other boarders, but they seem to be
intermittent ones, coming and going in a most irregular
manner. I think they are connected with the railway
interest.
Yesterday I took a look at the markets and priced
things, Tafalla being sufficiently well in the interior of
northern Spain to be a good place to average prices at.
But I must premise that everybody grumbles at the dcar-
ness of the times ; for instance, La Josefeta tells me that
before the war partridges sold for fivepence apiece, now
they are worth one shilling and eightpence. She says
other things have risen in proportion.
The market-place is a tumble-down old square, filled
with dilapidated sheds, but there is the same profusion of
fowl, flesh, fish, vegetables, and fruit I have always hereto-
fore seen in Spanish markets. These are present prices,
weights and money being brought as nearly as possible to
English equivalents : beef — best cuts — fivepence per pound;
PRICE OF PROVISIONS. 149
mutton and lamb — best cuts— sixpence per pound ; fresh
pork, sixpence-halfpenny per pound ; chickens — there are
" spring chickens " all the year round here — from one
shilling and threepence to one and eightpence each ;
turkeys — large ones, fattened by being crammed with
chestnuts and walnuts— twelve shillings each ; eggs— fresh
laid — eightpence a dozen ; ham, from tenpence to one
and threepence per pound ; fish, the cheapest, fresh sar-
dines, threepence-halfpenny a pound ; the dearest, salmon,
half-a-crown a pound ; chocolate, tenpence to five shillings
a pound, according to the confections mixed with it ; olive
oil, threepence three -farthings per pound ; milk, fivepence
per pint ; wine, the very best, twopence-halfpenny the
pint (there are more vineyards than milch cows); best
loaf sugar, sixpence-halfpenny the pound ; grapes, table,
one penny-farthing a pound (they are very dear now, for it
is nearly Christmas). Vegetables, not being sold by weight
or measure, excepting potatoes, I cannot well give their
price, but they are cheap beyond conception. Nor can I
give a list of them, not knowing the English names of the
chief kinds ; indeed, not having seen them in England,
I do not know they have such. The fuel used here is olive-
wood, costing for dry seasoned twopence-farthing per quarter
of a hundredweight ; it is splendid cooking-wood, making
a clear, intensely hot charcoal fire, with little smoke, and
that rather fragrant than otherwise. Servants' wages are
also very low, according to our standard. A really good
woman-cook — who is also a servant-of-all-work, no matter
how many other maids are kept, for here no such phrase
as " It is not my place " is known, nor would such an idea
I50 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
be tolerated — gets six shillings and threepence per month.
The very highest wages paid to any domestic is ten
shillings a month. These prices account for a dollar a
day commanding the very best of board and lodging.
Agricultural labourers are paid one shilling and eightpence
a day — a day meaning here all the time there is sufficient
light to work by, excepting an hour at noon. At harvest
time wages sometimes rise to half-a-crown a day for first-
class hands. At all times the labourer has, out of his
wages, to lodge and board himself and find his own
" allowance," and they are the best contented, most cheerful
peasantry I have ever seen.
CHAPTER XII.
Tudela— Za Plaza de la Constitueion — A Curse in Stone — Extraordinary
Bridge — A sporting Excursion — Ancient Mound Fort — Christmas-Eve
Festivities — The National Dance of Navarra— Midnight Mass at San
AVfTo/flj-— Military Mass in La Sania Maria — A wonderful Piece of
Carving— A strict Catholic Fast — The Licorice Field of Spain — Esparto
Grass.
January 2, 1877. — I have been wandering about this
place taking items, but, having a mortal antipathy to
guides, and owning not a handbook, in a most desultory
and happy-go-lucky manner.
Tudela is a walled city overlooked by a citadel of
considerable strength, crowning an eminence to its north,
and also by a small fortified and entrenched tower — a toy-
like affair, pretty, but very weak, standing on a conical
detached hill to its south. It occupies the mouth of a little
valley, down which runs an insignificant stream — the
Ouelles — and extends close to the right bank of the
Ebro, having a river wall. Tudela is almost enclosed b\-
the barren bluffs of a country similar in all respects to
Las Bardenas Reales de Navarra, and is situated at the
head of a wide opening of the valley of the Ebro — an
expanse of country seemingly a forest of olive-trees.
Though nestled under beetling cliffs, and but little
152
ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
above the level of the river in times of flood, Tudela is
seven hundred and eighty feet above the sea. It claims
to be one of the oldest cities in Europe, to have had a
continuous existence since before the foundation of Rome.
The truth of that assertion being conceded to her, it is
certain she has put her time in to little advantage. To
be sure, due allowance must be made for the fact that
for over three hundred and fifty years the city has
been developing backwards. When Navarra was a king-
dom, Tudela was the frontier town towards Castile, and
its chief entrepot and export city ; now she has no
importance.
I find myself greatly disappointed by Tudela. As seen
from a distance, her many and fine church-towers, the
broad, tree-shaded, avenue-like roads leading to it, the
forest of olives below, the grand bridge across the Ebro,
caused me to expect a handsome place. It proved a dirty,
dilapidated, squalid one. Its population of nine thousand
is crowded into a space that in England would only be
occupied by a third of that number. Its streets are narrow
passages between houses looking like dingy, uncared-
for prisons. There is not one thoroughly good dwelling-
house or shop in it, as we understand such things. I will
describe its Plaza, for, like all Spanish cities, the Plaza is
the best portion of the town.
La Plaza de la Constitucion is a square of two hundred
and seventy feet — three hundred and fifty yards' walk
round it — with five entrances thereto, three being deep
archways, or tunnels through houses, and tlic remaining
two open ways Uom narrow streets. The buildings
A CURSE IN STONE. 153
enclosing this square are massive stone structures, a base-
ment and three storeys high, of uniform design, with over-
hanging roofs and two tiers of balconies. The basements
are now either stables, store-rooms, or cafes. Around the
Plasa is a pavement about as wide as that of Regent
Street. In its palmy days it was a handsome Plaza, and
the armorial bearings, sculptured on the houses, show the
style of people who then lived in them. Now it is as
disreputable in appearance, as dirty, as odoriferous as a
Chinese quarter of an American mining town. Paint,
plaster, mortar has crumbled and fallen from the walls of
the houses, their balcony railings are masses of rust, their
windows displays of dirty rags, and the crowd promenading
the pavement is in thorough keeping with the aspect of the
houses. I except, of course, the military stationed here,
the leading officials, and their respective families. In
uniform or mufti most of the officers are unmistakably
gentlemen, and their women-folk have all the air and
manner of thorough ladies.
I do not see much chance for any improvement in
Tudela. It is built up so closely, and so shut in by bluffs,
there is no room for new houses ; to pull down for the
purpose of rebuilding, or to repair when repairs are not
absolutely unavoidable, seems foreign to the genius of these
people ; and so, as unhappily the ancient architects who
built Tudela cursed her with houses that won't fall down,
she is bound to go from bad to worse, as she has done since
no man knows when, until she becomes unfit for a Christian,
yea, even a " Cristiano veijo rattcio" to live in.
The rest of the place, excepting a few decent houses in
154 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
the outskirts, the pretty terrace-walk by the side of the
river wall, the fine bull-ring, and the eleven big churches
and convents, is a labyrinth of many-storeyed dens.
The bridge over the Ebro merits a better description
than I am likely to give. It was built by El Key Don
Sancho Abarco dc Navarro, but at what date I cannot find
out. When E. R. D. S. A. de N. " flourished," no man
seems able to tell me. But we must not be too hard on
these natives for their ignorance. How many Englishmen
could tell off-hand, without reference to authorities, the
date when the celebrated Danish king of England, whose
name is spelt with a C or a K, as the case may be, sat
down " by the sad sea waves," and did not exactly rule them .•*
This fine bridge is four hundred odd yards in length (mea-
sured by pacing), and is composed of seventeen arches, eight
of them acutely-pointed ones. Between the arches, on its
upper side, are long sharply-pointed piers ; on its lower one,
flat buttresses. It is built in a very singular manner. Its
general direction crosses the ri\-er at a considerable angle
to its course, with a view, according to the ancient fallac}-,
to its being less affected by the current ; and it is not
straight, but has a bend, like a slightly-strung bow, the
curve being up stream, presenting in effect an arch to the
downward pressure of the current. Standing at one end of
the bridge, persons crossing the river by it disappear from
the spectator's view, round its cur\-e, before they lea\e the
bridge. At its farther end from the town is a tiic dc pojit,
loopholed for musketry, through the gateway of which the
bridge is reached, and where a small force of soldiers is
stationed.
A SPORTING EXCURSION. 155
In default of being able to procure a photograph, I have
made a sketch of the town and bridge, but from one point
of sight could not get in the head of the bridge on one side,
nor the citadel on the other, and only ten of the arches ;
while the Ouelles river discharging itself into the Ebro just
below the bridge, its mouth was hidden thereb}^ The
snow-covered mountain in the background is the Moncayo.
Soon after I arrived here, one of my fellow-boarders,
who is an ardent sportsman, invited me to accompany him
to Castejon, situated a {q.\\ miles up the valley of the Ebro,
saying we might, if lucky, get partridges, woodcocks, hares,
and rabbits. So wc went. Wc did not get anything but a
capital breakfast and dinner at the Castejon /^'//i^i'r, and a
long tramp.
My friend had with him three well-broken dogs — a
pointer, and two liver-coloured cockers, whose legs were
exactly like dachshunds, and who worked splendidly. I
put one of Juan's feet in his collar, and he charged around
on three legs like a bear on hot irons. We saw two fine
coveys of red-legs, but a couple of hundred yards off was as
near as any of the dogs ever got to a bird of them. My
companion fired a long shot at, and missed, a cock. I saw
a hare, and the cockers set afoot lots of rabbits, but in such
thick brush we could not get even snap-shots at them. My
friend tells me the partridge-shooting in September, October,
and March is excellent, but that between times there is no
getting near them except accidentally. Cock-shooting is
very uncertain here. Some days, in the season, you may
find plenty, often, for weeks, none. Quails in August and
September are tolerably thick. His diary for last year
IS6 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
shows a bag of eight hundred and seventy-four, that of the
previous year six hundred and fifty-three, all shot within
an easy walk.
At Castejon I saw some interesting remains ; the Ebro
valley is there very wide, and a plain of wild grass, brush
thickets, and willow brakes; and in its centre, close to the
right bank of the river, appears a conical hill of several
acres in extent, and some hundreds of feet in height. It is
artificial — a mound. Not very far off are the excavations
whence the soil was procured to raise it ; and the Ebro, in
one of its recent floods, having cut away a portion of the
extraneous debris accumulated at its base, disclosed a
surface reveted with stone-work. The hill is an ancient
fort. It was its exact resemblance in size, relative position
to the river, and form to some of the prehistoric mounds
of the Mississippi valley that made me, an ignorant stranger,
at a distance of a mile therefrom, ask my companion, to his
great astonishment, What people are supposed to have
constructed that artificial hill fort ? I might just as well
have demanded to be told who invented spoons.
This mound gives to the district its name, and the
railway from Madrid to the north crosses the Ebro in sight
of it by a splendid iron bridge seven hundred feet in length,
standing on tubular piers, braced and guyed in the strongest
way with iron cables. Alongside of the rails is a broad
planked footway, over which we passed, our shooting-ground
lying on the left bank of the h^bro.
At the Castejon railway station I had the pleasure of
meeting some of my country-people, the first English
tourists I had seen since entering .Spain. It seemed quite
CHRISTMAS-EVE FESTIVITIES. 157
strange to find myself talking, and being talked to, in
English.
I must give an account — perhaps I ought rather say,
make a confession — of how I spent Christmas Eve, A
nephew of my landlady, who is a civil engineer at Zara-
goza and cousin-in-law of the girls, came to spend his
holiday-time here, to see his mother, who lives not far from
us. He stopped in this house because his mother, who is a
widow and very poor, had not room for him in hers. This
young fellow invited his two cousins and our handsome
criada to spend the evening at his mother's, to meet a lot
of his friends, and enjoy some dancing and singing. He
pressed me to go also, and being here to see all I can, I
gladly accepted his invitation. The party was seventeen
in number, all young people excepting the old mother, and
more than half of them girls. The music, an old guitar,
which everybody seemed able to play. The ball-room, a
large, low-roofed attic with bare walls, and furnished with
three beds, two chairs, an old trunk, a four-inch square
looking-glass, and coloured prints of virgins. The refresh-
ments, aguardiente and biscuits. We danced with our
coats off, for it was hot, and cigarros in mouth, polkas,
waltzes, mazurkas, and the jota, principally the jota. But
as compared with the Arguedas folks, we danced the jota
most decorously indeed.
They<3/^ being a national dance, I must give some idea
of it. It is danced in couples, each pair being quite inde-
pendent of all the rest. The respective partners face each
other, the guitar twangs, the spectators accompany with a
whining, nasal, drawling refrain, and clapping of hands.
158 ON FOOT IN SPAIA\
You put your arm round your partner's waist, balance for a
few bars, take a waltz round, stop, and give her a fling
round under your raised arm. Then the two of you dance
backward and forward, across and back, whirl round
and chassc.-:, and do some Nautch- Wallah-iug, accompany-
ing yourselves with castanets, or snapping of fingers and
thumbs. The steps are a matter of your own particular
invention, the more outre the better. And you repeat and
go on, till one of you gives out. The chic of the dance, the
pas d' excellence, is, when your partner whirls round and the
air extends her skirts, to dexterously entangle your foot in
and with a quick jerk kick them up as high as you can.
To a vieux saitteiir and old dancer, the trick is easy
enough, and " I guess I rather astonished that croud," as
our cousins over the big ferry say, judging by the way my
partners screamed and the lookers-on applauded when I
" fluttered the white." Indeed my elan was considered a
credit to my country. I was regarded a proof positive to
the contrary of the (absurdly wrong) popular belief of
Spain, that in society " Englishmen are, colkctively
taken, a composition of reserve, haughtiness, shyness, and
stupidity." I certainly did my best to disabuse all present
of such an idea. This is the record of my exploits (.'). I
picked for a partner the prettiest woman in the room,
started with the steps of a regular " Hoosier breakdown,"
threw in touches of the Highland fling, the sailor's horn-
pipe, the Irish jig, all the little I know of the can-can, and
wound up with an Apache yell and caper that " brought
the house down." Thenceforth I was " Gefey
Now the queer part of all is, the assembled compaii}'.
MILITARY MASS IN LA SANTA MARIA. 159
though poor in estate, were all decent, respectable, and
respected people ; the girls all modest, proper girls — girls
of unsuspectable reputation, dancing to, with, and before
their brothers. There yet lingers, I take it, a strong leaven
of nature, in other words of the savage, in the ways of
Navarra.
At twelve o'clock we adjourned to midnight mass in the
pretty church of San Nicolas — choral service of course. I
certainly was with a wild party. A lot of Scarborough
" trippers " at a circus could hardly have behaved worse.
They talked aloud, laughed, threw kisses, made fun of the
service, and played practical jokes on each other. And
this in " the most Christian country." After service Ave
hurried back, ran upstairs, rushed into the room, and, ere
the last could enter, those first in were dancing again. We
broke up at four o'clock, and as we went home found the
street full of fantastically-dressed mummers, some twanging
guitars, others blowing horns, many singing, both in solos
and in choruses.
By-the-bye, two of the women at our little tertulia were
"awfully" handsome, and one of the two was our criada.
On the last day of the year I attended a military mass
at Tudela's famous Gothic cathedral — La Santa Maria —
a wonderful building, quite an architectural triumph, for
though small for a mediaeval cathedral, the genius of its
architect enabled him to impart to its interior an effect of
vastness and impressiveness quite out of proportion to its
size. It most deservedly has the reputation of being one of
the best specimens extant of Gothic art. It is said to date
from A.D. 1 1 35.
i6o ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
I thoroughly enjoyed the performance, for in the first
place I got a comfortable seat, ensconcing myself with great
effrontery in a stall in the choir ; secondly, and as a conse-
quence, was not subjected to offensive smells, an occasional
whiff of incense being the only appreciable odour ; thirdly,
the music was excellent ; and lastly, the scene most
picturesque and dramatically striking.
Santa Maria looked large and lofty ; its high and pointed
arches light and elegant, its vistas full of perspective, its
detail simple, chaste, and beautiful. In its centre the mihtary
occupied the entire space — artillery, cavalry, infantry. Their
varied uniforms gave colour and brilliancy to the scene ; the
large blue cloaks lined with crimson of the 5th Dragoons,
their burnished steel morions.spiked, plumed, brass-mounted,
and bright as looking-glass, were most effective. The
music was exclusively military, and played by the band of
the Estremadura Foot (15th Infantry). I am glad I heard
that band ; doing so corrected an impression I had formed
that Spanish military music is atrocious, for I have rarely
heard a finer brass band. It was forty instruments strong,
excessively w^ell led, and executed a charming selection of
operatic airs and a rattling schottische. The acoustic pro-
portions of the cathedral must be very good, for I detected
neither echo nor vibration ; indeed, had the music been in
the open air and at some little distance off, it could not
have sounded more melodiously. It really seemed as
though mellowed by floating along the arched and groined
roof and around the many pillars. The only time when
the music was really noisy was at the elevation of the
A WONDERFUL PIECE OF CARVING. 16 1
Host, where brass, wood, and skin crashed forth Spain's
national and royal air, the " Marcha Real."
After service I saw the soldiers march past. They
went at their usual tremendous pace. If those fellows
could only fight as well as they march, what invincible
troops they would be. When the soldiers and following
crowd had left the cathedral's front in solitude, I took a
quiet look at its main porch, having been recommended to
do so. It is a wonderful piece of carving ; there must be
hundreds of figures, all in stone alto-relievo. On the left
as you face the door are the blessed being led to heaven,
I suppose, each by two saints. On the right, the wicked
being tormented, very evidently, each by two devils. The
" sheep " and saints are clothed. The " goats " and devils
are male and female, in puris naturalilms. The torments
are most varied and extraordinary, but quite indescribable.
The intimate manner in which the grotesque, the cruel,
and the obscene are blended, surpasses anything conceiv-
able by the mind of man that is not cloistered monk.
Sufficient to say, indecency bordering on insanity is there
revealed in stone, has been the ornamentation of a
cathedral church for over seven hundred years, and looks
quite capable of remaining to make it remarkable for seven
hundred more.
In the afternoon there was a general promenade of the
inhabitants around the paseo adjoining the bull-ring, to
the strains of another military band. It was not as good
a one as I had heard in the cathedral, nor was there
anything remarkable about the promenaders.
The past Christmas Day was one of the very few of my
M
1 62 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
life not celebrated by a Christmas dinner. In our house
the powers that be are great " Cristianos ; " here Christmas
Day is a strict fast, B///a or no Bnla ; and so starving nature
had to content itself with oyster soup, several kinds of
fresh fish, excellent pastry, all the delicacies of the season
in vegetables, the finest of fruits, and good wine. How-
ever, we made up for it on New Year's Day by a regular
feast after high mass, which I attended at the cathedral.
This time the music was not military, but the regular
choir, a good organ, and a string and reed band. The
singing and playing were really fine, and a credit to the
musical ability of the city ; I had no idea the place could
furnish as good. The attendance was numerous, and
who can wonder ? Here high mass is the people's opera.
They see a gorgeous spectacle, and hear good music, all
for nothing; and have besides a pleasing feeling that
they have performed a work of merit — knocked off so
many purgatorial days. Duty and pleasure, religion and
amusement, go hand-in-hand in sunny Spain.
The weather since my arrival here has been bright and
clear, and the sun hot, but the snow on the mountains
makes the wind cold. We have light white frosts almost
every night, and as there are no stoves nor fireplaces in
the houses of this country, excepting in the kitchens, I feel
chilly much of the time ; and since an east wind com-
menced blowing, a few days ago, have been still more
uncomfortable. However, the gardens do not seem to
be affected ; the pea plants are already so far advanced
in growth as to be " sticked ;" the broad beans arc knee
high, and will soon be in blossom ; and we commonly have
THE LICORICE FIELD OF SPAIN. 163
artichokes for dinner — not merely mature heads, as in
England, requiring to be picked to pieces leaf by leaf, and
having but a small portion of each leaf eatable, but young
heads that you cut up with a knife and fork and eat
entirely, and most delicious they are. But, indeed, they
can never have any frost worth complaining about here,
for Tudela is in the centre of the chief licorice field of
Spain. It is here an indigenous plant, grows wild any-
where and everywhere. Large stacks of its roots stand
just outside the city's walls, thatched and protected from
the weather by coverings of reed-canes, for there is a
company established in Tudela that buys up all they can
get. The best roots are sent to England and the United
States ; the next quality to France and Russia ; from the
worst is manufactured stick licorice for Spanish consump-
tion. This company must be making money hand over
hand. They are paying but one shilling and eightpence
per hundredweight delivered for roots, and last year they
exported over forty thousand pounds sterling worth.
This place has also, from a wild product of nature,
another source of revenue. Esparto-grass is brought in
from the mountain-sides and valleys in September and
October, and bought up and sent away by agents for paper
mills, principally French ones.
Tudela ought to be prospering ; but if she is, it is so
slowly as to be quite unapparent.
CHAPTER XIII.
Dry-docked — Domestic Arcana — A fair Seiiorita — " Oh ! my Aunt ! " —
Departure from Tudela — The Imperial Canal— ^/ Palacio del Bocal — A
Palace of the Emperor Charles V.— Palace Chapel and Gardens — Canal
Barge — A suberb Canal Bridge — Novillas — Quail Ground — "Norfolk
Howards " — In Aragon.
January io, 1877. — I stayed longer than intended at
Tudela, being there laid by the heels ; a severe attack of
influenza and sore throat dry-docked me. The scfwra
wanted to call in a physician, the family Medico dc
Cabcccra ; but against such proposition was quoted the old
proverb of the country, " El medico lleva la plata pero Dios
est que saiia " — the doctor carries off the money, but the
Lord cures — and I declined making his learnedship's ac-
quaintance, except socially. My ailments gave mc no
exclusive right of complaining, for everybody in the house
was suffering from the same indisposition. The east wind
seemed to have brought a regular epidemic of it. I, how-
ever, was hit the hardest ; possibly from being an unaccli-
mated foreigner. Tiic remedy of the country for light
cases is to totall)' axoid wine, beer, and spirits, drinking
instead of them l)arlc\--\\atcr sweetened \\ith licorice, to
take a long hot drink of mallow-flower tea (not the marsh-
DOMESTIC ARCANA. 165
mallow, but the smaller plant, the upland mallow) the last
thing at night and first on the following morning, and to
lie in bed till noon ; a course I was put through, and
which did me much good ; I recommend its trial to so
afflicted countrymen at home. Here the dried flowers of
the mallow with which the tea is made are sold at every
apothecary's shop. I found the decoction a fine sudorific
and gentle soporific, the barley-water and licorice excellent
for my throat.
While laid up at Tudela I studied my future course,
and determined, so soon as it would be prudent to resume
my tramp, to take the tow^-path of the Caual Imperial from
its commencement, a few miles below there, and follow it
to Zaragoza ; for, as it is one of the greatest irrigating
canals in Spain, I wished to see it — its locks, bridges, and
accessory works, and besides, should have a level road, for
I was tired of climbing and descending ; and, too, the
scenery would be a change from that of mountains, through
which my way had heretofore always been.
I found Tudela a convenient place to have a cold in,
for there, when able to go out to take my daily afternoon's
constitutional stroll on the sunny side of some shelter from
the wind, I could anywhere outside the town walls pull
licorice roots out of the ground, to chew as I walked along.
I am sorry for the cause of my detention at Tudela, of
course, but hardly so at having been detained, for I was,
as an invalid, necessarily much indoors, and so obtained
considerable insight into the social ways of Navarra.
My friend the Major is undoubtedly right. As he truly
said, "In this country social relations are decidedly mixed."
,66 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
Certainly, the scnoritas of the house I have so recently left
were most decided exemplars of his proposition. Except
when " got up " for parade or a tcrtidia, on which occasions
they were beautifully arrayed, they dressed like kitchen-
maids, were regular Cinderellas, but nevertheless, with their
hair in the latest Paris agony. One or other of them brought
my early drink to my "bedside and awoke me, as often as
did the servant ; made no bones of coming into my room,
slop-pail in hand, and doing the chamber work while I was
present, and habitually, and as a matter of course, both
freely interlarded their discourse with ejaculations and ex-
pressions of the most objectionable character. Let us hope
they did not realise their signification. They were words
at whose English equivalents a scullery-maid of an English
gentleman's establishment would stand aghast — expressions
that no virtuous English woman ever uses.
And yet the senoritas in question belong to a most
respectable rank of life, can and did behave in company in
a most ladylike manner, will have independent fortunes at
the death of their uncle, and have received the education of
young ladies. For instance : the elder of the two, whom I
am best acquainted and have most conversed with, is well
up in geography and general history, has learned drawing,
and " does heads " very nicely in crayons ; has a fair theo-
retical and good practical knowledge of music — singing, and
playing the guitar and piano very well — dances elegantly,
and, excepting the expletives, talks charmingly. She has
also learned French, and is a sufficiently good scholar of that
language to enjoy a 1^'rench no\el ; but she speaks it in a
way that no Frenchman could understand, pronouncing the
A FAIR SE NO RITA. 167
words as though they were Spanish ones, and grouping
them and pitching the emphasis all wrongly. She is
twenty-two years old, fair as a lily, with a fine delicate
colour in her cheeks ; has beautiful, small, white, regular
teeth, golden hair, and bright large chestnut eyes. She is
full of life, grace, and vivacity, with a figure beyond praise.
And she does not paint — no, not even use powder, nor does
she dye, nor bleach, nor pinch — no, not even wear corsets ;
and she does not possess a tooth-brush ! Water, soap, and
nature do her beautifying. And she is besides an excel-
lent cook and a slashing housemaid. Great Cfesar de
Bazan ! how our grandmothers would have admired such a
girl ! To be candid, I admired her not a little myself, and
doubtlessly should have done so more, but that there was a
much prettier girl — in fact, the handsomest I have seen in
Spain — an almost daily visitor at the house.
This fascinating girl was in the habit of coming in the
evenings with an aunt, a gay and lively young widow.
She is only sixteen years old, but quite a woman in de-
velopment and aplomb; a high-coloured, brilliant-com-
plexioned brunette, with a true '' ojos arabesT She is
the best waltzer I ever put arm round ; so, though not a
dancing man, we used usually to take a spin together to
the music of the guitar and the clapping of hands. The
aunt (an old hunter, knows the crack of the whip) kept a
very sharp eye on the young woman, who, on her part, was
as demure, as " tmi formal^' as possible in " dear auntie's"
presence, but far different when the widow was away ; then
she showed herself to be as wild as any unbroken filly who
ever took bit in teeth and bolted ; showed she had as much
1 68 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
of the world, the flesh, and the devil to the cubic inch as
any she who lives. I liked that widowed aunt very well ;
she, too, is a good dancer, handsome, and intriguante, but I
liked her best when she was not present and the niece was.
The Major is a great admirer of La Ysidra, and was
not at all pleased at our "carryings-on." He said : " It is
just like the women. She does not care a fig for the
Englishman ; but because he is an Englishman, and the
only one she has ever seen, she flings herself at his head in
a most barefaced manner." Now the fact simply is, the girl
naturally likes to be admired ; she is so extremely hand-
some it was impossible for me, and would be for any man
of taste, to avoid showing admiration for her ; and of
course she felt flattered and pleased, and, after the manner
of Spanish women, showed her feelings. And, after all, she
is but a child.
However, to all things there must come a termination ;
so this morning, though the influenza and a feeling of
weakness hung about me, the day being unusually fine, I
determined to make a move ; and so, shouldering my gun
and traps and whistling to Juan, at 8.45 A.M. I took up the
line of march.
Adieu was bid to the Major in his room, he not being
out of bed at that early (?) hour. He seemed really sorry
to part with me, and said many handsome things about
England and the h^nglish and myself, concluding with the
assurance should anything occur to me while in Spain,
should I require in any way the good offices of a friend,
I must let him know, and to the extent of his power I could
command him ; at all events, when my hazardous journey —
DEPARTURE FROM TUDELA. 169
as he pleased to consider it — was terminated, I must write
and tell him how it had fared with me. The rest of the
household were also effusive in their farewells and good
wishes.
As a travelling Englishman, and so, to a certain extent,
a representative of my country — if an indifferent one— I had
considered it a pleasing duty to create as favourable an im-
pression as possible ; and the manner of those I was parting
with plainly showed I had been fairly successful.
I started feeling seedy enough, but it was just the day
to gain strength in. During the night a most pleasant
change in the weather had taken place ; the horrid east
wind had blown itself out and the lowering clouds away.
It was replaced by a light balmy breeze from the south-
west ; and excepting a few fleecy cloudlets hanging round
Moncayo's summit peaks, the sky was one fair expanse of
azure and the sunshine warm and brilliant.
For two miles the broad, well-kept cajnino real, or
highway, ran straight through the olive forest, and then
forked. I took the left prong, that leading to El Bocal, or
the mouth of the Imperial Canal. We should have called
the other, or lower end, the mouth ; but as Spanish ladies
sit their horses on the " off" side, perhaps it is all right in
Spain to call the upper end of a canal its mouth. It was a
good road, planted with a double row of fine elms, but
showed little sign of travel. The canal is not the highway
it once was. No longer is it the great commercial artery of
the country ; an occasional barge-load of wood, and the
carriage of the grain harvested on its banks, is all the
transport business it now does.
I70 ON I^OOT IN SPAIN.
At 10.25 A.M. I passed the little village of Fontanas,
and taking a footpath to the left, found myself in a few
minutes at El Bocal, looking with interest and pleasure at
one of the finest river-dams in the world— a dam over
which, with a roar I had often heard at Tudela, the entire
flood of the Ebro rushed in one unbroken flashing sheet.
Truly the Imperial Canal is a splendid work — the most
worthy as well as most lasting of its great projector,
Charles V., King of the Spains and Emperor of Germany.
It is a work that has redeemed nearly sixty thousand acres
of land from sterility, and made them a marvel of rich
fertility ; a work that does, and will long continue to,
repay the world for the losses and sufferings caused by
his ambition.
From each side of the dam extends for a considerable
distance a fine river-wall, and immediately above it, on the
right bank of the river, is the entrance to the canal. But
the flood-gates are gone ; no more do boats emerge or enter
there ; and the water is admitted through a tunnel in the
stone apron replacing them, by an iron apparatus regulating
its flow.
Close to the edge of the bank of the Ebro, just below
the canal-head, stands a wing of what was once El Palacio
del Bocal, a finely-dressed stone building three storeys high.
The rest of the palace is a heap of ruins, a " cave " of the
bank having some years ago let it down with a run. Thence,
fi)r some distance, I found the canal's sides were of perpen-
dicular cut-stone masonry, and eighty feet apart ; the flow
of the water between having a velocity of three miles an
hour. Soon I arrixcd at the Aliiiaccns, or magazines— an
PALACE OF THE EMPEROR CHARLES V. 171
extensive range of stone buildings, storehouses for goods
conveyed on the canal, but ahnost all empty. In their front
was a commodious stone landing-wharf with steps down to
the water's edge, and a row of mooring-posts — hard stone
posts wrought round and having carved knob-heads ; posts
that have been in use for generations, perhaps since the
canal was first used in A.D., 1528, and whose only sign of
wear is their having become polished.
In the row oi ahnaccns stood a /d?^-^*'/',^, and after there
ordering my breakfast and disencumbering myself of my
traps, I walked a few hundred yards to see an old " palace "
of the emperor-king, standing close to the river, and behind
the row of warehouses. It was not much of a palace.
Nowadays it would not be a palace for a policeman ; but
it was a curiosity, as showing what one of Europe's greatest
potentates had built as a residence for himself. The build-
ing was in excellent repair, not that any care has been
taken of or restoration done to it, but because it had been
so solidly constructed as never to require repairs while it
stands, and it will continue to stand so long as it is not
meddled with. The palace is now used to store vegetables
in. Just above it there is another dam across the Ebro, a
more ancient one than at El Bocal, having a very wide
" race " close to the bank, immediately in front of the
palace. This dam once threw water into the walled moat
that protected the royal residence ; but the moat's head has
been filled with soil, its drawbridge replaced by a per-
manent plank footway ; it is now dry and protects nothing.
Below, and quite close to the palace, is a handsome clump
of six fine old mountain pines.
172 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
I made a rough rapid sketch of the place, just to show
what was a palace to an emperor who made Europe
tremble.
Outside the moat, and immediately opposite its bridge,
is the old palace-garden — a long parallelogram enclosed
by high stone walls, pierced at the west end by a fine wide
entrance ; the gate being open I looked in. Up the centre
of the garden is a gravel walk, on each side of which grows
a row of old cypress-trees, leading to a large raised level
grass-plot, surrounded with stone seats, looking wonderfully
like a modern croquet-ground, but probably constructed for
a bowling-green. The enclosure contains about one-and-
a-half acres, and is utilised as a market-garden.
Two hundred yards farther up the river, and close to
its banks, stands the palace capilla, a small chapel about
the size of the lodge to an Englishman's park ; a square
building, w^ith a roof running to a sharp point. Un-
fortunately all the apertures of the capilla were fastened
up, and I could not see its interior. Outside it was in no
way remarkable. Opposite thereto, and in line with the
walled garden, is a small open plazuda, or pleasure-
ground, having gravelled walks, grass-plots, and flower-
beds, furnished with stone-seats under spreading shade
trees, and its centre ornamented with a now waterless stone
fountain.
My breakfast was a poor affair. The posada was
roomy and clean, and its ajjpearance had indicated better
things. Charge : six reals.
Soon after one o'clock I resumed ni)- tramp, taking the
tow-path. Crossing the canal a little below the almaccns
'^% ^
CANAL-BARGE. 173
is a bridge of modern construction ; it has stone piers and
a wooden span, and is only remarkable as an example of
bridge-building without knowledge of the true principles of
so doing ; some day it will unexpectedly take " a header "
into the water. It afforded an opportunity to again
measure the width of the canal, which was found to be
still the same — eighty feet. The tow-path was a fine level,
broad, waggon-road, but grass-grown, clearly showing that
the traffic was but slight. Alongside of it, as also on the
farther bank of the canal, ran a wide continuous strip of
timber, consisting principally of elms. The remains of
old stumps showed these plantations were ancient, but the
standing trees are mostly young. After walking a couple
of miles I came to a moored canal-barge — the first seen.
It was a very old one to be still in use. Alongside stood
its team of two mules and a horse, eating a bait of barley
and chopped straw, mixed, from off a spread-out old
rawhide, while the crew of half-a-dozen Aragones were
loading their craft with firewood, that had been chopped
in the plantation close at hand. The boat was very
different from an English canal-barge, being built almost
ship fashion, with a round bottom and keel, and was nearly
the size of a Thames collier. It had no deck nor cabin,
and a most prodigious rudder. I never before saw such a
rudder.
Two hours more brought me opposite the village of
Ribaforado and to the Ribaforado bridge ; the former
evidently a place of insignificant size and paltry appear-
ance, standing on a barren knoll, which comes so close to
the canal as to make its south bank for some distance a high
174 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
precipitous cliff. The latter is the finest canal bridge I have
ever beheld ; why such a structure was built to lead to so
wretched a hamlet I cannot conceive. It is a brick bridge,
with keystone, facings, and foundations of cut-stone, and its
single span springs across not only the eighty feet broad
canal but also the wide tow-path ; a beautiful arch, the
half of a true oval, whose width is its major diameter, and
whose crown is forty feet above the level of the water.
The approaches are two steep grades, at right angles to the
bridge, and so parallel to the canal's course, which lead up
to and down from its traverse ; an extraordinary arrange-
ment, presenting two right-angled turns to the inexpert
teamster, so giving him in crossing one bridge two fine
chances for a grand smash. The pitch of its traverse is
very great ; the slopes, too, coming together very acutely —
indeed, the bridge's parapet-walls make quite a sharp angle
in its centre. The gable-like profile thus caused contrasts
strongly with the beautiful sweeping curve of the arch ; and
the combination of angle and oval, as seen when descending
or going up the canal, presents to the beholder a very
striking and pleasing effect.
Just below this remarkable bridge, I was passed by the
barge seen before ; its team was trotting, all hands were
singing, and it went merrily by. Still farther on was
another bridge ; that leading to Cortis and Mallcn, two
towns to the south of me. It was very similar to the
Ribaforado bridge, excepting in having two small arches
on each side of the main one.
As the sun approached tlic edge of the horizon, the
church tower and roofs of Novillas came in view, api)arently
NO VILLAS.
175
about a mile from the canal's course, and between it and
the river. It was time for me to seek a resting-place for
the night ; and the canal evidently making a sweep to the
right, while the little town was some distance to the left of
my direct front, I attempted a cut off across the fields, got
entangled amongst irrigating ditches, and, nothwithstanding
several successful water jumps, lost both time and distance
by so doing.
Novillas proved to be a small place, with a big church
standing immediately on the right bank of the Ebro ; a
decent-looking little town, cleaner than most of the villages
I had seen, and I confidently looked to finding a com-
fortable /(^j'^t'.'/c?, especially as I had been positively assured
of there being such. There had been two ; but travel, and
travellers, had become scarce and infrequent. Novillas no
longer had an inn.
I sought a lodging-house, and found one — the only
one in the place. It was a little general store ; grain and
vegetables, groceries and hardware, sausages and haber-
dashery, were there exposed for sale. The Avio — Spanish
equivalent for the French Bourgeois and American Boss —
said he could provide me with supper and breakfast, but
not a bedroom to myself, only a bed in a chamber where
others slept, but that they were personas regular— only
such were permitted to sleep in his house ; so making the
best of the inevitable, I answered, " All right," stacked
arms, refreshed myself with a tumblerful tf wine, lit my
pipe, and waited for the seven o'clock meal ; taking post
on a brick bench, covered with sheepskins, built under the
hood of the fireplace^ and where I was soon joined by an
176 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
infantry serf^eant and some peasants, who dropped in, and
took seats next and opposite me. The sergeant proved to
be the non-commissioned officer in command of the Httle
garrison of twenty-five men billeted in the village, and one
of the personas regular who lodged in the house.
Supper was plentiful in quantity, but in quality neither
choice nor luxuriant, I was the only person favoured with
a plate and tumbler, though all had clean napkins ; the rest
helped themselves direct out of the several dishes ^\•ith
wooden spoons, and drank their wine by tilting the bottle
containing it, at arm's length off, above their open mouths,
and pouring a thin stream down their throats. The wine
was not to my taste, being sweet and fruity. My dog, as
always, was an object of general admiration ; his size,
beauty, and manners were greatly praised. " Oh ! " said
one of the peasants, " if it were only now the latter end of
summer, what sport you could have with }'our dog and
gun." Then I learned the country below me was, from the
canal to the Ebro, and for man}- miles down, one vast
grain field, which in the summer is full of quail, and that
immediately after harvest an ordinarily good shot can
confidently back himself to bag fifty birds every day he
'goes out.
On retiring for the night, I found the bedchamber was a
little room, with a curtained-off alcove containing a bed
— the sergeant's. Two more beds stood immediately in
front of the partitioning curtain of the alcove, and pretty
close together, for the room was \ery small. One was to
be my resting-place, the other a couch for the third
persona regular. This apartment's only windo^\■ was in
IN ARAGON. 177
the wall of the alcove, and consisted but of an eight-inch
square hole, closed by a tightly-fitting wooden shutter ;
and its floor, as here seems to be the usual way in country
places, was a cement one. Bed, sheets, floor, everything
was clean ; but when I looked up at the rafters a dreadful
suspicion crossed my mind. Those rafters were dry-rotted
and worm-eaten, until it was a standing miracle the roof
did not fall in. If that ancient woodwork was not un-
pleasantly tenanted it would be most extraordinary. My
prophetic apprehensions were soon realised. And though
the " regular persons " who, for the nonce, were my room
mates, did not disturb my sleep by snoring, they certainly
did audibly scratch. And so did I, too, for " Norfolk
Howards " ranged, reared, and ravished until the dawn of
day, and I arose in the morning, when called by the amo
at eight o'clock, if rested, certainly not refreshed. He left
me a dim and smoking lamp to dress by, for the tightly-
shuttered window-hole in the curtained alcove admitted no
ray of light, and but that my watch told me differently, so
dark was the room it might have been midnight. Down
stairs my chocolate was ready waiting for me. I paid the
modest bill of eight rm/j-, and serene in mind, but decidedly
irritated in body, pursued my way.
The road struck the canal in about a mile, at a point
where it was crossed by another bridge, this time a modern
one, much after the same pattern as that immediately below
the El Bocal almacens. Close to it lay the barge that had
passed me the evening before. The crew recognised and
bid me " Good days," and " Go with God," in a cordial and
hearty manner ; and from them I learned that the boundary
of Navarra was just behind me, and that I was in Aragon.
N
CHAPTER XIV.
A Contrast of Fertility with Sterility — Multitudes of Birds — Gallar— Comfort-
able Tavern — Admirable En<,nneering— Primitive Husbandry — Pedrola —
A cross Mariatornas — A Dragoness of Propriety — In bad Company — A
dark Reception — Preparations for a Way- Lay — Horrible Thought —
A lonesome Walk — Alagon.
January ii, 1877. — The weather of my first day in
Aragon was simply superb ; though in midwinter the tem-
perature was as one of summer's finest, and a bright sun,
and balmy invigorating breeze, soon raised my drooping
spirits and insect-depressed soul.
The general features of the country I was passing
through continued much the same as the day before, but
the elm plantations being replaced with single rows of tall
poplars, I therefore had a more continuous and open view
of the landscape. On the opposite side of the canal
stretched from its bank a vast expanse of brown, barren-
looking country right up to the foot of the snow-capped
sierra bounding the horizon. On the side I was, an almost
continuous wheatfield, brilliantly green, and but occasion-
ally broken by small vineyards and little olive groves,
reached from the edge of the tow-path to the banks of the
Ebro. Beyond, on the river's farther side, bare, arid, and
MULTITUDES OF BIRDS. 179
forbidding, rose the bluffs of the Bardcnas — very incarna-
tions of wild sterility — perpendicular precipices, table-
topped peaks, barren gorges, ridge on ridge, range after
range, a chaos of dreary desolation.
The cornfields were alive with larks. They were there
in thousands, in such quantities assembled, that I suspect
the valley of the Ebro is the chosen wintering-place of the
migratory larks of North-Western Europe. Indeed, so
numerous were they, and so tame, that Juan became at
last tired of chasing, and got to look on the birds as
matters of course, unworthy of his attention, and so taking
no further notice of them, galloped wildly about in an
apparently purposeless way, unless for diversion and exer-
cise. On coming to a low-lying part of the valley, where
for a stretch of about one thousand acres the wheat-land
was replaced with swampy growths of reed-canes, rushes,
and sedge-grasses, Juan flushed a snipe, but far out of shot.
Soon, the level of the valley rising a few feet, it was again
a wheatfield. As the day grew older the temperature rose,
it became oppressively warm, and my great-coat an almost
unbearable nuisance, though it was rolled up, and slung
knapsack fashion at my back ; for, as saith the country's
proverb, " En largo cauiiuo paja pesa " — on a long road a
straw is heavy.
The breeze had died away, not a cloud was to be seen,
the sun's rays were scorching hot, and the motionless air
resounded with the song of birds. Besides the hovering
larks, goldfinches, linnets, and many feathered songsters,
whose names I knew not, whose plumages were strange to
me, filled my ear with melody. Had not the tall poplars
i8o ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
been leafless, it would, indeed, have seemed summer come
again.
I put up a covey of red-leg partridges, close to the
canal. Thej had probably come to drink. My slung
overcoat prevented the handling of my gun quickly enough
to put in a shot, and they got away unscathed. Soon after
that indefatigable ranger, Juan, took it into his head to
cross the canal and beat the uncultivated wildlands on its
farther side — a gravelly sandy waste, sparsely covered with
stunted heather plants, sagebrush, oldman, rosemary, and
wire-grass ; and ere long galloped up another fine covey of
birds, and pursued them till lost to sight beyond a rise of
ground.
While following the canal, I saw numerous streams
leaving it through stone culverts, passing under the tow-
path, having well-constructed flood-gates governed by
\\inches, and alongside each of which stood a square,
pointed-roofed cottage — dwellings for water-bailiffs and
section men — and all built much after the same pattern
as the capilla of the em2:)cror-king's palace near the
aliiiaccns. These streams are from half a mile to two
miles apart, and generally discharge two cubic feet of water
at a rapid flow. They are the feeders for the irrigating
ditches to which the plain between canal and river owes its
fertility. I also passed two flour-mills, whose wheels were
turned by still larger streams, also furnished by water from
the canal. Not having seen any augmentation to its
volume from confluents, its width remaining the same, and
its current not slackening, the conclusion was inevitable
that the upper course of llic Imperial Canal is \cry deep,
GALLAR. i8i
and that it gradually shoals, and thus provision has been
made whereby, without a lessening of the traffic capabilities
its width afifords, a sufficiency of the essential of fertility is
furnished to the valley.
Noon was passed, when Gallar was arrived at, a town
standing immediately below the left bank of the canal, of
some size, having two large churches, but of a poverty-
struck appearance, with a semi-abandoned look about it.
The town lay much lower than the tow-path ; lower even
than the bottom of the canal. In fact, the difference in
level between it and the river-plain had become consider-
able, for the canal had been without locks, and so engineered
as to wind along the edge or face of the low bluff that
bounded the south side of the valley of the Ebro, with no
more fall than sufficed to maintain the current, while the
plain had fallen rapidly. Close to the canal stood a fine
large flour-mill, storehouse, and residence — quite a hand-
some range of buildings, enclosing an ornamental well-
kept /^Z/t^. They, and it, had an unmistakable air of pro-
sperity. Alongside of the storehouse was a long flight of
stone steps. Descending them, crossing by an old stone
bridge, the race from the mill,and traversing a narrow alley
way, I found myself in the plaza of the town — a dirty,
untidy, irregular square — and opposite a rambling old
posada of most uninviting presence. Inquiry of a passer-
by if there were no other inn elicited the answer : " Yes,
and a better one, which stands just outside the town, and
close to the canal." Thither I bent my steps, and was glad
to find truth had been told in the matter. It was a much
better inn— a clean, respectable-looking roadside house,
i82 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
close to a fine bridge over the canal. A smart Aragotesa
invited me to enter, took my orders, and ushered me into a
tidy, cheerful room ; that is, it would have been cheerful,
but its walls were covered witli an unusual number of far
from unusually atrocious ecclesiastical outrages on fine art,
hideously conceived and abominably executed — coloured
prints of martyrs in torment and most impossible virgins.
In due time a capital breakfast was set before me, the chief
feature of which was an excellent dish of eels stewed in
wine. The salad was well compounded and crisp, the
lamb cutlets delicious, the eggs fresh-laid, the wine to my
taste, and I refreshed myself and Juan without stint. For
this good repast for man and dog I was only charged,
inclusive, six I'cals, and departed feeling all the better for
my short rest and long commons, and well contented with
the world and myself. I even forgave the designers and
makers of those awful pictures, for, as Sancho Panza told
his ass, Todos los diielos con pan son hucnos!'
On the near buttress of the bridge that stood by the inn
was a water-gauge, showing the canal's depth close to the
bank. It was a chance for accurate and reliable informa-
tion — a thing not always procurable in Spain ; and though
I nearly slipped headlong down the steep bank into the
canal on availing myself of the opportunity, succeeded in
ascertaining that it was eight feet six inches from the
Avater's level to the bottom.
.Soon after leaving Gallar, the low bluff on A\hose edge
the canal had heretofore ran rose into steep, but not high
hills of barren gray clay, inlerstratificd with layers of red
cement, and coarse gravell}' boulder-bands, ha\ing almost
ADMIRABLE ENGINEERING. 183
perpendicular faces towards the valley ; and the course of
the canal became very tortuous, as it wound along, scarped
most of the way out of the face of these cliffs, the tow-path
being entirely made-ground, reveted in many places on its
lower side with solid masonry, and several small lateral
valleys were crossed by embankments carrying canal and
road, some of them forty feet high, and faced with rubble
masonry, whose cement was harder even than the stones
it held together. The embankments v/ere pierced with
central archways to permit a discharge of the waters of
the valleys, and through several of them sharp streams
were flowing. A breast-high parapet of rubble and cement
protected the tow-path wherever it traversed these com-
bined aqua- and via- ducts. The lateral valleys afforded
no vista of view, for they were invariably closed, within
half a mile of the canal, by the wall of barren bluff, being,
indeed, merely recesses in the general front presented by
the upland to the plain. The engineering of this part of
the Imperial Canal is admirable, and the work, oftentimes
very heavy, has been most conscientiously and thoroughly
performed. Nothing short of a convulsion of nature can
break the canal.
In the course of the afternoon several ploughs were seen
at work, all alike in construction, and most primitive in
appearance. This is how they are made : the " beam " is
a pole, twelve to fourteen feet long, at an acute angle to
one end of which is fixed a shorter one, Avhich serves
instead of " stilts ; " opposite this, and nearly at right
angles to the long-pole, is another still shorter, sharp -
pointed, and sometimes tipped with a piece of iron ; this
i84 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
last stick is " coulter" and " share" combined. The plough
teams were mules, in pairs, and the method of harnessing
curious. Two mules were attached together by a yoke,
like what is used for oxen in England, only the " bows "
were replaced by four straight sticks padded with half-
collar, and in the centre ring of the yoke hung the traction
end of the long pole of the plough, kept in its place by
a wooden peg — no traces. The mules were driven entirely
by the voice. Adjurations and anathemas seemed quite
efficient substitutes for reins and whips ; and a light head-
stall without blinkers was all the leather on them.
At four o'clock the town of Pedrola was sighted, lying
half a mile to the left of the canal ; and having learned
from a shepherd — the only man met on my road in the
whole course of the day — that it contained a posada at
which accommodation could be obtained, the tow-path was
left and the town made for, for I had gone far enough for
one day, and the heat and weight of my traps had quite
tired me. A little footpath, leading through gardens and
small olive orchards, was taken, and their flourishing look
and the imposing appearance of the town — at a distance —
led me to hope it was a thriving prosperous place. Pedrola
proved the most rambling, tumble-down, dirty, disreputable
rookery yet seen in Spain, and its inhabitants looked like
swarms of beggars and cut-throats. With difficulty the
posada was found — a woebegone old building, whose
ground-flocjr was a big stable, cart-shed, and lumber-hole,
all in one, with a corner boarded off for a kitchen. Above,
and just below the eaves, was a row of small holes in the
front wall of the building, possibly windows for any apart-
A CROSS MARIATORNAS. 185
ments the upper storey might be partitioned into. However,
I had been so often already deceived by appearances in
this country that I was not discouraged, and asked a
woman in the kitchen for supper and a bed.
" You must ask the amor
" Where is he ? "
" At the cafe."
" When will he return .' "
" Whenever he thinks fit, perhaps soon, perhaps not
before morning."
Evidently " Mariatornas " was in a very bad temper,
no satisfactory answers were to be expected from her. I
sat down to wait, rest, and smoke a pipe, then started out
to hunt up the cafe. I found it, a low dark room full of a
bandit-looking crowd of herdsmen, labourers, and loafers.
There were about forty of them. Involuntarily I thought
of the " Forty Thieves." Take the stage ruffians of a
melodrama, make them as dirty as possible, give them
each a long knife and a four days' beard, half fill them
with ardent spirit, and, so far as personal appearance goes,
you will have fair representatives of the customers of that
cafe ! Behind a filthy counter stood the presiding goddess,
a large, handsome, but bloated brunette. I learned the
posadero was not there. He had just left, and, unknow-
ingly, I must have passed him, so I retraced my steps. At
the posada I found the landlord arrived. I could get no
accommodation. He told me there were no provisions, no
rooms in his inn — the upper portion of the building was
only a lumber-loft, but there was a lodging-house in town,
the Casa Loroiza ; there I could get a bed and meals.
1 86 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
It was ^\■ith much difficulty the Lorenza house was
found, a comparatively clean-looking little cottage in a
narrow street. I knocked, and the door was opened by
an old woman. " Could I get lodgings for the night ? "
" Was I a single man — alone ? " " Yes." " Then I could
not." And it was explained to me that the old woman
was a lone widow and had but one bedroom in her house,
a double-bedded one ; she slept in one of the beds and let
the other to " families;" a single man could not be admitted.
I tried to persuade that very mature female she would be
in no danger — indeed, she was old and ugly enough to
rely confidently on her virtue — but it was no go. La Casa
Lorenza was like Caesar's wife. While talking to this
ancient dragoness of propriety, a cloaked and sandalled
individual, much the worse for drink, stepped up and volun-
teered to find quarters for me, and, as a last resource, I
followed him. My conductor led me to several forbidding-
looking dens, but none of them had an unoccupied bed,
and he proposed to try the cafe. There we met with no
better success, and to show my consideration for the
trouble he had taken, I called for two copas of aguardiente,
and took a drink with him. The liquor was excellent, and
to my amazement only cost one farthing a glass. Then
my self-constituted friend called for wine, and insisted on
my taking a tumbler with him. While we were being
served he volubly detailed to the assembled crowd my
position, winding up with a declaration that he was quite
Avilling to share his own private bed with me, adding we
could take home a bottle of aguardiente and some bread
and eggs, and make a night of it ; he was not afraid, a man
A DARK RECEPTION. 187
who had a licence to cany arms, and conld afford to keep
a dog, must be both respectable and rich. This recklessly
courageous and liberal chevalier in sandals was very dirty ;
unmistakable signs showed that "the familiar friend to
man " harboured in his clothes, sported over his person.
He was an insect preserve, and he was most decidedly
drunk. I declined, therefore, his proffered hospitality with
many thanks, assuring him nothing would induce me to
incommode such a high-toned gentleman ; and making
my escape with difficulty from his tipsy importunities,
sallied forth and started for the next town. I was very
tired, very hungry, and it was getting dark, but there
seemed nothing else for it.
While passing the last house of Pedrola, on my way out
of town, I spied the first respectable-looking person I had
seen in it, stopped him, stated my case, and asked if he
could direct me to any place to stay at. He said : " In
the town— no, but a little way out of it— yes ; on the high
road, the other side of the canal, is a new posada, there
you may possibly get what you require." Hope dawned
again, and crossing the Pedrola bridge I soon arrived at
my last chance, and found the " new posada " was a barn-
like building, daubed with mud, shut for the night, and
showing no light. I knocked long and loudly. At last
the upper portion of the halved door opened, and a voice
asked who was there and what was wanted.
" A traveller requiring admittance."
" Have you your regular papers .? "
" Yes."
" Have you a licence to carry your gun ,? "
1 88 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
" I have."
" Then come in."
The lower lialf of tlic door swung back and I stepped
into utter darkness, so obscure was it that neither anyone
nor anything was visible. I was bid to " Go up," and
stumbling against a stairway, groped my way to a loft used
as a kitchen, and by the dim light from the embers of a
sagebrush fire, perceived an old woman and young girl
squatted back on their heels, one on either side of it
warming their hands. I asked to be shown my bed, and
to have supper prepared for me. The old woman looked
me in the face, with as much amazement depicted on
hers, as though I had asked for the golden apples of the
Hesperides.
" Bed ! our bed is the only one. Everybody sleeps in
the mule quarters, in the straw. As for supper, you are
too late for that. There is nothing to eat on the premises.
If you must have a bed and supper )'0u will have to go to
Alagon. I do not expect you can get a bed in Pedrola,
I am sure you cannot here, nor anything to eat either,"
*' How far is Alagon t "
" Two leagues — largas!'
In plain English, I was eight miles from my supper and
bed.
Was the tow-path of the canal or the road the shortest
way .'' The road — the canal was half as long again. I
wished the old woman and girl a very good night, and
" went with God."
As the door of the posada nuci'a was bolted behind
me, the last string of the cork to my champagne-bottled
PREPARATIONS FOR A WAY- LAY. 189
patience was cut, only my mother-tongue seemed adequate
to express the sentiments of the occasion, and, for the first
time, Juan heard me speak in Enghsh. I do not think that
sagacious dog was favourably impressed with the language,
for he tucked his tail and looked scared. I was much, very
much dissatisfied. Eight miles farther to go, carrying
weight, is no joke when a man has made his day's march
under a hot sun ; besides, I was very hungry, and therefore,
my nationality asserting itself was, under such circum-
stances, cross.
While tramping along, it forcibly occurred to me that I
was on the very portion of my route where my friend the
San Sebastian banker had earnestly cautioned me on no
account to travel the road after dark, nor let strangers
know what way I was going; and it was pitch dark, and all
the ugly-looking customers in Pedrola knew I had started
for Alagon. I pulled up and prepared for possible con-
tingencies. Not that I cared. It would, in my then frame
of mind, have done me good to have had an encounter,
been a vent to my feelings to turn my double-barrel loose
and try the effect, on some of the denizens of that inhos-
pitable atrocity of a town I had left behind me, of a couple
of charges of " buck and ball," for I had drawn my par-
tridge-shot out of, and dropped into, each barrel a loosely-
fitting bullet and three buckshot, and carefully "chambered"
them with snipe-shot, the most eftectivc and certain load
for night-work a gun can have. Not that I seriously ap-
prehended molestation. I had little doubt but that the
hard-looking cases I had seen at the cafe were, in reality,
honest peasants, and, like the people of the posada nueva.
I90 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
more afraid of mains gcntc than I was ; that they were, at
worst, smuijglers in peace, guerrilkros in times of civil war.
What I really feared, though, was the possibility of losing
my unknown way in the dark, and either arriving practi-
cally nowhere, or getting to Alagon when every house was
shut up, no one about, and unable to discover \\\^ posada, or
— horrible thought — find Alagon as deficient in accommo-
dation for wandering strangers as the town just left ; for a
town Pedrola certainly is, having not only its two large
churches and Plaza, but a population of, I should judge,
from a thousand to fifteen hundred souls; for I was begin-
ning to lose faith in Spanish statements to wayfarers, and
becoming half a believer in what my friends at San Sebas-
tian and Pamplona had told mc, when they said the region
I had entered was unfit for any decent man to travel
through, excepting in the regular way.
The sky had become thickly overcast. Not a star
showed a ray of light. It was dark as a closed grave. A
strong cold wind blew directly from the snow-peaks of the
Moncayo. Before me, in the direction of Zaragoza, pro-
bably beyond that place, strong vivid flashes of lightning
almost continuously illumined the heavens. A downpour
of rain seemed likely to make my circumstances still more
disagreeable. The road showed dimly white when the far-
off lightnings played, and I pushed on rapidly. Still I
could not discern my way with sufficient certainty to avoid
running occasionally into the heaps of stones placed at
intervals along the sides of the road, stumbling over the
ruts in the middle, and stubbing my toes against the half-
cmbcddcd cobbles with which, in places, they h.id been
ALA G ON. 191
mended (?). More than once I was nearly down. No doubt,
being tired, I went too near the ground.
The road soon diverged to the right, and after a short
rise, seemed to be crossing an upland plain. It was very
straight, with neither hedge nor fence of any kind, nor, so
far as the light diffused from the distant flashes enabled me
to judge, was there even a single tree near ; it seemed to be
traversing a waste. In fact, for an hour and a half, the
faint indications of a road before me, surrounding darkness
or gleaming lightning was all I could discern, for Juan had
trotted on ahead. Truly it was a lonesome walk.
A long gradual descent, a bridge presumably across the
canal, a short sharp declivity, and I was in a totally different
country. On each hand was timber — olives most likely —
shade-trees nearly met overhead. The continued gurgle of
running water informed me I was near irrigating ditches,
and at last I found myself amongst houses. I had been
walking at the best pace I could go for over two hours ;
without doubt I was in Alagon. Not a soul was to be seen,
not a light showed. It was close to nine o'olock, and I
listened for the cry of the sereno. No sound came. I gave
ten minutes' grace. The stillness remained unbroken. So,
concluding the town was of insufficient wealth and import-
ance to employ any guardians of the night, I started on a
voyage of discovery.
CHAPTER XV.
A Haven of Rest — Inquisitiveness of the Natives — A Revel — Aragonese
Peasants — Picturesque Costume — Catch-water Fields — Guardias Civiles
— A cosy Kitchen— An " Ingenue " — Wooden Spoons and Forks— A
Spanish Welcome.
January 12, 1877. — Walking slowly down the centre of
the chief street of Alagon, the glimmer of a light streaming
through a crack in the door of an unprepossessing-looking
house was spied. Advancing and knocking boldly, the
door was immediately opened without question, and I
looked in on a room lighted by the blaze of a brushwood
fire, around which sat a semicircle of men, women, and
children, who all stared with evident astonishment at me ;
doubtlessly they had supposed it had been some expected
neighbour, for I think it was a social gathering I beheld.
Announcing myself as a traveller in search of \\\& posada,
who wished to learn the way thereto, a young man got
up and offered to be my guide, saying as a stranger,
ignorant of the nomenclature of the streets of the town,
directions would be of no use to me. After passing along
some short, narrow, irregularlj-laid-out allcy-Ax ays, between
dilapidated overhanging old houses, we came to a small
A HAVEN OF REST.
193
Plasa, and pointing to an open doorway, through which
came a flood of Hght, my guide said : " Sir, there is the
posada — a dios," and left me so suddenly, I had neither time
to offer a propina, nor even thank him.
The open entrance led immediately into the kitchen of
\\\Q posada, into which I walked. A goodly fire was cheer-
fully burning under the wide hood, and on the benches
round it reclined several picturesque Aragonese peasants,
while the auia and two criadas sat on the brick hearth, she
knitting socks, they spinning yarn, like Arcadian shep-
herdesses, with their fingers and a distaff. The spinning-
wheel of our grandmothers is a modern (?) invention
seemingly, not yet known in Aragon's rural parts.
Greatly to the wearied traveller's satisfaction, I learned
my wants could be supplied, and was immediately shown
upstairs into a large bedroom, having two big alcoves, each
with a double bed in it, and informed I would have it and
them all to myself.
After making a comfortable toilet, for which there were
all necessary appliances, I descended to my unconscionably
late dinner with a ravening appetite. It was an indifferent
though sufficient meal that I sat down to ; want of notice
and the time of night were, however, reasonable excuses
for all shortcomings, but for the first time in Spain food
was placed before me without a clean napkin being
furnished.
The meal finished, the natives seated round the fire
were joined, who immediately assailed me with innumer-
able questions. The Yankees have a world-wide reputation
for inquisitiveness ; as compared with the peasantry of
194 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
Northern Spain they are, I take it, a very reserved people.
But here the stranger is questioned, not for the sake of
asking-, but for the pleasure of listening to what he has got
to tell, for to a non-reading community a traveller is as a
newspaper, sometimes as a novel, and the farther the
distance whence he comes the more interesting is he.
Some of the questions asked about England and the
English are absolutely amazing. I verily believe several
of my audience were so ignorant and confiding, that had a
chapter out of the " Arabian Nights " been recited to them
by me, with an assurance the venue was in Great Britain,
and myself one of the actors therein, they would have seen
nothing incredible in my statements. And it must be
remembered that a people brought up from infancy to
believe implicitly all the ancient and modern Catholic
miracles, religious fairy-tales, and necromantic monkish
legends, have credulity and love of the marvellous strongly
developed in them. And they are also a stay-at-home
people ; the man amongst them who has made a few
smuggling trips across the Pyrenees is a sort of Marco
Polo in their imagination ; none of these people seated
round the fire with me had, for instance, ever been in
Navarra, though that province is but a good day's march
off, and they almost talked of El Reino de Navarra as of a
foreign country. They, simple souls, seemed to think I
had made an extraordinary journey, and prophesied I
should never get to Barcelona — " It is too far off."
Ere long the ubiquitous guitar was produced. One of
the men proved a good player, and after favouring the
company with a few airs, started " La j'ota Aragoncsa^'
A REVEL. 195
which, of course, I was pestered to dance ; and though,
from the difference in rhythm of the music from that of
the Navarray^/rtj-, I suspected the dance too differed, more
or less, I thought it better to risk dancing wrongly than
disoblige by not dancing at all ; so, being well refreshed
by supper, the good wine, and warm fire, rose up, bowed
to one of the maids, and handed her to the middle of the
room, with a delighted grin across her broad Aragonesa
face.
That girl's style of dancing is easily conceivable by
anyone who has ever seen a heifer frisk about a pasture,
the two performances being identical, and I was not sorry
when she said " Graciasl' and we sat down. By the time
we had concluded, the sound of Lajota had half filled the
large room with lads and lasses, the floor was immediately
taken by as many couples as could find space to dance in,
and a baile was improvised. Some of the dancing v/as
very good indeed, and there was a commendable absence
of the objectionable ; unlike the Arguedas saturnalia, there
were no flagrant improprieties perpetrated. Amongst the
company were many good-looking men and women and
one really handsome girl. With her I danced a jota, to
acquire the Aragonesa style, and a waltz, for the pleasure of
doing so, for she was an elegantly-made girl and waltzed
remarkably well.
On retiring, I found my bed most comfortable, its linen
white as snow, and no insects troubled the repose of the
tired-out wanderer.
The peasants in the posada of Alagon were distinctly
different in appearance from the Navarros, as markedly so
196 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
as English from German bucolics ; in fact, immediately
upon crossing the line I noticed a change of type. These
Aragonese are, both men and women, fuller-chested, heavier
limbed, broader in the face, squarer-jawed, and their dress
also is different and more picturesque. The men are
mostly attired in this fashion : A short-waisted jacket,
sometimes frogged, and slashed in the sleeves ; a low-cut
very open waistcoat, plentifully garnished with pearl
buttons ; cotton shirt, with very wide turn-down collar —
generally a checkered or striped one — and no neck-tie ;
knee-breeches, usually of black velveteen, very wide, not
reaching the knee, and open halfway up the thigh, the
ribbons to tie them hanging unfastened. Below, and
through the slash of the knee-breeches, shows a pair of
loose white linen drawers, tied by a draw-string just below
the knee, and met by woollen stockings without feet ;
no hats, and the hair cut Newgate fashion ; a coloured
kerchief folded narrow tied round the head ; and on the
otherwise bare feet, sandals. The sash completes the
costume, and is almost a garment ; very wide and long,
blue or red in colour ; it is wound many times round the
waist, and reaches from the middle of the ribs to con-
siderably below the hip-joints. It is a sort of universal
pocket and travelling-bag ; money, smoking apparatus,
knife, provisions, string, anything and everything that has
to be carried is, if possible, stowed away in the folds of the
sash. A striped blanket, or rather scarf, in size and shape
not unlike a Scotch plaid, is, when out of doors, thrown
around their shoulders in all kinds of fantastic ways.
The skirts of the women arc fully six inches shorter
PICTURESQUE COSTUME, 197
than those worn by the Giiipuzcoanas or Navarranas, and
all wear numerous ones, each of a different colour and of a
trifling less length than that immediately below it, the
outer or uppermost one being finely and closely kilted for
several inches below its waistband. The waist of the
bodice is very long, as long indeed as it is possible to be
worn, and the women of Aragon either lace very tightly
or are naturally extremely small-waisted, perhaps both.
IMany of them wear a small shawl, which in shape, size,
and manner of being put on exactly resembles those worn
by Welsh market-women. They, too, tie a kerchief round
the head as the universal out-door covering, but in many
and diverse fashions, but do not cut their hair short.
Stockings with feet and low-cut light shoes complete the
list of their visible array.
Their feet are generally smallish, well-arched and plump.
The prevailing complexion of both sexes is the florid-
brunette ; but the dark-sallow is numerous, and the red-
Celtic not scarce.
In the morning, ere departing, I took a look round the
town. The only remarkable object was the tower of its
church. Dome-shaped, and covered with a chequerwork
of white, pink, and green tiles, it had a fantastic and Tartar
appearance. My way led through a succession of gardens,
olive groves, and cornfields ; these last had all been arti-
ficially brought to an exact, slightly-tilted level, or rather
series of levels, each below one of its neighbouring en-
closures, and every level surrounded with low earth-banks.
They were, in short, catch-water fields, and a system of
ditches enabled them to be flooded. Some were so, and
198 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
looked like small square lakes. Irrigation had, at im-
mense cost of labour, been brought to perfection. Several
large ranges of white buildings, having high chimneys, were
probably factories or mills, and in the distance could be
seen houses whose appearance suggested country seats
— probably a nearer view would have resolved them into
farmhouses and stablings. Fine trees bordered the wide
road on each side, and cottages were frequent.
Before I had gone far, two giiardias civiles appeared and
stopped me. They saluted and asked if I had a licence
to carry arms. Replying that I had, I was about to pro-
duce and show it, when they said I need not trouble myself,
my word was sufficient, and again saluting, passed on. I
have frequently met members of this corps, always in
couples and on foot, and have invariably been politely
treated by them.
The giiardias civiles, actually the rural police of Spain,
are a government force of about seven thousand men, scat-
tered in small posts all over the kingdom, and to their
vigilance and activity is due the security of the roads ; for
though at no place numerous, considering the extent of the
beat patrolled, their appearance is at any time and any-
where on the cards ; and being invested with authority to
kill if they think necessary, and having a great reputation
for bravery, decision, and determination, they are held in
much dread by the evil-disposed. They must be a picked
body of men, for all I have seen were tall, handsome, well-
built fellows. And their serviceable and picturesque uniform
sets them off to great advantage. A cocked hat, in form
much like a French gendarme's but more elegant in shape,
A COSY KITCHEN. 199
mounted with wide white braid ; a blue frock-coat, with red
and white facings, and white cord shoulder-knots ; yellow
belts, carrying pouch and side-arms ; their nether limbs
clothed in dark blue pantaloons, and leggings of dark
chocolate-coloured cloth, reaching halfway up the thigh,
and fastened with a row of buttons all the way up on the
outside ; and good walking high shoes, is their costume.
Their long blue military cloak is generally rolled tightly
up and carried en bandonliere, their breech-loading carbine
slung across their back, their hands encased in clean white
cotton gloves. All are close-shaved, except a fierce-looking
heavy moustache. Taking them altogether, they are the
most stylish police force I have ever seen.
At eleven o'clock I reached Casetas, the first place I
have seen in Spain at all resembling in appearance an
English village. It possessed "a green," well covered with
a verdant close-growing sod, around which stood neat,
modern-looking cottages ; and a clean, tidy roadside tavern,
presented itself to my sight. I entered, gave the usual
salutation, and asked for breakfast in the patois of the
locality — I had picked up the words the night before in
the Alagon posada. Being told my worship should have
his breakfast cooked immediately, and shown into a room
that served for kitchen and parlour, I mounted the raised
hearth, and, stretching myself on the brickwork bench
under the fire's hood, took a survey. The room was a
pattern of cleanliness ; its whitewashed walls and ceiling
were without a stain ; the tile-floor well swept ; pots, pans,
and other cooking and table utensils — scalded, scoured, and
burnished — were hanging around or racked in profusion.
2CO ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
On the hearth glowed a cheerful bed of red coals — rose-
mary-bush charcoal — that diffused a grateful warmth and
fragrant odour.
On her knees, just below me, was a good-looking peasant
lassie, cooking my meal. She had very white, regular, and
sound teeth, coal-black eyes, and, I thought, most unneces-
sarily short petticoats. The young woman — she seemed to
be about four-and-twenty years of age — paid a high com-
pliment to my assumption of the appearance and manner
of a better-class native. Looking up with a smile, she
said : " How is your brother 1 " " Very well, thank you,"
I replied with a laugh. The laugh puzzled her. She looked
hard at me and asked : "Are you not of the mountains ?
A brother of Don Miguel of Tabuenca ? " No, I was not ;
did not even know Don Miguel. That was very strange,
we were as like as two eggs. Then she chattered on that
she had an aunt and cousins in Tabuenca whom she visited
often; that she knew the Senor Don Miguel very well. He
was a great friend of hers. And she again showed her
pretty teeth. And so she rattled away, talking and
laughing as she cooked.
My breakfast deserves description : a bowl of strong
excellent soup, a dish of black pudding spiced and seasoned
wath fine herbs and pi;lon nuts, pieces of fresh pork and
sliced potatoes nicely browned in olive oil, lamb cutlets
and greens, a well-mixed salad, cheese and oli\es, bread
at discretion, and a bottle of excellent wine. 7\fter
thoroughly satisfying myself, the remains and half a loaf
of bread made a fine mess for Juan. The entire charge for
all which was tenpence ! On this trip I have so often been
WOODEN SPOONS AND FORKS. 201
charged much more for very indifferent fare, that the
conclusion is inevitable— as a stranger and pilgrim— I
have, three times out of four, been overcharged from twenty
to fifty per cent. But though I have often felt sure I was
being imposed on I have never said so. Really, as com-
pared with English charges, the most exorbitant bill ever
presented to me has seemed ridiculously small ; and on the
line I have taken travellers are so evidently scarce, that if
these unfortunate posaderos do not impose on foreigners
who on earth are they to impose on }
Notwithstanding the lavish display of utensils in the
kitchen parlour of the Casetas inn, I had eaten with a
wooden spoon and fork ; indeed, I have seen no other
table weapons since entering Aragon. As always, they
were made of boxwood ; the spoon very shallow, the fork
— six-pronged — quite blunt, and the prongs close to each
other. Practically, the two instruments are but very wide
chopsticks. But, for a white man, I can handle chopsticks
very fairly, and therefore have not been inconvenienced.
I am told that in Aragon, only in first-class hotels, fashion-
able restaurants, and the houses of the very rich, are metal
forks and spoons to be seen.
Soon after leaving Casetas, the handsome towers and
domes of Zaragoza's famous churches appeared above the
tops of the olive-groves surrounding that town, but it took
me a two-and-a-half hours' walking to reach the city. As
I neared it, the roads were deep in mud. The edge of
the storm, whose lightnings had given me glimpses of my
way when walking to Alagon the night before, had reached
there.
202 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
I had a letter of introduction from a Tudela acquaint-
ance to a family at Zaragoza, with whom he was closely
related and often lived. It had been explained to me that
they did not take inmates, but, as his friend, they would
make an exception in my favour, and gladly put his room
and the entire house at my disposition. So I walked
straight to the place, and there received so effusive and
warm a welcome that, at once, I felt myself established " as
one of the family."
CHAPTER XVI.
El Pilar — Al Fresco Peasant Ball — Fine Canal Locks— Remarkable Wine —
Licorice Works — A splendid View— Waterworks better than Redoubts —
A Theatrical Entertainment — A /(?^itimate Speculation — The Cathedral
of El Seu—h. Gran Baile — Riotous Proceedings.
January 25, 1877. — The city of Zaragoza pleases me
much. It is by far the most considerable town I have
yet visited in this country, and has about it an air of
prosperous, progressive activity, quite refreshing and
absolutely novel, after my late experiences.
Sunday I attended high mass at one of the show
churches, " El Pilar," and was greatly struck with its
unique beauty, for in appearance it is totally different
from any Spanish church I have seen, and is in a certain
sense handsomer than any of them. In architecture, light-
ing, and ornamentation, it is a temple ; but, though a place
of worship, hardly a church. Full of marble sculpture,
decorative painting, and gilding ; well ventilated, light,
airy, almost gay. The fine sacred music floating through
it seemed almost out of place ; the airs of an Italian opera
would have sounded more in keeping with the surround ir?gs.
The congregation — a for the most part well-dressed and
204 0^^ FOOT IN SPAIN.
respectable one — was continually changing. Streams of
people, coming and going, passing and repassing, paying
their devotions first at one beautiful shrine then at another,
fills it with life and motion. The most frequented shrine
was a very fine picture of the Virgin and Child, hung
around with votive offerings, chiefly modelled in wax —
some being as large as life — of hands, arms, breasts, and
legs ; legs, however, being rnore numerous than all the
others taken together. More of the visitors to this shrine
v;ere sightseers than worshippers.
In the afternoon I went to a public dance in the bull-
'ring of the Plaza de Toros—di peasant ball only to be seen
on Sundays — for I wished to see the interior of the ring,
which is closed on week-days, and also a public peasant
dance. Admittance was obtainable by all persons "decently
attired," on payment of one real.
The Zaragoza bull-ring is a large circular building,
not unlike in form of construction the old Roman amphi-
theatre, and much larger than the cursory glance I gave its
exterior had led me to suppose ; indeed, on pacing across
it I was surprised by its dimensions. The circular, well-
gravelled and swept arena, was three hundred feet across.
Around were ten tiers of stone scats, rising one above the
other ; then two storeys of palcos or boxes, comfortably
arranged with wooden seats, each storey consisting of one
hundred and four boxes. It was evident over ten thousand
spectators could be comfortably seated. In the centre of
the arena was a circle sixty yards across, temporarily railed
off for dancers, and two bands, a regimental and a citizen
one, alternately played from two raised platforms. Both
AL FRESCO PEASANT BALL. 205
bands were strong in numbers, and played well, keeping
and marking the time extremely so. The dancers were
all of the peasant class, and clothed in their holiday dresses,
but, though picturesquely arrayed, and of good figures,
were as a general thing very plain in the face. The way
those people acquitted themselves was astonishing — valses,
polkas, mazurkas were danced with an agility, grace, and
precision far superior to anything of the kind I have seen
in France. Indeed, the worst dancing of these common
peasants was better than the best English ball-room per-
formances, and I was well pleased by the general propriety
of conduct observed. Whether such decorum was entirely
due to the presence of police, polizones, not guardias civiles,
or that the Aragones are more "proper" than the Navarras,
I do not venture to decide. The ball concluded with a
Jota Aragonesa, some of the dancing in which was quite
equal to the ballet-dancing of London theatres.
For this dance the ring filled with couples, and the
scene was most gay and animated. Try and fancy the
Hodges and Bettys of one of our rural districts dancing
all the fashionable dances of the day with easy elegance,
agile grace, and neat precision — if you can !
Fine well-kept roads lead from Zaragoza in all
directions ; and as, accompanied by Juan, my faithful
and affectionate friend, companion, and guard, I take my
daily constitutional, most charming views and fresh objects
of interest continually present themselves. The other day
I walked out to see the canal-locks, about three miles
from town. They are two in number, and like everything
connected with the Imperial Canal, well designed and
2o6 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
constructed. The first is one hundred and forty feet long-,
by thirty wide, with a drop of thirty feet ; the second of
similar dimensions, but only having a drop of half the first.
These figures are approximations, for I had no means of
making actual measurements.
Just above the upper lock is the finest flour-mill I have
seen anywhere, except the " Lick " mill in California.
The miller politely showed me over it. The water power
being furnished by the canal without stint, and the fall
close on forty-five feet, its capacity is very considerable ;
but, at the time, only twelve pairs of stones were running ;
for at present it hardly pays to convert grain into flour,
wheat being now worth forty-eight to forty-nine pesetas
per one hundred and thirty-eight and a half kilogrammes,
while the best flour only fetches thirty-six, and second best
thirty- four, pesetas per one hundred kilogrammes. But
this is unusual and temporar}^, and the market will soon
right itself.
After showing me over, the place, the miller took me
into a handsomely-furnished sitting-room, and produced a
bottle of wine for my opinion. It was quite different from
any I have tasted in this country, and more of a cordial
than a wine, in colour a bright garnet, very sparkling and
clear ; but I should not like it as a drink, for it is slightly
sweet and strongly alcoholic. It had been made on the
premises, from grapes off a hill-side in sight from the
window, situated above the level of irrigation just beyond
the canal. The wine was a perfectly pure one, had been
nine years in the wood, and a few months in bottle. It
had been made for, and never off the premises of, the
LICORICE WORKS. 207
miller, so he could vouch for its integrity ; nor was there a
single drop of it in the market. On taking a second glass
I liked it better. It was decidedly a very fine wine. A
third glass I declined ; it really was too strong to drink
much of.
A mile beyond the flour-mill is an artificial guano
manufactory, and to it I was taken by the miller to see
what he considered a splendid mastiff. The dog w^as a big,
clumsy, cross-bred brute, and I was much^-more interested
in the factory. The guano is made from the flesh of
horses, mules, and asses, dried, pounded, and mixed with
the dust of their calcined bones, and has a great reputation.
Certainly if its rank as a fertiliser is at all proportionate to
its rankness of smell, it is hard to surpass.
Below, and not far from where I tasted the wine, is
another flour-mill, run also by water from the canal It,
too, was a large and handsome white stone building, but
smaller than the other.
Returning to town by a different route, my way ran
past a licorice-mill. I entered it, and introduced myself to
its manager. He proved to be also its proprietor ; and on
my expressing a wish to see the process, kindly made him-
self my cicerone, showing and explaining everything con-
nected with his fabric, from the chopping up and sorting
of the roots to the final casting of the juice into oblong
boxes, containing two hundred and sixty pounds each of
cake licorice. Under the porticoes of the large patio, or
interior courtyard of the building, were squatted on the
ground about a hundred women, young and old, at work
cutting the roots into convenient lengths by chopping them
2o8 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
on blocks with small hatchets, sorting by size and quality,
and clearing from the soil adhering to them. All were
singing, chatting, or laughing. In one side of the build-
ing, mules were turning huge stone rollers that bruised the
chopped roots into pulp, the apparatus much resembling
that used for crushing silver- ore in Mexico. Afterwards
the pulped roots were macerated by steam, the resulting
syrup being concentrated by boiling. The owner of the
works was a you*g and most intelligent man, and extremely
polite and ffiendly ; a great, admirer of all things English,
and a student of our language. But though by hard study
he had advanced so far as to have, with the assistance of
a dictionary, translated very creditably "Oliver Twist"
and " Hide and Seek," he couldyiot speak intelligibly ; for
there being no one living in Zaragoza who can talk
English,*fie was in utter ignorance of how the words of the
language sound ; neither, of course, could he understand
me when I spoke to him in my own language.
Still nearer home I passed a potato-mill — a manufactory
of starch, desiccated potatoes, potato flour, &c. &c., near
which I obtained a splendid view. Rising above a fore-
ground of dark green olive-trees appeared the towers,
domes, and buildings of Zaragoza ; beyond, a rugged,
broken, desolate stretch of chaotic hills and ridges of
gravel, gray clay, and cement ; then, forty miles off, the
Sierra of Alcubierre, dark blue and indistinct from warm
haze, and showing no detail ; above, brilliantly white with
dazzling snow, the summits of the Sierra de Guara, distant
seventy miles ; while to the north-east — in which direction
there stretched to the horizon an apparent desert of broken
.'«
,"•'•, if-;»l jMi
f^
hI
A SPLENDID VIEW. 209
mesa — rose sharply and distinctly defined against a cloud-
less sky, the glittering peaks of the Maladetta mountains of
the Pyrenees — more than a hundred miles away.
The day was a remarkably fine one, clear and brilliant,
showing detail with a distinctness and reducing distance
in a manner unknown to an English climate. I was so
delighted with this view, that I went back the following morn-
ing to take a sketch of it. Alas ! I could make no approach
towards doing it justice. It was a view at once too pano-
ramic in extent, too minute in its lovely details, and too
charming in its gradations of tint and variety of colour to
be more than hinted at within the limits of the four corners
of a sheet of drawing-paper, and by the simple use of
black and white ; I was obliged to content myself with a
most inadequate sketch of the centre of the town and
country immediately back of it.
The following day I took a different road from town,
and when about a mile and a half out, saw at work on the
summit of a hill dominating the city, some hundreds of
men and about fifty carts and horses, making excavations
and moving soil. I supposed they were making fortifica-
tions, but was glad to find they were doing nothing so
foolish. The work in progress was the construction of
three large reservoirs, from which, by mains and pipes, to
supply the houses of Zaragoza with water. Truly it is
encouraging to see in progress a work of public utility in a
country whose constructive energy has so long been exclu-
sively devoted to, and monopolised by, military engineering.
Waterworks are better for Spain than redoubts.
On my return I looked in at the foundry and ironworks
2IO ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
of Don Martin Rodon et Hermauo, situate close to the little
bridge over the Huerva, and a little without the Santa
Engracia city gate, for I wished to renew my acquaintance
with the young fellow at whose mother's house I had spent
Christmas Eve in Tudela. He was quite glad to see and
show me over the works. They were extensive and busy.
I noticed the best turning-lathe in the machine-shop was
branded " Edgar Allen, Sheffield." One for old England !
There are three theatres here. I have been to a per-
formance at the principal one. The building is much after
the same style as the San Sebastian theatre, but smaller.
Like it, the ventilation, temperature, and lighting left
nothing to be desired. There was a house of about seven
hundred people, principally occupying the stalls and dress-
circle. Military rnen, en grande tenue, and en paisano, with
their ladies, were very numerous, and the most stylish in
appearance of the audience ; but all the occupiers of stalls
and boxes had the air and manner of the beau inonde, much
more so than I had expected to see in a provincial capital.
The first piece was a political comedy — a hit at crises.
The audience seemed to appreciate the points highly, but
not being versed in Spanish politics, the allusions were lost
on me, and I found it stupid enough. There were five
actors and three actresses. The men were very fair artists,
the women rather " sticky," one especially so — her corsets
seemed to be preying on her mind. Afterwards came a
spectacular ballet, " The Daughter of Fire." It was exces-
sively well put on. Scenery and dresses were most artistic
and beautiful ; nor was there the remotest approach either
to tawdrincss or vulgarity about the performance, while, as
EL- SEU CATHEDRAL. 211
was to be looked for in Spain, the dancing was admirable.
A bailador, two primera bailarinas, and forty danzarinas
constituted the corps de ballet. One of the bailarinas danced
as well as any "first lady" I have had the pleasure of
criticising of late years. But what pleased me most was
the general goodness of the corps, all of whom could,
and did, dance well, with grace, ease, precision, and be-
coming naturalness ; in striking contrast to the en evidence
drilled and awkward ungainliness of an average London
troupe. The " display " too was decidedly good. No
"broom-sticks," no "beet to the heels," no padding, no big
feet, no flat feet. Why does not some enterprising manager
import an entire ballet troupe from Spain, and give the
cockneys a chance to see, en masse, dancing and shape that
is really elegant.? He would certainly make a financial
success, for the exhibition would be sure to draw, and their
salaries be undoubtedly low ; evidently so, for the best
places in the theatre — the fauteuil stalls ibutacas) — were
only half-a-crown, the others proportionally cheap ; so
though the attendance was good, there could not have been
over seventy-five pounds in the house ; and out of this had
to be paid a good orchestra of a leader and thirty-eight
performers, and a prompter, eight actors and actresses, forty-
three dancers, numerous supernumeraries, all splendidly
dressed, and besides that, handsome scenery, gas, rent,
and contingent expenses ; and the management is making
money
Sunday I went to high mass at the metropolitan church
—the " Seu"— the archbishop officiating. The cathedral
was the greatest possible contrast to the " Pilar." It
212 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
seemed the very type and exemplar of the mediaeval
cathedral — solemn, impressive, obscure ; too obscure, for it
is full of work of the highest merit — sculpture, carvings,
paintings — a very mausoleum of art. Really lofty, its
groined roof, supported by pillars and pointed arches,
seems, in the dim light, still farther off than it really is.
Indeed, on entrance, I thought the cathedral narrow for its
height and length. It was only when I noticed how trifling
a relative space the knots of kneeling worshippers occupied,
and counted the numbers in some of the nearest of them,
that I commenced to realise my mistake. Of course I
could not pace the distance, but estimating by the eye,
counting the squares of the marble inlaid floor between the
rows of pillars, and multiplying by the average size of the
squares, I presumed the width of the cathedral is at least
two hundred and fifty feet, but this is possibly much within
the mark. The organ was a very fair one, and the chanting
and playing good.
There being a ball every Sunday night in one of the
minor theatres, and wanting to see all phases of Spanish
life that I could, I went after dinner, notwithstanding I had
been warned there would be nothing worth seeing ; but I
was like the young girl, who being told that love was all
folly, wished to see the foolishness of it. As far as I could
learn from my informant, these Sunday balls were only
frequented by the Zaragoza species of the genus Cad, and
the females who were to be expected at a ball where the
entrance fee was but a matter of two reals ; that, in short,
they were " Fivepenny Argyles."
The " Gran bailc'' — as the advertising posters called it —
A " GRAN BAILEP 213
was announced to last from eight o'clock in the evening to
two o'clock of the next morning ; and at half-past nine I
looked in. The dancing-floor was one hundred feet by-
sixty in dimensions, around which v/ere five rows of seats,
and on the stage was a brass band of twelve performers,
executing a waltz. I say " executing " avec intention ; for
though they kept excellent time, the instruments were
brassy in tone, and out of tune, and the music (.') was
atrocious. About sixty couples were footing it. As I had
observed at the peasant-ball at the Plaza de Toros, the men,
as a usual thing, danced better than the women ; why, I
cannot say. Perhaps the voluminous petticoats of the
females lessened the apparent grace of their movements.
The best male dancers were, I noticed, waltzing with
each other. By-and-by a policeman came in and went
round the dancing-floor, stopping and separating all the
male couples. The inference was plain. Here the autho-
rities do not consider it proper for men to dance with each
other in public. That policeman had a lively time of it.
While discussing the matter with some loudly-expostulating
couple at one end of the room, half-a-dozen others would
start at the opposite one, and on his going in pursuit of
them, as many more would commence at the place he had
just left. Evidently they were " devilling him ;" he rushed
out and brought in another representative of the pro-
prieties. But by then the number of dancers in the
building had increased, and the last state of afi"airs was
worse than the first ; so he fetched two more, and the four,
stationing themselves one in each corner of the floor,
effectually enforced their prohibition.
214 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
The malefactors seemed disgusted and retired. Ere
long I noticed several of them had returned, and were
dancing with very queer-looking ladies. A sudden rush
and dive of the four policemen revealed the true state of
the case. The queer ladies were the remainder of the
sinners against decorum, who, during their temporary re-
tirement, had wrapped their own and their partners' cloaks
around their waists, their scarf-shawls around their shoulders,
their coloured neckties round their heads, and so attempted
to circumnavigate the vigilance of authority.
These "riotous proceedings " were the only breaches of
strict conduct. The dancing was proper, amounting to
stateliness. Indeed, considering who and what the men and
women were, the assumption of dignity with which they
danced was almost ludicrous. There was none of that
" romping to music," which I have sometimes seen even in
"good society." The only thing a fastidious spectator
could object to was the unconscious displays of the very
few peasant-girls in the room, whose extremely short
skirts were most emphatically unadapted to the whirling
waltz, especially as they were not prepared for the occasion,
after the manner of ballet-girls. Taken as a whole, the
gran baile was a slow affair. I soon had enough of it,
and left for home. Perhaps things went faster after
midnight.
CHAPTER XVII.
El Pasco dc' Santa Eiigracia — A motley Throng— Spanish "Fashions" — The
Land of the Picturesque—^/ Piiente de Zaragoza—hx\c:\^n\. Hotel de Ville
— La Casa /;;_/««/(Z— Sporting Information — House Warming and Venti-
lation — The King's Birthday — ^Beauty — A Review — A gilt, silvered, and
jewelled Rainbow — La Casa Depntacion.
January 24, 1877. — Zaragoza can boast of many agree-
able promenades, or, as they are called, paseos, but the
paseo par excellence, that of La Santa Engracia, is by far
the finest I have seen this side the Pyrenees. It is a well-
gravelled, smooth walk, hedged and planted with trees, one
hundred feet broad, nearly half a mile long, and having
cut-stone seats and gas-lamps at short distances apart, for
its entire length. It terminates, at one end, by the well-
built Plaza de la Constitncion, in whose middle stands
the chief city fountain, a large, richly-carved stone basin,
having in its centre a bold, well-executed figure of
Neptune, round which are grouped four dolphins, from
whose mouths flow copious streams of clear, sparkling
water. At its other end it is bounded by a set of light,
graceful, ornamental gates, railings, and stone pillars —
La Pnerta de Santa Engracia — through which is seen a
charming expanse of olive groves, fine houses and their
2i6 OiV FOOT IN SPAIN.
grounds, and the distant Sierra de Algaircn, the hand-
somely-planted, well-kept road beyond serving for a con-
tinuation of the promenade. Immediately without the
low hedges, bounding on each side El Paseo de Santa
Engracia, and running parallel thereto, are wide carriage-
ways, pavements, and houses. The buildings to the right,
going down, are principally cafes as to their ground-floors,
private dwellings above stairs, a lofty continuous colonnade
covering the pavement. They terminate by the Teatro de
Novadades, succeeded by an open planted square, and the
building used for the Exposicion Aragonesa. The houses to
the left have, like the others, handsome white stone fronts,
and are all private residences, excepting a few very elegant
clubs and cafes, and the middle building, the handsomest
of all, which is the college convent of the sisters of Jcru-
selen. This row terminates with the official residence and
offices of the Captain-General of the Province ; the striking
tower, entrance-porch, and broken archways of the ruined
convent of Santa Engracia, a beautiful building of the
richest Gothic style of the fifteenth century and almost
totally destroyed by "Napoleon's barbarians" in 1808,
and by a boulevard. Towards its farther end the paseo
widens into a large circle, in the middle of which stands a
well-executed statue of Pignatelli, the able engineer who
completed the works on the Imperial Canal, here always
spoken of by his familiar surname of " El Mora."
Spaniards being great fidneiirs, the Santa Engracia
paseo is a regular afternoon resort. On Sundays it is quite
crowded. Then not only does a population of sixty-eight
thousand turn out in for£e, but the countrv round about
SPANISH FASHIONS 217
sends in its contingent of visitors and holiday-makers. It
is a motley throng ; all grades are represented, from the
sandalled shepherd in jacket of sheepskin, and greasy, well-
worn, and patched knee-breeches, his ragged blanket swing-
ing from his shoulders, to the elegant citizen dandy and
gorgeous military swell ; from the short-skirted village
maiden in garments of many colours, to the long-trailed
lady of fashion. Zaragoza has as much wealth and enter-
prise as all the other towns seen since the frontier was
crossed taken collectively, consequently on its public pro-
menade there is a great display of good clothes— indeed,
the number of really well-dressed, stylish-looking men
and women one sees here is remarkable. I join in a
promenade, and make observations and reflections. I
count the number of women wearing bonnets in an hour's
walk — sixteen. These bonnet-wearing belles are well got-
up stylish women, under the escort of genteel men ; but
their appearance is not, as they fondly fancy, improved by
their Paris coiffure — quite the contrary. Amongst the ele-
gant head-dresses of lace veils and mantillas, the bonnets,
though as pretty ones as the centre of French taste
ever sent forth, look flaunting, vulgar, almost barbarous.
Amongst the best-dressed men, the overcoat to a great
extent supplants the capa or Spanish cloak, much to the
advantage of their appearance.
The more I see of the capa the less I like it. It can be
put on so as to confer a look of elegance, but, as generally
worn, gives a round-shouldered, almost hump-backed ap-
pearance. Usually its long folds impede their wearer's
legs, make them shuffle and shamble, or, from preventing
2i8 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
the natural balancing swing of the arms, causes a roll
in their walk. Even the few men in ulsters — for that
garment has invaded the peninsula — look smarter than
the majority of those wearing the cloak. A dressing-
gown even of frieze gives an old-womanish look, but most
of the men en capa seem as though they had some ancient
females' petticoats tied round their necks.
The number of beautifully-dressed and pretty children
is remarkable. Altogether the variety of costume is very
pleasing to the eye. Not only are the local ones to be
seen, but mingled amongst them those of Navarra, Cata-
lonia, and the Basque provinces, mountaineers and plains-
men. The military are in force, in mufti and regimentals,
the latter adding greatly, by their variety, elegance, and
showiness, to the general effect. Staff, lancers, dragoons,
engineers, artillery, infantry, white, blue, pink, scarlet,
green, gold, silver, and steel, make an evershifting kaleido-
scope of colour and brilliancy. A sprinkling of tall, \\^\\di-
sortiQ guardias civilcs,\ooVw\g as though they might have
just stepped off the boards of an opera-house, give quite a
scenic air to the gathering, while the all-black curas in
their ample cloaks, almost touching the ground, and wide
shovel hats, serve as excellent foils and contrasts. Truly
Spain is the land of the picturesque, as well as of the dance
and song. A few well-horsed and appointed carriages,
fairly filled, drive up and down. Some extremely hand-
somely-mounted, good-form men, dressed, gloved, and
spurred a lAnglaise, and whose horse-trappings arc quite
English, show off themselves and nags to the promenading
EL PUENTE DE ZARAGOZA. 219
saloritas. It is midwinter, not a cloud is to be seen, the
sky is a brilliant blue, the air soft and balmy !
El Puente de Zaragoza is a very fine example of bridge-
building in stone, considering it was constructed over four
hundred and forty years ago, strong and massive, for the
Ebro is liable to immense floods, yet withal light and
elegant in appearance, but it looks also very quaint and
queer. It has seven lofty arches, and six pairs of piers.
The piers on the bridge's upper side are all sharp wedges ;
of those on its lower, four are half octagons, and the other
two are large, square, three-storied houses, whose entrance-
doors are accessible from the water by flights of stone
steps, and which communicate with the footway of the
bridge by trap-doors. No doubt these houses were
designed to serve for the shelter and accommodation of
a bridge garrison. The length of this bridge, without
including approaches, is eight hundred and twenty-five
feet ; its width, excluding the deep semicircular recesses
above the piers, thirty-six feet. It is very hog-backed, has
a thick parapet, and up and down the river therefrom
extend along each bank for considerable distances, deep,
strong, river walls, having, at intervals, flights of stone
steps descending to landing-places.
A little below the bridge, on the river's farther side, are
the ruins of a large convent. Above it, on the city side.
El Pilar, and from it is obtainable towards the south-west
a lovely view of winding river and champaign country,
backed in the far distance by the snow-clad Sierra de Mon-
cayo, looking almost as near as it does from Tudela. The
2 20 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
four half-octagon piers appear much more modern than do
the two that are houses, as though they were restorations
of, or rather substitutes for, the original ones. I have
made inquiry about the matter, but, as usual, the stereo-
typed, and quite unnecessary to impart, piece of informa-
tion, that " God knows," and the absurd counter-question,
"Who knows?" is all the satisfaction obtainable by an
inquiring mind. Probably, however, though Spaniards here
do not know, there may be plenty of my countrymen at
home who do.
The foundation of the bridge is continuous stonework,
and over it, between the piers, the Ebro rushes and boils as
if over a dam. Four well-sculptured stone lions couchant
guard the approaches to the bridge, and lines of nets,
hanging up to dry, give evidence that fish are to be got out
of the river.
On my return from amusing myself by inspecting this
interesting bridge, and feeding my appetite for the beautiful
in nature by gazing on the views up and down the river, I,
just before reaching the Plaza del Sen, passed a pair of
large oak doors, standing partly open. Peeping in, I saw
what I supposed to be the interior of a church, and, " no
man forbidding," entered. I found myself within a large
square edifice, whose lofty, arched, and sculptured roof was
supported by twenty-four beautiful columns, whose walls
were covered with coats-of-arms — the imperial ones of
Charles V., Emperor of Germany, &c. &c., being the
most conspicuous — with paintings, and with old banners.
At one end was a raised dais, and the whole floor was
littered with canvases, paint-pots, brushes, and scantlings ;
LA CASA INFANTA, 221
while draughtsmen, painters, and carpenters were at work
on all sides. On inquiry, I learned I was in the ancient
Hotel de Ville, and that, for the nonce, it was being
utilised as a studio for scene-painting for the theatre. It
was a beautiful interior, quite equal to some of Spain's
famous churches.
I was so pleased with the reward obtained for curiosity,
that for the rest of the way to my quarters I peered into
every open entrance, hoping to obtain a sight of another
good interior, and not in vain. Entering a wide porte-
cochere, I stood in an unroofed courtyard, enclosed by a
double portico, resting on pillars, with wide overhanging
eaves of elaborately-carved woodwork. Pillars, porticoes,
walls, were a mass of sculpture, the labours of Hercules,
and bust-portraits of ancient Spanish kings being the most
conspicuous ; but nude human figures of all sexes, human
and other monsters, and demons, were not lacking. The
wear of the lower portions of the hard stone pillars, and
the whole style of the building, showed its extreme anti-
quity. But the newness of some portions of the sculpture
puzzled me, until I noticed a scroll with an inscription
setting forth that La Casa Infanta had been restored in
1 87 1 by the direction of the Liberal Monarchical Club of
Zaragoza. A close scrutiny satisfied me the work of
restoration had been committed to able hands, and con-
scientiously and artistically done. It also forced on my
notice that there was not only a great lack of fig-leaves,
but a realistic completeness of detail that the nineteenth
century considers quite superfluous. I suspect some monk
of old had a hand in the designing of those figures.
22 2 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
From a sportsman of this city I have learned a fact
concerning the migratory quail of Western Europe, which
upsets my previously-conceived opinion. I have heretofore
believed that the birds in question bred in Africa. He tells
me the Ebro's valley, between the Imperial Canal and the
river, is one of their great breeding-grounds. The old
birds arrive in April, and immediately go to nest, in that
immense wheatfield. After harvest, in the end of July,
the young birds are strong on the wing and very fat. Then
the sport is excellent, the bag to a good shot, who has well-
broken dogs, being only a question of quick loading and
walking.
I am disgusted to find I have burdened and troubled
myself with gun, sporting equipment, and dog, to make the
trip at the very worst time of the year for shooting, indeed
when there is none. But it is not my fault ; I tried to get
full and reliable information on the subject in England,
and could not. As a result, I have journeyed through a
country which, in the proper season, abounds with game,
prepared for shooting, and have not bagged fur or
feather.
I am again bothered by the copper coins. In Tudela, a
peseta was a silver piece of fort}- cuartos ; here it is reckoned
as worth thirty and a half, for, while there a dosciiarto
meant five of the new centiuws, here a cuarto piece means
one of the now legally obsolete cuartos of Old Castile, by
which coin, however, these shopkeepers persist in com-
puting prices. As to some of my countrymen, who
ought to know better, so the decimal system is, to these
provincials, foolishness.
'' REGULAR PAPERS." 223
During the last few days the temperature has become
rather chilly. In the early mornings there have been dense
river-fogs, and though the afternoons and evenings have
been bright and clear, the natives are all shivering and
grumbling. Here they warm their rooms by large braziers,
full of red-hot charcoal sprinkled over with ashes, and
placed in wooden frames having wire-gauze screens over
them. These are put under the tables of the dining-rooms,
and anywhere in the sleeping-chambers. Doors and windows
are closely fastened up ; and why people are not asphyxi-
ated I do not know — they ought to be. The fuel used for
cooking is the branches and roots of rosemary plants — an
endless supply of which is growing wild all over the uplands.
It is brought into town on jackasses, long strings of which
beasts of burden, loaded until they look like perambulating
brush-piles, can be seen any day on the roads leading to
town, or in the market-places. This shrub is now in bloom,
and the plants look quite pretty.
The other day I made inquiry of an official whom I have
become acquainted with, what they meant at the " new
posada " near Pedrola, by asking me if I had regular
papers, and learned from him, that though the foreign
passport system is here abolished, the interior one is in full
force ; for instance, said he, " Did I wish to go by rail, or
otherwise to Madrid, or elsewhere, I ought to be furnished
with papers — a passport or permit." These " papers " vary
in price from a few coppers, for leave to make a short
journey, to as many dollars for a permit good for a year
and all Spain. The visa of the Spanish Consulate in
London on my Foreign Office passport is, I find, equivalent
2 24 ON FOOT TN SPAIN.
to a permit of the latter class, so I am all right. Rut,
knowing that a passport was not required by an English-
man to enter Spain, and not being aware before of this
internal police regulation, I might have easily run myself
into a difficulty, and been " run in " by authority — for lack
of "papers," found myself arrested, in some out-of-the-way
village, by country officials who were stupid, obstinate, and
zealous. And may all Spain's thousand saints defend me
from zealous village authorities, of all and every country
and place.
Last Tuesday being St. Ildcfonsds day, a saint who by a
stretch of official ingenuity is considered the king's tutelar,
all Zaragoza was en fete. The balconies of the House of
Deputies, those of the Captain-General, and of every other
public building, were covered with crimson velvet embroi-
dered with gold lace, and in every direction fluttered and
waved yellow draperies and banners. After breakfast
there was a march out and review of the troops of the
garrison, which everybody, dressed in their best, went to
see — a remarkably well-attired and behaved crowd. And
the ubiquitous, sandalled, ragged-blanketed, crop-haired
arrieros, labradors, pastors, and andrajosos—dkiX picturesque-
ness and dirt, but quiet and inoffensive in behaviour — served
but to enhance, by strong contrast, the handsomeness of the
numerous really elegant toilettes of both sexes.
The show of female beauty was far beyond what I ha\c
seen here on the Sunday promenades ; doubtlessly the class
in which it is mostly to be found are, as a rule, not Sundaj'
promenadcrs. Seated in carriages, standing in balconies,
walking up and down — escorted by their attendant f^?/W/tvv.y
A REVIEW. 225
or propriety dtiefias — were more pretty women than I have
yet beheld before in Spain, all taken together. Amongst
them were many blue-eyed beauties ; and, handsomest of
all, a tall, full-chested, queenly, golden-haired blonde, who
takes rank amongst the dozen most beautiful women I have
seen anywhere. I begin to think I must add beauty to
dance, song, and picturesqueness in my list of what is
most remarkable in Spain. Small — very small — feet were
plentiful ; and the percentage of little, elegantly-shaped,
well-gloved hands was marvellous.
There was a very respectable turn-out of troops. I
walked down the review line. Without including intervals,
it was considerably over a mile long. I timed the march
past ; even at the extraordinary pace Spanish soldiers go at
it lasted forty minutes. Nearly all arms were represented
— the engineers with iron sections of pontoon bridges,
boats on trucks drawn by mules, and portable forges ;
horse artillery — to be accurately descriptive, it should be
mule artillery — with guns and ammunition carts ; a four-
gun battery of mountain rifle-cannon — guns, carriages,
ammunition, equipments, all on pack mules ; foot artillery,
infantry, cavalry, and mounted giiardias civiles; a brilliant,
staff, several generals. I was more than ever struck with
the varied and real elegance of Spanish uniforms. On or
off the stage I have not seen them equalled. The mounted
guardias civiles were the most plainly attired of the horse-
men, but looked extremely well. Big good-looking fellows,
arrayed in patent-leather jack-boots, snowy-white breeches,
double-breasted tail-coats — dark blue, with crimson breasts
and silver buttons, crimson collars, coat-tails turned back
Q
2 26 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
with crimson, and having a crown and lion embroidered in
silver on them ; cocked hats, heavily braided with white,
and having a crimson badge in front ; white gauntleted
gloves, long steel spurs, sabre and carbine, and splendidly
horsed. The staff seemed all colours. Even the long
ostrich plumes of their head-gear were dyed of many hues
— gold and silver, lace, ribbons, orders, covered them.
They were a gilt, silvered, and jewelled rainbow. The
bands — numerous and respectively strong — played very
well.
The number of handsome men amongst the officers was
remarkable, and many, who were " on the show off," dis-
played horsemanship that would have made their fortunes
in a circus. The mules were big, heavy, serviceable animals,
ranging from fifteen-and-a-half to nearly seventeen hands
high ; and weighing, I should suppose, from nine to thir-
teen hundred pounds each. Taking them altogether, they
were almost as fine a lot of mules as though they belonged
to the United States transport service.
This review was, as a spectacle, very striking and
effective. I have never seen so fine a show made by the
same number of troops, and I have been in the way to see
a great deal in that line. But, however, an army must
be good for something ; and if the Spanish one has not
greatly improved in fighting qualities since the days of the
Peninsular War — which the skirmishing, dodging, and
running-away performances, called collectively, " The late
civil war," and its Cuban fiascos, would lead one to doubt
— it ought to be ornamental in peace.
I have received so much polite attention and courtesy
LA CAS A DE DEPUl^ACION. 227
from Spanish military men, that it seems ungrateful in me
to make such a remark as the foregoing ; but I fear there
is more truth than sarcasm about it And after all, pageantry
ought to be the only use for an army in Spain. No foreign
power wants, or, if her external affairs are conducted
rationally, is ever likely to make war on this country ; and
if Spain's upper classes would cease being conspirators, the
people — hardworking, frugal, patient, given more to dance
and song than thinking, a people of " viielta niaflana "
(to-morrow will do) — would give no employment to the
military. Unfortunately, as it now is, the short cut to
power and wealth in Spain is a successful treason ; and the
individual ambition and energy, that in England conduces
to general prosperity, makes Spain the arena of interminable
revolution. It will be a most happy time for this country
when the day comes, that to participate in a conspiracy will
be to take a short and sure cut to the gallows.
In the evening the public buildings were illuminated.
The Casa de Depiitacion appeared to the best advantage.
The gas lamps and jets arranged around its windows, along
its balconies, and under its eaves, gave to its white front a
look of alabaster, lit up the crimson and golden hangings,
and brought out in strong relief against their dark shadows
the sculptured figures of the fagade; and the motto in large
letters, " Vive Alfonso XIL," showed at all events official
loyalty.
CHAPTER XVIII.
The Start from Zaragoza— Too much Railway Station— The Charon of the
Ebro— "Every Man must march when the Drum beats for him"— An
ugly Prospect— Getting into Difficulties— In Peril— Candle to the Virgin
for safe Deliverance— Astray— Licorice Diggers' Camp— Osera— Rough
Fare— A delighted Child.
January 27, 1877.— Early on the morning of yesterday
I walked forth from Zaragoza, bound for Lerida across Los
Moncgros—2, tract of country I had been solemnly warned
against attempting to traverse on foot or alone. I was told
it is a most uninteresting stretch, quite unworthy of being
visited ; that settlements are very far apart ; that it is a
retreat, or refuge, for banditti, and that I ought positively
to go from Zaragoza to Lerida by rail, via Monegon, so
turning instead of crossing Los Moncgros. But I started
out to walk from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean,
and am going to do so — " A wilfu' chiel mun gang her ain
gait," even if it brings him to grief So, being totally
averse to making any considerable gap in my pedestrian
trip, I again urged on my three to four miles an hour
" mad career," quitting Zaragoza by the Puerta del Diique
de la Victoria, situated immediately to the left of the old
and interesting church of San Michael, whose sculptured
TOO MUCH RAILWAY STATION. 229
porch — over which, under a colossal scallop-shell, is an
heroic-sized figure of his saintship in single combat with
a most extraordinaiy-looking devil — is well worth a passing
glance.
The city gate of the Duke of Victory is a fine Tuscan
porch with three sets of handsome iron gates, connected by
railings marked Henry Russell, London, i860 (wonder if
they were paid for in Spanish bonds ?), and when through
them I found myself on the caniino real to El Burgo, a
hamlet near which I had been informed there was a good
ferry across the Ebro — for thence my route would be north
of that river.
Traversing by a stone bridge the little stream La
Huerra, my course led past two large flour-mills, a grove
of olives, and then a fine railway station, one locally
believed to be the finest in Spain. This station consists
principally of a range of imposing-looking buildings
forming three sides of a quintagon, the enclosed space
being elegantly laid out as an ornamental garden, with a
handsome fountain in its centre. The cost of this station
is said to have been so great as to have made its con-
struction the proximate cause of a stoppage in that of the
line, which, starting out with the grand title, " Line of
Zaragoza and the Mediterranean," and having, on paper,
branches to almost everywhere in Spain, has stopped at
Fuente del Ebro, at a distance from its commencement of
but thirty-eight kilometres, where, judging by the present
financial prospects of the company, it will continue to stop
sine die. In the meantime the buildings, nearly all un-
inhabited, are going rapidly to the bad for want of care
2.30 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
and repairs ; already the place had acquired a dilapidated
appearance.
Two hours' walk from this huge commencement of a
small ending brought me to EI Burgo. I had traversed
vineyards, olive orchards, and gardens ; crossed several
small bridges, passed a most tastefuUy-laid-out and hand-
somely-monumented hospital cemetery, and inspected the
ruined towers and walls of what I took to be a huge
monastery, two sides of whose encircling outer square of
walls were still standing. They were of solid masonry,
twenty-five feet high, and strengthened at short intervals
by round towers, of which I counted seven on one side,
fifteen on the other.
I took the El Burgo route, for I wished to see the
present termination of the Imperial Canal, its mouth, and
because it was a shorter one than that which, crossing the
Ebro by the Puente de Zaragoza, led round by the town of
Alfajarin.
Arrived at El Burgo, I found it an insignificant village,
with nothing remarkable to distinguish it from many just
such others I have seen. I also discovered that the Imperial
Canal has no mouth ; that, as a canal, its waters do not
rejoin the Ebro. Pignatilli, the engineer, who had the
completion of this great enterprise committed to his charge,
died ere his plans were executed, and then and there the
work stopped. Below El Burgo the canal, as such, ceases,
and becomes a system of irrigating streams.
The village appearing to be some half mile from the
banks of the Ebro, I inquired of a peasant I met in its one
otrcet the way to the ferry. He said the ferryman was, at
THE CHARON OF THE EBRO. 231
that time of day, most probably not at the river's side, but
in his house, and kindly volunteered to take me to it. He
was right. The ferryman was found sitting in his cottage
over the embers of a wood fire, smoking cigarrillas, and
drinking out of a goatskin botella, which, the usual saluta-
tions having passed, he handed round. I have been
already long enough in Aragon to learn the accomplish-
ment of drinking in the style that is the custom of the
country ; so raising the botella at arm's length, opening
widely my mouth, I directed a thin stream into it, and
poured a continuous flow down my throat, until thirst was
quenched ; nor did I disgrace myself by wasting a drop of
the appreciated fluid. I have assiduously practised the
trick for conformity's sake, and always with good wine for
my own.
When I made my wish to be ferried across the river
known, the ferryman politely but positively refused to stir,
alleging the wind was too strong to make the attempt.
It certainly was blowing hard. ' It had been a lovely, balmy
morning when I set out, but though cloudless, and not cold, the
force of the wind had been steadily increasing, and was still,
doing so. It was blowing harder and harder every minute.
But I thought of the excellent ferry I had seen at El Bocal,
judged the one at El Burgo would certainly be as good,
and suspected the ferryman before me was simply lazy
and hated to leave his comfortable seat, tobacco, and wine,
to go to work ; so I stoutly insisted. Getting up, he re-
marked, with a shrug of the shoulders : " What must be
must. One cannot hasten or postpone his destiny. Every
man must march when the drum beats for him." So,
232 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
calling a boy to accompany us, and throwing a long coil of
light rope over his shoulders, the ferryman led the way.
Arrived at the river, I must say I did not like the
prospect. The stream was at least twice as broad as at
Zaragoza, full of gravel and shingle banks and of shoals,
between and over which rushed sharp currents and rough
rapids ; and the wind, then blowing a stiff gale, lashed the
water into miniature waves with broken crests. Nor was
the look of the ferry-boat reassuring, I had altogether too
rashly taken it for granted that the only ferry across
the Ebro, connecting the high-road from Zaragoza on the
south of the river with the Lerida route, was of course one
for waggons and carriages. The means of crossing was
simply a very rickety flat-bottomed skiff. But I felt sure
the man and boy would not risk real danger. At all
events, it would not do for me to be the one to propose
turning back, so preparations were at once commenced.
The object of bringing the coil of rope soon became
evident, one end of it was attached to the stem of the
skiff, the other looped round the shoulders of the man, who
started walking up stream. Taking one of the long
poles that lay on the skiff's bottom (there were no oars),
the boy, keeping alongside, braced the skiff's bows outward,
and so it was towed along to get an offing. I took notice,
not at all to my satisfaction, that that boatman did not
know enough to tie his tow-rope so as to draw with ad-
vantage. As a consequence, the line of traction being
diagonally against him, and the stream strong, the boy's
strength was overtaxed, and the skiff continually grounded
ashore. Lending a hand, sometimes to the lad, then at the
GETTING INTO DIFFICULTIES. 233
tow-rope, we proceeded half a mile up the river, and then
all three getting in, the ferryman commenced poling
across.
I crouched down — there were no seats — and held Juan by
the collar, fearing he might, by putting his paws on one of
the gunwales, upset us, for the crank skiff was totally unfit
for rough water. About a third across was a long shingle
shoal, whose hog's back showed, in places, just above water.
On arriving at its commencement the ferryman kicked off
his alpargatas, took the rope in his hands, jumped over-
board and commenced towing again, the boy poling on the
shallow side.
Before we had gone far the current became like a mill-
race. The wind was with it ; together they were too much
for the crew. The ferryman's progress stopped ; he began
to lose ground ; the shingle slipped beneath his feet. He
alternately prayed and cursed, as he lunged against the
stream. Then the boat began to swing outwards. The
ferryman gave a cry of despair. If he left hold of the rope
we should leave him like a rocket, and never be able to get
to him again. If he did not, then would he be dragged into
deep water and infallibly drowned. No swimmer could have
made the shore caught in those cross currents and that rough
water. In either case we should, in all probability, ground
broadside on some shoal, be rolled over and fare likewise.
Of two dangers I chose the lesser ; and, shouting to the
boy to hold down the dog, who was frantically excited, I
snatched his pole from him, and dropped the lower end of
it on the deep side — the one to which the boat was swing-
ing. To my amazement the twenty-feet pole only cleared
234 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
the surface some three feet. Putting my shoulder to its
upper end, and throwing my weight and strength against
it — after the manner of bargemen— I essayed to stop the
outward swerve of the skiff.
It steadied — stopped.
The ferryman took fresh courage and wind ; and, inch
by inch, he pulHng, I pushing, we gained headway ; and
after a quarter of an hour's desperate work the rapid was
passed, and we were in slacker water. Then jumping in
the skiff, the ferryman recommenced shoving, and I, resign-
ing my pole to the boy, again took charge of Juan, much to
the lad's relief of mind, for he seemed in mortal terror of the
dog, who, indeed, looked wild enough, and had more than
once tried hard to get away from him, and growled and
showed his teeth in a very menacing manner. Ere long we
were in dead water, had only the wind and waves to con-
tend against, and at last reached the bank in safety. On
jumping ashore I looked at my watch. We had taken an
hour and ten minutes to make the crossing.
It was simply idiotic of the ferryman, knowing, as he
must have, the strength of the currents and the difficulties
to be contended with, to attempt that crossing with a gale
blowing down stream. But what could be expected of a
boatman (?) who fastens a tow-rope to the stem of a craft }
Besides, like all lower-class Spaniards, he was a fatalist, and
that always counts for something. Mad I not been deceived
by the waves disguising the rapidity of the current, certainly
I would never have risked the crossing. As it was, we had
had a close enough shave of turning the Ebro, so far as we
three were concerned, into the Sty.x. I could not, after such
ASTRAY. 235
a passage, offer the trifle that the legal fare amounted to.
If anything, I went to the other extreme, judging by the
look of grateful astonishment and hearty "gracias" of the
ferryman. But my excessive payment was, after all, but a
sort of " candle to the Virgin for safe deliverance."
My expectation was to be met at the river's side by a
Zaragoza acquaintance ; but no one was in sight excepting
the ferryman and his boy. The gentleman I refer to is a
licorice speculator, who had a gang of hands somewhere in
the neighbourhood of the ferry's north landing, digging and
stacking licorice-roots. These men he had gone to look
after a short time prior to my leaving Zaragoza ; and, ere
doing so, had invited me, if I would content myself with
camp fare, to breakfast with him when eji route, saying he
would be on the look-out for me at the landing. I inquired
of the ferryman where the licorice camp was. He did not
know. There was one somewhere, up or down the river, he
said, and added immediately : " God knows ! who knows }
May your worship go with God." Then waving an adieu,
he and boy lay down under a bush growing by the river's
bank to smoke and snooze.
Walking on a few yards to the top 01 a little knoll,
I reconnoitred. I was in a wide river bottom, a sandy,
hillocky waste of sage-brush thickets, scattered growths
of willows, wild rosemary, and rushy hollows. The small
town of Alfajarin and hamlet of Noallen, backed by
mountains and hazy from distance, and a few far-off
farmhouses, were the only habitations in sight.
Taking a direction diagonally from and down the
river, in a line that would lead me on my journey's way, I
236 • ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
started to find, if possible, my friend's camp, or if not, to
gain the road to Lerida. Juan, jumping a rabbit, dashed
after him, and, three feet from the narrow path I had
taken, was lost to sight in the dense sage-brush. I
whistled and called to no purpose ; he was to windward,
and it is no use whistling against a gale. I waited for
my dog's return till patience ceased to be a virtue ; besides,
I had no time to waste, I was "burning daylight," so
again proceeding on my way, ascending every little rise of
ground to look around for the whereabouts of my friend's
camp and my lost dog. Before an hour had elapsed I
spied patches of dug ground, where licorice-roots had been
extracted, midway between me and the river to my right,
and worked my way to them through the brush and
reed-beds.
Arrived thereat, I found places where the soil had been
quite recently turned up. I was all right, it was only a
case of tracking, and in a few minutes " I ran in the trail "
to my friend's camp, a small cabin in a hollow surrounded
on three sides by tall reed-canes. I entered the door and
was greeted with a shout of welcome. I had not been
met at the river's side, my friend having been sure a
crossing in such a gale down stream was impossible. The
little cabin was full of labourers taking their " nooning."
Breakfast was finished, but a meal for me was immediately
set cooking, and, en attendant, my host and I started out to
hunt for Juan. After going a short way we heard him, at
intervals between the furious gusts of wind, howling dis-
mally in the distance. We ran up on a knoll, caught
occasional glimpses of the dog making wide circles to get
OSERA. 237
my trail, which, soon striking, he, ere long, reached us
at a tearing gallop, and seemed ready to devour me with
delight.
After breakfast, my friend accompanied me about a
mile to show the way to a foot-bridge across a wide irri-
gating ditch, its only crossing for several miles, and point-
ing out the best way to proceed thence, bade me a final
a dios. After traversing ploughed fields, alkaline flats,
and sand barrens, the caniino real was regained at the
entrance to the hamlet seen from the Ebro's bank, and
from there the road wound along the sides of gray-clay
hills (the bluffs forming the enclosing rim to the river's
valley). These hills were quite bare of vegetation, look-
ing, consequently, extremely forbidding ; nor was the
aspect of the valley much better, such wheat as there was
being short, scattered thinly over the ground, and sickly
in colour.
At half-past three was passed, a mile to the right, the
little town of Villafranca de Ebro, looking very picturesque
and striking, lit up by the rays of the declining sun, that
brought sharply out the detail of the towers of its Gothic
church, and brightened and gilt the pointed gables of its
houses ; and soon after five the end of my day's journey
was reached — the small town of Osera, situated immediately
on the bank and in a big bend of the Ebro.
Osera has two posadas, both much of a muchness. I
walked into one with the least forbidding exterior, and was
glad to perceive that, for an inn in an Aragonesa country
town, it was within rather clean than otherwise. A bed
and supper were at my service, so I sat down in the
238 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
entrance passage, lit my pipe, and chatted with the host, a
burly peasant proprietor, and his handsome wife. By-and-
by the Httlc son of the house, a child of ten years old,
entered, satchel on back, on his return from school. This
small boy literally " kissed hands," beginning with me as
the stranger present, and consequently the first in honour,
and ending with his youngest sister, a baby just able to
toddle. It was the first time I had seen this old Spanish
custom practised, and as the little fellow was of a pleasing
countenance, and his hands and face clean, I did not mind
the performance.
Supper was set out for me at the same table and time
as for the family ; but a more sumptuous, or rather less
frugal, repast was furnished me than they were content
with. A mess of cabbage and potatoes (the latter having
been first boiled soft in water),' stewed in olive-oil and
water, and seasoned with little morsels of garlic fried in
oil prior to being put with the cabbages and potatoes, salt,
pepper, and red chillies ; fried eggs and a sausage — a very
hard one ; a salad, no napkin, wine at discretion, but too
fruity and sweet for my taste, is a full, true, and particular
account of what was set before me.
My bedroom was clean, as also the bedding, the wash-
ing apparatus hardly worth mentioning, the chamber
furnished principally with martyrs and virgins. I was
one, a martyr of course, but only to a limited extent, for
I was armed against the midnight tormentors. At Zara-
goza I had purchased from a chemist a quarter of a pound
of insecticide, and the Christian prevailed against the wild
beasts.
A DELIGHTED CHILD. 239
On coming down in the morning, only the eldest
daughter, a girl of twelve years old, seemed to be stirring.
I requested to have my chocolate. She ran off, but soon
returned with a lump in her hand, and asked, " Would I
prefer to eat it raw, and wash it down with a drink of
aguardiente, or have it cooked .-• From which I infer that
to breakfast on a lump of raw chocolate and a " go down "
of still rawer spirits, is a not unusual Aragonesa meal. But
I cared not to try such, so the little maid had to blow up
a fire with the bellows and her mouth, which latter she
seemed to prefer using to the former, and to cook me my
iicara of chocolate after the ordinary fashion. At leaving,
the little lass told me my bill was ten reals (two shillings),
and seemed quite astonished at receiving a gratuity, kissed
it, crossed herself, and ran upstairs flourishing the small
silver coin over her head, evidently intending to show it in
triumph. It was, perhaps, the first bit of plata she had
ever had to call her own.
CHAPTER XIX.
A hard Road to Travel — An inhabited Smoke-bottle — "Everything in the
House " — Bujaraloz — Wandering Knife-grinders — An Education in
Patience — A sweet Picture — Wolves — Los Monegros and New Mexico —
Peiialba — An exceptionable Landlord — Suspicious Characters — " The
usual Assistance " — "The Priest's Business, not mine."
January 29, 1877. — The little town of Osera was left
on one of the most lovely mornings that ever broke, and
as, there, the Ebro and the road along which my route
ran parted at right angles, I took my last look at a river
I shall probably not see again ; one I certainly shall never
again give another as good a chance to drown me. Soon
I found myself amidst barren, desert-looking hills ; but
they were not altogether as worthless as they appeared ;
the gray sage and brownish -green wire -grass growing
sparsely on them was sufficiently nutritious and plentiful
to afford sustenance to flocks of goats and sheep, of which
I saw several. The road itself was, if possible, harder than
it had been the evening before. It looked as though it had
never been rained on, and the gray clay, parched by hot
sun, swept by moistureless wind, was like cast-iron to one's
feet. When, at half-past eleven, I arrived at the first
habitation come to on the road, I was almost footsore.
INHABITED SMOKE-BOTTLE. 241
The house was a posada, and, on passing through its
open portal, I stood in a huge stone stable, occupied only
by a young woman sitting on the floor, knitting. She
looked surprised at seeing me and Juan come in, and
asked what I wanted,
" Some breakfast."
" For how many .'' "
" Only for one,"
" What would your worship like .'' Whatever your
worship wishes for shall be cooked."
" What is there in the house 1 "
" Everything ! " -
" Then cook everything, for I am hungry ! "
• The young woman got up, and inviting me to follow,
led the way into the combined kitchen and living-room.
This apartment was neither more nor less than a gigantic
chimney, and in shape and proportions exactly like a
champagne bottle, without a bottom, placed on the ground,
entered by one small door, and having no other aperture
excepting its mouth. It was flagged ; a fire burned, or
rather smudged, in its centre, and round three sides of
it were wooden benches. Of course, this queer interior
was almost dark, the light through the little doorway and
the few rays able to struggle through the smoke down the
funnel chimney, being all the illumination. It was dark-
ness revealed, and the smoke of perhaps two centuries had
blackened everything to the uttermost. When sufficiently
accustomed to the darkness to see clearly, I took note of
the other occupants of the room, if such it can be called.
On one of the benches sat a man of about forty years
R
242 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
of age — a "good devil" sort of fellow — and very close to
him reclined, in a most dcgagc attitude, a sister of the
woman who had brought me into this inhabited smoke-
bottle. The relationship of the two females was apparent
at a glance, and both were young and very good-looking.
The man was probably the landlord. The women were
too old to be his daughters, certainly were not his sisters,
nor, I am sure, was either of them his wife. Perhaps they
were his nieces, but, if so, he permitted himself to indulge
in a licence of expression and conduct that was highly
reprehensible in an uncle.
Soon " everything in the house " was cooked, and my
meal set down before me, literally so, for there being no
table in the establishment, an old smoke-blackened cooking-
pot in which water was being boiled was placed on the floor
in front of me, its lid taken off, and a plate substituted
therefor, containing the " everything in the house," that is
to say, a repetition of my previous night's supper minus
the vegetables. A loaf of dark, hard, sour, most indifferent
bread was put on the bare floor beside me, and a wooden
fork furnished. ''Vaya!'' exclaimed the good-looking
wench who had been officiating as cook, as she spread
out her hands palms upwards, and I fell to work.
For the fust time in Spain I had to ask for wine at
a meal, and then, instead of having a bottle placed before
me, was asked how much did I want. The wine proved
poor for this country, but was the best thing provided,
and I and Juan contented ourselves with what we could
get.
These people were civil, but rude and rough in manner ;
BUJARALOZ. 243
indeed, I have observed a gradual change for the worse in
the manners and customs of the peasantry since leaving
the land of the "honest" smugglers. My bill was as
moderate as the quality of the fare. As to quantity, my
big dog and I had not stinted ourselves. It was three
reals. Sevenpence-halfpenny, including wine of course, of
which I had drunk about a pint and a half, is not a ruinous
price for a full meal for man and dog. In conversation
with the "good devil," I learned that the country I had
traversed that morning was " a great grazing range." One
man, the richest in the district, ran on it a herd of twelve
hundred head.
" Of cattle ? "
" No, goats."
The wind, which had been gradually rising, was, when I
started again, blowing "great guns;" fortunately in my
back, still it was most disagreeable. As I proceeded along,
the hills on both sides became a rolling plain, and large
fields of young, sickly-looking wheat appeared in every
direction ; but scarcely any habitations, those that were in
sight being so small, and so closely resembling in colour
the bare ground, as to be quite inconspicuous. The gray-
clay soil showed occasional horizontal bands of sulphide
of lime, and several rude lime-kilns appeared at intervals.
Towards evening the town of Bujaraloz appeared in the
distance. It stood in the middle of a wide depression on
the general level of the country, looking verdant with wheat,
and close thereto lay a small lake, of perhaps fifty acres in
extent. Bujaraloz was to be my stopping-place for the
night. By five o'clock I arrived there, and was glad to do
K 2
244 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
so, for the desperately hard ground, the heat — the sun had
shone fiercely forth part of the day — and the strong wind,
had fatigued me much.
The one posada of Bujaraloz was a dirty affair — a very
dirty one, and the best meal it could afford me simply
Avretched. White beans boiled with a little grease in water,
bread like that I had had for breakfast, and, boiled together,
some cabbage and salt cod — a vile mess. Again I had to
ask for wine. Again no napkin was to be had.
After supper, on taking my seat under the hood over
the fire, in the dirty den which served for living-room and
kitchen, I was immediately accosted in French, and
welcomed as a countryman, by two individuals, who I
afterwards ascertained to be itinerant French knife-grinders,
who, like myself, were for the night guests of the inn. The
accent of my answer proved, doubtless, the truth of my
statement, that I was English, but my knife-grinding friends
seemed not a whit less pleased at finding a person with whom
they could converse in a language not understood by the
natives, for though they had ground knives, razors, and
scissors in Spain for ten years, and spoke Spanish like
natives, it evidently did them good — before the face of the
people of the country, and without being understood by
tlicm — to abuse the ways of the posadas of Aragon, and
the rough, uncouth behaviour of its peasantry and inn-
keepers. "Ah," they said, "wc are in a country of savages.
It is not like beautiful France ! "
I got a better room ami bed than I had expected ; both
were large and clean. The window-holes were spacious,
and the washing api)aratus, if limited, sufficient. Of other
AN EDUCATION IN PATIENCE. 245
furniture there was none. On preparing for bed I dis-
covered why my feet ached, and felt so hot and sore. They
were covered with deep blood-blisters. I was disgusted, for
the stations between me and Lerida were far apart from
one another, and should my feet give out, it would seriously
inconvenience me. Of course there was but one thing for
it, to open my penknife and run the blade through the
blisters — experience had long since taught me that — and,
trusting to be able to resume my march next morning, I
turned in and slept soundly. I had intended an early start,
but, as usual, was frustrated in my endeavour to do so. On
asking for my chocolate in the morning, I was informed the
cook had gone to early matins, and I must wait till she
returned from church. " She will be back in a little
moment," said the landlord — a big, lazy-looking lout, who
was making his desaynuw on a crust of wretched bread, and
aguardiente, which he drank by " word of mouth " out of
a bottle. The "little moment" proved to be over an
hour.
Truly a trip in Spain is an education in patience. To
waste an hour of the cool of early morn, waiting for an
eggcupful of chocolate and a little thin slice of bread, is
decidedly aggravating. But grumbling on a journey only
annoys the grumbler ; besides, I had not come to Spain to
grumble. I can, did while at home, and will again
when I return, grumble in my own country against its
climate, its cooking, the way the women walk, and, gene-
rally speaking, against everything that travel shows England
does not excel in. Is it not my natural inheritance and
birthright, as a Briton, to grumble at everything British
246 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
that does not suit mc ? Yea, I will even, if so inclined,
grumble at the income-tax. So with a bland smile, looking,
in fact, rather pleased than otherwise, I paid my bill of
eight reals, handed a small gratuity to the chambermaid,
with a parting compliment ; and the host, after a prelimi-
nary suck at the bottle (his breakfast was evidently to last,
a:t intervals, all day), wishing me to " Go with God," I
replied, with a polite wave of the hand, " and you remain
with him," and departed.
The morning was simply superb, balmy as spring, not a
cloud in the air ; the lightest of white frosts melting on the
ground ; a suspicion of a breeze from the south, just enough
for the air not to be stagnant ; a ghost of a mist rising on
the low grounds ; larks singing all round, the goat-bells of
distant flocks ringing in the air. I took a good long gaze
all round me. The old-time village I had just left, standing
by its deep-blue little lake, bathed in the warm haze, dis-
torted into quaint grotesqueness by the vapours stealing
from the water's surface, made a sweetly-pretty picture.
As I stood there a goatherd passed with a small flock. I
inquired if there were any fish in the lake. " Fish ! why
the lake is so salt and alkaline it is not drinkable for man.
It is hardly fit for my goats. The town is supplied by
wells, and the water of them is bad," was the answer I
received.
The pastor and his flock were just disappearing in a
hollow to the right, when, to ni)' amazement, I observed
three wolves trotting, in Indian file, across the road, just in
front. 'Jliey were, I take it, a female and two males, and
looked about the size of large colleys, and very gaunt ;
LOS MONEGROS AND NEW MEXICO. 247
but, being too far off for shot to be effective— about one
hundred yards— I did not fire. Juan, too, saw them, but
did not appear inclined to cultivate their acquaintance.
The wolves gave the finishing touch to, and were the
most appropriate living accessories of, the landscape.
A gradual rise of half a mile's length, a steep acclivity
of a couple of hundred yards, took me out of the table-
land basin, in whose centre I had left Bujaraloz, up to, and
on, a higher level of country, and immediately my view
became widely extended. I had a sea's horizon. Around
me stretched a broken, accidented plain of small, isolated,
perpendicularly-sided, flat-topped hills, with intervening
wide, shallow valleys and basins. To my right rose above
the horizon what seemed a line of pale blue clouds, drifting
into the clear sky, but which I knew to be the far-away
Sierras de Ciicalon y San Just, whose nearest peaks were
sixty miles off. And to my left, more than one hundred
miles distant, but looking within an easy day's ride, so
sharply defined, so brilliantly white, did they glisten in the
morning sun, stretched in a long continuous chain of
serrated peaks the Pyrenees. Oh, how cold they looked !
one immense unbroken sheet of virgin snow.
The prospect, though extensive to vastness, and having
many of the elements of the sublime, struck the mind with
a sentiment of barrenness and solitude. But for the broad,
hard, well-kept highway, I could have fancied myself back
again once more on New Mexico's wild plains. The table-
topped, precipitous-faced hills were the same as these.
The Pyrenees looked exactly like the Sierra Madrc. The
warm, moistureless, clear air, the brilliant sky, were similar ;
2 48 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
so, too, was the general hue of everything, and the apparent
absence of human habitation.
On looking for details, however, it became at once
evident I was in a land of industr)-, that the expanse
around me had to a great extent been conquered b)- man's
hand from the curse of sterility, and converted into a huge
granary. The light green tint which covered extensive
stretches was given by young wheat ; much of the barren-
looking portion was ploughed and harrowed ground ; nor
were small, low, widely-scattered-apart houses wanting ;
but so exactly did the brownish-gray bricks of which they
were constructed match in colour with their surroundings,
that only after being closely looked for, did they strike the
eye. I have since learned that the country I was looking
over is, when it does rain in due season, the greatest wheat-
field of Spain, but that not few are the years wherein no
propitious moisture falls. Then there is no harvest. The
young wheat scorches and withers on the ground, and the
whole region is indeed a desert.
At nine o'clock I came to a large engraved stone. It
marked the north-western boundary of the province of
Zaragoza ; another step and I was in that of Huesca.
At half-past ten I reached the little town of Penalba,
and being very hungry, and finding it could boast of a
posada, repaired to it, and obtained breakfast. It was a
very poor meal, like unto, and scarce better than, the one
eaten the day previous. The inn resembled much in
appearance what one would suppose a highwayman's
boosing-ken was like in the time of Dick Turpin. Had it
been a decent one, I should have halted for the day, as my
AN EXCEPTIONAL LANDLORD. 249
poor feet were troubling me ; but the next town being but
two hours farther on, I continued my way, hoping there to
find more prepossessing accommodation.
Soon after leaving Penalba, I got amongst small, broken,
stony hills, quite devoid of soil, wheat patches disappeared,
and for some miles I seemed truly to be traversing a com-
plete waste. Emerging from this forbidding tract, I came
to a more level and productive district, and at two o'clock
got to the town of Candasnos.
This place at once favourably impressed me by its
appearance. A tall, round, white stone chimney, and
steam stack, from which issued puffs of steam, was a
harbinger and sign of progress. Candasnos is a very little
town, but many of its houses are new, and most of its old
ones recently whitewashed. I had not seen whitewashed
outer walls for many a long league, certainly had not seen
clean whitewash since leaving Zaragoza. A short way in
town stood a neat trim- looking barrack for the guardia
civil, and in its porch, chatting and laughing with a lot of
girls, sat two members of the corps.
Next to the building having the tall chimney and steam
stack was a largish better-class house, the best-looking in
the town ; and of the elderly blue-eyed man, who sat in
its entrance hall, I inquired where I should find t\\Q posada.
His answer pleased me. " This is the posada. You must
not pass here without eating and resting. Please enter."
And, rising up, he relieved me of my gun and haversack,
led me into a clean if bare sitting-room, and asked what
would I like to refresh myself with until supper time. It
was the first occasion in this country of Spain on which a
250 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
V
landlord had received me otherwise than as though I was
a nuisance, come to disturb him from his lazy repose, but
who, from the nature of his callini^, had by him to be
tolerated.
I took a glass of aguardiente, gladly disencumbered
my feet of my walking-boots, and slipped them into my
alpargatas. Then this attentive old landlord suggested
that the sunshine in front of the house made that the
pleasantest place to rest, and taking a chair out for me,
set it against the wall, and told me to make mj-self
comfortable.
While enjoying repose, warmth, and a cigarro, two dis-
reputable-looking individuals, whose dress and physiognomy
proclaimed them Frenchmen, came up to and asked me in
villainous Spanish if I could understand French. Answer-
ing in the affirmative, they told me in that language that I
beheld before me two viiserables, who were in a hard plight
— strangers in a country whose language they could not
speak, and therefore unable to make their wants known,
without money and hungry. Volubly the two h'renchmen
commenced then to explain the circumstances that had
brought this unhappy state of things to pass. But I cut
them .short, not being given to believe tales told in such
cases, nor wishful to encourage lying by affording oppor-
tunity to practise doing so to me, and said their state
called for assistance under an}' circumstances, and then
handed them at once all the coin I could conveniently
spare. They thanked me with vehement expressions of
gratitude and departed.
These two made the number of I-^enchmen I have
''THE USUAL assistance:' 251
assisted since I came to Spain three. The first one, I
have since ascertained, was a rascal, a swindler, and a thief.
These, I had little doubt, were poor devils of deserters ;
but it was quite possible they were escaped galcncns.
From me they went straight to the barracks of the
guardia civil, showed some papers to the two guardias
civiles in the porch, had quite a confab with, and accom-
panied by one of them, passed out of sight down the street
and round a corner. Before long one of the guardians of
order came to \\\q: posada to ask for my papers. Of him I
inquired what sort of chaps the Frenchmen were. He told
me that, according to their passport and account of them-
selves, they were travelling paupers, professing to be on
their way to Barcelona in search of work there at their
trade of machinists ; failing to do which they would leave
the country by any ship they could get passage in for their
labour. That they had a pass from the civil governor of
the province, and a requisition on the alcaldes of the towns
on their route to give them " the usual assistance." He
further told me that in Spain able-bodied pauper foreigners
never had any difficulty in getting such papers, provided
nothing was known against them, the authorities being
glad to pass them on, and get rid of such trash out of the
country. "But," said he, "they will keep hungry on the
allowance they'll get, for we do not encourage that class of
men ; and if they leave their designated route, or fail to
report themselves to us at ever)- station on it, they'll pretty
soon find themselves in prison as rogues and vagabonds.
There are lots of such P^renchmen on this route, and more
of them than like it in gaol."
252 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
Seeing a man go past the front of the posada, wearing
boots, and sporting a hat on his head, and so evidently one of
Candasnos's most superior citizens, I suspected immediately
he was the owner or manager of the steam flour-mill, for
such I had ascertained the tall-chimneyed building to be ;
and inquiry proving this to be so, I watched for his return,
and when the opportunity presented itself asked permission
to look over his mill, a request that was most politely com-
plied with. Though the day was Sunday, it was in full
work. Its engine, an upright cylinder, having the minimum
possible amount of gearing, and very direct action, was
running a pair of large stones, and doing excellent work.
Engine and machinery had been made at Barcelona. The
enterprise was only just started, but its proprietor said he
had every prospect of making a great success. I hazarded
the observation he must have plenty of grain to grind, if it
was necessary to run on Sundays. " Indeed," said he, " I
have to run when I can get my hands to work. They
won't do anything on saints' days, of which there are more,
as you know, than there are Sundays, and they'd as soon
work as not on the Lord's days. Anyway, that's the
priest's business, not mine."
CHAPTER XX.
Typical Purgatories — Political Economists (?) — liiglnvay Robbery — New
Arrivals — Turning the Tables — An "Itinerant Merchant "—Moorish
System of Irrigation — Fraga— A vile Town — Disgusting Quarters — Novel
Ablutions— A black Hole.
January 30, 1877. — The Sunday evening spent at Can-
dasnos was being celebrated by the burning of huge bon-
fires in its narrow and only street ; the day being one of
those Sundays specially appointed whereon to pray souls
out of purgatory.
Within a distance of sixty yards I counted seven of
these tangible reminders of the flames of futurity, each,
however, a centre of mirth and revelry ; I doubt if anyone
there thought of " the great majority." Our blazing pile,
the one in front of the posada, was not the least of them.
Round each were congregated men, women, and children
yelling, laughing, and romping; but though Sunday is a
great dancing-day in Spain, not a note of the guitar was to
be heard. In fact, since leaving Zaragoza I have not even
so much as seen one. Possibly, " according to the eternal
fitness of things," the guitar, the vine, and the olive go
together, and I have no right to expect to hear its twang
in a country which only produces wheat.
2 54 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
Supper was a great improvement on my late meals.
Bedroom and bed clean and comfortable. The little cup
of chocolate served promptly in the morning. I felt well
rested and refreshed, paid ten reals, and got a comparatively
early start.
At half-past ten o'clock I arrived abreast of a small
roadside settlement, every house of which excepting one was
either a total ruin or nearly such. In their day they had
been residences of people of quality, testified by the stone
armorial sculptures over their broken porches. The one
unruined and inhabited building proved to be a vciita, and
was my chance for a breakfast. Traversing a wide hall,
cheerful with the sunshine that poured through a large
open double doorway, I entered one of the dark dens
that in the country dwellings of Aragon seem always
to serve for kitchen and parlour, and there perceived
seated on a wooden bench, drinking wine and munching
dry bread, my two vagabond acquaintances of the da}^
before. They sat regaling themselves with the two
cheapest refreshments of the coimtry, and trying to con-
verse with the only other occupant of the room, a clean,
tidy old woman, seated on the floor opposite them
spinning.
After exchanging salutations, I turned to this spinster,
or old wife, as the case might be, and asked if I could have
breakfast ; and she answering, " Certain!)-,"' and proceeding
at once to cooking, I confulently supposed a meal was about
to be prepared for me, and so, to while away the time of
waiting, entered into conversation with the two Frcnchincn.
These apostles of " the dignity of labour " soon intro-
HIGHWAY ROBBERY. 255
duced what was evidently their favourite topic, " the rights
of man," launching into a denunciation of "the tyranny
of capital," and kindred grievances ; evidently they were
Socialists, possibly Communists, perhaps Internationalists.
One of them showed me his " pass," on the back of which
the authorities had from time to time endorsed the several
amounts of " relief" given to him, and the dates when. The
guardia civil was right. The Frenchmen would " keep
hungry" on " the usual assistance." A iral per day seemed
what was considered enough for subsistence — a ha'p'orth of
wine and two pennyworths of bread, I suppose.
They told me that even their poverty-struck appearance
had not prevented them being waylaid in the " bad country"
we were in. And one of them narrated that on leaving
Pefialba, he and his companion were suddenly pinioned from
behind, menaced with knives, stripped, and searched for
money. Having but a few sous, they were kicked and
beaten by the disappointed robbers, and soundy abused
for travelling without sufficient money to pay for " the right
of the road." However, the few sous were not taken from
them, which the Frenchmen considered very strange. I did
not. To take them would have been, commercially speak-
ing, to take a loss. Absolution for highway robbery would
have cost more. And Spanish thieves are all devout
Catholics !
Possibly the tale I had just heard was altogether a
coinage of its narrator ; but it might have been true, the
Frenchman gave no other indication of being a romancer,
and I was surprised to find, as our conversation continued,
how well informed he and his comrade were on questions
256 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
of political economy, and in the modern history of England
as well as of their native country.
Presently the old woman took the eatables off the fire,
and carried them out of the kitchen ; and I looked for her
return to announce that breakfast was served in the hall. I
waited till patience became a vice, and then went to look
after her ; she was sitting in the sunlight engaged as when
I first saw her, spinning, and asked what did I want. " My
breakfast," I exclaimed with emphasis ; " where have you
put it ; I am hungry and in a hurry to be gone." " Oh, you
never ordered your breakfast," .she quietly replied. " I and
my family have just eaten ours ; you could have eaten with
us. You only asked could you have breakfast. Now you
will have to wait till I cook again, and take what you can
get ; but I will give you a /-^w^-made sausage — made of
killed meat, not of goats and pigs who have died like those
at most places — and some new-laid eggs, and a salad."
And she returned to the kitchen and her cooking. It was
provoking, but could not be helped.
I had had enough of the political economists, and sat
down in the sunny hall to console myself with a cigarrilla.
While smoking, a very superior looking mule-waggon
drove up, and a middle-aged man of most respectable
appearance, and a very pretty, showily-dressed young
woman alighted therefrom and entered. The sefior saluted,
and took a scat in the hall. The sefiora, or seilorita, as she
might happen to be, produced a large hand-bag from under
a wrap, and disappeared into the kitchen ; to which retreat
I, too, soon repaired, to look after my breakfast and the
old woman, of course. I found my breakfast was nearly
TURNING THE TABLES. 257
ready, and the newly-arrived traveller, with her gown
pinned back, her skirts and sleeves tucked well up, getting
her and companion's (the sefwi^s) breakfast ; for she was
cooking what had been the contents of her hand-bag.
The meals were ready almost simultaneously, and then,
by the two women, set out on the hall-table, upon a clean
white cloth, which was furnished by the young one, who
fetched it out of the mule-waggon, and all three of us sat
down to eat together, having mutually invited one another
to partake of our respective dishes ; I being the clear gainer
by the arrangement, for my new acquaintances had been
well furnished with raw material, and la sefiorita — for she
was not a married woman — was a good as well as a lively
cook.
After we had eaten a few mouthfuls, the sefior turned
towards and with a most unexceptional accent addressed
me in excellent French ; and after a few complimentary
remarks touching the pleasure of meeting me, &c., he asked
what department I belonged to.
I am continually annoyed by being taken for a French-
man, not that I consider such mistake a bad compliment,
per se, but I find in Spain the French are most cordially
hated by all degrees of people ; and as, per contra, English
are liked, it is annoying, to say the least of it, to be so
misjudged. In this instance I have no doubt I got even
with my unintentional aggravator, for I replied : " Sir, I
am not a countryman of yours, but an Englishman." He
hastened to explain that neither was he French, but a
Spaniard ; adding he, however, supposed few Spaniards
spoke French with such an accent as he did, for he had
s
25S ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
enjoyed unusual advantages in acquiring that language,
having " passed his class " in France, and also been a
traveller, on commission, in that country for six years.
He now lived in Zaragoza with his daughter — pointing to
the pretty girl beside me — and was an itinerant merchant,
also a collector of old coins ; and, too, picked up, when
possible, pictures of merit for a Paris house. On his
present trip he had obtained over three hundred coins,
chiefly Roman, and would show me some choice gold ones
if I wished. Of course I did. After inspecting them we
talked of art in general, and his amount of knowledge on
the subject quite surprised me. Our opinions concerning
many things coinciding, we were naturally mutually pleased
with and impressed by the discernment of each other ; and
on separating from him, this " itinerant merchant " professed
great regret that our ways lay in opposite directions, as
had they been similar, he would have been delighted to
offer me a seat in his conveyance, so as to be enabled to
enjoy the pleasure of my society — a flattering speech that
his pretty daughter added a still more gratifying remark to.
Soon after leaving this best venia seen since leaving
Zaragoza, the country commenced to fall rapidly, and
became very broken. All the hillsides and steep grounds
were either bare of vegetation or sparsely covered with
desert plants. The flats and hollows, however, were green
with a much more thriving growth of young wheat than I
had before seen since quitting the valley of the Ebro.
This thriving condition they owed to their immediate
vicinity to steep adjacent acclivities and numerous higher-
lying gullies, and to the thorough arrangements which
MOORISH SYSTEM OF IRRIGATION. 259
had been made to intercept, catch, concentrate together,
and distribute over them every available drop of rain that
fell above their level. Indeed, since entering on Los
Monc'grons, I noticed with admiration the extensive system
of so doing everywhere apparent. Each gully, every
washout, all depressions in the ground, were invariably
dammed by stone walls, sometimes slight and rough in
construction ; at others, in places where torrents — when
it did rain — might be expected, of good solid masonry.
As a consequence, the land between these stone dams had,
in time, from deposit and wear, become quite level, and
small ditches served to convey and spread the surplus
water running over from one level to another. In short,
Los Monegrons, once a barren waste, apparently a fore-
doomed desert, has, by the industry of ages, and thanks to
the catch-rain arrangements, for the introductioiiof which
Spain owes an eternal debt of gratitude to the Moors, been
made a series of scattered wheatfields, some, indeed, little
if any larger than billiard-tables, but many of them square
miles in extent. The smallness of some of the cultivated
spots of ground, lying below the short watersheds, was
quite a remarkable feature in the landscape. No matter
how smaU it were, every piece of ground on which it was
possible to concentrate the rain-fall seemed to have been
seized upon to grow wheat.
The day was lovely as one of England's finest summer
ones, larks were singing all round, a flock of plover wheeled
and whistled in the air ; the view, though totally lacking
the charms of wood and water, and, excepting the birds,
seemingly untenanted, was unique and interesting, and but
26o ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
for the state of my feet I should have greatly enjoyed my
walk.
As evening was closing in, on rounding a hill, I came
in sight of Fraga, the last town in Huesca. It looked large
and important, is the cabcza of a very large partido, and
I trusted there to once more find a good inn and the
comforts of life.
When I first came in view of Fraga it was still some
miles off, but, lying far below me, seemed quite near.
Soon the road commenced descending rapidly, winding
serpent wise round and along steep hillsides. A splendidly
engineered and completed road, having fine ample-sized
cut-stone culverts crossing under it wherever necessary,
to carry off the wash from gullies, and a continuous stone
parapet, breast-high in places, on its perpendicular side.
Below ran the Cinca, a river whose head-springs lay behind
the Mont Perdu of the Pyrenees, making verdant with its
waters a wide valley covered with olives, figs, pome-
granates, and vines, and on the steep slope of its opposite
side, rising house over house, street above street, the town
and its dismantled and ruinous old castle, while, far as eye
could see up and down the deep chasm through the table-
land which constitutes the valley of the Cinca, a continuous
level of rich, luxuriant verdure presented itself to view.
Only by the leaflessness of vines and fig-trees could I
realise that it was not summer time. An avenue-like road
across this Eden of a valley led me to the bridge over the
river — a trestle-work, two hundred and eighty yards in
length, but only one-third that distance was water, the rest
FRAGA, 261
being river shingle, then dry, but, when the Pyrenean
snows should melt, to be swept over by a raging torrent.
The street-way between the houses of the town fronting
the water and the river's wall was crowded with children,
women, and idlers, for the day was the fiesta of San
Francisco de Salis. Their general appearance was for-
bidding enough, all were dirty and uncouth. I inquired
for the best /^j-^-^c?, and was sent to a large, dilapidated,
filthy building near the river's bank. I entered and asked
of an untidy but be-ribboned and bedizened young woman,
met in the horse-passage, if I could have a room and meals.
She did not know ; I must ask the landlord. Where was
he i* Did not know again. It was ?i fiesta rix^V, he might
not come home till morning.
Starting forth, I searched for another and, I hoped, a
better inn. Surely, thought I, in so large a place, the
centre and market of so fruitful a valley, the second town
in importance and population of the province of Huesca,
there must be such.
I wandered about the miserable, stony, steep, uneven
streets of Fraga, and saw only hovels and dens. The
least bad-looking house I saw was a saddler's shop. I
asked the man behind the counter to be directed to a
respectable inn — the best. The saddler, evidently from his
accent and appearance not a native citizen, directed me to
the one I came from.
" But," said I, " it is a beastly hole."
" I know it is," he replied, " but it is the best. None
other is fit for a pig,"
262 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
I told him what the maid had said.
" Never you mind what she told you," he answered.
"AH she wanted 'was to drive you away, so as not to
have the trouble of making your bed. You go back, and
take up your quarters there. You can do no better." So
I went.
I entered the kitchen and living-room, sat down on a
bench close to the hearth and took items. The room (.?) was
a funnel chimney, partitioned from the mule quarters by a
dirty smoke-dried matting, and lit by a dismal old oil
lamp. On the bench round the embers of a fire lolled
several men and children, and a dirty slovenly " old fatty "
was cooking some sort of a mess in the hot ashes. With
much difficulty, and after considerable delay, I procured a
supper. Such an apology ! One ^gg, fried with a small
hard villainous sausage. I thought of what the clean, tidy
old woman of the venta had said about posada sausages,
and I had my suspicions — very strong suspicions. A small
loaf of the worst bread I have yet tasted in Spain, and a
glass of poor wine, comprises the total of all I could get for
self and dog. What a meal ! It was served on a bare
filthy table. A dirty wooden spoon was the only table
utensil. I did not linger over that feast (?).
It was getting chilly, and I rejoined the group around
the fire to warm and smoke. In person, in language, in
manners, they were the most dirty, uncivilised, rough
people I ever sat under a roof with. My remarks to them
were cither unanswered or replied to by a grunt, nor to
one another were they more courteous. There was but one
good-looking person present — a young mother with an
NOVEL ABLUTIONS. 263
infant in her lap ; she was quite pretty, had really refined
regular feaures, but otherwise was as bad as the rest.
Her baby requiring washing, the operation was per-
formed publicly in the following and, to me, novel manner :
This madonna-faced female took her infant by one ankle,
raised the young child up, and giving it a good shake,
reversed all its clothes ; baby yelling like mad all the time.
The old cook then held handy to her reach, and half full
of water, the glass I had drunk out of at supper, and the
mother, dipping therein the corner of a dirty apron, gave
baby a smear all over with it, wiped it dry with her
petticoat, and the ablution was completed. Then she rolled
her brat up in numerous dirty wraps, and put it to sleep on
an old sheepskin in a corner !
I had had enough and to spare of such society, and
asked to be shown my room. The one redeeming feature
of the chamber I was led to consisted in its not being dirt)'
—at least, not very. It was about eight feet square and had
no window, excepting a hole four inches by three in dimen-
sions, situated close to the ceiling and opening into a dark
passage. A truckle-bed was all the furniture and appurte-
nances it contained. In appearance it was a condemned cell
in fact, a "demned " sell to offer to a white man as a bedroom.
Of course this black-hole was equally dark by day or
night, so every time I awoke I had to strike a light and
consult my watch to ascertain it it were yet morning ; and
at last discovering it was, I lit the dismal oil lamp that had
been left with me and dressed. Of course I could not
wash, and I knew it would be futile to ask for a basin,
towel, and water, let alone soap. I do not believe there
264 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
were such things in the house. Everybody in it had old
dirt on their hands and face. The extensive (?) ablutions
of the baby the night before were probably as heavy a
wash as is ever made in the kest J>osada of that city of the
province of Hucsca, which stands in rank next to its
capital, a city of four thousand souls. I had to wait nearly
an hour for my chocolate, the lump with which it was made
having to be fetched from a shop, there being none in the
house, and the girl doubtlessly availing herself of her
errand to enjoy a gossip. I gladly quitted the vile place.
Fraga is not fit for a white man and a Christian to visit.
CHAPTER XXI.
Mistaken Identity— Joined by Tramps— Under Police Suspicion — Alcarraz—
A charming Panorama— A happy Decision— In Clover— A philosophical
Chcf—TYi^ Duke Decazes's Boots— Fellow-Guests of the /vjwfl'a- Reunion
of the Privileged.
February i, 1877. — Climbing up the steep road that,
winding up bare gray cHffs to the broken table-land above,
led from Fraga and out of the deep valley of the Cinca,
though depressed at starting by recent uncomfortable ex-
periences, my spirits were soon rallied and invigorated by
a balmy tonic morning air, and consoled by the reflection
it was the last day of my pilgrimage across Los Moncgro7is.
It was another most charming morning. I was on the
home-stretch for Lerida— there I would rest and enjoy
myself; so when my feet, warming to their work, ceased to
hurt, I was once more the jolly wanderer.
The top of the ascent was nearly achieved, when, being
hailed from below and looking back, I perceived a farmer-
like man striving to overtake me. On his so doing, he
saluted most respectfully and apologised for calling out
to me, alleging as excuse he had considerable money on
him, so did not like to risk travelling alone, and knew he
266 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
could do no better than journey in the company of the
inspector of roads, especially as he noticed my worship
carried a gun. I told him I was not the inspector of
roads, but an Englishman travelling for pleasure. " Ah ! "
said he, " that is just as good so far as protection goes, and
better so far as obtaining information does, for I love
greatly to hear of foreign countries, especially of England."
And forthwith I found myself, figuratively speaking, witness-
boxed. My inquisitive friend seemed a very intelligent
individual. He was not of Aragon, and gave that portion
of the ancient kingdom we were in a very bad name ; said
it was the worst portion of the Spains; that Fraga was ''tin
posoalbanaV (sink-hole), and its people (an unwritable
and untranslatable word). I cordially agreed with him.
This good man showed me several short cuts across table-
topped hills, from whose flat summits splendid views of the
Pyrenees and mountain chains of Northern Huesca pre-
sented themselves, and round whose bases wound the well-
graded waggon-road to Lerida, for the general level of the
country was again falling.
After going three miles in company, my companion left
me, the house he was going to being close at hand, and I
had not long parted from him when I was overhauled
by a regular tramp and his " doxy." These illustrious
individuals were not at all proud stuck-up people, and
without the slightest encouragement insisted on accom-
modating their pace to mine, whether I loitered or pushed
on, and in talking to me. The man spoke excellent
Castcllano,\\\\\\ow\. any detectable local accent; and accept-
ing the inevitable, I fell into conversation with him. This
JOINED BY TRAMPS. 267
vagabond told me he had served in the war twenty years
ago ; had been once attached to an English contingent ;
spent a few weeks in England, having gone there as an
officer's servant, but could only speak a few words of that
country's language, which he immediately fired off for my
benefit, but with an accent that rendered them almost
unintelligible.
The day became distressingly hot. We were traversing
an almost barren alkali plain ; the few attempts at agri-
culture were, for the season at least, manifest failures.
The appearance of the country surrounding us was simply
wretched ; the hot acrid alkaline dust got into my boots,
through my socks. My feet commenced to give me " the
devil," and I was unhappy.
On leaving this uninviting stretch of country by a long
hill, we passed near its summit the boundary line between
Aragon and Catalonia, and his trampship informed me I
was arrived in a more civilised region than the one we had
just left. A little farther on and we came to a venta.
The tramp, with the air of a grave courtier, invited me to
enter, and repose and refresh myself with him, I was
quite tired, very hungry, and complied with his request.
The woman, who was companion and salora to this
beggarly cab alter a pic, produced out of a dirty, dusty, and
travel-stained canvas sack she had been carrying over
her shoulder, a stale tortilla and some bread, and proceeded
to warm the former in the hot ashes of the hearth ; and he
called in a lordly way for a bottle of wine, which with
difficulty I prevailed upon him to allow mc to pay for. It
cost twopence. With the warmed-up tortilla, the woman
268 ON FOOT IX SPAIN.
brought to the tabic whereat her companion and I were
seated, a clean plate for me, and the two insisting I should
help myself, I did so, and being hungry, found it excellent ;
the bread, however, was indifferent.
Whilst we were eating, two mounted guardias civiles rode
up, entered, and asked for our papers.
These functionaries looked sharply and, I thought, sus-
piciously enough from me to my companions and back
again. They were puzzled to see such a strangely-assorted
trio ; indeed, I felt myself to be in queer company. The
raggedest, most sinister-looking, sturdy beggar of England
would have, in personal appearance, compared favourably
with the man. As to the woman, she was in all respects a
fit and appropriate mate for him ; and, as usual with such
females, was " as women wish to be who love their lords."
Their and my papers being, however, en regie, the two
guardias could only wonder and pass on.
Having concluded our slight repast, w^e three, still in
company, proceeded on our way.
Before arriving at the little town of Alcarraz, where I
purposed to get a regular breakfast and take a good rest, I
made a determined attempt to escape from the tramps.
They had been polite, after their fashion, and hospitable,
but I did not want to enter a town in such disreputable
company ; and they showing symptoms of fatigue, and
lagging on the way, I pretended to be in a hurr}-, and
wishing them a dios, put on a killing spurt. It was rough
on my blistered feet, but I went ahead at a pace the tired
tramps could not live at, and soon was at a safe distance
ahead.
ALCARRAZ. 269
Alcarraz, though but a little place, showed sigris of much
improvement on the towns I had lately passed ; and, in it,
I directly found a clean, respectable venta, and — the second
encountered in Spain — civil, empresse landlord. He, too,
took gun and traps from, and gave his guest a hearty and
polite greeting. This commendable host was smoking a
very good cigar, and after conducting me into a clean
dining-room, handing a chair, and requesting my worship
to be seated, produced another from a case, and offered it
with an air and manner rendering refusal impossible. It
would assist, as he said, to pass the time comfortably while
breakfast was being prepared. .
My dcjciuier a la foiirchette at Alcarraz's little venta was
a very fair meal, properly appointed, well served, and its
accompanying wine excellent ; and, after my late unfortu-
nate experience in the commissarial line, I enjoyed it
thoroughly. Then I ted my dog, took a good rest, another
smoke, paid the modest and, considering my entertainment,
extremely reasonable bill of fifteen pence, and then pushed
on for Lerida.
Soon the two fortified hills, ancient Gothic cathedral
tower, and closely-packed houses of that provincial capital
were in sight ; the district of ill-repute — Los Mom'grons —
was passed, and the view changed in character.
A charming panorama was before me. Through its
foreground wound the many bends and curves of a
beautiful river— the Segre — whose upper portion, skirting
the foot of the Pyrenean mountains of La Cerdana,
coursing down the valley north of the Sierra del Cadi, was
fed by the snows of the Col de la Percha in Roussillon — a
2 70 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
river that is a French tribute to Spain. Irrigated by its
fertilising waters, extended for miles a level tract of vine-
yards, olives, and almonds, gardens and nurseries, dotted
with houses and clumps of shade-trees. Beyond, were the
Llanos del Urgel, a vast plain strongly accentuated with
detached ridges, small table-mountains, and sharp peaks ;
looking, generally speaking, from its gray-brown colour, to
be a desert tract ; but evidently, in truth, only partially
such, as proved by there being no less than five towns of
considerable size in sight ere distance rendered more
invisible. On the horizon were the blue mountains of La
Llena and Montserrat, and through a gap in the hills to the
north was obtainable a peep of the snow-clad Pyrenees.
Above was a sky of cloudless blue. A warm sunset glow
brightened and illumined the entire picture.
Twilight was approaching as I walked into Lerida, and
no time was to be lost in finding quarters.
I walked along a street facing the river Segre, prospect-
ing for a promising resting-place, and had not gone far
when a well-built, clean, comfort-suggesting, large-windowed
cheerful-looking fonda — it was no posada, no venta —
claimed my notice. On its wide balcony, three attractive
and elegantly-attired girls and two young officers were
chatting together, mutually entertaining each other. If I
went farther I might fare worse. I entered the courtyard
—clean as any gentleman's— passed through the large open
door of the house, and stood in a spacious stall. A trim,
well-built, trh-clana^e, smart waiting-maid appeared, and
asked if I required a room. I did.
JN CLOVER. 271
" Then please follow me, and I will show your worship
to one."
She led the way up a wide, easy flight of steps, across
a long, tastefully-decorated upper hall — whose French
windows opened to the balcony so agreeably occupied, and
into as comfortably-furnished a bed-chamber as any single
man need wish for ; told me the hours of meals, the charge
per day, and, on my expressing satisfaction with the
room, inquired what I would like to take before dinner-
time should arrive. I told her a large jug of hot water.
The girl stared with astonishment, for something to
eat and drink was her idea of my requirements. I
explained : " Not to drink, but to wash with ; I do not
want to spoil my appetite for dinner." She brought it
and left me.
With the expenditure of much soap — of which, by-the-
bye, there was a tablet of excellent quality on the washstand-
table — and personal exertion I got rid of the real estate I
had accumulated while journeying from Zaragoza, dressed
the blisters on my feet with tobacco, and felt comfortable.
Once again I was in a civilised house, and, being in Spain,
felt sure of good company, good living, and an absence
of insect tormentors. I had " fallen on my feet." I would
stop where I was until they were well.
Juan stretched himself on the carpet ot striped crimson
and yellow matting covering the waxed oaken floor,
evidently satisfied. He knew the quarters were good as
well as I did, that once more we were in clover. The
dog was as footsore as his master, as glad to come to an
anchor. That long road of iron hardness, the penetrating
27 2 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
alkaline dust, the hot sun, the long jonrnadas, the poor
and scanty fare that had so often been our portion had,
too, told on him.
A few days at mine inn has proved I made a lucky hit
when entering it. The table is both profusely liberal and
extremely choice ; the cooking excellent ; and I profess to
know something of that fine art, both theoretically and
practically, having turned my attention to it as one of those
things everybody ought to understand.
My only dissatisfaction as regards the living is with the
wine, which is a Bordeaux. Being infinitely dearer than
the native wine, it is of course more fashionable, and, there-
fore, I suppose our hostess, who naturally from her sex is a
better judge of fashion than wine, thinks her house ought to
give such to its guests. In my opinion, as compared to what
I have been lately drinking, it is most inferior. I shall have
to go through a course of English beer before I can again
take proper pleasure in Bordeaux. Neither do the almonds
suit my taste, for, as always in this country, they are quite
spoiled ; but I do not mind that. The custom here is to
slowly roast them, a process which entirely dissipates the
essential flavour, and substitutes thcrefor^hat of roasted
wood ; in fact, they become no better than so many acorns
which have been similarly treated. The reason alleged for
this barbarity is, so doing renders the almonds less un-
wholesome. I say, what is the use of being at the trouble
of making anything wholesome, if at the same time you
render it not worth eating }
The cook here, a white-garmented individual wearing
the cap of his order, tells me he has served " with approba-
THE DUKE DECAZES'S BOOTS. 273
tion " in French, Italian, and English houses, and I have
no doubt he has. We have held several arguments
together touching the relative merits and demerits of
French and Spanish cooking ; for, to elicit opinion, and in
consequence of natural contrariness, I, as usual, espoused
the opposition. But I am a badly defeated individual.
The chef maintained that the French were good " dis-
guisers," but totally failed as " developers," and that to be
able to develop natural flavours, not to destroy, obliterate,
or confuse them, proved the artiste. " Eat of twenty French
dishes," said he, " and if you look not at the carte I defy
you to tell what they profess to be made of, for every true
flavour is so overlaid with that of foreign sauces that the
several dishes cease to be mutton, beef, venison, and are
simply messes. Did not the famous cook of the Due
Decazes serve up an ancient pair of his master's hunting-
boots, which an assembled tableful of guests pronounced to
be excellent eating ; and is not such feat (.?) recorded by
them as a triumph of culinary skill .^ I say doing so proves
a state of hopeless misdirection of talent. If /as a Spanish
cook had directed the cooking of those old boots, I would
have brought out their true flavour so strongly that no man
living could eat of them. In a word, French cooks spoil
good victuals, but make trash eatable. We make good
raw material divine, and leave trash to the dogs."
This learned cook was too many guns for me ; I limbered
up, and left him master of the situation — did not propose to
make practical disproof of his ability to serve up old boots
in such a manner that I could not eat them.
The chef is the only indoor male domestic, the rest of
2 74 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
the house servants — waiters, or rather waitresses, included
— being clean, neat, smart, and attentive girls.
The guests of the fonda are a very pleasant lot, but
not numerous. About twenty generally sit down to dinner,
most of them transients ; but there is a little party at the
upper end of the table of habitues, some of whom have
been in the house over a year. They are quite friendly and
jocose together, and amongst them I have succeeded in
getting myself placed, and have already fraternised with
several and got on good terms with all. The principal
individuals of this coterie are the Medical Director of the
provincial military hospital, the District Colonel of ^^^r^/Z^zi-
civiles, a major of engineers, two subalterns of infantry, and
the Director-General of the telegraph department for the
province ; a married couple, rather stylish people, are here
too. The husband is so lover-like in his attentions as to
provoke smiles from the rest of the company. Did not
the "great expectations" of the lady forbid the idea, it
might be supposed the couple were passing their honeymoon.
With the colonel is a young lady, his daughter, I
presume, who is extremely pretty. She is here supposed
to be of the English type of beauty. And I am continually
asked if this is not so. National pride forbids me to say :
her complexion is of a too delicate hothouse fineness, her
hands and feet altogether too small for any critical English-
man to take her for his counti')'woman, otherwise she is
quite English in appearance.
The three girls I saw on the balcony arc the daughters
of the house, the eldest being hostess and manageress — a
great charge for so young a woman, but \.\\c fonda could
not be better conducted. The father is the proprietor of
REUNION OF THE PRIVILEGED. 275
the fonda, and a widower, old, and takes no further
trouble. The family are rich for their position, owning,
besides this property, an estate near Barcelona paying a
large rental, but I suppose the fonda is too profitable to be
given up. These girls appear to be well educated, talk
French fluently, play the piano— one of them with great
taste and execution— and are quite ladies in language and
behaviour.
In the sciwritas' sitting-room there is a nightly reunion
of the privileged ; the colonel and the " English beauty,"
the telegraph and medical chiefs, the three officers, various
visiting .f^v?^;'//^;;^-— friends of the girls— the daughters of the
house, and, in spite of all protestations, explanations, and
travel-damaged temce, the so-called " milor " comprise the
gathering. And, as one of the girls said the other evening,
" We talk about everything we understand and everything
we do not, and oftenest about the latter."
One of the young infantry officers here sings and plays
nicely. He is Andalusian, and has been very polite to me.
Our acquaintance began at table. Sitting opposite at the
mid-day breakfast, he heard me remark to my right-hand
neighbour, with whom I had entered into conversation,
that I should much like to see the interior of the citadel
and the old cathedral enclosed within the fortifications.
Addressing me across the table, he volunteered to obtain
for me from the Military Governor permission to do so,
and get the keys of the cathedral doors from their custo-
dian ; adding, that being off duty all the remainder of the
day, he placed his time entirely at my disposal, if I felt
inclined to accept his company and guidance. Of course I
was " delighted," and we went accordingly.
T 2
CHAPTER XXII.
El Castello de Lerida — Gothic Cathedial of exceeding Merit — A young
Spanish Officer — Ecclesiastical Buildings — " Society of Arts and Belles-
lettres of Lerida " — Fiesta de San Bias — Lerida and Vicinity — Death of
Herodias and Daughter — Catalan Thrift — An unfortunate Toast— Catalan
Costume — A Spanish Cemetery.
February 7, 1877. — Lerida's citadel is a fortified
eminence immediately behind and dominating the town.
The situation is one of great natural strength, for the hill
is an isolated one, not commanded from anywhere, not
large in its base, and canying its size well up, being,
indeed, unscalably perpendicular almost everywhere. Its
height is close on three hundred feet, and the onl}-
practicable approach is over three drawbridges, each with
its accompanying strong arched gateway and portcullis, on
all which the fire from several redoubts, curtains, covered
ways, and a long " serpent " can be converged. The outer
gateway and its defences are the most modern of the works,
and were finished in 1708.
The ancient cathedral stands within the most interior
line of defence, crowning the highest part of the hill's
summit, and close to the right-angled edge of the perpen-
dicular side thereof facing the river, and has a reputation
GOTHIC CATHEDRAL. 277.
of being the oldest, handsomest, most original in design,
and strictly pure specimen of Gothic architecture in Spain,
some say in Europe. Certainly, so far as I have seen, this
is so, and if there be one surpassing it in all these qualities
I sincerely hope some day to behold it. Its proportions,
sculptured figures, tracery in stone, entrance porches, sup-
porting arches, are all of exceeding merit.
In an elaborately and richly-carved recess to the left of
the altar in the chief chapel lay a life-sized figure of a
reclining ecclesiastic, as fine a thing of the kind as I ever
saw. An accompanying inscription was beyond my de-
ciphering power ; that it was in monkish Latin, all the
letters capitals, no divisions between the words, and the
date obliterated by age, was the extent of my discoveries.
Fortunately I was more successful with an inscription the
lieutenant called my attention to, situated on the right side
of the choir, which, unless I am greatly deceived, sets forth
that the foundation-stone of the cathedral was laid in 1203
in the presence of King Pedro II.
We ascended the winding stairway, enclosed in the
octagon tower, by two hundred and thirty-four steps.
Though deeply worn, they averaged ten inches in height
in front, certainly they must be two inches thicker behind,
thus giving the tower an altitude of between two hundred
and thirty and two hundred and forty feet to its belfry
floor, beyond which are no steps. The view we obtained
thence was very fine and extended, quite bird's-eye so far
as Lerida is concerned, and panoramic as to the rest — plains,
mountains, rivers, and towns.
Then we noticed the bells and ancient clockwork, quite
278 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
curiosities from age and quaint construction. At four of
the corners of the parapet round the belfry were the remains
of watch-fire gratings, from which, doubtless, many a signal
blazed forth during the first three or four hundred years of
the cathedral's existence.
Descending the corkscrew stairway, we made our way
to what was once the palace of the archbishop — a large
oblong building, coeval with the cathedral. It is now used
as a military storehouse and quarters. Everything in it
was in soldierlike order and condition, excepting the
instruments in the band-room. Thinking the opportunity
a good one to learn the reason that the musical instru-
ments of Spanish regimental bands are so generally dirty,
I asked why those before us were in such a state, " I do
not know," replied the lieutenant, " but will find out." He
called |up a man and asked him. The answer seemed
strange to me.
" We are only musicians, not mechanics ; if we took our
instruments to pieces to clean them properly we could
never put them together again ; only an instrument-maker
could do that."
I wonder what an English bandmaster would think if
such a reason were given by one of his musicians for a
cornet being disgracefully dirty }
The stores visited, we lighted cigarros and made the tour
of the fortifications, of which I can give no description,
merely remarking that now I know them, I should still less
like to lead a " forlorn hope " to attempt their capture than
I probably should had I remained in a state of ignorance
of their strentrth.
ECCLESIASTICAL BUILDINGS. 279
We returned to our fonda by the public promenade, for
it was the fashionable hour' to take a stroll, and, as my
companion said : " We can see the beauties of Lerida as we
go along."
Walking by the side of my elegantly-attired acquaint-
ance of that morning's making, I could not help mentally
inquiring how many young British officers would volunteer
themselves as cicerone to show the lion of the place and
their garrison (for the cathedral is now a barrack) to an
unintroduced foreigner, dressed in clothes hardly respect-
able from the wear and stains of such a trip as I am
making, whose face was sunburnt and weatherbeaten, and
who would afterwards allow himself to be seen by all the
fashionables of the place, walking in familiar converse
with him on the public promenade ? I fear not many.
But I presume a Spanish officer and gentleman, however
youthful, considers his rank and position too assured, too
unquestionable,' for him to fear misconstructions.
After resting awhile, the lieutenant proposed our doing
the places of worship now in use, and we accordingly pro-
ceeded to the parish church of San Lorenzo, being the one
ranking next in age and merit to the old cathedral. This
edifice stands on a lesser eminence than the fortified hill,
just in its front, and not far therefrom ; and a priest told
me : " It was built in the latter part of the thirteenth
century, so is now something over six hundred years
old."
Thence we strolled to the new cathedral — an edifice
constructed by order of the king when the old one became
a barrack of the fortress in 1707. It is considered a very
2So O.Y FOOT IN SPAIN.
sacred building-, for in its sacristy are deposited our Saviour's
swaddling-clothes {credat Jiidcsus). This new cathedral is
decidedly, for a Spanish church, ugly. Built in the poorest,
baldest possible style ; an attempt at, and failure in achieve-
ment of, being classic. Its interior is profusely gilt, and full
of most indifferently-conceived and worse-executed images
and figures. Then we took an outside view of the archi-
cpiscopal palace, a still more modern structure and a fine
range of buildings. There were more churches to see, but
I had had enough of that kind of entertainment for one
day ; besides, it was almost dinner-time.
Last Friday being that of La Purificacioii de Nucstra
Scnora, a masked ball in celebration and commemora-
tion of that event ^\■as given by the " Society of Arts and
Belles-Lettres of Lerida." It is an annual affair, and tJie
ball of the place. I was honoured by an invitation, and
would have gladly gone — wishing, as a matter of course, to
see a Spanish masked ball "of society" — but could not pro-
cure a fitting costume on so short a notice ; and, though
pressed to go as I was, did not think it would be in good
taste to do so, and, therefore, most determinedly declined.
However, the colonel and girls insisted I should at least
accompany them to see the rooms and decorations, de-
claring they would go before the company would arrive, so
that I might look at everything at my convenience.
The hall of the society was a good-shaped but \'ery
small ball-room, having only a capacity for eight quadrille
sets to dance at a time. It was most tastefully decorated ;
and ante-rooms were numerous, and well supplied with
toilet, &c., arrangements. After takincf a look, wc all went
FIESTA DE SAN BIAS 281
up a flight of stairs to inspect the society's " art collection "
in a room above the hall. There were about fifty pictures
hung on its walls ; the best being some very fair copies of
works of Rubens and Murillo. The remainder consisted of
copies, in oil, of well-known chromos, a few original — very
original — landscapes, and some creditable pencil sketches.
On the table were set a few academy busts and figures, and
several albums filled with identically the same pictures that
in England are affixed on handkerchief, glove, and sweet-
meat boxes ! If the society's belles-lettres are not superior to
their beaux arts, there is room for advance in both branches.
Saturday was the Fiesta of San Bias — a martyr-bishop
who still works miracles by curing, in some way not clearly
explained to me, sore throats ; I wish he would cure my
blistered feet. The proper way here to observe this church
festival is to go on a picnic ; and, therefore, the roads lead-
ing out of town were thronged with people, baskets on arm ;
and on all sides groups w^ere to be seen seated on the ground
eating and drinking. A Spanish town of nearly twenty
thousand souls can, for such a purpose, turn out a goodly
number of devotees.
The picnickers were small tradesfolk, servants, and
working people ; but, promenading the roads as lookers-on,
were a large majority of the fashionables of Lerida — chiefly
military and official people, got up in the latest style, mira-
culously gloved and booted. Amongst them a hand or foot
of average British proportions was not to be seen. In fact,
since leaving Navarra I have observed the extremities of
the upper classes getting smaller and still more small, and
am beginning to believe that, excepting the labourers,
282 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
Spaniards arc truly a small and handsome handed and
footed people.
In the afternoon I witnessed the first street squabble I
have seen in Spain. Two middle-aged peasants, quite sober
I think, exchanged a few hard words, and then, more like
Britons than Frenchmen, instead of venting their feelings
in violent gesticulations and noisy clamour, they pitched
into one another. But they fought just like children. The
combat was soon over. A cavalryman who happened to be
passing called on them to desist, and to enforce his order
promptly drew his sabre and most impartially belaboured
the peacebreakers with the flat of it — a rough-and-ready
policing that quickly brought the combatants to order.
Lerida, though the capital, and in all respects chief town
of one of Spain's largest provinces, is quite the reverse of
being a handsome city. It has not one really good street
or plaza. Its public buildings are ugly and mean, its
shops small, dowdy, and uninviting ; but the place shows
signs of progress. It is spreading, and every addition is
after a modern and more civilised fashion. Ere long the
town will have at least one fine thoroughfare, and not only
are its streets lit with gas, but also many of its shops
and dwelling-houses. Lerida is also clean and devoid of
foul smells — two excellences rare enough in man}' of the
Spanish towns I have seen.
The fine river fronting its chief street, and the expanse
of country beyond, afford a most pleasing prospect to the
eye ; and the weather whilst I have been here has impressed
me with the idea that its climate is superb. But I am told
it is not always so, winds from the Pyrenees bringing cold
DEATH OF HERODIAS AND DAUGHTER. 283
and fogs. This time last year, I am informed, water froze
in the bedroom jugs, and for twenty days the sun was
obscured either by fog or clouds. However, I have every-
where heard this season is an exceptionally fine one.
Just across the bridge over the Segre lies the city's chief
promenade — a miniature Tuilerics gardens, five hundred
yards long by seventy yards in breadth. It is tastefully
planted and arranged in flower-beds, in shrubbery, in
gravel-walks, &c., and w^ell furnished with shade-trees.
Beyond, and close thereto, are the Campos Elyseos, a sort of
botanical garden and place of respectable gaiety. It con-
tains a summer theatre, large dancing-floor, shady groves
and avenues ; and there, during the season, a regimental
band plays on two evenings of each week, and numerous and
frequent bals cJiainpctrcs, theatrical performances, &c., &c.,
are patronised by all classes. I am told that from early
spring until late in the autumn, the Campos Elyscos is a
very paradise of flowers ; now, both it and the promenade
are almost flowerless, untidy, and forlorn.
The stone bridge connecting these pascos with town
boasts of great antiquity, that is to say its site, as such,
does. The present structure stands upon foundations laid
before Christ by the Romans. And it is related on
authority " not to be disputed " that, just below where it
stands, Herodias and the fascinating bailarina, her daughter,
while showing off on the light fantastic, on the ice, to an
admiring audience crowding the ancient bridge, broke
through and perished, and, strange to relate, the ice closing
over their bodies, cut off" the head of her whose feet had
danced off St. John's, and the unhappy head continued
284 OjV foot in SPAIN.
the step and figure of the dance, la jota, until exorcised by
the " Catholic parish priest ! "
The present bridge over the Segre is two hundred
yards in length, and has seen better days — shows signs of
much adversity. Of its four standing arches no two are of
the same age, shape, or size, and I think even the oldest is
not original, but a repair of a catastrophe. The river is
subject to tremendous and destructive freshets. Not many
years ago an unusually heavy flood brought down the half
of the bridge nearest town. The gap has been replaced by
a lattice-work iron structure, which, it is believed, allowing
the water to pass through it, will stand the pressure. I
doubt it — think it will leave its supports.
There is more mone)- in this dilapidated old capital of
Lerida than appearance indicates. For instance, there
are here a great many men whose private incomes range
from eight hundred to t\\clve hundred pounds a year —
considerable sums in so cheap a country as Spain ; but
none of them keep a carriage nor even saddle-nags ; the\^
live in houses whose outsides are neglected, dirty, and
untidy to the last degree ; hang their washing to dry over
the railings of the front balconies of their residences, and
on strings tied across the windows facing the streets ; do
not entertain, and, except that their manners and tables
are good, and their dress extravagantly so, live like the
rest of the community and hoard their money. Andalusians,
Aragonese, Castillians, all agree in telling me, except for
personal show and pageantry, that it absolutely hurts a
Catalan to part with even the smallest coin ; that they arc
more " cannie " than Scotch, m :)rc "close" than Yankees.
A A UmVFORTUNATE TOAST. 285
The telegraph department chief is extremely attentive
and kind ; asks me out to walk with him each afternoon,
and shows and explains everything of interest. He is
Andalusian, and by all odds the best-informed man on
scientific topics as well as general subjects I have yet met
in Spain. He says I must not judge "the Spains" by what
I have seen ; that I have passed through the worst part of
tiic peninsula, and its most uncouth inhabitants. I take
the statement as I do the country's nuts — with a consider-
able amount of salt — for I have discovered there is a terribly
strong sectional feeling pervading the minds of even the
most enlightened Spaniards.
It appears to me this is, socially and politically, a
country of five Irelands, each discontented with the central
authority, no matter what party wields it, and cordially
hating and despising the other four, I see evidences of
this being so every day, and have all the time. While at a
convivial party, when in Guipuzcoa, being towards the
small hours called on for a toast, I had given " Viva
Espana ; " to my mortification and surprise, the filled and
half-raised glasses were, without exception, set down on
the table, and the host, rising to his feet, addressed me
thus : " Much appreciated sir, it is from no disrespect to
you that all present refuse to drink the toast you have,
doubtlessly intending a compliment, favoured us by propos-
ing. Kindly substitute for ' Espana' 'Guipuzcoa,' and the
sentiment will be received with enthusiasm, but no true
Basques will drink ' Viva Espaila^ far sooner would they
drink ' C -jo al Espafia.' "
My usual morning ramble, to exercise my dog, is along
2 86 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
the banks of the Segre, and I daily admire the simplicity
and effectiveness of the only floating flour-mill I have ever
seen, and which, being situate opposite where I usually
terminate my walk, I sit, and contemplate, while resting.
It consists of two barges, sixteen feet apart, but decked
together with strong timbers, "Castalia steamship" fashion.
On one of the barges is a wooden house — the mill ;
between them is the motive power — an undershot wheel, of
fourteen feet diameter and twenty floats making seven
revolutions per minute. These Siamese-twin barges are
moored by iron cables close to the bank of the river, in a
rapid, and at an angle to and catching the course of its
stream. It is the cheapest constant power I have yet met
with. The mill has been steadily going, night and day,
since 1863, consuming only a trifle of lubricating oil, re-
quiring but slight repairs, wanting no trained engineer, no
refittings of expensive gearing, and having no boiler to
prime or burst.
There are plenty of rivers in England with, in places,
sharp enough currents to run such machines. Why are
they not so utilised .''
The dress of the Catalan peasant differs but slightly
from that of the Aragonese, but that little sufiices to invest
it with a totally different aspect. It is, in the case of the
men, simply a change of headgear, and an addition of
short gaiters, covering the calf of the leg, of brown leather.
The provincial (they call it national) head-dress is of red-
cloth, shaped almost exactly as is, and looking just like,
an old English nightcap of preposterous size; the very
counterpart of the stage's traditional smuggler's cap. But,
A SPANISH CEMETERY. 287
all things being comparative, instead of giving the wearers
a lawless look, in my eyes, now used to the handkerchief
brow-bound, bare-crowned Aragonese, they look to be
as much like quiet, civilised people, as those appear to
resemble half-wild savages. The costume of the women is
also more modernised. The petticoats are again long and
less voluminous, and the waists of a reasonable shape and
size.
My friend the telegraph chief took me yesterday to
see the public cemetery, which is about half a mile out
of town, and on the opposite side of the Segre, and ob-
tained my admittance. It is a very beautiful one, and,
though typical as regards this country, very different from
anything of the kind to be seen in Great Britain. The
Lerida cemetery is a square enclosure of several acres in
extent, divided by gravel-walks, bordered by tall cypress-
trees, and dotted with many extremely handsome monu-
ments, and not a few of great antiquity. There certainly
was not a single unsightly one, nor any of my chief aver-
sion — tombstones. The cemetery grounds are enclosed by
a continuous building of white stone pierced by four gate-
ways, each one of which is in the centre of a side. Along
this boundary building runs on the inside a wide covered
pavement, whose roof is supported on arches — cloisters in
fact — while it (the building) consists of four tiers of small
niches, or receptacles, for coffins ; above-ground vaults
they might be described as.
The mode of burying is to place the coffin in a niche
and brick it up a foot back from the flush of the wall. In
the space left a memorial marble, or more frequently a
288 ON FOOT IN SPAIN,
metal frame, having a glass door, is cemented. In the latter
case the frame contains wreaths, inscription scrolls, and
ribbons, flowers, little wax saints, &c., &c,, invariably artis-
tically arranged. Many of the most recent ones contain
photographic portraits of the departed, as they appeared
in the flesh, handsomely mounted and framed. In the
centre of the side of the range, facing the main gateway,
is a very pretty mortuary chapel, and in it I observ^ed three
ladies and a little girl on their knees, before the shrine,
praying. On each side of the principal cemetery grounds
are large annexes, where those who like to be really buried
can have their wishes gratified by being put underground.
In them were some monuments, but not many. Evidently
the niches with the pretty fronts were preferred.
CHAPTER XXIII.
Preparations for the Carnival— Playing the Fool— The Carnival Procession—
" Seeing the Folly of it " — The Bal Masqiie^lAx^m^i Ceremonies — The
Devil takes " Pau Pi " — Tender Farewells — Departure from Lerida —
Spanish Peasantry— On the Way— A badly-matched Pair.
February 15, 1877.— The Thursday before Carnival
Sunday was a preparatory _/?i?j'/rt: ; and at eleven o'clock a
cavalcade of maskers formed in front of our hotel, headed
by a band of music and a triumphal car, bearing a boy
dressed up as a goddess of something or other, and thence
made a peregrination of the town, collecting money as they
went, towards defraying the expenses of the approaching
carnival. It was a well-got-up procession, if small. The
fantastically-dressed and masked musicians were regi-
mental bands, and made very good music. The triumphal
car was a cart belonging to our fonda, and had been
decorated in the yard.
The carnival is to be unusually well observed this year,
and considerable money has been already placed in the
hands of the committee of ceremonies, who have the direc-
tion of affairs. The weather promises to be all that can be
desired ; the only fear is, that the pedestrians will find it too
290 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
hot for comfort, midday being now as warm as it ever gets
to be in England's summer, while wasps and butterflies are
already numerous.
The inhabitants of Lerida seem especially fond of having
architectural designs and landscape scenery painted on
the outside of their houses. The designs are generally very
good, and their execution admirable, but unfortunately,
from economical motives, the vehicle used is distemper.
At home a week would obliterate them. Here they last for
years, but soon acquire a dirty, washed-out look, and being
never touched up, render a building's appearance worse
than if no attempt at mural decoration had been made.
The chief of the telegraph department has been my
great companion here, and our daily walks together are
invariably prolonged into the country, for he is a great
lover of the picturesque and nature. About the beauties of
Andalusia he is most enthusiastic ; says I have not seen
Spain's show district, and promises me much pleasure if
ever I am tempted to visit his country. Our stroll generally
winds up with a seat in the Campos Elyseos, and a cigarro,
whose flavour is rather helped than otherwise by the perfume
from beds of narcissi in full flower, over which flit and
dart numberless sphinx convolvuli. And this is early
February !
I had intended a full, true, particular, and detailed
account of carnival time as spent in the ancient city of
Lerida, but have been (for once in a while, let us say) so
busy playing the fool, that I have taken no notes whatever ;
while masks and ankles, bromas and intrigue, music and
wine, noise and folly, are so mixed and nuuldlcd up together
THE CARNIVAL PROCESSION. 291
in my brain that I find my recollection of incidents a com-
plete maze. And perhaps it is as well, for I cannot tell of
my own foolishness without revealing that of others ; and
to do the first would be line bctise, the last not the fair
thing.
The grand procession on Carnival Sunday was extremely
good, and the dresses of the maskers as nearly correct as
possible — some of them very expensive — and the characters
well sustained. It was twenty-five minutes in passing our
balcony, which, by-the-way, was subjected to an almost
continual bombardment of comfits, flowers, and sweetmeats
— a tribute to the youth and beauty collected there, which
latter was considerable. The order of procession was as
follows :
Four Soldiers and a mounted Commander (time of Charles V.).
Giants (dance of cudgels).
Dwarfs.
Impostors (a numerous group).
Students of Folly, directed by their respective Masters.
Band of Trumpeters.
Infantry with Chief and Standard (time of Charles V.).
Cavalry Escort (time of Charles V.).
Allegorical Cars and Groups, representing the different Towns of the
Province.
Representation of Lerida.
, Band.
Mounted group of Chinese.
„ Indians.
„ Greeks.
„ Romans (ancient).
„ Turks (very ferocious).
„ Persians.
„ Africans.
Arabs.
292 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
Allegorical cars of " Gambling," " Heroes," " Quacks," &c. &c.
Grand car of Los Gracios Pau Pi.
Mariners and Jockeys.
Band.
Flying Guard of Honour, with carriages of Maskers.
Infantry.
Cavalry.
I was told many of the masqueraders had spent for the
occasion over fifty pounds in their equipment, and the pro-
cession was admirably mounted. I have since learned the
cavalry chargers, the officers' private nags, in fact, all the
best horses in the country, were in it. After the procession
had made the tour of the principal streets it disbanded,
and the individuals and equipages of which it had been
composed were merged in the throng of masqueraders,
crowding every square, street, and alley of the city, which
indeed was also full to overflow of the peasantry from the
surrounding country.
I was told that at carnival time everybody would be
in the streets, grotesquely masked and disguised, and
behaving like lunatics. It is perfectly true.
In the evening there was a grand public ball, but as
there were to be several more such I did not go, preferring
to wander about the city all night, " seeing the folly of it,"
and seeking adventures. I did not find them difficult to
meet with. I was also honoured by an invitation to a
mask and fancy dress ball at the Casino dc Artcsanos, but
the streets, &c. &c., had an irresistible fascination. A
fancy dress assembly of coninic il fant people would have
been a very tame affair compared to the fun, fast and
furious, the intrigue and coiisuinacion of a Spanish city on
THE BAL MASQUE. 293
the night of Carnival Sunday. Neither^did I see the fire-
works announced to take place in the evening, for the
appointed time for them was when I was better engaged —
eating a most excellent dinner.
Monday night I went to one of the gran bailes de trajcs.
We were a party of twelve — six caballeros and as many
sefioras, paired off, of course. Our ladies were most
thoroughly disguised and closely masked, but withal very
handsomely attired. So well, indeed, were they disguised
that, on assembling ere starting out, they were not able
to recognise each other, so, after much fun from mutual
mistakes, they all unmasked to have an inspection of each
other. A broina, or pass-word, was then fixed on, so that
each individual of the party should be able to recognise
any of the others, for it would not have done to trust to
knowing each other's costume in a dense crowd wherein
there might be many more almost identical ones.
The ball was in full swing when we arrived, and a most
terrible jam it was. A pavilion had been temporarily
erected on the placa for a ball-room — a light frame and
canvas building calculated to provide dancing room for six
hundred ; but as there were nearly fifteen hundred present,
dancing was a farce, consisting merely of jumping up and
down in one place with your arms round your partner, and
beino- well squeezed ; however, most of them seemed to
like it. The din was deafening. All were talking in that
piercing falsetto which is considered the correct way to dis-
guise the voice, laughing, or singing. So loud was the
noise, it was but occasionally the sound of a large brass
band, playing on a raised platform, could be heard with
294 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
sufficient distinctness for it to be possible to distinguish
what dance was being played. But what did it matter, a
man can jump up and down, and be squeezed, and squeeze,
to any tune, or for that matter to no tune at all. Of course,
we got separated, and had the greatest possible difficulty to
get together again ; and, in a good-natured way, made as
much mischief as possible, persecuting other couples and
standing fire ourselves. None of our ladies were dis-
covered, but two of us were — two of the Diilitaircs. My
fair .companion penetrated the disguise of some of her
intimates and their companions, and putting me up to saying
several things to them, caused considerable consternation.
In fact, our party became at last such objects of interest as
to render retreat in subdivisions a strategic necessity.
Ultimately we all rendezvoused, in the small houis, at a
club cafe, had a jolly supper, and went home in a body,
finding the streets as we passed along lively with other
returning maskers.
This saturnalia continued with unabated ardour for three
days, and though there was plenty of drinking I saw
nobody intoxicated. As a result there was no quarrelling,
no bad language, in fact, there was not even any rudeness.
Everybody was jolly; nobody had a headache. The wind-
up was a midnight torchlight procession, pretty much the
same as the inaugural one in organisation, but very
different in pictorial effect, for it was a burlesque funeral.
Tlic grand car of Los Gracios Pan Pi was changed into
a hearse, on which reclined the effigy of his Grace. The
band (jf students of folly antl their respective masters had
become robed priests and bishops, bearing immense lighted
THE DEVIL TAKES '' PAU Pir 295
tapers, but some of whom were furnished with a hoof, or
tail, or pair of horns, that accidentally on purpose revealed
themselves. All the mummers wore crape. The bands
played solemn music, the sham priests chanted a parody
requiem, all the mounted men carried flaming flambleaux,
and the cars and carriages were illuminated with red and
blue Bengal lights.
The long procession filed down the narrow main street of
Lerida, between the lofty, many-storeyed, and balconied
houses, every window, every balcony, even the very house-
tops, a dense mass of spectators, all dressed and masked
in fantastic gorgeousness. Over the scene flashed and
played the cross-lights and shadows from the moving
torches ; the chant filled the air with solemn dirge ; the
roll of the muffled drums made fitting accompaniment.
It was a combination of the funeral and the grotesque,
only I suspect to be seen in Spain since the general advent
of modernism in Europe.
Arrived at the q\\\q.{ plaza the procession halts, a mock
funeral oration is said over the dead " Pan Pil' and the
lights are extinguished. Immediately, the devil and a band
of demons rush out of the crowd, seize on his body and flee
away, pursued by everybody, yelling, screaming, and cheer-
ing. Of course the devils are ultimately overtaken, dis-
persed ; the sham corpse rescued from their clutches, and
interred in a hole previously prepared for him. The carnival
of 1877 is dead and buried, a thing of the past. No more
such feast, frolic, and folly until— the next time.
On the 14th there was quite a gathering in the ladies'
reception-room, assembled to make my last evening gay
296 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
and pleasant, for on the morroAV I had fixed my start. It
was late, very late, before the last adieu was said that
night. Many had been the pretty speeches made ; not a
few the mutual promises to write. Something had been
spoken about "a year and a day." In fact the half-serious,
half-joking farewells were made that the circumstances of
the case, the recent frolic, the day itself (the 14th of Feb-
ruary), and the claims of beauty called for. Besides, when
people do not really expect to meet again, they, of course,
make the most of the situation — unless they are in earnest,
in which case generally (I am told) they miss making their
points.
I achieved a tolerably early start — for Spain— from this
most pleasant o{ fondas ; that is to say, I got away in time
to be at the post-office by eight o'clock — the advertised
time for opening the delivery ofifice — for I expected letters.
I had to wait over an hour before the official appeared,
lounging lazily along the street playing with the office-key
and smoking a papeleta. I have long bottled my feelings
about the administration of the postal department of this
country. It is infamously conducted ; but what can be
expected when the entire concern is run, not for the public
benefit, but for the private one of political adventurers, who
are rewarded for assisting conspiracies by appointments in
a service wherein they know plundering is never found out ;
ai de mc Espafla ! While waiting, an acquaintance seeing
me came up and chatted. Like everybody else here, he
seemed to think I have been wonderfully lucky in getting
through the trip from Zaragoza in safe t)', and repeated with
great confidence the oft-made statement that a band of ten
DEPARTURE FROM LERIDA. 297
robbers (a product of the late civil war) infested the district
I had lately traversed, living by depredations on all and
sundry who they might catch ; and assured me, as many
had before, that my double-barrel and big dog would have
been no protection from them, they being all armed with
Remington breech-loading carbines, and desperate and
determined criminals, who, in the wild thinly-peopled track
in which they ranged and harboured, had long evaded or
defied the giiardias civilcs. Allowing sufficiently for Spanish
romancing, I am inclined to believe there is some truth,
some substratum of fact to this general belief. Quite
possibly the two Frenchmen were " stuck up " by this very
gang, and I have had a lucky escape. However, it is quite
refreshing to hear of past dangers ; heretofore they have
invariably been promised me, as experiences to come.
It was a lovely balmy morning, the sky a cloudless blue,
a warm haze mellowing the distant mountains. My way
led across an extensive plain, strongly accentuated by
detached, flat-topped, steep-sided hills, and small, peaked,
and pointed mountains, and seamed by miniature valleys.
In many places rows of almond-trees bordered the road,
masses of bloom, and looking extremely beautiful. Irri-
gating ditches abounded, and the wheatfields were a
brilliant green.
I passed several old women and panniered donkeys
gathering weeds : the donkeys after their usual way, the
old women with short bill-hooks, with which they cut the
weeds off close to the ground, and then crammed them into
the panniers. Thinking the weeds might be " greens," and
that by asking I might get a wrinkle, I inquired of one
298 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
of these ancient females why she collected them. " For
rabbits," she replied. " We all keep rabbits, and get their
food for nothing, as you see, and so do our donkeys get
theirs too." So much, thought I, for so-called Spanish
laziness and thoughtlessness for the morrow. Would to
heaven the old women of rural England were as lazy and
thoughtless in the donkey and rabbit line. Rabbit stew or
pie two or three times a week would surely be better, and,
all things considered, cheaper than the occasional-snared
hare, while the donkey would cost less and be far more
useful than a lurcher. However, in Spain there is no work-
house to pauperise and demoralise the peasantry. Here,
to be thrifty or starve is the alternative, and as none care
to go hungry to sleep and to breakfast on expectation,
all are thrifty. So here there is no poor rate, no wages
squandered in drunken " sprees," and none of the necessarily
attendant crime. The peasantry of this country, so far as
I have seen of them, are, as a mass, better fed, better
clothed, better conducted, more intelligent, honest, sober,
and self-respectful, and far more happy than their compeers
in old England ; and were it not that they are degraded
and warped by superstitious influences, that purposely
make and keep them tools for all wickedness, they might
be the first peasantry of Europe.
At the little town of Bell-lloch, only remarkable, so far
as I observed, as having I's enough in its name to beat
any average Welsh town, I breakfasted, for it was close
upon noon when I arrived there. Fried bacon and sausage,
a herb omelette, and bread and wine at discretion, was the
repast. There was plenty to spare for me and Juan ; tlie
ON THE WAY. 299
meal was cleanly served, and the inclusive charge ten-
pence.
Beyond this town of four I's, the ground became more
diversified, even hilly ; then followed a true plain, sur-
rounded with far-away blue hills and mountains, and, to
my left, glimpses of the white Pyrenees.
A dip of the road into a large broken valley, laying
considerably below the general level of the country, brought
me amongst seeming hills again ; and on a large detached
one to my right stood an old church, in build so exactly a
Welsh one as to be a real surprise to me. It was certainly
strikingly different from any Spanish church edifice I have
ever seen.
A chance presenting itself to make a considerable cut
off, and at the same time exchange the hard high road for
a pleasant footpath, the opportunity was not neglected.
This path took me through a fine grove of poplars, alive
with starlings, singing and chattering ; and Juan, who as
usual was ranging at a swinging gallop far and near, put
up a brace of redlegs. They rose from the centre of a
nearly bare fallow, some two hundred yards ahead of him.
Soon after three o'clock the small town of Mollrusa was
reached. It stood on the bank of a considerable-sized but
nearly dry watercourse, the stream having been diverted for
irrigating purposes. A comfortable clean posada was soon
found, having a wide sunny verandah to sit in. A good-sized
bedroom, sufficiently furnished, was assigned me, and clean
towels and fresh water brought. Clearly I was in a more
civilised country than Los Moncgros. On the dressing-table
were two books, and taking them with me, I stepped forth
300 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
through the open window on the verandah, and there sat
down to amuse myself. I expected nothing else but to find
I liad chanced upon some Hves of saints, that being the
class of books my experience had taught me to expect.
But I was wrong. On looking at their respective titles
they proved to be a very badly-matched pair ; one was
called (I translate) " History of the future— a treatise upon
the Imperialism of the Grand Monarch, and the triumphs
of the Catholic Church unto the end of the world, accord-
ing to the most celebrated ancient and modern prophecies
— dedicated to Don Carlos de Borbon y de Estc." I read a
considerable portion of this interesting (.') work. Its author
took much the same line, and handled his subject in pre-
cisely the same manner, as a certain well-known British
nonconformist preacher does to explain, amplify, and reveal
{}) the Book of Revelation ; and, from it, forecast the future.
But as Liberalism was the "Scarlet Lady," and the Protestant
Church one of the worst of the " Beasts," the conclusions
come out differently from those of the B. N. P.'s, though I
must confess the Spaniard's reasoning was quite as close and
conclusive, and his style far more dignified and lofty than
his British compeer's, while his phrasing was most impres-
sive and appropriate. The other book was an excellent
Spanish translation of Volney's " Ruins of Empires." To
alternately read a little of each book was a mental drinking
of hot grogs and eating of ice-creams.
While reading, a sweet perfume from time to time was
wafted past me. It proceeded from a lot of pinks in full
flower, growing in the open air ; and near iIkiu llDurished
some fine cacti, the first I have yet seen in this country.
A REST. 301
My supper was not bad. Soup, stewed rabbit, lamb
chops and fried potatoes, partridge and sprouts, almonds,
raisins, and olives, bread and wine.
To-morrow's march will be a long one. To-day's was
short. So I have rested myself well, and written up my
notes.
CHAPTER XXIV.
A nearly "adorned the most" Maid — Interesting Roadside Objects— A
simple Matron— Tarrage— A lovely Prospect— Carlist Attack on Ceverra
—Illuminations— Catalan Loyalty (?)— The University of Ceverra—
Mountain Scenery— A good vegetarian Repast— Strange ruined Castle.
February 17, 1877.— Wishing to make an early start
from Mollrusa, not only on account of the length of the
march before me, but because the midday hours are now so
very hot as not to be fit to walk during, for one who is
burdened with his little all, I explained the matter to the
hostess, and ordered chocolate precisely at seven.
" Certainly ; any time your worship likes," was the
prompt reply.
At SLven sharp I was ready and in the kitchen. No-
body else was there. No fire was lit. I clapped hands
—the country's substitute for bell-ringing— stamped, blew
my dog-whistle, and halloed until I was tired. More
than once I had half a mind to wait no longer. If no one
would get up, even to receive pajment of the bill, was I
bound to lose the cool of the morning ?
It was thirty-five minutes past seven when, at last, a
servant-girl made her appearance, not quite half-dressed,
INTERESTING ROADSIDE OBJECTS 303
and rubbing her eyes. Did my worship want chocolate ?
No, not at that time of day. Could not wait an hour for
an eggshell full of chocolate. Wanted to pay the bill and
be off. Away went this nearly "adorned the most"
beauty, flying upstairs to ask her mistress how much there
was to pay. I sat down and solemnly lit a pipe, believing
thoroughly there would be plenty of time to finish it in ere
she again appeared. And there was ; not that she took
the opportunity to finish her toilette. No such thing. On
reappearance she had, if possible, more loose ends to her
than before. Goodness knows the bill was moderate
enough — one shilling and eightpence, all told !
An hour's walk brought me to the little village of
Golnez, where, at a ventorrillo, I obtained for three half-
pence a glass of aguardiente and small loaf of bread, the
latter to divide with Juan as a " stop-gap," to be eaten as
we walked along. A few miles farther was Bellpug, a little
town by which coursed a fine irrigating head of water from
the right, while just beyond, upon a serrated eminence,
stood a most picturesque old monastery, whose three
galleried and pointed-arched cloisters gave it a most
imposing appearance.
Bellpug, though very small, is yet a walled town, and
its old gateways are handsome arches ; the one by which I
left being remarkable for having in a recess over its key-
stone a very quaint picture of Christ and Roman soldiers,
while just beyond stands a handsomely-proportioned
monolith cross, about twenty feet high, and of evident
antiquity. In Cataluna these old crosses seem to abound,
many of them carved and of singular merit. In the town's
304 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
centre stands an old Gothic church, with a fine octagon
tower. A couple of miles farther on my way there ap-
peared by the roadside what seemed to be an unusually
large league-stone. It proved instead to be a memorial
one, but in commemoration of what I could not determine,
for so old was the inscription thereon that it had become
illegible ; only the date, i6o8, was decipherable. A niche,
countersunk in its upper portion, a foot deep, contained a
stone crucifix, whose Christ was most admirably car\-ed ;
one leg, however, had crumbled to powder. Over the
opening was an iron grating, almost eaten up with rust.
The general features of the scenery remained much the
same as the day before, the only novel one being a small
tract of swamp-land, patched here and there with beds of
rushes. On it were several flocks of lapwings, which
afforded sport and exercise to Juan, who pursued them
with eagerness. Half-past eleven found me standing on a
stone bridge, over a large irrigating canal, whose waters
flowed from my left — El Canal de Urgcl.
It was high time to find a place to breakfast at, and
seeing a cottage of unusually neat appearance, a little way
off, and close to the banks of the canal, I started for it, to
prospect for a meal. A young woman, with a beautiful
set of teeth and two babies, was sitting on the ground in
front of the cottage ; and, in answer to my queries, replied
there was no meat in her house, but if I would be satisfied
with a herb omelette, and bread and wine, she would gladly
accommodate me. How many eggs were put in that
omelette I know not, but I do know that thereon I and
Juan made, with the assistance of a small loaf of bread, a
TARRAGE. 305
hearty breakfast, and both of us were sharp set ; nor on my
part did I spare the wine, for it was good, and I hot and
thirsty. The charge was ninepence-halfpenny ■ With great
simplicity, this handsome young mother asked me if the
silver coin I tendered her was good, for, she added, " It is
very seldom I see silver money, not often enough to know
much about it." I mention this as an instance of the fact,
that to these peasants other money than copper is a rarity,
and as showing their great unsophistication.
After refreshing the inner man I took a long rest in the
warm sunshine, greatly enjoying it, my pipe, and the lovely
view. Larks were soaring and singing in hundreds ; gold-
finches were everywhere. The air rung with melody ; and,
though but the middle of February, the perfume of a
garden full of flowers added its subtle charm, while the
busy bee hummed and flitted around !
It was close on four o'clock as I approached the town
of Tarrage ; a long straggling place lying between two
moderately-sized hills, the one to the right crowned by a
modern fort — or old one furbished up — the other, sur-
rounded by high loopholed-walls, while, in the centre of
the plaza stood a nearly new stone blockhouse, round, and
pierced for musketry. Evidently Tarrage had not meant
to be captured by any of Don Carlos's flying columns. On
a far-off eminence appeared the extensive ruins of a square
tower, topping an entrenched, scarped, and terraced hill,
and looking in its shape and surroundings very Moorish.
The only noticeable building I saw in Tarrage was a
church, much like the one of Bellpug, but a little beyond
the town I came upon a lovely cemetery. This garden of
3o6 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
the dead was in general design like unto the Lerida
cemetery, but much smaller and older looking. The arches
of its colonnades were very sharply pointed, the banded
columns extremely light — in fact, the architecture was
quite Byzantine. It was full of flowers and old monu-
ments, and its gateway really most handsome. On a grass
plot between the highway and the entrance to this charm-
ing resting-place for the weary departed, stood, on a wide
octagon stone base, a most beautiful cross ; its shaft, a
very slender octagon monolith, over twenty feet high, the
surmounting cross a large florid one, carved in the richest
possible way. The handsomest thing of the kind I have
yet seen in stone. One arm of the cross was gone. The
inscription on the pedestal was so worn away that it was
only determinable that there had been one. Evidently the
cross was very old.
There was a fine background to cemetery and cross —
three ranges of mountains. The farthest off— the snowy
Pyrenees — showed sharply clear against a cloudless sky,
while the base of the nearest was so indistinct with warm
haze as almost to be invisible. Broken, irregular foothills,
flat stretches, numerous wash-outs and gullies, near and
far groves and clumps of trees occupied the intervening
space. It was a beautiful view, and in all respects strikingly
reminding of California. The day had become blazing
hot. I sat down on a grassy bank, and long enjoyed the
lovely prospect.
The next halting-place — Ceverra — I arrived at soon
after fi\'e in the evening, and entered the gateway through
its surrounding wall with the fag-end of a proccssioji, for
CARLIST ATTACK ON CEVERRA. 307
the place was eii fete. Immense and most tasteful bouquets
of paper flowers, lamps covered and decorated with. many-
coloured muslin, flags, were everywhere ; the narrow
streets of the little town were so many rainbows ; the
many balconies and open windows all occupied by spec-
tators dressed in their best, and the streets full of bands of
music and processions.
Making my way to the chief fonda, I entered, engaged
a room and seat at table, and without loss of time took my
stand on the balcony to observe the scene. A respect-
ably-dressed man standing by me, who I have since ascer-
tained was the landlord, and on whose breast glittered a
decoration, kindly explained the affair to me.
The city was celebrating the repulse of the Carlistas,
two years ago. The fiesta had been officially established
as an annual celebration of that " great " event, and many
who had been prominent on the occasion had received a
decorative medal, he amongst them, and my informant
lightly touched his breast and bowed. One morning six
hundred Carlists made aa unexpected dash at the place,
and two hundred got inside the gate and established
themselves in the nearest houses on each side of it before
opposition could be made. Then, twenty-four regulars,
forty volunteers, and four peasants armed with shot guns,
hastily threw a barricade across the end of the street,
manned it, and not only stopped the enemy's advance,
but kept up so lively a fire on the gateway as to deter the
four hundred Carlists without from entering to support
their van, and thus gave the alcalde and other authorities
time to sound the alarm bells and summon all able-bodied
X 2
3o8 OiV FOOT IN SPAIN.
citizens to turn out in defence of their homes. Into
cellars, holes, and corners, into any and every place where
safety might be sought went the valiant citizens, leaving
the gallant sixty-eight at the barricade and the six hundred
Carlists to fight it out. The four hundred outside, having
a natural reluctance to be killed, fell back, so those in
the houses, finding themselves abandoned, and thinking
from the uproar in town that the citizens were organising
and their position untenable, saw fit to advance back-
wards. On emerging into the street they were charged
from the barricade and driven pell-mell through the gate-
way they had entered at, losing forty-two prisoners ; while
the casualties to the assailing defenders was but six volun-
teers, three regulars, and two out of the four peasants,
these last falling outside the town gate, one killed on the
spot, the other dying in a couple of hours. The repulse
of the " Carlist army " by the " brave and loyal city of
Ceverra " was one of the " events " of the late war.
Truly, while not noticing much for which they might
be justly proud, these people often make monstrous moun-
tains of minute molehills.
When night fell all the lamps were lit, the illumination
being excessively effective. The narrow streets, over-
hanging roofs, projecting balconies, dark shadows, gleaming
many-coloured lights, and moving figures, presented a scene
of strange beauty mingled with grotesqueness. A party
of vocal serenaders, who, with an attendant crowd, were
promenading the streets, halted in front of the fonda, and,
very well led, sung in score some stirring Catalunan airs.
As I sat in the balcony, almost near enough to the fair
CATALAN LOYALTY. 309
occupiers of that of the opposite house to shake hands with
them, and looked up and down the street and on the pic-
turesquely-dressed crowd below, the spectacle quite realised
my idea of the Spain of romance.
Later on, municipal fireworks w^ere exhibited from a
platform in front of the ancient university of Cataluna.
They were far better than I expected ; indeed, quite
tasteful, and numerous exclamations of astonished delight
from an admiring crowd testified to their appreciation of
the display.
Every available spot from which a view could be
obtained was occupied, the jam in the streets being exces-
sive, somewhere between four and five thousand men,
women, children, and soldiers—for the town is now strongly
garrisoned — were wedged in a mass ; but there was no
pushing, no elbowing, no pocket-picking, and nobody in-
toxicated, nor did I hear a rude word uttered '. The grande
finale showed a portrait of the king, surrounded with flashing
lights. It was the officially prepared moment for a display
of loyalty, but there was none. Though the chef-d\vuvre
of the performance, not even an exclamation of wonder or
delight was indulged in by any of the audience excepting
children. No notice whatever was taken of the portrait of
" the little Alfonso." Royalty is not popular in Cataluna.
Its people are Republican almost to a man. During the
time the fireworks were playing a regimental band gave us
good martial music, and on its marching away, the people
dispersed either to cafes or their several homes, i:\itfiesta
was over.
I was regaled with good fare, and had a most comfortable
3IO ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
room. My bill was but one shilling and eightpence-half-
pcnny ; and, having for once succeeded in getting my
chocolate in good time, at half-past seven the following
morning I was again en route.
The old university building demanded my attention before
leaving Ceverra, for it was once a famous seat of learning.
It is now utilised as a barrack for troops, serving to main-
tain the present military despotism called the Spanish con-
stitutional government — Toga ccvdit anna. I should have
liked to view its interior, but a sentinel barred the Avay.
This university was founded by Philip V. in 1717, when it
became the virtual successor of the old Lerida university.
It is a quadrangular pile of buildings enclosing a large
courtyard, entered through a very handsome porch gate-
way. The edifice has a front of one hundred and fifty-five
yards, and looks scholastic and imposing.
As I left Ceverra a thick white fog enveloped everything.
The road, a ramp round a hill-side, wound off to the right
and disappeared, while a deep valley seemed to lay below
me. As a narrow but well-worn foot-path descended the
steep slope to my left, I suspected it was a cut off, and,
chancing it, followed down the almost perpendicular
declivity, and before long struck a returning curve of the
high road. Soon the fog lifted and I found ni\-sclf in a
valley, winding amongst low hills along whose centre my
road ran.
The hills confined the view considerably; but e\'ery turn
disclosed a fresh and interesting scene, and my walk was
most enjoyable. Many a hill top was crowned by an old
church (ir ruined tower. Numerous were the pretty villages
MOUNTAIN SCENERY. 311
scattered around, and several Roman cement mills were
passed. Wheatfields, vineyards, olive groves, almond
orchards occupied the entire valley, and up the furrows on
the hillsides climbed tongues and strips of deciduous oaks,
ilex and corks.
As I progressed the hills gradually closed in, becoming,
too, more mountainous in character ; and, ere long, pines —
the first seen since leaving the divide between Guipuzcoa
and Navarra — replaced the oaks. By-and-by, though my
road descended rapidly all the way, I found myself once
again amongst mountain scenery. To my right was a deep,
perpendicular-sided gorge, along whose centre coursed a
mountain stream. The pines had become timber; the road
a scarped ramp. It was very like a bit of the wildest of
Welsh mountain scenery. But the deep blue hue of the
heavens, and a flock of about thirty magpies chattering on
some bushes, stamped it with a foreign look.
I had intended to breakfast at a little town called Pana-
dilla, but missed, or rather overshot the place, not knowing
it lay some distance off the road up a hillside to the left.
But coming soon after midday to a roadside house, I en-
tered, and asked if I could have breakfast there.
It was not a posada ; but an old man, who seemed its
master, said, " Yes, certainly ; the family are going to eat
directly, you can join us." So we all four sat down : the
old man, his daughter (a good-looking girl of eighteen or
so), a young man (a labourer), and myself. The first course
was an old friend, a dish I had not seen for years ; pump-
kins sliced, French beans, and macaroni, stewed together in
olive-oil and water, and highly seasoned. It was very good.
312 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
Then a herb omelette. Bread and wine as usual. Charge,
for man and dog, sevenpence-halfpenny. A pleasant siesta
in the warm sun and fragrant air occupied the time till
two o'clock, and I departed.
Still wilder and more mountainous became the way.
More magpies, also more partridges. Indeed, all the
afternoon Juan was finding birds, but they were excessively
wary, always rising at great distances before him, and then
flying straight across from the mountain side we were on
to that beyond the opposite edge of the valley.
I passed through two little villages — clean-looking
groups of houses, more civilised in appearance than I had
seen for some time. The influence of the not far-off sea-
port, full of English, American, and French enterprise and
capital, was beginning to show itself.
Every hour that I walked my surroundings were more
picturesque ; the country passed through becoming quite
Swiss in appearance, and my road continually crossing and
recrossing by stepping-stones a wide brawling stream,
flowing down a deep, wooded, and lovely ravine. At last
a turn in the road gave a peep at a most strange-looking
ruined castle. It was perched on the summit of a rock
that in dimensions was a hill, and immediately beneath,
around an old gray church, nestled a snug cluster of
cottages, while still farther below, through a gap in the
tufted pines, showed a curve of the highway I. was follow-
ing. If amongst those buildings I could find accommoda-
tion, then there would I pass the night, for it was getting
late, and I had gone far enough.
CHAPTER XXV.
Moorish Stronghold— Za Sierra be i1/(7«/jfrraif—IguaIada— Manufactories— A
safe Drink—" Halt ! "—Levelled Carbines— A captured Robber— Queen
Victoria's Conversion (?)— A modern Miracle— A Resting-place.
February i8, 1877. — Close beside the road, just below
the little village, under the ruin-crowned rock, I found a
decent-looking venta, and gladly learned that there a room
and meals were to be had. Immediately opposite stood a
casa del acra and its attendant private chapel, and as I
sat in the porch of the venta, smoking, sipping aguardiente
and water, and resting, I observed the cura, a fat jolly-
looking priest, crossing the road towards the village church.
Seizing so good an opportunity to make inquiry about the
ruin, I accosted him, and, after the usual politenesses of
the country had passed between us, asked about it. It had
been a Moorish stronghold of great importance, built to
command the pass I had just travelled down.
In the course of the evening several teamsters stopped
at the venta; with them I sat down to an indifferent
supper, and afterwards, round a blazing fire of pine
branches and cones, to chat. These men were very
respectful and civil to me, but, only speaking Catalan,
314
ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
which is quite as different from Spanish as the broadest
Yorkshire or Cornish is from the Queen's EngHsh, con-
versation on my part was much hke the Scotch shepherd's
definition of metaphysics : " He who Hstens understands
not what he that speaks means, and he who speaks does
not quite understand what himself says."
The room and bed furnished for my accommodation was
quite clean, but the house was an old one, and midnight
marauders attempted to rob me of sleep. However, with
the-expenditure of considerable powder, and some vigorous
sallies, I kept them more or less at bay.
In the morning I succeeded once more in getting an
early start, for the energetic old woman who kept the
/^^^rt'^z was stirring before break of day, attending to. the
wants of the carreteros. Paying the modest bill of one
shilling and threepence, and astonishing the old Avoman
with a gratuity to which she was evidently quite unaccus-
tomed, I departed, just as the dawn was gathering strength.
The grade of the road still continued to fall sharply.
Soon the hills opened right and left ; a wude, wild view
of mountains and valleys came in sight, and conspicuous
above all, right in front, rose an isolated, jagged mountain,
all points, pinnacles, and pillars — Montserrat. There
could be no question about it ; it was the wildest, most
striking mountain I have seen in Spain, and startlingly
like, in its profile against the sky, to " Granite Mountain,"
in central Arizona. That it too was one of nature's granite
monuments seemed certain, though how such could be,
considering the geological characteristics of the countr\',
puzzled me greatly.
IGUALADA. 315
At eight o'clock I came to a pretty little saiita, and
peeping- in, observed before a shrine that was all gilding^
flowers, and wax images, some women and children on
their knees praying. One of the former having, doubtless^
filthy lucre in her heart, on getting a glance of me arose
hastily, crossed herself with almost startling rapidity, and
leaving the service she was engaged on for that of
Mammon, approached and asked if I wanted anything,
adding, she kept the little venta in front, and had the
best of aguardiente and other things. I did want some-
thing, for I was hot and dusty, so I tried the aguardiente,
purchased a loaf of bread for self and dog, consumed a
cigarrilla, tried another little drink, made a present to the
Image, paid a few coppers, and started on my way
refreshed, the business-like devotee returning within the
santa presumably to finish her prayers.
The gorge to my right deepened, widened, opened into
a wild broken valley, and in its centre I beheld the con-
siderable town of Igualada, whereat I arrived soon after
ten o'clock;
Repairing to a house to which I had been recom-
mended by the old sefior, father to the seiloi'as of my
Lcrida fonda, I entered, and soon found myself quite at
home, for its master and mistress, on my mentioning who
had recommended me to their care, vied with each other
in attentions.
I found Igualada a town of some manufacturing and
business importance, and of considerable industry. It has
a population of nearly sixteen thousand souls, and there
daily arrive and depart three stage-coaches, well-horsed,
3i6 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
and from six to eight sixteen-mule freight waggons, .plying
from and to Barcelona. Of course Igualada is a walled
town. It also is defended, or rather kept in subjugation,
by two small towers situated on a flat-topped eminence to
its south — new, I think — and also by a strong garrison.
This town can boast of one tolerably good and fairly
wide street ; some quaint \\i\.\Q plasas, and several factories,
these last-mentioned being clustered together on the banks
of a river — when there is water in it — and for the rest, the
usual complement of rookeries and cut-throat-looking
alleys, called in Spain streets. There are also well-
constructed gasworks, but owing to " political questions "
— what on earth politics have to do with it, a benighted
Englishman could not be made to understand — the town
remains in nightly darkness, for gas is not supplied.
Perhaps the Ultramontane party, now rapidly gaining
strength under the Alfonso cabal, consider gas as having
dangerous political tendencies. The manufacture of
cottons, of cloth, velveteens, Roman cement, and iron
founding, are the chief industries. Churches, of course,
are numerous. There are eleven, including the hospital
chapel. I looked at and into the chief places of worship,
but saw nothing of unusual interest about any of them,
excepting La Paroquia, and not much there, only seven
hideous and grotesque human monsters, each protruding
horizontally as many feet or more beyond its eaves, and
serving as rain-water spouts. These figures were of all
sexes, nude, and I think some monk of old had a hand in
their horrible designing. In the same church there was,
however, in one fif the recessed and railed-off shrines,
A SAFE DRINK. zn
a large picture that, from what I could see of it, may be
a fine old master ; but in this country the ecclesiastical
powers that be have a most provoking way 6f railing-off
church pictures, so that a fair inspection of them is impos-
sible. Igualada in many respects is a better town than
Lerida, compared to which it looks new. Few of the
houses appear to be over two hundred years old, while
a great many are comparatively modern, say fifty years of
age. The factories are quite things of to-day. I was
comfortably and well housed and fed while in Igualada,
and charged but three shillings and fourpence for a capital
dinner, excellent supper, good room, luxurious bed, no
insects, and my morning chocolate and azucarillo ; and
after despatching the last, started for the monastery of
Montserrat, the mountain of that name in full view looking
quite close, as if but an hour's walk off.
It was a bright clear morning, and though early, being
but half-past seven o'clock, quite warm. My road soon
commenced to climb the mountain, and the views were
lovely. By a quarter to ten I had reached the little village
of Castelloni, and seeing that thence the acclivity became
quite steep, and being besides hot and thirsty, I regaled
myself with the copa dc aguardiente and following glass of
cold-water, that experience had by then taught me was so
refreshing and safe a drink. My road then became a
mountain ramp, winding as it climbed among rocks and
pinnacles ; while huge laurestinas in full flower, boxwoods
higher than a man's head, pines, hollies — in fact, a wilder-
ness of trees and shrubs — covered every portion of the
mountain's side.
3i8 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
Seeing a practical way whereby some steep climbing
would enable me to effect a considerable cut qA{ in the
winding roed, I left the highway, and plunged into the
covert, catching, as I did so, a glimpse of two guardias
civiles and a peasant, rounding one of the curves of the
road directly above, but certainly had, at the time, no idea
they also had seen me. I was mistaken. I had barely
gone twenty yards when, emerging into sight on crossing a
narrow opening in the thicket, I was stopped by a loud and
imperative "Alto!" Looking round, I perceived, some thirty
paces to my left, the guardias civiles and their companion.
They had seen, and, scrambling down the mountain's side,
aimed at intercepting me ; but, miscalculating time and dis-
tance, or headed off by thick brushwood, had not succeeded
in doing so. The guardias civiles stood with their carbines
" ported,'' and called upon me to lay my gun down and come
to them. Thinking it no greater distance for them to travel
than it was for me, not wishing to lose ground, not indeed
caring a straw about making their personal acquaintance, I
did nothing of the kind, but, resting haversack and double-
barrel against a rock, commenced coolly rolling a cigarette
and staring at them.
Immediately one of the guardians of the road advanced
upon me, doing so exactly as a sportsman walks up to
his dogs when on a dead point, and holding his cocked
carbine as a pigeon-shooter does his gun, when the string
is about to be pulled ; the other, placing the peasant in
his front to cover himself, brought his weapon to the
" charge." Evidently I was an object of suspicion, if not
of apprehension.
CAPTURED ROBBER. 319
When the advancing guardia got near enough to perceive
I was grinning with hardly-suppressed mirth, and very
evidently a peaceable pilgrim, he threw his carbine into the
hollow of his arm, saluted, and politely demanded my
papers. I drew my pocket-book, and was about to produce
my " Derby," when, with a wave of the hand, the guardia
stopped me, saying : " Let not your worship trouble your-
self ; I see you are a pious pilgrim to the sanctuary of our
Lady of Montserrat — go with God."
While he spoke, I observed more closely the apparent
peasant, and it struck me his attitude was that of a man
handcuffed. I asked : " Who have you got there 1 " The
reply showed that the tales of my Lerida friends were not
devoid of foundation. "A robber captured this very
morning, and, please our Lady, we will get the rest of
the gang when this fellow is made to confess."
*"Tis well, my friend — go you with God," I answered,
and we went our several ways. So at last, after wandering
hundreds of miles alone on foot and through the wildest
places of Northern Spain, I have met the real live Spanish
bandit ; but alas ! for the interest of my story, without his
weapons and companions, a manacled and helpless prisoner,
though probably therefore greatly to the advantage of my
personal comfort, and to the preservation of my travelling
personal estate. I have seen " the robber of the mountain,"
and am not his.
By the middle of the day I got to Homo del Velio, a
most romantically-situated church, parsonage, and posada.
This establishment for the benefit of souls and bodies
stands on a spur of the Montserrat mountain, whence,
320 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
beyond a wild chaos of hills, valleys, and broken mountains,
is obtainable an imposing sight of the snow-clad Pyrenees,
The church was quite small ; the posada not much of a
building. But there was a fine large walled water-tank —
a preserve for fish to fast on, and to supply water for irri-
gation — a considerable garden, and the place, as a whole,
looked very pretty. My arrival was almost simultaneous
with that of the passenger-carrying mail-cart from Igualada
to Monistrol, a town on the farther side of the mountain.
In it, besides the driver, were two travellers, and with them
I sat down to breakfast on soup, bacon, omelet, and bread
and wine.
The priest of the Church of Homo del Velio was in the
room, and talked most affably to me all the time. Pro-
bably from my having uncovered myself to him on entering,
which the others did not do, and because I was walking to
the monastery, he took me for a Catholic pilgrim. I told
him of the robber. " Ah ! " he exclaimed with a start of
interest, " what was he like } How was he dressed } "
I described him as accurately as the opportunity for
observation had permitted me to notice.
" He is not the chief, only one of the gang."
" Then there is a band of robbers in these parts } "
" I fear I must confess such is the truth. It is a great
scandal to our holy mountain, especially as the'y occasion-
ally harbour in the ruined hermitages during winter, and I
hoped it was their leader who had been taken."
The priest then asked me in Latin if I spoke that
language, when, though I replied in the sanie tongue, he
continued the conversation in Spanish — greatly to my satis-
QUEEN VICTORIAS CONVERSION. 321
faction, for my colloquial Latin would have soon broken
down — saying : " So I supposed, and I perceive you belong
to the well-instructed class of Englishmen. Pray tell me
what has been the general effect of Lord Ripon's conver-
sion, and is the truth about Queen Victoria beginning to
leak out ? "
" What truth ? " I asked, knowing well enough the
rumour to which he alluded, for the assertion that England's
Queen had become a Catholic had often before been most
confidently made to me, even by ignorant peasants,
" Her conversion," said the priest ; "you know she has
for some time been reconciled to Mother Church."
" Nobody has heard of such a thing in England."
" Openly, of course not. There are reasons of state for
great discretion, but all good Catholics here know it is so ;
and I had supposed so great a fact could not be entirely
concealed from the faithful there."
Clearly it was no use arguing the point, for, admittedly,
I could not speak with authority, and the priest believed
himself in a position to do so. I therefore turned the con-
\ersation by making inquiries about our Lady's sanctuary
of Montserrat.
It was very hot when I resumed the ascent, and quite a
relief to find myself, from time to time, in the cool shadow
of overhanging rocks, or in one of the many re-entering
curves of the tortuous road that was in shade ; but though
the oppressive warmth and continuous ascent combined to
fatigue me, my walk was most enjoyable. The fine scenery,
continually changing, the extraordinary diversity and luxu-
riance of the vegetation, above and below me, the beautiful
322 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
and various wild flowers, the hum of bee, and buzz of
winged insects, united to make it enchanting. Greeves
and blackbirds were very numerous, and Juan flushed out
of the thick covert of the mountain's side many redleg
partridges.
At a quarter to four o'clock I came to a handsome
granite pillar in which was countersunk a white marble
slab, charged with an artistically-cut bas-relief represen-
tation of the mountain, and Ntra. Sra. De Montserrat, with
an inscription, setting forth that the monument was erected
in commemoration of a miracle performed on that spot by
the "Virgin of Montserrat," on the 5th May, 1862, attested
by — and then followed the names of five Dons and Donas.
And this is the latter part of the nineteenth century !
Half an hour's further walk, and, on turning a sharp
curve of the road, I suddenly found myself close to the
monastery, and beside another memorial pillar. On it I
read, inscribed in Castcllano : " Here became immovable the
Saint Image in 880," Like as had the image,- nine hundred
and ninety-seven years ago, I too had reached a resting-
place.
CHAPTER XXVI.
Monasterio dc Montscrrat — Income of "The Queen of Montserrat " — Arrange-
ments for Pilgrims — Ascent to the Summit — The Mediterranean sighted —
A Tourist — Suggestive Services — A Dreamland — A Honeymoon Couple —
A Ramble over the Mountain— Za Montana dc Montscrrat— K Mountain
of Delight.
February 21, 1877.— For three days have I been the
inmate of a monastic institution, and fain would I here
remain, at least for some little time longer, for I am in
love — fairly enamoured of this beautiful, this most charming
mountain. But I cannot stay, alas ! To-morrow I must
go. To Montserrat all pilgrims — and every visitor is pre-
sumably one — are cordially welcome, and entitled to free
quarters — not rations — but only for four nights ; then, the
rules of the place — unchangeable, like the laws of Medes
and Persians — command you to pass on.
I am now sitting in my dormitory, trying to straighten
out the tangled web of confused and mixed-up impressions.
Lovely views, ruined hermitages, sacred chapels, holy tanks
and springs, wonderful caverns, beetling crags, towering
pinnacles, the varied beauty of more than eight hundred
different kinds of trees, shrubs, and plants — matted and
mingled in luxuriant profusion on mountain side, in dark
y 2
324 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
ravine, on summit levels — are all blended together in a
brain muddled with listening to innumerable tales and
legends of wonders, miracles, and apparitions, while the
everlasting melody of chant and Ave Maria ring in my
ears. Here, where for close on a thousand years prayer,
praise, and adoration has ascended to the female divinity
of modern belief— here, where seems mingled with every
breath one draws the monkish lore of ten centuries, it is
not easy to write an intelligible account of what is seen
and heard.
It is a pleasant little chamber I am in ; a small room of
a range of buildings devoted to pilgrims, being No. i of the
Aposcntos Sta. Teresa de J esus.l.\\& institution has con-
siderably over a thousand apartments fitted up to accom-
modate visitors, and the Directory is building more, for
during the summer and autumn months not only is every
bed occupied, but all the numerous villages at the foot of
the mountain are filled to overflowing; and everyone giving
to the " Queen of Montserrat," according to their means or
inclination, the more that come the better for her coffers.
From the best data I can get, I have made a rough estimate
of the present income accruing from these voluntary con-
tributions, and cannot set the total at a less sum than
fifteen thousand pounds a year, and am told it is sometimes
double that amount.
There are other sources of revenue — the sale of
rosaries, model images, blessed measures in ribbon of
different dimensions of the Virgin, and other pious
remembrances, all of most trifling intrinsic value, but
charged for at a sufficiently high rate. Not the least of
ARRANGEMENTS FOR PILGRIMS. 325
these is the Almaccn, or warehouse ; a place whereat
nearly everything can be bought, even tobacco — a Govern-
ment monopoly — which, too, is a post-office, a stage-
office, and a posting-house, all to the profit of the
monastery.
The arrangements are all very convenient. To me, as
a lone bachelor, only a single room is assigned, and I
have to get my meals at the restaurant-cafe, but were I
en faniille, a range of rooms would be provided, having
attached thereto a well-found kitchen and chambers for
my servants. At the Almaceu I should purchase — at a
sufficient profit to "our Lady" — provisions of all kinds
and fuel, and obtain the use of bedding, linen, and all things
necessary, and so live comfortably, indeed luxuriously,
if my purse and inclination permitted and prompted
me to do so. At the cafe I fare sufficiently well, but find
it dear, as compared with everywhere else. If, however,
as its host tells me, he has to pay a heavy percentage for
rent and as thank-offerings to the shrine, there is good
reason for such being the case.
I have the cleanest of rooms, the whitest of bed linen,
and am well looked after by an old monk — who is my
chambermaid.
The evening of arrival was agreeably spent, wandering
around the immediate precincts of the place, and examining
and admiring the remains of the old monastery, destroyed
by the French in 18 12; when, after pillaging the place,
with a completeness long practice had perfected the
Napoleonic soldiers in, they, on the 31st July, buried so
many barrels of powder in its foundations, that the
326 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
explosion, when fired, was heard at a distance of twenty-
four miles.
I attended evening devotions in the new church— a
building of imposing appearance and size, most solidly
built — and was well pleased with the choral service.
Montscrrat is celebrated for its school of church music,
and choir, organ, and instrumental performance was the
best of the kind I have heard in Spain. The monks had
fine bass voices, the boys lovely sopranos, and the effect
of the alternate verse and response was really fine.
Early in the morning of my first day, I started for the
top of Montserrat. I was alone. In the season, guides
are numerous. Now none are here, for visitors are rare.
On my arrival I was the solitary one. But guides are
not much in my line. There were sure to be beaten paths
to every place of interest. An old mountaineer could
not get puzzled, let alone lost, in so small a range. At
7.40 A.M. I arrived at the first hermitage, a ruined stone
cabin on a jutting rocky shelf, with its holy spring and
tank beside it. Thence the ascent was so steep that
occasionally, like the first of Montserrat's Christian solitaires
— the Friar Juan Garin — I had to go " on all-fours, like
a cat ; " occasionally, too, the way led along narrow ridges,
or between perpendicular wall and sheer precipice — no
road for giddy heads or uncertain feet — but I pressed
boldly onward, and near noon found myself arrived among
the summit peaks, immediately behind the monastery.
Out of breath, tired and hot, I sat down to rest. I was
on a narrow sharp comb, or ridge, between two sugar-loaf-
shaped pinnacles of conglomerate rock ; by my side flowered
THE MEDITERRANEAN SIGHTED. 327
a fine aloe and some cacti ; two jay-birds screamed, scolded,
and chattered at me ; maiden-hair ferns, and pretty little
blue, yellow, and crimson flowers grew on every coign of
vantage, peeped from every crevice ; a balmy soft breeze
fanned my cheek. I was over four thousand feet up in the
air, and a striking and splendid view was spread before me.
I gazed on it with peculiar interest, for to me its main
feature was the Mediterranean. The end of my long tramp
was in full view !
I stood up and gazed around. What a panorama !
To the north, the snow-capped Pyrenees ; to the south,
the shining sea ; between, mountains and valleys, hills
and dales, isolated peaks and spreading plains, winding
rivers, cities, towns, and villages were laid out like a map.
I could see the mountains of Valencia and of Aragon, the
peaks and summits of far-off Majorca and Minorca.
There was another ruined hermitage close by me ; to it
I repaired, and at its " holy tank " quenched my thirst.
Then — for I was getting hungry — by a different path I
returned to the monastery to get my late breakfast.
At the restaurant-table sat another visitor. The waiter
informed me, in a very audible aside, that he was my
countryman. The stranger proved to be an Austrian
tourist, but spoke tolerable English. He was well dressed
and shod for his work, and furnished with a light and
conveniently-arranged knapsack.
During our meal together wc became quite sociable, and
he informed me he was a great tourist, spending a con-
siderable portion of each year travelling about, that he had
" done " nearly all Europe, but that this was his first visit
328 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
to Spain. " Thus far I am well pleased with the country,"
he went on to say, " and this mountain strikes me as being
most interesting- and unique." So expressing my satis-
faction at hearing Montserrat was attractive to him, I
indulged a hope to have the pleasure of his company
rambling over it.
"Oh, I am going directly I have finished dinner. I
never stay long in a place ; all I care for is to see it. I can
read up all the particulars by-and-by ; that's the way I
always do," was his answer.
" Out of some handbook } "
" Well, yes, generally. And I always carry the one of
the country with me ; see here, for instance."
And he produced, out of his knapsack, the two volumes
of Murray's " Handbook for Spain."
"This is the best on this country, the others arc nowhere;
but it bothers me sometimes, because the bulk of it was
written so long ago, I used to wonder why Murray did
not bring out a new one, but I see now it would not pa)'.
Too few tourists come to Spain. I daresay they lost
money on this one."
As he rose to leave, I offered to go with him a short
distance on his road to keep him company.
" Very glad," said he, " but I am not alone. I got a
guide in the village of Collbato, at the foot of the other
side of the mountain. A first-rate fellow, showed me all
the caves, hermitages, and so forth, that were not too far off
our road ; but we have had a misunderstanding about his
pay. I thought I had engaged him for so much for the
day : he says the tariff of the mountain is by the trip, so I
SUGGESTIVE SERVICES 329
shall have to pay him again to take me to Monistrol, where
I ^m to catch the train to Barcelona."
Monistrol was in full view of where we stood, with a
plain unmistakable carriage-road, running all the way to
it, down the mountain-side. Why on earth anyone but
a blind man should take a guide I did not comprehend.
This " great tourist " thought differently, however. " I
never," said he, " go without a guide anywhere in a strange
country ; it would be so terrible to get lost." And when I
told him I had come from the Bay of Biscay, alone all the
way, and never was in Spain before, his countenance plainly
showed it was only out of politeness he did not express his
entire disbelief of the statement.
Went to evening service again. It is so charming to
sit in the dim light, listen to the " angelic voices," look
at the " celestial lights," and fancy oneself a spectator of
the Invencion de la Santa Inidgen on this very spot a
thousand years ago, and afterwards to burn incense to the
goddess Nicotina, on the monastery's terrace, and think
the view still more lovely by moonlight than by day.
By-the-bye, I have discovered the Mediterranean can be
plainly seen from the terrace when there are no low-lying
clouds intervening.
Yesterday morning I arose at seven, and, as usual,
glanced, the first thing, out of my window to judge
the coming weather. It was easy to judge the past ;
everything was mantled with virgin snow, nor was the
storm quite over ; flakes were floating thickly about,
falling, rising, going this way, going that ; in fact, we
were in the snow-cloud, for the peaks opposite — behind the
23^
ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
Ciicva dc Gay'in — were above it, standing clear against a
brilliantly blue sky, while below us lay a white fleecy sea
of tumbling cloud-billows, through which, in places, pierced
mountain-summits like so many rocky islands of a ghostly
sea. It was a dreamland ; vague, mysterious, beautiful,
and ever-changing, pierced and rent by gleams of rainbow-
tinted light. All at once the snowflakes commenced
whirling upwards in fantastic spiral columns, swirls, and
streams with astonishing rapidity, and dissipating as they
reached the upper stratum of air. The storm was over ;
the entire view came out sharp, clear, and defined ; the
heavens were cloudless ; the sun shone bright and warm.
While dressing, a robin-redbreast hopped on my window-
sill, the first I have seen this winter and in Spain. He
seemed like a messenger from home.
The snow disappeared with magical rapidity, for, when
I emerged from the Sta. Teresa de jfesiis building to cross
over to the restaurant for my morning chocolate, it had
vanished. The snow-storm was as though it had been a
vision.
All the morning I wandered about the mountain, visit-
ing caves, hermitages, chapels, gazing at the lovely views,
gathering wild flowers, thoroughly enjoying myself; then,
as before, returned to a late breakfast.
More company — three persons. This time one of them
was really and truly my countryman. He was the cicerone
of the party, and an old resident in Spain. The other two,
a Belgian nobleman and bride on their wedding tour.
They had come to " do " the monastery — in a carriage and
pair ; sec what was to be seen — out of the window of the
A HONE YAW ON COUPLE.
331
vehicle ; after breakfast they would look around for a
couple of hours, drive on to Monistrol, and then take
the train home. It was a long way to come to spend so
short a time ; perhaps they too intended to read up " all
about it," and persuade themselves they had seen it all.
After breakfast we raced round, and glanced at as many
things as the time permitted, and I persuaded the party to
go as far as Garin's cave. His statue was much admired,
and the bride greatly interested by the short sketch of the
Garin legend I gave her. They Avere pleasant people.
She was beautifully dressed, but more appropriately to
the Bois dc Boulogne than a rough mountain ; and though
graceful, active, and lithesome, her absurdly high-heeled
Polish boots made her glad enough to accept a hand
along the narrow, steep, and rocky trails. All three were
greatly taken by Juan's handsome appearance, good
behaviour, and winning ways, and caressed him much ; he
is certainly a most attractive dog.
My countryman is, I find, an old resident of Barcelona,
connected with the diplomacy, and acquainted with all the
leading officials. He has given me a most cordial invita-
tion to call at his home, which I shall most certainly do, for
I like his style.
This morning, having yet much to see, and knowing my
time here is drawing to a close, I took my breakfast with
me, and have spent the entire day rambling over the moun-
tains, seeing all I could of the nine wonderful caverns, the
thirteen hermitages, the six chapels ; a heavy day's work,
for most of these places of pilgrimage are perched upon
apparently inaccessible peaks. In fact, I have been making
332 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
a chamois of myself, for liad I gone to them by the usual
trails, they could not have been visited in twice the time.
All arc interesting spots, having connected with them
legends and tales of hermits, of bandits, of military opera-
tions, Carlist occupations, and supernatural appearances.
I feel strongly tempted to break through my rule, not to
let my letters be after the guide-book fashion, and to give
a particular account of them all — but I won't.
To-day I was favoured with an exceptional sight. One
of the eagles of the mountain sailed close below me, and
lighted on a jutting ledge. I could have dropped him with
a revolver. He was a very large and beautiful specimen.
Mine host of the restaurant says eagles are now very rare.
He has only once seen one in twelve years.
I wrote just now I would avoid the guide-book dodge,
but must give a short general description of the mountain.
La Montana dc Montscrrat is situated about twenty-four
miles north-east of Barcelona, in a bee-line ; an isolated
mountain, springing from its base almost perpendicularly
into the air. According to the Spanish author, Florey,
" None can say whether it is a castle of towers and bulwarks,
a bouquet of mountains, or a single mountain in the form
of such." And he is right. Montserrat is one huge block
of conglomerate, split in its upper portions into a multitude
of tower-shaped pinnacles, having numerous benches, and
seamed with dark ravines. Its circumference is about four-
teen miles, its height three thousand nine hundred and
ninety-three feet— at least those are the figures given by
the Preshitcro Amettler, a celebrated naturalist of the com-
munity of Montscrrat, who took his measurements from a
A MOUNTAIN OF DELIGHT. ziz
rock lying in the centre of the Llobregat, a river washing
the foot of the mountain, and situated just in front of the
peak of La Santa Maria. Close to the highest point of
the mountain are the remains of the Ermita de S. Jcrbnimo,
Avhich for three years was a Carlista military look-out
during the late civil war. The monastery is a few feet
below halfway up the mountain in perpendicular elevation.
La Sierra dc Montserrat is a botanist's paradise. The
monks say there is a specimen of every plant in the world
growing somewhere or other on it. Of course this is not
quite true, but there is a most astonishing variety of them.
To the geologist, from its strange forms, the extraordinary
fact of being where it is, its large and peculiar caverns, its
uniqueness, this mountain must always be full of charm.
To the admirer of natural beauty, to the lover of monastic
lore, to the " pious pilgrim," Montserrat is truly a mountain
of delight.
CHAPTER XXVII.
La Santa Imdgcn de la Virgcii dc ATontscrrat — Translation of "The Pearl of
the Apostle " — Celestial Entertainment — " Invention " of the Image — The
Garin Legend — The Devils' Conspiracy — Unhappy Requilda — A very
precocious Infant — The Friars' Cave — IMiniculous Skull and Water.
February 21, 1877, Midnight. — Here the centfal point of
attraction, the very j-aisoii d'etre of the Avhole concern,
the ancient source of ahnost fabulous wealth, the present
cause of prosperity, is La Santa Ividgen de la Virgcn de
Montserrat. It therefore requires description. The sacred
image is barely two feet in height, and is a representation,
in wood, of a middle-aged female seated on a chair, and
supporting on her knees a wooden infant. IMother and
child arc quite black, not with age, evidently they were
always so. Traces of gold show that their hair was once
gilt. To an unbiassed eye the group looks like an unartistic
representation of an African mother and her little one.
However, that the image is the most correct and authentic
likeness extant is, from the standpoint of a Spanish Catholic,
not possible to doubt, for it was, according to "incontestable"
evidence, the handiwork of St. Luke, who executed it from
sittings vouchsafed to him at Jerusalem by the Virgin herself.
''THE PEARL OF THE APOSTLEr 335
The local guide-book says: "The image oi Maria de Alont-
serrat beams with such an expression of superiority, piety,
and sweetness, that it is difficult to resist the impression
that it appeals to our very soul." When I read these words
I was amazed, and went back to have another look, for it
had seemed to me the Madonna's black face was forbidding
ugly. I remain of the same opinion still, but admit that
the figure is most gorgeously arrayed and tinselled.
This illustrious work of St. Luke was brought to Spain
by the " Prince of the Church, St. Peter," given in charge of
San Etcrro, the first bishop of Barcelona, and became that
city's " object of adoration in times of calamity and source
of consolation ; " and at last in the fourth century, the
bishop San Seveiv, and the miraculous lady of Barcelona,
Santa Eulalia, with the consent of San Paciano, who
guarded this sacred treasure in the Church of the Saints
Justo and Pastor, it was exposed for present and future
veneration, over the chief altar of Barcelona's then
cathedral. There for over three hundred years the
" Jerusalemitish image of Mary " remained the pride and
glory of Cataluna.
Then came the Arabs, and made things unpleasant, all
round, for the pious Goths. These latter worthies greatly
feared the infidels would have but scant respect for their
dark divinity, and when Barcelona, after a gallant defence
of three years, feared falling under the power of the
Saracen, her citizens determined their beloved image should
be placed beyond the reach of possible indignities. So on
May 10, 718, Eurigonio, captain of the Goths, governor of
the city, &c., and Peter, the bishop of Barcelona, with a
336 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
strong escort, carried this " Pearl of the Apostle " to the
most secret recesses of the mountain of Montserrat, and
hid it with diligent caution in a cave, closing the entrance
thereof so that no man should ever find it. Now for one
hundred and seventy-two years did the image remain
hidden from the pious adoration of the faithful, and though
its memory was vividly preserved, none knew where it had
been concealed; when in 8io, the Moors having been driven
out of the country adjacent to Montserrat, and the true
faith restored, the following extraordinary sequence of
events occurred.
Some good little boys of the village of Olesa, who herded
their parents' flocks at the foot of Montserrat, observed one
Sunday at dusk on a ledge of its eastern slope a bright
light, like unto a multitude of burning candles, which
issued out of the mountain's side and illuminated the dark-
ness. While gazing with astonishment at this prodigy, the
boys plainly heard harmonious strains of celestial music
floating in the air. Thinking no doubt these manifestations
were for their special and private benefit, these knowing
young urchins said nothing to nobod>', but the following
evening repaired to the same spot, hoping to be again
entertained ; but there was no performance. Nothing
daunted, they kept on repairing, and on the following
Sunday, at the same hour, lo ! and behold ! the lights and
band as before.
Having enjoyed the "celestial lights" and "angelic
voices," many succeeding Sunda}-s, these wonderfully
reticent and discreet juveniles at last thought fit to inform
their respective papas and mammas about it ; and, ere
''INVENTION" OF THE IMAGE. 337
long, the wondrous tale reached the parish priest. He
started out to satisfy himself, and for five consecutive
Sunday nights, with his own eyes and ears, had it fully
confirmed. Then he marched off and told his bishop, to
wit, Gottomaro, first bishop— after the expulsion of the
Moors therefrom — of the parishes of Manressa and Vich.
Forthwith Gottomaro assembled all the clergy of his
diocese, and all the persons of note in the neighbourhood,
before which distinguished audience the lights and music
played with great briliancy and execution. Then Bishop
Gottomaro, sending some agile young mountaineers to
scale the height to the very place, a great discovery was
made. The lights retired unto a small opening in the
rock, and being followed, a cave was entered, in whose
centre lay, clothed in garments of striped silk, the lost
image ; which miraculously showed its joy at being re-
covered, by exuding " a most fragrant smell." Immediately
the bishop, the clergy of the diocese, the notabilities of
the neighbourhood, the good little boys, and all and
sundry, climbed up to and entered the cave, prostrated
themselves before and adored the image, all smelling the
sweet perfume. And the day following a devout proces-
sion was organised, to bear to the Cathedral of Manressa
the recovered " Moreneta, Queen of Montserrat."
The route to Manressa from this cave of lights, music,
sweet smells, and silk-clothed image, was then a trail
across the mountain, and on the procession's arrival at the
place where now the monastery stands, a halt was made,
for to there is a long steep climb, and the processionists
doubtless had had about enough of it ; certainly the image
338 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
had, for when, after resting awhile, its bearers attempted
to Hft it from the ground, it was found to be immovable.
" Human force was incapable of separating it from its
resting-place."
So the bishop knew it was the will of the image to
have there erected a chapel worthy of its sanctity, wherein
it might be worshipped for all time.
That "The Image" was a first-rate judge of a site for
a monastery, no one who has visited this charming spot
will doubt. Indeed I question if the world can show one
more admirably suited, in every respect, for being a point
of pilgrimage. But the idea was not original. Already
did a halo of sanctity rest on the spot. Already was a
convent being erected close at hand, one commemorative
of even more astonishing events. Which occurrences,
being also vouched for by "unimpeachable authority,"
and well illustrative of Spanish credulity, I must also
relate. It is a long story, but shall be cut very short. It
is frankly minute in details. Most of them shall be left
out, for obvious reasons.
Friar Juan Garin, a Goth of noble blood, was born in
Valencia. Filled with "sacred ardour," he separated
himself from the delights of the world, retired to the
solitude of Montserrat, and there made his bed of hardest
rocks ; living solely on the wild herbs of the mountains,
lie put in his spare time musing and meditating on the
wickedness of other men and his own sanctity, until "his
soul attained to the purity of a seraph." To so great
a height, indeed, did he rise in celestial consideration,
that when he made his annual visits to the sepulchres of
THE DEVIL'S CONSPIRACY. 339
the apostles, at Rome, the bells of all the places of
worship on his route rung out, " of their own accord,"
joy peals as he passed.
Juan Garin's proceedings had for a long time been very
trying to the devil. He could stand much, but those con-
founded bells beat him. He could not stand the nuisance
of all the bells from Montserrat to Rome and back again,
making the row only Catholic bells can make, as an
annual infliction, so he conspired against this annoying
friar.
Transforming himself into an angel of light, Satan
visited Juan Garin, told him he was engaged on a penance,
and solicited the favour of becoming his disciple in sack-
cloth, much, no doubt, to the holy man's private satisfac-
tion. It must be very gratifying to a hermit to have an
•' angel of light " for his first disciple.
At the same time " se entrb Satands en el cnerpo de
Requilda'' (daughter of Wilfredo H., Count of Barcelona)
"/ maltratdndola horriblementey The afflicted father sent
for all the priests of known piety and wisdom to exorcise
the demon, when Satands declared, with malicious inten-
tion, he would only desist from his outrageous proceedings
at the command of one Friar Juan Garin, and not only
that, but vowed he would come back to the unfortunate
girl, and do worse, whenever she should leave the friar's
protecting presence.
The count, therefore, informed himself of the where-
abouts of this said Garin, conducted the fair Requilda to
his retreat, recounted what had occurred, and left her to
his pious ministrations.
340 ON FOOT /A SPAIN.
The counsels of the disguised devil and Rcquilda's
charms were too much for Juan Garin's morality, and he
committed a crime that by old English law was punished
with death, and now is by penal servitude ; after which,
fearing the consequences thereof, he murdered his unhappy
victim and buried her body in the ground.
Then the devil flew away, satisfied he had stopped
those horrid bells.
Left to himself, Garin became a prey to remorse,
hastened to Rome, confessed with tears his crimes to the
Pope, and was sentenced by him to do penance. Juan
Garin was bid to return and abide in a cave in Montserrat,
close to the grave of Requilda, " crawling on all-fours hke
a cat," and without looking at the heavens, and to keep on
all-fours and to hold his tongue until further advised by
a tender infant. This did he, and in time, his clothes
falling off him and his body becoming covered with hair,
he looked more like some wild beast than a human being.
Several years had passed, when one day two of the
count's huntsmen, while looking for game, encountered a
strange beast (our unfortunate friar), captured him, chained
him, carried him in triumph to Barcelona, and presented
him to the count their master. Forthwith he, for whom
the bells of Christendom had been wont to ring of their
own accord, was attached to a balustrade of the hall-stairs
of the Count of Barcelona's palace, an object of wonder
and curiosity, and, no doubt, often well kicked by the
footman for getting in the way, when his serenity deigned
to carry up the letters, the coals, or a tray.
Seven years after the murder of Requilda, a son was born
THE FRIAR'S CAVE. 341
to the Count of Barcelona, who, without loss of time, cele-
brated the joyful event by giving a soiree, attended by the
rank, fashion, and beauty of Barcelona. To them the heir
was exhibited ; and after he had been duly admired, the
strange beast was brought in for their further entertainment,
that he might amuse them with his antics. Immediately
on the entrance of the remarkable curiosity, the newly-born
babe opened his mouth, and with a loud voice, plainly
cried : " Rise, Friar Juan Garin, Heaven has pardoned you."
Instantly Juan Garin stood upright before the whole as-
sembly ; he confessed all things to the count, craved for,
and received his pardon.
I expect the rank, fashion, and beauty of Barcelona was
considerably shocked. No doubt, had such a denouement
been at all suspected, the " strange beast " would certainly
have had some clothes put on him.
With the friar to point out his daughter's place of burial,
the count proceeded to Montserrat, to disinter the remains
of poor Requilda, and give them Christian burial. When,
however, the grave was opened, Requilda was found to be
alive and w^ell, but showing the mark of her strangulation
in the form of a red circle round her neck. Recognising
the hand of the Virgin in her preservation, she expressed a
desire that the count, her father, would found a convent on
the spot, of which she would be Lady Superioress, Garin
undertaking the post of major donw and servidor to the
nuns, " in which occupation he died in the odour of sanctity."
The cave of Garin, his abode during his penitence, is
not far in an air line from the monastery of Montserrat,
within pistol-shot in fact. It is situated under an over-
342 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
hanging ledge of rock, in front of, and about one hundred
feet higher than it. But it is a quarter of an hour's walk
therefrom, owing to the steepness of the mountain, and to
the fact that it lies on the other side of a deep ravine.
The cave is not a commodious dwelling-place, only high
enough for a small boy to stand upright in ; is not much
longer than a man stretched on the ground at full length,
and about half as deep. It is now closed with an open iron
railing, and in it can be seen an old cross, a cruse of water,
and a full-sized representation, in marble, of the notorious
friar, reposing on the ground, contemplating the cross and
telling his beads.
This piece of sculpture is a work of great merit. Garin
appears of a noble countenance, and his hands are admirably
done. But there is a still more extraordinary relic in the
cave — the veritable skull of Juan Garin himself. As with
my own eyes I beheld the skull of a man who had been
dead nearly a thousand years, and perceived it was still
ungnawn by mice or insects, unstained by the elements, the
water in the cruse hard by not yet evaporated, I found no
difficulty at all about believing the entire history ; for, of
course, to suspect the holy fathers of furnishing fresh
"original" skulls and water from time to time would be
most outrageous.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
Descent to the Plain— Esparagueva — The Devil's Bridge— Inscription Tablets
— Historical Associations — Semaphore Stations — La Piiente del Molins
del Rey — A Poor Man's Eating-House — Arrival at Barcelona — Astonished
Crispin — A Spanish Tailor and his Rooms — Hotel Charges — We are
Eight.
February 25, 1877. — Thursday, the 22nd February, early
on a bright morning, having completed the time of pil-
grimage, paid my restaurant bill, and delivered into the
hands of the monk presiding at the Almacen my votive
offering to " The Pearl of Cataluna," " Jewel of the Moun-
tain," and " Queen of Montserrat," &c. &c. &c., I slung my
haversack and gun, and started to rejoin the world of
work, reality, and disbelief in the plain below.
I had not slept much the night before, for though
physically tired from a long day's mountain scrambling,
I had been so mentally awakened by all I had seen and
heard, that sleep was an impossibility until a few hours'
writing had exhausted restlessness, then I slept with all
my might for a couple of hours, and a few breaths of that
potent tonic, the fresh mountain air of early morn, having
made me feel bright and vigorous, I bustled round and
succeeded in getting a pretty good start, it being but
344 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
7.50 A.M. when, by the mule trail to Collbato, I left the
monastery.
Certainly a mountain road on the descent has many
advantages over a climbing one. It is easier ; a man faces
the views as he travels, and he feels more certain he has
not taken a wrong fork of the road, for he has continual
glimpses of its turns and winds below him.
The gravel being very sharp, I went at a rattling pace,
being wishful to make distance ere the day got hot ; and at
9.45 A.M. reached the foot of the mountain.
The plain was occupied by vineyards, olives, and
almonds ; very sandy and dusty, and by no means interest-
ing after the mountain. A little over half an hour's walk
brought me to the village of Collbato. There I refreshed
myself with a copa dc aguardiente and a long drink of cool
water, and pushed on along an awfully bad, rocky, stony
trail, until by eleven o'clock I struck the high road from
Igualada to Barcelona — the road I had left to my right four
days before, when, turning north-east, I commenced the
ascent of the mountain I had recently come down.
For some distance the fields were fenced with aloe
hedges, the first seen since leaving Central America ; they
looked strange and yet familiar. The way soon wound
amongst red clay hills, when the aloes became of larger
size, and the road anklc-decp in fine dust. Near noon the
town of Esparagueva was reached. At its entrance stood
a fine monolithic cross, round whose capital were sculptured
scenes from the legend of the Queen of Montserrat, and
which was further ornamented (i*) with a stone .skull —
Garin's, I suppose. In the one long street of the town was
ESPARAGUEVA. 345
a rather fine church — St. Eulala — over the porch of which
appeared an image of her saintship.
A good-sized and very clean posada furnished an
excellent breakfast-dinner for me and Juan for a consider-
ation of one shilling and tenpence-halfpenny. And we
continued on our way, passing, as the town was left, a large
circular basin, in whose centre played a fountain of pure
water. Juan seized the opportunity to take a plunge and
cool himself. I should have liked to do so also, for it was
very hot.
Soon after two in the afternoon, the Barcelona and
Igualada diligence tore past me. There were ten fine
large mules to it ; they were turning a corner, on a sharp
descent, at full gallop, and I looked for an upset. They
passed in such a cloud of red dust, and so fast, I but just
managed to count the number of pairs of mules, and see
it was full of passengers.
At four o'clock I arrived at the small town of Martorell.
I crossed the river Noya, on whose bank stands Igualada
as well as Martorell, by a timber foot-bridge one hundred
and forty-three yards long. Just above were the shore
piers of a new stone bridge now in course of construction ;
still beyond were those of the old bridge that was washed
away by a big flood six years ago. At the time I passed
along, the ri\-er Noya was a small clear stream that would
not wash a crane's feet away from under her.
Martorell was prospected pretty well for a posada to
stop at— not thinking any I saw very inviting. At the least
discouraging-looking I put up, though it was quite evident
that bad was the best. Having two hours to spare before
346 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
dinner-time, I strolled off to see the famous " Devil's
Bridge " over the Llobregat. I came to the river's banks
at a curve some little distance below the bridge, and had a
fine view thereof. It is a most striking structure. Evidently
it had furnished the model for the bridges over the Imperial
Canal I had so much admired and wondered at. It has
four arches. Three of them are insignificant land arches.
The chief, or central span, is so large, so lofty, so light, and
so bold in its lines, as to at once rivet the attention. But,
excepting for its extraordinarily peaked gable-end appear-
ance, the bridge did not look to me antique, for the joints
of the bricks it seemed built of appeared quite sharp and
fresh. Indeed, perceiving I could count the courses of the
bricks from where I stood, I did so, to enable me to judge
the bridge's dimensions.
After duly admiring this fine work from a distance, I
sought my way to it to make a close inspection. Then I
found I was a deluded individual. The bridge was not
brickwork, I had mistaken for bricks blocks of red stone,
like bricks, indeed, in shape and colour, but big enough for
gravestones. I paced the bridge, re-counted the masonry,
measured some of the stones to get an average, and
arrived at an approximation of the bridge's dimensions.
The central arch is a very acutely-pointed semi-ellipse,
whose apex is about seventy-six feet above the ordinary
level of the river, and of a span of not less than one
hundred and thirty feet. The length of the half of the
bridge's roadway which is on the side where there is one
land arch is seventy yards ; on the other sixty-eight.
Width of roadway between the approaches four yards ; of
THE DEVinS BRIDGE. 347
the approaches, seven yards. This bridge is so pointed in
the centre, so sharp in the rise and fall of its roadway as
to be quite unfit for vehicles to traverse ; nor had it been
intended for such purpose, as immediately above the key-
stone of the central arch is a stone lodge, through which
the roadway becomes but a narrow passage, for on each
side are stone seats. In the wall of this lodge are two in-
scribed tablets. One sets forth : " This bridge was built
five hundred and thirty-five years after the foundation
of Rome, by Anibal, Capitan Cartagines, who also
erected the triumphal arch in honour of his father,
Amilcar." The other states : " This triumph of antiquity,
being in danger of destruction, was repaired by order of
Carlos III., A.D. 1768."
The triumphal arch mentioned in the inscription still
stands. It is composed of massive blocks of concrete, and
looks quite able to stand for another two thousand and
ninety-four years. The bridge's foundations are of bossage
masonry, and rest on a bed-rock of slate, which crops out,
and forms the river's banks as well as bed.
I think this grand old bridge is, on some accounts, the
best worth-seeing object I have beheld in Spain, as an
historical curiosity, as a monument of the past, as a spe-
cimen of the engineering skill of the ancients, and as being
associated with the entire history of the country ; built
by the Carthaginians, used by the Romans, fought over by
the Goths, partly rebuilt by the Moors, repaired by the
moderns. If all bridges could speak, how few of them
could tell such a history as this one.
Accommodation and fare at the posada much below
348 ON FOOT lA' SPAIN.
average ; bill as much above, to square things, I suppose ;
fleas plentiful and intrepid ; morning cloudy and chilly ;
but the blazing vine-faggot fire in the kitchen very pleasant
to toast oneself over, while being kept half an hour waiting
for chocolate, for it was nearly half-past eight before I
obtained it and started from Martorell.
The road ran parallel to, and not far from the Llobre-
gat's right bank ; and many charming views of river-bends,
backed by picturesque and broken hills, presented them-
selves. Before I had travelled far I overtook a bright,
intelligent boy, of twelve years of age ; and, slackening my
pace to his, we walked together conversing, for he spoke
good Castellajio, which he had learned at public school.
The lad carried a biggish satchel on his back, and proved
to be a post-boy. He told me his beat took him a good
half day to walk over, delivering and collecting letters, &c.,
and that his pay was only at the rate of fourpcncc-half-
penny a day, while he had to clothe, board, and lodge him-
self ; but, added he : " It is better than nothing, and when I
get big they will give me more ; and as I live at home it
costs mc nothing, and I give my wages to mother, and I
have my half day to go to school."
I think that boy will get on if he is not too good to live.
At 9.40 the sun broke with a grand " effect " through
the clouds, and illuminated a broad river-reach.
I noticed continually that little towers crowned all
commanding eminences on the line of hills beyond the
river, and it puzzled mc to divine their origin and use. The
little postman explained they were old semaphore stations,
built long long ago, to notify by signs, from Barcelona to
PUENTE DEL MOLINS DEL KEY. 349
the interior, any appearance of an enemy's fleet ; and that
they had been used again in the war, under protection of
Alfonsista troops, when the Carlistas cut the wires of the
electric telegraph. 'Twas a sharp twelve-year-old of a boy.
He also informed me the Llobregat was full of large eels
and huge sturgeons, besides lots of little fish.
At eleven o'clock I was abreast of a large, handsome-
looking square castle, on the opposite side of the river,
crowning a big rock on the top of a small hill, and
dominating a village.
My little cicerone said the Carlists tried to take
it several times, but could not, for it had been well
garrisoned. Just below I saw a fine dam across the river,
to make the head for an irrigating canal, and also furnish
power to some large factories situated a short distance
below where it struck the left bank of the river, and sur-
rounded with high handsome trees. Soon after I sighted a
beautiful stone bridge of fifteen fine arches. It had a very
slight spring, and was evidently quite modern. The post-
boy told me it was the Molins del Rey Piiente, that I had
to cross it, and would enter the town at its other end.
Then he left me, his route turning off to the right.
I found the " Mills of the King Bridge " extremely well
built, wide, and furnished with broad flagged pavements
for pedestrians. It is four hundred and fifty feet long, and
a creditable piece of work for any country and any age ;
but that it will last as long as has the " Devil's Bridge,"
erected by the Carthaginian captain, is doubtful.
Midday had arrived when I reached the town of San
Feliii de Llobregat, and seeing it was a place of some size,
350 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
having a long, wide, chief street, and many side ones,
expected no trouble in finding a good house to breakfast
at ; but neither hotel nor restaurant could I discover, though
I made inquiries of several persons, until at length I came
across a regular poor man's eating-house. However, I was
getting impatient, so entered and risked the accommoda-
tion. Nor did my personal appearance forbid the pre-
sumption that a poor man's eating-house was my appro-
priate place. To confess the truth, scrambling up rocky
places on hands and knees, forcing my way through
thorny thickets, making short cuts while exploring the
mountain of Montserrat, had put the finishing-touch to the
wear and tear my garments had sustained between the two
seas ; and the dust arising from a road over ankle-deep in
powdered soil, uniting with the perspiration caused by
walking in a blazing sun, had coated my face and hands
with a mask of dirt, and plastered my hair with a pomatum
of thin mud. The only thing respectable about me was
my handsome gun and distingue dog. I looked a dirty,
ragged, almost shoeless tramp.
Walking through a long sitting-room — which had once
been whitewashed, and whose only furniture was a narrow
table on trestles, nearly as long as the chamber, two
benches of charity-school pattern, and a coloured and
badly fly-insulted print of " Her Majesty Queen of Mont-
serrat," and empty of occupants — I pushed open a door
and entered a very clean, tidy little kitchen, whose large
open French window led to a pretty garden.
A fat old woman, looking as clean and trim as a prize
dairy-maid, was busy cooking in this culinary boudoir,
A POOR MAN'S EATING-HOUSE. 351
making soup, and a small girl-child sitting near was trying
to say her alphabet. " Oh, ho ! " thought I, " this will do,"
and immediately made myself agreeable to the old woman,
and explained that I wanted a good meal and had the
wherewithal to pay for it.
" Let your worship be content. Your worship shall eat
plenty with satisfaction," was the promising speech she
made me.
And this much-appreciated old soul was as good as her
word, for while, after a thorough brushing of clothes, I
with the assistance of a large snowy- white towel, a big
piece of soap, and a bucket of water, made an al fresco
toilette amongst the flowers of the pretty back garden,
she busied herself in preparations for my inner comfort.
Soon a spotless cloth covered a little deal table, standing
near the window, on it was set out a bottle of good Tarra-
gona, a roll of such bread as is hardly seen out of Spain,
the necessary tools for eating with, and my first course — a
plateful of excellent clear bread-soup. Then came lamb
cutlets, nicely crumbed, cooked in olive oil, and just
pointed with garlic — so good !— afterwards omelette of
eggs, finely-chopped ham, and herbs, followed by — crisply-
fried in oil— fresh sardines, and a wind-up of cheese
resembling gruyere, olives and dried fruits, and then a
"grace" of aguardiente. The fragments that remained
made an amply-sufficient breakfast for Juan; we were
both well rested and refreshed. The bill v/as but one
shilling and tenpence ; the old woman was delighted by a
small gratuity, for which she solemnly and elaborately
blessed me, then we pushed on.
352 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
Villages, manufacturing establishments, residences, be-
came more and more closely clustered together, and after
an interesting walk of about twelve miles, principally down
the vine-covered valley of the Llobregat, I found myself
between continuous houses. I was in a street, I had
reached Barcelona.
Barcelona being a big place, the second capital of Spain,
having a population of one hundred and ninety thousand
souls, I had a considerable way to go ere I at length arrived
at the locality of the good hotels. I repaired to the reputed
best, and presented a striking contrast in personal appear-
ance to the white-tied, white-waistcoated, swallow-tailed,
patent-leather-slippered varlet who, standing at its door-
way, with evident difficulty realised that I purposed to
become a guest. However, as they had done before, my
dog and gun vouched for my respectability, and I was
admitted with sufficient bows and scrapes, and shown into
an undeniably good room.
It was too late in the day to visit a tailor, but I could
improve my comfort by obtaining such ready-made things
as one can wear, so I beat up the shops.
My feet being nearly on the ground for lack of sole-
leather, a bootmaker's was first entered. Spain has a just
reputation for eminence in her Crispins, who consider them-
selves, and perhaps truly, to be the best shoemakers in
Europe, so I had no difficulty in astonishing my lower
extremities by getting them into a stylish pair of promenade
boots. The shoemaker was quite as much astonished by
those I took off, at which I left him intently gazing. I
have never inquired after them ; never entered the shop
SPANISH TAILOR AND HIS ROOMS 353
since. Perhaps those old familiar friends are on exhibition
as curiosities. Certainly the remains of a pair of " half-
scotched " ankle-jack English shooting-boots are such in
smart-footed Barcelona. Then a glover, a hatter, and a
gentleman's outfitter supplied the rest.
I found a first-class bath-house, revelled in a most luxu-
rious hot bath and cold plunge, and arrayed myself in my
fresh underclothing. I then went to a hairdresser's and
was groomed. After all that, I suspect I looked more
queer than before. Then indeed I had been en suite, a
seedy, dirty, ragged tramper — now much mixed. Was I
not as well dressed as any man, excepting my coat, my
waistcoat, my trousers } Was I not a most disreputably-
attired individual, excepting my modish hat, neat boots,
irreproachable linen, handsome scarf and pin, Estaban
Comella light kids } verily I was an incongruous melange.
A good many people grinned at me as I strolled along. I
grinned at myself, too, whenever I beheld my reflection on
the plate-glass of some shop-front. So the first thing next
morning I took steps towardscompletingmymetamorphosis.
Whilst at Lerida, I had noticed that a Barcelonian,
who was a fellow-guest at mine fonda, was an unquestion-
ably well-attired man. Of him I had inquired the address
of a first-class tailor. " Go to mine," said he ; "I will give
you a card, saying I have recommended him for your
custom, and request his best endeavours, and he will, I
feel sure, give you satisfaction." Armed with this docu-
ment, I repaired to the Plaza Real (a Palais Royal in a
smaller and prettier pattern), soon found the place, and
introduced myself.
354 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
It was not a shop. A flight of handsome white marble
steps led to a suite of elegantly-furnished rooms, all
mirrors, gilding, and damask ; the easy-chairs, sofas,
and window hangings were of blue satin, the wood-
work ebony, the floors waxed and polished oak. One of
the partners waited on me ; and, while showing patterns,
talked of the topics of the day like an educated man of
the world.
There was nothing of the tradesman in his manner
or discourse. He spoke French perfectly and English
tolerably well. I ordered what I wanted, and was
promised my garments in a week.
"The trousers we will try on, for the rest a fit is a
certainty," said he on parting.
It strikes me that if living is absurdly cheap in
Spain, clothes are not. The charge for what I had
ordered was about the same as Bond Street would have
made ; but, as it afterwards proved, cut, materials, and
workmanship were quite equal to Bond Street's best, there
was no cause for grumbling.
After breakfast I set out to hunt for a Casa de
Hiiespedes. Not that I was discontented with my hotel
as such, for it was a very good one ; and considering
its rank — being one of the best in the largest town of
Spain, except Madrid — and that it was patronised by all
foreigners of distinction, and the native magnates and
nobility, not a dear one ; its inclusive charge being but
eight shillings a day. But in a large cosmopolitan hotel
of a capital city, a man is more or less isolated and alone.
I have not come to Spain to retire on my individual
IVE ARE EIGHT. 355
dignity or natural exclusiveness, but to make as many
acquaintances as possible, as many intimacies as advisable
and practicable, therefore a Casa de Huespedes is the place
for me ; and besides, I had been recommended to an
excellent one. The young officer at Lerida, who so
politely obtained for me permission to see, and was the
companion and guide of my visit to, the citadel and
ancient Gothic cathedral of that city, gave me a note to
the landlady of a house he always stopped at when in
Barcelona, w^hich he said was most comfortable, and
where I was sure to meet good company, chiefly military
men. I soon found the place. There was just room for
one more. I immediately secured my quarters, and here
I am. I have a comfortable bedroom, the usual meals —
and very excellent ones — a latch-key, plenty of feed for
Juan, good wine ad libitum, and pleasant company. The
house is in a central position and good street. All for
the very moderate price, as compared with other countries,
of fourteen reals per day—not quite three shillings. Of a
truth, as I said before, Spain is really a wonderfully cheap
country.
We are eight in number, that is to say, an aide-de-camp
to the Captain-General and Military Governor of the
province, two artillery captains, two advocates; an old
Spaniard, who having made a large fortune in Spanish
America, spends each winter in Spain ; a Cubafia, who is
here for political reasons, and " El Ingles!' And we are
as friendly together as though old comrades.
CHAPTER XXIX.
Barcelona — The royal Visit — "The same Dogs with new Collars " — Landing
of King Alfonso — The King's Reception— A "Red" — Ominous Demon-
strations—A terrible Court Scandal— A Scene not soon to be forgotten-
Craw Teatro de Liceo — "Aida."
March 3, 1877. — I have now spent considerable time in
this city, and been well pleased. The weather has been
delightful, for Barcelona can boast of an average winter
temperature warmer and more equable than Naples ; the
place unusually gay, for the king had been visiting it.
There are numerous objects of interest — antiquarian,
architectural, historical, and military— to be seen ; and last,
but not least, as a source of pleasure, I have had the good
fortune to make some most charming acquaintances.
Barcelona is another of the cities fabled to have been
founded by Hercules, and is really of considerable antiquity.
It has existcd,with varied fortunes, one thousand one hundred
and twelve years ; has been a Carthaginian, a Roman, a
Gothic, a Moorish, a sovereign independent, and a Spanish
city. Here, on his triumphant return, was the intrepid dis-
coverer of a new world received by the king and queen, at
whose feet he laid an empire. In the Middle Ages it was the
THE ROYAL VISIT. 357
4
ruling maritime power of the Mediterranean. It is now
Spain's first mercantile port. As Barcelona is increasing daily
in size, population, and wealth, with astonishing rapidity,
the boast of its inhabitants that it will eventually surpass
Liverpool in commerce, Manchester in industry, New York
in luxury and opulence, does not appear wholly chimerical ;
certainly the newest portion of the city {La Roiida, and
beyond) reminds me, by its width of streets, height and
style of house-frontages, and general flourishing and
growing appearance, more of first-class American towns
than any other place I have seen this side " the mackerel
pond." Her fine port, her geographical position, the
energy and business qualifications of the Cataluiians
insure Barcelona's prosperity in spite of every obstacle that
a Government, hopelessly ignorant of the very rudiments
of political economy, and Past-masters in the arts of
grasping, extortion, and petty annoyance, can invent to bar
her advancement. No wonder her citizens, the shrewdest
people in Spain, are disafifected and turbulent under an
infliction of combined folly and tyranny.
As the royal visit has been the chief event during my
stay here, it merits first mention. Its publicly announced
object was, "that his Majesty wishes to open the Industrial
Exposition of Cataluiia, about to be held in the building
just completed for the exhibition, and to confer personally
with the savants, local authorities, and leading citizens, with
a view to ascertain how the arts, industries, and commerce
of the place can be best advanced." This stereotyped
form of speech has, whenever repeated to me, been inva-
riably accompanied with the slight closing of one eye, or
358 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
the waving to and fro of the raised index finger of the
right hand before the nose — national expressions whose
significance is unmistakable.
The general belief here is, that the visit was merely a
portion of a programme of a pleasure trip having three
objects : to divert the young king, to try and make him
less unpopular, and to distract his attention from certain
schemes supposed to be in course of incubation at Madrid.
On the day appointed for the august event the king did
not arrive, and I learnt at dinner it was unknown pre-
cisely when he would ; that the exact time of his advent
would be kept secret, for a conspiracy to kill or capture him
had been discovered, several arrests made, and that much
uneasiness was felt by those in authority. More closing of
eyes and wagging of forefingers. The arrests were actual
facts, but public opinion is that the only plot was one
hatched in the brains of the authorities themselves, to enlist
sympathy and excite interest for the boyish king, by pre-
tending he had been the object of secret machinations ; if
so, it ignominiously failed. These Catalans do not care a
maravedi what happens to " the little Alfonso." In fact,
whether he remains or not, the people do not seem to con-
cern themselves. _ Experience has taught that it practically
matters little to them what set of conspirators rule the
country, for as they say here, it is but a case of " Los
misimos perros, con mievos atellos " — the same dogs with
new collars. However, some day there will be a revolution
that will change things pretty effectually. The enlightened
intelligence of the nation will rise against rascality in high
places on the one liand, and demagogism on the other.
LANDING OF KING ALFONSO. 359
Those who dream that patriotism is dead in Spain will
then have a rough awakening.
Great preparations had been made for the king's recep-
tion. The landing at the end of the Ranibla de Santa
Monica was the site of a pavilion of evergreens, profusely
decorated and lively with pennants and streamers. The long
approach thereto was bordered with trees transplanted for
the occasion, alternated with flagstaffs, all gold and ruby —
the national colours — and bearing aloft their respective
flags of many devices. All over the town, windows and
balconies had been draped in ruby velvet cloth with gold
fringes. Paint, gilding, and upholstery had done their best,
and in a manner only practicable in a climate on which de-
pendence can be placed, as for a whole week decorations
had been exposed to the weather, or in progress of com-
pletion, that were most expensive, and which a single
shower would totally ruin.
At last the king did come. Yesterday, as I was
dressing, word was brought that the escorting fleet was in
sight, steaming straight for the harbour. Hastily I finished
my toilet, and hurried down to the Muralla de Mar, to
secure a coign of vantage. Close to the landing-steps,
just without the enclosure surrounding the pavilion, were
numerous huge blocks of building-stone, remains of those
carted there some time since to repair the sea-wall. On
these stones I had previously cast the eye of speculation,
and straightway made for them. They were already in
possession of spectators, but spying room on the highest
for one more, I succeeded by a short run and good jump in
securing a first-rate point of observation,
36o Oy FOOT /j.V SPAIN.
Soon after nine the magnificent war-steamers Nuviancia
and Vitoria entered the harbour, the Numancia flying the
royal standard. Instantly the heavy artillery of Monjiiich
opened in salutation, the guns of the Fortaleza de Las
Atarazanas followed suit, and the Numancia and Vitoria
turned loose their monster armament in reply. Then the
military bands on board the vessels, those stationed on the
platforms near the landing, that of the awaiting escort of
mounted giiardias civiles, and dragoons, crashed forth
the " Marcha Real," an anthem only played in the king's
presence, and at the elevation of the Host. And through
clouds of smoke and a din indescribable, the young Alfonso
took his seat in the stern of the Numancia s barge,
and was rowed across the harbour. As he did so a
numerous cortege of handsomely-horsed carriages, filled
with gorgeously-apparelled magnates and officials, drove
down the Rambla, headed by gold and ruby heralds,
trumpets in hand. Every street converging on the route
was a sea of heads, every window and balcony crammed,
the very housetops black with people.
Of course, as soon as his Majesty set foot on shore
he had to suffer from the modern phase of the king's evil
— to wit, to listen to an address, and Spanish addresses
are not mild forms of the disease. There is more six-
syllabled grandiloquence in them that cntcrcth into the
imagination of the most gushing body of English alder-
men and councillors, even when assisted by the prosiest
and most verbose of town clerks.
After a short and, I suppose, suitable reply — I did not
hear it, nor (E.D.) the address — the king mounted his
A ''RED." 361
carriage. Immediately the troops presented arms, the
escort closed up, the rest of the carriages filled, the heralds
blew a fanfare, and the progress commenced.
As his carriage started, the young king stood up for
a second, and lifting his hat completely off, bowed right
and left most graciously and gracefully. I looked for a
deafening roar of responsive applause. There was a faint
official cheer from the occupiers of the carriages behind,
considerable waving of ladies' handkerchiefs and fans, but
otherwise profound silence. And what looked even worse,
not a hat, not a cap was raised to answer their king's
salute ; and this in Spain, where not to answer a beggar's
salutation is to insult him. I turned to my fellow-occupier
of the building block, and asked him what it meant, why
the people did not cheer their king .-* He was a stout,
good-looking Catalan peasant ; in appearance, thanks to
his national costume, a bean-ideal " Red." His velveteen
slashed kneebreeches, short jacket, broad sash, crimson
Phrygian cap, made him look most melodramatically such.
His answer was as " Red " as was his cap. " C -Jo the
king and his/ a of a mother." And this not soiio voce,
but aloud, and accompanied by the placing of the right
elbow in the palm of the left hand, and shaking aloft of
the right fist, a gesture which could be seen farther than
he was heard, and was understood by all there — a gesture
whose meaning it is impossible even to hint at in print.
I felt very sorry for the young king. He looked gallant
and bold. It was very disheartening.
At breakfast, I learned his Majesty was being enter-
tained at the Casa Consistorales, in the Plaza de la
362 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
Constitucion, and thither I shortly repaired to see him leave
on his temporary return to his ship. There was a dense
crowd filling all available space in the Plaza, and the
heads of the streets leading therefrom. It was a polite
and obliging crowd, and though there was such a crush
that several ladies had to be taken home in a fainting con-
dition, and only succeeded in emerging from the throng
through the strenuous efforts of their escorts and the
guavdias civiles, a man accustomed to London mobs found
little difficulty in working his way up to the edge of the
main guard, that held the entrance porch of the building
in which the king was being regaled. In fact, I got my
heels upon a projecting basement string-course, and so,
my head raised above the general level of the crowd, and
braced firmly against the wall by its pressure, I securely
and advantageously surveyed the scene.
Immediately in front of the Casa Consistorales, a clear
space was held by a close line of cavalry, who with serried
rank pressed back the people. In this space was the
king's carriage and his escort of dragoons. The escort held
their carbines butt on thigh, finger on scroll-guard, and at
full cock ; every balcony, every window, every house-top,
was a mass of heads. Soon the king appeared, entered his
carriage and drove off. As he did so, a perfect snowstorm
of fluttering handkerchiefs, waved by fair scfwras covered
the front of every house, and a soprano cry of " Viva le
Rcy " was audible. But the feminine cheer was drowned in
hisses, which grew louder and more aggressive as the king
drove on, and which were freely " shotted " with derisive
whistles.
A TERRIBLE COURT SCANDAL. 363
The king's reception was the engrossing topic at dinner-
time, and was considered as very ominous. Bets that
there would be an attempt on his person before the visit
was over were freely offered — no takers.
I learned that his Majesty's unpopularity was not only
because the Alfonsist party have only official friends in
Cataluna, but that the young monarch himself is personally
obnoxious to the Catalans.
Then was told to me a terrible story, and I was assured,
" all decent Catalans consider Spanish personal honour has
been nationally disgraced and degraded through the royal
complicity therein."
I submitted that it could not be true— must be a
calumny of the king's enemies.
" Not a bit of it," said in chorus my informants. And
one of them added : " The whole world knows it. It is a
matter of public notoriety ; and though only those in the
colonel's chamber know, to a certainty, whose was the fatal
hand, yet everybody does who, to get the old colonel out
of the way while his wife and daughter were visited,
ordered him on the distant duty, from which he so
unexpectedly returned to meet his death."
Not only did I hear all this at dinner, stated too with
direct and circumstantial evidence, in language much more
to the point, and with details not repeatable, but afterwards
in the streets. And though, on account of the extreme
youth of Alfonso, the notorious old roue the D de C.
is execrated as the misleader of his sovereign in this as
in many other shady scrapes, everybody had a fling at
the king about it, and some had at the ladies too, saying
364 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
it was a disgrace that he should be so favourably received
by them, but that they always do like a man that is
a scoundrel where they are concerned. I believe the
majority of the women have never heard the particulars
of this court scandal ; certainly fathers, husbands, or
brothers would not be likely to impart them. I think
the young ladies are cordial in their reception of Alfonso
because he is a rather good-looking young man, with an
elegant figure and fine eyes, single, and a king, and has
besides a reputation for general gallantry — quite sufficient
causes for female admiration.
At night the public buildings were illuminated — bril-
liantly illuminated — and with a taste and elegance I was
not prepared for. In artistic effects for official rejoicings
I have heretofore believed the French to be pre-eminent ;
I now award the palm to Spain ; certainly the midnight
torchlight procession was the finest thing of the kind I
have ever seen.
Through a friend's interest, I got a place on a balcony
overlooking the Ramhla del Centro, down which the pro-
cession moved. The Ramblas are a continuous boulevard
running through the centre of the city, north and south.
They consist of a wide gravel walk, bordered by two rows
of fine large trees, whose branches, now bare of leaves,
nearly inarch it ; of carriage-ways, one on each side, then
of the pavements and the houses. The entire width of
the Ramblas varies from sixty to one hundred feet, for
though all run continuously in direction, they are not of
the same widcness. Up the Ramblas I had a vista of
about a mile in lent'th, down which I coultl see the gleam
of the advancing torches. Along the roadways, on each
side, rode the cavahy — lancers, dragoons, guardias civilcs —
each trooper bearing aloft a blazing flambeau. In the
centre, under the tre'es, illuminating the trunks, lighting
up the delicate tracery of branch and spray against the
darkness of the sky, tramped along infantry, artillery,
marines, mariners, officials, all carrying flaming lights- —
white lights, blue lights, red lights. At intervals were the
regimental bands playing martial strains.
After the head of the procession had well passed, I
looked up and down the long boulevard. It was a rainbow
blaze of moving lights and shadows, a stream of glitter and
colour, while from it up to heaven rolled through the
lit-up overhanging branches clouds of blue smoke and
blended music. A scene not soon to be forgotten.
To-day his Majesty held a levee and visited the chief
manufactories. At the levee he was very affable, addressed
many of the consuls in their native tongue, apparently
speaking English, French, and German with equal facility
as Castellano, and, in short, displayed himself to good
advantage. In the evening he attended a performance of
Verdi's new opera " Ai'da," at the Gmn Teatro de Liceo.
This theatre is one of the finest opera-houses in Europe, it
being, as I am informed on excellent authority, the same
size and built on the same lines as La Scala at Milan.
A good Italian opera company is nearly always in
Barcelona, and the house is never thin, though it can seat
four thousand persons and stand two thousand more ; for
Spaniards love opera. The hours are reasonable — seven to
ten o'clock — the charges moderate : boxes, sixteen shillings
366 O.V FOOT IN SPAIN.
and cightpence ; stalls, half-a-crown ; general entrance,
fifteenpencc. The house is well ventilated, comfortable,
and temperate, the entertainment always good, and so
numbers of the citizens of all grades and their families can
and do go regularly each and every night there is a funcion
without injury to health or purse, and greatly to their satis-
faction, and not, as the majority of the same classes in
London would, rarely or never.
But if opera is plentiful in Barcelona, kings are scarce,
so on this occasion seats were simply fabulously high-priced
in theory, and not obtainable in fact ; at least not so for
those who had not engaged them long in advance. How-
ever, in this country authority is more potent even than
coin, so, having a good friend inside the official rope, I was
not left out in the cold.
The palcoSy the butacas were crammed with the beauty
and fashion of Barcelona, the cheaper portions of the
house full of soldiers and their sweethearts ; and uniforms,
official costumes, orders, everywhere and all over, showed
that the house was full of " the king's party," and when he
entered there was an ovation. The whole audience rose to
their feet. The play was stopped. The house rung with
cheers. Evidently, when they choose, these Spaniards can
be as demonstrative as Frenchmen, as loud in their acclaims
as Britons.
"Alda" was extremely well rendered and mounted ; but
the manager had unusual facilities. All the assistance the
military could afford had been placed at his disposal. As
a consequence, the march scene was superb. The bands
were regimental ones, in gorgeous properties ; the trum-
''AIDAr 367
peters,bandmasters,the triumphant army and their prisoners,
real drilled soldiers of the line, brilliant in stage braveries,
seemingly endless in numbers, and marching and wheeling
as if on parade, not slouching about absurdly and con-
fusedly like a lot of supers. It was very fine. The singing,
too, was of excellent average ; the whole thing very good
indeed.
There were very few loiterers outside the theatre to see
his Majesty drive off surrounded by his guard. Those
who were gave him a hiss or two. I did hear, too, that a
stone was thrown at him, but did not see it, and hope it
was a false statement ; but there might have been, it was a
dark night. As on Friday the king returned to his ship,
the people say he is afraid to sleep ashore.
CHAPTER XXX.
The Industrial Exhibition of Cataluiia — Inauguration by King Alfonso — Grand
Review — Sainete at El Teatro Principal — A Gay Boy — La Capitolana —
"Then he is yours" — Monjuich — Highway Robberies — The Cafh of
Barcelona — Gallant Company — Arena of the Psychological Contest.
March io, 1877. — Eleven o'clock last Sunday morning,
after his Majesty King Alfonso should have attended
high mass, was the appointed time for him to open and
inaugurate the Exposicion Industrial ; a ceremony all the
world wished to witness, but all the world could not,
because admittance was only permitted to those who were
provided with tickets. Of such were two kinds, pink and
white ; the number of pink tickets quite limited, and
except to expositors and head officials almost unattain-
able. They admitted at ten o'clock. The white tickets
admitted at one o'clock, after the opening ceremonies.
They were numerous, and not hard to obtain by anyone
who was cominc il faut, having been placed for general
distribution in the hands of all the leading citizens whose
discretion could be thoroughly depended on. Thanks to
the kind consideration of the gentleman whose acquaint-
ance I made at Montserrat, when he was there with the
INAUGURATION BY KING ALFONSO. 369
Belgian nobleman and bride, I was the distinguished
possessor of the honour of a pink ticket, and, armed with
it, made my way to the chief entrance at eleven o'clock
sharp.
El Palais del Exposicion is a fine, large, handsome
building, and the ample open space forming its frontage
was, excepting a lane held by mounted guardias civiles for
the royal cortege to drive through, covered with lines of
handsomely-appointed carriages and an extremely well-
dressed crowd.
My experience in this country having been that
Spaniards are always behindhand, I had taken things
coolly, and, as I said before, only arrived at the time
appointed for the king to do so. Just as I was passing the
guard at the entrance I heard a cheer, a cry of "-£"/ Rey !
El Rey ! " and the guard falling back, right and left, I
remained solitarily conspicuous standing on the steps, and
in the middle of the grand entrance. Being of a retiring
disposition and not accustomed to receive kings, I incon-
tinently took "a header" through the close sentry line, and
had barely got out of the way Avhen, in a cloud of dust, and
surrounded by a brilliant escort, the king's carriage dashed
up to the spot. He was greeted with acclamation, the
band struck up the "Marcha Real," a gold-laced, bestarred,
and ribboned reception committee advanced to meet him,
he entered, and the ceremonies began. Alas ! I did not,
for the grand entrance closed behind his Majesty, and left
me without disconsolate. But I remembered the sayings
of the country, " Cncivido una fucrta se curia, oira se aire"
and " Onien no causa alcanza " — " When one door shuts
370 av FOOT IN SPAIN.
another opens," and " He who strives arrives." So a side
door and a Httle persuasion were tried with entire success,
excepting that the crowd within prevented my approaching
his Majesty sufficiently closely to hear what Vv-as said, or
clearly note what was being done in his immediate vicinity.
I have since learned that King Alfonso has the excel-
lent quality of being punctual, and has repeatedly stated he
will teach his entourage and the public to be so too if he has
to go where appointed without the one, and disappoint the
other by leaving before they arrive. In the forcible and
unstudied vernacular of the Great West I say, " Bully for
Alfonso ! "
The opening ceremony finished, the king made a
progress through the building, to see and to be seen ;
principally to be seen I take it. Then, with the chief
swells, royalty retired to a refreshment-room to eat his
breakfast. Immediately the doorways to the sacred spot
were taken in charge by strong bodies of gnardias civilcs,
and it became impossible for common mortals to " see
the animals fed." After breakfast the king departed,
closely surrounded with officials and gnardias civilcs.
Indeed, so well was he guarded, that the lately-admitted
white-ticket holders could not get even a glimpse of his
Majesty.
The Industrial Exhibition was extremely creditable to
Cataluna in general and Barcelona in particular. The
variety of products, the excellent finish of workmanship,
tlie high artistic development occasionally displayetl, were
most gratif}-ing to a lover of pn^gress in arts and manu-
factures, and to mc as astonishing as pleasing, for I had
GRAND REVIEW. 371
no idea that in many things Spain held such a foremost
rank.
In the afternoon there was a review. It was to take
place in the Pasco dc Gracia (five spacious avenues of fine
trees) and along La Ronda, and again was I in luck. A
foreign diplomatist asked me to a capital luncheon, graced
by some charming ladies, and with them I afterwards
shared a balcony overlooking the line of review.
There were between four and five thousand troops
of all arms in line, not a large force, but of excellent
raw material, admirably uniformed and equipped, and
officered in lavish proportion. Those in sight of our
balcony were drawn up along the opposite side of the
street, our side being kept by a sentry line. Soon the
king, on horseback and closely followed by the captain-
general and a brilliant staff", rode past. He went very
fast, riding beautifully, and with his hat raised a few
inches from his head in a prolonged salute. As he galloped
by our corner he got a hearty cheer. His face beamed
with smiles. He checked his horse into a slow trot, bowed
right and left, and dashed off" again, getting, as he did
so, another viva, louder than the first.
The king returned slowly to the saluting-point. and
the march past began, the troops farthest off taking the
van, and the others as they passed wheeling into column
behind. The infantry went by our balcony in open order,
with a front of eight, going at their usual terrific pace.
They carried their breechloaders slung crosswise behind'
and swung their hands across and back from right to left
in front of them, as they marched, hands going left ^\hen
372 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
left foot led, right when right foot led. I have since tried
that way of marching, when out for a brisk walk, and
am inclined to approve of it. The cavalry passed in
close order and four abreast. They were very well
mounted. The dragoons had their carbines in slings, and
sabres drawn. The mountain artillery — on muleback —
attracted much attention, deservedly, for the animals were
splendid ones, and the entire equipment ingenious, compact,
and serviceable.
The review over, I went to a little dinner with some
more friends, and then to the Tcatro Principal to see a
Sainete, with my fellow-boarder, the aide-de-camp.
The theatre was a fine large house, very well filled, the
playing good enough, and the dancing admirable, especially
the Bailc. I will back two first-class Andalusian per-
formers, male and female, against the world for grace and
go in dancing. They can posture better than Nautch-
Wallahs, outskip the French, and arc never scraggy.
By-the-bye, I owe this said gallant officer quite a debt
of gratitude for the results of his kind attentions to mc, for,
thanks to him, I have been able to see much that was
interesting, which otherwise I might not.
The captain may be most emphatically described as a
gay boy. To him is known the entire arcana of Spanish
town life. His position here, for he is a favourite, and
oft companion of his chief — the captain-general of the
province — his means, his address and personal appearance,
give him the cntn'e everywhere. Therefore has he proved a
most excellent guide, i)hilosophcr, and friend to a foreign
stranger whose keenness for information concerning the
A GAY BOY.
373
manners and customs of the natives is, like that of an
entomologist for strange beetles, quite reckless ; and so
it has come to pass I have been willing to go, and there
made welcome, where without the introduction of an habitue
I could not have obtained admission, and have seen the
most exclusive phase of a social problem that in its more
common and open manifestations has, more or less unavoid-
ably, been almost continually under notice during my walk
here from San Sebastian.
But this is a matter fit, both as regards its facts and
conclusions, for philosophical disquisition, and not apropos
in narrative letters ; sufficient to sa)-, therefore, in this
country, where all women are sober, a reflecting observer
behind the curtain of propriety must indisputably conclude
that nine-tenths of what are at home considered the neces-
sarily attendant evils of transgression, and nearly all its
repulsiveness, is entirely the result of transgression //?/j — •
and very much////j- — intoxicating beverages.
A witty foreigner has said: "When, in conversation,
you wish to turn it from a subject, turn it to a beautiful
woman." So as I have not yet said anything about the
fair qiieens of Barcelona, I will seize the occasion and
follow such admirable advice.
There is a great deal of female loveliness in this capital
of Cataluna, but it is principally immigrant from other
parts of Spain, for the Catalan type is too coarse in outline
of face, too masculine in figure, to be fascinating. Still,
Valencia is in close connection with this port, and the fair
Valcnciafias are reputed to be the handsomest women of
Spain. No wonder that in Valencia the Moors placed their
374 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
paradise. And as enough of these houris are here to affect
the general average, Barcelona prides itself, justly, on its
pretty women.
Thanks again to the gay aide-de-camp, I have made
the acquaintance of one of these lately arrived from
Valencia, who is physically as near perfection as modern
civilisation allows. She is quite a typical beauty of her
locality, and so, fairly entitled to be described. Slightly
above medium female height, inclined to fulness of figure,
with most diminutive yet well-developed hands and feet,
and a w^alk and carriage inimitable in grace ; face, classical
in outline ; hair, profuse in quantity, of great length and
glossiness, and the darkest of browns in colour ; com-
plexion, a bright, soft, clear, ruddy, light olive ; and
glorious eyes, the true " oj'os Arahcs',' large, tender, almond
eyes, breathing love, sentiment, and passion — that is to sa\-,
always seeming to, it being tlieir natural and usual
expression — exactly such eyes as I suspect Cleopatra had ;
eyes to " trastorno cl inundo," as they say here, and she is
just the age when Spanish women reach their perfection —
twenty-four, and as s\Veet-tempered and kind as she is
handsome ; the only thing I regret about our acquaintance
is, that it began so lately and has to finish so soon. But
" Vavios !'' as the aide-de-camp says, " TT// In ticrra cl
camera, cii cl mar cl vicro.'" By which sa)-ing he intends
both to console me and flatter my patriotism, meaning to
infer I shall soon find at home an equally beautiful sub-
stitute for La Capitolaiia. Ah ! little dt)es my lively
military friend realise the discreet decorum of respectability
in virtuous England. No more Capitolaiias for me when I
''THEN HE IS yours:' 375
return to the land of Messrs. Barlow and Pecksniff,
Mesdames Grundy and Goody.
I have given away my faithful coiupagnon dc voyage ;
Juan and I have parted. I shall miss the dog greatly ; he
was an affectionate, caressing, intelligent creature, and I
have got to be very fond of him. He and " Capi'' are two
more cases of " dear gazelle ; " but it is a longish way to
take a dog from here to the West of England ; he would
be a great inconvenience during my sojourn ai route in
Paris ; I shall have no use for him at home ; he will then
be a dog too many ; and I have got him into happy
permanent quarters, which is better for him.
Juan's new master is my countryman ; a gentleman
long since domiciled here, and moving in Barcelona's best
circle. Like all Englishmen of his class, he was a sports-
man in his youth, and having an eye for a well-bred dog,
at once spotted and admired mine. From this compatriot
I have received much kind politeness ; without introduction,
without recommendation, excepting his private judgment,
he has cordially extended to me the genial hospitalities of
his house and home, and admitted me to the society of the
bieji distingue, elegant, and accomplished ladies who adorn
it ; and further, he has paid me every social attention in his
power ; so one day, seeing that Juan tempted him to sin
against the tenth commandment, hearing him praise the
dog, and the ladies declare they were in love with him, I
made the reply of a true Spaniard, " Then he is yours," and
insisted that, for once, the phrase of the country should be
taken an pied de la lettre.
The present was received with such evident delight
376 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
tliat I was quite i^ratificd at what I had done ; indeed, I
felt happy for twenty-four hours. It is so nice to confer
pleasure, especially when by so doing a man at the same
time consults his own convenience.
The king left on Monday. There was not much fuss
made about it, only a parting salute from the guns of
Monjuich,
Monjuich is much bragged of by Spaniards. They are
fond of comparing it and Gibraltar, much to the disparage-
ment of our stronghold. According to Spanish military
authorities, modern improvements have rendered Gibraltar
quite takable, indeed untenable, should Spain determine
to repossess herself of it ; whereas Monjuich is absolutely
impregnable when garrisoned to its proper strength. But
it is all moonshine. Monjuich is not, as confidently
repeated, " the strongest natural position in the world." I
have seen — I speak advisedly — hundreds far stronger. But,
no doubt, " 'twill serve," for it holds the city at its mercy,
and can knock it into a cocked hat should its citizens again
rise against military dictation — the chief use Spanish forts
are put to. And the guns dominate the harbour too, and
perhaps could keep an cneni}' from entering it ; but as
town and harbour can be easily shelled from, and troops
landed at, places it does not command, cui bono ?
"The hill of the Jews" is, to its extrcmest altitude, but
seven hundred and fifty feet above the sea level, and though
partly precipitous on its sea face, for the rest slopes so
gradual)}- that there are but few places where, were there
not artificial obstructions, a Californian stage-driver would
hesitate to put his conveyance along at a gallop up or down.
HIGHWAY ROBBERIES. -- 377
The great strength of Monjuich Hcs in the fact that it is
not dominated by superior elevations, and that an immense
amount of money has been very well laid out in earth-
works, casemates, cisterns, and guns. But '' MoJis Judaiats''
being not a small mountain, not a rock, but a hill, whose
soil landwards is deep and easily workable, its defensive lines
are as easy to sap up to, and easier to undermine, than were
it an entrenched camp in the middle of a plain. However,
nobody wants to meddle with Spain. If she will only
leave herself alone she will do Vv-cll enough.
As I do not mean to stop here for ever, I begin to think
the sooner I depart the better, for reasons not at all neces-
sary to mention ; but how to go, what route to take, know
not. There are two courses, each open to objection. If
I take passage by steamer to Marseilles, I shall see abso-
lutely nothing between the two ports, for the course
stretches straight out to sea and across the Gulf of Lyons.
If I go overland by rail and diligence, I shall see much, but,
per contra, may be robbed, for quite an epidemic of road
agency has lately broken out in these parts adjacent. For
instance, while I was en route from Montserrat, the train
between here and Monistrol was twice stopped and " gone
through." Quite lately the diligence from Figueras to
Perpignan — my route if I go overland — has been " inter-
viewed." However, I think I shall risk los ladrones,
though I do not want to hear the cry '' Abajo, boca, a tierra,"
having had some experience of its Yankee equivalent,
"Throw up your hands, G d you." It is not the
actual loss of property so much as the feeling of degrada-
tion at being obliged to obey such miscreants that hurts.
378 *■■ Oy FOOT IN SPAIN.
And, as I have parted with my f^un, and do not cany a
revolver, should I be " stuck up," will have to submit.
However, in such case, I shall not lose much. Only
a few trifling presents — remembrances from Spain — the
aluminium watch brought on " spec," to be taken from me,
and my clothes.
These last would be very inconvenient to part from, for
I might catch cold before they could be replaced, but
robbers will get no money from me, as I intend to spend my
last coin, excepting enough to feed me on the way, and see
me past the customs, ere I leave this gay city, for can I not
cash the traveller's blessing — a circular note — at Perpignan }
and I would sooner be eased of my money here by fair
means, than on the road by foul. I have crossed one
extremity of Los Piriiicos ; I should like to traverse the
other. The chances of being robbed are, on the one hand,
not greater than of being sea-sick on the other. I would
sooner lose the coats off my back than the coats of my
stomach.
The cafes of Barcelona excel any I have seen in Spain,
and are no more expensive to such as frequent them than
those of the meanest inland hamlet. Not onl)' are they
the best of Spanish ones, but absolutely the best I know of;
very large and airy, handsome, clean, and comfortable. In
all the leading ones are pianos, played by professionals of
no mean proficicnc}-. I have heard as good piano-playing
in these cafes as at maii\- London concerts. They are
almost always full of company, and though in Spain,
generally speaking, cafes are not considered quite the
places for ladies, here it is quite correct for the fair sex to
CAFES OF BARCELONA. 379
be present, even without a male escort, and therefore there
is almost always to be seen in them a goodly sprinkling of
Donas Catalanas sipping coffee, sugar and water, orgeat, or
some other such light drink ; fooling with their fans and
by their fans, listening to the music, laughing, chatting,
ogling, and flirting. Many is the flirtation begun, continued,
but not ended in a Barcelona cafe. And what is the
expense to enjoy all this — brilliant chandeliers, marble
tables, velvet-covered seats and lounges, plate-glass mirrors,
paint, gilding and glitter, attentive and respectful waiters,
good professional music, a sight of youth, beauty, and
innocence engaging the experienced, brave, and knowing,
and coming off iirst best ? Why, only twopence-halfpenny.
You are expected to order '^ uno cafe'' — unless you want
something else — and there will be placed before you a small
cup of coffee, milk, sugar, cau-dc-vic in a decanter, ladies'-
fingers in a plate. For these the waiter will demand
one real, and leave you. He expects no fee, and unless
you want something more, and call, will not come
near you again if you sit there and smoke all night.
Nor will you be considered mean if you should, and yet
spend no more. Plenty of well-off and respected citizens
do so every night. I did not, but only because I used to
get thirsty, and besides, not playing dominoes nor being
given to flirting, I liked to have a something to sip and play
with. Why should I not amuse myself by flirting a spoon,
as well as my neighbour by spooning a flirt } It is quite as
innocent an amusement, and somewhat less dangerous,
except to a kleptomaniac.
And its cafes are not the only commendable things of
3 So ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
Barcelona. The shops arc, for goodness, elegance, varict}',
and choicencss of wares, quite equal to Paris or London,
and by no manner of means as dear, nor are their
attendants so much given to taking strangers in, though of
course it is always safest for a foreigner to deal at a '' prccio
fijo " shop until he learns the local values.
But, on one account, Barcelona has been to me the least
interesting place I have visited since crossing the Bidassoa,
for of any of them it is the one least typically Spanish ;
and having come to this country to see Spanish customs
and ways, familiarise myself with Spanish ideas and pecu-
liarities, that which is cosmopolitan, being neither new nor
attractive, I care not for.
A study of the almost inextricable maze, jumble, and
confusion together of the old beliefs and usages of Pagan,
Roman, and Iiastcrn occupation, mixed and blended with
those of civilisation and to-day, which this country presents
to even the least observing stranger is, and must be, a
source of wonder and delight. Surely the Spain of to-day
is in Europe the chief arena of the psychological contest,
the Gran Plaza de Toros, where the matador of Modern
Thought is pitted against the " Bull of Superstition," where
in his calm hand the keen cspalda of Science firmly
encounters on its gleaming point the fierce expiring
onslaught of that beast whose characteristics are tail,
horns, and cloven foot. Most certainly if, going south,
" VAfric covinicncc aux Pyrenees" on the return, modernism
begins at Gibraltar.
CHAPTER XXXI.
Summary of Opinion— The Holy Inquisition — Spanish Wives — The Start
Home — Interesting Objects — Arenys de Mar — A Skirmish for Forage —
Z>//4v«(-^ Travelling in Spain — Figueras — Ascending the Pyrenees — Cross-
ing the Frontier — The French Customs Post — The "Straight Tip" to
pass the Customs — Fort Bellegarde — Ho for Home! — " Vaya usted con
Dios."
M-ARCH 15, 1877. — I have recrossed the Pyrenees. Spain
is now to me a dream that is past — a very pleasant dream.
Fatigue, thirst, dust, annoyances, and vexations will gradu-
ally fade from recollection ; but many a bright picture of
fair scenery, many a joyous revel, the incidents of some
few charming interviews, are laid away in memory's " dark
room," intangible, invisible — treasured negatives in photo-
graphic clearness, to be reproduced at will, to gladden and
beguile the lonely hours of the future.
Nor has my trip been altogether devoid of instruction.
It has dissipated many erroneous, previously-conceived
opinions, informed me of many an unsuspected fact. I had
considered Spain to be a worked-out country : the unde-
veloped wealth of her natural resources is great beyond all
calculation. I had presupposed a people proud, intolerant,
bigoted, indolent, shiftless, lawless. I have found an upper
382 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
class courteous and considerate to their equals, kind and
familiar to their inferiors, fairly liberal and enlightened in
opinion, and very wide awake to the faults and short-
comings of their country ; a peasantry full of self-respect,
of manly independence, honest, hard-working, frugal, law-
abiding, sober.
With such a grand substratum for national tranquillit}',
prosperity, progress, how comes it Spain is the home of
chronic disorder, revolution, strife ? Because since the
Goths she has been either the battlefield of contending
foreign forces and intrigue, or of contest between national
virtues and the powers of darkness. A gallant people,
purposely and cunningly kept in poverty and ignorance,
imbrutcd and cajoled, have made a long struggle against
combined priest and kingcraft. For four centuries a cruel,
subtle, inscrutable, and omnipotent conspiracy, remorseless,
omnipresent, bloody, sought to crush manhood in the dust ;
mutual confidence between classes, between individuals,
was sapped, destroyed, and disappeared. Crime was the
only safe road to prosperity; to think was dangerous, to
utter thought aloud, if that thought was truth — death.
Between 148 1 and 1808, thirt}--four thousand six hundred
and twelve victims arc officially reported as being burnt to
death, and two hundred and eighty-eight thousand one
hundred and nine as otherwise made away with by the
" Holy " Inquisition.
A nightmare of fear, distrust, letharg}^ paral}'sed the
country. To prosper in business, to be enterprising, to
amass a little mone)', was to become a pre)'. The goods
and chattels of him who fell into the clutches of the black
SPANISH WIVES. 383
alguacils were the perquisites of a body of men craving for
gold and utterly irresponsible. The youth of the nobility
were thoroughly demoralised by the inculcation of the
most dishonourable code of ethics ever conceived — one
destructive to confidence, truth, and mental improvement.
The people learned that to be idle, uninquiring, servile, was
absolutely necessary to life. Literature was made an
engine of ignorance ; government, one of plunder. The
intelligence, talent, enterprise of the country was banished,
destroyed, or silenced.
A people w4io have suffered this, and still retain such
traits of character as the Spaniard of to-day, must have an
innate nobility of soul, that in the end will insure to their
country a foremost place among the nations of the earth.
In one thing Spain is quite behind the three countries
leading civilisation's van — England, the United States,
France. Spanish women do not know even the meaning
of " sphere," as that word is used by the strong-minded.
What are her rights, wherein lie her wrongs, trouble not
her. She is content to be — and is — a careful, notable
housewife, a good mother, a kind mistress. She dresses
well and elegantly for her station, but not extravagantly ;
loves amusement, but never neglects her home ; is
coquettish and attractive in her manner, but proper in her
conduct. There may be " more advanced " women —
w^omen with " higher purposes," with more " lofty aspira-
tion ; " but more comfortable women to live with — more
charming women to make love to — more gentle, unselfish,
amiable, domestic, loving women, I do not think the
world can show. And they seem utterly unaware of the
384 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
" degradation " of being so, and quite happy and contented
with their " sphere."
No wonder the Spaniard loves his home ; no wonder
there are so few bachelors in Spain. False start — whoa !
This sort of thing will never do. It is not giving an
account of my peregrinations, and I have taken no contract
to furnish "reflections" — only to report progress.
Having " done " Barcelona pretty thoroughly, wished
my friends a dios, paid my bills, got my through ticket to
Perpignan, via rail and diligence, and put by a few pesetas
for use en route, I succeeded by two o'clock A.M. yesterday
in getting rid satisfactorily of my last coin, and retired to
my virtuous couch to snatch a short repose, ere I should be
called to catch the 'bus to the Estacion del Norte, advertised
to start at four A.M. "to the moment."
Of course I was called half an hour after the 'bus should
have departed. Of course I had half an hour to wait. Of
course I was in time at the station. And at 6.45 A.M. the
whistle blew and the train started for Gerona.
It was a pleasant run, and thoroughly enjo)'cd, though I
was in solitary grandeur all alone ; for, as usual on the
Continent, being an premier, I had a whole compartment
to myself.
I'he weather was superb, clear, bright, calm. Occasional
glimpses of the blue Mediterranean, enlivened with queer-
looking craft, recalling by their strange rakish rig the
pictured Algerine pirates of story, and lake-like in its
glassy surface, charmed the visit)n.
The inland scenery was varied, striking, and romantic,
and several spots of interest A\ere passed.
ARENYS BE MAR. 385
Soon the ancient town of Badalona came in view,
surrounded with its famous orange groves and watered by
the brawling Nesos ; in antiquity, a very grandmother of a
city to Barcelona. Then appears a hill, crowned by El
Castillo deMongat, famous for a most gallant defence against
an entire F'rench army, in which its garrison lost its last
man. There was no Metz about that. Then another castle
— Vilasar — and some watch-towers of the Moors.
A little town and a fine church are passed, and we stop
a few minutes at Mataro, a handsome, thriving, if small
town, very Genoese in the al fresco ornamentation of its
houses. Soon after leaving there we cross the Llevaneras
by a well-built, picturesque stone bridge, run past the ruins
of El Castillo Rocaberto, and behold, still another old-time
castle — Nofre Arnan — appears in sight. Then we make
another stop — we are at A renys de Mar.
I call up the "highly-intelligent guard," and at his
dictation write the names of the places I have noticed
against the circles and cross indicating their situation in
the little sketch-itinerary I amuse myself by making in
my pocket-book as I am whirled along, adding thereto
such other information as he volunteers, and obtaining his
promise to " post " me about the remainder of the trip
when we arrive at Gerona.
He tells me Arenys de Mar boasts of very fair dock-
yards, and makes quantities of soap, lace, and linen. I can
see that it is a prosperous and a pretty port — three P's that
do not always go together. A league farther and we pass
another embarcadero, then, by an iron bridge, cross the Rio
San Pol, catch a passing glimpse of a pretty little town,
386 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
cross another stream by another and much finer iron bridge
— the Tordera. Ere long the town of that name is left
behind, and the celebrated Barrajica, then the junction
station of Empalme, and at 10.40 A.M. we are arrived at
Gerona.
Gerona is a town of some size and importance, with a
rapid river flowing by it, clean and decent in its old age ;
but evidently having in its youth been given to an
exhausting dissipation of energy in overmuch church-
building. Had the time as well as the occasion served,
I would have taken a peep at its cathedral, because I had
heard much of its extraordinary merits, and it has the
widest Gothic vault in existence. But the diligence was
billed to start at eleven o'clock, " en pnnto" and the inner
man demanded immediate attention.
There was no time to lose. Already the coach stood
before the hotel door, its driver and the helps putting in
and strapping down luggage. Already the harnessed
horses were in sight, being led up by the groom and straps.
It was quite evident the stage was intended to start " on
time."
It lacked an hour to the breakfast-time of the countiy.
To expect to get that meal cooked at any other than the
regular one, much more cooked and eaten in twenty
minutes, would be a wild delusion, one I know Spain too
well to harbour, so forthwith I skirmish for forage. I
dive into a bodega and buy a bottle of wine ; into a ticnda
and procure a longaniza — a high-spiced sausage, requiring
no cooking — and some excellent cream cheese. Then I
prospect the stage and interrogate the coaclmian.
DILIGENCE TRAVELLING IN SPAIN. 387
It is ready to start, will be off instantly. " Just a little
moment."
That "little moment" set my mind at ease. Seeing
my traps safely stowed away on my seat, and learning
which street the coach route followed, I strolled along in
the direction indicated, found a panadera, went in, bought
some delicious milk rolls, explained the situation to the
bakeress in waiting, knocked off the neck of my bottle,
and, confident the diligence could not get by unseen and
unheard, sat down, spread my frugal repast before me,
and had a very comfortable " little moment " of about a
quarter of an hour's duration ; after which I lit my pipe,
and sauntering back to the hotel, arrived and took my
place as Jehu started his team.
There were six good horses to the diligence, the road
was excellent, and we bowled along at a good lively rate,
arriving at the town of Figueras — where we changed our
stage for one more fitted to mountain travel — at three in
the afternoon ; twenty miles, with a considerable grade
against us, in about three hours and a half
We had passed three little villages, another ruined
castle, the small town of Buscara, and some pretty Casas
de Campos, called " Torres " — a Catalan word, signifying
country houses, (What a chance for a derivation of the
old sobriquet of England's Conservative party.) The
view had all along been getting more and still more
enchanting as we progressed, for the Pyrenean chain was
in full view, getting clearer and fuller in its lovely details
every mile, while the day was warm and bright as though
a summer one.
388 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
While approaching Figueras, my attention was drawn
to very extensive military works, covering a bench of
the plain. As well as could be judged by a passing
spectator, I was looking at an example, on a large
scale, of a most complete system of earthwork defence,
and was struck by the admirable choice of its position,
its size, and apparent strength. It seemed large enough
to contain a covering army of very respectable size,
and the ground commanded from its embrasures to be
a natural formation that was highly favourable for a
strong garrison to assume the offensive over. I do not
recollect that I have ever seen a good natural position
better utilised. My fellow-passengers in the berlina of the
diligence could tell me little about it. They were men of
commerce, and it was simply a castillo to them. However,
one knew its name — San Fernando — so I determined to
seek information when we should stop in the town.
Our detention at Figueras was to be but short ; only a
quarter of an hour was the mayoraVs announcement, so I
had to stir myself, for it was my last chance, for many a
long day, to buy really good smoking tobacco. I had to
provide also against getting hungry, appease my thirst, and
learn what I could about the Castillo de San Fernando. An
esta7ico — Government tobacco agency — was easily found,
and I there laid in a small store of Picardo Pico Fina de
Habana; then I purchased a pocketful of biscuits ; finally
entered a taberna, and regaled myself with aguardiente and
water.
I singled out that particular tavern because in it I
caught sight of uniforms, and saw my chance to pick up
ASCENDING THE PYRENEES. 389
information about the fortifications in sight. An invitation
to drink immediately made the two cabos de esquadra my
btiett ainigos, and the extent of their knowledge on the
subject was at my disposal.
According to them, the fortification was the strongest
in the world ; the bomb-proof barracks amply sufficient to
lodge twenty thousand men, the bomb-proof stables to
contain five hundred horses. There were nine proof
magazines, a fine park of artillery, sixty heavy guns in
position, and " only just let the c Jo French try to take
it." I failed, however, in ascertaining who was the military
engineer who planned it. My informant stated his name
appeared in a mural tablet over one of the gateways, but
they did not recollect it.
A few miles from Figueras we traversed an immense
olive plantation, and in its centre passed the little village
of Molina, so called on account of its many olive mills.
Once clear of the olive wood the road became very
steep, with numerous short, sharp descents ; in fact, we
were climbing the Pyrenees. As the diligence progressed
very slowly, I took to walking most of the way, only
jumping up whenever we came to a level run, for, on foot,
I could better enjoy the magnificent scenery, and loiter at
such spots as afforded advantageous look-outs. Besides, I
so escaped the dust and closeness of the diligence, both
which were excessive. Indeed, the day was so hot that I
left coat and waistcoat in the diligence, and walked without
them.
We were passing the places where the late robberies
took place. Judging by the frequency we have seen pickets
390 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
of guardias civilcs since wc got amongst the spurs of the
mountains, there is an evident determination on the part of
the authorities to block that little game. As I am some-
times a mile ahead of the diligence, and without coat,
waistcoat, collar, or hat — my necktie being twisted turban-
wise round my head — I wonder none of them have stopped
me as a suspicious character ; but they have only made the
salutation of the country as I passed. Perhaps they think
I am a harmless lunatic or an Englishman. They have
some queer notions about Englishmen in Spain.
It was beginning to get dark as we drove into the last
Catalan town of La Junquera, the Spanish frontier customs
station. A strong body of carabineros were stationed
there.
The diligence stopped at La Junquera to change
horses, and I walked on. Two passengers descended from
the banquette and did so likewise. At a turn of the road,
out of sight of the town, they struck off up a ravine to
the right. I thought it strange conduct, and sat down
to smoke, wait for the diligence, and see if they would
reappear when it did. They did not, and nothing was said
about it.
Shortly after we arrived at a barrier, looking not unlike
an English turnpike, only the " lodge " was of stone, and
loopholed for musketry, and the " keeper " a carabinero.
We had reached the frontier.
We are halted, a light is thrown on us, we are scanned
and counted by the carabinero and a companion. A few
words are said in an inaudible tone to our driver, his reply is
as sotto voce, then from the first carabinero, in a loud voice :
FRENCH CUSTOMS POST. 391
" It is well, go with God, your worships." A reply from us,
in chorus : " Remain you with Him," A flick of the whip
to the horses and we are across the line. We have left
the old kingdom of the Spains, we have entered the novel
Macmahondom of France.
For some time the conversation of the two men of com-
merce sharing with me the berlina had turned upon pass-
ports, permits, and visas, and one of them expressed a hope
I had my papers all right, adding, the French authorities
have been excessively strict and annoying of late. I told
him I had a Foreign Office passport.
" Visa by the French consul of Barcelona "i "
"No."
" Then they will never let you pass."
"Just as good a thing as I want. I will return to the
best hotel in Barcelona, file a heavy claim for detention
and expenses, and have a jolly time at the cost of the
authorities. They shall be made to respect my papers."
" Ah ! I see by your sentiments you are English or
American : they will not try to stop you. It is only us
poor devils they harass and plunder."
These remarks were hardly made before we arrived at
the little hamlet in which is situated the French customs
post, and drew up before a long shed and a knot of gen-
darmes. It was by this time quite dark, but the interior
of the shed was dimly lit by oil-lamps, and the gendarmes
carried lanterns. We were all marched into the shed.
" Give me your waybill," said the gendarme in command
to our driver. It was produced. The man in authority
looked it and us over.
392 ON FOOT IN SPAIN.
" You arc two passengers short ; where arc they ? "
" I don't know."
" Then you ought. Does anyone know what has become
of the two banquette passengers .'' "
This last question in a loud domineering voice, and
addressed to all and sundry. A woman, who had been
riding in the interior^ volunteered a statement.
"They walked from La Junquera. Perhaps they are in
the giiinguette refreshing themselves."
" Perhaps les sacres scelerats are no such thing ; they are
polissons, without papers, giving us the slip." It looked
very like it.
" Bring in all luggage to be examined, and show your
papers, masters and mistresses," shouted the irate, jack-
booted Jack-in-office.
The other passengers' " papers " were all shabby scraps,
on which were written permits signed by the French
consul of Barcelona, at a cost to them each of ten francs.
They were en r^glc of course.
My " Derby " was a different affair. There was not a
word of French about it, nor any, to those present, known
signature attached thereto ; but it was a most imposing-
looking document as compared with the shabby, crumpled
scraps from the French consul's office ; large, on vellum,
headed by a regal-looking coat-of-arms, sealed with most
official amplitude, it certainly looked a most authentic
document ; what it said was an Egyptian mystery; whether
it belonged to me or not, unapparent.
"English V said the chief gendarme, interrogatively.
" Yes."
FORT BELLEGARDE. 393
It was returned with a bow and " All is regular,"
I picked out my little luggage ; a douanier asked for
my keys ; I slipped the hand holding them, &c., quietly
in his.
" There they are."
" Monsieur has nothing to declare ; Monsieur's luggage
is passed ; " and the official chalk marked my traps as
being free to be replaced in the diligence. Not so simple
was the process with the remainder of the passengers, and
soon the counter was strewn with a varied and indescribable
assortment of personal effects, and great became the vehe-
mence of gesticulation and figurativeness of oratory of the
respective owners thereof, and most especially distinguished
as a performer was the vigorous female who had volun-
teered the information about the missing passengers, when
she found herself detected in an attempt to evade a pay-
ment of a few francs duty.
After a tiresome detention, we proceeded more rapidly
on our way, for the grade of the road soon began to fall
rapidly. We were descending the French slope of the
Pyrenees. The darkness sadly militated against seeing the
face of the country, but it was perceivable that on the
north side of the pass the descents were more precipitous,
and the scenery far wilder and more weird than on the
southern ; and a castle perched on the top of an isolated
peak, amongst a nest of ravines and summits, irresistibly
recalled reminiscences of Dore. However it might look
in daytime, by the light I saw it the scene was almost gro-
tesquely extravagant in savage grandeur. The castle was
Fort Bellegarde, built nearly two hundred years ago by
394 ON FOOT IN SPAIN
Louis XIV., and doubtless a very strong place for self-
defence, I do not think, considering the exigencies of
modern war, it is advantageously placed, cither as a
menace to an invading, or a point d'appui for a covering
force.
It was half-past nine last night when, arrived at Perpig-
nan, I found my way to the Hotel de V Europe, sufficiently
tired with my sixteen hours' journey, but well repaid by
what I had seen of the country passed througii.
To-day I shall devote to looking around this extremely
prettily-situated place ; to-morrow take the through express
for Paris, stop there awhile, and see my artist friends and
their works for the coming salon, and then " GOD SAVE
THE Queen," and— Ho for home ! which I trust to find
blooming with spring. Certainly I have this year dodged
English winter in a highly satisfactory manner. I have
passed nearly five months very agreeably and instructively,
experienced much pleasure, and enlarged my stock of in-
formation in the most reliable of all ways ; and that, too,
at a less than no expense, for had I remained quietly in
England, I should certainly have disbursed more money
for no satisfaction in the world that I can perceive, unless
a series of trials of constitution and temper against depress-
ing weather and colds in the head can be considered as
such. And if anyone, encouraged by my example, takes
heart of grace, a light kit, a few circular notes, and his
ticket for Spain, I can promise him that, unless he there
makes himself decidedly disagreeable — which of course he
will not— every Spaniard, on learning he is English, will
treat him as a personal friend ; that his money will go
FAY J USTED CON BIOS:
395
farther, and procure him better fare and quarters than at
any English watering-place ; that he will find the climate
exhilarating and healthy, and the annoyances and dangers
of the country greatly exaggerated ; and to him I say in
the phraseology of Spain : " Vaya listed con Dios, y Imen
provecho le haga a nsted'' — "Go you with God, and much
may it profit your grace."
THE END.
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