GIBRALTAR. MALAGA.
Picture of the Street Population of Gibraltar; the Construction of
Houses favourable to Epidemic; Scenery, union of Nature and Art;
the _Agremens_ of Gibraltar as a Military Station; high Prices in
Gibraltar; the Alameda; the Excavations; Walk to the Summit; the
Monkeys; Magnificent View; Sunday in Gibraltar; Trade; the
Epidemic; Extortion at the Passport Office; Voyage to Malaga; View
of the City from the Sea; a strange Usage; Pictures of Idleness;
facility of Living in Malaga; Bad Character of the Population; an
Anecdote; Public Edifices; Society; Morals; Italian Opera; curious
Scenes; a perilous Situation; the Wines of Malaga; Produce, and
Export of Wines; Malaga Sherry; Export of Fruits; the Raisins of
Malaga; Trade with England; Excursions in the Neighbourhood;
Water-Coolers; Prices of Provisions.
To some, it may almost appear waste of words, to speak of
Gibraltar,--Gibraltar, a British possession that every body has heard
of, and where there are always five or six British regiments; and yet,
if I be at all entitled to judge of others, by my own ignorance of
Gibraltar before I visited it, I suspect the rock of Gibraltar is but
very imperfectly known to those who have never passed the Streights.
When I threw open the window of the hotel, and looked out upon the
street, it seemed as if I had been suddenly transported to England. I
saw English houses, English names upon the corners of the streets,
English names over the shops, English faces, English dresses. But a more
narrow inspection of the population, destroys the illusion; for it is of
so motley a character, that if we can suppose one to be carried to
Gibraltar, without having been informed of his destination, he would be
utterly at a loss to imagine in what corner of the world he had been set
down. That gentleman sauntering down the street in a surtout and black
neckcloth, is an Englishman; his countenance and his dress, alike decide
his country: the two ladies who follow, are Spanish; the light step, and
graceful gait, would be sufficient to determine this; but the mantilla
and the fan, put it beyond doubt: those two on horseback, are a British
officer and an English lady; the horse and the scarlet uniform fix the
character of the one,--and as for the other, the bright sunny face, and
auburn ringlets, are sufficient, without the evidence of the riding
habit. The three women crossing the street, are neither English nor
Spanish; their scarlet cloaks, trimmed with black velvet, distinguish
them as Gibraltar women; or they might be Genoese. These men with
turbans, ample trowsers, and crimson girdles, standing in a group under
the piazzas, are Moors, the former masters of Spain: and these with bare
legs, and sandals, and black caps and beards, sitting in the streets,
are Barbary Jews, the common porters of Gibraltar: and that, is an
English trading captain, easily known any where: and who can mistake the
British tar, with his jacket and trowsers, and rolling walk, and bluff
countenance--or the Spanish muleteer, the Andalusian, with his dark eye,
and bizarre dress--or the kilted soldier, his sinewy limbs, and rough
face, bearing the complexion of Scotch winds, and Highland hills? All
this is seen in less than two minutes from the window of Griffith’s
hotel.
Nothing can be worse judged than the manner in which the town of
Gibraltar is built; the houses are constructed for the latitude of
England in place of the latitude of Africa. It is not to be wondered at,
that when epidemics find their way to Gibraltar, their progress should
be irresistible; for not one demand of a hot climate has been complied
with: here are no patios, and fountains, and open galleries, admitting a
free circulation of air, as in Seville; all is closely boxed up, as if
for the climate of England; closed doors, narrow passages, and narrow
stairs, keep out the fresh, and keep in the foul air. In place of the
floors being of brick, or Valencia tiles, they are of wood; the rooms
are small; the windows, not folding, lightly closed, and opening upon
airy balconies, but constructed upon the most approved air-excluding
plan; and the bedrooms carpeted, and the beds curtained. The effects of
all this may easily be imagined,--the spread of disease is powerfully
assisted by filthiness, and by impure and stagnant air; and,
accordingly, no where in Europe have the ravages of the plague been so
fearful as in Gibraltar. The streets and houses are incapable of
alteration; and therefore the only remedy would be, gradually to pull
down the houses, and to replace them with others better fitted to the
climate.
The morning after my arrival in Gibraltar, I walked out, with some
curiosity, to see more of a spot of which I had heard so much. After
leaving the town, the road led me towards the south-west, gradually
mounting the rock, and disclosing novel and entrancing views below,
while it conducted me through most charming scenes. I was every where
struck with the results of industry, and of art--not supplanting nature,
but adding its embellishments where her hand had already traced the
outline. Wherever a nook in the rocks was covered with a little soil, it
bore evidence of the labour that had been bestowed upon it; upon every
little eminence, beautiful cottages, the quarters of the officers, or
the country houses of the merchants, were seen surrounded by pretty
gardens; and shaded, on one side perhaps by a majestic rock, on the
other by orange trees and acacias. On both sides of the road, luxuriant
hedges of geranium in flower, captivated more senses than one; and the
rocks, too, were covered with its scarlet and lilac blossoms. The road
which I pursued looked down upon the Alameda, which I had not then
visited, but which looked most captivating from above; I saw it
sprinkled with fig trees, with their broad beautiful leaves and
fantastic trunks--and acacias, with their little yellow tufts so full of
fragrance--and orange trees, speckled thick with the bright fruit,
embowered in its green alcove. It was a charming prospect to look down
upon the Alameda, and across to the Spanish main, over the calm bay--and
up to the gigantic rocks, covered with their natural foliage, and
sheltering the pretty villas that nestled under them. In about an hour
and a half, I reached the south-west point, after passing numerous
ranges of fine barracks; here the rock dips perpendicularly into the
sea; and from this point, the long bold line of the African coast is
seen stretching away to the west and south. The whole rock of Gibraltar
is intersected by roads, broad and smooth, all adapted for horse
exercise, and most of them for carriages. In fact, Gibraltar is not the
banishment some people suppose; and as military quarters, it possesses
many more _agremens_ than any English provincial town can boast. There
is no want of society in Gibraltar, for the military are always
sufficiently numerous to form society among themselves; and that fine
old gentleman, Sir George Don,[A] is just such a man as ought to be
governor of Gibraltar, because he understands hospitality, and brings
the inhabitants together. Every body in Gibraltar is bent upon
amusement: there are balls and concerts, and private parties, and an
excellent library and a reading room, where I saw the English magazines
fifteen days after they were published in London. Add to all these
agremens, charming rides on the fine sands within the Spanish lines;
walks in the Alameda, where there are parades and military music every
day; boating in the bay; and excursions to Algesiras, Ceuta, and
Tangiers; and news from England by the steam-packet every month,--and
it will be admitted that Gibraltar is not a place of military
banishment. One drawback Gibraltar indeed possesses,--the expense of
living. Almost every article of subsistence is brought from the Spanish
main, from Africa, or from England; and every thing is therefore
expensive: house-rent, especially, is exorbitantly high; the rent of a
moderately sized house, ranging from 200_l._ to 400_l._ per annum. It is
probable, however, that the withdrawal of business and population from
Gibraltar to Cadiz--the result of the latter place having been made a
free port--will affect a reduction in the value of property, and in the
amount of house-rent. Clothing is an exception to the dearness of every
thing in Gibraltar: all goods of foreign manufacture are of course to be
bought of the regular trader, in a free port, at the same price as in
the country where they are manufactured, with only the addition of
freight, and the profit of the dealer; but all such articles find their
way by some means into the hands of the Jews; and at the public sales
which are held in the market-place almost daily, every thing may be
bought far below prime cost.--I saw fine broad cloth sold at a dollar a
yard.
The Alameda of Gibraltar is truly a little paradise; and whenever I left
the inn, I found myself on the road to this delightful retreat. Along
the whole of the north side of Gibraltar, there is a level, or nearly
level stripe, between the base of the rock and the sea; this stripe
varies in breadth, from a quarter, to perhaps two-thirds of a mile; the
east end of it is occupied by the town, and the west end by the Alameda.
This delightful promenade is about half a mile long; it is intersected
by innumerable walks, and affords, besides its own attractions, ever
changing and delightful views of the bay, the rock, the mainland, and
the town. The fences are entirely of geranium of every variety; and of a
size, such as would be thought worthy of a pilgrimage in England. The
spaces between the walks, are thickets of geranium, and of various
flowering and odoriferous plants, seen in the English green-house; and
fig trees, silver elms, acacias, and orange trees, are thickly scattered
over this little paradise. The Alameda of Gibraltar would be beautiful
any where--even if surrounded by a desert; but how much more beautiful,
bounded on one side by a rock fifteen hundred feet high, and on the
other, by a placid bay of the Mediterranean!
But it is the excavations in the rock that are always spoken of as the
wonder of Gibraltar. I of course visited these, and found them all, and
more than all, that I had expected. The whole interior of the solid rock
has been hewn, blasted, and formed into galleries, of immense
extent,--wide enough for a carriage,--and leaving, every ten or twelve
yards, openings at which cannon are placed, commanding the sea or the
land approach to the rock. There are two galleries, one over the other,
and the extent of both is between two and three miles. At one point in
the highest gallery, a small opening leads to a projecting part of the
rock, at the side of the great precipice of fifteen hundred feet, facing
the north-east. I found every niche in the rock covered with white
narcissus,--and beautiful looked these gentle flowers, standing in
little companies, in spots where the hand of man could never reach, nor
the foot of the goat ever stray: but I made a capture of one cluster,
which nodded upon a little shelf within my reach; they smelt quite as
sweet as the garden narcissus; and there were no fewer than eight
flowers upon one stalk.
After leaving the galleries, I wished to ascend to the highest point of
the rock; but a sentry stopped me, telling me I could not be permitted
to go higher, without an order from the governor. But the day being
transcendantly beautiful, and, resolved upon a day’s ramble, I got out
of the sentinel’s sight, and leaving the road, scrambled in a direct
line towards the eastern point. Turning the corner of the declivities
fronting the east, I suddenly found myself in the neighbourhood of
eleven monkeys; they did not perceive me at first, nor, when they did,
was there any great alarm manifested among them. They turned round, sat
up, and looked at me; and after a few moments’ scrutiny, they wheeled
about, and scampered away, chattering, and looking behind them; and
disappeared round some projecting rocks. The monkeys are always to be
found on the side of the rock opposite to that upon which the wind
blows: they constantly shift their quarters with the wind.
It was a laborious ascent to reach the south-eastern summit of the rock,
which is one thousand five hundred and ninety-five feet above the
Mediterranean; but amply was the labour repaid: for my eye never
embraced a more magnificent prospect. Looking towards the east, the bold
coast of Granada stretched in a wide curve, ending in the dim mountains
that lie around Malaga. Withdrawing the eye from the Spanish coast, it
wandered over the calm Mediterranean, streaked like a summer lake, and
baring its trembling bosom to the sunbeams. Farther to the south, was
seen an indistinct line, stretching eastward; this was the coast of
Africa: and towards the west, this line grew more distinct, till, at
scarce three leagues across, it terminated in the dark high mountain of
Barbary--one of the Pillars of Hercules. Turning towards the north, lay
in unruffled tranquillity, the bay that separates Gibraltar from the
Spanish Main. The vessels at anchor were mirrored below; many little
boats were rowing about; and several mysticos and scampiavas had hung
out their enormous sails, to woo the light airs that came, and died upon
the summer sea. Beyond the bay, was the coast of Andalusia, seemingly
within a gun-shot; the town of Algesiras nestling at the head of the
bay, and in the hollow of the mountains that rose behind, dappled with
the lights and shadows that the few wandering clouds cast upon their
valleys and acclivities. Nor was the gigantic rock itself a picture of
no importance in this glorious view: its rugged and fearful precipices,
and deep ravines--a milk-white goat here and there standing upon a giddy
point--the sentinels far below, their arms glittering in the
sunshine--the verdure that covered the lower declivities, and fringed
the bay--these completed the picture: a picture that I think can never
pass from my memory.
One of the days I spent at Gibraltar was a Sunday. This day is there
observed with great strictness: prayers are read to the troops on
parade, and also in the government house. But it is a most
unaccountable fact, that there should be no place of public worship for
the large Protestant English population of this British possession: this
is bitterly complained of. Hundreds among the troops would gladly attend
church, if there was a church to attend; and many, rather than go to no
temple at all, frequent the Catholic chapel. A Protestant church was
begun some time ago, but want of funds has prevented its completion. All
this reflects little credit upon those who have the management of such
matters.
Gibraltar is a fallen and falling place, as a place of commerce; and
there is no prospect of any revival. In speaking of Cadiz, I have
already said that the whole, or almost the whole licit and illicit trade
of Gibraltar, has been transferred to that city. The loss of the Cadiz
market alone, which took up extensively the articles which were received
into the free port of Gibraltar, might easily account for its decline.
But there is still another cause for the decline of Gibraltar; a cause
that might probably have been of itself sufficient to determine the ruin
of this settlement, and which has, at all events, materially hastened
it: I allude to the epidemic. Since the last terrible visitation of this
kind, there has been a general feeling of insecurity: many, soon
afterwards, removed their establishments elsewhere; and others are
ready, upon the first rumour of disease, to quit a spot where life is
held by so precarious a tenure.
Every one knows the history of Gibraltar. Before the establishment of
the Moorish empire in Spain, Gibraltar was called Calpe; under the Moors
it bore the name of Gibel-Tarif, and subsequently of Gibraltar. The
importance attached to Gibraltar during the last years of the Moorish
empire, has lately been made better known to us by that delightful work,
the Chronicles of the Conquest of Granada. In the year 1704, Gibraltar
was taken by the combined English and Dutch fleets under Sir George
Rooke; and in 1713 it was confirmed to England by the peace of Utrecht.
The only important attempt to wrest Gibraltar from the English was made
in 1782, by the combined fleets of France and Spain; but the attempt
proved abortive, and the rock of Gibraltar may now be considered
inseparably united to the British empire[B].
After having spent some pleasant days at Gibraltar, I inquired
respecting conveyances to Malaga. I learnt that it was a two days’
journey on mule back; and that the character of the country between
Gibraltar and Malaga, was precisely the same as that which I had
travelled from Cadiz. Tempted the same afternoon by a fine breeze from
the west, and by an offer of a passage in a Spanish mystico, which the
captain assured me would sail at six next morning, and would be in
Malaga the same evening, I got all ready,--took out my passport and a
bill of health, and went to bed in the hope of sleeping next night in
Malaga. I gladly avail myself of this opportunity of mentioning the
unjustifiable exactions of the public offices in this British
possession. Throughout the whole of Spain, more than two pecetas (1_s._
8_d._) had never been demanded at any passport office; but at Gibraltar,
where it is difficult to understand upon what principle an English
subject should require permission of the English authorities to visit
Malaga,--I was charged a dollar. As well might an Englishman about to
visit Calais, be obliged to have the permission of Sir Richard Birnie.
At all events, the charge is extravagant, and therefore unjust; the
petty officer who signs his name at Gibraltar, and pockets the crown, is
not, like a consul in a foreign port, the representative of the British
government, and obliged to spend all, or more than all, that he
receives. In Gibraltar the governor is the representative of the
government; and the demand of a dollar from every Englishman who passes
through Gibraltar, can only be regarded as a robbery of British subjects
to support a sinecurist.
Looking from my window, about five next morning, I saw with dismay, that
the wind had increased almost to a storm, still from the west, but too
violent to allow any vessel to beat out of the bay; for it is a great
difficulty attending the navigation from Gibraltar, that the most
favourable wind for the Levant, is the most adverse for carrying a
vessel out of the bay. I had made up my mind to bear the delay, and be
contented with reading the English newspapers, and with an English
dinner in the hotel, when the master of the mystico sent to inform me
that the wind had so much abated as to permit him to beat out, and that
he was on the point of sailing. I immediately ran down to the harbour,
hired a boat, and was just in time to catch the mystico upon one of its
tacks. The vessel had been obliged to leave the harbour, because, after
gun-fire at five o’clock, the gates and harbour are shut, and nothing is
permitted to pass out or in.
We beat out of the bay with some difficulty;--a brilliant sun-set flamed
upon the rock of Gibraltar,--and just as the sun sunk behind the
mountains of Barbary, we doubled Point Europa,--and lying to our course,
went swiftly through the water. The current alone would carry a vessel
from Gibraltar to Malaga, for it constantly sets in through the
Streights into the Mediterranean, a fact that has puzzled both
navigators and philosophers: but with a strong westerly breeze, the
doubt was not, whether we should reach Malaga by day-break, but whether
we might not pass it during the night; for the masters of these Spanish
boats are not the most scientific of navigators. I sat upon deck till
the line of coast became invisible, and then lay down on the lee side,
where I slept till day-break; and looking up, I found we were traversing
the bay of Malaga, and that we should be in the harbour in less than an
hour. Malaga is an imposing object from the sea: it stands in the centre
of a wide bay, flanked and backed by lofty mountains; and by the
picturesque ruins of its ancient fortifications and castle, which cover
the hill that rises immediately to the east, and seem, from their great
extent, like the remains of a former city. When we had cast anchor, the
health-boat rowed out to us: fortunately quarantine had lately been
removed; and after a slight examination of luggage, I was permitted to
go on shore; and on the recommendation of the British consul, I
established myself in the Fonda de los tres Reyes.
Malaga I found an interesting, agreeable, and hospitable city; and I
recollect with pleasure the time I spent there. After breakfasting, and
waiting upon his Britannic majesty’s consul, Mr. Mark, whose attentions
I have great pleasure in acknowledging, I committed myself to chance,
and perambulated the city. One of the first places I happened to enter,
was the market, where I was attracted by the singularity of a usage
which I never remarked elsewhere. Various stalls were appropriated to
the sale of poultry; but these were not exposed whole;--fowls, ducks,
partridges, and various other birds, were cut up: here was a row of
legs,--there, of wings, or breasts,--these were sold separately; and I
saw no lack of purchasers. The general aspect of the population of
Malaga, I found even more Moorish than that of Seville; and it afforded
innumerable admirable pictures of idleness. Many of the market people
were seated on the earth on circular mats, and the stools in general use
were still lower than in Seville; but hundreds appeared to be doing
nothing: groups sat upon the ground, their backs against the wall of
some house or convent; others lay upon the steps at the entrance of the
churches; and many sauntered listlessly to and fro in the sun, which at
this season was rather coveted than shunned. All these idlers were
wrapped up in their brown cloaks,--most of them ragged and patched,--and
the greater number were regaling themselves with delicious melons, which
they leisurely and indolently cut up with their long clasp knives--so
often in Malaga put to less innocent purposes. Malaga is noted for its
idle and bad population; a character which I believe it deservedly
maintains, and which results chiefly from the facility with which the
wants of life are supplied. A good melon may often be purchased for two
or three quartos. A quartillo of wine (something more than a bottle)
costs no more. A little barrel of anchovies may be purchased for two
reals (4½_d._); and if so, the fresh sardiña must be to be had at a
price that will put a meal within the reach of any one who is possessed
of a quarto (less than a farthing). These luxuries, indeed, require a
few quartos to obtain them; and if begging be not sufficient for this,
the _mala gente_ of Malaga (for this is the expression commonly applied
to its population) are at no loss to find the quartos in some other
way. The whole idle population of Malaga are thieves: and in so degraded
a state is public justice in this city, that crimes of a far darker hue
than theft, pass unpunished; because, to take notice of them, would be
to court the worst effects of revenge. In another chapter I have
illustrated, by an example, the perfect security with which, in Malaga,
a man may obey the very worst passions. A woman who dares prosecute the
murderer of her husband, speedily receives a private intimation that
effectually silences her; and it has been not uncommon, for money to be
put into the hands of an _escrivano_ previous to the commission of a
murder, in order to ensure the services and protection of a person so
necessary to one who meditates crime. I will relate a trifling
circumstance that occurred while I was at Malaga, in corroboration of
what I have been saying.
One night, Mr. F., a most respectable merchant of the town, while on his
way home, was stopped and robbed. The man who committed the robbery was
very well known to the gentleman whom he robbed: he was a waterman,
owning a boat, and plying betwixt the pier and the vessels. Next
morning, Mr. F. having occasion to go out to a vessel, walked down to
the pier, and was stepping into a boat, when another man offered his
services; Mr. F., without turning to look at the man who spoke, said
this was his ordinary boatman, and he always employed men whom he knew.
“What, sir,” said the other, lifting his hat above his brow, “don’t you
know me?” Mr. F. turned round, and saw the man who had robbed him the
night before; and yet, to prosecute a man, who thus in open day claimed
the recollection of the person he had robbed, would be a hazard that no
prudent inhabitant of Malaga dare encounter.
I found the pictures presented by the street population of Malaga
interesting, because they were novel; but the streets themselves
presented little attraction. The only handsome part of the town is the
Alameda; the other parts present a labyrinth of narrow, intricate
streets, almost wholly inhabited by the tradespeople, or by a low
population; but the buildings that line both sides of the Alameda are
magnificent, and the interior of many of these houses, I found more
splendid than any thing I had yet seen in Spain. The public buildings
are but indifferent; with the exception of the cathedral, which is
greatly admired by the people of Malaga; but which, after having seen
those of Toledo and Seville, possesses but little attraction. Like the
cathedral of Cadiz, it is not finished; it was intended to be surmounted
by six towers, but only one of these has been erected. There are no
pictures in the cathedral, nor are there any worthy of notice in the
other churches or convents of the city.
The state of society in Malaga, does not greatly differ from that of the
other cities in the south of Spain; but there is one strange peculiarity
in Malaga society, that cannot but forcibly strike a stranger: this is,
the extraordinary familiarity of servants. I have frequently seen
servants at table, join in conversation with the family: a female
servant while receiving orders, always sits down in the company of her
mistress; and, upon one occasion, while a game at _basto_ was playing,
I saw a servant who had brought refreshments, walk forward to the table,
place his two _pecetas_ upon it, retire, and wait at a little distance
to know the fate of his stake.
With respect to morals, I might repeat what I have said of Cadiz: I may
merely add, that a Spanish lady of Malaga, married to a highly
respectable Scotch merchant and consul, and who had resided all her days
there, told me that she did not know one Spanish woman in Malaga who had
always led a virtuous life. So universal is the system of gallantry in
Malaga, that a gentleman is not designated as señor so and so, but
invariably as the _cortejo_ of this or that señora. In another respect,
too, the low state of morals is shewn: I allude to the great laxity of
female conversation. I was informed by the English mother of three
grown-up daughters, that it was impossible to allow them to keep company
with either married or unmarried Spanish women; and this I can very well
believe, judging by the tone of conversation to which I have myself been
witness.
Last autumn, Malaga supported an Italian opera; at which I was twice
present. Upon one of these occasions, La Gaza Ladra was performed, and
not ill performed. The Prima Donna was a sister of Malibran,--a very
inferior singer to her celebrated relative, but by no means despicable,
and she was well supported both in the vocal parts and by the orchestra.
The theatre was crowded, and the dresses of the ladies might be called
splendid. The love of dress is carried to a great length in Malaga. A
young lady, fifteen years of age, who was of the same party with myself
at the opera, told me that she had given twenty dollars for her fan; and
another young person, the daughter of a small tradesman in Malaga, told
me, when I admired her comb, that it had cost fourteen dollars. It was a
curious spectacle in leaving the theatre, to see some hundreds of
servants with lanterns waiting in the street. Gentlemen and ladies, have
alike their lantern to light them home. To attempt the dark narrow
streets of Malaga without this accompaniment, would be to tempt the
_mala gente_, and certainly to encounter great and unnecessary risk. It
was a very unseasonable interruption, just when every servant had
discovered his master, and when the line of march had begun, to hear the
little bell that announced the approach of the _host_. All the lights
were suddenly arrested in their progress, and the procession passed
through an avenue of kneelers, illuminated by the hundreds of lanterns
that were placed upon the ground,--the spectacle was undoubtedly
picturesque.
I consider myself to have had rather a narrow escape while at Malaga, in
a visit which I made to the ruins of the castle. The ruins of the
Moorish fortifications are of extraordinary extent; they reach from the
city to the summit of the hill that flanks it to the east,--a distance
not much less than a mile; and desirous of inspecting the ruins, as well
as of enjoying the views which I had no doubt were to be enjoyed from
the heights, I devoted an afternoon to this walk. As I ascended,
occasional gaps in the ruins discovered charming glimpses over the city,
the sea, and the mountains; and at one spot, where a half-fallen spiral
staircase leads to the summit of a round tower, whose ruins flank the
wall,--the whole magnificence of the prospect burst upon me. The city,
washed by the Mediterranean,--the fertile plain to the north of Malaga,
covered with gardens and orangeries, and sprinkled with villages and
convents, and the fine range of magnificent and curiously broken
mountains that environ that little plain;--the situation of Malaga
leaves nothing to desire. I had not yet ascended above half way,--and
the higher up, the more extensive are the ruins; the lower part being
occupied by fortifications, but the upper half of the hill being covered
with the remains of the castle. Soon after leaving the tower, I passed
three ruffian-looking men sitting under the wall playing cards; and
perhaps prudence ought to have whispered to me to return; but an
Englishman with difficulty persuades himself of the possibility of
violence in day-light; and the sun being above the horizon, I continued
my walk. Higher up, I found myself entirely enclosed among the ruins;
and having gone so far, and believing that I could be at no great
distance from the summit, I resolved not to return by the same road, but
to find some path that might lead me down the other side of the hill,
either towards the sea or the back of the city. I therefore continued
threading my way among the ruins. I had reached a very solitary spot,
entirely shut in by massive walls, when, passing within ten or twelve
yards of a low archway, scarcely two feet above the ground, I chanced to
turn my eye in that direction, and was startled by seeing the dark
countenances of two men peering from the mouth of it, their bodies being
concealed by the gloom within. All that I had heard and knew of the
character of the lowest class in Malaga, suddenly recurred to my mind; I
felt the full danger of my situation, and walking a few wide paces
farther, as if I had not observed them, till a fragment of the ruin was
fortunately intercepted between me and the arch, I sprung forward with
no tardy step; but not before a stealthy glance had shewn me the figure
of one man already half way between the arch and myself, and another on
the point of emerging from his lurking place. I have not the smallest
doubt, that if these men had been aware of my approach, or if, in the
hurry of the moment, I had mistaken my path among the ruins, or found
no outlet, I should never have returned to write this volume:
fortunately, however, I had not run more than twenty yards, when a gap
in the wall shewed me the open country below, and the next moment I had
passed through it, and dropped into a small olive plantation. I made
what haste I could, down the hill to the city; and when I related the
circumstance that had taken place, I was told I had been guilty of an
imprudence that no one acquainted with Malaga would have ventured upon;
that robbery, and murder also, had been perpetrated among these ruins;
and that I owed my escape to nothing but the lucky accident of finding a
speedy exit.
When we think of Malaga, it is generally in connexion with its wines;
which, although not so much in vogue in England as in other times, yet
enjoy a high reputation, and along with its fruits, form the distinction
and the wealth of Malaga. I shall therefore make no apology for
occupying a few pages with some details respecting the wines and fruits
of this most southern city of the continent of Europe.
The wines of Malaga are of two sorts, sweet, and dry; and of the former
of these, there are four kinds. First, The common “Malaga,” known and
exported under that name. In this wine there is a certain proportion of
boiled wine, which is allowed to burn, and which communicates a slightly
burnt taste to the “Malaga.” The grape from which this wine is made, is
a white grape, and every butt of Malaga contains no less than eleven
gallons of brandy. Secondly, “Mountain.” This wine is made from the same
grape as the other, and like the other, contains colouring matter, and
brandy; the only difference is, that for “mountain,” the grape is
allowed to become riper. Thirdly, “lagrimas,” the richest and finest of
the sweet wines of Malaga; the name of which almost explains the manner
in which it is made. It is the droppings of the ripe grape hung up, and
is obtained without the application of pressure.
The dry wine of Malaga is produced from the same grape as the sweet
wine, but pressed when greener: in this wine there is an eighth-part
more of brandy than in the sweet wine; no less than one twelfth part of
the dry Malaga being brandy.
The whole produce of the Malaga vineyards is estimated at from
thirty-five to forty thousand butts, but owing to the increasing stock
of old wine in the cellars, it is impossible to be precise in this
calculation. The export of all the Malaga wines may be stated at about
twenty-seven thousand butts. The principal market is the United States,
and the States of South America; and to these countries, the export is
rather upon the increase. The average price of the wines shipped from
Malaga, does not exceed thirty-five dollars per butt; but wines are
occasionally exported at so high a price as one hundred and seventy
dollars. Many attempts have been made at Malaga to produce sherry, but
not with perfect success. The Xeres grape has been reared at Malaga,
upon a soil very similar to its native soil; but the merchants of Malaga
have not ventured to enter the wine for export. For my own part, judging
from a sample of wine which I tasted at the warehouse of Messrs. W. &
G. Read, I should say that the experiment had succeeded; and that the
sherry made at Malaga, might be introduced into the English market as
sherry; and from its great cheapness, it could not fail to command a
sale. One reason of the very low price of the wines of Malaga, is to be
found in the cheapness of labour: field labour is only two and a half
reals a day (4½_d._). In the fruit and vintage time it is about double.
Next to its wines, the chief export of Malaga is fruit; consisting of
raisins, almonds, grapes, figs, and lemons: but of these, raisins are
the principal export. I have before me, a note of the exports of Malaga
for the months of September and October, in the year 1830--the chief,
though not the sole exporting months,--and I find, that during that
time, the export of raisins amounted to two hundred and sixty-eight
thousand, eight hundred and forty-five boxes; and thirty-one thousand,
nine hundred and sixteen smaller packages. Of this quantity, one hundred
and twenty-five thousand, three hundred and thirty-four boxes were
entered for the United States; forty-five thousand, five hundred and
thirteen for England; the remaining quantity being for France, the West
Indies, the Spanish ports, South America, and Holland.
The raisins exported from Malaga are of three kinds; the muscatel, the
bloom, or sun raisin, and lexias. The muscatel raisin of Malaga, is the
finest in the world. In the preparation of this raisin, no art is used;
the grape is merely placed in the sun, and frequently turned. The bloom,
or sun raisin, is a different grape from the muscatel; but the process
of preparing it is the same: like the other, it is merely sun-dried. The
lexias acquire this name from the liquor in which they are dipped, and
which is composed of water, ashes, and oil: these, after being dipped,
are also dried in the sun. All muscatel raisins are exported in boxes,
and also a part of the bloom raisins. In the year 1829, the number of
boxes of muscatel and bloom raisins exported, was three hundred and
twenty thousand; each box containing twenty-five lbs.--eight millions of
lbs. in all. This quantity is independent of the export of bloom raisins
in casks; and of lexias, the annual export of which, does not exceed
thirty thousand arrobas. The export of raisins to England has fallen
off; the export to America has constantly increased. In the year 1824,
seventy-five ships cleared from the port of Malaga, for England, with
fruit. In 1830, up to the first of November, thirty-four vessels had
cleared out. It is supposed, that Cadiz having been made a free port,
will have the effect of increasing the export fruit trade of Malaga.
Owners are unwilling to send out vessels from England on ballast; and it
is probable, that many will carry out goods to Cadiz, and then proceed
to Malaga to take back a cargo, or part cargo of fruit.
Of the other fruits exported from Malaga, grapes, almonds, and lemons
are the most extensively exported. In the months of September and
October, 1830, eleven thousand six hundred and twelve jars of grapes
were sent to England; to America, six thousand four hundred and
twenty-nine; and to Russia one thousand six hundred and fifty. During
the same period of time, five thousand three hundred and thirty-five
arrobas of almonds (133,375 lbs.) were exported to England; and this
constituted nearly the whole export: and during these months also, there
were exported to England, three thousand seven hundred and fifty-nine
boxes of lemons; to Germany, four thousand two hundred and one boxes;
and to Russia, eight hundred and forty boxes. There is also a large
export of oil from Malaga: but the export for the latter part of 1830
would be no criterion of the average; because the Greenland whale
fishery having failed, extensive orders for olive oil had been received
from England. Eight hundred and twenty-seven pipes of oil had been
exported for the British market during the above months.
The general trade between England and Malaga is on the decline: that
with both the Americas is increasing, especially in wines. The number of
British vessels which entered the port of Malaga in 1827, I find, from
an official note furnished by the British consul, to have been one
hundred and four; in 1828, one hundred and twenty-six; in 1829, one
hundred and five; in 1830, up to the 1st of November, eighty-three,
exclusive of the small Gibraltar vessels. The number of American
vessels entering in 1829, was fifty-five; but the average tonnage of the
Americans being one hundred and seventy-five tons, and that of the
English vessels not exceeding one hundred, the whole American is nearly
equal to the whole of the English trade.
Whilst I remained in Malaga, my time was very agreeably employed; the
weather was sufficiently cool to allow horse and foot exercise; and the
neighbourhood of Malaga affords many charming excursions: these
pleasantly filled up the mornings; while a stroll on the sea shore, the
many hospitalities of English, American, and Spanish families, and the
theatre or opera, agreeably occupied the evening. Among my excursions in
the neighbourhood, one was made to the convent of Victoria, beautifully
placed in a hollow of the neighbouring mountains, surrounded by charming
gardens, where the most delicious fruits vie with each other in tempting
the palate. Among the autumnal fruits of the south of Spain, they
particularly prize the granada, or pomegranate, on account of its real,
or salubrious qualities, especially in derangements of the bowels. North
of the Sierra Morena, the pomegranate is an indifferent fruit; but in
Andalusia and Granada, it arrives at perfection; and so full of juice is
a really fine and ripe pomegranate, that one measuring four inches in
diameter, may be compressed into the bulk of a nut.
In the neighbourhood of the convent of Victoria, the country people find
that useful clay, of which they make the vessels called _bucaros_, used
for cooling water. Without these, the inhabitant of these sultry shores
would be deprived of one of his most essential luxuries; for when the
hot winds prevail, water exposed to the air in these vessels, becomes
icy cold. This singular fact is to be explained by the porous nature of
these vessels, which allow the water to exude; and the hot wind blowing
upon the moist external surface, a rapid evaporation and consequent
cold, are produced.
From the same clay, there is an ingenious manufactory of little figures,
representing Spanish costume in the different provinces. These are in
great variety, and are executed with much truth and ability: indeed, I
have not seen, in any other country, any thing so excellent in its kind.
Nothing would have pleased me more, than to have carried a complete
assortment of them to England; but they are of so fragile a nature, that
they could scarcely have arrived at their destination without broken
limbs and noses.
I occupied another day with an excursion to the _Retiro_, the
country-seat of a noble family; but now in a state of dilapidation. The
situation of the old castle is, however, beyond conception
delightful,--nestling at the foot of the mountains, and almost bathed by
the transparent waves of the Mediterranean; and in the adjoining
gardens, every fruit-tree congenial to that glorious climate, flourishes
in unfading luxuriance. Every where in the neighbourhood of Malaga, the
acclivities not occupied by vines, are covered with the prickly pear,
which is cultivated chiefly for the sake of the cochineal which breeds
upon it: this valuable article of commerce has not, however, been yet
produced in so great abundance as to form an article of export.
Few of the useful productions of the globe are unsuitable to the climate
of some part of Spain. In the northern provinces, all the productions of
the temperate climates arrive at perfection; and in the most southern
parts, the climate is found sufficiently fine to ripen the produce of
the Indies. To the eastward of Malaga, a few leagues along the coast,
the sugar-cane is successfully cultivated: though this useful plant is
known to have been much more extensively grown in the time of the Moors
than now, which is evident, from the remains of their sugar-houses.
Still, however, the sugar-cane is a valuable produce, and is said to
supply a sugar scarcely inferior to that of the West Indies.
Malaga, like most of the other cities of Spain, has had various masters.
Built by the Phœnicians, it was successively Carthagenian, Roman,
Gothic, and Moorish; and in the reign of Haly Abenhameth, was the seat
of empire. Ferdinand and Isabella succeeded in wresting Malaga from the
dominion of the Moors, in the year 1487.
Malaga was formerly much more populous than it is now, though, within
the last fifty years, the population has been again on the increase.
Anciently, it contained nearly a hundred thousand persons; in the middle
of the last century, the inhabitants were reduced to thirty thousand;
and at present, it is said to contain about forty-five thousand.
I have nothing more to add of Malaga, excepting the price of provisions.
Beef is ten quartos the pound, of sixteen ounces; mutton the same. Pork,
fourteen quartos. Eggs, two for six quartos--not much less than a penny
each. A fine fowl, seven reals; a chicken, three reals; a duck, fifteen
reals; a turkey, from twenty to thirty reals. The best bread, twelve
quartos. Excellent wine, two reals per bottle. Potatoes, the measure of
six pounds and a quarter, seven quartos, or about twopence. A barrel of
anchovies, two reals. A partridge, four reals. A rabbit, ten reals.
Fish, remarkably cheap and plentiful. Melons, grapes, pomegranates,
figs, and prickly pears, so cheap as scarcely to form an article of
expenditure.
Let it not be forgotten, that eight quartos are twopence farthing; and
that, in one franc French, there are four reals.