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. A
J  O  U  R  N E
THROUGH
S  P A  I N\
IN   THE   YEARS    I 7 8 6   AND    I 7 8 7" WITH PARTICULAR ATTENTION
TO THE
agriculture, manufactures, commerce, population," TAXES, and revenue
OF 'At COUNTRY;
. AND
REMARKS
IN PASSINC THROUCH
A   PART  OF FRANCE.
By JOSEPH-   T O W N S E N D, A.M,
rector   of   pewsey, wilts; and late of clare-hall, cambridge.
IN    THREE     VOLUMES. _VOL. III.
london: TRINTED FOR C. DULY, IN THE FOULTRY* M. DCC. Xtl
ERRATA;
Page line. 19.   16. for Ciudador, leg,: Ciudad, or. 21.   17.     O man, %e O mal, 79.    5.     hijos de dalgo, kgc hijos dftlgo.
316.   16.     dth more to.
CONTENTS
F
VOL. III.
■      . Pase
OTAGE from Cadiz to Malaga, with
Obfervations on the Influx into the Mediterranean*, and Sea Breezes ■— I Malaga, with an Account of its Wines — 10 'The Environs of Malaga,        —       — 35 Journey from Malaga to Granada, with general Obfervations on the Ploughs of Qpain — —> — 43
Granada, with an Account of the Alhambra, Silk Manufacture, the Expuljion of the Moors, and ConjeSlures refpcSling the Formation oj Nitre - 55
Journey from Granada to Carthagena, with
Obfervations on Poverty and Poor Laws 96 Carthagena, with the Dock-Tard, Galley Slaves, the Fijherics, Manufacture of Fjparto Rufh, Barilla, Commerce, Dif-eafes. Manners, &c.        -—      — 121 Journey, fr m Cart hi gena, through Murcia,
to Alicant — — 149
^.licantj its Commerce arid Improvements 168
Alicant
iv CONTENTS.
Page
Alicant, its Workhoufe and Citadel — 184 Environs of Alicant, with the Huerta and
Pant ana —- — — 191 Par ilia, and its correfponding Species 198 Granakermes, and its Natural Hi/lory 202 Loclifts, and their Hi/lory — — 206 Weights and Meafures of Alicant — 223 Journey from Alicant to Valencia     — 225
Valencia, its Situation, Buildings, PiSiures, Univerfity, Workhoufe, Monte Pio, Ma-nufaBures of Silk, Tiles, &c. Commerce, Agriculture, Amufements, Cujloms, &c. 235
Journey from Valencia to Barcelona through Morviedro, Benicarlo, cTortofa, and Tarragona —• — 290
Return to Barcelona, with Obfervations on the Population, Taxes, and Revenue of Catalonia, an Account of the In qui-jition, and fpecial Remarks on the Caufes
of the Profperity of that Provime 319 The Inquifition at Barcelona *— 333
Phyficians at Barcelona — 340
Injiruclions and Inquiries of Philip II. to
gain a Knowledge of his Kingdom — 348
VOYAGE
VOYAGE
from
CADIZ   to MALAGA.
ON Friday, 23d of March, at eight in the morning, I went on board a little brig, which came from Yarmouth, and was bound for Malagaj but as it was an hour too late for the tide when we got un~ der way, we had the mortification to fee other veffels make good their pafTage, whilfl we, after beating about the bay fix hours, were reduced to the necefiity of coming to an anchor. For my confolation, I had thus an opportunity of dining once more with my amiable friend count de Greppi, and of lodging again under the hofpitable roof of Mr. Duff.
Vol. III. £ Early
Early the next morning we fet fail with a pleafant breeze, and before night, entering the (traits of Gibraltar, had the fatif-faction to view the proud rock, at the light of which every Britifh. heart mould triumph in the recollection, not fo much of the courage of its brave defender, as of his generous companion for his befiegers in the hour- of their diftrefs. ' As we had the advantage of the current, we ilackened fail, that we might be certain of not paffing Malaga before the morning. But, by the time that we had entered the bay, and began to fee the city at a difiance, the wind died away, and for two hours we found our-felves becalmed. However, as the day advanced, the fea breeze got up, and foon carried us to the place of our deftination.
We have here two phenomena, univer-fally noticed, but never fufficiently accounted for: the conilant influx into the Mediterranean, and the fea breeze. Both have occupied the attention of philosophers j and their Solutions, however fatif-factory to themfclves, have not, as I conceive, removed the difficulties involved in thefe fubje&s.
3 Doctor
Doctor Halley, in his experiments to af-certain the quantity evaporated from the Mediterranean Sea, placing a venel of falt-water over burning coals, brought it to the temperament of the air in our hotted fum-mer; and at the end of two hours, having found the evaporation and the proportion of the Surfaces to each other, from thefe he formed his calculation. He then attempted to difcover the quantity of water annually poured into the Mediterranean by all its rivers, making his calculation by the produce of the Thames; and finding this unequal to the evaporation, he concluded, that he had afiigned a fufficient caufe for the conflant influx.   How inaccurate the pre-mifes! how hafty the conclufion !   Not to mention his comparing the difcharge from rapid ftrearns, borne with impetuonty into the Mediterranean,   and  retaining their freftinefs at the difiance of many leagues from more, with the more humble produce of the Thames, creeping almoft impcrcep* tibly along, and loft as foon as it has reached the fea; not to mention the impropriety of this ccmparifon, it may be fufiicicnt to remark, that the whole quantity of water B 2 con-
I   4 ]
contained in his vciTel was brought to the temperature of the air in our hottefl fum-mer. No wonder then, that he fhould make the evaporation from the furface of the Mediterranean amount to two hundred and eighty millions of tons per day. But that furface is feldom, and hut for very tranfient moments, of the fame degree of heat with the incumbent atmofphere, be-caufe every breeze mult make a conlidera-ble variation in its temperature, by commixing the waters from a confiderable depth with thofe that are Superficial. In a moil interefting voyage among the Alps, by M. de SaufTure, we find fome experiments conducted by himfelf on the lake of Geneva, by which it appears, that on the 6th of Auguft, 1774, the thermometer of Reaumur at the depth of three hundred and twelve feet, flood at eight degrees and an half, when near the furface it was fifteen degrees, and, in the air, twenty degrees.
Here we find five degrees of difference between the heat of the atmofphere and the Surface of the water in calm weather; but how much greater would have been the variation, had the lake been ruffled by a
florm,
T   5 ]
Storm, more efpecially had the waters been troubled to the depth of fix hundred and twenty feet, where, as it feems, the thermometer funk down to four degrees three-twentieths.
Hence it appears, that the calculations of Dr. Halley are ill grounded. That his concluiion is erroneous, will be evident, if we reflect, that fuppofing the evaporation to exceed the annual fupply from rivers, the Mediterranean Sea would be constantly growing more briny than the ocean, till, in procefs of time, it would become one folid mats of fait.
This being the cafe, fome other caufe mult be aligned for this interesting phenomenon. Supposing the fact to be well eftablifhed, that the influx at the Straits of Gibraltar does really exist, without any corresponding efflux by the fame channel, there mult be fome invisible communication between the Mediterranean and the ocean; and this, considering the Strong convulsion our globe has at fome period Suffered, is by no means improbable.
The other phenomenon, not Sufficiently accounted Sor, is the Sea breeze.   It has
B 3 leea
[   6 ]'
been fuppofed to arife merely from the accumulation of heat on the earth by day; as the land breeze is conceived to originate from the diminution of that heat by night. But we might enquire, whether the furface of the earth, by night, becomes colder than the furface of the water? if not, mould not the fea breeze continue all the night ? but this would be contrary to fact. That accurate obferver, Dampier, has given a good defcription of thefe alternate changes in the direction of the wind on the coaft, and at a few leagues difiance from the land. He fays, " The fea breeze begins about nine " in the morning, fo gently, as if it were " afraid to approach the more; and then, " as if unwilling to offend, it makes a halt, " and feems ready to retire.   It increafes " till noon, and dies away about five in the " evening."
From the refult of fome experiments confirmed by my own obfervation, I am induced to believe that the fea breeze originates in the afcent of vapour from the fea, and the land breeze from the condenfation of that vapour.
That one cubic foot of water may be
con-
converted into Sixteen thoufand feet of fleam, in the medium prefTure of our atmofphere, we learn from Mr. Watt; and although vapour formed by the fun is not fo rare as fleam arifing from the furface of boiling water, yet we know that the fpace it occupies, and the force of its expanfion, are confiderable.  To afcertain this matter, I took a twelve ounce phial, half filled with water, in which I placed a tube, two feet long, and nearly one-quarter of an inch diameter in its bore.   This tube I cemented fo perfectly, that no air could pafs between it and the mouth of the phial.   Thus prepared, I expofed my apparatus to the fun, when inflantly a vapour began to form, of a force fufficient to overcome the preffure of the atmofphere, and by degrees to make the water rife up four-and-twenty inches in my tube.   But whilst even the thinnefl cloud was paffing before the fun, the water funk in the tube with great rapidity, rifing again ilowly after the gleam returned. At fun-fet, when the whole of the vapour was condenfed, and a dew collected on the internal furface of the phial, the water funk
B 4 down
I   8 ]
down again till it had found its level. At the clofing of the day, the dew collected on that fide of the phial which was turned from the fun; but in the night it was again taken up, and the whole before the morning was depofited on the other fido nearer! to the window, being always con-denfed on the fide which was relatively cold.
How often do we obferve the fun difii-pating a thick fog, and converting it into that fpecies of vapour, which, when the thermometer is above fifty-five degrees, is invifible. M. de Sauflure remarked upon Col Ferret, a mountain of the Alps, bounding the Alice blanche, one thoufand one hundred and ninety-five toifes, or about fcven thoufand feet above the level of the fea, that whenever the fun Shone Strongly upon the valley, it diffolved the clouds as loon as they entered it, But this never happened oppofite the glaciers j for there, as if attracted by the ice, they defcended rapidly, and feemed to Spread themSelves upon it.   § 865.
From Some of the higheft rocks he often
law
faw the vapours, after fun-fet, gradually depreffed, and concentrating themfelves in the bottom of the vallies.   § 1126.
Agreeable to thefe remarks mariners obferve, that wind is generated by a fingle cloud.
During the time, therefore, that vapour Is produced, the wind blows from the fea; but whilft the condenfation lafls, it comes off the land.
We availed ourfelves of a gentle fea breeze; and, traveriing the bay, we came into the harbour*
MALAGA.
MALAGA.
IN failing up the Mediterranean, when nrtt you open Malaga, you fee it deeply embayed, and on the land fide furrounded by high and rugged mountains, which feem to be deititute of foil, and, therefore, not fufceptible of cultivation but, as you approach, the profpect every way improves, the vineyards are dirtinc~t.ly feen on the declivities, hanging towards the fun, and all the lower lands appear to be exceedingly | productive.
As foon as we had dropt our anchor, an officer appeared, to whom I communicated my defire of going immediately on more, to deliver a letter to the marquis of Valle-hermofo, captain-general of the province.
Having
[ « ]
Having looked at the dire&ion, after due examination refpecting health, he gave us Prattique, to the no fmall Satisfaction of our matter, who feared that we might have been obliged to wait for it two days, as often happens, arifmg either from the per-verfenefs or neglect of the officer on duty,
Malaga is fituated in a valley of no great extent, on the fide of a deep ravin, which in uimmer contains no water, but in winter affords a bed to a confiderable river. The houSes are high; the ftreets are contracted, many of them not more than eight feet wide, others not fo wide; all badly paved, and dirty to a proverb.   It is divide ed into fix pariflies, and contains forty-one thoufand five hundred and ninety-two fouls 3 of which by far the greatefl proportion is of females; becaufe, of thofe who arrive at the age of maturity, and go out to labour, here are found fix women to one man.   They have twenty-five convents; fifteen for monks, and ten for nuns; with nine hofpitals, and one beatcrio.
Of the buildings, whether public or private, the only one, in the leafr, worthy of attention, is the cathedral, an edifice begun
A. D.
A. D. 1528, and not yet finished. It is indeed two hundred years Since it was fo far brought to a conclufion as to be fitted for the performance of divine ferviee; but notwithstanding new taxes are granted for its completion, and have been collected for near feventy years, it remains with one fin-? gle (fewer out of lix contained in the original defign. The dimensions are three hundred and Sixty feet by one hundred and eighty, with one hundred and thirty-five in height. It is a noble pile; but the part which moSt rivets the attention, is the choir, admirable for the perfection of its carved works, reprefenting in very bold re** lief the twelve apoftles and the moSt djfi tinguifhed of the faints.
This bifhopric is worth a hundred and fifty thoufand ducats, or JT. 16,479. 9J» I0^* But then, one-third of this revenue is dif-pofed of by the king. The whole chapter confiSts of the bifhop, with eight dignitaries, twelve canons, twelve minor canons, and the fame number of prebendaries. Of the former, the dean receives fix hundred pounds a year; but the other dignitaries only four hundred and fifty pounds,
The
The convents, though numerous, are few of them remarkable, either for architecture, or for any monuments of art. Of the friars, the Francifcans feem to take the lead, and to be moSt the objects of veneration among the common people ; of thefe, they have four orders, but I am not acquainted with their distinctive characters. A gentleman, who is no friend to the monastic institutions, was fo obliging as to give me the fubfequent defcription, but this relates only to externals:
Barb fans poux, et poux fans barb: Barb et poux: ni poux ni barb.
Among thefe, the Capuchins appear to be the only ufeful members of fociety, giving themfelves up to the ferviee of the poor; yet even they might be drfpenfed with, and their place Supplied with more advantage to the public, by the fathers of the oratory, or congregation of S. Philip Neri; who, although not bound by vows, are more laborious and more extenfively ufeful, than all the regulars of the monaftic tribes.
As
[   H ]
As one of my friends was retired, with other young people, to this congregation for a few days, to be engaged in reading, prayer, and meditation, previous to their receiving the euchariil at Ealter; I went to vifit him in his retreat, and was much pleafed with the attention paid by the fathers in preparing their minds for this Solemnity.
In the evening I returned to hear the penitential Sermon and the miSerere ; when, , as ufual, the lights were extinguished, and the flagellation, accompanied by the mife-rere, was begun; it became evident, by the fervor of their devotion and the vehemence of their discipline, more than commonly protracted, that the penitents, either deeply impreffed with a fenfe of guilt, were more than commonly folicitous to placate an offended deity; or that, mistaking his nature, they earnestly deiired to pleafc him by their voluntary Sufferings. It is much to be lamented, that the fathers of the oratory, fo highly to be refpected for their good intentions, Should not hold up the idea of reformation to their penitents, rather than flatter
ter and deceive them with the vain hope of thus making an atonement for their crimes.
Thefe fathers ufe the difcipline on Wed-nefdays and Fridays, about feven in the evening, becaufe at that time, immediately after the vefpers, they rehearfe their mat-tins ; but all the religious orders, who rife at midnight to this ferviee, perform their flagellation in its proper feafon; and many of them do it with fuch violence, that in the morning, the places where they flood, are found fprinkled with their blood. The bifhop of Malaga, although diftinguifhed for his benevolence and piety, and, in the opinion of mankind, free from every flain, yet is faid to practife fecret difcipline with more feverity than the mod zealous of the monks.
This good bifhop, not Satisfied with giving thus his body to the fcourge, gives more than half his goods to feed the poor, who affemble every morning at his doors, to receive each a little bit of money, and from thence difperfe themfelves among the convents, where they never fail to get fome bread and broth,
Befide
r is j
Beside thefe general benefactors, many of the merchants are exceedingly liberal in their donations to the poor; and among them, no one is more distinguished than D. Jofeph Martinis, a gentleman equally celebrated for the extent of his information, the hofpitality of his table, and the bountiful atTiftance which he never fails to give to objects of diStrefs.   The poor are at all times welcome to his doors, where money is daily distributed, and for them every day his caldron boils.    Plis moft intimate friend alfured me, that, with his own hands, he gave them more than eight hundred pounds a year.   About eleven in the morning they begin to fwarm about his habitation, young and old, the feeble and the robult, men, women, and children, clothed in rags, and half devoured by vermin j where, feated on the ground, they employ themfelves in the moft difguft-ing occupation, till the hour for distributing the meat and broth arrivesafter which, they either lie down to Sleep, or difperfe themfelves about the Streets to beg, varying, as it may be readily con-a ceived,
[   '7 J
Reived, their plan, according to the variation of the feafon.
With fuch encouragement for beggars, no wonder that they mould abound in Malaga, where the lazy can have no inducement to employ themfelves in labour, and where the profligate, when they fhall have wafted their fubilance, may know for a certainty that they fhall never be in want of bread. Hence it comes to pais, that in the city, few traces of industry are feen, whilft filth and naftinefs, immorality and vice, wretchednefs and poverty, the inevitable conlequences of undiftinguifliing benevolence, prevail. How evident is it from Hence, that he, who finds employment for the poor, is their greatest friend; whilft he, who indifcriminateiy feeds them, Should be ranked among their enemies.
Multitudes of beggars, infefting every fireet, mark a bad police; and certainly few cities have more caufe than Malaga'to complain of this. For fome time I could not conceive the reafon, why, wherever I had fupped, I was constantly attended to my lodging by a fervant with a light; but ob-ferving upon fome occaiion, that fuch at-
Vol. III. C tendance
tendance would be needlefs, becaufe trie Stars Shone bright, and the difiance was in-confiderable; I was informed, that the fer-vant and the light were not merely for comfort, but for fafety, becaufe robberies and murders were frequent in the night. Indeed v/hen I was there, an officer, returning unattended to his lodging, was affault-ed in the Street by thieves, a*nd, upon making refiftance, was Slabbed in the back by one, whilft another robbed him.   In the laffc Sixteen months they reckoned Seventy murders j for which, not one criminal had been brought to juftice; and in one year, as I am credibly informed, a hundred and five perfons fell in the fame manner. Similar to this had been the confequence of grofs neglect and mistaken lenity at Cadiz, till count O'Reilley became its governor. Whenever fuch a man fhall be named to the government of Malaga, the fame Herculean labour will be undertaken here, and probably with the fame good effect.
Their form of municipal government is excellent, but the defect is in its mal-admi-nift ration.
At the head of this department Stands
the
t 19 ]
the governor* reprefenting majeSty,1 and himfclf, when abfent, reprefented by the corregidor with his alcalde mayor, the former refembling the mayor of our corporations, the latter performing the office of recorder. Both thefe are in the nomination of the crown. The alcalde goes his rounds in the beginning of the night, attended by an efcrivanoi
Of the regidofes, or aldermen, two in rotation prefide monthly. Thefe have the privilege of felling their places, or of naming a fuccelfor ; but ihould they neglect, whilft. living, to difpofe of their office, it goes by fucceffion to the heir, either fon or brother, being hijos de la ciadador, free citizens. Should they have purchafed, they may eafily contrive to reimburfe themfelves.
The alcaides de barrio, or petty constables, are twelve, of which fix are named by the regidores, the other fix are chofen by the people. They have Staves, and walk the Streets, two hours each, every night. They have the power to arreft till morning, and may command the afliftance of the military,
C 2 The
[   so ]
The alguazil mayor, chofen by the rer gidores from among themfelves, like our conflable of the hundred, is endued with more extenfive authority than the alcaldes de barrio -} having the power of arreft over a whole district, yet fubject always to the alcalde mayor, and obliged to give him an account of every thing he has done.
The efcrivanos, or public notaries and fcriveners, are twenty - four, to examine witneffes, and make minutes. No deposition can be taken but by them, nor any judgment pronounced but on their report.
The Jyndicos are two, chofen annually by the people, to watch both for them and for the king, that neither they may be op-preffed, nor the revenue be defrauded. Of thefe, one is Subjected to the approbation of the crown, whilft his aflbciate is altogether independent of the court. This officer, called perfonero del comun, is by the patent of creation, dated 5th May, 1766, like a Roman tribune, armed with his veto in the affembly of the regidores, among whom he fits, and may communicate at all times with the king, cither in perfon, when
it
[   « ]
it fuits him to demand an audience, or by letter. Without his confent, the regidores cannot regulate the price of provifions, and, when regulated, he infpects the quality.
The prefent alcalde mayor, little refped-cd for his perfonal appearance, lefs admired for the endowments of his mind, and not proof himfelf againft corruption, feems to have neither inclination nor abilities to curb the rapacity of the efcrivanos or notaries, who, taking bribes to the right and to the left, prevent juftice, by drawing up falfe reports; always prepared to fkreen for money the vileft offenders. Hence the adage,
o lien; 0 man ; tienta al cfcribano.
Murders and arTaflinations, with every fpecies of excefs and violence, mult, without the ftrenuous exertions of the magif-trate and the ftrict execution of the laws, be frequent in a country, where, whenever the wind blows over land, all the pafTions are inflamed, in fome perfons almoft to frenzy. And yet here, juftice, when moft awakened, purfues offenders with a tardy ftep,
C 3 flow
[ « ]
ilow in its approach, uncertain in its ven-* geance. Innumerable inftances are cited of criminals, who have died forgotten in the prifons -s and of fome who, whilft under Sentence of death, having married and produced a numerous offspring, have been brought forth to execution, when all recollection of their crimes had been long fmce obliterated. A friend of mine in Malaga informed me, that he faw a woman, after nine years confinement, hanged, for having poifoned two hufbands, and one mother-in-law.
The ufual pretext for this neglect, is the defire, by repeated examinations of the criminal at diftant periods, and by the enquiries confequent on his confefTions, to get a knowledge of his accomplices \ but the misfortune is, that by this delay, the purpofes of juftice are defeated.
In Summer the inhabitants of thefe fultry regions, excluding as much as poifib.le the fun confine themfelves to their habitations throughout the day; but when the pverwhelming heat is Succeeded by the re-Srefhing coolneSs of the evening, they wander abroad, and when the light is gone,
all the young people bathe for hours in. the fea. The feces, however, do not bathe promifcuoufly, but feparate, and at a convenient difiance from each other. At fuch feafons, to prevent intrufion, the fpot where the ladies are, is guarded by fenti-nels with their loaded mufkets; and mould a gentleman be fo indifcreet as to fwim round to them, it mufl be at the hazard of his life. Whenever, therefore, a young perfon is determined to intrude, he goes in difcuife, as the female attendant of fome eafy fair one, and in that character paffes unobferved.
This practice of bathing every night, is not defigned fo much for pleafure as for health, being meant to obviate every in* convenience experienced from the heat. Yet notwithstanding all precautions, the difeafes of a relaxed fibre are mofl preva<-lent; for, not to mention thofe which arife from irritability of nerves as the confequence of debility, tertians and putrid fevers rage with fuch violence, that more than three thoufand died laft year in the hofpital of S. Juan de Dios, befide multitudes in the city and its environs.
Q 4 I hap-
[ 4 J
I happened to be at Malaga in the holy week, and although the ceremonies are not equal to thofe of Barcelona, yet they are conducted with fome degree of Solemnity,, and afford much amufement to the vulgar.
On ThurSday morning the conSecrated ho ft was depofited in a maufoleum, erected for the purpofe at a great expencej and of , three keys, one was tied round the bifhop's neck, who leaving fome of the canons to keep watch and ward, which they did through the night, retired himfelf to dine with thirteen poor men, after which he warned their feet.
In the evening they fang the miSerere, accompanied by foft mufic, and with fuch expreffion that fcarcely any one, endued with fenhbility, could refrain from tears.
On Friday, by feven in the morning, nearly ten thoufand people were affembled in the great fquare to view proccflions; but juft as a crucifix was feen entering at one corner of the fquare, whilft. the beloved difciple, with the blefled Virgin, made their appearance at the other, a Sudden fhower compelled the multitude to difperfe
for
for Shelter. Thus unfortunately, the meeting of the fon and mother was prevented j otherwife thefe, and a variety of images, were to have acted their feveral parts. John was to have expreffed his forrow by lifting up his hand, the bleffed Virgin would have fainted, and all the people would have been diifolved in tears.
In the evening every one reforted to the cathedral, the facred lights were extin-guifhed, and the miferere was again repeated, after the hofl had been removed from the fepulchre to the high altar. This, to a good catholic, mould be a mofl defire-able moment, becaufe he may gain one thoufand and fixty days indulgence, every time he repeats " praifed be the holy hearts f< of Chrift and of the Virgin."
On Saturday morning, the refurrection was announced with all the iifual tokens of exulting joy, and every one prepared to keep the feaft. For this purpofe more than a thoufand lambs had been brought into the market the preceding night, and after the example of the Ifraelites, every family which could afford to purchafe one, was zealous to keep up the remembrance of
the
f 26 ]
the chriftlan pafTover. Light was re-kindled, and confecrated j and to reprefent the bright luminary of the church, a wax. candle, twelve feet high, and twelve inches in diameter, pierced by five awls, was placed near the altar. Attendance on this ceremony procures for the penitent four-fcore days indulgence. The value of which may be estimated, either by money or by corporal feveritiesj becaufe, as Mr. Gibbon, * who in this cafe is a competent witnefs, informs us, four pounds for the rich, and nine millings for the poor, or three thoufand James, are equal to one year's penance.
In the evening I obferved hundreds of lambs, decorated with coloured ribbons, led by the boys about the Streets. The market for thefe continued the three days of Eafter, during which they enter free of every duty: whereas at other feafons, although calves and lambs entering the city are difcharged from the millones, there is paid for them an alcavala of four per cent, on the value.
The country round Malaga appears wild and broken.   The mountains  are high,
rugged,
rugged, pointed, and at their fummits destitute of foil, yet cultivated wherever a vine can be fixed. The rock under the broken fragments of fchift is limeflone and marble, The fruit trees are the algar-roba, ngs, almonds, vines, oranges, and lemons, with the aloes, producing here the prickly pear in fuch abundance, that the tithe of them is let for thirty thoufand reals, or three hundred pounds a year.
The chief dependance of this country is on the vines, Thefe are cultivated with much labour, and at a great expence; for befide the common pruning twice a year, and the collecting of the fruit, all the earth near each plant muff, be twice moved. Previous to the winter it is collected round the ilem, that the roots may be, kept dry and healthy during the wet feafon; and before the great heats of fummer, it is formed into a dim to retain the water, that the vine may not droop for want of moif-ture.
When it is conhdered that thefe vineyards are always on the declivity of hills, inclined towards the fcorching fun, it may £>e readily conceived that the labour is 7 fevere ;
fevere; and that the people, who with unremitted application perform this talk, can never deferve the character of drones. The peafants of no country upon earth are more patient of heat, of hunger, and of thirtt, or capable of greater exertions, than this very people, who have been accufed of indolence. For my part, from what I have obferved, and have been able to collect, I am fatisiied, that if the Spaniards of the interior provinces are unemployed, it is to be attributed neither to the climate, nor to their constitutions; but either to the neglects of government, or to other accidental caufes already noticed and explained.
The expence attending the cultivation of a vineyard is fo considerable, being equal to three-quarters of the produce, that none but the lands unfit for corn are converted to this ufe, and many which formerly yielded wine in great abundance are now neglected.   According   to  the Statement of Oforio, who wrote towards the clofe of the laft century, three ■'- gallons of wine, the produce   of twice  that quantity of grapes, as it came from the prefs, coft one Shilling and two-pence for the labour, be -
ing
ing the very price at which it was fold in the villages, when the grape was plentiful. Notwithstanding the diminution in the quantity of land allotted to the vine, there are, in the district, of Malaga, fourteen thousand vine-preSfes, chiefly employed in making the rich wines, which, if white, from the nature of the country, is called mountain; if red, from the colour, vino tmtd, known to us by the name of tent.
For the purpofe of making thefe wines fuller in the body, and fweeter than they would naturally be, the grapes are left to be very ripe, then being cut, they are ex-pofed to the fun to evaporate their moif-ture; after which, they are preffed and pur into verfels, with a due proportion of infpif-fated vinous fyrop. Some late experiments of M. John Murphy, prove that the mountains of Malaga can produce a light and pleafant white wine, equal in quality to the beft Sherry. To obtain this, when he has, gathered his fruit, he combs off the grapes from the Stem, before he commits them to the prefs. I have tafted the produce both in England, and at his table, and think it already Superior to the Sherry, commonly to
be
[  P 3
be met with, and have no doubt that fid will improve it every year, till he has brought it to be equal to the heft.
This wine he fells for fixteen pounds the butt, of one hundred and thirty-five gallons, delivered on board the (hip; whereas merry fells for twenty-four, and is frequently fpoiled with brandy.
Good mountain is fold from thirteen to fixteen pounds the butt, according to quality and age.
It is reckoned, that from eight hundred to a thoufand verlels enter this port every year, of which about one-tenth are Spanifh; and the exports in wine, fruit, oil, and fiih, are computed at about three hundred and feventy-five thoufand pounds per annum $ but there have been times when it has been confiderably more. M, Martinis alone one year exported five thoufand butts of wine, and other merchants in the fame proportion to their ufual fales. Their filli are anchovies, of which, in years of great abundance, they have fold ten thoufand baricas of two quintals each.
In my little excurfions round the city, I vifited the Victoria, a convent built in the
valley
[  3' 1
valley between the old Moorish fortrefs, and the hill on which Ferdinand erected his battery. My guide, a good old monk, endeavoured to amufe me with a legendary tale refpect.ing this Spot, and the reafon of its having been thus honoured; but my attention was otherwife engaged, for I was taking notice of fome people bufily employed in pulling up oats from a fine crop of wheat. From their mode of winnowing their grain, after the mares have trodden it with their feet, their feed corn rauft be very foul; whereas, with the Simple machine I have referred to, the drum and principle of which was firfl defcribed by Papin, they might fave the expence of pulling up the oats, and keep their land much cleaner than at prefent.
How wonderful is it, that this beautiful machine is not better known, and that it mould not yet have been univerfally adopted. Dr. Papin invented it in 1689, merely for the purpofes of raifing water, and of Supplying deep mines with air; but, in Holland, it was adapted to the uSe of hufband. men, for winnowing their corn. This great philoSopher published his difcovery to the
world
t  3? ]
world in a valuable work called Recueil M diverfes Pieces tottchant qnelques nouvellcs Machinesy printed at CalTel, in 1695, ^ 1° called this machine Rot at His Suffer et Pre/-fir.
I have been the more particular on this Subject., becaufe a tallow-chandler in London has lately alTumed the invention to himfelf and taken out a patent, although, as it thus appears, neither the machine itfelf, nor the purpofes to which he would apply it, have any claim to novelty.
Near the convent of Victoria I took notice of fome blue marly clay, of which are made the earthen jugs, called bucaros and alcarrazas, ufed in this part of Spain for cooling water. It is remarkable, that when the fcorching terra! wind prevails, liquids expofed to it in thefe jugs, become as cold as if buried in the fnow; but, if Subjected to the influence of the eail wind, they foon grow warm. To explain this, we mull observe that the bucaros being porous, Suffer the water to tranSude, and to cover, as with dew, the external Surface of the veffelj in confequence of which, being expofed to the dry land wind, the evaporation is carried
[   33 3
ried on with rapidity, and, in proportion to the evaporation is the cold thereby produced; whilft the eaft wind, Sweeping along the furface of the fea, becomes fatu-rated with moifture, and therefore not only is itfelf incapable of carrying on the procefs of evaporation, and of increafing cold, but, operating as warm vapour, it has an oppo-fite effect.
The effect of evaporation no where appears more ftriking than in the Eaft Indies, where, for the purpofe of procuring ice, they make large pits in wide extended plains, and nearly filling them with canes, they place on thefe, very mallow pans, un-glazed and porous, and filled with boiling water. Thus expofed during the night to the influence of the land breeze, a pellicle of ice is formed before the morning on the furface of the water, always thicker if the wind has been warmer than ufual.
When I was returned from the Victoria, the young count de Villalcazar, to whom, as well as to his father, I was under the higheft obligations for their polite attentions, invited me to take a ride with him to fee his country-houfe called the Retiro.
Vol. III. D It
f   34 1
It is indeed a beautiful retreat, fituated on a declivity at the feet of the mountains, and not far diftant from the fea; both which, with Malaga, contribute to enrich its profpe&s. It is a very ancient habitation, in the form of a caftle; but as it was never ftrong, it mult, have been defigned only to prevent furprife from the nocturnal vifits of the Moorifh pirates. The numerous fountains in the garden are pretty, and well fupplied with water. The fruit trees are luxuriant. Here oranges, lemons, limes, citrons, olives, vines, apricots, figs, and almonds, mix together in beautiful confufion. Could I have prolonged my ftay at Malaga, I mould frequently have vifited this enchanting fpot.
This little excurfion prepared me for one to a greater diftance from the city.
Whilft I was attending the folemnities of Eafter in the cathedral, I became acquainted with a perfon who happened to ftand near to me, and wrho, after anfwering my enquiries, and explaining to me fuch ceremonies as moft excited my attention, had the goodnefs to invite me to his houfe. Struck with the franknefs of his manner,
I ac-
f 3J 1
I accepted the invitation and went home with him, where I had the happinefs of finding, in the perfon of his father, one of the moft fenfible and moft intelligent of thofe, who honoured me with their friend-fhip and efteem.
After I became more intimate in the family, this gentleman, called don Felix So-lefio, prefted me to fpend a few days with him at his country-feat. On the eve of my departure my time was precious ; yet, fuch was the cordiality of his invitation, that I determined to comply with it.
On Thurfday, 12th April, we left the city, and, travelling weft ward, in a few hours we arrived at S. Carlos, near to Aroyo de la Miel, in the vicinity of which the fnow continued ftill unmeltcd on the mountains. Here don Felix has juft nniihed a fpacious manfion, with an extenlive garden; the latter well planted with every thing the foil and climate can admit of; the former, though vaft, yet inelegant, and deftitute of tafte. Utility being every where confulted, without the leaft attention to appearance, the poultry-yard and pig-fties are in the rfont of the houfe, and in the whole pile
D 2 there
f 36 J
there is not one good room, nor the leafl regard to fymmetry, but all the apartments are Scattered and void of order, as if built without a plan. At his table appears the greateft affluence, and nothing but plate is to be feen: yet the fame want of fymmetry prevails, and the fame deficiency of refinement, as if he had previouily determined to have nothing modern. His eldeft fon, my firft acquaintance, feems here to be unemployed -r whilft the feccnd, an active youth, overlooks the labourers, and occafionally works among them.
The eftate they cultivate, is more than two leagues in length, and one in breadth, by the fea fide, and hanging to the fun. Much of the land is good, the reft only fit for fheep; and the whole quantity, as near as I could calculate, is about twelve thoufand acres, for the fee-fimple of which he gave twenty thoufand hard dollars, or four thoufand pounds fterling.
It is but two years fince he made the purchafe, and- in that ftiort ipace of time he has planted two hundred thoufand vines, five thoufand olives, one hundred and twenty thoufand mulberries, five hundred and
eighty
eighty figs, three hundred pomegranates, feven hundred lemons, and as many orange trees, befide a great number of fugar canes. He has added to his works a tan-yard, and a paper-mill, each upon an extenfive Scale.
To conduct, all thefe operations, he has engaged one hundred and twelve men, the labourers at five reals (one, milling) a day, the mafons at nine. Laft year he conftant-ly employed between feven and eight hun~ dred.
His prefent flock upon his farm con Sifts of fifty-fix oxen, twelve hundred fheep, four hundred goats, and one hundred and fifty-eight pigs; but all thefe will be increafed.
The fhepherds fleep near their flocks, and every night a watchman well armed rides round the whole eftate, to fee that all is fafe. Were it not for this precaution, the thieves by profeffion, and the Smugglers, when diflreffed, would commit frequent depredations.
In the midft of the eftate, a vaft quarry has been opened, and will be enlarged for the united purpofes of procuring Stone, and of giving vent to fprings, which are here So copious, that from the mouth of the D 3 quarry
[   38 J
quarry there irliies a confiderable river, dif-charging itfelf with great rapidity, and watering as it flows more than a thoufand acres of his richeft land.
The higheft rocks upon thefe premifes confift of white marble, the lower ones of limcft.one, and nearer to the level of the fea, there is tuf, or a kind of petrefaction, by incruftation of calcareous matter, in-clofing the branches and leaves of trees, with other vegetable and animal productions, not marine, but Similar to thofe of the adjacent lands. Defcending lower ftill, near to the fea, wc find the furface covered with fragments of fchift, and of white quartz.
In this part of his eftate, adjoining to the fea, and near to the Aroyo de la Miel, he pointed out to me two Roman baths, joined by a Mofaic pavement, and as it appears, formerly covered by the fame fbof; the one twenty feet long, the other fourteen, each twelve feet wide; the lefTer furnished with a ftove, and both readily fup-plied with water, either from the fea, or from the rivulet. The Steps to each are twelve feet long, one foot wide, and nine * inches
inches deep. Nearer to the beach appear fome vaults, with other fragments of Mo-faic pavement.
This enterprifing man, a Genoefe by birth, is a card-maker, and has an advantageous contract with the government; but happily, being a man of fpirit, he employs all his gains in thefe improvements; and, Should he continue to meet with protection from the court, in him it will be feen, that the man, although a Stranger, who gives activity to wealth, and calls forth the re-fources of a country, far from being the object of jealoufy and envy, deferves every poffible encouragement, and lhould, as long as it Suits him to rehde in it, be enrolled among the citizens, and partake of all their privileges.
In his card manufactory, in honour of the marquis of Sonora, he employs two hundred people, to fulfil his engagements with the minifter, being bound to Supply a given quantity for the ferviee of the colonies. Thefe he delivers at two reals the pack, and government fells them in America for twenty, that is, for a dollar, or four (hillings Sterling, although better D 4 might
[  4° ]
might be had for lefs than two pence halfpenny, or one real. In confequence of this extortion, the demand falls fo Short, that there remain undifpofed of four thoufand boxes, each containing four thoufand packs; yet the contractor continues to deliver the fame quantity as ufual, receiving monthly on account, through Martinis of Malaga, one hundred and fifteen thoufand reals, or eleven hundred and fifty pounds.
There is at Malaga a benevolent institution, well fuited to the condition of a country whofe hufbandmen are destitute of capitals. It is called Monti pio, and is in fact, a provincial bank, eftablifhed for the purpofe of lending money, without interest, to farmers, to employ it in the cultivation of their lands. Thefe funds arife from vacant benefices, called EJpolios y Vacantes. In Gallicia the fame funds are applied in the encouragement and promotion of their fisheries.
The antiquities of this city, with its adjacent country, muSt to thofe who have a taSte for fuch purfuits, be highly interest -ing. It was built by the Phoenicians, and paffed fucceffively under the dominion of
the
[   4i 1
the Carthaginians, Romans, Goths, and Moors. The firSt Sovereign who fwayed the fceptre there, making it the feat of empire, was Haly Abenhamith. When this monarch had established his power over the kingdoms of Granada and of Murcia, he marched at the head of his victorious troops to Cordova, where, having flain with his own hand the ufurper Zuleman, he took poffemon of the vacant throne, and left the united empire to his posterity.
It was not till the year 1487, that Ferdinand and Ifabella, after an obstinate refinance, recovered Malaga from the dominion of the Moors. At that period it mull have been a place of confiderable Strength, and two Strong towers, the upper one called Gebalfaro, the other Alcaeava, with their communicating walls, mull have been the chief dependance of the befieged. But its antiquities I leave to men better qualified than mvfclf to treat of.
Before I quitted Malaga, I enquired into the prices of provisions.   The pound there , is of two-and-thirty ounces; but, reduced to fixteen ounces, the prices were as follow :
Beef,
Beef, twelve quartos, or fomething under three pence halfpenny.
Mutton, fourteen ditto, or nearly four pence.
Bread, five ditto, or not quite three halfpence.
Anchovies, three ditto. Thefe have been fold for one quarto the double pound, but fince there has been a demand for them in Naples, the price has rifen.
JOURNEY
JOURNEY
from
MALAGA  to GRANADA,
ON Sunday evening, April 15th, I prepared, with regret, to turn my back upon a city, with which, upon my hrit entrance, I was fo difgufted, that I determined to leave it the fucceeding day. Yet after a three weeks refidence, delighted with the manners of the inhabitants, in leaving it I lamented the fhortnefs of my flay. Having then bid adieu to all my friends, and paid the lait vifit where it was more efpecially due, to the marquis of Val-lehermofo, recommended by his excellency to the care and attention of my guide, forwards on my journey.
t   44 ]
The way, for the fpace of about three leagues, paries along a bottom, {hut in by mountains to the left, but, on the right-hand open to the fea. The whole of this valley is covered with luxuriant crops of corn, as are the adjacent hills with vines-. As we advance towards Velez Malaga, the country appears more broken and occupied by innumerable pointed hills, all rich and cultivated to their very fummits with the vine. The rock in general is fchift, with fome limeftone, and one hill of gypfum. With fuch a rich variety of views, it would not be eafy to find a more delightful ride than this. At the difiance of five leagues wre arrived at Velez.
This city occupies a declivity, and is expofed to the influence of the mid-day fun. It is commanded by a caflle placed on the fummit of the hill, which, as no longer needful for its defence, is fuffered to decay. Here are two parifh churches, fix convents, and, according to the government returns, eight thoufand five hundred and twenty-nine fouls; but they are iiippofed to be, nearer to twelve thoufand.
Much trade is carried on from hence,
chiefly
chiefly for lemons, raifins, figs, almonds, oil, and olives, with fome wine.
The government is in a corregidor, and thirteen regidores, affiiled by the alcalde, alguazil, and thirteen efcrivanos.
As to the accommodations for a traveller, I can fay little, becaufe I was happy in being received under the hofpitable roof of Mrs. Blake, the filter of my banker, Mr, Joyes. Yet from a view of the fofada, I thought myfelf doubly fortunate in having Secured fuch good quarters, and fuch agreeable Society.
On Monday, 16th April, at feven in the morning, we proceeded on our journey, palling along the alameda, So called from alamo, a poplar, this being the tree with which moft frequently the public walks are planted. Here, in a cool and refreshing made, where through the whole year the nightingale fings, and lemon trees difTufe their fragrance, the inhabitants of Velez aiTemble every evening.
It was with reluctance that I quitted this cultivated fpot, where all nature feemed to wear a fmile. Here the peafants at every itep call for fome blefling upon all who pafs.
Their
Their manner is foft, their Salutation is benevolent, yet peculiar; for they do not, as in other parts of Spain, addrefs the traveller with vayaufled con Dios, that is, " God be with you," but vayanfied con la Firgen* ** May you be under the protection of the virgin."
When we had left this pleafant, this fertile valley, and began to climb the hills, the abundance of goats Shewed clearly the nature of the country, that it was rough, arid, and uncultivated. Such we found it, rugged in the extreme; and if our mules had not been nimble and alert, dauntlefe and perfevering, if they had not refembled in fome meafure the goats, in clambering among the rocks, we mould never have been able to proceed.
The fcene itfelf was Sufficiently terrific, but it was rendered more fo by the frequent view of monumental crofles. Of thefe the moft. remarkable was one railed on the fpot where the marquis S. Antonio and his Servant met their fate. The Situation was convenient for the purpofe, with a fleep aScent, androatls almofl impaflable, to engage his whole attention; whilft Scattered tree:
Served
I  47 ]
ierved to fkreen the villains, and enabled them unobferved to hre, at the fame in-Slant, on the mafter and the man.
We had, however, little reafon to be afraid, becaufe we had infenfibly joined with others in the valley to form a powerful caravan for the paffage of thefe mountains, the ufual refuge of fmugglers and of thieves. We had a troop of fifty, either horfes, mules, or affes; and could have muttered twenty men well armed. Of our company two were equipped more completely than any of the reft j each of thefe had two guns flung by his fide, one very long, the other Short; two pair of horfe piStols, and two leffer piftols in a girdle, befide a dagger for clofe quarters, when they Should have exhausted their ammunition. Thefe were two officers of the revenue, employed to watch the motions of the fmugglers.
One of them, a young man, I found communicative and well informed. He told me, that fmce the tobacco has been raifed from thirty to forty reals, that is, to eight Shillings a pound, the fmugglers have increafed to fuch a degree, that they have
now
[  4» ]
now twenty where they before had one, although the officers wholly employed in collecting the duty on tobacco, are more than eighteen thoufand, befide the foldiery, who are often called in to their affiftance. He complained moft feelingly of the hardships endured by the officers of the revenue, and of the abfolute impoffibility of living on their pay. This appeared, when he informed me, that for the maintenance of himfelf and horfe, government allowed no more than eleven reals, or two millings and two pence a day, with an obligation to find his own horfe; and, fhould any mif-fortune happen, to replace it at his own expence. This fpeaks for itfelf, and evidently proves that the moft faithful of them all, muft have fome other dependance befide his pay.
When we had travelled four leagues in about fix hours, we arrived at the pitcrta, or Summit of thefe mountains, which were then covered with Snow, and aSter another league, we began deScending towards Albania, where, hungry and fatigued, we arrived at four in the evening.
On the heights we had feen only the
cork
C   49 J
cork tree and the ilex; but, in the valley, if with fuch a rich variety of hills it may be called a valley, we found luxuriant crops of corn.
Alhama is remarkable for Situation, being airnoft Surrounded by a precipice, from which you look down upon a river, at leaft two hundred feet below you. In this it is beautiful to fee and hear numerous cafcades, affuming various forms, all foaming among the rocks; and when they have fpent their fury, gliding almoft imperceptibly along in one continued Stream. Thus Situated, the city is acceftible only from the weft, where a cattle, formerly reputed Strong, but now going to decay, commands the entrance*
Thefe rocks are worthy of our observation. The upper Stratum is pudding Stone. Under this comes filicious grit or Sand Stone; including broken Shells in great abundance; and near the water's edge, at the depth of two hundred feet, there appears a Stratum of mingle or rounded gravel. Near to the river are fprings, productive of much fait.
Whilft I was confidering this Singular Situation,and contemplating fome fragments
Vol. III. E of
[  5° 1
of the rock replete with fhells, an old monk joined me, and, upon looking at my fmall collection, affured me, as a recent difcovery, that what I fo much admired was not the production of the fea, but a mere bifus, nature. I thanked him for his politenefs, and turned my enquiries towards objects on which he could give me better information* From him I learnt, that the city contained fifteen hundred families, and had three convents, but no kind of manufacture: that mutton fold for two reals, or nearly five pence a pound of fixteen ounces; bread for five farthings; and that as for beef, they fel-dom if ever tailed it; that the government was in twenty-four regidores, and that the number of efcrivanos was fortunately confined to four for the ferviee of the city, and of three dependant villages.
As I was walking through fome corn fields, I obferved the peafants weeding their wheat crops. This operation they performed with very narrow hoes, and a remarkable quick motion. I admired their dexterity, and think their method preferable to our own, as being much more expeditious than that of our Englifh farmers, who,
* after
t S1 ]
after their fpring harrowing, make ufe of paddles. Were they to employ the fame implement among their turnips, they would make no difpatch; and fhould they exchange it for the hoe among their wheat, they would foon learn to handle it with eafe, with expedition, and with fafety to their crop.
When I returned to the pofada, I found a good iupper, civil treatment, and a comfortable bed; that is, comfortable, when compared with what I had expected; and in the morning I was equally furprifed to find their charges moderate.
Whilft. our caravan was affembling and preparing to depart, a venerable monk appeared, with a little image richly dreffed, to beg our charitable donations for the Queen of Heaven; when inftantly every one was eager to exprefs the warmth of his devotion, by kifling her feet, and by giving money to her treafurer. This work of piety accomplifhed, we began to mount our mules; but we were again delayed for a few minutes, to contemplate an object;, which excited horror—the corpfe of a poor traveller, who, the preceding night, had E 2 been
[   5* 1
been robbed and murdered in the mountains, over which we were about to pafs. As we advanced upon the mountains, we took notice of many monumental crones, almoft the only objects to be feen upon thefe unprofitable heights. The intermediate vallies are rich, and many of them well cultivated.
On thefe Jkrras the fmugglers traverfe the country, travelling well armed, and in companies of two or three hundred men, with a little field-piece loaded with Slugs, and fixed on the faddle of the leading horfe. Thus prepared, they have been known to pafs unmolested in the prefence of the military, when in point of numbers they were by no means equal to a conteft.
In this elevated region wolves abound, for which reafon Shepherds with large dogs keep watch over their fheep by night, and. feldom venture to fix their tents at any considerable distance from the fold.
The rock is moftly gypfeous, including Strata of criftallifed fclenite.
How Striking is the contrail, when, after having traverfed thefe almofl barren mountains, the rich and extenfive valley of Granada
t   53 J
nada opens on your view. Here, without the affi Stance of the Noria, the land is plentifully watered, and loaded with luxuriant crops, fuch as wheat, maize, barley, beans, peafe, hemp, and flax, with vines, mulberries, and olives in abundance.
The construction of their plough is remarkable for its Simplicity. The handle, Sheet, and Share, are of one piece. This, with a beam mortifed into it and Strengthened by a retch, with two pins to form the furrow, is the whole implement. Both the handle and the beam are lengthened out by pieces when fuch affirmance is required.
From a companion of all the ploughs to be found in the interior provinces of Spain, I am inclined to think, that the jftrft idea of this now complicated implement originated in the ufe of a crooked Stick, pufhed forwards by a man, to form a furrow in looie foil. When afterwards he called for the help of oxen, it became neceSfary to contrive a beam, in order to regulate the line of draft, according to the ftiffncls or loofenefs of the foil, and the depth to which he wilhed to move the earth. For this purpofe, it was needful that the beam E 3 Should
mould be of fufficient length to reach the yoke, that there he might have his point of fupport to be elevated or deprefled, as occafion might require. In procefs of time he found it convenient to have two pins, to be placed in fuch a direction on the fhare as to remove the earth to the right and to the left, and thus to form a wider furrow than the fhare alone could trace.
Here then we have the plough, commonly ufed for tillage in the kingdom of Granada. As for the fin to the fhare, the coulter, the fore-meet, and hind-fheet, the mould-board, the ground-wrift, the drock, the bridle or cat-head, with the foot and wheel or wheels, they are evidently modern, and not yet introduced in this fequeflered valley.   As for harrows I faw none.
Oxen appear to be the chief dependance pf the farmer, both for tillage and for draft. They have no barns either for houfing or thrafhing out their grain, becaufe when they have reaped their corn, they immediately tread it, on areas in the open fields, with cattle, and having freed it from chafY by the affiftance of the wind, they lodge the corn thus cleanfed in granaries.
For an excellent mule to carry me Seventeen leagues from Malaga to Granada, I paid eighty reals, or fixteen millings, wanting a fmall fraction.
GRANADA.
GRANADA occupies the banks of two little rivers, the Xenil and the Daro, at the extremity of a vale, the circumference of which is about five and twenty or thirty miles. The valley itfelf is bounded by high hills, and beyond thefe to the fouth is the jierra nevada, a chain of mountains, fo called becaufe they are covered with an eternal fnow. From this circumftance, the fouth wind is cooled in its paffage, and comes refreshing to Granada.
According to the government returns, the city contains fifty-two thoufand three hundred and twenty-five fouls; but upon good authority, I may venture to fay eighty thoufand. It is divided into twenty-three pa-rifhes, with forty convents, three beaterios, feventeen hermitas or chapels, nine hofpitals, and eight colleges.
E 4 Imme-*
Immediately on my arrival, I prefented my letters to the archbifhop, who gave me a polite reception; and, during my Stay, was fo obliging as to make me dine constantly with him, excepting when I was invited by D. Juan Marino de la Barrera, prehdent of the court of chancery.
This metropolitan has an income of two millions and a half of reals, or twenty-five thoufand pounds a year, with which he lives in fome degree of fplendor, maintains great hofpitality, and distributes largely to objects of diftrefs.
He is well lodged, has good equipages, and is ferved, like other prelates, chiefly by ecclefiaflics, being constantly attended by his confefTor, chaplains, fecretaries, and pages. The latter are commonly either children of the nobility recommended to his protection, or they claim his favour as being nearly related to the miniflers of Slate. In this capacity he has had the nephews of count Florida Blanca, and of the marquis of Sonora.
Thefe pages, when he goes out, attend him to his carriage. When he is at home, they commonly wait in his antichamber, to
receive
receive and to communicate his orders, or at table Hand behind his chair. Yet* they have time allotted them for Study, that when their ferviee is accomplished, they may be prepared for the altar, and qualified to occupy the higheit Stations in the church.
The confeffor, chaplains, and fecretaries dine with the archbifhop. He is ferved on plate, has adopted the French cookery, and does, well the honours of his table.
His bounty to the poor is fuch, that we can Scarcely conceive his income to. equal his expenditure. Befide private pennons to families, and occasional relief in feafons of diftrefs, he provides nurfes in the country for 440 orphans and dcterted children • he lends poor patients to the hot baths at the distance of eight leagues from Granada, where he actually maintains fourfcore; and he daily distributes bread to all the poor, who aSTemble at his doors. Once, as he did me the honour to inform me, he had the cnrioSity to count the number of thefe miferable creatures, and found the men two thoufand, the women on that day three thoufand and twenty-four; but at another
time
time the women were four thoufand. In this bounty he is imitated by forty convents, at which are diflributed bread and broth, without discrimination, to all who prefent themfelves. The Carthufians alone give annually fixty thoufand reals.
Thefe beggars are certainly objects of diftrefs j but the queftion is, are they proper objects of companion, and lhould they be Sure to meet with indifcriminate relief? Without it they muft periih. With it they propagate the race. Without it they would have no existence. With it they increaSe and ipultiply the objects oS diftrefs. Surely then charity ceaSes to deServe that name, when it extends the bounds of human mifery. Were it poflible to banifh poverty and wretchednefs by any other means, than by industry and unremitted application, benevolence might Safely be permitted to Stretch forth the hand, and without distinction to clothe the naked, feed the hungry, give drink to the thirfty, and furnifh habitations for the defolate. But the misfortune is, that undiftingui filing benevolence offers a premium to indolence, prodigality, and vice.   Thefe principles
can
t   59 ]
can never be too deeply imprefTed upon the mind. Yet they are fo little understood, that, not merely in Spain, but in more enlightened countries, they are overlooked or violated, and no where more fo than with us.
In the conduct of our archbifhop, who is distinguished thus by the goodnefs of his heart, and no lefs admired for his under-Standing; I was Struck with one instance of mistaken benevolence, not however uncommon amongft men, as arifing from our being liable to ad under the influence of general principles, without adverting to the reafons upon which thoSe principles were built, PleaSed and perfectly Satisfied with his principal cook, who is like wife his confectioner, he was determined to part with this man, rather than advance his wages to fomething more than five reals, or a milling a day; and this upon a principle of ceconomy, that he might have' the more to give in charity. Yet this faithful fer-» vant had a wife and five Small children.
One article oS his expenditure deServes the highefl commendation. It is for free Schools eStablifhed in every part of the dio-
tefe,
cefe, and to thefe he pays particular attention at his annual vifitations.
In one of my vifits to the palace, 1 found him abfent, but he had left word for me to follow him. I did fo. It was to a jail, where I faw him waiting on the prifoners, and with his own hands ferving them, whilft they were feated at a table plentifully furniihed. This example of charity he exhibits annually in each of the pri-fons.
I have obferved already, that in compliance with a general invitation, I commonly partook of his hofpitality at noon. Beftdes this vifit, few evenings paffed without my being prefent at his tertulia, when his friends aftembled round him for conver-fation. Here fome of the more ancient amufed themfelves at cards.
At one of thefe evening affemblies, I met with a young nobleman, an officer, who had the good fortune to be efcorted, in a journey of fix days over the mountains, by a party of fmugglers, and to find a protector in the very perfon who had murdered the marquis San Antonio. This man, the captain of a band, was not a robber by pro-
fefhon,
[   6i ]
feffion, nor did he allow of violence, except in cafes of neceflity; never permitting his comrades to plunder travellers, unlefs diftxeffed either for arms, for horfes, or for money, after they themfelves had been plundered by fome officer of the revenue; nor did he fuffer them to murder any one, but out of refentment, or for felf-defence.
At parting, the young officer would have given money to PedUla, for that was the leader's name, but the generous chief re-fufed it, laying! " When we had the mif-" fortune to kill the marquis San Antonio, " it was under a miftake. If you can pro-" cure our pardon, we will quit a pro-"■ feffion, of which wTe have been long " fince weary.'3
This gentleman allured me, that thieves often rob under the difguife of fmugglers, in order to prevent a fearch, and thereby bring unmerited odium on the illicit trader.
Soon after my arrival, I v ill ted the alham-bra, or ancient palace of the Moorifli fove-reigns; and as long as I continued in Granada, I Seldom palled a day without returning to contemplate an edifice, fo perfectly
fecvtly different in its ftile of architecture from every thing I had feen before.
You enter firfl into an oblong court of a hundred and fifty feet by ninety, with a bafon of water in the midft, of one hundred feet in length, eneompaffed by a flower-border.   At each end is a colonade. From hence you pafs into the court of the lions, fo called becaufe the fountain in the middle is fupported by thirteen lions.   It is adorned with a colonade of one hundred and forty marble pillars.   Of this I made a drawing, but had I previoufly feen the beautiful reprefentation of it by Mr. Swin-burn, I fhould have faved myfelf that trouble : yet as we hive given different points of view, my labour, I trufl, will not be loft.   The royal bedchamber has two alcoves adorned with columns, and a fountain between them in the middle of the room. Adjoining to this are two hot baths. The great hall is about forty feet fquare, and fixty in height, with eight windows and two doors, all in deep receiles.   Between this and the oblong court, is a gallery of ninety feet by fixteen.  All thefe lower apartments
have
£  63 3
have fountains, and are paved either with tiles or marble in checkers. The idea of the cielings is evidently taken from jlalac-tites, or drop ftones found in the roofs of natural caverns. The ornaments of the friezes are arabefque, and perfectly accord with the Arabic infcriptions, which are here fuited to the purpofe for which each apartment was defigned. Thus, for in-ltance, over the entrance to the hall of judgment, is the following fentence :
Enter, fear not, feek juftice, and juftice thou malt find.
A handfome ftair-cafe leads you to a fuit of apartments intended for the winter.
The alhambra has a jurifdidtion peculiar to itfelf, with an alcalde, alguazil, efcrivano, prifon, gibbet, and a atchillo for the purpofe of decapitation.
Adjoining to this reiidence of the Moorifh fovereigns, and communicating with it, is the palace of Charles V. built by Alonzo Berrugete in a fuperior ftile. It has two principal fronts, each of two hundred and twenty feet, by about fixty in height; and the orders are Doric and Ionic, with a ruftic bafement. The chief entrance
[ H ]
tfancc is from the weft under a portal, which has three gates, a large one fup-ported by two fmaller, with intermediate columns and pilaftres, and battle pieces in bafs relief. Faffing through a fpacious hall, you enter' a circus of ona hundred and twenty-fix feet diameter, and of a lingular conlfruction; for it is a cupola, with a periityle of two and thirty Doric pillars appearing to Support it, but in reality placed there for beauty, becaufe being a. cupola it needs no fuch affiftance. Above this you have a gallery of about twenty feet in depth, with two and thirty Ionic pillars to Support the roof 5 this forms the communication with the principal apartments.
Near to the alhambra is the man iron of the governor, with fome good rooms, but little worthy of attention. And not far from this, on the declivity of the hill, looking to the weft, and commanding a profpedt of the city, is the ancient caftle, with its-hanging gardens, furnished with numerous fountains, and enjoying a delightful Shade.
To the eaft of the alhambra, on the opposite declivity, is the old palace of Xena-
larife,
t 65 ]
iarife, which, with its gardens and fouri-tains, may amufe an idle hour, if feen before its more beauteous rival has captivated the whole attention. . It is the property of the Conde de Campotejar, a defcendant of the Moorifh kings.
The afcent towards the alhambra is through a fhady and well-watered grove of elms, abounding with nightingales, whofe melodious warbling is not confined to the midnight hour: here, incerTant, it is equally the delight of noon.
Whenever the heat was too intenfe to admit of wandering abroad, I took the opportunity to vifit churches, and to amufe myfelf with pictures.
The cathedral, venerable both for antiquity and magnitude, is divided into five ailes, and adorned with Ionic columns. It is four hundred and twenty-five feet long, by two hundred and forty-nine wide; and the great dome is one hundred and fixty feet high, by eighty in diameter. In it are fome good modern chapels; and among thefe the moft diftinguifhed is that of nuef-tra Senora del Pilar, of Zaragoza, fitted up at the expence of the archbifhop, a native
Vol. III. F ©f
of that city, to be at once the faithful monument of his liberality and tafte, and the fecure depofitory of his perfon and his image. The marble is rich, the fculpture excellent; both are from Italy. To fecure the attention of fucceeding generations, the materials, and the workman (hip, are fuffi-cient of themfelves; but to call forth their devotion, the worthy prelate has obtained from Rome peculiar indulgences for thofe who fhall pray before this altar.
Befide this, a chapel behind the great altar, now fitting up, will be, in point of elegant Simplicity, a model for all fucceeding ones.
Among the beft paintings in the cathedral may be reckoned thofe of Don Pedro de Athanafia, a native of Granada. Of him we admire S. Bernard, a crucifix, the flagellation, the portraits of Ferdinand and of Ifabella, with S. Ramon and the blefTed Virgin ; but above all the famous picture of S. Pedro de Narafco, whofe hiffory, if authenticated, would deferve to be recorded. It happened, that when the midnight bell called the fathers of his convent to rehearfe their martins, they were alt fo found afleep,
jii, .10 ^
that not one but himfelf awoke. As be battened towards the chapel, he heard melodious founds • and when he entered it, he found the vacant feats occupied by angels, and faw the blerTcd Virgin in his own, chanting the mattins with more than human fervour.
In the reprefentation of this marvellous event, the painter has exerted his utmoit abilities, and called forth all the powers of his art.
Befide tliefe, we find four incomparable pictures by Efpaholeto, two good ones by Rifueho, and one excellent by John of Seville.
Here likewife is the famous Sculpture of Charity; and here is depofited the image of the Virgin, carried by Ferdinand and Ifa-bella in all their wars, as the pledge of victory.
In the Gartuxa, or convent of the Car-thufian friars, every thing is valuable. The pictures are numerous, and executed by the belt matters, fuch as Pedro Peruotno, Alonfo Cano, Palomino, Giufeppe Ribera, called el Efpaholeto, Athanafia, who fub-Scribes himfelf Athafi, Cottan, a father of F 2 this
this convent, Titian, and the divine Morales. The moll Striking pictures are, for beauty, Paul, the, firll hermit, fed by a raven; and, for the marvellous, S. Hugo, holding the facramental cup, in which the wine appears to be changed into a little boy. The marbles, in great variety, and highly wrought, are from the vicinity, and appear to be well chofen. Their wine is excellent.
In the church of nueflra Senora de las Angujlias, is a profuiion of fine marble, with which the mountains in this vicinity abound; but. no. church in Granada fhews more want of tafte. The Corinthian pillars, had they been fimple, would have been admired; but they are deformed by needlefs and moll unmeaning ornaments.
The other convents, remarkable for good pictures, are Los Angeles, the Capuchins, and S. Domingo. In the cloiflers of the lafl, are reprefented in frefco all the miracles of this faint, particularly his reftoring to life, by the virtue of his rofary, a man who had been two years buried.
San Juan de Dios has a beautiful church, to be admired for its proportions, but to
be execrated for abfurdity and want of tafte in all its ornaments. Here the treasures are ineftimable. The urn, in which are depofited the allies of the faint, is five feet high, furrounded by thirteen images of the apoftles, each of about fifteen inches, and covered by a dome, which is Supported by eight columns of about feven feet high; the whole of maflive filver, and exquifitely wrought.
From the convents I turned my attention to the hojpiciOy or general hofpital; and, according to the accounts with which I was favoured by the prefident of the court of chancery, who appears to have paid much attention to this institution, the whole number of men, women, and children was fix hundred and fifty-five. Of thefe the majority were under the age of fourteen, and the reft chiefly ideots, and people who were become decrepid with old age: yet they are Slated to have earned by labour feventy-fivc thoufand reals, or one pound two Shillings and eight-pence each upon the average; whilft their food coll only ninety-two thoufand five hundred and twenty-two reals, and their clothing forty-F 3 nine
[   7° 1
nine thoufand one hundred and eighty-five; the former being equal to one pound eight ihillings, and the latter to fifteen millings, that is together only two pounds three ihillings each. If there is no miflake in this account, the greatnefs of their gains, and the fmallnefs of their expenditure, muft-be equally furprifing. This account is dated April 21, 1787.
Here is an academy, as in all the great towns of Spain, for the three noble arts of painting, Sculpture, and architecture, conducted at the king's expence, and free for all, but this institution is yet in a itate of infancy.
As for the manufactures, they are going to decay, and feel more than the common infirmities of age, receiving at belt little encouragement from local fituation, and being depreffed and ruined by want of political wifdom in the government of this once thriving city. In the year 1552, about threefcore years after the conqueft of Granada, many regulations were publifhed, and afterwards, A.D. 1672, confirmed, laying reflraints on manufacturers, Subjecting them to formalities, and to vexatious fines,
and
[  P 1
and fixing the price at which their manufactures lhould be fold. As a compenfaction, the price of provisions was likewife fixed; but as the latter tended to hurt the market, and to deprefs the farmer, fo the operation of the former was to debafe the quality of goods, and to bring flow yet certain ruin on the manufacturer, under the abfurd idea of favouring the confumer.
The want of political wifdom has been here equally fatal to agriculture, as to manufactures, and to commerce.
At the beginning of the laft century, the univerfity of Toledo reprefented to Philip III. the various' grievances by which the nation had been reduced, both as to population and to wealth; Stating among thefe the heavy duties collected in Granada on raw Silk, amounting at that time to fixteen reals, or three ihillings and two-pence farthing a pound. Don Bernardo de Ulloa, A. D. 1740, makes thefe amount to nearly feventeen reals and a half, under the various appellations of aleabala, cientos, diezmos, ar-bitrio, tar til, tor res, and xeliz, terms to be hereafter explained; whereas raw filk was then felling at forty-two reals, So that the F 4 tax
[  7* 1
to amounted to more than forty-one per cent.
When Count Campomanes wrote his incomparable work, called Education Popular the rate, according to the pound, was considerably higher; but the proportion to the value was diminifhed.   He itates the duties thus.   The royal tithe, upon a fuppofed valuation, is three reals; the ecclefiattical tithe, collected in kind, now worth fix reals; tartjl, feven teen maravedis, or half a real; and the alcavala, 1reals; or, in the whole twenty-one reals, fifteen maravedis, equal to four ihillings and three-pence far?-thing per pound of fixteen ounces : whereas, before the con quell:, the Moors paid no more than three reals and a half, or eight pence three-farthings nearly, for eighteen ounces.
This four ihillings and three-pence farthing was upon the raw materials; but the aleabala and cientos follow the manufacturer and merchant in all fubfequent transfers of property, till it comes into the hands of the confumer.
The aleabala and cientos have been explained already.   Diezmos are the tithes;
§ arbitrio
arbitrio is a tax levied by corporation or municipal government, for provincial pur-pofes; tartil was paid to the magistrate, who took charge of, weighed, and fcaled the filk in the public magazines; xelix was paid to the auctioneer who fold it, and who kept the register; torres de la cofta is a fpecies of fhip-money, for guarding the coafts from the depredations of the Algerines.
It is not pofhble to think of manufactures in Granada, without calling to mind the expullion of the Moors, and paufing to examine the policy of that Strong or Strange meafure.
It is univerfally acknowledged that they were numerous, and that, in confequence of their indurtry, attended by frugality, they had acquired opulence and power. As to their numbers, we are informed, that of a hundred thoufand condemned by the in-qujfition for apostatizing from the Chrif-tian faith, four thoufand had been burnt without any good effect. Philip HI. in the year 1609, banifhed to Africa one hundred and forty thoufand out of the kingdom of Valencia; and in the three years following*
ing, fix hundred thoufand from Seville, Murcia, and Granada. If to thefe we add the multitudes who perifhed by famine, and by fword, we mail be inclined to State the lofs to Spain, at leaft if not with Count Campomanes at four hundred thoufand families, yet at one million of its moft active Subjects.
This loSs, added to what the country had iuftained by the previous expulfion of eight hundred thoufand Jews, with all their wealth, in the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, was, under Such a government as that of Spain, irreparable.
The Moors are acknowledged, by the beft Spanifh writers, to have excelled in agriculture, particularly in watering their lands, in the cultivation of mulberry-trees, the Sugar-cane, rice, and cotton, all introduced by them j in their peculiar breed of horfes, and in the manufactures of Silk, of paper, and of gunpowder, firtt brought into Europe by them.
How then was it confiftent with found policy to Subject a country to fuch a lofs ? and upon what principles could the Sovereign juftify his conduct ?
Their
Their numbers, their industry, their frugality, with their confequent opulence and power, were circumstances, if taken in connection with fome others, which led to their ruin and destruction : beeaufe, when government coniidered the obstinate adherence of the Moors to their own religion, their invincible hatred of Christianity, their unity among themfelves in point of cuS-toms, of language, and of creed, and their ■ conftant correspondence with the enemies oS Spain in ASrica; nay, when government regarded them as enemies never to be reconciled, and Situated in a part of the pen-infula naturally not only Strong, but moft acceffible by a foreign power; their numbers and their wealth were the very circumstances which made them formidable, and tended to create alarm.
Gentle methods had been tried, more rigorous had been adopted; and, from the time that cardinal Ximenes burnt their Alcorans, and baptized their children, they had been Subject to all the horrors oS inquisitorial power, yet in vain; for their constancy was never to be Shaken, their adherence to the impoStor Mahomet could
not
[  76 ]
not by any means be weakened in the leaft, much lefs could it be duTolved. Nothing then remained, but to get rid of them with as little injury as poffible to their per-fons and their property.
In vindication of this tranfadtion, many champions have appeared, and among them no one feems to have paid more attention to the fubjecl: than D. Fonfeca, in his work called Jfufld Exptiljion de los Morifcos. Some of his charges are, however, unworthy of his good fenfe and gravity, ferving only to evince the fovereign contempt in which the Catholic faith was held by the Mahometans. I mail refer to them in order, as they fland, and this chiefly with a view of pointing out the means made ufe of for the converfion of thofe infidels. Speaking of the Morifcoes, Our author fays,
When, being conducted to church by the alguazil, they were compelled to take the holy water, they treated it with every exprefhon of contempt, and when the hoft was lifted up, le daban higas por debajo de la capa-y (p. 90.) that is, they thrufi their thumb out between the two middle fingers, which, in Spain, is the greateft pofTible indignity,
t  77 ]
dignity, and token of defiance. This, however, they did under their cloaks.
They neither left legacies in their wills, nor did they give money to procure maffes for the fouls of their departed friends, un-lefs when compelled to do fo, and then they came to the prieft with half a real to purchafe half a mafs,   (p. 92.)
When they were dragged to the confef-fionals, they would not acknowledge themfelves guilty either of mortal, or even of venial fins.   (p. 100.)
Out of twenty children born to them, they carried one only to the baptifmal font, and him they baptized twenty times, under twenty different names, and even lent this child from one village to another, (p. 106.)
They ill treated the images of the faints, which they were obliged to receive into their houfes. (p. 128.) That is, fuch was their abhorrence of every thing bearing the leaft appearance of idolatry, that, to exprefs their indignation, they forgot good manners; and thefe images were found in the moft indecent places, with their heads downwards, and other marks of Sovereign
contempt
contempt upon them. (v. Geddes Exp. of the Morifc.)
Should the meaSure itfelf be vindicated under the plea of neceffity, yet the mode in which the expullion was conducted can never be approved; for the Moors had only Sixty days allowed them to difpofe of their effects: yet, in quitting the kingdom, they were not to carry out gold, Silver, precious flones, unleSs under the heavy duty of fifty per cent, nor even letters of exchange; but only merchandife purchafed oS native Spaniards. By their expulSion, houSes went to ruin and decay, lands were leSt uncultivated, commerce was neglected, and manufactures'felt the fevereft Shock, a fhock fuch as fome fcarcely Survived, whilst others were wholly loft. The Sudden departure of this multitude left a vacuity which it was not eafy to fill up, more cSpccially by a nation which, having for the Space of Seven centuries been trained to war, and inflamed only by military ardour, had learnt in that long interval to look down with contempt upon all who were engaged in the mechanic arts, and more cfpceially to
defpiSe
defpife thofe occupations in which their antagonists excelled.
Numerous privileges and immunities enjoyed by the hidalgos or knights, fometimes called hijos de dalgo, have contributed very much to confirm hereditary prejudices to the detriment of trade. Their depofitions are taken in their own houfes. They are feated in the courts of juftice, and are placed near the judge. Till the year 1784, their permits, arms, and horfes, were free from ar-reft. They are not fent to the common jails, but are either confined in callles, or in their own houfes on their parole of honour. They are not hanged, but ftrangled, and this operation is called garrotar, from garrote, the little flick ufed by carriers to twirl the cord, and bind hard their loading. They cannot be examined on the rack. They are, moreover, exempted from the various taxes called pechos pedidos, monedas, marti-niegas, and contribiiiiones re ales and chiles; that is, from fubfidies, benevolence, and poll tax, or taille, paid by the common people,, at the rate of two per cent, in this province, but in others at the rate of four.
They
t 80 I
They are free from perfonal ferviee, except where the fovereign is, and even then they cannot be compelled to follow him. None but the royal family can be quartered on them. To conclude, the noble female conveys all thefe privileges to her hufband and her children, juft in the fame manner as the eldeft daughter of the titular nobility tranfmitsthe titles of her progenitors.
The proportion of hidalgos in the kingdom of Granada is not confiderable; for out of fix hundred and fifty-two thoufand nine hundred and ninety inhabitants, only one thoufand nine hundred and feventy-nine are noble; whereas, in the province of Leon, upon little more than one-third that population, the knights are twenty-two thoufand. In the province of Burgos, on four hundred and fixty thoufand three hundred and ninety-five inhabitants, one hundred and thirty-four thoufand and fifty-fix are entitled to all the privileges of nobility; and in the Afturias, of three hundred and forty-five thoufand eight hundred and thirty-three, nearly one-third enjoy the fame diftinc-tion.
The two high courts of chancery in
Spain
[  M 1
Spain are at Valladolid and Granada. The prefident of the latter honoured me with a Statement of the various offices and officers belonging to his court, and fubjecl: to his authority.   They are as follow:
16 Oidores, or civil judges. 8 Alcaldes del Crimen, or criminal judges.
2 Fifcals, or attorney and folicitor-general.
i Alguazil Mayor, or high conftable, i Secretario. 104 Abogados, or counfel. 12 Relatores de la Civil, or reading clerks.
1 Teniente Chanciller Mayor; vice-- chancellor.
2 Teforeros de Penas de Camara y
gaflos de Jufticia, or treafurers.
1 Contador; accomptant.
16 Efcrivanos de Camara} fcriveners
or notaries. 6 Relatores del Crimen; criminal
reading clerks. 5 Efcrivanos del Crimen.
2 Efcrivanos mayores de hijos dalgo*
,   Vol. III. G 8 Por-
[   8* }
8 Porteros.
3 Agentes de los Fifcales. 40 Receptores, to recover fines. 32 Procuradores; folicitors. 3 2 Alcaldes de barrio; confr.ables.
Alcaldes de Corte. 11 Alguaziles de Corte.
6 Efcrivanos de Provincia.
i Repoftero.
.1 Alcayde de la Carcel de Corte $ jailor. 18 Porteros.
The municipal government is in a cor-regidor, twenty-four regidores, and twelve jurados, or lord mayor, aldermen, and common-council-men; with two alcaldes may-ores, one alguazil mayor, thirty alguaziles ordinarios, three efcrivanos de Cabilda, twenty-four efcrivanos del numero, thirty-two efcrivanos reales, one alcaide de la carcel real, or jailor of the royal prifon.
Thefe likewife are fubjecl: to the president of the court of chancery.
During my flay in this delightful city I paid feveral vifits to Don Fr. Antonio de Gardocrui, one of the inquifitors, in whom
I found
t  83 ]
I found a man of Superior talents, well informed, and of remarkable humanity. After I had been one evening with him in his coach, attended by his afibciate, to take the air in the pafeo or public walk, the archbifhop did me the honour to examine me re-fpecting my feelings; and, in a pleafant manner, alked me, how an Englifh clergyman, a teacher of herefy, could venture his perfon in a coach between two inquifitors ? I told him, that when I had the honour to dine with thofe gentlemen at his grace's table, I had watched them narrowly, and obferved, that they ate beef and mutton like other men, and concluded thence, that I had nothing to apprehend from them. The idea Struck him; he laughed heartily, and arfured me, that the inquifitors of the pre-fent day were become more gentle than their fathers, and Seldom regaled themSelves with human fleih; but, Said he, look Sharp, Sor they have not yet forgot the taite of blood.
This was true; for although the £>uema-dero, when I went to view it, appeared to be neglected, and was Suffered to decay; yet, not more than eight years before, two G 2 Jews
C 84 J
Jews and a Turk were burnt upon it; and in the year 1726, the inquifition feized three hundred and Sixty families accufed of being Secretly attached to the Mahometan religion. The accusation, in all probability, was true; becaufe the court of the inquisition, amidll many imperfections, is remarkable for investigating facts; and even to the prefent day, both Mahometans and Jews are thought to be numerous in Spain; the former among the mountains, the latter in all great cities. Their principal difguife is, more than common zeal in external conformity to all the precepts of the church; and the moft apparently bigoted, not only of the clergy, but of the inquifitors themfelves, are by fome perfons SuSpected to be Jews.
Whilft I was at Granada, I had an opportunity of feeing a wretch hanged for robbery and murder. He had been twelve months under Sentence of death, before he was ordered for execution; from that time he remained for fome days under the direction of a prieft, who gave him instructions, received his confefhons, granted him abfolution, administered to him the laft Sacraments,
crameiits, with the blemng of the church, and left him in the full alfurance that, thus prepared, he lhould go immediately to paradife.
This triumph of christian charity over wholefome policy is univerfal, and to be found in every part of Spain; where, before the ministers of juftice are permitted to execute the fentence of the law,, the minifters of grace approach the criminal to administer all the confolations of religion, and to deliver him from the fear of death.
Juft as I was entering the Plaza Jiueva, the poor wretch was Standing on one ladder, with a halter fattened round his neck, and the hangman from another was preparing to Spring upon him. After a few hours, his body was decently interred.
The environs of Granada are delightful; the public walks arc pleafant; and the country, all round the city, appears to be well cultivated. Going out one evening by the way which leads to Malaga, and turning to the right, by the Pafio de jara-quij I wandered among the market gardens. Thefe appear a perfect wilderneis of fruit-t$ees; and yet are covered with the moft
G 3 lux-
[   S6 ]
luxuriant crops of all kinds of vegetables. Every cottage has a little court, or bower, formed by a lattice-frame, and wholly Shaded by the vine; under which, in the evening, the peafanr, with his family, af-fembles to take refreshment; whilft the nightingale from every tree is uttering his plaintive note. Thefe gardens are all plentifully watered.
Of the public walks, the two moft frequented are, one on the banks of the Ge~ nil, with cooling fhades and refreming fountains ; the other, more wild and romantic, by the fide of the Daro, a river known among the Romans by the name of Auro9 and fo called from the quantity of gold collected with its land.
In one of my rambles near the Cartuxa> J Humbled on a beautiful fpecimen of fchift, carrying iron and white mica, with numerous dodecaedral garnets, brought down from a higher level by the torrent. Amending about a mile by the fide of the ravin, I continually difcovered more, and, had not a fcorching fun compelled me to retreat, I Should have laboured to find out the fource from whence they came. t
[   »7 1
This fcorching fun is highly beneficial to the production of nitre, at the fait-works near Granada; where, with about one hundred men, employed during the fummer, and twenty-fix in winter, government obtains three thoufand quintals annually. But then the lixiviating water is not carried by men, as in Madrid, but conducted by pipes to eveiy filter.
To procure the proper kind of earth, they obferve the fpots which, early in the morning, appear black, and towards noon become white round the edges; this they colled, and find that land, on which has been laid much dung, is the moft productive. Once collected, it will endure for ages; and, having been expofed to the influence of the fun and of the air, yields the fame quantity as at fir ft on every fubfe-quent filtration. In the places where they find this earth, there is neither limeftone, chalk, nor gypfum; and, allies being extremely fcarce, none are ufed at the bottom of the filters.
I have already confidered this wonderful production as a merchant;  and happy
G 4 mould
mould I be, were I qualified to difcufs it with any fatisSaction as a chemift.
Here a thoufand queiHons crowd in upon the mind. From whence does this earth collect the vegetable alkali, whence the nitrous acid ? Supposing the former to be originally the refult of putrefaction, yet, after the earth has been lixiviated, and all the vegetable alkali has been carried off by water, how is it impregnated afrefh, merely by expofure to the fun and air; and where does it obtain this inexhauitible fupply botli of the alkali and its combining acid ? But, if we reflect, that, with the nitrous fait, there is conflantly found muria, or fea-falt, in confiderable quantities, whence does it derive the fofiil alkali, and whence the muriatic acid, not once, but upon every Subsequent expofure ?
It is well known that old mortar produces fix kinds of Salt; Sor, befide the two jufi- mentioned, both the nitrous and the muriatic acid are found combined with magnefia and with calcareous earth. But, if We recollect, at Anover and Aranjuez we Saw Epfom and Glauber's fait, with the
muria
muria and the nitre, and both thofe Saks contain vitriolic acid.
Here, then, new queilions will arife. What is the relation between thefe various Subftances, of chalk, magnefia, the forhl and the vegetable alkalis ? What connection can we trace between the muriatic, nitrous, and vitriolic acids ? and, Is there one common principle of acidity ?
This queftion will be both more natural and more interesting, when we confider, as far as relates to England, France, and Spain, the only countries which have come under my obfervation, that, in proportion to the quantity of fun, the chalk is found impregnated with vitriolic acid, and forms felenite or gypfum. At leaft it may be ob-ferved, that in our ifland we have much chalk, and little gypfum; that in France both thefe fubftances abound; whilft in Spain, there is very little chalk, and a profusion of gypSum, more especially in Arra-gon, and in the Southern provinces. Indeed a learned naturalift, who reSided many years in Spain, and traverSed it in all directions, with a view to minerals, allures us, that he 'had never diScovered there the
Jlat L
[   9° J
lean: veftige of chalk, (v. Bowles, p. 13.) But I have already noticed it in one place; and in the neighbourhood of Granada it is likewile found, although I was not able to identify the fpot.
His obfervation is however ingenious, and wTorthy of attention. He never met with it, I law it only twice.
The connection between chalk and gypfum became evident to me from the moment that I difcovered flinty gravel in the latter, precifely fuch as we always meet with in the former™ Hence it feems to be plain, either that chalk was gypfum, and has loft its vitriolic acid, or that gypfum was once chalk, and has made this acquisition, I am inclined to adopt the latter hypothefis: and, if this be the true one, we mult enquire whence has it derived the acid ?
Should we be inclined to feek the principle of acidity in the folar ray, we may perhaps be confirmed in this idea by the consideration, that, by means of green vegetables and water expofed to its meridian influence, all modern chemifts have produced vital, that is dephlogijlicated air, in gr*at abundance, always in proportion to
the quantity of light, or, in other words, to the greater or leffer influence of the folar rays: and that faltpetre, by distillation, produces the fame kind of air, in the proportion of twelve thoufand inches to a pound, leaving behind the vegetable alkali uncom-bined with acid.
Should we be inclined to grant, agreeable to the experiments of Dr. Ingenhoufz, that vegetables by day emit vital and by night mephitic air; confideiing that Mr. Cavendifh produced nitrous acid by the combination of vital air with atmofpheric mephitis, in the proportion of feven to three, we mould not be at a lofs for a never-failing fource, from whence this acid may arife.
Thefe fpeculations might be purfued, and, obferving that one pound of nitrous acid, difr.illed on mercury, yields one thoufand eight hundred and eidit cubic inches of nitrous and one thoufand nine hundred and four of vital air, we mould be confirmed , in our opinion that we have difco-vered the origin of the fought-fcr acid.
Nitrous air is obtained from animal fub-ftances limply by putrefaction, or it may be had by the combination of inflammable and + vital
vital air: for, as Dr. Prieftley has remarked, in the PhilofophicalTranfactions of the 27th of November 1788, " When either inflam-" mable or dephlogifticated air is extract-" ed from any fubftance in contact with " the other kind of air, fo that the one is " made to unite with the other in what <e may be called its nafcent ftate; the re-" fult will be fixed air; but, if both of " them be completely formed before their 9 union, the refult will be nitrous air."
Thus, in the various facts and obfervations above related, we may fee the intimate relation and connection between inflammable, fixed or mephitic, and nitrous air; that the two latter refult from the combination of the former with vital air in given quantities; whilft, with a greater proportion of vital air, we obtain nitrous acid; and that, of thefe its constituent principles, in warm climates, animal fubftances are, by their putrefaction, conltantly producing one, whilft vegetables, by day, are as con-ftantly pouring forth the other.
In the neighbourhood of Granada are fome coniiderable plantations of the Sugarcane,
cane, which, as I am informed, yielded profit during the war; but are now attended with a lofs. Political writers have lamented the lofs fuftained by Spain in the neglect of this once-flourifhing branch of agriculture ; as if fome fertilizing ftream had been cut off, or diverted from its accuflomed channel. They would have their country produce every thing it wants, and become thereby both richer and more independent. But in this they forget the benefits of commerce, and the advantages derived by it from the exchange of Surplus commodities, when every nation cultivates and produces that Sor which the local Situation, the Soil, the climate, and the genius oS the people, are moft adapted. Thus, in the neighbourhood oS Granada, the land allotted to the Sugar-cane would produce good corn; and the Sair queftion is, Since they cannot have them both, which will be moft profitable ?
I took notice, in my excurfions round the city, that all the corn-mills have horizontal water-wheels.    TheSe are Suited to the country, and on the whole are heft for 'them.
The
The nature of fociety I found nearly the fame as in other inland Situations, where the manners of the inhabitants derive no tincture from intercourfe with Strangers. The morning is employed, either in bufi-nefs, by thofe who have any thing to do, or, after mafs, in visits to the ladies. They dine early, and eat after the Spanish fafhion, with the fopa, the olla, and various kinds of meat Slewed in their little pitchers, excepting at the prefident's and archbishop's, where the French cookery prevails. After din* ner they go to the ficfta : in the evening to the pafco. When the day clofes, they af-femble at the tertulia, or evening afTembly, to which they have accefs, and here they commonly amufe themfelves with fome round game at cards.
As for morals, they are much like the reft of Spain: the monks are exceeding corrupt, and the women have no want of lovers to admire their charms. Yet in juftice to them I muff obferve, that, according to the information of Father Porro, a famous confeSfor, there are numbers who are uncorrupted by the manners of the age, and who excel, not merely in the form but
in
[  95 1
in the power of their religion. Thefe, faict he, are not accefhble to {hangers. Silent and retired, they are fcarcely either feen or heard; and therefore, added he, a ftranger parting through the country is in danger of being deceived in the judgment which he forms, if he too nattily draws general conclusions.
Before I left the city, I enquired, as ufual, into the value of provisions.
Beef fells for nineteen quartos, that is fomething under live pence a pound of fixteen ounces.
Mutton twenty-three quartos, or nearly fix pence halfpenny, in the city; but in the adjacent villages at twelve quartos, or three pence three-eighths.
Bread four quartos and a half, or five farthings and a fraction.
Oil fifteen quartos.
Wine eight quartos the quartillo.
Labourers have four reals, or nine pence halfpenny nearly, per day. Artifms twice as much.
When I was about to leave Granada, my good friend Don Antonio de Gardoqui, the inquifitor, fent me a ham, fome chocolate,
and
and fix bottles of old wine, as my flock of provifions for the journey.
The difiance from Granada to Carthagena is computed to be fifty leagues^ and for a good mule to carry me I agreed to give two hundred reals, or forty Shillings nearly, being at the rate of five ihillings a day; not allowing for the return, becaufe the mule belonged to the corfarios, or public carriers.
ThurfJay, 26th April, we left Granada. Near the city the hills are cultivated and covered with vines; but, as we advance, the country becomes more wild and broken, with high and rugged rocks laid bare and deflitute of foil. The intermediate plains are abandoned to the Efparto rufli, or flipa tenacifiima of Linnaeus, the quercus coc-cifera, the juniper, and a few miferable ilex.
The rock is chiefly fchiftous, often covered with limeftone; and the furface is fcattered with white quartz, which feems to have been formed in the fchift, where it appears in confiderable veins.
On thefe high mountains we faw many monumental crofles: but not one is recent,
becaufe,
becaufe, the police being here well eflabiim-ed, and the laws now put in force, robberies are feldom to be heard of, and no murder has been committed the laft twenty years.
After having travelled about fix leagues we came to a village among the mountains, comprising about one hundred and feventy families.   It is called Diezma.
As I travelled the whole day farting, I haflened to the butcher's to fee what was to be had. There I learnt the price of provisions, and found that mutton fold uSually for twelve, beef for eight quartos (two pence farthing) the pound of fixteen ounces; bread for fix and a half. For wine I paid three quartos the quartillo, But, unfortunately, neither beef nor mutton were to be had; and, to fill up the meafure of my confolation, at the pofada I could obtain no bed, nor yet a room.
What could be done ? The day-was doling, and it began to rain. The alcalde was to be fought for; but he was no where to be found. At the end of a Ion? fearch, I met him returning from the fieli and, after a fhort Salutation, prefented him my
Vol, HI. H pafs;
pafs; yet to little purpofe, for he could neither write nor read. We went next in purfuit of the efcrivano, but he was not at home. At laft, however, wre found a pea-fant, who had learnt to read and write. The pafs was produced, and fubmitted to an accurate examination. It required, that I fhould be provided with every thing needful, at a reafonable price.
The alcalde having liftened to it with attention, enquired what I wiihed to have. I replied, a bed. A bed! no fuch thing is mentioned in the pafs. But, if your mercy will have the goodnefs to obferve the ex*, preffion, every thing needful: no, no, a bed is not needftd to a traveller; he may do very well without one. I told him, with great humility, that it was for his mercy to judge of what the pafs implied, and began quietly to retire; when, feeming to recollect himfelf, he ordered a billet to be made out.
With this I went to my deftined cottage, where a bed was fpread upon the floor, and I went fupperlefs to reft, having had little for the whole day but fome hard eggs, and, for want of a cork-fcrew,fuch wine only
as
t  99 3
as the vineyards in the neighbourhood produced.
The next morning the good people of the houfe prepared my chocolate; and, when I was to take my leave, no perfuafions could prevail on them to accept of money for my bed.
From Diezma we began defcending, and foon came into a fpacious plain, bounded on the fouth by the mountains of the Sierra Nevada; rich in its foil, but too far removed from habitations to admit of cultivation, and therefore abandoned to the efparto rufh. From this plain we continued to defcend by the fide of a wide and deep ravin, in which appear many horizontal flrata of rock, feparated from each other, ten, fifteen, and even twenty feet, by beds of clay, fand, and gravel. Having left the ravin, we came to a little village, called Parillena, fhut in by high cliffs of the fame materials, with fome beds of unmixed gravel. Here many of the habitations are merely excavations in the earth.
At night we came to Guadix, having travelled from Granada twelve leagues by II 2 com-
computation, or, as I conceive, about fifty miles.
All the way on the right, towards the Sierra, the country has a molt lingular appearance, looking like the Stormy ocean; and the innumerable pointed hills feem to have attained, what may be called their quiefcent State, being no longer fretted, walhed away, and ravaged by heavy rains and vernal torrents. Protected by herbage, they are now fed by every Ihower, and at this feafon of the year exhibit a delightful verdure.
It is evident, that the formation of thefe hills is of recent date, and fubfequent to the general revolution, which took place when the horizontal flrata, forages covered by the waters of the ocean, .were lifted up to view, and became the habitable portion of oar globe. At that period, the whole of this country appears to have been one extensive plain; but, being compofed of foft materials, and Subject to violent and heavy rain, it was foon torn in every poflible direction by gullies, which, in procefs of time, became deep ravins, till, the mouldering angles of high cliffs being warned
away,
away, the wide expanfe was left covered with hills, whofe pointed tops, as we may here obferve, are all on the fame level.
The elevation of this country is fo great, and fuch is the influence of the adjacent mountains, covered with eternal mow, that the vineyards fhew no figns of vegetation; whereas at Malaga, eighteen days before, they were covered with leaves and fruit.
Guadixs ft mated at the foot of the Sierra Nevada, is a confiderable city, and a bifhop's fee. It is divided into five parimes, and contains eight thoufand three hundred and fourteen inhabitants, with feven convents, five for monks, the other two for nuns.
At the entrance to the city is the ala-meda, or public walk, well planted, and remarkable for neatnefs.
The cathedral exhibits three orders of architecture, Corinthian, Compofite, and Anomalous. The front is whimfical, yet pretty. The infide is Doric and Corinthian. The marble, from the vicinity of this city, is beautiful, and of various coloiu s> red, grey, white, and green.
There are here fome manufactures of hemp, flax, and filk; but the Situation is H 3 far
far from being favourable to them. The article for which this city is mofl celebrated being pocket knives, the firft attention of my guide was to purchafe one; and when we fet forwards on our journey the fuc-ceeding day, he produced it.
The blade was fixteen inches long, and, when open, it was prevented from {hutting again by a ftrong fpring. Although this was the nrfr. of the kind I had ever feen, my imagination immediately Suggested the purpofe for which it was defigned. Having produced his weapon, he began to brandifh it;,then, fuppofing himfelf to have been fuddenly attacked by fome one, armed with an implement fimilar to his own, he ftooped forwards, bending his knees, and holding his hat before him, by way of Shield, in his left hand; whilft his right hand, de-preficd and grafping hard the handle of his knife, directed its elevated point. Thus prepared, and cafting a look of fury on his fuppofcd antagonist, he fprung forwards, and, appearing to have received in his hat the thruft of his opponent, he gave the fatal blow, which was to enter at the lower
belly,
belly, and in one in flan t to rip up the miserable wretch from end to end.
Thefe knives are Strictly forbidden ; but, Unfortunately, inveterate cuftom is too powerful for human laws, more especially in a country where the paflions are eafily inflamed; and where, from the nature of the judicial procefs, the laws muff, be weak In the extreme. For, as we have remarked already, no information can be taken but by the efcrivanos, nor can any judgment be pronounced but upon their record. Now, as thefe officers are ufually poor, and not unfrequently destitute of principle, they may, without much difficulty, be perfuaded to change the complexion of an action, and at pleafure to make it either black or white. Hence, from impunity, afTaitina-tions are frequently committed; and, as little fecurity can be derived from the laws, it becomes the interefl of every man to be armed for his own defence. With this view only he procures the formidable weapon 3 but, when provoked to anger, his viewrs are changed; that which was designed for his own protection, becomes the initru-II 4 ment
ment of treachery, of malice, and of re* venge.
Throughout this elevated country, there is little appearance of cultivation, although many confiderable tracts of land, over which we paffed, are good, and much of it might be watered. The natural productions are pines, juniper, favine, rofemary, with other aromatic herbs, Spanifh broom, and the pajferina hirfuta, but chiefly the e[parto rufh.
Whilft traverfing thefe mountains, the fnowy tops of which are loft in clouds, we obferved many flocks of goats, fome of them numerous, and one confuting of five hundred; but we faw no fheep. As we advanced we met nine waggons, and a long drove of affes, loaded -with flax, going to Granada. The leader in thefe droves is always diftinguifhed from the reft, and will never fuffer another to ufurp his place.
The waggoners and drovers were all af-fembled, and, being feated on the grafs before the doors of a vent a, that is, a folitary inn, were eating for their dinner fome fnails dreffed with rice. As we approached, one of them refpeftfully rofe up, and in-
' vitecl
vlted us to partake of their repaft. We as refpectfully declined the offer, and proceeded to another venta, at the difiance of about four leagues from Guadix.
Near this place I had an opportunity of obferving the ftrata, and found them com-pofed promifcuoufly of quartz, flint, fchift, and limeflone gravel, all rounded as by the action of water.
The trillo was fmaller than any I had feen before; and, inflead of flints, had forty bars of iron to cut the flraw.
Soon after we had left this venta, we began defcending by the fide of a baranco or ravin, and with the higheft Satisfaction entered the rich vale of Baza. Yet even here the vines had not begun to bud.
Baza is faid to contain fix thoufand five hundred families. The cathedral is fcarce-ly worth attention. The organ indeed is large and handfome; but the great altar is antiquated, and void of tafle.
Below the city is an extenfive well-watered plain. The foil is very white, and, although remarkably flrong, is tilled with the plough laft defcribed, without either coulter, fin to the fhare, or mouldboard;
yet
I   io6 "
yet the wheat appears tolerably good, but the barley is very bad. They plough with mules.
From hence, afcending for near two leagues, yet Still traverfing the fame plain, which is bounded every way by fnowy mountains, in a circumference of about thirty miles, we difcovered, that through this whole'extent of country the natural rock is gypfum, and from that circumflance arifes the whitenefs of the foil in the Subja-cent plain. The Strata appear to be horizontal, and are many of them compofed entirely of double lenticular crystals of felenite, like thofe of Montmartre, in the vicinity of Paris.
Nitre is remarkably abundant over the whole extent of this gypfeous country.
On Saturday* April 28, in the evening, we came to Cullar de Baza, a wretched village, with many habitations excavated in the rock of gypfum. Previous to our departure, the fucceeding day, it was indif-pen fable that we Should go to mafs.
Here I obferved, that, as the chapel was not fufficiently capacious to receive all the people who attended, many Stood on the,
outSide*
outride, where they could neither fee the officiating prieft nor hear his, voice. When, however, the found of a little tinkling bell had reached them, they fmote upon their breafts, and, having crofTed themfelves, their devotions for that day were ended. Being at liberty to fpend the remainder as they pleafed, fome began to amufe themfelves with fports and paftimcs, others worked in their gardens, and fome went out to plough.
The little valley, which Supplies this village, is about a quarter of a mile in breadth, inclofed by barren gypfeous mountains j and although it is well watered, and confequently fertile in flax, hemp, and wheat; with vines on the more elevated fpots, yet the population bears too great a proportion to the extent of land iufceptible pf cultivation.
Looking down upon fo rich, yet fuch a contracted fpot, we iniiantly and evidently fee that the..human race, however at hi'ft, and whiltt their numbers are limited, they may rejoice in affluence, will go on constantly increasing, till they balance their quantity of food.   From that period two
appetites
I   108 ]
appetites will combine to regulate their numbers.   Beyond   that   period, fhould they continue to increafe, having paffed the natural limits of their population, they muft fufTer want.   In thefe circumftances, beholding many of the poor, naked, and half Starved, Should they inadvertently ordain, that no one in their community Should want, that all mould have food, and every man an habitation; or, in other words, Should they eftablifh a community of goods; is it not obvious, that they would aim at impossibilities, and that, by every effort to relieve diftrefs, they would only extend the bounds of human mifery ?
This Subject is highly interesting, and Should be thoroughly diScuffed; but, as I have treated it profeffedly in a Diflertation on our Poor Laws, and often occafionally in this work, I fhall drop it Sor the present.
All the way from Cullar de Baza to Vertientes, three tedious leagues, we keep winding among the hills, which are covered with rofemary and aromatic herbs, but chiefly with the efparto rufh and a few Straggling pines.   Here we faw no Sheep.
The
The whole country is given up to goats j of thefe we admired one flock, containing two thoufand, all as white as milk, feeding among the rocks, and fcattered on the fides of a high mountain.
As we approached the puerto, or pafs, we obferved a few fheep among the goats, and fome droves of pigs feeding round the fcattered ilex.
Vertkntes, fo called from the parting of the waters, has twenty-five families; and Contador, at a little difiance, has twenty more.
Beyond this pafs the profped opens, and, in proportion as We defcend from the high country, where the waters divide, one portion paffing by the Daro to the Xenil, and thence by the Guadalquivir into the ocean; whilft the other, by a fhorter paffage, is precipitated with the Guadalentin, near Carthagena, into the Mediterranean fea. In proportion as we defcend, vegetation begins to feel the influence of a warmer fun; the foil becomes more fertile, and all its productions appear luxuriant. The efparto rufh, which in thofe elevated regions could Scarcely be diftin-
guifhed
I no I
guifhed from grafs, at a lower level becomes long and rampant. The vines begin to Ihoot, the lark is warbling in the air, and rhroughout a wide-extended valley the crops' every where promife an abundant harveft.
At the diftance of more than a league ivom Vertlentes, or, according to the expref-lion of my guide, a league as long as Lent, is Chirivel, a village containing a hundred and fifty houfes, which, with fourteen others, including all. the adjacent country, and one third of the tithe, is the property of the Dutchefs of Alba. Here they have neither beef nor mutton; goats flefh fells for ten quartos, or 2 pence a pound of fixteen ounces; and bread for two quartos and a half, or     of a penny.
From hence we defcend three leagues in the wide channel of a torrent, fhut in by high hills and rugged rocks of fchifl, all the way to Velez el Rubto, where the country again opens on the view, and the vale expands.
This town is faid to contain three thoufand families, with one folitary convent, 1 ana1 a  beautiful  church,  built  by the
Dutchefs
Dutehefs of Alba, to whom the town and the adjacent lands belong.
The Pofada makes a magnificent appearance, and, for a Spanish inn, may be called commodious; but, considering the expence the Dutchefs has been at for the advantage of the public, more attention ihould have been paid to the comfort of genteeler travellers. The rooms, destined for their reception, are of a good fize, and communicate by means of a fpacious gallery. But the whole of the ground floor is abandoned to the carrier, and confifls of a fmall kitchen, with a vafl repofitory, defigned at once for the lading of their mules, for their entertainment, and for their dormitory. Here their noife and riot, refounding through the houfe by means of the long gallery, is intolerable; and, as the kitchen is open, they are constantly crowding round the hearth to procure their fuppers, leaving the miflrefs of the pofada no kifure to pay attention to any guefts befide themfelves.
The town is commanded by a cafile formerly Strong, now going to decay.
They have no beef. Mutton is fold for * twelve
f i" 3
twelve quartos a pound, (3 ^ pence), goats ftefri for ten, bread for four*
From Velez you pafs over an open and a fertile plain, till you reach the confines, and from the kingdom of Granada enter Murcia. Here the profpect changes? and, inStead of a level country productive of grain, and not destitute of fruit-trees, you meet with nothing but hills, barren, wild, and defolate, the refort of wolves, covered chiefly with the efparto rufh.
To guard this pafs, a caftle, called Xixena, formerly a place of ftrength, was erected on the fummit of a craggy rock, and its ruins ftill preferve a refpectable appearance.   The rock is fchift.
As we drew nigh to Lorca, we overtook numerous droves of affes, loaded with pine-wood, cleft for the ferviee of the hearth; and obferved the Tamarifk, with the Ne-rium Oleander in great abundance.
Here the foil is white, and the gypfum rock appears.
After having paffed three days in thefe elevated regions, constantly in fight of mow, and expofed to the feverity of the winter's cold, the fudden tranfition to the
heat
t   "3 ]
heat of fummer, as we defcended into the plain, was more Striking than agreeable. No fooner were we arrived near Lorca, than we obferved multitudes of fwallows, and when we came into the city, we were pertered with myriads of flies. On the mountains vegetation ceafed, whilft at a lower level the peafants were engaged in the toils of harvert.
The hardfhips to be endured in the journey from Granada to Lorca, can be fully comprehended by thofe only who have palTed this way. With refpect to living, it is bad; with regard to lodging, it is worfe. I had indeed taken the precaution, or rather my friend the inquiiitor had the good-nefs to provide a ham, and fix bottles of good wine, but to little purpofe; for unfortunately the ham had been neither boiled nor watered; and in this whole • extent of way, and indeed in the whole tract of country between Granada and Carthagena, no veflel could be found big enough to boil it in, nor any thing deeper than a frying-pan. At Cullar de Baza I had ordered it to be dreifed; and a traveller, who had joined me on the road, recommended that :  Vol. III. I it
[   "4 1
it mould be boiled in wine. I gave orders accordingly, and I paid for the wine; but when, in the morning, I attempted to cut fome flices, I found it was raw, and upon examination, found that my ham had been for hours over a little bit of lire, and in a veffel ht only for the frying of eggs. My wine occafioned equal perplexity, for I had no fcrew, and could neither procure a fork to draw out the cork, nor was there room to thruft it in. Patience, and a penknife, however, at laft relieved me from this part of my diftrefs.
The firft night of my journey I was fo happy as to be in a place, where my paff-port could procure a bed? but in a Succeeding night, being at a venta, had not the good gypfies, for fuch they were, fpread their own for me on the floor, I could have found no • refource. They indeed at firft refufed; but when they faw that I was ill and fainting, they took companion, and with cheerfulnefs refigned the bed, refer v-ing, however, for themfelves. the chamber in which it had been fpread. i
But in Lorca, after having regaled myMf with a good fupper, and flept foundry in a
comfortable
comfortable bed, I forgot all former hardships.
Lorca is a considerable city on the banks of the Guadalentin, and contains, in nine parimcs, twenty-one thoufand eight hundred and fixty-fix inhabitants, with eight convents for men, and two for women. It had lately manufactures of filk, wool, and linen, but thefe are gone to decay. Should the canal, intended to run up into the country, and to form a communication with Carthagena, be carried into execution, trade will revive, and agriculture, by the watering of more than three hundred thoufand acres of good land, will receive frefh vigour ; for fuch is the effect of moiffure, in this warm climate, that, in a rainy feafon, the farmers have received a hundred for one upon their wheat.
The filt-petre works are here extenfive, and appear to be conducted at a fmall ex-pence of fuel.
I was delighted with the public walks, refembling the parks at Oxford, but upon a more extenfive fcale, and more beautiful, becaufe the corn-fields,, inclofed by them, are watered. Here, in the evening, the I 2 inhabitants
[   »6 ]
inhabitants affembled to take their exercife, and to enjoy their focial intercourfe under the fliadow of the lofty trees.
The parade for the militia is fpacious, and after fun-fet affords a pleafant walk.
Of the convents, thofe moft worthy of attention are S. Jago, S. Domingo, and La Merced.
The great church has nothing remarkable within, excepting a curious grant from the bifhop and the dean, of forty days indulgence every time any penitent fhall fay a pater nofter and an ave maria to fix faints, named in the grant, provided this be done for the benefit of the fouls in purgatory.
The front of this church is elegant, the columns numerous, the architecture is Corinthian and Compofite. Here every criminal may find a fafe afylum.
An old caftle, ftanding on the edge of a high rock, formerly the object of dependence, or of terror, is now regarded with indifference.
As we traverfed the plain, after having ' turned our back upon this city, we took notice of the tillage.   The land is ftrong,
the
the ploughs are fimilar to the one laft de-fcribed, and in thefe are ufed two aifes. With fuch apparently bad hulbandry, how aftonifhing muft be the influence of the fun, to produce upon their watered crops of wheat a hundred-fold in proportion to feed!
Near the city we remarked olives in abundance, with many mulberry-trees; and took notice of numerous flocks of fheep, but faw no pens for them. The fhepherds were attended by ftrong dogs, armed with fpiked collars, whence I collected that wolves find fhelter on the mountains.
My guide talked to me of fome lead and copper mines in this vicinity, but I had no opportunity to vifit them; yet I faw clearly, by the nature of the mountains, that minerals muft abound in them.
As we increafed our diftance from Lorca, we loft fight of cultivation, and afcended among hills covered with efparto ruflies, yet not altogether deftitutc of other vegetable productions, fuch as are more pleafing to the fight. Among thefe, the principal were the fpartium, or Spanifh broom, the cerium oleander in a few favoured fpots, I 3 the
[  »8 3
the pajjerina birfuta, and the lovely cut us in abundance.
The foil is white with gypfum; yet the rocks on the mountains to the right and left appear to be of fchift. Nitre, both on the hills and in the vallies, might be collected in the greateft plenty, and at a fmall expence.
Here the peafants wear fhort trowfers, and bufkins, called by them alpargates, which are made with the efparto ruth. Of thefe a man is able to manufacture two pair a day, and requires for his own ufe one pair every fortnight, being at the rate of about twelve (hidings a year for this article of drefs: whereas in Granada, where the ihoes are made with hemp, and coft three reals, a pair will laft three months, being at the rate only of two Ihillings and four pence per annum.
After having travelled feven leagues, we came to a village, called la Pemlla, containing fifty fcattered cottages; it is fituated on the elevated tract of land, which is in-terpofed between the two vales of Lorca and of Gamponubla. The foil is calpariour, and produces, of wheat, eight for one; but
of barley twenty-four for one. A few mulberries, figs, olives, and prickly pears, by their luxuriant growth, ferve to fhew what the country, if duly cultivated, is able to produce. The barley is already houfed, and the wheat is nearly ready for the fickle.
The land lies healthy, without the lean; fign of Stagnant water; the fprings are more than a hundred feet below the furface, and the inhabitants are remarkable for being free from tertians and from putrid fevers, whilft the vallies fuifer exceedingly from both.
They have here ho great proprietor, nor vinculo, as they exprefs it. That is, the eftates are freehold, and not entailed. Nothing, therefore, is wanted but a market to promote their induftry. Bread fells at four, and mutton for ten quartos the pound.
We left la Penilla at fix in the morning, and traverfing a level country, fliut in with high mountains and craggy rocks of fchift, we came to the pafs, and from thence defcending to enter the vale of Carthagena, beyondthe Summit of the hill, we loft the I 4 limeftone
limeitone for near a league, and found the fchift; but, leaving that behind us, we again met with calcarious earth and limeftone, whilft all the higher rocks are evidently fchift.
Near the Summit is a noria, with water at the depth of ten feet from the furface.
Wednefday, May 2, I arrived at Carthagena, about the middle of the day, and found a moft hofpitable reception in the family of Mr. Macdonell, an Englifh merchant eftablifhed there.
CARTHA-
CARTHAGENA.
CARTHAGENA occupies the declivity of a hill, with the little intermediate plain between it and the harbour. This city is protected from the fouth and from the weft by high mountains and barren rocks; but to the north and to the eaft it is open, and communicates with an extenfive valley.
This valley, as we have feen, is fepa-rated from the plain of Penilla by a ridge of hills, which is a continuation of the mountains above mentioned; whilft, to the north, another chain of mountains divides between it and the vale of Murcia.
On the fummit of the hill, commanding the city, is a caftle now going to decay; but, on the adjacent heights, are raifed considerable works to defend the harbour, with the arfenals and dock -yard.
They
[ ]
They reckon here Sixty thoufand fouls, distributed in fifteen thoufand families.
The Streets are wide, and the houfes are commodious. They have generally flat roofs, which, in a climate like this, administers to the comfort of the inhabitants, affording them a cool retreat, where, after tun-let, they may affemble to enjoy the refreshing breeze; and, as the rainy feafon is of fhort duration, thefe are Sufficient to protect the interior of their manfions from humidity. The new parade, extending eaft and weft at the head of the harbour, and looking through its entrance into the Mediterranean, is built on a regular plan: and, as a high fchiitous rock has been cut away to make room for this long range of habitations, excellent vaults are excavated behind each houfe, for the Service oSthe merchants. At the end of this Hands the royal hofpital, a vaft establishment, deftined to receive the Sick from the dock-yard and the army, with the prejidiarios, or criminals condemned to the gallie's, and in Spain reduced to the loweft State oS Servitude,
The cathedral, a miSerable pile, is riow degraded, and the bifhop's See being re-o moved
moved to Murcia, it is become a parihh church.
Of the convents not one appeared worthy to be noticed; but the proportion allotted to the men is certainly remarkable; becaufe, of nine, eight are occupied by them. Yet I could not learn the reafon for this neglect and want of proviiion for the fey, whofe helpielTnefs, whether in the Hate of orphans or of widowhood, pleads powerfully for fuch a refuge; and who by nature are moil fuited to the devout and peaceful engagements of the cloifler.
I wifhed to have vilited the dock-yard: but, when I left Madrid, knowing that I ihould meet Mr. Macdonell, I neglected to folicit letters of recommendation, and, for want of an order from the court, I was not able to procure admirTion. My lofs, however, was the lefs to be regretted, becaufe I had vifited the arfenals at Cadiz, and becaufe every part of this dock-yard may be distinctly feen, either from the adjoining hills, or from the houfes, which look down upon it.
In the midtt of the yard is a fpacious bafon, and in it the Ships of war are moored,
[   1*4 1
ed, each in-front of the magazine deflined to receive her rigging and her Stores.
The docks are kept dry by fire-engines, and of thefe, three are almoft constantly at work. Confidering the enormity of this expence, it appeared to me, that by means of water they might raife a fhip to the needful height, and then Suffer the fire-engine to reft till water was required to let her down again.
They have here two thoufand criminals, chiefly Smugglers, who, being condemned to work in chains, are called prcjidiarios* TheSe are employed in the moft Servile labour, Some Sor five, others Sor Seven years; and at the expiration of thefe terms, they are turned loofe upon the public, not corrected nor trained to habits of induftry, but vitiated by the fociety of thieves, and unfitted to purfue the occupations to which they had been originally trained. Before the introduction of fteam-engines, thefe wretched creatures were obliged to work at the chain pumps; but fuch was their malignity, ariling from defpair, that many, watching their opportunity, would throw
ftones,
[   mi ]
flones, nails, and bits of iron, into the pumps, to fpoil them.
Thefe two thoufand ilaves require five hundred foldiers conftantly to guard them; and, independently of this expence, they coft each to government five reals a day for their maintenance; whilft their work cannot be estimated at one-tenth of what they eat.
This abfurd practice of employing convicts in the public ferviee, is no longer confined to Spain. We have adopted it in our more enlightened iiland, as may be feen at Portfmouth, where the matter general of the ordnance finds employment for two or three hundred criminals, who are better fed than the moft fober, honeft, and laborious of our peafants. Their daily allowance amounts to more than eighteen ounces of bread, with nearly a pound of butchers meat, an ounce of cheefe, a quart of foup, nearly a quart of beer, and plenty of potatoes. Thus fed, with good clothes, a comfortable lodging, and light work, is not their condition to be envied by the induftrious poor ? ■ Yet fuch, to the nation, is the expence, that the
charge
[ ]
charge for each individual is more than Sufficient to maintain a family.
If, at Carthagena, we calculate the allowance for their convicts, omitting the Soldiers pay, we fhall find thirty-fix thouSand five hundred pounds expended, befide what is Spent Sor the Same purpoSe in the other Sea-ports and garriibns oS Spain. Yet, not-with{landing the enormity oS this expence, and the cruelty thus exerciSed on the perSons oS thoSe, who, under a wiSer government, might have been profitable citizens, Such is the effect produced by a vicious Syflem of finance, that neither are thele reclaimed, nor are others intimidated from treading in their Steps; whilft, with regard to the revenue, not merely is little gained in proportion to what is taken from the public, but, by the Subtraction of fuch multitudes from profitable employment, their labour is loft to the community.
In this dock-yard the marts and timber are floated in water, without the leaft ap-prehenfion of their Suffering by the worm; becaufe, as they never open their Unices till the water is become putrid, the evaporation,
tion, proceeding with rapidity, leaves a drong brine, in which it is impoflible. the worm lhould live; whereas, in the north of Spain, where the evaporation is not fuf-hcient for this purpofe, they bury their mails in fend, and by pins prevent their floating, when they are covered by the tide.
The fishery at this fea-port is confidera-ble. It is divided into two branches, perfectly diflincl: and independant of each other; that within the port being the property of a fishing company, confiding of * eighteen alTociates, edablifhed here by charter, whild, in the open fea, all mariners, who are enrolled, are at liberty to fifh.
Within the port they take chiefly the atun, or tunny and the mehas; but the. former is the mod profitable. It is from five to feven feet long, in Shape Somewhat like a mackarel, but the head is large and the tail is very Small; the fleSh is brown and flaky and admits of being falted.' By this they clear about ten reals, that is two Shillings, per arroba, or one penny, nearly, a pound.   The melvas are purchafed by the
reeidores
regidores for fixty reals, that is twelve (hillings, the hundred.
Half the quantity of fiih taken in the harbour muft be fold for the benefit of the poor, at a price appointed by the regidores; and the king takes one-half of all their profits, amounting to about a thoufand pounds a year, as a compenfation for his claim of one quarter of their hill. They are not allowed to follow their occupation in the night, left they fhould take that opportunity for fmuggling.   In addition to thefe impediments, the regidores take the befl fifh themfelves, at their own price; and, whilft they purchafe at fixty reals, they fell again at a hundred, dividing the plunder among themfelves. Till the year 1750, the corregidores, alcaldes, and regidores, claimed the privilege of taking the beft fiih without paying for it, under the title of pojlura, that is, a bribe or recompenfe for fixing the price; but, by a royal edict, that practice was prohibited; and now, if they refolve to plunder, it muft be circuitoufly.
In the open fea the fifbermen enjoy more freedom from oppreflion, and have peculiar
privileges.
t   I29 ]
privileges. Their frefh fifh is difpofed of in the market, free from the alcavala, mil-lories, arbitrio, and every other tax, only fubjecl: to the regulations above related, by which their profits are reduced; but as a compenfation, for their fait, Supplied from the royal magazines, they pay one real per fanega lefs than others to the king, and have fix months credit. They export their fait fifh duty free; and for home consumption, whilft foreign fifh pays ten they pay only two per cent* in lieu of alcavala and millcnes to the crown. Yet they complain of being plundered by the intendant of marines, from whom they are to obtain their licence, and allege that he likewife robs them of their fifh.
The magistrates, if called upon by the rifh-carriers, muft fix a reafonable price on balkets, cafks, and package, and muft determine what fhall be paid for the weighing of their fifh.
Here they make great quantities of the efparto ropes and cables, fome of them Spun like hemp, and others platted. Both operations are performed with lingular rapidity.   Thefe cables are excellent, becaufe
Vol. HI. K they
[   *3° 1
they float on the furface of the. water, and are not therefore liable to be cut by the rocks on a foul coaft The efparto rufh makes good mats for houfes, alpargates for peafants, and latterly it has been fpun into fine thread for the purpofe of making cloth. If properly encouraged, there is no doubt that the manufacture may be brought to fuch perfection, as to make this once ufelefs rufh a fource of abundant wealth to the fou them provinces of Spain.
We have remarked, this rufh, as the peculiar and natural production of all the high and uncultivated mountains in the fouth j and here we cannot help admiring the bounty of providence in thus adminiftering to the wants of man, and giving abundantly in thefe dry and elevated regions, where neither hemp nor flax will grow, materials proper for his clothing, and for the employment of liis induftry.
The Spanifh government, in order to derive a revenue from this valuable article of commerce, began, A. D. 1773, with laying a duty of two and a half per cent, on the exportation of the manufactured rufh, and nine maravedis per arroba on the raw
material.
[ »j» 3
material..;-But fome few years after, willing to confine the manufacture altogether to their own Subjects, they proceeded further, and forbad the exportation of the raw material; yet, unmindful of their favourite maxims, they have given to John Baptifta Condom, of Madrid, a licence, nay an exclusive privilege, of fending it to a foreign market.
The moft important production of this country, and the moft valuable article of commerce is barilla, a fpecies of pot-afh, procured by burning a great variety of plants almoft peculiar to this coaft, fuch as foza, algazul, fuzon, fayones, falicomia% with barilla. It is ufed for making foap, for bleaching, and for glafs.
All the nations of Europe, by the com* buftion of various vegetable fubftances, make fome kind of pot-afh j but the Superior excellence of the barilla has hitherto fecured the preference. The country producing it is about Sixty leagues in length, and eight in breadth, on the borders of the Mediterranean.
The quantity exported annually from Spain is about a hundred and fifty thoufand K 2 quintals,
[   i32 1
quintals, paying a duty of Seventeen reals per quintal, confequently producing a revenue of twenty-five thoufand five hundred pounds a year: yet, as we are informed by Don Bernardo de Ulloa, A. D. 1740, this article was farmed at fix million two hundred and Sixty thoufand four hundred and twelve maravedis, that is £.1,822. 4.J. 3^/. Were it not for this opprefhve tax, the quantity exported might be much increafed, becaufe the French, who formerly frequented the Spanifh markets for barilla, are now fupplied from Sicily, where, next to Spain, the belt may be procured.
Carthagena is indebted principally to M. Macdonell for this article of commerce ; at leaft to him mult be attributed the , flourishing condition to which it has been brought, becaufe, previous to his establishment in this city, little of it was produced in the vicinity, and none was transported Srom a diftance.
AH the herbs already mentioned, as yielding the pot-afh, are indigenous, and may be collected in a Swamp called Almojar, to the ealtward of the city. Of the foza I found two fpecies, the one called blanca,
the
[   *33 1
the other jma* Thefe are both good, yet not equal in quality to the fayoncs and barilla.
The chief imports are bale goods and bacalao; the latter directly from Newfoundland, under the duty of thirty reals the quintal, or about fix Ihillings the hundred weight. Of bale goods, mullins and cottons are prohibited; yet as many are now brought in as when the ports were open to them, government differing thereby in the revenue, and the people paying double the former price for thefe commodities.
In my excurfions round the city, I took notice, that the extenfive valley to the north, and to the eaft, is beautifully varied in its form, every where either riling into little tumuli or finking into bottoms; and although not enriched by any rivers, yet, from a few fcattered norias, it is evident, that even the higheft land might be plentifully watered. The foil is loomy, compofed of calcarious matter, fand, and clay, from the diffolution of the adjacent mountains, which are of fchiftous rock covered with limeftone.
They ufe oxen for draught; but in til-K. 3 lage
lage they employ mules and afles, with the plough lalt defcribed.
Their courfe of hufbandry is wheat, barley, and fallow. For wheat they break up their land in September, and, after three ploughings, the feed is put into the ground about the middle of IN ovember or the beginning of December, In July they reap from ten to a hundred for one, in proportion to the wetnefs of the feafon. For barley they move the earth once or twice, as opportunity permits, fewing their land generally in September, but always after the firft rain fubfequent to the wheat harveft, and receive from thirty to forty fanegas of grain on a fanega of land, or, in other words, from fifteen to twenty for one upon their feed, becaufe a fanega is that quantity of good land, on which they fow one fanega of wheat or two of barley.
A ianega of corn is here three thoufand three hundred and twelve folid inches, and weighs a quintal, that is, one hundred pounds Spanifh, or one hundred and two pounds and three quarters avoirdupois, and among the merchants five fanegas and a quarter are reckoned equal to eight Winchester bufliels of
two
two tfjpufand one hundred and feventy-eight folid inches; but upon a rough calculation, two fanegas of grain may be reckoned equal to three bufhels, and one fanega of land may be conhdered as three quarters of an acre.
For their fallow crop they often fow barilla, and get from ten to twelve quintals on a fanega; but if, for want of rain, they are difappointed in the proper feafon for wheat, they fow that land likewife with barilla; and fuppofing the market price to be forty reals the quintal, it is found more profitable than a good crop of wheat. The average price is confiderably higher; but as the commodity rifes and falls between wide extremes, it is fome times fold for twenty, and at other times for a hundred and twenty reals the quintal.
They grind all their corn by wind-mills. I counted thirty near the city; and water is fo fcarce, that M. Macdonell pays thirteen pounds a year only for the carriage of it.
The trees moft common in the \ all* , are, elms, poplars, olives, figs, pomegranates, mulberries, apricots, palms, pal mitos, and the ginjolero. This laft bears a little fruit refembling, both in fize and form, the olive, but with a fmaller kernel,
K 4 and
and remarkable for fweetnefs. The leaf is. fomething* like the a(h, but of a darker green, with a mining furface.
The palmitos (Cbamarops kumilis) grow about two feet high, with leaves on a long item fpreading like a fan. They bear good dates in duffers, and the root is excellent, refembling the artichoke. Between each coat is a fine texture of fibres, like network, commonly ufed inflead of hemp for charging and for cleaning guns.
I have remarked already, that the rock is fchift covered with limeftoncj but in fome places we find the filicious grit or fand ftone, with mingle or fmooth gravel and fea-fhells; and at no great diftance from the city is a mountain, from whence they obtain the gypfum ufed for plafter. The whole country abounds with faltpetre.
Of difeafes, the moft endemical are intermittent and putrid fevers. Thefe arife from the proximity of an extenfive fwamp, containing many hundred acres, which might cafily be drained, fo as to produce the moft. luxuriant crops. In the year 1785, during the three autumnal months, they loft two thoufand five hundred perfons, and the Succeeding
M
f 137 ]
ceeding year two thoufand three hundred more; yet the Almojar remains undrained. Government, indeed, exerted its authority, but not in the moft effectual manner, for the relief of the inhabitants.
When the report of, this calamity hag1 reached the court, an order was difpatched to the phyficians, that no other medicine fliould be administered to the fick, than the famous one prefcribed by Don Jofeph Mafdeval, and called by him his Opiate, pf which the following is the formular: & Sal abfinth,
— Ammoniac optime depurati aa 3i. Tartari Stibiati, termino clariori Tar-tari Emetici gr. xviij. triturentur per hora? quadrantem, deinde adde & optime mifceantur Pulv. Cort. Peru v. 31. Syr. abfinth q. f. fiat Opiata. Of this he gives one-fixth part every two hours, with one fpoonful of the following mixture :
& Aq. viper |V.
Aq. benedict Rulandi termino clarion Vini Emetici fj. Cremor Tartari pulv. 5j. m.
With
t 138 ]
With thefe medicines he interpofes plenty of broth, and continues to ufe them till the patient is reflored to health,
In a converfation I had with him at court, he informed me, that the common operation of thefe medicines was at firft to act as an emetic or cathartic, often bringing away lumbrici; but being continued they relieved the Stricture on the external furface of the body, promoted perfpi-ration and acted fometimes as a diuretic. He affured me, that in the mofl defperate cafes, the difeafe had given way at the end of four days, after he had begun to administer his medicines; and he did me the honour to fhew me a variety of atteflations from medical men, in almofl every part of Spain.
That I might have no doubt of the true nature of the difeafe, he related the ufual Symptoms, fuch as, in the beginning, a remarkable prottration of Strength, with in-tenfe pain both of the head and of the back; intolerable thirif; the tongue foul, dry, black, chopped, and trembling, when protruded; pulfc Small, hard, quick, and intermitting; parotid glands Swelled; urine
limpid
t   J39 1
limpid at firft, but turbid in the progrefs of the difeafe; refpiration difficult; the white of the eyes become red; petechial fpots on the arms and breaft; hands trembling; watchfulnefs at firft, followed by propenfity to ileep perpetually without confcioufnefs of having flept; delirium j noife in the ears, followed by deafnefs; involuntary tears; coldnefs of the extremities; quivering of the under lip; and, if the patient were ill treated, death.
From this defcription, there could be no doubt of the difeafe; but, as to the operation of the medicines, that certainly will admit of fome difcufTion. On the common principles of chemiftry it is evident, that a double decompofition takes place, and that the tartar emetic is reduced to an inert calx. I muft acknowledge, that when firft I was informed of this curious medicine, 1 was inclined to think, that the tonic power of the bark enabled the flo-mach'to bear this extraordinary quantity of tartar emetic, but on more mature con ft deration it feems clear, that, being decom-pofed, this active medicine has loft its efficacy; and I am confirmed in this idea by
* a fact
[   Ho ]
a fact related to me by Dr. Mafdeval, when I had the honour to meet him at the Efcu-rial. He had prefcribed this opiate to a monk, who was in the laft Stage of a typhus or putrid fever; but the nurfe by mistake gave the whole quantity at once, thus administering eighteen grains of tartar emetic at one dofe, yet without any other viiible effect than abating the violence of all his Symptoms. I am therefore Satisfied, that the cleanfing of the alimentary canal muft be attributed to the emetic wine, and that the operation of the famous opiate would be nearly the fame either with or without the Stibiated tartar, and muft be aScribed wholly to the bark.
The phyficians of Carthagena were willing to allow this medicine all the credit which was due to it, and to prefcribe no other whenever they mould be convinced that this might be uSed with SaSety; but to be precluded in all caSes from the uSe of other remedies, they thought, would be un-reaSonable. They thereSore Sent their remonstrances to court; but in anSwer, there came an exprefs order from the king, that they mould be Subject to the intendant of
the
t hi i
the dock-yard, and lhould prefcribe according to his directions.
On the receipt of this mandate from the court, the intendant immediately affembled the phyricians, and made known the royal pleafure, informing them, that in cafe of difobedience, the prifons were prepared, and the guards in waiting to execute his or-ders. They expostulated, but to little purpofe ; and being told that nothing Short of abfolute fubmiflion would be accepted, they conScnted to prefcribe the opiate in ail cafes, and, to evince their Sincerity, they Signed a certificate, that no other medicine was So efficacious as this recommended by the king.
The people, however, were not So SubmiS-Sive to the royal mandate, and knowing that the phviicians were engaged not to vary their prescriptions according to the exigency of the cafe, and the variety of difeafes by which they might be attacked, they abfolntely refufed to fend for medical aS-iiftance, and refolved to take their chance for life or death. When therefore information was carried back to court, that the phyfi-cians were likely to be ftarved, and the people
to
to die for want of their advice; the miniftef relented, and agreed to compromife the mat-ter, leaving the fons of iEfculapius at liberty to follow their own judgment for the citizens at large, and compelling them to administer no other medicine, befide the opiate, to all the patients in the royal hofpital.
This perhaps is the firft inftance of defpo-tic power controlling the functions of physicians, and prefcribing uniformity to that clafs of citizens in the line of their profeflion.
The municipal government of Carthagena is in a military governor, with his alcalde mayor, thirty regidores, whofe office partes by inheritance, if not previoufly fold, and two fyndics, chofen by the people as their peculiar guardians.
The governor is the fupreme and independent judge for the army, and for ftran-gcjs fettled in the country, whilft his alcalde preiides in the tribunal for the citizens.
Nothing can be more vicious than this form of government by hereditary regidores, who may here be called the thirty tyrants: yet to render the yoke ftill more intolerable, the efcrivanos del numero fucceed like-wife by inheritance, and may even fell their
office
■
©Mice in Shares, to be Served by a deputy. Although thefyndics, like the Roman tribunes, are chofen by the people, it is under the influence of the regidores; and as they are appointed only for a year, they dare not exert themfelves in the difcharge of their duty towards their fellow-citizens.
It is reported, that in confequence of this vicious SyStem, both the regidores and efcrivanos are constantly intent on plunder. Certain it is, that many Sources of peculation are open to the former, belide the one already mentioned, in fetting a value on provisions j but the principal, and thofe, moft generally noticed, are, creating new offices for themfelves or their dependants, with more than ample falaries, and distributing among themfelves large Sums under pretence oS deltroying locults, where few or none are to be found; after which they make falfe reports to government, and procure fuch vouchers for their watchfulnefs, activity, and zeal, that thejfc obtain high encomiums when they deferve the moft fe-vere reproof. Not long fince, they expended three hundred thoufand reals, or about three thoufand pounds, and then levied
[   *44 1
vied trie whole by an arbitrio or tax on thtf inhabitants, although no one could imagine what part of the adjacent country had been infefled by the locuft. To complain of thefe abufes would be dangerous; and to fuch an extent is the venality increafed, that every citizen is anxious to fecure the favour and protection of a regidor, as the only means of fafety for his perfon and his, property. This circumftance is fufficient to evince the vicioufnefs of government, and the mal-administration of the laws; for wherever patrons with their clients are to be found, we may be certain that the laws are weak, and that violence hath ufurped the throne of equity.
In confluence of this want of energy in government, murders and afTafii nations are frequent in Carthagena, and for many years not one offender has been punifhed for thefe crimes, becaufe the moft atrocious villain, unlets miferably poor, may find refuge in the rfpacity of the efcrivanos.
Want of fidelity to matrimonial vows is equally prevalent at Carthagena, as in the other provinces of Spain,
It
[   H5 ]
It was here that a gentleman one morning faid gravely to his friend, " Before I go to reft this night, the whole city will be thrown into confuiion." This he himfelf occafioned by going home an hour before his ufual time, to the no fmall vexation of his wife and of her cortejo, whole precipitate retreat, and unexpected arrival in his own houfe, occalioned the like confufion there; and thus by fucceffive and fimilar operations, was literally fulfilled the prediction of the morning.
I have already traced the corruption of morals to one grand fource, the celibacy of the clergy; but here it muft be obferved, that this operates only as a pre-difpofing caufe; whilft the occafional caufe, by the acknowledgment of thofe, who are moft competent to judge, muft be fought for in the introduction of Italian manners on the arrival of Charles III. from Naples, with the previous want of reafonable freedom in the commerce of the fexes.
It m addition to thefe I might venture to aftign another caufe for this universal depravity of morals, I fhould feck for it in the want of admonition; becaufe the fecular
Vol. III. L clergy
clergy Seldom, if ever, preach. The monks indeed defcant upon the virtues of their patron faint; or labour to extol fome favourite fehora, and to fet up altar againft altar; but they feldom appear folicitous to improve the morals of the people; and excepting during Lent, they do not often exhort the people to repentance. Their contemptible effufions have been juftly ridiculed by a Spanifti author, who, in point of wit and humour, has had few Superiors; and all who have read his entertaining hiftory of the famous preacher, Fray Gerundio, will acknowledge the juftnefs of his cen-fure. Had not this work been moft ab-furdly condemned by the inquifition, the fame reformation might have been effected in their pulpit eloquence, as was happily produced in England by a iimilar performance of our Echard, entitled, " Grounds and Occafions of the Contempt of the Clergy."
Such has been the poverty of Spain in point of pulpit orators, that neither monk nor ecclefiaftic, among all with whom I converfed, could recommend one author, as worthy to be noticed j and even in the
preSent
prefent day, if a preacher of more than common abilities appears, he is admired as a prodigy, and almoft worshipped as a faint.
Precifely fuch was a famous capuchin, Father Diego, of Cadiz, who vifited Carthagena whilft  I was there, and every evening preached in the great fquare to more than ten thoufand people.   Many of his admirers affembled early in the morning to fecure good places, but as he did not begin till after fix, the magistrates gave orders that no one mould be allowed to take a feat till two. in the afternoon; yet finding   the  tumult  and  confuiion, the broken chairs and broken heads, thereby incrcafed, they permitted every one to ufe his own difcretion, and consequently, fome more zealous than the reft, again took their itations Soon after fun-rife.
The good father is learned, eloquent, and modeft; and although the vulgar af-cribc to him a variety of miracles, he dif-claims all fuch pretentions.
This man, licenfed by the biShop, and protected by the magistrates, was constantly attended by a guard, to prevent his clothes L a Srom
from being torn from his back for relics. What he fpoke was heard with the moll profound attention; and after one difcourfc on the forgivenefs of injuries, many were reconciled, and became good friends, who had been before at enmity. One fermon, however, had a pernicious tendency; yet fo deeply is a fenfe of honour, of gratitude, and of filial piety impreffed on the human heart, that few appeared to reli/h his doctrine, or to be convinced by his arguments; but moft of his hearers feemed to fhudder with abhorrence, when he endeavoured to perfuade them, that in cafes of herefy, they were in duty bound to accufe, at the tribunal of the inquifition, their neareft and their dearefr. friends.
Before I left the city, I enquired into the price of beef and mutton ; the former was fold for twelve, and the latter for thirteen quartos the pound of Sixteen ounces.
A quarto is one farthing and an eighth English.
JOURNEY
JOURNEY
from
CARTHAGENA to ALICANT.
/^N Tuefday, May 15, at feven in the V_x morning, I took leave of my obliging friends, and fet out for Murcia in a calafine; and traverfmg the vale by which I had entered Carthagena, at the difiance of four leagues, I came, about noon, to the Venta de Jhnenao. After dinner, in about three hours, we left the valley, and afcend-ed by a beautiful new road among the mountains, mofl of which are cultivated to their very fummits.
The reafon of this, and of the extraordinary fertility of the vale from which we had afcended, appears to be the confront mouldering of the high and tender fchif-tous rocks, by which the foil is renovated L 3 and
[   i5° 1
and fed unremittingly with a rich and loamy clay.
By cutting through the hills to make the road, they have difcovered vaSt Strata of Shingle or fmooth gravel, of white quartz, of limeStone, and of Silicious grit.
As we afcended, we met two waggons loaded with garlic, and my guide arfured me, that what I faw was the weekly fupply for Carthagena.
In defcending towards Murcia, I took notice of one monumental crofs, and by the infcription, it appeared that a traveller had, three years before, been robbed and murdered there.
The vale of Murcia is equally rich, and rich from the fame caufe as that of Carthagena ; but it certainly exceeds in beauty every thing I had feen in Spain. The Soil is a rich loam, well watered; and the wide expanfe appears like a well cultivated garden. Oranges and lemons, olives and mulberries abound; and the whole valley fwarms with fuch multitudes of men, all active and ufefully engaged, that they re-femble bees, when employed in collecting honey, or returning loaded to the hive. Being
[   '5i ]
ing drefled in white they are the more conspicuous; they have only a linen waistcoat, and fhort troufers.
As we approached the city, one of the corjarios, or common carriers, who accompanied us all the way, had the misfortune to break a balket committed to his care, and thereby the greater misfortune of discovering the contents. After this accident I obferved him pen five, and evidently Saw, that although tempted, he at firft refifted his inclination. At length he took one cake, cloSed the bafket, and turned away his eyes; but by degrees he Seemed to get the better of his Scruples, and beSore we reached the city, he had almoft cleared the whole. Had he met with the temptation Sooner, T am inclined to think that not one cake would have arrived at the place of its destination. I Smiled at his Simplicity, and pur-Suing my reflections on the various temptations incident to human frailty, I arrived at this concluiion, that ignorance of evil is the belt guardian of our innocence.
The entrance to Murcia is by a ftraight and Spacious avenue, well planted, and well watered; to the right and to the left of L 4 which
which the land, with water in abundance, produces the molt luxuriant crops.
The city is divided into eleven parilhes, with a cathedral; and contains, by the laft returns to government, fifteen thoufand families. It has nine convents for nuns, and ten for friars.
As foon as I arrived, I haftened to the cathedral, whofe lofty tower had, from a great difiance, attracted my attention. The front is elegant, with fixteen marble columns of the Corinthian order, and thirty-two images as large as life. One of the moft flriking features about this edifice, is a chapel of the Marquis de los Veles, an hexagon, covered with a dome, in the Gothic tafte, which is both light and elegant. Round this chapel is a ftone chain curiouily wrought.
I was much difappointed. when I.entered the cathedral, to find the interior of it fo little correspondent to the expectations excited by the beauty of its front. Indeed there is nothing in it remarkable, befide the pictures and the jewels.
Of two filver altars, one is plain; the other, for high feflivals, is more ornamented.
[   i53 1
merited. One cujiodia of Silver, for the elevation of the hoSt, or confecrated wafer, weighs nearly fix quintals and an half, that is, fomething lefs than fix hundred weight; another contains eight pounds and four ounces of the pureft gold, with fix hundred emeralds, and many valuable diamonds. One veffel Somewhat Similar, only ufed for preServing the confecrated wafers, and called el copon, has five pounds of gold, befide many brilliants of considerable value. On the right-hand of the altar is a maffive urn of filver, four feet long, two and a half wide, and four feet high, containing the allies of the two bifhops, Fulgentius and Florentinus. Over this, a little chert of gold and Silver, highly wrought, contains one hair taken from the beard of Chriit, and fent from Rome by Cardinal Velluga, who was bifhop of this dioceSe.
It would be endlefs to enumerate all the jewels belonging to this church, forming a mafs of treaiure, which, if in circulation, would animate the general industry, and be productive of new treafureS to the country, as far as its influence could extend.
The facrifty allotted Sor the reception
of
of this wealth, is in the centre of a vail tower, constructed like that of Seville, bm at prefent not quite fo high. When iiriiftied it will he more lofty by ten feet titan that famous edifice. As you afcend, not by Steps, but by inclined planes, you go round the fanctuary, a ipacious apartment deflinedas a refuge for aSfaffins, where they may be equally fecure both from the Sword of juftice, and from the dagger of revenge.
In this voluntary prifon I faw two murderers, who had each his bed. They attended me up the tower, and appeared happy to ccnverSe; but I had fo little expectation of hearing truth, that I did not urge them to relate the circumstances which brought them to that melancholy dwelling.
From the top of this high tower you have a delightful profpect, commanding all the valley, with the circumjacent mountains. From- hence you look down upon the city, every way Surrounding the cathedral, and itfelf placed nearly in the centre of the vale; the dimensions of which, ex^ tending eaft and welt, are nearly fix leagues,
and two leagues from north to fouth. It is bounded on the fouth by the chain of mountains over which we had palled, and by which it is feparated from the vale of Carthagena. To the eaft it communicates by a fmall opening of about a league, with the vale of Orihuela and the fea. To the north-weft are hills, and beyond thefe, high mountains bounding the diftant view.
The cathedral is built with freeftone, diftinguilhed by the name of Pifolite, becaufe it appears to be compofed of fhells in fmall fragments, with round globulae, re-fembling the fpawn of fifh. It contains likewife many bivalves and anomice entire.
Of convents, the largeft is that of the Cordeliers, but the prettieft is the one allotted to the nuns called las Qapuchinas*
I was exceedingly ftruck with the bridge over the Segura, magnificent in itfelf, and delightful for the profpect it commands of the river, the city, the vale, and the diftant mountains, all in the moft plealing points of view.
This river being often overflowed during the rainy feafon, the city would have been long fince fwept away, had it not been for
a ftrong
[ ]
a flrong dike, twenty feet wide, and as many high, by which it is protected. This dike, projected merely for the Safety of the city, being extended many miles up into the country, affords a pleafant walk to the inhabitants; and as they have fixed here the facred jlations, it ferves likewife the purpofe of devotion. I have already explained the nature of thefe Stations, when describing the convent of the Francifcans at Seville.
No one, who has lived always in a temperate climate, can conceive how much a traveller fu Iters from the flies, when he pafles the fummerin thefouthern provinces of Spain. But of all the cities through which I pa fled, not one appears to be mo-lefted with fuch fwarms of thofe tealing infects as Murcia. It is here, therefore, that a man may fully comprehend why Beelzebub, god of the flies, fhould become the title of a being, who is held in fupreme deteftation by the human race. TO dif-perfe them, in fome houfes, they have a large fan, fufpended over the dining table, and kept conffantly in motion; in others, one of the domeltics is unremittingly engaged
gaged in waving the bough of a tree all the time the company is eating; but the great, have a fervant at their elbow, whole fole employment is, with a napkin, to keep off the flies.
My Hay was fhort in Murcia. This city, with its environs, is highly interefting; but unfortunately, not finding the letter of recommendation to the principal perfon in his native city, with which Count Florida Blanca had favoured me, I too haftily concluded that the cuffom-houfe officers at Cadiz had loft it, when they examined my portmanteau, and took from me all my letters. I had afterwards the mortification to difcover, that they had placed it among my letters to Valencia; but it was then too late to profit by the difcovery. Difgufted with the filth and miferable accommodations of the pofada, and having no other recommendation to any perfon refident in Murcia, after having palled one night in it, I refolved to quit the city.
The pofadero, who, like moft of the innkeepers in this part of Spain, is a gipfy, af-fured me, that he paid thirty reals, that is, fix Ihillings a day for rent, and feven
hundred
[   ^ ]
hundred and fifty reals a year for alcavala; yet among all the wretched ventas and po-fadas I had feen, this appeared one of the molt, wretched.
His compolition for the alcavala is very low, becaufe every arroba of oil, paying five reals, and the pound of butcher's meat three quartos, fuppoling his confumption to bear any proportion to his rent, the amount muft be considerably more than feven pounds ten milling per annum.
Notwithstanding thefe heavy duties, beef fells for eleven quartos, or a trifle more than three-pence the pound of fixteeti ounces; mutton for thirteen quartos ypork is worth Mtccn ; kid fixteen; bread, if very white, four quartos.
On Wednefday, May 16, at three in the afternoon, I placed myfelf in my calafine, and proceeding by the river fide, took the road for Alicant.
To'the left is an old caltle on the fummit of a high calcarious rock, which is infu-lated, pointed like a fugar loaf, and charged with extraneous foflils.
All the crops, fuch as wheat, barley, oats, peas, flax, hemp, with alfalfa (medi-8 cago
cago fativa) appear luxuriant, and the trees are full of verdure. Thefe are chiefly the elm, the poplar, the willow, the cyprefs, oranges, lemons, figs, mulberries, palms, medlars, quinces, and pomegranates. Iti ihort, the whole valley is one continued garden.
I took notice that all the ovens are fepa-rate from the cottages, and are covered with earth to retain the heat.
Early in the evening we arrived at Ori-huela, four leagues from Murcia. It is a rich and thriving city, built on each fide of the Segura, and contains twenty one thoufand fouls, with thirteen convents, and a feminary for two hundred ffudents, efta-blifhed here, A. D. 1555.
The cathedral is antiquated, and little worthy of attention; but the pariih church of S. Augufta is elegant; and that of the Auguflin friars will, when it is finiihed, be a valuable acquifition to the city.
In the neighbourhood are eftablifhed fome good faltpetre works for government.
Water in the whole of this valley is Co
abundant,
[   i6o ]
abundant, that the crops have no depcnd-ance on the rain: hence the proverb,
LIueva o no llueva, Trigo en Orihuela.
From this city wc paffed along the valley, with the river on our right, and high mountains to our left, through vait plantations of mulberry trees. Flere, the liquorice appears as a noxious weed, fpreading over the whole country; becaufe the foil, being-deep, is peculiarly fuited to its growth; and the warm fun, with plenty of water, makes all vegetables fhoot with peculiar vigour.
The rock is calcarious.
Leaving this extenfive plain, with the Segura on the right, we turned up a little vale of communication to the left, and paf-fing between high rocks, at the end of about a mile, we entered the rich vale of Punda. This, with many correfponding vallies, all run from'eaft to weft, agreeable to the general direction of mountains and vales in Spain, and near the fea communicate with the vale of Orihueh.
On the mountains we obferved fome monumental crones.
The
The drefs of the peafants confifls of a waistcoat, troufers, Stockings, all white; eSparto Sandals, a coloured fafh, and a cloSe black bonnet.
At the diltance oS two leagues we came to Afoatera, a miserable village, with a magnificent church, belonging to the Marquis oSDos Aguas. The country produces chiefly vines and olives. As we advanced we met a travelling flock going to feed upon the mountains. At the meeting of four roads we took notice of a high pole; with an iron hook, fupporting one quarter of a man. The other quarters were fufpended in the principal places where this wretch had been guilty of robbery and murder.
In the bottoms, the wheat crops appear heavy, and bowing for the fickle; and the barley is collected round the areas ready to be trodden by the cattle.
All the roads are here in a ftate of nature; but were the rich foil of clay and loam removed, a firm bed of gravel would be uncovered, and the roads for many generations would want no repairs.
At the difiance of about a mile from Elche, pafting the wide bed of a torrent,
Vol. III. M then
then dry, at the entrance of an extenfive grove of olives, I obferved three poles, fimilar to the one I had remarked before, each with the quarter of a man, being the monuments of as many robberies, accompanied with murder.
Elcbe, Ilici of the Romans, might with propriety be called the City of Dates, for it is every way furrounded by plantations of palm-trees. Thefe, about the month' of May, are loaded with fruit in pendant clutters, which, forming a complete circle-, refembles, when ripe, a crown of gold, with a plume of feathers rifing from its centre. Each clufter to appearance would nearly fill a bufhel, and is faid to weigh from fix to ten arrobas. There is a remarkable variety in this fruit, both as to the tafte and colour. Some dates are green when ripe, but moft commonly they are yellow, and not unfrequently of a dark brown. Some are fweet, others are inclined to acidity. The male trees produce only flowers, the females bear the fruit.
Elche is divided into three parifhes, and contains, according to the laft government returns, feventeen thoufand four hundred
and
t 163 i
and three fouls, of which eight thoufand fix hundred and fifty-fcven are males, and eight thoufand feven hundred and forty-fix females; but the widows are feven hundred and fifty-one, and the widowers three hundred/ They have twenty knights, eighteen advocates, twelve efcrivanos, thirteen inquifitors, and three convents, two for monks, the other for nuns. The great church is a beautiful building, with a majeure dome, and is elegantly fitted up. For the ferviee of the altar it has two curates, a vicar, four doctors, and many chaplains. It is built with fand-ftone; but as the natural cement is weak, the ftone moulders away and cracks.
This city belongs to the Duke of Arcos, now Count of Altamira. It is governed by his corregidor, four regidors, as many deputies from the commons, two alcaldes, and one alguazil mayor. The ducal palace is fituated on the brink of a deep ravin, and carries the marks of the moft. remote antiquity. It was recovered from the Moors by Peter furnamed  the  Cruel,   A. D*
They have no beef.   Mutton is fold for M 2 thirty-
[   i64 ]
thirty-two quartos the pound of thirty-lix-ounces; lamb for twenty-three; pork for thirty-fix \ wheaten bread is worth five quartos and a half the pound of eighteen ounces, and barley bread two quartos.
Leaving Elche, and pafling through coniiderabie plantations of olive-trees, in-terfperfed with algarobos, when the pro-fpect opens, you have the fea on your right-hand, at the diftance of about a league -y on your left you fee the diftant mountains fading on the fight, and finking in the horizon ; whilif at the difiance of four leagues in front you command the high fort of Alicant.
As you approach towards the city, the country is wild and broken, difcovering a fimdy rock; but having defcended nearly to the level of the fea, you find a rich foil, and luxuriant crops of corn, with extenfive plantations of the almond.
In all the fouthern provinces of Spain, efpecially in this vicinity, you fee numerous fountains and refervoirs of water covered with arches, all, though perhaps un-juftly, attributed to the patient induflry of
the
[ m 1
the Morifcos ; when, with equal probability of truth, they might be afcribed to the Romans, to the Carthaginians, or to the more ancient inhabitants of the peninfula.
I was much entertained in this fhort journey with the fuperftition of my guide; a fpecies of fuperftition not confined to him, becaufe I found it equally in all the coachmen and common carriers with whom I had afterwards occafion to converfe upon the fubject.   They carry conflantly about with them the paw of a mole, to fecure their mules and horfes againft the mal de ojos. This I at firft conceived to be the dijeafe's of the eye; but upon a more accurate enquiry, I found myfelf miftaken, and difcovered that this exprefiion meant, the evil influence of witchcraft, conveyed by looks. In the fouthern provinces of Spain, like as formerly in England, and even  now in Cornwall, children and the common people unfverfally agree in attributing necromantic powers to the female in each village who is the moft deformed in perfon, the moft decrepit with old age, and the moft haggard jn her looks.   In Cornwall it is needful for M 3 the
C   '66 ]
the witch thrice to repeat, " I wifhj" bufe in Spain one look conveys the fatal influence -j and the object, unlefs relieved by a Superior power, may droop and die. The proper amulets are the paw of a mole carried in the pocket, a bit of fcaiiet cloth worn by men, or the mane/it a fattened on the wrift of children. The manefita is a little hand of jet, ivory, glafs, or ftones, fct in filver, with the thumb thrutt out between the middle fingers. But for want of thefe, a perfon apprehending danger may readily defend himfelf by the fame pofition of his thumb. For this reafon, whenever the fond mother obferves an ugly hag looking fteadfaftly upon her child, fhe fcreams out, fejla una jiga, that is, thrutt out the thumb in token of defiance.
In this little journey I took notice of a new ettablifhment, which does much honour to Count Florida Blanca, as contributing not only to the eafe and comfort of the traveller, but to the fafety of his perfon. Government is*engaged in railing, at the diftance of every league, a little cottage, with a fuitable garden, as the habitation of
a peon
[   167 1
a peon caminero, who is to receive five reals a day for repairing the highways, and for protecting parfengers. For this purpofe he is furnifhed with all proper implements and arms. This inftitution will be made general through aU the provinces.
M 4 ALICANT
ALICANT.
ALICANT is fituated at the bottom of a bay, formed by the capes of La Huerta and San Pablo. It is protected by a caflle, built on the fummit of a mountain, to which, when attacked by enemies, the citizens have been taught to look up with confidence; but, in the prefent day, it is rather the object of their terror, becaufe large portions of the rock, fluttered exceedingly, overhang their bafe, and threaten a part of the city with deflruc-tion.
The ftreets are narrow, and were exceedingly ill paved; but now, indebted to the indefatigable zeal of the governor, don Francifco Pacheco, few towns can boaft of fuperior neatnefs; and by the well directed labours of one man, this city, formerly in every fenfe a neft of vermin, is become a moft delightful refidence.
By the lad: returns to government it apT pears, that the inhabitants are Seventeen thoufand three hundred and forty-jive. Of thefe, eight thoufand five hundred and twenty-four are males, eight thoufand eight hundred and twenty-one females; the unmarried men and boys, four thoufand nine hundred and fixty-fix; the unmarried women and girls, four thoufand five hundred and feventy-fixj but the widows, nine hundred and thirty-feven, whilft. the widowers are only three hundred and forty-one. Divided according to their age, there appears to be:
Under feven years of age, males
and females       -       - - 2,865
From feven to fixteen       - - 3,144
From fixteen to twenty-five - 2,870
From twenty-five to forty - 3,782
From forty to fifty       - - 2,033
From fifty upwards       - - 2,651
Total, 17,345
The clergy are fifty-fix, including thofe, who in four parifhes have the cure of fouls, with others whp are ordained either to ec-
clefiafKcal
f   27° ]
clefiaftical benefices, or on their private patrimony; this being equal to three reals a day, that is, to about eleven pounds Sterling per annum.
Of the feculars, hxtyvfour are knights, twenty-eight advocates, thirty-one efcrivanos, two hundred and ninety-four Students, nine hundred and Seventy-Sour farmers, two thou Sand three hundred and one day-labourers; the merchants and fhop-keepers are three hundred and thirteen; the manufacturers, eleven; the artifans, one thoufand three hundred and ninety-two; the fervants, fix hundred and thirty. Befide thefe, eight convents contain about two hundred and fifty perfons under vows.
The equivalent, in lieu of provincial rents, purveyance, and the royal monopolies of brandy and felt, for this city, with the villages of its vicinity, is five hundred and thirty-nine thoufand three hundred and Sixty-one reals, or fomewhat lefs than five thoufand four hundred pounds. Now, as the whole district, or correghniento, of Alicant contains, according to the government returns, thirty-three thoufand and forty-five fouls, the proportion of this tax is not more than fixteen reals, or about three
ihillings
f *7* 1
ihillings and two pence for each inhabitant
to pay.
Neither the churches, nor any of the con-yents, are worthy to be noticed. In the great church, indeed, I was much amufed, but not with the architedure, nor yet with any of the altars; that which caught my attention was a grant from the college of cardinals, fanctioncd by the archbifhop and the bifhop, of two thoufand five hundred and eighty days indulgence to any penitent who fhall fay before the aitar of the Virgin, Ave Maria puri/jima, and as many to all who, hearing this, fhall anfwer, Sin peccado Con-cebida.
For the ferviee of the great church they have ten canons, three dignitaries, and two beneficed clergy; but thefe are reckoned poor. The bifhop s feat is at Orihuela, where the canons have a more ample pro-yifion made for them.
The commerce of Alicant is confidera-ble. From five hundred to a thoufand vef-fels enter annually this port, of which the major part are Catalan. In the year 1782, there entered nine hundred and fixty-one. The principal articles of export are,
1 Anife
L   *72 ]
Anife feeds, from three to four thoufand quintals.
Almonds, from eight to ten thoufand quintals.
Barrilla, from Sixty to ninety thoufand quintals.
Brandy, about a hundred thoufand pipes.
Cumin, from two thoufand to two thoufand five hundred quintals.
Efparto rufh, and the fame in ropes and mats, the quantity uncertain.
Figs, about a thoufand quintals.
Fifh, uncertain quantities.
Grana fylveftre, called alio vermillion, about three hundred quintals.
Lead ore, uncertain quantities.
Liquorice in root.
Lavender flowers, both to England and to Holland. Lemon juice. Pomegranate peel.
Rabins, from Sixty to a hundred thoufand quintals.
Salt, about a hundred thoufand tons.
Saffron,
Silk, and
Vinegar, all uncertain in their quantities.
Wine,
Wine, about two hundred tons. Wool, from three to four thoufand quintals.
The value of our commerce with Alicant and its dependencies will appear from the following flatement of the years 1784 and 1785, given to me by the Englifh
conful.
Alicant.
Alicant.      Exports to Great Britain, and Imports. 1784.
Ports.	Exports.	Value		Ports.	Imports,                     Vdue flerling.	
			f.		£•	
Alicant,	Barrilla, 7,375 bale?,	- 40,562	10	Alicant,	Newfoundland fifh, 55,800 quin-	
Valencia,	Raifins, 146,560 baflcets	- 40*304			tals,        -     -       - 34>875	i—
Murviedro,	Brandy, 430 pipes,	- 4,300		Valencia,	ditto, 5,200 ditto      -       - 3,380	M
Alicant,	Wine and Fruiis,	- 3,800		Denia,	ditto, 8,900 ditto,      -      -      5,785	
La Matta,	Salt, 630 tons.	- 378		Alicant,	Shetland lyng, 1,500 ditto    • 1,575 Salted falmon, 674 tierces      - 1,685	
Tonnage,	71P0.  by computation,	£- 89>344	10	Valencia,	Manufactures, iron,copper, tin, Sec. 2,000 woollen,      - £,000 ditto, and ditto,      -       - *9>945	
Tonnage, 3,932.        - -      - £.75,245
Alic&nt.                     Expirt;.   1785. £.
AHcant, Barrilla, 2,957 bales      - 21,06s
Valencia, &c. Rai/ins, 120,000 bafkets, - 39,000
Murviedro, Brandy, 300 pipes,    -    - 3,000
Alicant, Wine and ftuits,    -   -   - 1,500
La Matta, Salt, i,6co tons      -      - 060
Tonnage, by computation, 5,712.
- £-65,528
	Imparls. 1785.	
Alicant1,	Newfoundland fifh, 45,000 quin-	
	tals, -	3°'37S
Valencia,	ditto, 15,000	10,500
Denia,	ditto, 8,900	7,700
Alicant,	Salmon, 100 tierces	
	Shetland lyng, 1,850	1,312
	Manufactures, -	1,174
	Woollen, -	3,780
	Valencia, ditto and ditto	27,106
Tonnage,	3*8*4.....£	82,222
I i
Barrilla is a confiderable article of commerce, and till the year 1780, was confined chiefly to this port; but fince the duties have been railed from one hundred and fourteen maravedis and three quarters the quintal to four hundred and forty-two, being the fame that was previoufly impofed by government at Carthagena, the trade has been more equally divided. The prefent duties on the quintal of one hundred and fourteen pounds avoirdupois are as follow : royal duty, four hundred and forty-two maravedis"; alcavala, thirty-five and two-thirds; brokerage and confular duty, twelve; in all about two millings and ten pence.
Whilft the duty on the export of Barrilla was little more than three reals the quintal, the Spanifh government exacled twenty-four for foap; in confequence of which, the oil and pot-afh were carried to Marfeilles, and made into foap, for the ferviee both of Spain and of her colonies, (v. Campomanes, E. P. part iv. p. 249.)
Brokerage Is a duty of a quarter per cent, on all commodities imported and exported, paid by the merchants to the marquis of
Paralis,
Paralis, as a compensation for the privilege of naming their own brokers; becaufe the marquis claims the nomination under a grant from the king, to whom he had lent thirty thoufand dollars, a fum equal to four thoufand five hundred pounds; but to avoid the confequences of this oppreflive grant, they agree to pay him the intereft of a hundred thoufand dollars.
Of the Efparto rujh, M. Condom exports annually about three hundred tons from this port for Marfeilles, and about fourfcore cargoes, each from fifty to a hundred tons, for Genoa, Venice, and the Levant. With the raw material he is bound to fend out one-third manufactured; but this part of his agreement may be, without much difficulty, eluded.
It is curious to obferve the expedition and facility with which the women and children fpin the efparto thread. After having foaked the rufh in water, and beat it fufficiently, they, without either wheel or fpindle, contrive to twin: two threads at the fame time; this they do by rubbing them between the,palms of their hands, in the fame manner as the fhoemaker forms a
Vol. III. N thread
thread upon his knee, with this difference, that one motion gives the twift to each thread, and at the fame time unites them. To keep the ends afunder, the thumb of the right hand is interpofed between them, and when that is wanted for other purpofes, the left thumb fupplies its place. Two threads being thus twitted into one, of the bignefs of a large crow-quill, forty-fix yards are fold for a quarto, or about a farthing and a fmall fraction of a farthing, and of this the materials are worth about one* fifth.
I was no lefs flruck to fee the addrefs and difpatch with which the foft-wood turners, at Alicant, execute their work. They fit on a low flage, above which the two poppet heads and points are raifed fix inches, and inflead of a pole and treddle they ufe a bow; to this they give motion with the right hand; the left hand holds the tool, which they guide by the conftant application of the right foot, whilft the left foot keeps the moveable poppet and point dole up to the work. Such a pofition muft be exceedingly uneafy, till cuftom and long - habit have reconciled them to it.
The
[ m i
The Grana Syhejlre is not as yet a con* iiderable article, of commerce % it is only a few years fince it was introduced: Guix-ona, a town about five leagues from Alicant, fends annually a number of people over all the mountains of Granada and part of Andalufia to collect it; but hitherto with no remarkable fuccefs.
Saffron of late has been in much requefr. for a foreign market, and is collected from the vicinity of Albazete, about one hundred and twenty-five leagues from Alicant, where it is produced in confiderable quantities. It is worth from fifty-five to fixty-five reals per pound* and pays on exportation, for all duties, two hundred and feven maravedis, or about fourteen pence the pound of fixteen ounces.
At Alicant the fifhery is free from all kinds of duty; and, as a further encouragement, a tax of ten per cent; befide four hundred and eighty maravedis, by wTay of principal duty and millones, is kid on all foreign fifh;
The dog-fifh might be rendered valuable, were it not for the fpirit of monopoly, and the contracted views of government,
N 2      ' It
It is good to eat, and yields about five-and-twenty pounds of oil. Befide the flefh and oil, the fkin alone was ufually fold for twenty reals, whilft. the ports were open; but now that the exportation is prohibited, the price is funk to eight reals, and the fifhery is thereby confiderably injured.
In this province, the privilege of fifhing is confined to the enrolled feamen, who are about fixteen thoufand.
With fuch a nurfery for failors in the Mediterranean, and with one fimilar to it in the bay of Bifcay, where peculiar privileges are granted for that purpofe, Spain will foon be formidable as a naval power. The Catalans already fupply Alicant with pilchards, taken on the coafl of Galicia; whereas formerly this city imported annually from England about fifty cargoes.
The municipal government of this city is in eight regidors, of which, four are noble, and four commoners; thefe are all confidered as pcfieiTing a freehold, defcending by inheritance to their children, yet not entailed upon them and therefore faleable. They have four affeffors, chofen by the commons, who continue in office two years, but two are annu-
ally
ally changed. To thefe arc added two fyn-dics, of which one, the perfonero, is to represent the grievances of the commons; but neither of thefe have votes. The ufual preiident of this court is the governor, or, in his abfence, the alcalde mayor, who re-fembles our recorders. In the corporation are included three phyficians and two fur-geons, who have falaries.
The attendants of the court are, proctors, advocates, efcrivanos, and alguazils.
To keep good order in the various quarters of the city, they have alcaldes de barrio. Thefe formerly purchafed their office, and contrived to repay themfelves with intereft; l)ut the prefent governor makes a new election every year, with this exception, that he continues thofe who are diftinguifhed for fidelity.
The efcrivanos reaks are merely notaries; but the efcrivanos del numero, to the number of twenty-three, may be called petty-foggers; againft thefe the governor declares a never-ceafing war; but the contefl is unequal. He attempted to reftrain their influence by the introduction of viva voce evidence; but this attack they effectually refift-
N 3 ed.
ed. Having detected five of them in fome malepractices, he fent them to prifon, and at the fame time gave notice, that the next offender lhould vifit Africa. He complained to me one day in the moft feeling manner of the diftrefs he felt in being daily witnefs to abufes which he was not able to correct, becaufe thefe wretches can never be convicted, unlefs upon evidence taken by an efcrivano. I Je lamented that, even when he knew the evidence produced was falfe, he was bound to give judgment agreeable to it, and could contrive no redrefs. Yet one point he carried, in not furfering them, as ufual, to make a long and expenfive procefs of a trifling matter.
In their turn they do all they can to har-afs and perplex him. The corporation having made their agreement with one contractor to fupply the citizens with meat, this man caufed his cattle to be driven through the city in the middle of the day. The governor remonftrated in vain. Hearing, however, repeated complaints of mif-chief, and feeing the people, diffracted in their attention, following in crowds, as ufual, wherever any thing like a bull, their 2 favourite
favourite animal, appeared, he interpofed his authority, and absolutely forbad the admittance of oxen after a certain hour in the morning. The contractor, on this reftraint, refufed to fupply the city, and, urged forwards by the Efcrivanos, appealed to the intendant of the province, In confequence of this appeal the governor could find no refuge, but in the direct interference of the minifrer; and had his friends been lefs powerful" at court, he muff have given way, •
Previous to the appointment of Don Francifco Pacheco to the government of Alicant, the city fwarmed all day with beggars, and all night with proftitutes and thieves. Thefe were fed by the religious houfes, by the ecclefiaftics, and by the alms of well-difpofed yet miflaken citizens. The governor faw in a proper light both the caufe and the confequences of this abundance of unprofitable fubjects, and therefore determined to confine them; yet he knew that prejudice would run ftrong againfl him. For this reafon he engaged the moft popular preachers, during Lent, to expatiate on the merit of giving to the N 4 poor,
poor, and afterwards to explain the propriety of making a diftinction in the distribution of their alms, fo as not to offer a premium to lazinefs, prodigality, and vice.
When he had thus prepared his way, he affembled the citizens, laid his plans before them, and formed a fociety, confirming of two hundred and fifty of the firft. people in the diocefe, with the bifhop, canons, and principal nobility at their head, under the denomination of Brethren of the Poor," From thefe were elected governors and guardians for the Houfe of Mercy, and for the twelve quarters into which the city is divided, for the purpofe of taking an exact account of all the inhabitants, with their age and occupation. Every guardian, in his feveral quarter, has three affiflants to examine with him the condition of the poor, and to diffribute the relief appointed by the governors the preceding week, whether in money, in raw materials, in medicine, or in aliments, agreeable to the report which has been made to them.
In the Houfe of Mercy, children, in ftruct-ed in the moft common and therefore the moft ufeful manufactures, are trained to
induftry,
t m ]
induftry, and the lazy are compelled to work.
They have no other fource of revenue befide the produce of their labour, and the voluntary contribution of the citizens.
This inflitution bears date only the 30th of June, 1786, and in May, 1787, they had expended fix hundred and twenty-nine pounds for the fupport of about one hundred men, women, and children. Thefe are well fed, and do little work at prefent; but, when they /hall have been reconciled to the idea of confinement, their diet will be adminiflered with a more fparing hand, and their labour will be rendered more productive.
They have here another inflitution, likely to be of extenfive utility in providing for orphans, for deferted children, and for the fons of foldiers, who are bur-fhened with numerous families. It is a military academy, in which they are taught reading, writing, and accounts, the manual exercife, and every thing needful to qualify them for ferjeants. Don Francifco Pacheco had the goodnefs to review for me a little regiment of thefe, who went through all 5 their
their evolutiont, and gave their fire with wonderful addrefs, The whole number in the kingdom is two thoufand, from whom will be feledted all the ferjeants for the army. Under the fame protection, I had the hap-pinefs of feeing a review of the artillery, with prizes diffributed to the engineers, who were moft diftinguimcd for their (kill. Much attention is paid to their education, not only at Alicant, but all over the pe-ninfula,
The military eftablifhments of every kind appear refpectable, and mark at once wifdom and humanity in all their regulations. The foldiers are enlifted for eight years, during which they are frequently indulged with furloughs. When they have ferved fifteen years, their pay goes on con-r ilantly increafing, and after thirty-five years, they retire with the rank of com-miffioned officers, and a pennon qf about twenty pounds a year.
Among the numerous objects attracting the attention of a ltranger, none was more interefting to me than the Caftk, with the rock on which it Hands, and that for various reafons.   As an Englifhman, I was
curious
curious to examine a fortrefs fo bravely, or rather fo rafhly? defended by its governor in. the year 1707, more efpecially the chafm left by the fpringing of a mine, which proved fatal to General Richards, with twenty of his officers. When the Spaniards Mad nearly finifhed their work, they gave warning to the garrifon; and when they had lodged in it thirteen hundred barrels of powder, they generoufly permitted the Englifh general to fend his engineers, who viewed the mine, with its contents. Thefe reported, that the burthen was too great for the quantity of powder, and that the gar-rifon was fafe.
On the day appointed for the fpringing of this mine, people from every part of the country affembled on the oppofite hill, to view the cataftrophe; and notice of the fatal moment was given to the gar-rifon. Precifely at that moment the -officers, engaged in drinking, and fomewhat elated by their wine, declared their refb-lution not to quit the battery, till they had drank two bottles more, for which they had fent a fervant; but no fooner had he turned his back, than the battery, together
with
with general Richards, and twenty gallant, officers, mounted in the air.
By the chafm, it may be readily imagined how great muft have been the burthen ; but when I had obferved the mattered condition, and loofe-jointed nature of the rock, it became evident, that the en-^ gineers of the befieged were either ignorant or rafh in the extreme,
This fortrefs might have been battered to pieces from Mount St. Julian; but the beiiegers preferred a mine. In fcrambling among the rocks, I obferved a track, very ftrongly marked, leading to a part of the fort, in which the walls are low. This being at once the fteepeft and moft rugged fide of the mountain, where I imagined no human foot-ftcp had ever yet been traced, I was much furprifed to fee fb ftrong a path. It was very narrow, but well trodden; and although winding at the back of the fortrefs, it communicated with another path leading from the country to the eaftern quarter of the city.
When, on my return, I enquired very minutely into the nature and ufc of fuch a
private
private and fequeftered way, this was the refult of my inquiries.
The laws in many provinces of Spain being peculiarly favourable to the fofter fex, if the wife complains of ill treatment from her hufband, he, on her fole evidence, is confined in prifon; and mould fhe declare, on oath, that he had beaten her, the punifh-ment would be yet more fevere; he would be fent for many years to the prefidios.
When, again, a father is difpleafed with the conduct of his fon, if it be fuch as tends to bring either ruin or difgrace upon his family, the young man is fent to learn wifdom in a forced retirement.
It appears from the obfervations of the chief juftice, Count Campomanes, in the appendix to his Education popular, that in Spain many perfons of quality are fhut up in prifon, or fent to the prejidios, for thefe and fimiiar offences. He ilates, however, yet not much to the honour of the Spanifh ladies, that their accufations are not always juft. From him we may collect, that a great number of thefe fair-ones, perfuaded by their cor-tejos, falfely charge their hufbands with ill-treatment,
[   *9° i
treatment, whenever the good men iheir a difpofition to be jealous.
Some young men of famion, at the fe-queft of their fathers or their wives, are, as the governor informed me, deftined to pafs their tedious hours in this cattle. Yet, by the connivance of the centinels, they are frequently, in the dufk of the evening, permitted to fcale the walls; when, pafiing difguifed into the city, they amufe themfelves among their friends, till the company retires; after which they return by the fame fequeftered path to their deftined habitations : and this precifely was the path which had attracted my attention.
In a converfation with the governor on the operation of a punlmment long fince inflicted both in France and Spaia, and lately adopted in our ifland, that of employing criminals on public works; he perfectly agreed with me, that their labour is fcarcely worth a tenth of what it cofts; and aifured me, that as far as his obfervation went, this punifliment rather tended to harden them in wickednefs, than to produce any reformation in their manners. He
particularly
[ w ]
particularly mentioned, that of the four thoufand five hundred and fevcnty-nine convicts banifhed to the prefidios or garri-fons of Africa, the major part, on their difcharge, at the expiration of their terms, returned to the eaftern coaft of the peninfula; and to this circumflance he attributed the prevalence of the moft atrocious crimes in that part of Spain. He confidered therefore the prefidios as the worft fchool to which the youthful offender could be fent.
The country in the vicinity of Alicant is wild and broken; the mountains are lofty, rugged, bare, and little fufceptiblc of cultivation; the vallies are moftly fmall, but remarkably fertile ; the foil is fandy, with beds of clay and marie. The rock in general is calcarious j the city is partly fed by a valley to the north, and by the U.mrta, a rich and extenfive valley, to the eaft," at the diftance of one mile, but chiefly by the vale of Murcia. The carriers bring wheat, and load back with fifh.
The Huerta is watered from a vaft re-iervoir, called elPantano, conftructed in the .jnountains, at the diftance of about five
leagues
I 192 ]
leagues from Alicant. The governor had the goodnefs to carry me in his coach to view this artificial lake, formed between two high mountains by a wail, the dimen-Jions of which reduced to Englifh feet are as follow; one hundred and forty-feven high; two hundred and fixty-two wide at top, from mountain to mountain, and not more than twenty-four at bottom. The thicknefs of the wall is fixty-feven feet at top, and one hundred and twenty-one at bottom. It is very properly made elliptical, to fuffain the lateral preffure of the water; but had the thicknefs of the wall been only feven feet at top, inflcad of fixty-feven, this would have been more than fuf-ficient; becaufe the area of any furface being given, the preffure of fluids on that furface is in proportion to its depth. The depth being given, it matters not whether the quantity of water be one acre, or ten thoufand acres. For the fame expence they might have conflrucled many fuch refer-voirs, one below the other; but when we confider the age in which this was made (A. D. 1542) we are not furprifed to find fo much labour loff.
When
[   T93 ]
When the   ftream  comes  near the Huerta, it is feparated into four by the ad-miniftrator, and each proprietor of land receives, or mould receive, the quantity allotted to him, in proportion to his land, paying for this the Stipulated price.   To prevent violence and fraud, A. D. 1739, the king, by his royal edict, eftablifhed fixty-two regulations for the diftribution of this water, and appointed a fpecial court to enforce thefe regulations; yet notwithstanding, either through ignorance of hydrofta-tics in the managers, through their negligence, or through the influence of bribes, many obtain more than their juft proportion, and others are left to murmur and complain.   It is to be lamented, that government does not con ft met more pantanos. The farmers in the fluerta could difpofe of five times as much as they receive at prefent; and were the whole interval between the mountains occupied with refer-voirs, they might all be filled.   This pan-tano, although vaft, has been replenished by four hours rain.
Independent of the produce in all kinds of grain and herbage, government derives a
Vol. III. O direct
dired revenue of near two thoufand pounds a year by the diffribution of this water.
The rock is a fine limeftone, covering fchiff, and, as the country produces pines, juniper, and cofcoja, in abundance, fewel for burning lime is on the fpot; fo that the expence of conftrucfing refervoirs would not be great.
After having examined the pantano, I vifited, on the fucceeding days, the Huerta, to get acquainted with the agriculture of that rich, well planted, and well watered valley.
Going eaft ward from the city, having afcended gradually for about a mile, you look down upon a wide expanfe of nearly thirty thoufand acres, every where inclofed by lofty mountains, excepting towards the fea, and covered with- oranges, lemons, figs, mulberries, almonds, cherries, apricots, peaches, nectarines, plumbs, apples, pears, pomegranates, olives, algarrobos, the more humble yet not lefs profitable vine, and the liquorice, with every fpecies of grain, qf leguminous plants, and of herbage for the cattle.
This vale is faid to contain more than
twenty
•
E   195 ]
twenty thoufand perfons, and I can readily believe it; for, wherever you pafs, you fee old and young men, women, and children innumerable, all bufily employed, ploughing, fowbig, reaping, treading out the grain with cattle, winnowing the corn, or conveying it to granaries, hoeing in the vineyards, diftributing water to their crops, or digging their land, and preparing it for frefh productions.
When I vifited this delightful vale, they had reaped their barley, and were engaged in treading it with mules. To thefe they added carts drawn backwards on the area, for the purpofe of feparating the grain, and of cutting the If raw for fodder. Others were employed to wind off filk from the cones. Their reel is five feet wide, and receives fix compound threads from thirty, thirty-fix, or from forty-two cones, which fwim in a furnace of boiling water. Thefe threads are made, to traverfe on the reel, that they may not agglutinate together.
I was much pleafed with the reticulated fences round moll of the little farms, com-pofed of reeds ranged in pairs, eroding each other like a lattice frame, yet fo as to form, O 2 not
not rectangles, but lozenges or rhomboidal figures, with the reeds not interwoven, but bound together by efparto threads.
Every part of the Huerta is refrefhed with water once in fifteen days during the fummer, but in winter it may go three weeks or a month unwatered. Befide the refreshing Stream derived from the pantano, they have fome norias: the molt remarkable of which, belonging to Mr. Arabet, is worked by wind, and raifes the water forty feet.
The land never refls; for no fooner has it rewarded the farmer with one crop, than he begins to prepare it for another. In September he fows barley, and having reaped it about the latter end of April, or the firft week in May, he immediately puts in maize, which comes off about the middle of September. But before this ripens, he puts in fandias (the cucurbit a of Lin.) or fome other efculent, which yields him a third crop in the courfe of the fame year. Jn November he fows wheat, and in June he reaps it. The produce both of wheat and barley is from fifteen to twenty-four for one, having fowed of the former nearly
two
two bufhcls to an acre, of the latter between three and four. Flax is put into the ground about September, or the beginning of October, and comes off in May; but hemp, which is fowed in April, continues on the land till Augufl. Thefe, with cucumbers, melons, garbanzos (cicer arieti-num), peas, French beans, lettuce, alfalfa (Medicago lativa), form a rich variety of crops, which, cherifhed by a bright fun and fed by abundant ftreams from the pantano, prove a never-failing fource of plenty.
In the fpring they abound with oranges and lemons ; in fummer they have plumbs, cherries, figs,, apricots, and nectarines; in autumn they gather grapes; and in winter a rich variety of fruits fupplies their tables. Thus Ceres and Pomona appear to be engaged in a never-ceafing conteft which mall moft contribute to the wealth and profpe-rity of this favoured valley.
One of the moft valuable productions of this country is the barilla. For this they plough their land four or five times, dung it well, and then, having turned the earth twice more, they make it fmooth with O j 'boards
boards inftead of harrow's, and fow their feed in the months of January and February, waiting always for wet weather.
When the plant is about the bignefs of a milling, they clear off all the weeds, and in September they collect the crop into heaps of about fix feet high. Of thefe they burn fifty in one hole, ftirring well the broth with flicks; then, protecting it from rain, at the expiration of eight or ten days, the It one will be cold enough to be removed.
Befide the barilla (falfola foda of Linnaeus) this vicinity produces many other fpecies, which, by combuffion, yield the pot-afh.   Thefe are,
i ft, Aguaful, or mefembryantbemum.
2d, Salicor, Salicornca Europaa, of two fpecies, one annual in fwamps, the other perennial in dry and ftony places.
3d, Barilla punchofa foda colorada, falfola kali. This gives few afhes, and little fait.
4th, Sofa prima, cbenopodium maritimum. This plant is the moft common, and is to be found all along the coaft.
5th, Sofa blanca, cbenopodium album.
6th,
6 th, Sofa gorda, falfola vermicular is.
7th, Sofa lenofa, falfola rofacea.
8 th, Hyerba de la plata, mefembryanthe-mum cry ft.
Of thefe the falfola kali, the falicornia, and the chenopodia, are found in England; but they do not produce a fufflcient quantity of fait to make the cultivation of them profitable.
The rapid progrefs of vegetation in warm climates fills the inhabitants of more northern regions with aftonifliment. Having one day expreffed my furprife on this fubject to the governor, he carried me in the evening to the garden of Don Lorenzo Mabile, at a little diftance from the city, where we wandered about under the fhade of trees, which four years before had no exiftence but as flips, as feedlings, or as fuckers. We obferved three hundred fig-trees, and three thoufand five hundred vines, loaded with fruit; and he already drinks in his family the wine of his own vineyard. Befide thefe, he has collected together innumerable pomegranates, apricots, apples, pears, plumbs, mulberries, oranges, lemons, algarrobos, and azaroles O 4 (Crataegus J
f CrataegusJ, which by their luxuriant growth feem to have been planted at lean: twenty years.
From this vineyard he made laft year three tons, and an half of wine, each vine on the average yielding one quart.
The whole produce of Alicant is about four thoufand tons.
For the Fontillon wine, tbe grapes are gathered, picked from the ftalks, and expofed on elevated wicker frames for the fpace of fifteen days to the influence of the fun and wind, in order to evaporate the fu-perfluous moifture, after which they are fubmitted to the prefs.
Among the natural curiofities in the vicinity.of Alicant, the moft remarkable are the baths of Buzot. Having heard a defer iption of them from a phyiician, I re-folved to vifit them before I left the city, and, for that purpofe, I formed a party on the 31it of May. Early in the morning we mounted our horfes, and, having paifed through the Huerta, we afcended fuddenly twelve or fourteen feet to a plain, upon a higher level, called the Campilh, which, like the Huerta, is watered by the pantano.
After
After having traverfed this well cultivated and fertile plain, we began to climb the hills, and, at the diftance of four leagues from Alicant, near to the village of las Aguasy we arrived at the romantic fpot, where the warm fprings break out.
This country is broken by high mountains, of which the moft remarkable are the Buchampana, the Sierra Gitana, and the Cabezo, fo called by contraction from cabeza de auroy or head of gold. The Sierra Gitana derives its appellation from the gipfies. This elevated chain, expofed to every ftorm, is far from being a defirable abode, becaufe the lightning breaks upon it with more than common violence, and the thunder is reverberated by its innumerable rocks. Thefe rocks are calcarious, and difcover foiTil fhells. Here I found fome marmor metalicum, or ponderous earth, with gypfum or calcarious earth, each faturated with vitriolic acid ; and in many places I picked up iron ore with haematites.
On the fouthern declivity, near to the bafe of thefe lofty mountains, four copious mineral fprings break forth, two of them near together, the others more remote. Their temperature is about one hundred and
four
four degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer* They have evidently the chalybeate tafte, dcpofit a fediment of yellow ochre, and, upon evaporation, Glauber's and fea fait are found eryftallized in it. Two or three fmall tumblers filled from any of thefe fprings prove fpeedily and pleafantly cathartic.
This part of the country is frequently fhaken by ftrong earthquakes.
I had here an opportunity to examine the natural hiftoryof the gra7ia kermes. It is found on the cofcoja, or quercus coccifera of Linnaeus, here growing to the height of from, twelve inches to two feet. The grana appear on the ftems or fmall branches, fome near the bottom of the plant, but moftly on the upper branches, yet always protected by the leaves, and fixed to the ftem by a gluten, which both to the fight and to the touch refembles thin white leather, fpread over the ftem and covering, like the cup or calix of the acorn, a fegment of the grana. Upon a more minute inveftigation, I traced the agglutinating coat through a fmall foramen into the grana, from whence it had proceeded, and where it fpread, like the placenta, on the internal furface.
* The
L 203 ]
The grana were of various fizes, from an eighth to a quarter of an inch in diameter, perfectly fpherical, and covered with a white powder, which being rubbed off, the furface appeared red, fmooth, and polithed. Upon the fame ftem I found the grana in three ftages.   In the firft I difcovered only tough membranes filled with a red juice refem-bling blood, but on paper leaving a flam as bright and beautiful as the beft carmine. In the fecond ftage there appeared, under the firft coat or pellicle, a thin tough membrane incloiing the eggs, now moft minute, and fcarcely to be diftinguifhed without the afiiftance of a convex lens.   Between this membrane and the pellicle was the fame red liquor, but lefs in quantity than was contained in the former ftage.   By a careful diffection I took off the pellicle, which was evidently feparated from the inner membrane by what fecmed to be the vifecra and blood-veffels,  but  near to the foramen thefe two coats adhered clofely together.
The interior membrane is thin, white, and tough, with a lunar feptum, forming the ovary, which at firft is very fmall, and fcarcely difcernible, but progrefiively enlarges,
larges, till in the third ftage it occupies the whole fpace, when the tincturing juice difappears, and only eggs are to be ften, to the number of fifteen hundred or two thoufand.
It is clear to me that the grana derives no kind of nourishment from the plant on which it is fixed; and from its pofition I am inclined to think, that the little animal choofes the quercus coccifera, which in its prickly leaf refembles the holly, only for the fake of Shelter and protection from birds.
I put fome of the grana into a coffee-cup on the thirty-firft of May, and, June the twelfth, I difcovered a multitude of ani-malcukr, of a bright red colour, exceedingly minute, running about the cup with afton-ifhing rapidity, but for fhort intervals. A friend put fome grana into a fnuff-box, where he foon forgot them; but when, at the diftance of a few weeks, he had occa-fion to refume his box; he found the top covered internally with dew, and a multitude of winged infects, all dead, adhering to it.
Before
Before my excurfioii to Buzot, fome peafants of Las Aguas had fpread themfelves on the adjacent mountains, where they collected more than four arrobas, or one hundred weight of grana, which they had fold in Alicant for fifteen reals, or about three millings a pound.
Befide the grana kermes, I obferved on the cofcoja many large red excrefcences; and of thefe, two fpecies are diftinguifhed,
the one formed on the leaf, the other cm
*
the Items of the amentaceous flowers. The former appears in the middle of the leaf, on both its furfaces, and is at firft of a green colour; but as it fwells, it becomes of a bright red, and occupies the whole leaf, with this exception, that in fome a narrow margin of the leaf remains. The latter are longer than the former, and where they are found, the items of the amenta are coniiderably larger than the reft; yet the florets, which appear on the furface of thefe excrefcences, are not to appearance affeded by them. Thefe morbid tumors have many perforations, communicating with little cells, which contain each a fmall white grub. The
cell
cell is formed by a Strong membrane, but the fubftance of the tumor is fpongy. In the excrefccnce on the leaf I could not difcover any nidus, although I have no doubt that thefe, like the former, were oc-cafioned by the ichneumon fly, and that each of them contained an egg.
I might here proceed to give at large the natural hiftory of the locuft; but this tafk having been fo well performed by the judicious Bowles, I fhall be exceedingly brief up*on the fubjed:. Thefe voracious infects commit the greatefl devaftations in the fouth of Spain; and this proceeds, not merely from the warmth of the climate, but from want of cultivation, becaufe the females never depofit their eggs in arable land, but always in the deferts. For this reafon Galicia, where agriculture prevails, is little infefted with the locuft.
Adanfon, in his voyage to Senegal, has given us a Striking picture of the defolation occafioned by a cloud of locufts which darkened the fun, and extending many leagues, in the fpace of a few hours laid wafte the country, devouring fruits, and leaves, and herbage, the bark of trees, and
even
even the dried reeds with which the huts were thatched.
Of the locuft tribe, Linnaeus reckons twenty fpecies. Thofe I have obferved in Spain are the Grylli Italici, diftinguifhed by the rednefs of their wings. Their jaw bones are ftrong, and dented like a faw. Their head bears a ftriking refemblance to that of the horfe, and this fimilitude has been remarked in the whole genus. The found of their wings is faid to be like the noife of diftant chariots.
They are not always confidered as a plague, being commonly feen only in the forefts; but when the feafon has been peculiarly favourable for their propagation; when thefe rapacious infects darken the air; when their affembled hofts fall upon the rich paftures; when they rob the vines and olives of their foliage; when they devour the corn; when they enter the houfes, and lay wafte every thing before them, they are then univerlally regarded as the fcourge of heaven. As fuch they were confidered, when, for four fuccelfive years, from 1754 to 1757, they ravaged all the
fouthern
fouthern provinces of Spain and Portugal.
The defcription of this gloomy fcene, at leaft of one fimilar to it. which a prophet has given us, is fcarcely to be equalled for beauty and poetic fire. He calls upon the people to lament, becaufe a nation, ftrong and without number, whofe teeth are the teeth of lions, had fuddenly invaded them. Then, turning to the heralds,
" Blow ye the trumpet in Zion, and found an alarm in my holy mountain. Let all the inhabitants of the land tremble, for the day of the Lord cometh, for it is nigh at hand: a day of darknefs, and of gloomi-nefs; a day of clouds and thick darknefs; as the morning fpread upon the mountains, a people great and ftrong: there hath not been ever the like, neither mail be any more after it, even to the years of many generations. A fire devoureth before them, and behind them a flame burneth. The land is as the garden of Eden before them, and behind them a defolate wildernefs, yea, and nothing fhall efcape them. The appearance of them is as the appearance of horfes; and 'as horfemen, fo fhall they run.
Like
Like the noife of chariots on the tops of mountains mail they leap; like the noife of a flame of fire that devoureth the flubble; as a ftrong nation fet in battle array. Before their face the people fhall be much pained: all faces fhall gather blacknefs. They fhall run like mighty men; they fhall climb the wall like men of war; and they fhall march every one on his way, and they fhall not break their ranks; neither fhall one thruft another; they fhall walk every one in his path, and when they fall upon the fword they  fhall  not be wounded. They fhall run to and fro in the city; they fhall run upon the wall; they fhall climb up upon the houfes; they fhall enter in at the windows like a thief.   The earth fhall quake before them; the heavens fhall tremble ; the fun and the moon fhall be dark, and the ffars fhall withdraw their fhining. And the Lord fhall utter his voice before 111 army, for his camp is very great; for he is ftrong that executeth his word; for the day of the Lord is great and very terrible, and who can abide it."
Joel, cap. ii. i—i r.
Vol. III. P Their
Their ufual refort is in the forefts* and in deferts, where they may fafely lodge their eggs without fear of having them disturbed. The female being impregnated, the male haftens to the river, and is drowned in the Stream. The female then de-pofits her eggs in the nearer! uncultivated fpot, and protects them from the rain by a covering of glue. Having finished this work, exhausted with fatigue, {he drinks and dies.
The eggs are hatched in March, in April, or in May, according to the Situation and the feafon. When hatched, the af-fembled tribes continue together for about three weeks, till their legs, and teeth, and wings have acquired Strength, after which they difperfe themfelves over the neighbouring country, and devour every kind of vegetable.
When the provincial governors are in* formed, in fpring, that locufts have befljg; feen, they colled the foldiers and the peafants, divide them into companies, and fur-round the district. Every man is furnifhed with a long broom, with which he Strikes the ground, and thus drives the young locufts
towards
towards a common centre, where a vafl excavation, with a quantity of brufh-wood, is prepared for their reception, and where the flame deflroys them.
A. D. 1780, three thoufand men were thus employed at Zamora for three weeks ^ and it was reckoned that the quantity collected exceeded ten thoufand bulliels.
A botanift, in the vicinity of Alicant, may have in that purfuit alone, full employment for his time. On the mountains he will find the efparto rufh, junipers, pines, the cofcoja, rofemary, thyme, mint, fage, lavender, many fpecies of the ciftus, and a vaft variety of plants too tedious to be enumerated. Thofe which ftruck my attention moft were the ciftus, the caper, with its beautiful white petals and purple ftamina, and the Nerium Oleander.
Without going twenty miles from the "t'ity, you meet with every climate of the temperate zone, either by afcending the mountains, or keeping near the fea. From this circumftance, the botanift derives the greater! advantages in the profecution of his favourite amufement.
My principal object was the folfil king-P 2 dom.
dom. With a view to that I examined mount St. Julian near the city. The fum-mit is calcarious freeftone, with cockles, beaked oyfters, and fome other bivalves. Under this lies a ffratum of gypfum, charged with fragments of Hate, then calcarious rock, with foffil fhells. After this, near the level of the fea, is a ffratum of fhells, divided into an upper layer of fmall fragments; and one inferior to this, compofed entirely of Shells, moflly perfect, and cemented together by broken fragments, yet unmixed with heterogeneous matter. Beneath this comes a ffratum of pudding rock, fome loofe bowlder Hones, all calcarious, and a few fhells. This ffratum is near to the waters edge.
The rock, on which Hands the caffle of Alicant, is calcarious, and abounds in fragments of foffil fhells; but the Sierra to the north, beyond the vallies, evidently appears to be compofed of fchift.
I was much furprifed to find in Mount St. Julian fuch difcordance in the Shells depofited in the rock at different levels. Near the fummit, the ibffil bodies are bedded in the rock, and petrified themfelves;
but
but near the level of the fea they are loofe, and appear fcarcely changed; the former, as we have feen, are cockles, oyfters, and fome other bivalves; the latter are, the area1,   cunei, buccina, cafhdes, cylindri, murices, cochlea?, and pectenoides of Da Cofta, of which fpecies not one appears upon a higher level.   I was the more forcibly Struck with this difference, at different levels, from a recollection of the Hamp-ihire foifils picked  up   under Hordwell Cliffs by Mr. Brander, and defcribed by Dr. Solander, compared with thofe to be found on the limeftone hills in the vicinity of Yeovil, of Sherborn, and in Marfton Moor; for in thefe may be obferved precifely the fame difeordance,
Such facts, wherever they occur, as they may hereafter affift us in acquiring a more perfect; knowledge of the changes which have in remote periods, happened to the earth, mould be carefully recorded.
About two leagues lrom Alicant is a mountain, called Aicoray, in which the rock is calcarious, charged with extraneous foflils.   Here they have difcovered cin-P 3 nabar
fcabir and red gypfum, which is perhaps coloured by the cinnabar.
I mall content myielf for the pre fent with having recorded facts: hereafter, when occafion offers, I mall refer to them again, and perhaps raife fome theory upon them, if at leaft., in the mean time, a gentleman, who is infinitely better qualified to treat this fubject, lhould not be prevailed upon to communicate his thoughts. Should he indulge the public with his Obfervations on the Deluge, we fhall then be happy in poffefiing a complete regifter of facts, and may hope for fome conliflent theory, fuch as will ftand the teft of ages, and be confirmed by every fubfequent difcovery.
Of difeafes, the one moft prevalent in this part of Spain is the intermittent fever, arifing here, not from marfh miafmata, but from the quantity of melons and fandi.is, (a fpecies of cucurbita), which the peafants eat, and from their hard labour, when expofed to a fcorching fun. For this, in the beginning of the dilbrder, the patient is bled four times, and drinks lemonade; after which, in feven, or at molt in fourteen days, unlefs death lhould intervene, he
ufually
ufually recovers. Should any vifceral ob-ftructions indicate, in the opinion of the faculty, fuch treatment, the Peruvian bark is administered in fmall quantities, and is faid to complete the cure. This account I have from a phyfician of the royal hofpital, who favoured me with a minute relation of his theory and practice in this difeafe.
It is happy for the people that they have another fource of hope, under the various difeafes incident to the human frame, befide the fkill of their phyficians, a fource of hope that never fails them at any feafon of diftrefs. Thus, for inftance, St. Anthony, the abbot, fecures his votaries from fire; and St. Anthony of Padua delivers them from water; S. Barbara is the refuge of the timid in times of thunder and of war; St. Blafs cures diforders of the throat; S. Lucia heals all difeafes of the eyes; St. Nicholas is the patron of young women, who defire to be married; St. Ramon is their powerful protector during pregnancy; and St. Lazaro afiifts them when in labour; S. Polonia preferves the teeth; St. Domingo cures the fever; and St. Roque is the faint P 4 invoked
t   216 ]
invoked under apprehenfions of the plague And thus in all difeafes, under every preffure of affliction, fome faint is acceftible by prayer, whole peculiar province it is to relieve the object; of diftrefs.
In feafons of general calamity, when, not individuals, but the community is threatened with peflilence or famine ; when the ufual patrons are either deaf to their prayers, or have no power to amft them; public proceffions are appointed, and the SSma fax is exhibited to view. This moft iacred relick, like its rival the SSmo fudario> preferved among other valuable remains in the cathedral of Oviedo, is the exact repre-fentation of the Redeemer's face, impreffed on the handkerchief of Santa Veronica, of which three only were produced.
A learned jefuit has favoured the world with the authentic hiftory of this ineftima-ble treafure. Of the three imprerlions, one is at Rome, a fecond is acknowledged to be at Jaen, and the third was for a time depofited at Jerufalem. This, at a feafon when perfecution raged, was fent to the king of Cyprus, and from that ill-fated ifland it fought refuge in a private chapel belonging
ing to the Pope. Here it relied for a time; but having been fent to Venice, where the plague was raging, it acquired fuch reputation, that the Venetians were determined to retain it for ever in their city. The Pope reclaimed his treafure, and a cardinal was fent to conduct it back to Rome; but in the mean time his holinefs having by death caufed a vacancy in the papal throne, the good cardinal made a prefent of his charge to a chaplain, who was appointed curate of San Juan, in the Huerta of Alicant, and thither it travelled with him.
This man, little knowing the treafure he pofferTed, threw it carelefsly into a chefl, and covered it with all his ilock of clothes; but to his aftonifhment, when he opened the chcft, the facred image was at the top. Thinking, however, that his fervants might have placed it there, he again thru if it to the bottom. This happened thrice, and a third time, to his confufion, he found it on the furface. This wonderful event proved the revival of its fame; and from that period the fuccemon of miracles wrought by its fuperior energy has been unremitted.
It
It happens unfortunately for this inelti-mabie relick, that the face is much fmaller than natural; whereas thofe of Jaen, of Oviedo, and of Rome, are all of the proper fize. But then it is remarked by the learned jefuit, that, according to the teffci-mony of the reverend monks who perform the facred offices in the convent of Santa Clara, where it is preferved, the face does not always appear of the fame fize, being fometimes indeed diminutive, but at other times vifibly as large as thofe of Jaen and of Rome.
Of late there have been no authentic records of its averting either peftilence or famine; but in the year 1489, after a long drought, being carried in proceflion, re* frefhing mowers immediately fucceedcd, and from that time it has been confidered as the richer! treafure of the Huerta.
I am not fufficiently acquainted with the topography of the ancient city, with its chronology, or with the geography of the furrounding country, to fit in judgment on the hiftory of this learned jefuit, who Hates, that when, in the year 1489, the curate of S.Juan, in the Huerta, affiffed by two Fran-
cifcan
t   2I9 3
cifcan friars, was carrying the SSma faz to Alicant, he paffed a little ravin, called Lloxia, and made a if and on a rifmg ground beyond it: but I am inclined to fufpect that he did not recollect: the Situation of the city at the time to which his miracle refers. I leave this matter, therefore, to be difcuffed by others.
Alicant flood formerly about a league further to the eaft ward than at prefent, on the other fide of Mount S. Julian, not far from the cape de la Huerta, and the modern city, fo late as the year 1519, confided merely of fix cottages; but in three and forty years fubfequent to that period, one thoufand families had taken refuge in it from the ravages of the Algerines.
All the ancient houfes in the Huerta, by their lofty and ftrong towers, evidently fhew how much were dreaded the depredations of thofe pirates; and the vaft increafe of Alicant proves the peace and fecurity its citizens have enjoyed under the protection of its caftle. Even fo late as the year 1776, the Algerines invaded, like a flight of locufts, all the fea coaft of Catalonia, Valencia, and Granada, but they were foon repulfed,
I had
I had the curiofity to afk Don Fran*, cifco Pacheco his opinion respecting the failure of the Spanifh expedition againil Algiers.   He was prefent on that memorable day, and being both high in command, and a confidential friend of General O'Reilly, he was competent to  form a judgment of his   conduct.   The armament coniifted of twenty thoufand men, with a ftrong fleet to cover them; but the boats were capable of receiving only eight thoufand men.   The firft divifion, therefore, was ordered to form upon the ftrand, and to reft upon their arms till the whole force fhould be difembarked, becaufe the dciign of the general was to move in columns, and to take poffeflion of a mountain which commanded the  city of Algiers. This divifion made good its landing, and met with nothing to moleft them; but the commanding officer, feeing the Moors af-fembled to oppofe him, yet not in force, impatient to gather laurels, inftead of halting agreeable to orders, cried out, a cllos m/j hijos, at them my Jons, and rufhed forward to the attack.   The enemy retired, and he continued to purfue them till his men were haraffed, and thrown into con-
fufiou
fufion by multitudes who lay hid behind camels, rocks, and bufhes.
The fecond divifion flattened to fupport the firft, but it was now too late, and the confufion becoming general, the commander in chief was obliged to order a retreat. This he conducted with fuch fkill, that, embarking his troops in fight of more than a hundred and fifty thoufand Moors, he faved his artillery, and loft only four hundred and fixty men; a trifling lofs, when it is confidered that they had been fkirmifh-ing fourteen hours without intermiflion.
Had it not been for the rafhnefs of the officer who had the command of the troops firft landed, the city muft in three days have been reduced to afhes.
On the teftimony of fuch a witnefs, I can neither doubt thefe facts, nor the con-clufion which he drew from them; for of all the perfons of rank, whom I had the honour to approach, 1 no where faw his equal for good fenfc, for firmnefs, and for probity.
The higheft gratification  attached to travelling is the  pleafure of converting with diftinguifhed characters.   This pleafure
lure is fo great, that had I met with one only fuch as the governor of Alicant, 1 lhould have been well rewarded for the fatigues of a long and of a tedious journey. 1 think I never faw a brighter model of perfection.   Calm and recollected, he appears always to command himfelf; bold and intrepid, he makes the moft obftinate to obey; yet fo mild and gentle are his manners, and fo much benevolence appears in his words and in his actions, that all but thofe who violate the laws, feel inclined to cultivate  his friendship.    As a  knight of Malta, he has a rich commandery in a delightful fituation,  where he might enjoy every gratification which this world can give, excepting that of being extenfively ufeful to mankind.    For this reafon he choofes rather to continue in his government of Alicant, where he meets with contradictions and vexations at every ftep he takes, either for the improvement of the city, or for the eftablifhment of a regular police.   His perfeverance, however, will furmount all difficulties, and the lateft pofterity will blefs the"remembrance of his name.
In
In viewing fuch a character, one cannot help lamenting that he mould be a knight of Malta, and therefore a ftrangcr to domestic comfort. Although a knight of Malta, he appears not infenfible to the charms of beauty; for Speaking one day of the Andaluiian women, of their perfons, their gracefulnefs, and their animation, he remarked with feeling, that fuch Superlative beauty was furlicient to turn a wife man's head. I quit with much regret the contemplation of fo amiable a character.
The weights and meajures of Alicant differ from thofe of other provinces.
The quintal is four arrobas of twenty-four pounds each, and the pound is of eighteen ounces £>panith, or nineteen English; confequently the quintal is two pounds heavier than our hundred weight.
The vara, of four palms, is very nearly equal to die Engliih yard.
The cantaro is four azumbres, or thirty medias, and is equal to three gallons. It is ufed for liquids.
The cahiz contains twelve barchillas, or forty-eight celemines, and is equal to feven buthels and a half.
Eight quartos are equal to nine farthings. 8 The
The price of Provifwns.
Bread—four quartos for fixteen ounces.
Beef—ten quartos the pound of eighteen ounces now, but twelve years ago it was only fix quartos and a half.
Mutton—fixteen quartos and a half now, but at that period thirteen.
Veal—feventeen quartos.
Pork—eighteen quartos.
Frefh fifh—commonly eight quartos.
Oil—nineteen quartos the pound, but by the arroba thirty-three reals.
A fowl, big or little, is fifteen quartos.
Salt is twenty-eight reals the fanega, or hundred weight, at the Alfori, or the king's {tore: where an administrator, a fiel medi-dor or meter, an efcrivano, and a vifitador or fupervifor, give attendance.
The contract for provisions is made for fix years.
■
JOURNEY
JOURNEY
from
ALICANT to VALENCIA,
JUNE 6th, I left Alicant. In the vale, the only thing which ftruck my attention was one of the Moorifh fountains; but as we afcended to a higher level, I became interefted in the if rata. Here I faw what 1 had before conjectured, that thefe high mountains are compofed principally of fchift, and that the fchift is capped with limeftone; yet fome of the ftrata are of gypfum. From thefe heights we defcend-ed to the rich valley of Montfort, which is watered by copious ftreams, and apparently well cultivated. The foil is light, and in their ploughs they employ one mule, yet Vol. III. tire
the land produces abundantly, oil, wine, figs, grain of every fpecies, and barilla. The tomato and the capficum feem to be in great requeft. Montfort is four leagues from Alicant.
After dinner, we proceeded five leagues more to Villena. The way chiefly paffes through a rude uncultivated country, between barren mountains of gypfum, which are altogether deferted, and fit only for monumental crones. In a ravin, I obferved a little ffream, flowing over a bed of felenite, whofe margin is covered with fea-fait. Having palled the mountains, we entered the fertile vale of Elda, where vines, almonds, figs, and olives, with wheat, maize, barley, and alfalfa, cover the wide expanfe. In the vineyards they were ploughing with two mules, but in the open field they ufe a fingle afs. On the left, between Elda and Villena, is Sax, a village of two thoufand fouls, in a moft romantic fituation, at the foot of a fteep and rugged mountain, on the fummit of which is an old caftle looking perpendicularly down upon the village, with its adjacent plain. Having crof-a fed
t   227 ]
fed this plain, we travelled between high rocks and mountains to Villena.
Villena is a considerable city, placed at the termination of a fierra, called S. Chrif-tobal. It contains two thoufand five hundred families, divided into two parifhes, with two convents for men, one for women, a congregation of S. Philip Neri, a palace for the marquis its proprietor, and feveral other considerable edifices. On the adjoining mountain is a very ancient caStle* formerly a place of Strength, but commanded by a more elevated mountain.
In this city are eflablifhed manufactures of foap and linen, with many distilleries for brandy.
The public walks are very pleafant, and well laid out 5 the fountains fend out copious Streams, and together form a rivulet by which the plain is watered.
Thus plentifully watered, this extenfive plain produces wheat, barley, oats, rye, maize, leeks, onions, parfnips, alfalfa, hemp, vines, olives, figs, and mulberries.
Near the city is a lake of fait, two leagues in circumference; and at the dif-
tance
E   "3 ]
tance of four leagues, a hill, compofed of rock-falt, is covered with gypfum.
Provifions on the whole arc rcafonable: beef being fold for fix quartos, or fome-thing under feven farthings, a pound of Sixteen ounces, but mutton is worth fourteen quartos, or nearly four pence.
In the pofada I obferved, that the windows have no kind of fallening j from which I collect, either that remarkable Simplicity prevails, or that a watchful police reftrains the fallies of intemperance, with the depredations of confequent diftrefs.
All the rocks in this vicinity are lime-ftone.
June 7th, at five in the morning, we proceeded on our journey over the plain to Fuente la Higuera, leaving Almanza to the left, at the diftance of near a league,
Bifhop Burnet is miflaken in the account he has given us of* the famous battle of Al-manza. The fact was limply this: the duke of Berwick, anxious to bring on a decifive action, fent two fpies into lord Galway's camp, under pretence of being deferters, with a report that the duke of Orleans was conducting from France a reinforcement
■inforcement of twelve thoufand men ; that in two days he was expected to arrive, when the two dukes, with their united forces, would compel the Englim to engage. Lord Galway fell into the fnare, raifed the liege of Villena, marched his army, April 14th, three long leagues, and in the middle of the day, with his fainting troops, attacked the duke of Berwick, who was calmly waiting to receive him. The event was fuch as might be well expected} for, by this Stratagem, the duke put the crown on the head of Philip, and, by his valour, he preferved it there.
The day after this engagement, the duke of Orleans, with only fourteen attendants, joined the victorious army.
Fucnte la Ilignera, a village of between two and three thoufand inhabitants, is built on a rock, Surrounded by high mountains of lime-Stone, and looks down upon a fertile valley. It is not well cultivated; yet fuch is the richnefs of the foil, that all the crops are good, and the trees are moil luxuriant in their growth. Were it well watered, it would certainly be more productive.
This village belongs, with many in its Qs.3 vicinity.
vicinity, to the marquis de dos Aguas, who names the magistrates.
When we left Fuente la Higuera, we joined company with five men, who had the charge of fix horfes, all loaded with dollars, and bound for France, As foon as we had defcended to the plain, every man eroffed himfelf, difcharged his mufket, then loaded his piece afrefh, and Hung it by his horfe's fide.
From this delightful plain we foon entered a contracted valley, Shut in by lime-Stone rocks, where the profpect changes at every Step. All the level Spots are covered with wheat, barley, oats, or maize; the higher lands are allotted to olives, figs, or vines j and the rugged moors, unfufceptible of culture, are abandoned to rofemary, thyme, mint, lavender, and the lovely oleander, whilfi: lofty pines vary the fcene, and crown the moSt elevated rocks. The road is lately finished; it is rounded, well Stoned, and> perfectly Straight. As we advance, the valley widens, and we admire groves of aU garrobos, with olives and extenfive vine* yards.
On the left hand we look up to the deflated
[" 231 ]
folated convent and caftle of Montefa, built for the military order of that name, A. D. 1319, by D. Jayme 2d, and ruined by an earthquake, 23d March, 1748.
This country is frequently convulfed ; and it is remarkable that, previous to the fhock, the wells are all affected, rifing and falling fuddenly between wide extremes.
At the end of every league we fee a neat cottage with its garden, the habitation of the guardia de camino, whofe office it is to defend the traveller, and to mend the road. For this purpofe he is furnifhed with proper arms and tools; and for his pay he receives five reals, or one (hilling, daily.
About feven in the evening we arrived at Roblar, and went to the pofada del rey% a modern edifice, built by the king, well furnifhed, and adminiflered on his majefly'fi account. The beds are excellent, with paillaffe, mattrefs, and fine linen. In the morning, when I drank my chocolate, they brought me a beautiful china cup and fau-cer, made at the royal manufactory of the buen retiro, in imitation of the French. The price of every thing is fixed, and the admi-Q^4 ni fixator
mftrator is remarkably attentive to his guefts. It is, without exception, the moft comfortable inn I have met with in Spain. They have fourteen bed-rooms, a kitchen for the common carriers, a fpacious coach-houfe, and ftabling for three hundred and thirty horfes, mules, and afTes.
From hence we look up to Xativa, or Scetabis, now called San Felipe, a city containing about ten thoufand fouls, with eight convents for monks, and two for nuns. This circumftance befpeaks the richnefs and beauty of the country. Indeed no valley can be more fertile than this extenfive plain; the whole appears to be a garden, covered with the moft luxuriant herbage, bearing three crops in the year, and yielding wheat, barley, rye, beans, peas, rice, maize, oil, wine, and filk, in great abundance.
Xativa had the honour of giving birth to Jofeph Ribera, better known by the name of Efpaholeto.
On thefe mountains we fee limeftone, marble, alabafter, and gypfum, of various colours. In the former, foffil-ihclls are found.
When
When we leave this plain, we again tra-verfe the mountains, where we have occa-fion to admire the patience and perfeverance of the Spanish character. They are now making a new road, and feem refolved to keep it on a level, notwithstanding the inequality of the ground over which they are to pafs, not turning either to the right hand or to the left. If they meet with a deep ravin, they fill it up; if with a hill, they cut through it. I obferved them in one place, rather than deviate a little from a right linc^ cutting a wide paffage through a limeftone rock for a confidcrable way, to the depth of more than fifty feet. Their ambition fcorns all bounds; and, by their Strenuous exertions, they feem determined to remo\-e every obftacle which can impede them in their progrefs to abfolute perfection.
From the fummit of thefe mountains we have an extenfive profpect, and look down upon the rich valley of Valencia.
Here I picked up fome beautiful red gypfum. Several veins of cinnabar have been difcovered in this neighbourhood in calcarious rock; but I do not mean to af-
fert
t 234 ]
fert that the gypfum is coloured by this mineral.
About four in the evening we arrived at Valencia, having travelled, in three days, twenty-fevcn leagues, or about a hundred miles,
VALENCIA,
VALENCIA.
THE fituatipn of Valencia is delightful, and the country round it is a perfect garden, watered by the Guadalaviar, on the banks of which the city Stands. It is divided into fourteen pariihes, including the cathedral, and is faid to contain a hundred thoufand fouls. On the average of two years, A. D. 1782 and 1786, the marriages were fix hundred and eighty-one; the births, two thoufand fix hundred; the burials, two thoufand five hundred and twenty-five. The city is evidently flourishing; and, were we to judge by the returns to government, we Should be inclined to think the progrefs, in refpect of population, Since the commencement of the pre-fent century, had been rapid. In the whole province, A, D, 1718, when the equivalent
was
was fettled, they reckoned fixty-three thoufand feven hundred and feventy families, and two hundred and fifty-five thoufand fouls. A. D. 1761, thefe amounted, when numbered for, the quintas, or levies for the army, to one hundred and fifty-one thoufand one hundred and twenty-eight famlies, and fix hundred and four thoufand fix hundred and twelve fouls. A. D. 1768, Count d'Aranda obtained an account from the bi-fhops of one hundred and feventy nine thoufand two hundred and twenty-one families, and feven hundred and fixteen thoufand eight hundred and eighty-fix fouls; and now, by the laft returns, we may calculate them at one hundred and ninety-two thoufand nine hundred and feventy families, becaufe we find feven hundred and feventy-one thoufand eight hundred and eighty-one fouls. In this province they reckon only four perfons to one vecino or mafter of a family.
In a city like Valencia we naturally expect to fee many convents: they are indeed numerous, being no fewer than forty-four, nearly divided between  the monks and
nuns.
nuns. Befide thefe, we find ten churches, belonging to congregations, colleges, and hofpitals.
The Streets are narrow, crooked, and not paved; yet they are clean, and therefore healthy.
The principal buildings are, the cathedral, the convents, and the univerfity; of which the former, without companion, is the moft worthy of attention. It is of Grecian architecture; light, elegant, and highly finifhed, more efpecially in the dome, and in fix of the larger chapels. Altogether I never faw a more pleating Structure.
Near to the entrance, the firft chapel to the right, oppofite to the high altar, is dedicated to S. Sebaftian. This contains a good picture of the faint, by Pedro Orr-hente of Murcia. Next to this, when you have paffcd the entrance to the chapter-houfe, is the chapel de la comunion, with its cupola and three altars. Similar to this are the chapels of S. Francis of Borja, of S. Pafqual, and of S. Thomas. The former of thefe is elegantly fitted up by the coun-
tcfs
[ 2-38 1
tefs of Penafiel, who, as dutchefs of Gari-» dia, owes peculiar reverence to S. Francis, once the lord of Gandia, and now its patron. The crofs iles have each four altars, and maffive marble pillars. Behind the great altar, eight little chapels, decorated with marble columns, contribute much to the beauty of this edifice. To the north, the church is fitted up in much the fame manner as we defcribed it in the fouth; and round the choir, in twelve recedes, are twelve altars, making altogether fifty-four altars, at moft of which incenfe is daily offered.
The great altar, thirty feet high by eighteen wide, is filver; and the image of the Bleffed Virgin, fix feet high, is of the fame precious- metal: the workmanfhip of both is admirable. On the altar, in eight feveral compartiments, are reprefented, in bold relief, as many facred fubjects, executed by the befl matters who lived at the clofe of the fifteenth century. Thefe are protected by folding doors, of greater value for their paintings than the altar itfelF for the filver it contains. The fubjects are twelve; fix on the outfide, and as many
pu
on the infide, the production of Francis Neapoli, and of Paul Aregio.
In the facrifty, I faw a'maffive fepulchre of filver gilt, defigned for the reception of the hoft on good Friday; a magnificent throne and canopy of filver, for Eafter Sunday; and, of the fame metal, two cuftodias, one with Corinthian columns, and images of the two patron faints; the other, twelve feet high, with a gold border, innumerable gems, and a little image of S. Michael the archangel, compofed entirely of brilliants. This wTas added to the treafures of the church in the year 1452.
All the beft pictures are difpofed of in the facrifty and chapter-houfe. Thofe by the canon Victoria, and by Vergara, are excellent ; but the moft beautiful, and little inferior to Raphael's, are many by Juanes; more efpecially his Holy Family, in the chapter-houfe, and his Ecce Homo, in a chapel of that name.
Among the relics, thofe held in the higheft eftimation are, many thorns of the Redeemer's crown; the curious cup in which he drank at his laft fupper; and a
wretched
wretched picture of the BlefTed Virgin, painted by S. Luke.
The revenues of this church are confi-derable. The archbimop has one hundred and fixty thoufand pefos, or twenty-four thoufand pounds a year ; feven dignitaries have each from eight to fourteen hundred pefos > twenty-fix canons, ten lecturers, a matter of ceremonies, chantors, affiftants,, &C to the number of three hundred, are all well provided for.
Whenever the nation mall be reduced to the neceffity of doing as the French have done, what amazing wealth, now ftagna-ting and ufelefs, will, by circulation, become productive!
After fatisfying my curiofity in the cathedral, with the edifice, the treafures, and, above all with the paintings, I afcended the tower to take a view of the city and of the furrounding country. The profpect is extenfive, and highly interefUng. You look down upon a vale plentifully watered, wooded, and well cultivated, adorned with a rich variety of orchards and of corn-fields; yet, from the numerous habitations*
[ *w ]
rations, appearing like one continued village. To the eaft, you fee this valley open to the fea, but bounded in every other direction by diitant mountains.
In the convents I found fome good pictures, more efpecially in the following: in the two Carmelites, the Capuchins, the Dominicans, Francifcans, Auguffines, the convent allotted to the nuns of Jerulalem, and the congregation of S. Philip Neri. In thefe, the artifts whofe works are moft worthy to be admired are, Jacinto de Efpi-nofa, Juan Bautifta Juanes, Francifco Ri-balta, Don Jofeph Ramirez, Vicente Victoria, a difciple of Carlo Maratti, with many others, all natives of Valencia. In the church of San Juan de Mercado, the roof is painted in frefco by Palomino, who wTas like wife of Valencia. The famous Supper of Ribalta is in the college of Corpus Chriiti.
This feminary is worthy of attention, not merely for the pictures, which are beautiful, but for the library, which is well chofen, conlidering the age in which the patriarch of Antioeh lived. He finilhed his college in the year 1604, and all the books
Vol. III. R were
were collected by himfelf. Among the relics in the facrifty, I took notice of a piece of fculpture, fo minute, that in the fize of an octavo volume it contained more than a hundred figures carved with the greateft elegance and truth.
In this college twenty-three maffes are repeated daily for the dead, and for each the officiating prieft receives four reals. In Spain few people of diftinction die without making a provifion for this purpofe; but as the religious houfes fometimes receive the legacy, and neglect: the obligation connected with it, this proves a fource of frequent litigation between the community and the friends of the deceafed.
Of all the parifh churches, not one, befide S. Nicholas, appeared worthy of attention. In this I admired the roof, executed in frefco, by Vidal, a difciple of Palomino, and the dome painted by Victoria. S. Thomas, of Villanueva, does credit to the pencil of Vergara. Three good pictures by Efpinofa, and two by Juanes, of which one is the Laft Supper, painted by that great matter for the altar, muft be reckoned among the fineffc pictures of Valencia.
The
The revenue of the religious houfes is faid to be confiderable; but the moft wealthy fociety in Valencia is the one laft eflablifhed; for when the convent of Mon-tefa was deftroyed by the earthquake of 1748, the monks removed their habitation, and fettled here. They have lately fitted up their church with much taftc, and at a confiderable expence: this they can well afford, becaufe, for the maintenance of four and twenty friars, they have a nett income of nine thoufand pefos, or fome-thing lefs than fourteen hundred pounds a year.
The univerfity of Valencia is a refpecta-ble community. It was founded at the folicitation of S. Vincent Ferrier, A. D, 1411; and foon after its inflitution, D. Alonfo III. of Arragon, granted the privilege of nobility to all the Undents who fhould graduate in law. It was lately much on the decline; but the prefent rector has railed the reputation of his feminary, and they now reckon two thoufand four hundred Undents. When I was at Valencia, he was jufl returned from Madrid with his new plan of fludy, approved of by his mall 2 jcu7'
jelly. (22a Dec. 1786.)   The profeffors are feventy, viz. feven for the languages, including Latin, Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic ; four for the, mathematics, comprehending arithmetic, algebra, geometry, mechanics, hydroflatics, optics, alf ronomy, and experimental philofophy.   In philofophy, including logic, metaphyncs, moral philofophy, and phyfics, three permanent and as many temporary profeffors. In this branch they take father Jacquier for their guide. For medicine, with chemiftry, they have eleven profeffors; lix permanent, the other five changed at the end of three years. In this fcience they have adopted the belt modern authors, fuch as, Beaume, Macquer, Murray, Heifter, Boerhaave, Home, Van-Swieten, and Cullen's Practice; but unfortunately, they have overlooked his beft performance, which, without a queftion, is the Synopfis Nofologiifi Methodical; and they appear not to be acquainted with the works of Haller and of Gaubius. Like the medical fchool at Edinburgh, they have a clinical ward, vifited daily by the ftudents, and clinical lectures given by the profeifors. Befide thefe, with lingular liberality of fen-
timent,
timent, they permit the profeffors to take what bodies they tfhink proper from the hofpital, to be differed by their furgeons.
For civil law, for canon law, and for ec-clefiaffical difcipline, ten permanent profeffors are appointed, with nine afliftants, who are chofen for a time, and changed in rotation every year.
Eighteen profeffors, of which eleven are permanent, teach theology, including ec-clefiaffical hiftory, and what they call the-ologia efcolaftico-dogmatica.
Thefe lectures begin the firft of October, end the laft of May, and are interrupted by as few holidays as the catholic religion will admit of.
During the month of June, all the flu-dents are publicly examined in the lectures they have attended the preceding year; if approved, they receive their matriculation, and pafs on to a Superior clafsj if not approved, they continue another year in the lame clafs, and being then found deficient, they are expelled the univerfity. To excite their emulation, prizes of books and money are propofed, and distributed at the end of the examination, to thofe who have made the greatest progrefs in the fciences.
R 3 To
To graduate, if in arts, the ftudent mull, for a bachelor's degree, have obtained two matriculas, that is, he mult have attended lectures two years, and muft, at the public examination, have been twice approved; and to be mafter of arts, he muft have gained three matriculas. In divinity and law, after four matriculas, he may claim his bachelor's degree; but to b# doctor, he muft have gained five. For the bachelor's degree in medicine, he muft have attended the medical claries five years, and five times he muft have pafTed his examinations. After this he muft prac-tife two years in the hofpital before he can be admitted to his laft degree. This certainly is an improvement on the plan purfued at Edinburgh, where three years ftudy, or rather three years attendance on the lectures, and a flight examination, is all that is required for the degree of doctor. In Valencia, the candidate for this degree is privately examined by the profeffors. After this, if approved, he performs public exercnes, and fubmits to a fecond examination. The profeffors then enter the chapel, and give their votes in private. If thefe are favourable, they proceed to examine
mine him once more in public, and if he acquits himfelf to their Satisfaction, it is finally determined by vote that he fhall be honoured with a degree.
The candidates for profeflbrfhips form a distinct and Separate clafs, and to be admitted into this,* a man muft have gained a certain number of matriculas in every fci-ence which can be ufeful in his line, and muft pafs a fevere examination, both in public and in private. Thus, for instance, in medicine, to be what they call opojitor, that is, to be admitted into the clafs of thofe who may be hereafter candidates for a vacant chair, whether permanent or temporary, he mult have obtained two matriculas in Greek, two in mathematics, and one in the mechanics -y he muft defend a thefis, and be examined in every branch of medicine, by three cenfors at leaft, both in public and in private. After the examination, the cenfors with the rector enter the chapel, and having fworn before the altar to judge impartially, they decide by ballot whether the candidate be qualified or not. If all his exercifcs meet with their approbation, he is publicly received, inverted R 4 with
' •    [  «48   J •
with the enfigns of his order, and immediately takes his feat among the profeffors of the univerfity.
From this clafs alone all vacant chairs are filled; and from the opoftors are taken the correctors of the univerfity prefs. Whilft thus employed they receive a faiary. When a chair is vacant, it is filled by oppofition; that is, it is given to him, among the competitors, who, upon a ftriet examination, is judged to be moft worthy of it.
The falaries are moderate. The rector of the univernty has thirty pounds a year; the vice-rector, fifteen. The permanent profeffors have in general forty pounds a year, but the profeffors of chemiftry receive fixty; the anatomilt has fifty for faiary, with ten for thirty directions; and he who gives lectures on the practice of medicine is allowed feventy -five. The temporary profeffors, twenty-four in number, receive no more than fifteen pounds per annum.
This eftablifhment being in a ftate of infancy, it has been thought expedient to offer premiums to the profefxrs who excel.   After twelve years unremitted application
plication to the duties of his office, if any one fhall write ufefully on the fci-ence of which he is profeffor, he is to receive an additional penfion of ten pounds; and if, after twenty years, he fhall produce any valuable work, he will be entitled tg an additional penfion of twenty pounds: but mould he compofe an improved fyftem, fuch as may be ufefully adopted Sn his clafs, he will be entitled to a penfion for life of thirty pounds a year, in addition to the former, on condition that he reiigns his property in that work to the community.
The profits of the univerfity prefs are defigned,in the firfl place, to compofe a fund of three thoufand pounds. Of the furplus produce, fixty pounds a year is to be re-ferved' for purchafing books, after which the refidue will be equally divided every fourth year between the rectors, profeffors, librarians, and correctors of the prefs.
Their library contains many thoufand volumes, moftly modern and well chofen, all collected by D. Francifco Perez Bayer, and prefented by him to this univerfity. At his table at Madrid I had frequently met the rector, and was therefore happy in renewing
newing our acquaintance at Valencia. He did me the honour to con duel: me through the library, and mewed me a valuable collection of pictures in his own apartments. They are principally the works of the belt mailers of Italy and Florence; but among them he has fome capital performances of Juanes.
The rector is a man of profound learning, and very zealous for the advancement of fcience in his community. For this purpofe he undertook a journey to Madrid, and to him muft be afcribed all the recent regulations, with the incomparable plan of Study laid down in the royal edict to which I have referred. Thefe do much credit to his understanding, and- if carried into execution, will make this feminary one of the moft refpcctable in Europe.
Befide the library of the univerfity, four galleries in the archbifhop's palace are devoted to the fame purpofe, and contain thirty-two thoufand volumes, among which are many modern publications in every branch of literature. The rudiments of this collection, at the expulfion of the Je-fuits, about the year 1759, confifled only
of
of their fpoils; but the worthy prelates, who have been honoured with the croiier in this city, have fwelled the catalogue by the addition of not a few among the many valuable productions which have appeared in Europe lince the commencement of the prefent century.
Should literature revive in Spain, I am inclined to think it will be at Valencia. Men of genius are not wanting there; and whenever they Shall take the pen, no prefs can do more juftice to their works, than the one eftabliShed in that city. Whoever has had an opportunity of Seeing a valuable work of Francis Perez Bayer on the Hebraeo-Samaritan coins, printed by Mont-fort, will agree with me in opinion, that no nation can boaft of a fuperior work.
In traverfing the city, to view whatever was moft worthy of attention; considering its nourishing condition, and the opulence of the citizens, whether merchants, manufacturers, ccclefiaftics, the military, or gentlemen of landed property, I was ftruek with the fight of poverty, of wretchednefs, and of rags, in every Street. The hofpicio, or general workhoufe, provides for two
hundred
handred and twenty men, one hundred and fifty boys, two hundred and eighty women, and ninety girls, who are all well fed, well clothed, well lodged; yet the city fwarfris with iturdy beggars. I fufpected, however, what I found to be the cafe, that the eccle-fiaftics distribute money, and that the convents administer bread and'broth every day at noon to all who make application at their gates. This circumftance will fuftt-ciently account for the multitude of mifera-ble objects, who in Valencia, as in all places, bear exact proportion to the undiitinguim-ing benevolence of wealth. When in health-, the moft lazy can never be in want of bread; and when ill, they have an hofpital always open to receive them. Should the indolent and vicious be inclined to abandon their offspring, the fame hofpital will provide for the helplefs infant a cradle and a grave. t
I took an account of the patients and foundlings of the preceding year, ending the 31ft of December, 1786.
Of the peafants and common people, they received in the general hofpital four thoufand eight hundred. Of thefe, three .. [ thoufand
thoufand nine hundred and twenty-fix went out, two hundred and thirty-five remained, and fix hundred and thirty-nine died.
Of the military, eight hundred and ninety entered, feven hundred and eighty-two went out cured, eighty-one remained, and only twenty-feven died.
The foundlings were, three hundred and thirty-two, and of this number there died one hundred and fifty-nine.
Thus we fee, that of the military, one out of thirty-three died in the hofpital; but of the common people, nearly one in feven. The difference arifes from this circum-fiance, that the lower claffes are hurried ftway to the hofpital, when near death, to lave the expence of burial.
Of the foundlings, little lefs than half die within the year.
One eflablhhment deferves the highell commendation; it is a monte pio, or bank, for the aflifiance of farmers, who are unable to purchafe feed. For this loan they pay no intercil, the funds bang furnifhed from the efpolios y vacantes of the church, that is from the effects of metropolitans deccafed, and from vacant benefices.
Such
Such an inflitution for the promotion of agriculture, and for the encouragement of induftry, confidering the poverty of farmers, and their univerfal want of capital, is certainly politic and wife. From the fame funds in Galicia, fifhermen are provided with boats and nets.
No city in Spain pays more attention to the arts than the: city of Valencia. The public academy for painting, ftatuary, and architecture, is well attended, and many of the pupils feem to be rifing up to eminence.
To have good defigners is of the lad importance to their manufactures of iilk, of porcelain, and for painted tiles.
The iilk manufacture is the mod important, becaufe the mod natural to the foil and to the climate. A. D. 1718, they reckoned no more than eight hundred looms, but by taking off oppreffive taxes, trade advanced, the manufacture flourifhed, and before the year 1740, the weavers amounted to two thoufand. (v. Redabieci-miento de las Fabricas por D. Bernardo de Ulloa.) In the year 1769, Don Antonio Ponz reckoned in the city no fewer than three thoufand one hundred and ninety-five
* looms,
looms, including one hundred and feven flocking frames, and in the whole province, three thoufand four hundred and thirty-feven; which required fix hundred and twenty-two thoufand two hundred and fifty pounds of filk. The trade is ftill increafing; and a gentleman engaged in it allured me, that they have now five thoufand iilk looms, and three hundred flocking frames. Their filk is thirty per cent, cheaper than it is in France, yet they are not able to meet their rivals fairly in the market.
At Alcora, in the neighbourhood of Valencia, a manufacture of porcelain has been fuccefsfully effablidled by Count d'Aranda, and deferves encouragement. I was much pleafed with their imitation of gilding. It is very natural; and the manager informed me, that after many years trial it was found to be durable.
I was moft delighted with the manufacture of painted tiles. In Valencia, their beft a-partments are floored with thefe, andare remarkable for neatnefs, for cool nets, and for elegance. They are Stronger, and much more beautiful, than thofe we formerly received from Holland.
The
The commerce of Valencia is confiderable. My much refpected friend, the Abbe Cavanilles, ftates the produce of this fertile province, ,A- 177°> to have been fixty-. five millions of livres, or £i 2,708,333. viz.
Livres.
Dates 300,000 Figs, 60,000 quintals, a. 8 - 480,000 Flax, 30,000 ditto, a. 50 - 1,500,000 Hemp, 25,000 ditto, a. 40 - 1,000,000 Oil, 100,000 ditto, a. 45 - 4,500,000 Railins, 60,000 ditto, a. 10 - 600,000 Rice, 140,000 load, a. 37 - 5,180,000 Silk, 2,000,000 pound, a. 15 30,000,000 Wool, 23,000 quintals, a. 40 920,000 Wine,  3,000,000 cantaros, a.
15 ibis -        - 2,250,000
Corn, fuch as wheat, oats, maize; oranges, lemons, almonds, pot-afh, carobs, efparto, fait, honey, fifh, &c, &c.   18,270,000
65,000,000
In this account I am inclined to think the brandy is omitted, as it is certainly too confiderable to be included in one of the et ceteras. The quantity exported amounts
commonly
commonly to feven or eight thoufand pipes, moft of which comes to us through Guern-fey as French brandy.
The fdk, according to Bernardo Ward, is little more than one million pounds.
The ufual exports from Valencia are,
Efparto rufh, three or four cargoes for Italy and France.
Figs, two cargoes.
Hemp, only to Carthagena for the fleet.
Raifins, fifteen fhips loaded with two thoufand quintals each.
Wine, three or four thoufand pipes.
Wool, about thirty thoufand arrobas for Languedoc and Genoa.
Silk goods for America, one million two hundred thoufand pounds weight.
But raw fdk is not at prefent allowed to be exported, left the price fhould be advanced, to the detriment of the manufacturer at home. The confequence of this abfurd prohibition is, that,
ift, Great quantities are carried out by the illicit trader, whenever filk is wanted either in France or Portugal.
2d, The French have greatly increafed their plantations of mulberries in Langue-
Vol. III. S doc.
doc. The Italians 'and Portuguefe have done the fame in their dominions. Even the king of Pruflia, in Sileiia, has lately introduced this branch of hufbandry, and cheriihed it with fuch attention, that in the year 1783 the produce was eleven thoufand pound weights.
3d, The quantity produced in Spain is not only lefs, but the quality is worfe, and the price to the manufacturer at home is higher than if the ports were open, and the trade were free. The maxim, on which'the Spaniards have proceeded, was laid down by Colbert, when he put reftraints upon the trade of corn, with a view to render provisions cheap, for the fake of manufactures. But experience has proved the folly of that expedient; for the Englifh, by permitting the exportation of grain, increafed the quantity, funk the price, and brought the market nearer to a par. Previous to that period, wheat varied in its price between wide extremes, from fixteen guineas of our money to three Shillings a quarter, or in old money, from a milling to five pounds twelve, in proportion as liberty was granted to this commerce, the average price
of
of corn was found to fink, and the markets have been more regular.
The marquis de la Enfenada, A.D. 1752, permitted wheat, bailey, rye, and maize, to pafs freely from one province to another; and in 1774* M. Turgor, whofe name will be had in everlaif ing rememberance, granted the fame liberty to France.   The confe-quence was equally beneficial in both kingdoms.    But notwithstanding their experience in the article of grain, all the nations of Europe, even the moft enlightened, have had contracted views, and by their impolitic restrictions have done the greatcft injury to agriculture, to manufactures, and to commerce.   A Sagacious writer on political ceconomy has well obferved, that modern Slates appear feldom to think of more than one clafs of their fubjects at a time, and generally of the wrong clafs.   For in prohibiting an export, they think only of tie buyers at home, whereas they ought then to think of the J ellers there-, and in prohibiting an import, they think only of the feller at home and forget the buyers; the very reverie of which ought to happen; becaufe, when the private fagacity of the fubject has taught him that he can make a gain in any fale,
S % or
or a faving in any purchafe, the Hate ought to facilitate his operations, which, in proportion to the extent of the concern, would produce a balance in favour of the country. It lhould always be remembered, that the demand creates the produce.
The immediate effects of permitting the free exportation of filk would be to raife the price; but then the increafe of price would reffrain the exportation, and by the encouragement thus given to the' producer, tend to increafe the quantity, and thereby ultimately to fink the price, till every thing had found its proper level. When the question is between the operations of agriculture and manufactures, Spain mould never hentate; but mould by all means give the preference to the former, as moft beneficial to the flate.
No country, as far as pofitive injunctions can avail, has taken more pains to promote plantations of all kinds, but efpe-cially of mulberries, than Spain. By a royal edict, dated in the year 1567, com-miffioners were authorifed, wTith their al-guazil and efcrivano, to make a progrefs through the country, and to compel, by penalties.
nalties, corporations to plant, in a time limited, their mountains and their waftrells, and private people to make hedge-rows, appointing both the kind of trees and the diftance at which they fhould be planted. But no provision being made for nur-feries, for fencing, and for watering the tender plants, the country frill continues deflitute of trees. Indeed the national prejudice is fo ftrong againft them, as harbouring birds, and the vexations to which they fubject the owners of the foil are fo many, that few people arc inclined to plant. Viators are appointed to watch the proprietors, and no one is permitted to cut down, even a decayed mulberry-tree, without a fpecial licence. Should he tranfgrefs, and take one for any domeftic purpofe, he muff bribe and feaff the vifitors, or he will be fubjecl: to profecution and a fine.
In the royal edict, for the regulation of plantations, published A. D. 1748, are the fubfequent provifions :
§ 2. Intendants, in their registers, mall fpecify the number of trees of all kinds in their feveral diftri&s.
§ 5. They fhall regifter the heads of fa-S 3 miiies,
milies, and caufe each to plant annually
three trees.
§ 15. The minister of the marine fhall vifit perfonally the feveral district s, and examine the condition of thefe trees.
§ 20. No tree fhall be cut down for fewel, without a certificate from the efcri-vano of the village that the tree is dead.
§ 23. Intendants fliall regulate the price of wood for fewel.
§ 30. No proprietor fliall prefume to cut any tree for building or repairs, without permidion from the intendant. The written petition for this end muft fpecify the quantity required, and the purpofe for which it is folicited.
§ 31. The petition being directed to the fub-delegate of the intendant, fhall by him be forwarded to the jujlicia, and having received from the court a certificate that the allegations are true, and pointing out the moft proper place for felling the number which is needful, fhall give per-miftion for the fame, on condition that the proprietor fhall plant three for one.
SpaniSh filk, from its inequality, is not in fuch requcft as that of other kingdoms;
yet
[  263 ]
yet for fome purpofes it anfwers very well. For this reafon our importation has commonly been trifling, and fcarcely worthy of attention. In the year 1779, it amounted only to forty-four pounds and one-third, and the next year to fixty-five.   But A. D.
1782 we took from them five hundred and forty-one pounds and one third, and the next year one thoufand three hundred and thirty-nine pounds; after which, for three years, we received no more; but in the year 1784, we fupplied them with fix thoufand three hundred and fix pounds of raw filk; and four years after, we fent them five thoufand feven hundred pounds of thrown iilk, receiving from them in return three hundred and ninety-three pounds.raw, and one hundred and forty-one thrown.
The quantity of wrought filks they took from us, on the average of fix years, from
1783 to 1788 inclufive, as it appears by our cuftom-houfe books, was, in piece goods, one hundred and fixty-fix pounds, in hofe five hundred and feventy-eight pounds, mixed with inkle three hundred and feventy-nine pounds, and with worried one thoufand five hundred and fix pounds.   Their predi-
S 4 lection
lection is certainly in favour of the French, who, in point of tafte, may with juftice claim the preference. Formed on this model, by the amftance of their newly instituted fchool for painting, and with due encouragement from the Economical Society, the Valencian weavers muft improve, and may be in time competitors with thofe of Lyons, who at prefent appear without a rival in the market.
If we may believe Bernardo Ward, time was, when Spain produced and employed in her own looms ten million pounds of Iilk; whereas at prefent fire produces little more than one million, half of which is exported raw.
The mulberry of Valencia is the white, as being moft fuitable to a well-watered plain. In Granada they give the preference to the black, as thriving well in elevated ftations, as more durable, more abundant in Laves, and yielding a much finer and more valuable (ilk. But then it does not begin bearing till it is about twenty years of age. In this province they reckon, that five trees mould produce two pounds of filk.
I had the curiofity to examine their method
[   s65 ]
thod of feeding the filk-worms in Spain. Thefe induftrious fpinners are fpread upon wicker {helves, which are placed one above the other, all round, and likewife in the middle of, each apartment, fo as to leave room only for the good woman to pafs with their provifions.   In one houle I faw the produce of fix ounces of feed, and was informed, that to every ounce during their feeding feafon, they allow fixty arrobas of leaves, valued at two pounds five. Each ounce of feed is fuppofed to yield ten pounds of filk, at twelve ounces to the pound. March 28, the worms began to hatch; and, May 22, they went up to fpin.   In the intermediate fpace, on the eleventh day, they flept; and on the fourteenth, they awoke to eat again, receiving food twice a day till the twenty-fecond day.   Having then flept a fecond time, without interruption, for three days, they were fed thrice a day, and thus altern.fitti) continued eating eight days and fleeping three, till the forty-feventh day; after which they eat voracioully for ten days, and not being (tinted, confirmed fomctimes from thirty to fifty arrobas in four and twenty hours. They then climbed
up
up into rofemary bufhes, fixed for that purpofe between the Shelves, and began to fpin.
Upon examination, they appear evidently to draw out two threads by the fame operation, and to glue thefe together, covering them with wax. This may be proved by fpirit of wine, which will diffolve the wax, and leave the thread. Having cxhaufled her magazine, the worm chances her form, and becomes a nymph, till on the feven ty-firSt day, from the time that the little animal was hatched, when Sire comes forth with plumage, and having found her mate, begins to lay her eggs. At the end of fix days from this period of existence, having anfwered the end of their creation, they both lie down and die. This would be the natural progrefs; but, to preferve the filk, the animal is killed by heat, and the cones being thrown into boiling water, they begin winding off the filk.
Silk-worms, in clofe rooms, are much fubject to difeafe - but in the open air, as in China, they are not only more healthy ana-more hardy, but make better filk. It appears to be precifely the fame with them, as with * the
the fick confined in hofpitals, or foundlings mut up in work-houfes. For this reafon the ingenious Abbe Bertholon recommends procuring from China feme of the wild filk-worms, and leaving them in the open air, protected only by a (lied from rain. He is perfuaded that the race might thus be made fo hardy, in procefs of time, as to furvive all the variations of the feafons.
In China, they have three kinds of filk-worm, two living on the leaves of the afh and of the oak; the third, thriving bed on a fpecies of the pepper-tree, called fagara, whofc filk, remarkable for ftrength, waflies like linen, and is not apt to be greafed.
The progrefs of this article of luxury in Europe, after it had been introduced fron\. Afia by two monks, who brought worms to Condantinople, was very flow. There, and in Greece, it continued little noticed by the red of Europe, from the year 551 of the chriftian aera, till Roger II. king of Sicily, pillaged Athens, A. D. 1130, and brought filk-worms to Palermo. From thence they were fpeedily conveyed to Italy and Spain; but, till the reign of Queen Elizabeth, filk-dockings were unknown in
England;
England; and with refpect to Scotland, there is in being a M S. letter from James VI. to the Earl of Mar, requeuing the loan of a pair, in which the Earl had appeared at court, becaufe he was going to give audience to the French ambaffador.
Silk is certainly the moft confiderable article produced in the province of Valencia, being nearly equal to all the reft together, and, if properly encouraged, would yield inexhauftible treafures to this kingdom. No one, who has feen the Spaniards on the fea-coaft, can think them lazy; and as for foil, for climate, and for local advantages, few countries, if any, can be compared to this.
The land in this fertile valley never refts; for no fooner is one crop removed, than the farmer begins to prepare it for another. They plough with one hoife, and never attempt any thing more than to pulverife the foil; for which purpofe their implement is admirably calculated, confidering that they move the earth eight or ten times a year. In this kind of hufbandry they have neither occafion to turn the fod, nor time to let it rot, and therefore could derive
rive no advantage from the coulter, the fin, and the mouldboard of our ploughs. Whilst I was parting through the valley, and in my excurfions round the city, I obferved them earthing up their maize with hoes larger than our common fpades. This instrument is well adapted to their foil, their culture, and their crops. In this operation they work hard, and make difpatch.
The beds, into which they divide the land, are very large, and perfectly flat. The water covers the whole furface, Stagnates for a few days, and is then difcharged.
To Shew the exceeding fertility of this vale, I Shall fubjoin a concife defcription of the crops, with refpect to the time of fow-ing and of reaping, which will point out their fuccefiion, and I Shall give the medium produce of wheat, barley, oats, Indian corn, and rice, in proportion to the feed.
Wheat is put into the ground the beginning of November, and is reaped the middle of June, when they obtain from twenty to forty for one.
Barley is fown in October, and in May they
receive
receive from eighteen to twenty four for one.
Oats are in the ground from the middle of October to the middle of June, and yield from twenty to thirty for one.
Maize follows the barley, as the fecond crop in the fame year, and with a favour* able feafon gives, at the end of October, a hundred for one.
Rice, commonly fown about the firff of April, is tranfplantcd in June, and in October rewards the farmer forty fold in proportion to his feed.
Garbanzos (the cicer of Linnaeus) are drilled about the month of January, and come off the ground the latter end of June.
Guifantes (pifum fativum) occupy the land from September to April and May.
Beans may be put into the ground, either early in the autumn, or in the beginV niflg of the year.
Hemp feed is fcattered on the land in April, and is cleared about the middle of July.
The intermediate crops are, cabbages, cauliflowers, carrots,parfneps,French beans, leeks, garlic4c, onions, turnips, artichokes,
tomato s,
tomatos, lettuces, capficums, cucumbers, melons, four fpecies of the calabaza (cu-curbita laginaria) and fandias (a fpecies likewife of cucurbita) with a variety of efculents, whole names do not occur to me.
Thus, with a warm fun, plenty of water, and a rich choice of crops, fuited lo every feafon of the year, the grateful earth repay* the labour of the huibandman at lead three times in the courfe of twelve or thirteen months.
The rock, wherever it appears in this vicinity, is calcarious. At Picacente, two leagues from the city, clean chalk abounds. Limeftone and good marble are procured from all the mountains; and it is worthy to. be noticed, that Mr. Bowles discovered quickfilver in calcarious rock, both here and near to San Felipe. How far the connection holds between thefe fubftances in other countries I am not competent to fay; but in Spain, as I conceive, no inftance has. been known of cinnabar, either in granite or in fchift.
The recommendation with which Count Florida Blanca was pleafed to honour me,
was.
was to the Duke of Crillon, governor and captain general of the province. Under his protection I could not be otherwife than happy. I had accefs to him at all hours, dined with him almoit every day; and when he was at leifure, I enjoyed the pleafure of his converfation; but when bufinefs called for his attention, he turned me over to the ladies. Here I met with the principal people of Valencia, who were either invited to his table in the middle of the day, or frequented the tertulia in the evening.
Among the remarkable characters I met with at the palace, the molt fingular was a little boy under training at a convent for the pulpit, wrho was fent for, that I might have an opportunity of feeing him. He was not more than twelve years of age; yet his judgment, memory, and imagination were fo mature, that without any fpecial preparation, he was able to expatiate with propriety on whatever fubject was propofed to him; and fuch were his natural powers as an orator, that his periods were harmonious, his exprefhon nervous, his delivery graceful, and his arguments
ments well chofen. Although the room Was filled with genteel company, he was not abafhed j nor did his attention appear to he didradted by the variety of objects and amufements in which they were engaged. Upon enquiry, I found that the fathers of his convent, perceiving him to be a boy of fingular abilities, had taken infinite pains with his education.
The favourite amufement of the duke is whift; but as he had never more than one table, the vifitors in general joined in con-verfation. This was much more agreeable than the cuftom of fome Spanifh families, to make all their company fit down at one long table to fpend the whole evening at fome game that gives no employment, either to the memory, the judgment, or to any one of the mental faculties. The game they ufually adopt is lottery.
Whenever any remarkable perfon came to the tertulia, the duke had the goodnefs to prefent me to him. As an ecclefiadic, I wiihed to be introduced to the arclibi-ihop, but he was not in town : he lived retired in the country. My curiofity was excited drongly by the various and difcor-
Vol. III. T dant
dant characters given me of this prelate by thofe to whom I had applied for information. Some defcribed him as a good fort of man, but rather too fevere; others rcprefented him as a monk, fecluded from the world, auffere in the extreme, and perfectly a mifanthrope.
No fooner had I mentioned to the duke my defire of being introduced by a letter to this prelate, than he obligingly engaged to do more than I requefledj for he fent over, made an appointment to fpend a day with him at his country feat, and conveyed me thither in his carriage.
In the way we parted through Burja-fot, where the Romans had their fubter-ranean granaries. Thirty-feven of thefe flill remain, and are filled with corn for the ufe of the city.
When we arrived at the archbifhop's homely habitation, he received us with po-litenefs, and I was delighted to find in the good old man all that eafe and affability, that mildnefs and gentlcnefs of manner, which became his dignity and age. Far from being morofe, he was cheerful and engaging in his converfation, uncommonly
fenfiblc
tenfible and well informed. Being fond of Study, he avoided the interruptions inevita* ble in fuch a city as Valencia; and, as a man of uncommon piety, he courted foli-tude; yet he was attentive to all the duties of his office, and occasionally entertained his friends. In a word, he appeared to me precifely what a bifhop ought to be.
As wTe returned, converting with the •duke on the fatisfaction I had received from this fhort acquaintance with the archbifhop, he confirmed my ideas of his character, and well accounted for his having been repre-fented by fome as uncommonly fevere* This prelate, confidering Valencia as a commercial city, had oppofed the conftruction of a theatre, becaufe he thought both the diffipation and the expence attendant on the diversions of the ftage, unfriendly to the profperity of trade. The duke himfelf feemed inclined to favour this opinion; at leaft he agreed to comproinife the matter, and inftead of being eftablilhed in the city, he fuffered the players to pitch their tents on the fea~iide, at the village of the Grasy within a moderate diftance from Valencia.
T 2 Thither
Thither the duke had the goodnefs to carry me, with his dutchefs and his amiable daughter. The theatre is a fpacious edifice, conftru&ed like a barn, but covered only with efparto mats, which, as they have no need to be afraid of rain, is fully Sufficient for the purpofe. The company was genteel, and the actors were by no means contemptible. They reprefented that afternoon the Deluge, in which the devil was the principal character. The piece it-felf was highly ludicrous; and when the curtain dropped, the devil, with a daughter-in-law of Noah, at the requeff of the dutchefs, concluded the whole by dancing a fandango.
Under fuch powerful protection as that of the duke of Crillon, who, in authority and ftile of living, is little lefs than viceroy, I faw every thing to the greateft poffible advantage. This was peculiarly ferviceable, when.the knights of the Royal Maeftranza celebrated a feflival in honour of the infant don Antonio. Of thefe knights, four companies, confiding of the principal nobility, ■are eftablilhed in the four cities of Granada, Seville, Ronda, and Valencia, each diftinguifhed by a peculiar uniform. Like
the feudal barons, they are bound, with their vaffals, to attend the king in perfon when he goes to war. Their military exercife is derived from remote antiquity. On this feftival they alfembled in a fpaci-ous area, inclofed for the occafion; at the upper end of which was the picture of the fovereign, behind a curtain. The knights, mounted on beautiful and high bred Anda-luiian horfes, marched in order to the picture, the curtain was withdrawn, and in-ffantly every fword was brandiflied in the air. Having thus paid their homage to the fovereign, they performed, with furprifing regularity, their various evolutions, in the fame manner and form as was done at Aranjuez. This being accomplifhed, they prepared themfelves for other feats of activity and fkilL For this purpofe, an image of Minerva, placed near the gallery in which the ladies were affembled, held one riband, whilft another,' oppofite to this, with a bunch of flowers, was fufpended from the beak of an eagle. Things being thus arranged, each of the knights, clapping fpurs to his horfe, and forcing him to full fpeed, directed the point of his well
T 3 poifed
poifed lance with fuch addrefs, that few of them failed to pierce both ribands at their firft attempts. After this achievement, twice performed by every knight, they again repeated their evolutions, faluted the picture of the king once more, the curtain was drawn, and all retired in the fame order in which they had arrived, with trumpets, kettle-drums, and martial mulic.
This being the feftival of St. Anthony of Padua, in honour of the day, and as a compliment to the infant don Antonio, who is hermano mayor, that is, grand matter, or prefident of this military order, his lieutenant, don Antonio Salabert, gave a refrefco in the evening.
The company confifted of fix hundred, felected from the higheft claffes in Valencia. The gentlemen were affembled in one room, in the other the ladies fat arranged in order, like tulips in a garden. As I had the honour to attend the captain general, I partook of his peculiar privilege, and, with him, paid a vifit to the ladies. It was a pleafing fight. They were all in gala, many of them elegantly dreffed, and adorned in a fplendid manner with pearls, with gold,
and
and with the moft coftly gems. When they had been for fome time affembled, fer-vants entered, firft with a variety of ices; then, after confiderable intervals, with cakes and chocolate; and finally, with cold water. The ladies were all firft ferved, then the gentlemen partook of a fimilar refrefco. By the time that thefe had finifhed their refrefhmcnt, it was more than midnight, although we had affembled early in the evening. The fervants then retired, a band of muiic, vocal and inftrumental, entered, and performed a little opera, written for the occasion, called Peace between Mars and Cupid.
Such refrefcos are given by people of high fafihion on their nuptial day; and fuch a one was given by the brother of count Florida Bianca, whilft I was at Madrid; but as I had not the honour to be prefent on that occafion, I felt the higher fatisfac-tion in the fight of this.
After I had been fome days at Valencia, at the earneft rcqueft of the duke, I viiited a friend, for whom he had a particular efteem, in order to determine a difpute between the attending phyiician and a young chirurgeon, who occafionally faw him. As
T 4 the
the latter was under the immediate protection of the duke, it was partly with a view to fave his credit, that I was defired to give my judgment on the cafe. The duke, therefore, conveyed me in his carriage to the habitation of his friend, and the young chirurgeon joined the party. The patient complained of a cough, accompanied with fpitting and the queff ion to be determined was, whether the difeafe were phthi-fis, or merely a catarrh ?
My enquiries were confined to the ufual fymptoms of a hectic; and not finding, from the account the patient gave me of himfelf, any one of thefe, I did riot hchtate to pronounce him free from phthifis, to the Satisfaction of the duke, and the no fmall triumph of the chirurgeon.
But when I returned, towards the clofe of day, I had reafon, from the increafe of fever, and from the characteristic fluffiing of his cheeks, to think that he had, to obtain a favourable opinion, concealed many of his fymptoms. I requested, therefore, that I might have a conference with his phyfician, and was happy to find that he had expreffed the fame defire. When
we
we had the Satisfaction of meeting the next day, in the prefence of his patient, he directed his difcourfe to me in Latin, and with the greateft fluency gave me the hif-tory of this difeafe, which began with pleu-rify, and was in its progrefs attended with a remittent fever, night Sweats, and the other characteristic fymptoms of a hectic. It was then too clear that the patient had deceived himfelf, and that the meek and too eafily brow-beaten phyfician was well founded in his diagnosis. He thanked me with expreffions of humility for giving him. the meeting; but he evidently wanted Spirit to enjoy his triumph. I found him mo-deft, yet Sensible, and, for a Spanish phyfician, well informed; that is, acquainted wich the works of Boerhaave, but not with modern publications.
I have obferved in general, that the phy-ficians, with whom I have had occafion to converfe, are difciples of their favourite doctor Piquer, who denied, or at leaft doubted of, the circulation of the blood. Yet they begin to get acquainted with the names of Van Swieten, Hoffmann, Sau-yage, Gaubius, de Hacn, and Cullen. They
have
have indeed laboured under the greater!: di fad vantages in their education, and in the want of encouragement when they entered upon practice, receiving little money, and lefs honour, in the way of their profemon. In their medical claries they had no directions, no experiments in chemiflry, and for botany they were unacquainted with Linnaeus. Thefe defects will now be remedied. But even in the prefent day, the fee of the phyfician is, two pence from the tradefman, ten pence from the man of fa-fhion, and nothing from the poor. Some of the noble families agree with a phyfician by the year, paying him annually fourfcore reals, that is, fixteen Ihillings, for his attendance on them and on their families.
They all acknowledge that the monks are more liberal than people of the firft fa-fhion, more efpecially if confidence and fe-crefy are needful.
In point of honour, no clafs of citizens meets with lefs refpect than the phyficians; but in proportion as the nation fhall acquire wealth, they will rife up in confe-quence, and be regarded with efteem.
Of one thing, which in Spain is required
quired from chirurgeons and phyficians, I have never been able to find any one who could give me a fatisfactory account. Before they enter into their profeSIion, they are obliged to fwear, that they will defend the immaculate conception of the Bleffed Virgin. This requisition is the more extraordinary, becaufe that point is not uni-verfally agreed upon, even between catholics themfelves; yet many centuries may pafs before the medical tribe will be freed from this unreafonable impoiition. To give due wTeight to the {auction of an oath, every country lhould purge away thofe which are become obfolcte, but more efpecially fuch as are univerfally regarded as abfurd.
Converfing with feveral phyficians in this part of Spain, who have made ufe of the cicuta with manifefl advantage in cafes of glandular obstructions, I was led to a conjecture, that the virtues of this plant depend much on the Soil and climate in which it is produced. In England, as I imagine, the beneficial effects have not an-fwered the expectations raifed by the report of the adventurous phylician, by whom it was firlt recommended to the notice of the
world.
[  384 I
world. Something iimilar is found in Spain; for in the province of Valencia, the cicuta has been given fuccefsfully for tumors fuppofed to be cancerous; whereas about Madrid they have derived no advantage from its ufe; and it has been obferved, that in Caffille, the cicuta is aromatic, fweet, and free from every naufeous quality; but in Valencia, and all along the eaftern coaft of Spain, it is fetid and loath-fome, affects the head, and, in large dofes, proves a powerful emetic. We may readily conceive that, where the fenfible qualities are fo various and difcordant, the medical effects cannot perfectly agree. The phyficians on this coaft. increafe their dofe from a few grains of the extract up to half an ounce.
The air and climate of Valencia would be highly beneficial to the Englifh in a variety of cafes, more efpecially for nervous, hysterical, and hypocondriac diforders, for fhattered conftitutions, and for thofe who fuffer either by.a redundancy, or a fuppref-iion of the bile. Thefe would find the oranges and grapes moft powerful detergents; and every article of food, whether
animal
[   *85 ]
animal or vegetable, being light and eafy of digeftion, the moil delicate ffomach would never feel oppreffed. In our ifland thefe patients fuffer by humidity ; but in Valencia, fuch is the drynefs of the air, that fugar and fait may be conlfantly expofed without contracting the leaft fign of moifture.
As a winter's refidence, and throughout the fpring, no city can be more delightful than Valencia; and I believe few cities can boaft of more agreeable fociety. Had I fought amufement, I might have had introductions to as many pleafant families as a ftrangcr could with to cultivate; but as information was the firft object of my pur-fuit, I confined myfelf chiefly to the duke of Crillon's, where every diftinguifhed character reforted, and to M. Thomas Vague's, from whom, as well as from his amiable nephew, don Jofeph Boneli, I was certain of receiving the moft accurate accounts of every thing relating to the agriculture, manufactures, and commerce of the country. Had the count de Lumiaris been at leifure to beftow upon me more of his .converfa-tion, my happinefs at Valencia would have been complete.
The
The government of Valencia is not dif-tinguifhed from that of other provinces. The captain general prefides in the civil, criminal, and military courts, and the intendant has the fole authority in matters of finance. The city is governed by its own corregidor, amfled by two alcaldes mayores and twenty-four regidors, with four deputies from the commons, and two fyndics.
The court of the inquifition has three judges, with a nuncio extraordinary, and twenty-two fecretarios del Jeereto, who are paid out of the conhfeated effects of performs condemned by their tribunal.
The taxes are heavy in Valencia. Every thing entering the city, even cloths made at Madrid, and filk for the manufactures, and all commodities without diftinction, pay eight per cent, upon their value. But the province at large is free from fome op-prefhve contributions to which other provinces continue fubject, paying fix hundred twelve thoufand and twenty-eight pefos, or ninety-one thoufand eight hundred and four pounds, as an equivalent for the provincial rents, purveyance, and forage for the army, with the royal monopolies of brandy and of
falti
fait. To this commutation may be in part attributed the profperous condition of the whole kingdom of Valencia.
This city was formerly opprerfed by the nobility; but after the rebellion of 1520, when all the nobles were expelled, and thirteen regidors were chofen from the commons to render impartial juftice; although in this conflict; the commons were ultimately fubdued, and had the mortification to fee all their leaders either flain in the field of battle, or by the hands of the executioner fuffering cruel torments and an ignominious death; yet from that period their tyrants were imprefled with terror, and became cautious how they lhould rekindle a flame, by which they themfelves had nearly been confirmed.
They have at prefent little more to afk than freedom to their commerce. With this, and with a certainty that the peace and protection they enjoy, fhall not be fub-ject to the caprices of a weak fovereign, or of a wicked minifter, Valencia would foon be ranked among the moft commercial cities of the continent.
7 The
The weights and meafures of this province differ much from thofe received in other parts of Spain. The vara is longer than that of Caftille; twelve of the former being equal to thirteen of the latter. Their celcmines bear the fame proportion.
In agriculture, nine palms make a braza, and twenty brazas, equal to forty-one va* ras, make the cord with which they mea-fure land. Two hundred fquare brazas make a fanega, and fix fanegas, equal to about half an acre, make a cahizada. Six cahizadas make a yugada.
In corn meafure, the cahiz contains twelve barchillas, or forty-eight celemines.
The carga of wine contains fifteen arrobas, or cantaras, and is equal to fixty azumbres; but the carga of oil is only twelve arrobas.
The pound confiffs of twelve, fixteen, eighteen, or thirty-fix ounces, according to the article in queff ion, whether bread, frem huh, fait fifh, or butcher's meat. In like manner, the arroba may be of thirty, of thirty-two, or thirty-fix pounds, each pound being twelve ounces.
Wbcn
When I was about to leave Valencia, I enquired the price of provifions, which I found to be as undermentioned, the pound being of thirty-fix ounces.
Beef, twenty quartos; veal, twenty-fix.
Mutton and pork, thirty-lix.
Bread, four quartos for fixteen ounces.
Vol. III. U JOURNEY
JOURNEY
FROM
VALENCIA to BARCELONA.
WHEN I was making arrangements for my departure from Valencia, an amiable young friend, Don Jofeph Bo-neli, was fo polite and attentive as to offer me his company, and a place in his carriage, as far as Morviedro. This offer I gladly accepted; yet I quitted, with much regret, a city in which I had enjoyed the moft agreeable fociety.
June 21, we fet forward on our journey. In the way we examined a Stately edifice, called the convent de los Reyes, ereeled and endowed by the laft Duke of Calabria for his monument, and as a provifion for fixty monks, who are bound to fay mafs daily for the repofe of his foul.   For this ferviee
they
[   *9l ]
they have an ample recompenfe, enjoying a revenue, by their own confefhon, of twenty thoufand pefos, equal to three thoufand pounds, a year, but fuppofed to be confider-ably more.
Their convent is truly magnificent; the marble pillars are moft beautiful; their pictures are many of them excellent, painted chiefly by Juanes, Ribalta, and Zarinena. The treafures of their church are far removed from mediocrity; but that which is moft worthy of attention is a collection of ma-nufcripts, tranfmitted to the founder from his remote progenitors, confifting of two hundred and fifty volumes in good prefer-vation, and highly illuminated, like the belt of the old Roman miffals. They are chiefly the works of the fathers, with many of the claffics, among which is an elegant copy of Livy, in five volumes folio; the tsvo firft in Latin, the othersiin Italian.
At the diftance of about three leagues from the city is Puzol, where the archbifhop has a celebrated garden. We turned afide to view it, but were much difappoint-ed in our expeftations. In the infancy of fcience, this humble attempt deferved com-U 2 mendation;
mendation; but in the prefent day it has little to attract attention.
All the way from Valencia to Morviedro, the lower lands are watered, and produce much filk, wheat, barley, maize, and alfalfa, with a variety of leguminous plants. The higher lands are ihaded by the algarrobo, the'olive, and the vine. The whole country is well inhabited, and fcarcely can you travel half a league without parting through a village.
Morviedro is a confiderable city, containing five thoufand one hundred and twenty-fix inhabitants, who are itrangers to manufactures, and depend altogether for fubfiftence on the produce of the foil. The commerce of this city is chiefly in oil, rai-fins, wine, and brandy. The wine is deli-r cate, and far from dear. Mr. Thomas Vague delivers it aboard at fifty-four pefos the ton, which is forty fhillings and fix pence the hogfhead. To make one hog-fliead of brandy, they commonly diftil four hogfheads of ordinary wine, and when dif-tilled to what is denominated Holland's proof, it is fold for exportation at two pounds feven teen ihillings the hogfhead.
The
The antiquities of Morviedro, formerly Saguntum, have been often and well de-fcribed by others. They are in a ftile of fuch magnificence, that even they who have no tafte for antiquities, as fuch, muft be pleafed with thefe.
The theatre, vaft in its dimenfions, and capable of receiving near ten thoufand people, is hewn out of the rock, and commands a moft extenfive profpect of the Subjacent country, which is bounded by the fea.
Afcending to the fummit of the mountain, and looking to the fouth, the eye is ravifhed with the Sight of Valencia, Standing like a queen furrounded by her Subjects. The villages appear to be innumerable, and all the intermediate country is one continued garden.
June 22, in the morning, I took leave of m»y valuable friend Boneli, and proceeded on my journey in a calecine, attended only by the guide, to whom the little vehicle belonged, patting along the Huerta, with the fea on the right, and high lime-Stone mountains on the left. From this Huerta, having crofted a mountain near the fea, we entered another, which is extenfive, well U 3 watered,
watered, and, like the former, bounded by diftant mountains to the left. On the declivity of one of them ftands Villa Vieja, with its elevated caftle, famous for hot fprings. The rocks are gypfum and lime-ftone.
The vallies produce grain, figs, grapes, olives, and filk, in great abundance.
In the morning I paffed through Nuks, a city containing three thoufand three hundred and thirty-eight fouls, It is a mar-quifate now in abeyance, the title being difputed by feventeen claimants. Within the walls are two convents, two hermitages, and a parifh church. One of the convents, although finifhed thirty years, is not yet inhabited, confequently the revenue is dif-pofed of by the archbifhop, and applied to pious ufes.
The city is governed by two alcaldes, the one ftiled mayor, the other menor, af-fifted by four regidors, who continue only for a year, and then choofe their fucceffors, fubject to the approbation of the marquis; or rather, they name fix for the office of alcalde, and eight for regidors, out of which the marquis makes choice of the proper
number.
(  295 J
number. In the royal boroughs, the magistrates, in like manner, nominate fit per-fons to Succeed them, but then the royal audiencia, or Supreme court of juitice and civil government in Valencia, from this return Select the perfons beif qualified, or moft approved by government, to fill the vacant offices. To this city belong three dependant villages, whofe inhabitants are vicinos, or citizens of Nules.
I obferved here a number of caves, faid to be five hundred, from eight to twelve feet diameter, and from twelve to twenty deep. They are funk in the limeftone rock, and were defigned for granaries, That purpofe they at prefent Serve, and the collector of the tithes makes ufe of thirty for de-pofiting his wheat. He informed me, that he rented the tithes of corn, wine, and oil; but he lamented, that he had no claim on cither filk or garlic, thefe being free from tithe, which he the more feverely felt, becaufe the produce of garlic is nearly equal to half the value of the corn. He told me, that he was adminiffrator for the bank of S. Charles in fupplying the troops vyi'th U 4 wheat
wheat and barley; and from him I find, that the bank has a profitable bargain.
The duke of Infantada has confiderable pofieflions in this vicinity, all of them in administration, that is, cultivated on his account, but chiefly for the advantage of his Stewards, who are the greateft gainers.
Soon after dinner we paifed through Villa Real, a city of five thoufand fix hundred and fifty-eight inhabitants. Proceeding on our way towards Caftellon de la Plana, we croffed the Mijares, which fupplies water to the juftly celebrated aqueduct of Al-mafora.
Thus far the whole extent of road from Valencia is thirty feet wide, well formed, and in excellent condition. The foil is chiefly clay; the crops on the lower lands, wheat, barley, maize, leguminous plants, and melons, with mulberry trees in great abundance; the more elevated lands have olives; and the higheft are abandoned to the algarrobo. Their plough is ill-fuited to the foil, being the light one laft defcribcd, drawn by one horfe in Shafts.
Cafiellon de la Plana reckons ten thoufand 8 feven
feven hundred and thirty-three inhabitants, with one parifh church, and fix convents. The chapel of la Sangre is light, elegant, and well proportioned, fitted up entirely by a young artirt, who is indebted to himfelf alone for the refinement of his tafle, becaufe he had no inflructor, nor one good model in the place, by which he might improve.
Few villages can boarf a richer collection of pictures. The major part are by Francifco Ribalta, who was a native of Cafiellon, and among thofe, the moff admired are, his Purgatory, at the altar of las Animas; his S. Eloy and S. Lucia, in the church of the Auguftins; S. Roque, in the Hermita or chapel dedicated to him, in which that faint is reprefented fitting under a tree, looking up to heaven, and receiving a cake of bread, brought to him by a dog. Befide thefe, we find feveral others equally worthy of admiration in the church of the Dominicans,
In the chapel of la Sangre are preferved fome good pictures of Bergara; and the Capuchins are much indebted to Zurbaran for fome of his befl works.
At
At the altar of the great church is the AfTumption of the Bleffed Virgin, by Carlo Maratti.
When I arrived at Cajiellon, I made inquiries about the aqueduct of Alrnafora, by which all this extenfive plain receives water from the Mijares. They informed me, that I had eroded it foon after I palled the new bridge over that river, but as it is a tunnel almoft the whole diftance from S. Quiteria to Alrnafora, we crofted it without being fenfible that we had done fo. Confidering that this tunnel is through a rock of limeftone, and that it was executed in the year 1240, it deferves to be regarded as Stupendous. In comparifon with this, how contemptible is the Mon-tagne Percee, in Languedoc, for which Lewis XIV. received the moft fulfome adulation !
This ufeful aqueduct of Alrnafora has been attiibuted both to the Romans and to the Moors; but I am well informed that Jayme el Conquiftador is alone entitled to the praife.
June 23. At five In the morning we left Caftelion de la Plana, and defcending to a
plain.
[   2 99 ]
plain, wc approached the mountains and the fea, till we came to las Cafas de Venicajh Here I flopped a few minutes to admire an elegant church lately built by my learned friend Don F. P. Bayer, defigned, as I imagine, for the protection of his monument.
From Venicafe we afcended between the mountains, on which I obferved rofemary, thyme, lavender, the palmito, juniper, and algarrobo, with the beautiful nerium oleander in abundance. The American aloe in the vallies, every where in bloffom, with its lofty pyramid of florets rifing to the height of more than twenty feet, attracted particular attention.
At a little difiance on the right we discovered Oropefa, with its caflle, occupying the fummit of a pointed rock. In this an alcaid is ftationed with a garrifon, and two pieces of cannon, to protect the country from the incurfions of the Algerines.
Under this fortrefs extends a plain, covered every where with vines or grain. A few almonds, figs, and algarrobos, ferve to mew what the country might produce; but unfortunately, the induftry of the farmer is a not
L   300 ]
not properly encouraged, and the whole plain continues deiiitute of water, although by norias it might be abundantly fupplied.
At eleven in the forenoon wc took refreshment in a venta belonging to the monks of S. Antonio of Valencia. Here the norias evidently prove that grater may be eafily procured, and that when procured it never fails producing the moil luxuriant crops.
All the villages in this vicinity belong to the bifhop of Tortofa, who claims and ex-ercifes a temporal dominion, appointing the magistrates, and receiving three thirty-fevenths of their wheat, barley, and oil, with three-fortieths of their wine. Befide thefe dues, the farmer pays one-thirty-Seventh of his grain, and one in forty of his wine, to the curate of the parifh. Some articles are free, a^ for inltance, in one village nothing is paid for maize; in the district of another, the fame immunity is claimed for pigs and algarrobos.
Here the travelling Sheep of Arragon find paiture in the winter, and pay to the parish of Cavanes eighteen hundred pefos,
or
or two hundred and feventy pounds a year, befide making fatisfaction for the injury they may do the wheat.
Many villages have been totally ruined by the depredations of the Moors, and the inhabitants.have fought refuge in Cavan.es, or in other places more eafy of defence.
Torreblanca is going to decay, but Al-cala de Cbivet, or Gifvert, having received inhabitants from many deferted villages, now contains feven hundred families. The diftance of this town from Torreblanca is called one league; but as we were more than two hours on the road, I reckon the league to be at leaft feven miles.
Alcala belongs to the military order of Montefa, and was given to the late infant Don Louis; but at his death it reverted to the crown. The beneficiary or military-tenant receives the tithes, and nominates the magiftrates. The tithes, as they are called, are not the fame to all the inhabitants, becaufe the farmers from many a-bandoned villages, having fought refuge and protection here, they continue to pay the fame proportion as was exacted from them, previous to their removal. Hence,
whilft
whilft fome are acquitted for a tenth, others are obliged to pay an eighth, a feventh, or even three-nineteenths.
I was much pleafed with the parifh church. The front is elegant, adorned with columns and numerous images, and the in-fide, confiding of three iles, and one great dome with eight lelfer ones, is beautifully fitted up, and furnifhed with good pictures. Ample provifion is made for the fupport of fourteen prieffs, who daily officiate at eleven altars.
The common lands are depastured by the flieep of Arragon, yet the market is not Applied with mutton, and as for beef it is rarely feen in Alcala. Bread is fold at four quartos for eleven ounces.
June 24, at four in the morning, we renewed our journey, and defcending between two elevated chains of limeftone mountains, came to Benicarlo, on the fea-coaft, at the diftance of four leagues from Alcala, The foil is peculiarly favourable for the cultivation of the vine, and produces a generous wine, much ufed for enriching the poorer wines in the neighbourhood of Bour-deaux, for the purpofe of making claret.
Mr.
[   3°3 ]
Mr. Macdonell fells this wine at thirty-five pefos, or five guineas, the pipe • and a moft elegant white wine, made by fimple preffure, for thirty-four pefos the hogfhead, or ten pounds four millings the pipe. This delicate wine is all difpofed of before Chriftmas. Brandy is fold for the fame price as the red wine.
This city, containing three thoufand and fixty-three inhabitants, belongs to the knights of Montefa, who nominate the magistrates and claim the tithes. Wine pays four thirty-fourths, but all other articles a tenth, excepting maize and algarrobos, which arc free. Of the tithe of wine a canon of Tortofa takes one half, the military tenant and the curate each enjoy a quarter. In all this country the greateft variety is found in the proportion of the tithe, and in the exemptions enjoyed by different pa-rifhes. No two perfectly agree in one common rule.
From Benicarlo we traverfed an extenfive plain, with high mountains on our left, and on our right the fea. As we approached the confines, cultivation ceafed; but no fooner had we entered Catalonia, than we
again
again admired a welt watered country, and luxuriant crops. The rich vallies produce wheat, barley, maize, hemp, flax, iigs, walnuts, Iilk ; the higher lands, olives and wine. It is Sunday; yet tjie farmers are at work.
In the way we took notice of three monumental croifes, of which the moll: recent marked the fpot where a traveller had been robbed and murdered the preceding year.
When we arrived at Ulldecona I was not forry to rind that my guide intended to pafs through it; for it is a moft mifera-ble village. Yet, miferable as it is, it is inclofed by walls, and maintains two convents. At the diftance of feven hours from Benicarlo we took up our lodging at a venta.
All the mountains on our left, whilft wc were travelling by the margin of the fea, and all thofe we traverfed, when parTing more inland, are of limeftone, from the neighbourhood of Morviedro to Tortofa. On thefe I noticed, as we approached the district of Tortofa, many monumental croffes; but not one of thefe was of a recent date.
The
f 3°5 ] The Huerta of Tortofa is moft delightful. Far as the eye can reach, you look down upon a plain covered with vines, olives, figs, pomegranates, apricots, mulberries, and all kinds of grain; and through this fertile vale you trace the meanderings of the Ebro, which is here wide and navigable.
Tortofa, venerable for its antiquity, now contains ten thoufand feven hundred and eight inhabitants, with ten convents, and five parifh churches.
The cathedral is near the river, built under the protection of a cattle. The front is Ionic, with maflive pillars, fome of which are of lingle ftones, as are all thofe in the chapel of N. Senora de la Cinta. The whole edifice is void of tafte, and the interior is loaded v/ith prepofterous ornaments. J
In the cloifter I took notice of a chapel, which carries marks of the moft remote antiquity, with two little columns of porphyry, the one red, the other green, which look as if they had been made before the flood. The cuftodia of folid filver, weighing fourteen arrobas, although not fo an-
Vol. III. X cienk
[   J<>6 ]
cient, is more to be admired for age than for the beauty of its workmanfhip.
The bifhop has a revenue of forty thoufand ducats, or nearly four thoufand four hundred pounds per annum. Twelve dignitaries have each from a thoufand to fifteen hundred pounds a year. Nineteen canons receive each a thoufand pefos, or one hundred and fifty pounds. Befide thefe, for the ferviee of the cathedral, they have thirty-four prebendaries and minor canons, and forty chaplains.
The funda, or hotel, furnifhed in a ftile Superior to what I had expected, and much beyond the ventas and pofadas I had lately feen, appeared comfortable at leaft, if not to be admired for its elegance. The landlord, an Italian, had the air and manners of an inn-keeper in France. He furnifhed the dinner, and fet the diflies on the table. Firft he brought in foup, then a bouilli of bull beef; after that a fricaffee of garlic and liver, followed by what he called a frican-deau; then, by way of roti, a fhoulder of lamb, or rather the bones covered with a flcin, for I could difcover no flefh upon the bones.   Thefe difhes were  followed by
fallad,
Mad, and a deffert of apricots and almonds. After I had tailed the fricaffee, when he introduced the fubfequent dimes* he exclaimed with an air of triumph,*" Allons, courage, monjieur," and after all, with atone of the higheft Satisfaction, " Eh bien, avez vous bien dine?'1 I could not do lefs thananfwer, t( he mieux du monde"
The maid fervant, who waited at table, was no lefs remarkable than the mailer in her way. She was a gitanat or gipfy, pretty, and elegantly made, with black hair, black eyes, and much animation in her countenance. Exceedingly attentive and alert, the moved like the wind to bring plates, fupply wine and water, and, with a napkin, to keep off innumerable flies. The wine, to cool it, had been immcrfed in water; but when the bottle was more than half exhaufted, it began to float. Seeing this, the girl, with wonderful fmiplicity, made repeated efforts to fink it in the water; and when me found it ftill perfifling to emerge, fhe betrayed flrongly, difappoint-ment and furprife.
Gipfies are very numerous on the fouth-ern and eaflern coafts of Spain; but I never X 2 faw
faw them ftrolling as with us in England, I learn from Count Campomanes, that they amounted to more than ten thoufand, when, in the preceding reign, they were feized in one day, and confined to pri-fons. Government foon grew weary of maintaining fuch a multitude in idlenefs, and difcharged them all. Yet their capture, with fubfequent regulations, had this good effect, that they no longer wandered in companies as beggars, nor frequented, as ufual, the deferted forefts, to live by robbery and plunder.
At the time when they were taken into cuftody, many mduftrious families, by the abufe of the royal edict, and under pretence that they defcended from parents who had been of the gipfy race, were plundered, and reduced to poverty, without redrefs.
When we left Tortofa, we proceeded for two leagues along the Huerta, then af-cending through the gorges of the mountains, inftead of a rich valley, highly cultivated, and productive of every thing ufeful to the human race, we faw nothing for nine long leagues but dreary mountains, clefolate and wafte, covered only with pal-
mito,
mito, cofcoja, and a few other vegetables, all Hunted in their growth.
The road is execrable; but as the rock is moftly bare, I had, from time to time, oc-cafion to obferve fome bivalve, or extraneous foffil, in the limeffone. Succeeding travellers will find a more comfortable route by a new road now making nearer to the fea, fhorter by many miles, and almoft level, as far as Tarragona.
Among the mountains, in one little cultivated fpot, is a miferable village, called Perello, which was formerly a defenced city. There we took up our lodging for the night. Looking down from thence, the country before us appeared to be a wide extended plain, furrounded by high mountains, excepting to the eaft, where it is open to the fea; but as we defcended, we difcover-ed pointed hills innumerable, with deep ravins, and contracted vallies. At the diftance of five leagues from Perello, having climbed a fteep afcent, under the cannon of a ftrong fort, which is built on the Summit of a rock, we defcended to a venta near , the fea, called Ho/pit ale t.
The plough here differs from thofe I X 3 have
have remarked in other parts of Spain: it has neither coulter, fin, nor mouldboard, nor yet wooded pins to fupply that defect; but mftead of theic, the tail of the mare is divided, fo as to perform the fame operation as the heel and ground wrift of our ploughs. The retch is divided toferve the purpofe of a mortice, and receive the handle; and as the tillage is with one mule, the beam terminates in fhafts.
At the difiance of a league from Hofpi-talct we entered a rich plain, bounded to the left by mountains, but on the right open to the fea; and for many leagues we travelled through one continued garden, occupied by numerous villages, the lofty towers of whofe churches, to the eaft of us, reflected the rays of the fetting fun. This fertile vale, called Campo de Tarragona, produces in quick fuccefiion, wheat, barley, maize, beans, peas, garvanzos, French-beans, leeks, onions, garlic, melons, cucumbers, and calabafh, artichokes, olives, oil, win'e, almonds, pomegranates, figs, apricots, algarrobos, flax, hemp, filk, alfalfa, and a variety of herbs, fome for fodder, others for the ferviee of the table.
Near
Near to Tarragona the olive trees were cut down to make room for vines, at a time when brandy happened to be in great re-queft, and fince the price of that commodity has fallen, the olive yards have not been as yet renewed.
Tarragona, of all the cities in Spain, would give the moll agreeable employment to the antiquarian. Here he would admire the remains of an amphitheatre, of a theatre, of a circus, of the palace of Auguftus, of temples, and of an extenfive aqueduct, with fortifications, which, although of a more recent date, are ancient. The aqueduct brings water to the city from the difiance of feven leagues, and croffes a deep ravin over a bridge which is feven hundred feet long, and one hundred high, with eleven arches below, and twenty-five above. It was repaired at the fole expence of the late archbifhop.
The cathedral, a mafiive pile, was built A. d. j 117, and is therefore venerable for antiquity; but in the interior, one chapel only, dedicated to Santa Tecla, is worthy of attention. In this the dome and columns are moft beautiful, and ferve to fhew what.
X 4 valuable
valuable marbles are to be procured in this vicinity.
The archbifhop enjoys a revenue of about four thoufand pounds a year. Twelve dignitaries, twenty-four canons, as many minor canons, and forty chaplains, are well provided for at prefent, and will in future have increafing incomes; becaufe the king means to reduce their number, as vacancies occur, and add confiderably to the revenue of the furvivors; improving at the fame time, and in the fame proportion, the royal third.
Nothing can be more politic than this meafure; for thus quietly, and without clamour, the ufelefs wealth of the cathedrals will be reflored to the community, and gradually relieve the diftreffes of the Hate. Whenever the critical moment mall arrive, eleven convents at Tarragona will contribute their lands and treafures to the necefh-ties of a linking nation.
This city contains feven thoufand five hundred fouls at prefent; but whenever the canal of Arragon fhall be navigable, the whole country will feel the influence of reviving
viving commerce; and, among other cities, this may regain its ancient population.
The trade of this city is now confined to wine and brandy; but for home confump-tion they carry on a confiderable fifhery.
To protect the inhabitants from the in-curfions of the Moors, they have erected batteries. Thefe are the more needful, becaufe the ancient fortifications are gone to ruin, and the Algerines have committed frequent depredations on this coaft. Spain, indeed, has lately concluded a treaty with Algiers, but no one can conjecture howr long the peace will laft.
Beef is fold for twenty-one quartos the double pound of thirty-fix ounces, or about two pence halfpenny our pound.
Mutton is worth thirty-four, or about four pence farthing.
June 27, leaving Tarragona, we palled over an extenfive beach, covered with filhermen and nets; then, quitting the fea-fhore, we traverfed a well cultivated plain, found refreshment at Figretta, beyond which the road goes under a Roman arch, and at pigbt we took up our lodging at Monjus.
In
In the way, I took notice that the land is chiefly tilled with cows, and admired every where the patient and laborious pea-fant unremittingly employed in the cultivation of his land, even when expofed to the full ftroke of the mid-day fun.
Near to the numerous villages through which we palled, I was delighted to obferve the rich abundance of corn, olives, vines, figs, almonds, mulberries, and complete hedges of pomegranate, now covered with its fcarlet bloffom.
As we proceeded, we difcovered Mont-ferrat, which at firft appeared juft riling up in the horizon, and almoft loft in clouds; but as we advanced, we could more diftindtly trace it ftrctching in the wide expanfe, and bounding an extenfive plain.
When we arrived at Monjus> the old man, who was mafter of the pofada, was winnowing his wheat, after having trodden it on the area with his cattle. His firft operation was to get out the ft raw by means of rakes; then he tolled the grain with a four pronged fork, in order to ex-pofe it to the wind.   Having thus cleared
[ PS ]
it from the chaff, he fifted it, then fhogged it in clofer fieves to feparate the lighter feeds; yet, after all his pains and labour, I obferved among his wheat, barley, oats, vetches of various fpecies, cockle (agro-ftemma githaco) with other ponderous feeds, fmall gravel, and little clods of earth, fuch as we always find in wheat imported from every part of Spain.
What a pity is it, that in moft of our counties, and in every part of France and Spain, farmers mould be unacquainted with the winnowing machine, which, imported hrft from Holland, is ufed all over Scotland, and countenanced by our refpedable Society of Arts ! a drawing and defcription of this excellent machine, publifhed by the Society in London, is highly worthy of attention, as being the only one by which any fpecies of grain can be properly cleanfed; I will not merely fay for feed, but even for the market.
About Monjus, I took notice that all the corn, for want of carts, of waggons, and of cars, was brought home, not as in Pcvonfhire  and Cornwall,  in bundles,
hanging
f   i'6 ]
hanging againfl the horfe's fides, hut dif-pofed on a fquare frame, and fattened on his back.
June 28. Having paffed Villa franca de Panadcsy we had the Satisfaction* once more, to travel on good roads, well formed and made, at a vaif expence, through rocks, and over the deepen: ravins, or the gorges of high mountains. Some of the bridges de-figned to form a junction between thefe, are moft Stupendous, and Shew clearly the enterprifmg Spirit of this laborious nation.
In many of their deepeft cuts through the interpofing rock, I took occafion to obferve the Strata. They are generally limeftone, and incline more fo towards the Sea; but as 1 approached the Lobregat, I remarked, at a very confiderable depth, thin Strata of fchiSt interpofed between thofe of iimeStone.
The profpects in this part of Catalonia are moSt enchanting, and change at every ftep. Mountains are feen peeping over mountains, and the hills affume a pleaiing variety of forms. Many are Shaded with thick woods, many with luxuriant crops of
corn,
[   3*7 ]
corn, and net a few lift up their rugged cliffs above the reft, and hide their heads among the clouds. Induftry climbs among thefe rocks, and every fpot where the plough can go, or the vine can fix its roots, is made productive, and abounds with either corn, or wine, or oil. In the vallies we fee the peafants engaged in tillage, and with two ftrong oxen breaking up their fallows; where, by means of a coulter and a mould-board to a well constructed plough, they turn deep furrows, fuch as I had never before remarked in Spain.
As we approach Barcelona, all is in motion, and the whole road appears alive, with horfes, mules, wraggons, carts, and people, thronging to the market with their wares. No fuch activity, no fuch appearance oi buiinefs is feen in any other of the provinces.
At fix in the evening we arrived, and I had the happinefs of meeting my valuable friend the conful in good health.
Between Valencia and Barcelona, the ooladas are tolerably good, but dear, when compared with other parts of Spain, excepting
[   3'S 1
cepting only for the carriers. Thefe pay twenty quartos, or lefs than fix pence, for their fupper, and have plenty of every thing, fiih, butcher's meat, poultry, and good wine, with bread and garden HurT; but to a traveller every article is charged, and his bill feldom amounts to lefs than thirty reals.
RETURN
RETURN to BARCELONA.
T M ME DI AT ELY on ray return to Bar-JL celona, I paid my refpects to the count of Afalto, captain general of the province, and governor of the city, with a letter from count Florida Blanca, which alone was fuf-ficient to infure me an agreeable reception. This gentleman, distinguished for portends, Shewed me all poffible attention, gave me the information I derired, and readily granted the only requeSt I had occafion to make.
Through him I had the honour of being introduced to the bilhop of the diocefe, don Guvino de Valladares y Mesia. I was the more Solicitous for this honour, becaufe the good prelate had been reprefented as a bigot, whofe fole employment was to count his beads, and his only palli.cn to live fe*.
eluded
eluded from the world. My friends had alfured me, that, as a protectant, I had no chance of being well received, and that, if from attention to the count, he mould be inclined to ihew civility, I mould be dif-gurted with his coldnefs. At all events I was refolved to fee him, and I am happy that I did; for I not only found him eafy of accefs, and more than commonly converfa-ble, but fo far removed from bigotry, that, before I quitted him, he preffed me to return, and to iiay fome days with him.
His rendence is two leagues from Barcelona, a little to the weiiward of Mongat, ©n a gentle declivity, open to the meridian fun, and looking down upon the fea.
The party with me on this viiit confiit-ed of the grand vicar, and my friend don Nicolas Lalib the inquifitor. At the bi-fhop's I had the happinefs of meeting don Tomas de Lorenzana, who is brother to the archbifhop of Toledo, and himfelf bimop of Gerona.
The meeting of two prelates is a phceno-menon in Spain, becaufe the moment a minister of the altar accepts a mitre, he devotes his life wholly to the duties of his
office,
t   321 1
office, confines himfelf altogether to his diocefe, and is loft both to his friends and to his family. On the prefent occafion, therefore, the vifit of this prelate was neither in the way of ceremony nor of friendship, but to affift in the dedication of a tern pie ■,
I was much pleafed with my vifit, and flattered by the attention of thefe venerable men. They differ exceedingly in character, yet each appeared amiable in his way. The bifhop of Gerona, although advanced in years, is lively and volatile, full of wit and humour. The bifhop of Barcelona is placid and grave, yet pleafant and agreeable, and peculiary distinguished for benevolence* fond of retirement, and much attached to books. He entertained us well, and feem-ed pleafed with this little interruption to his Studies. To me, his invitation to re^-peat my vifit appeared fo cordial, and his conversation fo engaging, that I was mortified in not being able to prolong my Stay. In the evening we returned, as we had come, in his coach and Six to Barcelona,,
Having now fo good an opportunity to gain information, I made enquiries refpect-
Vol. III. Y ' ing
ing the population of Catalonia, the taxes impofed on the inhabitants, and the revenue derived to the community from this induf-trious province.
In the beginning of the prefent century they reckoned one hundred and one thoufand nine hundred and eighty-fix houfes, and only three hundred and ninety-one thoufand four hundred and ninety inhabitants; but then, it muft be remembered, that the province had been ravaged by civil \tfar. The houfes remained, but many of the inhabitants had vanifhed. In the year 1768, when the bifhops gave an account of the population, each in his diocele, they made the fubfequent return: men, one hundred and eighty-nine thoufand two hundred and hfty-two; women, one hundred and ninety-two thoufand feven hundred and iixty-three; boys, three hundred and thirteen thoufand and feventy-nine; girls, three hundred and twenty thoufand nine hundred and fixteen; clergy, regular and fecular, fourteen thoufand two hundred and thirty-five. In all, one million and thirty thoufand two hundred and forty-five.
Since that period it is allowed that the
population
population is not dim mimed; yet, in the laft returns to government, dated A. D. 1787, and published by authority, we find only eight hundred and one tho; find fix hundred and two inhabitants. Of thefe, fix thoufand nine hundred and. eighty-three are under vows and one thoufand two hundred and fixty-fix are knights. Now, the difference between thefe returns being more than two hundred and twenty-eight thoufand in favour of the former, when no caufe for fuch a deficiency in the latter can be af-iigned, evidently marks feme error in one or both of them; and, indeed, I have it from the belt authority, that thefe account;, notwithstanding the mofl watchful attention on the part of government, always come fhort, and very fhort, of the actual population, becaufe it is the intereff of every family, parifh, and diftrici, to conceal their numbers, in order to avoid the capitation tax.
Catalonia enjoys the privilege of exemption from the alcavala, cientos, and md-lones; in lieu of which they pay ten per cent, on all rents, whether belonging to in -Y 2 dividuals
dividuals or communities, fuch as, of houfes, lands, tithes, mills, public houfes, and public ovens, with ten per cent, on the fup-pofed gains of merchants, and mechanics. Labourers pay eight and one-third per cent, fuppofing them to work a hundred days in the year, at three reals a day. Artifts and manufacturers contribute in the fame proportion annually for a hundred and eighty days. Oxen, cows and calves, horfes, mules, fheep and lambs, with pigs, and other animals, if of the larger fpecies, pay three reals each per annum; thofe of the middling fize, one and an half; and the fmallelt, one-third of a real; always fuppofing the reals to be ardites, of which 'fourteen are equal to fifteen and two-thirty-fourth reals vellon.
The produce of thefe taxes amounted, A. D. 1721, as ftated by Uitariz, to twelve million eight hundred and feventy thoufand feven hundred and fevcnty-four reals vellon, or one hundred and twenty - eight thoufand pounds Aerling, and were as follows:
The
I  3*5 1
Reals Vellon.
The lands at ten per cent, making allowance for unfruitful years      -      -      -      - 5,346,341 Tithes received by private people of the laity       -        - 159,021 Houfes, in proportion to the
rent - 700,956 Emoluments of communities - 256,706 Mills      - - 83,978
Quit rents       - - 308,608
Perfonal labour - - - 3,099,854 Cattle      - - 249,193
Commerce    -      -      -   - 175,000
10,379,657
This falling fhort of what was expected, the fame year was added in due proportion     - 2,491,117
Total reals vellon    ■- 12,870,774. Befide the above, Catalonia paid a compoiition in lieu of lodging, flraw, light wood, and utenfils for the troops   -    - 4,500,00a Rent of tobacco, fait, the cuf-toms, ports, ftamps, crufades, fubfidy, and excufado    -     3c,000,000 Y 3 RoyaJ
Royal patrimony Rent of mow
560,718 35*42°
Lottery      -      -    -     - 219,818 Total reals vellon    - 48,186,730
Thus the whole amount of the taxes collected in Catalonia was, A, D. 1721, four hundred and eighty-one thoufand eight hundred and fixty-feven pounds fter-ling. But as the revenue of Spain is more than doubled fince that period, lhould we allow the fame increafe for Catalonia, we muft ftate the revenue ariung from this province at little lefs than a million Sterling, which, according to the computed population, is twenty Ihillings annually for each perfon; whereas, taking the whole peninfula together, the Spaniards pay no more than ten (hillings each per annum,
This contribution is relatively heavy; yet, countering the peculiar advantages and refources of the Catalans, it is comparatively light; for being freed from the Stagnating influence of the alcavala, cientos, and millones, they enjoy a decided fuperio-
nty
rity over provinces which have never claimed the fame indulgence. Unfettered by thefe impolitic reftraints, their induftry is free, whilft that of lefs-favoured provinces, har-affed inceuantly by the collectors of the revenue, is crippled in all its operations.
In addition to thefe immunities, as it has been well remarked, the great number of troops conftantly quartered in Catalonia not only gives to the farmers and manufacturers a ready market for their commodities, but contributes much to maintain good order in the province. For near two centuries previous to the acceftion of the prefent family, Catalonia was infefted with banditti, who, by robbing and plundering parfengers, interrupted the fafe and eafy communication of the cities with each other, and prevented, in a great meafure, the interior commerce of the country* But when Philip V. after a fevere conflict, had obtained the fceptre, conlidering the ftrong attachment the Catalans difcovered for his rival, to prevent infurrections, he ftatiQned a confiderable detachment of his troops in this doubtful part of his dominions. The immediate confequence of this provision Y 4 was,
was the restoration of good order; the fubfequent effect: has been the revival of commerce, by a quick and certain demand for all. the productions of their induftry. (v. Campomanes Induftria Popular, p. 72.)
It is peculiarly fortunate for Catalonia, that the popular prejudice is favourable to commerce; for here artifts and manufacturers are as much honoured and refpected as in other provinces they are defpifed and treated with contempt.
But that, which contributes moft to the wealth and profperity of Catalonia, is the power which gentlemen of landed property have over their eftates, to grant a particular fpecies of leafe called Efiablifl:mcnt by Emjiteutic Contracts. To that circum-ftance Count Campomanes pays particular attention, when he would account for the fuperior cultivation and improvement of this indufcrious province; nor is he Singular, in his opinion. Fie not only obferves, refpecting Catalonia, El ufa del derecbo em-jiteuticQ mantiene alii al labrador fobre fuf-tierras y produce un jbbrante de gentes para los ofxios; bat to form the contraft he remarks, that Andalulia, although more
fertile
fertile than either Catalonia or Galicia, yet is deftitute of induftry, becaufe the land being occupied by few proprietors, the bulk of the people are day labourers, who only find occafional employment. Hence, clothed in rags and wretchednefs, they crowd into cities, where they obtain a precarious livelihood through the bounty of rich ecclefi-aftics. (Camp. E. P. Ap. 3, p. cxlix. and I. P-73)
Not merely in Andalufia, but in other provinces, the great eftates being ftrixftly entailed, and adminiftered on the proprietor's account, little land is to be rented by the farmer, lefs can be purchafed by the monied man, and, for want of floating property, induftry is left to languifh. In Catalonia it is totally the reverfe of this.
By the emjiteutic contraB, the great proprietor inheriting more land than he can cultivate to profit, has power to grant any given quantity for a term of years, either abfolute or conditional, either for lives, or in perpetuity, always referring a quit-rent, like our copyholds, with a relief on every fuccellion, a fine on the alienation of the land, and other feignioral rights dependant on the
cuftom
t   33° ]
cufiom of the diftrict, fuch as tithes, mills, public-houfes, the obligation to plough his land, to furnifh him with teams, and to pay hearth-money, with other contributions, by way of commutation for ancient Stipulated fervices.
One fpecies of grant for uncultivated land, to be planted v/ith vines, admitted formerly of much difpute. The tenant, holding his land as long as the firft planted vines mould continue to bear fruit, in order to prolong this term, was accuftomed to train layers from the original flocks, and,, by metaphyseal distinctions between identity and diverfity, to plead, that the firft planted vines were not exhausted, claiming thus the inheritance in perpetuity. After various litigations and inconsistent decisions, of the judges, it was finally determined, that this fpecies of grant mould convey a right to the ponefiion for fifty years, unlefs the plantation itfelf lhould previously fail.
The lord of this allodial property may appoint any one as judge, with the affiflancc of an attorney, to hold court for him* provided he has previously obtained perminTion from the provincial court, or, fuppofing the
district;
diftrict to be a barony, from the baron or his ordinary judge. Having conflituted the tribunal, the lord, even whilft a caufe is pending, may at pleafure remove the judge, and name another in his place, and the tenant has, at any period of the trial, a right to his challenge, without aftigning reafons, other than his own fufpicions. Each party may equally reject three advocates appointed for aifefTors.
The referved rent is paid commonly in money; but often the agreement is for oil, wine, corn, or poultry.
Should the property thus granted in fee pafs into mortmain, the lord of the foil may infill on its being fold, or he may increafe the referved rent in proportion to the value of the ufual fine.
The tenant, whenever fummoned, muft produce in court his title, which he is bound to trace upward, till it arrives ultimately at the royal grant; and when his term expires, on quitting, he muft be paid for his improvements, before he can be legally ejected: but at the fame time he may be compelled to indemnify his lord for all damages fuftained by his neglect.
•f Should
Should the tenant be defirous of quitting before the expiration of his term, he is at liberty to do it; but in that cafe he is precluded from all claims for his improvements.
The tenure in Catalonia is evidently feo-dal. All property in land is traced up to the king, and is held by knights ferviee from the crown, fubject to relief, to fines, and to efcheat. Under the royal grant, the great lords claim, not merely tithes of all lands not being freehold, with quit rents and fines, mills, and public houfes, as we have remarked above, but the right of appointing magistrates and receiving tolls on the palfage of cattle over their eftatesv"
To the power retained by them of making emfiteutic contracts, has with rea-fon been attributed the cultivation of fuch waffe lands as are moft fufcepttble of tillage, and the confe'quent increafe of population. Induftry has been promoted, new families have been called into exiftence, and many, refcued from poverty and wretched-nefs, are now maintained in comfortable affluence. In the year 173'% one James Vi-laplana purchafed at a public auction, for
tWQ
two hundred livres Catalan, a tract of waSte land, on which, in 1778, were found twenty families established, although he had referved one third of this poffemon for himfelf; and the whole being planted with vines, for which the foil was belt adapted, what had been originally purchafed for two hundred livres became, in the fpace of forty years, worth many thoufands.
Yet advantageous as this kind of establishment has been, both to individuals and to the community at large, fome great proprietors are fo inattentive, both to the general good and to their private benefit, that they leave their lands uncultivated. Even in Catalonia, according to the government returns, more than three hundred villages have been deferted.
On my return to Barcelona, recommended by the minister to the protection of the governor, feeling myfelf Strong, I ventured to inquire more freely (than I had before thought prudent) into the conduct of the inquifition. In my former vifit I had cultivated friendship with the inquifitors, yet I had always approached them with a degree of reverential awe; but now I questioned
tioned them without referve or fear. The point at which I laboured was to con-verfe with fome who were confined, and underflanding that Mr. Howard had vifited their prifons, I pleaded for the fame indulgence. To this requefr, they anfwered, that I was certainly miffakenj for that no human being, unlefs in cuftody, or himfelf an officer of the inquifition, could be admitted to fee the interior of their prifons,• but they affured me in the moft. folemn manner, that the prifoners were not merely treated with humanity, but enjoyed every poflible indulgence. The apartments, in which they are confined are fpacious, airy, clean, and commodious. They are permitted to fend for their own bed, with books, pen, ink, and paper. They have their own provisions, and if they are poor, they are well fed and comfortably lodged at the expence of the inquifitors. The alcalde waits upon them four times a day to receive their orders, and once a fortnight one of the inquifitors vifits every apartment to fee that all is in good condition, and to inquire if the prifoners are treated with humanity.
To provide funds for the expence of this
tribunal,
[   335 1 tribunal, they confifcate the goods of all, who are condemned.
Neither their fuperior officers, nor yet their familiars, or lowefr. fervants and mef-fengers, are amenable before the civil courts, nor accountable for their crimes and offences to any but their own tribunal.
My friends, the inquifitors of Barcelona, felt exceedingly fore abcut the trial of the beggar at Madrid; and allured me, that the only reafon why the king required the in-quilition to take cognizance of fo contemptible a wretch was out of tendernefs to the manv ladies of high fafhion, whole names muft have appeared, had the profecution been conducted in the civil courts. They likewife gave me to underitand, that as Ion? as the priefthood lhould be debarred from marriage, and c .ifrs continue liable to abufe the confidence repofed in them, the fecrecy, the prudence, and, when needful, the feveriiy of the inquifition, would be the only effectual reiaaint againil licentioufnefs and the univerlal depravation of their morals.
When a prifoner is discharged, the inquifitors exact an oath of fecrecy, and
lhould
mould this be violated, the offender would have reafon to repent his rafhnefs; for* taken from his family in the middle of the • night, he might never be releafed again.
The dread of this impofes fdence on all who have been once confined. The Dutch conful now at Barcelona, through the long period of five and thirty years, has never been prevailed upon to give any account of his confinement, and appears to be much agitated whenever urged to relate in what manner he was treated. His fellow fuf-ferer, M. Falconet, then a boy, turned grey during the fhort fpace of his confinement, and to the day of his death, although retired to Montpellier, obferved the moll: tenacious filence on the fubjedt. His fole offence had been deftroying a picture of the blefied Virgin; and his friend, the Dutch conful, being prefent on that occafion, and not having turned accufer, was confidered as a partner in his guilt.
For my own part, I am inclined to think, that in proportion as light has been diffused in Europe, even inquifitors have learnt humanity. But facts fpeaking fo ftrongly for themfelves, we muft continue
to
to lament that darknefs mould fo far prevail as to leave the leaft veflige of inquifi-toriai power; for, wherever it exifts, it muft be liable to abufe, and clemency muft be merely accidental.
During the whole week immediately preceding my final departure from the city, all the world was occupied with fefti-vity on account of the beatification of two flints lately received into the calendar. Philip IV. and Philip V. had, for this purpofe, exerted all their influence, promoting contributions to defray the expence of the procefs at the court of Rome, and urging the moft powerful arguments with his ho-linefs the Pope; but all their arguments were vain, till the general voice, and the more powerful intereft of Charles III. prevailed.
The citizens, oil this occafion, gave full fcope to the expreffions of their joy. In the convent of S. Francifco de Paula, to which order the new faints belong, they had ferviee every evening, accompanied with a ftrong band of mufic, both vocal and inftrumental. Thefe reverend fathers, in the ardour of their zeal, had cut down
Vol. III. Z their
their orange grove to make room for a model of Monjuich. Not far from thence, one of the faints, S. Bono, was reprefented as a foldier, with a company of horfe, climbing a ffeep afcent, and ready to tumble over a wall into a well, whilft San Francifco was attending to deliver him. After this miraculous efcape, the foldier became a faint, and embraced the order of his patron. The only miracles afcribed to him, whilft living, were his detecting a boy, who was ftealing artichokes from the garden'of his convent, and a friar, who was tempted by fome fifh to incur the guilt of facrilegc. But now, after the lapfe of two hundred and thirty years, he is become the patron of women in child-birth, and his relics are faid to cure all difeafes.
The ftreets in the vicinity of the convent, and nearly over one quarter of the city, were illuminated every night; the houfes were covered with white linen, and the balconies, adorned with looking glafs, reflected light from innumerable tapers. The mops, fitted up like facred grottos, had each its altar, and many elegant chapels were conftructed in the middle of the ftreets* 8 All
All the narrow lanes, dreffed with green branches fo as to refemble groves, were hung with feftoons of flowers, intermixed with coloured lamps. Many of the principal inhabitants had mufic in their houfes; and every evening, till near midnight, thousands were crowding through the lfreets to hear and fee the united efforts of all ranks to honour the memory of their countrymen, now received among the faints.
During my refidertce at Barcelona, I had the happinefs of cultivating an acquaintance With two very ingenious phyficians, Don Francifco Sanponts, and Don Francifco Salva, I found them well acquainted with the Writings of the beff nofologifts, and expert in the improvements of modern chemiflry. With one of their experiments, then new to me, I was peculiarly delighted. I had feen Dr. Pricflley produce dephlogifficated air from manganefe in great abundance, and more fparin^ly from vegetables expofed to the meridian fun ; but thefe gentlemen, by a limilar procefs, obtained, in the fpace of a few hours, from a fmall portion of American aloe (agave Attiericaha) half a pint of vital, or dephlogifficated air ; and at the Z 2 fame
fame time allured me, that from no vegetable fubftance had they ever been able to procure an equal quantity in proportion to the furface expofed to the folar rays. Having extracted and transferred this to a phial, in it they immerged a twitted iron wire, with a fmall portion of amadou at the end, which having kindled into flame they had previouily extinguished. Initantly this fmoking tinder blazed, and the iron burned, like nitre, with a molt vivid flame, carting off little ftars of light, and leaving at laft a number of fmall fliot, perfectly rotund, which were nothing but the fcoria of the iron. A fimilar portion of the leaf, when the day was cloudy, produced fixed air, which fpecdily extinguifhed flame; but the quantity obtained in the fpace of a few hours was not confiderable. For thefe beautiful experiments they are indebted to Dr. Jngen-PIoufz.
Of threefcore phyficians fettled at Barcelona, thefe two are the molt diltinguifhed, and have the molt extenfive practice. One of them favoured me with a light of his lift. He had viiited more than forty patients in the morning, and he was to fee
as
as many before he went to bed. Among thefe were many merchants, manufacturers, and officers; yet he did not expect to receive a hundred reals, that is twenty ihillings, for the whole practice of the day.
Although not rich, they had occafion, a few years lince, to fhew a high and independent fpirit, for which they deferve the highcit commendation. When General O'Neille was governor, (A. D. 1784,) the putrid fever, already mentioned more than once, raged in Catalonia, as in Arragon and other provinces of Spain. The phyficians, fummoned by the governor, like thofe of Carthagena, were required to engage, that from thenceforth they would prefcribe no medicine befide the famous opiate recommended by Dr. Mafdevall. Not Satisfied with this, the governor had prepared a certificate, iimilar to the one produced at Carthagena, for them to fign. The doctors Salva and Sanponts, in the name of all the reft, remonftrated; but could obtain no other anfwer, than that the king would have it fo, and that the prifon doors flood open to receive them. Our chieftains, however, not to be intimidated, continuing Z 3 firm
firm to their refolution, and being well Supported by their corps, at laft came off triumphant, and were permitted to prefcribe whatever medicines they .thought proper, The general, although as a Soldier he had been accuftomcd to obedience, yet being gentle and difcreet, he chofe rather to report the matter to the court, than at once to carry his threats into execution. Here the matter refted.
Dr. Mafdevall, in his publication, claims the invention of this opiate, and reprefents it not merely as a fpecific in putrid fevers, but as a panacea, infallible in all kinds of fever, and a fovereign remedy in every difeafe incident to the human frame.   But as the phyficians of Barcelona were by no means fatisfied of this, they reSifted his pretentions; and as fome of them had noticed this famous opiate in the Journal de Mcdecine, fo far back as A. D. 1769, they denied him the merit of invention. In reality, this formula was known and de-fcribed under the appellation of Boucher's opiate, and the nature of the decompofi-tion taking place on the admixture of the
various
f   343 1
various articles was well defcribed in the1 Journal of 1778.
The mixture of tartar emetic with the Peruvian bark has been a favourite medicine in France. In the year 1779, the Royal Medical Society at Paris, in their Memoirs, p. 249, recommended highly a drachm of the former, with an ounce of the latter, to be ufed in putrid fevers; and at Barcelona they were already in the habit of combining tartar emetic, creinor tartari, and Peruvian bark, before ever they received the royal mandate.
In converting with thefe phyficians, I was ffruck with the number of lunatics under confinement in the feveral provinces of Spain; and when I returned to England, I compared their account of Catalonia with the government returns. By thefe it appears, that in Arragon the number is two hundred and forty-four; in Catalonia, one hundred and fourteen; in Valencia, one hundred and twenty-one; in Andalufia, ninety-nine; in Granada, forty-one; in Toledo, forty-two; in the province of Leon, two; and in Avila, one, In the other interior provinces no mention is made of any.
Z 4 Thus
Thus Stands the fact; but as for the foundation of this difference between the maritime and the inland provinces in this refpect, neither they nor any one with whom I have converfed on the fubject, could fuggeft any thing worthy of remark. I have, therefore, been contented fimply to State the fact, and leave it as I found it.
Before I quitted Catalonia, I wifhed to have vifited fome of the numerous mines among the mountains; but could never find a convenient opportunity. I was, however, favoured with a copy of the fchedule, containing a minute account of all the mines difcovered in the province, drawn up for the ufe of government by the Servants of the crown.
From this it appears, that although minerals have yielded hitherto little to the revenue, and not much to individuals, they have numerous mines of antimony, iron, lead, copper, filver, with one of gold, and many of coal. Some of thefe are too remote from water carriage, others cannot be worked to profit for want of timber. But that which is moft remarkable is, that two private adventurers, Don Jofeph Solanell,
of
of Ripoll, and one Canadell, a merchant of Berga, having obtained a grant from the crown, undertook to work fourteen coal mines in various and diftant parifhes; when, to open any one effectually, would require not merely fkilful miners, but a weight of capital, fuch as few individuals in Spain can be fuppofed to command. Coals are chiefly found in the diftrict of Villa-franca, filver and copper abound in the valie de Aran; but coal, filver, and gold, have all been difcovered in the vicinity of Lerida.
It is certainly for the happinefs of this principality, that the mines are not made more productive. In mining countries, the gains are exceedingly uncertain; a gambling fpirit is encouraged, agriculture is neglected, and poverty prevails. If the mineral is railed on the adventurers account, unlefs they difcover uncommon trea-fures, they will be inevitably ruined. If the working miners become fub-adventurers, they either gain too little, and are wretched; or they get too much, and foon contract ftrong habits of indolence, prodigality, and vice.
Of this truth we have a melancholy
proof
proof at home, Let any one pafs through the county, which moft abounds with mines, and in the mining parifhes he will be ftruck, every moment, with the fight of poverty and wretchednefs. Seeing multitudes loft to the community, as to all ufeful purpofes, and abandoned to miferv, he will enquire, if no provifion has been made to relieve the diftreffes of the poor ? The refult of his enquiries will be fimply this; that in circum(lances iimilar to theirs, no laws, either human or divine, reflrain the uncultivated mind from vice j and that the moft liberal contributions of the rich only tend to increafe the wants and the diftreffes of the poor. He will hear, to his aftonifhment, that in fome places the whole landed property is abforbed and loft in the vain attempt of relieving poverty; and that they, among the poor, whofe gains have been the greateft, are univerfally the moft diflreffed. In the diftricts where mines have not been ever heard of, and where all are engaged in the cultivation of the foil, he will admire the prevalence of induftry, fobriety, and virtue; he will be charmed with iimplicity of manners; he will find
fewer
fewer objects of diftrefs j and, upon enquiry he will learn, that little is required from the hand of charity to relieve the poor.
Some individuals have gained wealth by mines, but not the community, becaufe the blanks are more in number than the prizes.   However, therefore, the hope of gain may influence the individual to fuch bold and hazardous adventures, a prudent fovereign will rather encourage his fub-jects to prefer the more flow and certain, the moderate, yet regular and healthful gains of agriculture.   The fpirit of mining mould be the laft to meet encouragement; yet in Spain it appears to be among the firft. If agriculture were carried to the utmoft poflible extent; if the lands now defolate and wafte were reduced to tillage; if all the vallies fufceptible of that improvement were fupplied, with water; if the projected canals and the high roads wxre rinifhed; if neither agriculture, manufactures, nor commerce could find employment for their people and their capitals; it might then, and not till then, become a queftion, whether the furplus of their population fhpuld find vent in emigrations, or whether
ther they lhould look for antimony, cobalt, bifmuth, mercury, lead, copper, filver, and gold, at home.
Before I quitted Barcelona I had a curious paper put into my hands, which made me with for the one correfponding to it. This was a* Schedule, with enquiries directed, A. D. .1 £;75, to all the prelates and cor-regidors, by Philip TI; but I could not learn what anSwers had been returned, or what Steps taken in conSequence of thefe inquiries.
Among the fifty-feven heads, on which the corregidors were to make report, the major part related to geography, and the local Situation of each village; to natural and civil hiffory; to remarkable characters, both ancient and modern; to heraldry; to the municipal government, and If ate of defence; to agriculture, and the productions of each district, to mineralogy, with a Special reference to gold, Silver, iron, copper, lead, mercury, or other metals, but without any mention of coal, of which they appear not to have had the leaft idea.
Of the remaining queries the fubfequent are the moft remarkable:
iff,
I ft, What is the prefent number of houfe* and families ? Were they formerly more numerous ? If fo, To what caufe muft be attributed the fubfequent diminution ?
2d, Are all the inhabitants employed in ufeful labour ? How many are knights, and what immunities do thefe enjoy?
3d, What entailed cftates are there ?
4th, Are the people profperous and flourishing ? What manufactures do they carry on ?  In what do they excel ?
5th, What wafte lands and commons have they ? What is the value of thefe to the community ? What do they collect for the paSfage of goods and of cattle through their territories ?
6th, What privileges and immunities do they enjoy, and what fpecial cuftoms do they plead ? For what reafons were thefe granted ?'
yth, Suppoiing the town to be under the jurisdiction of a lord, what emoluments, privileges, or pre-eminence, does he, or any other perfon, derive from it ?
8th, What is the value of the tithes, and to whom do they belong ?
9 th,
t   35° 1
9th,  In cities and collegiate churches, what is the value of the various benefices ?
10th, What is the value of the bifhop-ric, and of all the livings in the diocefe?
11 th, What convents for monks, for nuns, and for beatas, are in your diflridt ? What are the numbers under vows ? Who were the founders of thefe religious houfes ? and, What is the value of their rents?
12th, What hofpitals have you, and what is their revenue ?
13th, How many'public houfes are in the diitrict ? To whom do they belong, and what are they worth ?
14th, What depopulated villages are in your diitrict, and what was the caufe of their decay ?
15th, Does vour town claim a vote in cones ? if not, How, and by what city is it reprefented there ?
16th, What feifivals are obfcrved, befide thofe appointed by the church ?
17th, What remarkable relics are in your churches, and what miracles have been performed by them ?
It is evident from the general fcope of
thefe
thefe inquiries, that the defign of Philip H. was to gain a perfect knowledge of his kingdom, with a view to political economy; but in order to dazzle the eyes of his Subjects, he intermixed queries which had no reference to that Subject.
Were we now in polfeffion of the an-Avers to thefe moll intercftmg queries, we lhould be able to judge how far the country has been depopulated in two centuries, fmce the change of government, and Since the difcovery of America; but for want of thefe authentic documents, we can only know in general that the nation has fuf-fered much, without being able to fhte precifely the lofs which has been fuilained by thefe unfortunate events.
Should either the prefent, or any fucceed-ing monarch, gradually extend the bounds of freedom, agreeable to the principles new prevalent in Europe; mould he {hake off the colonies, and contract the limits of his unwieldy empire; mould he banifh his inquifitors, and invite foreigners of all de-fcriptions to fettle in his country; and, lhould he bend his whole attention to cultivate the arts of peace; this moll fertile
kingdom
kingdom would fpeedily recover, without dangerous convuliions, from her wounds; would regain her former population, Strength, and confequence in Europe; and, establishing her public credit on a firm foundation, would furpafs, by a rapid pro-grefs, all her ancient fplendor.
When the time arrived for my departure and return to England, I made an agreeable party with the confui of Barcelona, to take the rout of Switzerland, than which, for a naturalilt, no country can be more interesting. In the way I paid particular attention to the Strata, and to every appearance of extraneous fomls. Of this tour, Should health permit, I may hereafter give a particular account, and endeavour to eftablifh facts, fuch as will convince the moft incredulous, that the Mofaic account of the uni-verfal deluge is Strictly and literally true.
From Barcelona to Bellegarde we returned by the fame way which I have de-fcribed at my entrance into Spain. Arriving here at the fummit of the Pyrenees, I eaft one longing lingering look behind, and quitted with regret a country, where, independent of multiplied civilities and perfonal
attentions,
attentions, for which I felt myfelf deeply indebted to my friends, I had been led fo often to admire the boundlefs generonty of the inhabitants; To exprefs all that I feel, on the recollection of their goodnefs, would appear like adulation ; but I may venture at leaft to fay, that Simplicity, Sincerity, gene-rofity, a high fenfe of dignity, and ftrong principles of honour, are the moft prominent and Striking features of the Spanifh character. In a word, whatever in them I have been accuftomed to admire, I attribute to themfelves, and to their intrinlic excellence; whatever I have blamed, muft be afcribed to the accidental corruptions of their government.
Considering the Similarity of character between the two nations, the SpaniSli and the English, with the Strong predilection of the former in favour of the latter, the peculiar wants of each, and their mutual ability to fupply thofe wants, I cannot but lament Sincerely that a better under-ftanding Should not fnbfift between them* leading in the firft inftance, if not to a new family compact, at leaft to a family connection, and iffuing finally in a commercial Vol. Ill, A a inter-
intcrcourfe equally beneficial to both nations.
Thefe are the earneft withes of the Spaniards, as appears by their well known adage:
Con todo el mundo guerra Y paz con Ynglaterra.
" Peace with England, and war with all the world." From one end of the kingdom to the other this fentiment prevails; and fuch a ftrong defire for the union of their molt amiable prince, the infant don Antonio, with one of our princelfes, that their willies conltantly kindle into hope. During my abode in Spain, when at any time, as often happened, a rumour fpread that this event would fpeedily take place, being readily and univerfally believed, every eye was feen to fparkle with the joyful expectation.
In the prefent circaam fiances of the royal families, both in Spain and Portugal, fuch a connection would promife peculiar advantages to the princefs who lhould vifit Spain, becaufe it is more than poftible fhe might give a fovereign to them both, under whofe
fceptre
fceptre thofe kingdoms would for ever be united.
From fuch a connection no inconve-nicncies could arife to England, becaufe catholics are by law excluded from our throne, and the whole fyftem of their religion, with aftonifhing rapidity, is mouldering away. The papal authority is no longer to be feared. The French never owned allegiance to the fee of Rome, and at the prefent moment, fuperftition in that vaft empire lies proftrate in the duft, without the moft diftant hope of riling into power. Germany, under the dominion of Jofeph and of Leopold, is become in a manner protectant, whilft catholics themfelves, pro-tefting, have made a new religious ara in our illand.
Knowledge in the prefent day is not, as formerly, confined within the walls of Rome. Science univerfally prevails, and the fovereigns of Europe will never more confult the college of cardinals to fettle their difputes. The times are changed, and, without pretending to more than common fagacity, we may venture to affirm, that the papal authority has received its A a 2 mortal
mortal wound, and to predict, that fuperftition will never more revive. In thefe circumftances, the national religion has little to fear by accepting the offers, fhould fuch be made by any catholic court, of intermarriage with our princeffes, whofe character, it may be faid without fufpicion of adulation, throughout Europe ftands fo high as to attract the attention of every crowned family, and whofe liberal education and habits muft make them eminently prove a bleffing to the country where they go, tending to promote univerfal peace and a free commercial intercourfe in Europe.
APPENDIX.
APPENDIX.
CASTILLIAN MONEY.
			Penny.
I Maravedis is		equal to —	9 TiT
2 ditto	—	ditto ■—	9 TT
3 ditto	—	ditto —	* 7 Tit
4 ditto	—	ditto a Quarto, or	9 TT
5 ditto	—	ditto —	4 s 1 "a "f
6 ditto	—	ditto —	1 7
7 ditto	—	ditto —	
8 ditto	—	ditto two Quartos,	or
9 ditto	—	ditto —	0 X Tif
io ditto	—	ditto -—	4 I TT
ii ditto	—	ditto —	9 9 T TT
12 ditto	—	ditto three Quartos	| 7 Ti
13 ditto	—	ditto —	* I 7
14 ditto		ditto — Aa3 15	6 3 Maravedis
/. d.
15 Maravedis is equal to      — *ttt
i 6 ditto    —    ditto four Quartos i \.
17 ditto    —    ditto — i-AV
32 ditto    —    ditto eight Quartos 2 ^
34 ditto     —    ditto 8    Quartos 2 J£
64 ditto a Real of Plate equal to			4	t
136 ditto a Peceta ditto	;—		9	9 tt
1,000 ditto ■—■ ditto	—	5	10	t tt
10,000 ditto —■ , ditto		18	7	t
		s.	d.	
1 Real Vellon is equal to	—	0	2	a s tt
2 ditto    — ditto	—■	0	4	2 s tv
3 ditto —• ditto	—t	0	7	1 1 tt
4 ditto, a Peceta, ditto	—	0	9	9 tt
5 ditto    — ditto	— ■	0	li	A 1 tt
6 ditto    — ditto	—	i	2	.1 1 tt
7 ditto    — ditto	—	i	4	4 7 tt
8 ditto    — ditto	—	i	7	1 t
9 ditto    — ditto	—	i	9	3 3 tt
10 ditto, an Efcudo, .	;—	i	11	5 « tt
11 ditto    — ditto	—	2	2	I 9 tt
11 7*T ditto, a Ducado, ditto	—i	2		4-7 1 s t
12 ditto    — ditto	—	2	4	1 1 tt
13 Reals
		£■	s.	d.
13 Reals Vellon equal to		0		7A-
14 ditto      — ditto	—	0	O	9'I
15 ditto      — ditto	—	0	2	
15 _'T ditto make a Pefo, or cur-				
rent Dollar, equal to	—	0	3	0
16 ditto      — ditto	—	0	3	^ i
17 ditto      — ditto	—	0	3	4M-
18 ditto      — ditto	—	0	3	7tV
19 ditto      — ditto	—	0	3	■ 9V,
20 make a Pefb Duro, or hard				
Dollar, ditto	■—	0	3	
40 make an Efcudo de Oro	—	0	7	11 1
60 make a current Piftole	—	0	11	
75 make a gold Piftole	—	0	H	o
100 ditto      — ditto	—	0	l9	
320 make the Uncia de Oro		3	3	9
1,000 ditto      — ditto		9	l9	2 V
Ecclefiaftical revenues being reckoned by Ducats, i have fubjoined the following table:
1 Ducat is equal to
j. a.
1 ditto
3 ditto
4 ditto
5 ditto
3 ditto — — 6
4 ditto —- —- 8
4 4 7
4 7
*  1 a
1 1
6 o
A a 4 6 Ducats
A  P  P  E N
I X.
			£:	s.	d.
6 Ducats arc	equal to	-	O	l3	
7 ditto	■—	—	O	15	4_U_
8 ditto	!-	—	O	17	
9 ditto	-	-	o	19	9^-
to ditto	-	■-	i	1	H-ii.
11 ditto	■—■	-	i	4	2-1-
12 ditto	—	-		6	££±-
13 ditto	-'	-	i	8	6-?-*-
14 ditto	-	■-	. i	10	
15 ditto	-	—	i	11	
16 ditto	-	—	i	*5	
17 ditto		-	i	17	4—
iS ditto	-	—	i		
19 ditto	-		2	1	
20 ditto	—	-	2	3	
30 ditto	-	■-	3	5	
50 ditto	-	-	5	9	
100 ditto	-	--	10	J9	8 ^
500 ditto	-	-	54	18	7 tt
600 ditto	—	i—	65	18	4 rV
1,000 ditto	i-	—	109	r7	3 tV
2,000 ditto	-	,—	219	14	6 I
3,000 ditto	-	—	3-9	11	9 tV
4,000 ditto	-	■—	439	9	0 *
5,000 ditto	-	—	549	6	J tst
6,000 ditto	-	—	659	3	7 t
8,000 ditto			878	18	1 i 10,000
	&	s.	
j0,0.00 Ducats are equal to 1,098		12	7t
j 6,000 ditto —	hisi	16	3
20,000 ditto •—	2,197	5	3t
30,000 ditto —	3>29S	17	"t
40,000 ditto —	4^394	10	7!
60,000 ditto —		15	1 it
80,000 ditto —»		1	3
100,000 ditto —	10,986	6	6|
150,000 ditto —	1.6,47 9	9	10
1,000,000 ditto —	109,863	5	7t
2,000,000 ditto —	219,726	11	3
4,000,000 ditto —	439AS3	2	6
§?boo,ooo ditto —-	878,906	5	0
INDEX,
I       N       D EX
TO THE
THIRD VOLUME.
ACIDS, how formed by-nature ? . 90 Agriculture of Alicant 196 _   ,       —Carthagena 134
.   .. -■■---Valencia 269
Alcala de Chivct 301 Alcanazas - 32
Algerines, their ravages in Spain - - 219 Alhama 48 Alhambia, at Granada 61 Alicant - 168, et fcg. Ahnanza, battle of 2,28 Alrnafora - 298
Alpargates *i8, 130
Alvatera      -       - 161 Amulets, ufed at Alicant 166 Antonio, San. Marquis, murdered by fmugglers 46 Aqueduct of Alrnafora 296 Archbifhop of Valencia, his character       - 274 Arbitrio, a municipal tax 73 Army, v. Military. Arroyo, de la Miel     35, 38 Afalto, Count, captain general of Catalonia 319 AffaiTinations,   frequent in Spain - 144
Banditti,
INDEX.
Banditti,  in Catalonia, re~ preffed - 327
Baranco, a ravin 105 Barilla, its fpecies   131. 176.
- j9s Baths of Buzot - 200 Baza -..     - 105
Beatification of faints at Barcelona - 337 Beggars, encouraged at Malaga      - - 17 *             Granada    57,58
.---.-       Alicant 183
---.....■ Valencia 251. 25 z
Benicarlo - 30Z
Bifhop of Barcelona, his character - 320
•-----Gerona 321
Boucher's opiate 342 Brandy at Benicarlo 303 Bucarros - - 32 Burjafot, near Valencia 274 Buzot       -        - 200
Campo de Tarragona 31a Carthagena 121 et fcq.
Card, contraft for America 39 Caftcllon de la plana 296. 298 Catalonia,its population, taxes, and revenue - 322 Cavanes - 301
Chalk, at Picacente 271 Chalk and gypfum, their affinity        -        - 90
Chirivel - llfj
Cinnabar,  at  Alicant 213.
233
,-,-near Valencia 271
Cicuta, its medical powers, and efficacy in Valencia 283 Commerce, bad principles of, 259
Convicls, employed in public works - 125. 190 Contador - - 109 Corfarios, public carriers 96 Cortejos, at Carthagena 145 Cofcoja, Quercus Ccccif. 202 Crillon, duke, cap, gen. of Valencia - 272
Criminals, employed in public works       -        125. 190 Cullar de Baza 106
Diego, father of Cadiz, a famous preacher 147 Diezma - 97
Difeafes of Malaga 23
.---Carthagena     136
---Alicant 214
Drefs of peafants near Lorca 118
—,--in Murcia 161
Earthquakes,  frequent near Alicant - 231
Elche - - 162 Elda      - - 226
Emfiteutic,
Kmfiteutic, contracts in Catalonia      -       328 et feq.
Equivalent, in lieu of provincial rents - 170
Efparto rum manufactured cji.
izg. 177
Evaporation, cooling liquids
Fifhery at Alicant 179
----—Carthagena 128
Flagellants, at Malaga 14 Flies, troublefome in Murcia - - 156 Fontillon wine - 200 Foflils, extraneous, Murcia 158
j ■ Buzot 201
'—----Alicant   21a. 214
——---Xativa 232
----Tortofa 309
Fuentc la Higuera 229 Funda, a Spaniih hotel 306
Gariloqui Antonio', the incjui-fitor -       - 82
Garrote, for ftrangling nobles
79
Gerundio, Fray,his wcrk condemned - 1 aS Ghvolero fruit      - 135 Gipfies, numerous in Spain 307, 308
Gipfies, edidl refpe&ing 30I Granada      -       5 5t Granakermes 179. 202
Granaries, of Nules, in lime-ftone rock      - 295 Grao, near Valencia 275 Guadix -       99. 101
Hills, their formation 100.
3°9
Hofpitalet - 309
Ilici, v. Elche.
Influx to Mediterranean, accounted for - 2
Inquifitors, paid by confifca-tions      -       - 286
——-more moderate than.
formerly - 334,
Knives, for affaflination 103
Liquorice, growing wild 160 Locufts, the fpecies found in Spain - 206
Lorca -      - 115
Lunatics in Spain 343
Maeftranza, of Valencia 276 Malaga - 10, et feq. Mai de Ojos - 165
Manefita, an amulet 166 Martinis, d. Jofeph, of Malaga -      - 16 Mafdevall,
Mafdevall, doctor, his opiate
Military regulations in Spain 186
Mines in Catalonia 344. Mining diftricts, fubjeft to poverty      -        - 345 Mongat, near Barcelona 320
Monjus       -       3*3* 3*4 Monks, Francifcan, their orders      - - 13 Monte pio, at Malaga 39
---— at Valencia 253
Montefa, ruined by an earthquake - 231 Moors,their expulfion,73 to 78 Morviedro - 292 Mulberries, their fpecies in Spain      -       - 264 Municipal government, corrupt in Spain 143 Murcia, its vale 150 —— the city 152
Nitre, <v. Saltpetre. Nobles, formerly oppreffive in Valencia - 287
Nules -      - 294
Opiate of Doctor Mafdevall
Opofitor, and oppofition, the terms explained 247
Orihuela      - -Oropefa      -       - zgg Oxen ufed for draught 54. 133
Pacheco, D. Fr. governor of Alicant - 183
Palm-trees, their variety 162 Palmitos, at Carthagena 136 Pantano, at Alicant 191 Papin's air machine 3 2
Parillena - 99
Penilla      - - n3
Peon Caminero 167. 231 Perello - 309
Perfonero, del Comun, 20 Phyficians in Spain, difciples ofPiquer - 281
--— poor,, and little re-
fpected 282. 34Q
PIantations,roya!edift for,26i Playhoufe, near Valencia 276 Ploughs in Spain 53. 268,.
3°?
Poor,   -v. Beggars, Work-houfes.
Population of Catalonia 322
-.......m-.~m r rinciples of 107
Pot afli, <v. Barilla. Preachers, not excellent in Spain - 14 j
Prefidiarios,. or galley flaves 122. 124.
Provifions, the price of, 41-50.
i     n d
50. 95. 97. hi. 119. 148. 158. 163. 289. 313.
Pudding ftone - 49 Putrid fever, at Malaga 23 Puzol, near Valencia 291
Quemadcro, for burning heretics 83 Quercus Coccifera   - 202
Refrefco, a Spanifh entertainment      -       - 278 Revenue of Catalonia 326 Ribalta, a native of Cafiellon 297
Roblar      -       - 231
Sastabis - - 232 Saffron, collected at Albazete
179
Saguntum - 293
Salt-petre, how formed by nature -        87 to 92 San Felipe      -      - 232 Sax 226 Sea breeze, theory of, 5 Sierra Nevada      - 55 Silk worms, their natural hif-tory 265, et feq. Silk, its introduction and pro-grefs in Europe 267 Silk winding, at Alicant 195
Silk manufacture at Valeria cia 254
Silk, trade between England and Spain 257. 263
Shingle, fmooth gravel 49.
150
Smugglers, on the mountains in Spain 47. 52. 60
Solano, Don Felix, his plantations        -      - 35
Superliition of the vulgar reflecting the patronage of faints - 215
Tarragona - - 311 Tartil, a tax - 73 Taxes of Catalonia 324 Tenure in Catalonia 332 Torreblanca - - 301 Torres de la Colta, a tax 73 Tortofa - - 305 Tuf, a calcarious incruflation - - 38 Turners, at Alicant 178
Valencia - 235, et feq. ---its climate favourable
to invalids - 284 Vegetation, rapid in the fouth
of Spain - 199
Velez el Rubio 1 id
Velez Malaga - 44 Venicafe
Venicafe las Cafas de 299 Venta, a folitary inn - 104 Venta de Jimenao 149 Vertientes - 108,109 Villa Franca de Penades 316 Villa Real - - 296 Villa Vieja - - 294 Villena - - 226 Vineyards, their expence 28 Uldecona     -      - 304
Weights and meafures 134.
223, 288
Wheat, the commerce of, regulated     -      - 259 Wines, their kinds and price 29. 292. 302, 303 Workhoufes      69.184. 251
Xativa - 232
Xixena      -       - 112
FINIS.
Z'Mifhed by the Author of this fcurmy:, And frequently referred to in the prefent Work,
A DISSERTATION on the POOR LAWS j
OBSERVATIONS on VARIOUS PLANS
offered  for the RELIEF of the POOR.
Lately publijhcd, hy C. Dilly,
FREE THOUGHTS on DESPOTIC and FREE GOVERNMENTS, as connoted with die Happinefs of the Governor and Governed.   Crown Octavo,
hireBion to the Binder.
The three Plates of Implements of Hufbandry arc to be placed at the end of the Third Volume.
mzz0A.*
'X-