IN THE OLD KINGDOM OF VALENCIA
The southernmost position of the ancient kingdom of Valencia belongs
geographically and historically to Murcia. The huerta in which Orihuela
stands is a continuation of the huerta of Murcia, and in the town itself
we recognize the Aurariola which was the capital of the latter kingdom.
I did not stop at Orihuela, but I understand that it remains distinct
from all other towns in Valencia, in that its people speak pure
Castilian. For that variety of the Romance tongue which I may denominate
Catalan is spoken with local modifications all along the eastern coast
of Spain, from the mouth of the Segura to the frontier of Rousillon. It
is not, of course, a mere dialect of Castilian. It is a distinct
language, believed by most authorities to have been the language of
those Romanized Spaniards who were driven north of the Pyrenees by the
Arabic invasion, and who reintroduced it on their reconquest of this
portion of their old territory. Before Valencia was recovered by James
I. of Aragon--Jaime lo Conqueridor--the Christians of the province
probably spoke Castilian or a tongue akin to it. Catalan was simply
the language of the new rulers, which the people soon acquired. In the
province of Aragon itself Catalan, or Limousin as some call it, was
never spoken. This circumstance no doubt powerfully contributed to the
adoption of Castilian, in preference to the sister tongue, upon the
unification of the two kingdoms. But for some reason unknown to
us--unless it was merely the proximity of Murcia--Orihuela resisted the
Catalanizing influence of its conqueror.
[Illustration: ORIHUELA--ON THE RIVER SEGURA]
Elche, our first stopping-place, famous in its way, is very often
described and compared to half-a-dozen localities in Asia and Africa. I
also will venture on a comparison, and say that from certain points of
view it reminded me of Ismailia. It is completely surrounded by
magnificent date-palms, the number of which a French author estimates at
80,000. In the shade of the avenues formed by these majestic trees
flourish the laurel, the rose, and the geranium; beyond extend crops of
lucerne and wheat, watered by the carefully regulated Vinalapó. For all
the shade dispersed by the palms, Elche merits its sobriquet, "the
frying-pan"! The temperature completes the resemblance with Africa. From
the summit of the hill on which it is built, the town is seen to be
situated in a real oasis. Beyond the outer ring of cultivation extends a
desert as white and as saline as that which borders the Suez Canal. The
eye rests lovingly on the not far distant sea.
Elche makes an agreeable impression on most travellers. Gustave Doré
has left us his impressions of it--over-imaginative as usual. Mr. Frank
Barrett, that entertaining novelist, introduces the town into English
fiction. In Spain it is not more celebrated for its palms (which are
exported for religious uses) than for its Passion or Mystery Play, the
only one of the kind in the kingdom. This institution is explained by
the following legend. On the night of December 29, 1370, a mounted
coastguard named Francisco Cantó, while patrolling the shore,
encountered a man seated on a huge coffer. This stranger entreated the
guard to carry his burden to Elche, and to deposit it at the first house
where he saw a light, and having obtained his reluctant consent,
abruptly disappeared. Cantó, in accordance with the mysterious man's
instructions, left the chest at the Hermitage of San Sebastian. On
opening it, it was found to contain an image of the Virgin and the words
and music of the play as now performed. The image was regarded as
miraculous, and resisted all attempts to remove it from the hermitage.
It was not my good fortune to see the play, which takes place every year
in the Iglesia Mayor, transformed for the purpose into a theatre. The
representation lasts two days, the subject being the Assumption of the
Virgin. The words, in the old Valencian dialect, are wedded to old
Gregorian music. I understand that with a naïveté characteristic of
medieval institutions, the Supreme Being Himself is personified on the
stage.
[Illustration: ELCHE--A STREET]
A spectacle equally curious but not so picturesque is the daily sale of
water, which takes place here as at Lorca, but with official calm and
with none of the excitement to be remarked at the latter place.
From this sweltering climate we hasten to the sea-shore, where at rare
intervals a refreshing breeze may be felt. Alicante, the second town in
the kingdom of Valencia, is modern, commercial, and thriving. The
land-locked harbour is bordered by broad white quays, glistering in the
sun's rays, with heaps of tarry cordage, and canvas distilling
characteristically marine odours. Trains of mules pass by dragging
enormous loads of oranges. In the harbour women are busy loading an
English craft which flies the Blue Peter; they swarm up and down the
side like ants, or rather like the colliers so familiar to passengers
through the Suez Canal. The background to this scene of light and
animation is formed by the enormous rock, comparable to Gibraltar, which
is crowned by the ancient castle of Santa Barbara--so called after the
saint on whose festival, in the year 1248, it was taken by the
Castilians. Four years later it was stormed by the Aragonese, King
Alfonso the Battler being the third to enter the fortress. The Castilian
governor, with his sword in one hand and his keys in the other, fell
pierced with wounds at the conqueror's feet. The possession of the town,
as of Orihuela, was afterwards confirmed to Aragon by treaty.
Alicante is resorted to for sea-bathing during the summer. The water, I
am told, is then lukewarm--hot enough, according to one account, to
shave with! The thought of the place in August makes the Northerner
reach for a cooling drink. But I am assured that the heat is tempered by
refreshing breezes from the sea, and that in the long shadow of the
castle rock delicious evenings may be enjoyed.
So we journey northward. The country reveals the results of the most
systematic and intensive culture. We are told that the Valencians are
lazy, but if so it must be because the most cleverly devised schemes of
irrigation and cultivation have set them free of labour.
The province of Alicante--the southernmost of the three into which the
ancient kingdom is divided--contains several important towns. There is
the beautifully-named Villajoyosa, Benidorm--so Provençal in sound--and
Alcoy, a busy, industrial centre, situated in a blooming orchard
country. Here is celebrated every April the festival of St. George, when
a sort of sham fight takes place between peasants arrayed respectively
as Moors and Christians. From Alcoy a short line runs to Gandía on the
coast, the cradle of the famous house of Borgia.
[Illustration: A FISHER GIRL (COAST OF MALAGA)]
Every town and village in this thickly peopled region has its historical
memories. Villena recalls the famous family to which it gave the title
of marquis; Jativa, a desperate struggle during the War of the Spanish
Succession, in which much English blood was spilled. This latter town
was the birthplace of Ribera, and, as some say, of Alexander
Borgia. It is situated in a country which might be described as a
veritable Mahomet's paradise. The cottages in the neighbourhood are
almost suffocated by the palm and orange trees. Beneath the golden fruit
we find our way to the castle, or rather castles--the new and the
old--built side by side upon a hill. Part of the fabric dates from the
time of the Moors. Later, the stronghold served as a state prison.
Within its walls languished and died the unhappy Count of Urgel, a
pretender to the throne of Aragon, and here passed a ten years'
captivity (1512-22) the Duke of Calabria, the rightful heir to the
throne of Naples, to leave his prison on his appointment to the
viceroyalty of the fair province he surveyed from its windows!
The custodian of the castle shows the usual underground chambers, which
may have been, as he alleges, dungeons, but were quite as likely (as
they generally were with us) store-rooms and wine cellars.
At Alcira we cross the Jucár, after the Ebro the most important Spanish
river running into the Mediterranean Sea. It rises within a few miles of
the source of the Tagus, in the Montes Universales, on the borders of
Aragon and New Castile, and flows south through the plains of La Mancha
till it enters the province of Albacete, when it takes an easterly
course. In the same province of Valencia it has excavated some
magnificent gorges. It is indeed a strong, impetuous stream, bursting
its banks again and again and levying a heavy tribute on the
surrounding country. Each time it makes for itself a new channel,
sweeping away whole villages. The village of Alcocer stood on its banks,
near its confluence with the Albaida. After countless harvests had been
devastated and inestimable damage to some extent repaired, the two
streams swelled with fury and in one day reduced a vast extent of
country to a flat stretch of mud. Then, by another shifting of its bed,
the terrible Jucár laid bare the foundations of the homes it had ruined.
There is no security of tenure within its valley! Where your house
stands to-day, ships may ride to-morrow. Yet here as everywhere else
along the prolific shore, the waters form the great source of wealth,
fertilizing vast rice-fields and heavy-laden orchards. The marshy and
unhealthy lagoon of the Albufera, from which one of Napoleon's marshals
took his title, is being gradually filled up by the débris brought down
from the mountains by the rivers, and will ultimately form a "huerta" of
untold fertility. Meanwhile every effort is made to encourage the
afforesting of the rugged hill-sides, in order to check the violence of
the floods and the denuding of the arid, desiccated soil. As a result of
these wise measures, the kingdom of Valencia will within a short period
become one of the two or three richest agricultural districts in all
Europe.
[Illustration: A WATER CARRIER]
The history of the land is that of its capital. Valencia is first
mentioned as having been granted by the consul Junius Brutus to the
warriors of Viriathus upon the death of their chief, and their
consequent surrender. The history of few Roman colonies, as it has
reached us, is of interest. The province had the usual martyrs under the
persecutions of Diocletian and Decius, and was the place of banishment
of the zealot Ermengild. It remained under the Moorish yoke for over
five hundred years, at one time forming part of the khalifate, at other
times constituting one or more petty kingdoms.
Don Téodoro Llorente speaks of "The slave kings" of Valencia, and thus
describes the rulers of uncertain and various origin who, like the
Janissaries of Turkey, had begun as slaves in the palace of the khalifa
and won power for themselves with their swords. One of these princes
added the Balearic Isles to his realms, and unsuccessfully attempted the
conquest of Sardinia.
The kingdom thus founded by military adventurers was overthrown by the
most famous of that warlike brood.
The history of the events which brought about the conquest of Valencia
by the Cid is extremely complex. The king or amir, Kadir, was the puppet
of the rival powers which aspired to the possession of his dominions,
and was alternately upheld on his tottering throne by one and the other.
Weary of this dishonourable tutelage, the people arose under the
leadership of Ibn Jahhaf. Kadir fled disguised as a woman, but was
detected and beheaded. That strange anomaly, a Mohammedan republic, was
formed. In other words, Valencia was governed by an assembly of
notables called the Al Jama, of which Ibn Jahhaf was the president.
The people which arrogates the right to choose its ruler has ever been
considered a sort of pirate among the nations, and fair game for more
powerful states. Kadir at the moment of his deposition had been
nominally under the protection of the Cid. That redoubtable warrior,
under the pretext of avenging his protégé's death, advanced on Valencia.
The Almoravides came to his assistance, but precipitately retired.
Distrusting these allies almost as much as the Christians, Ibn Jahhaf
amused the Cid with negotiations, but meanwhile made preparations for
defence. He became the special object of the famous warrior's hatred,
and when the city fell, was burnt to death at the stake before the eyes
of his horrified countrymen. The Cid now ruled Valencia as absolute lord
and despot till his death, five years later, in 1097. The legend need
not be related here, how his wife defended the city for two years after
his death, and finally, setting his corpse fully armed upon his
warhorse, won a victory over the terrified Moors and thus took him to
his last resting-place at Cardeña.
Valencia was not finally wrested from the yoke of Islam till the
memorable 28th of September, 1238, when the standard of the victorious
Jaime I. of Aragon was hoisted over the tower of Ali Bufat. In the
history of Aragon the conquest ranks with the taking of Seville in the
history of Castile. Granada was the joint conquest of both kingdoms. It
is curious to compare the ready submission of the Moors, and their
surrender of whole kingdoms to the Christians, sometimes as the result
of a single battle, with the tenacious resistance offered by their
descendants in Algeria in modern times. Enervated by the climate of
Spain, the Mussulmans of that country were absolutely incapable of
maintaining a prolonged guerrilla warfare. If a fortified capital was
taken they at once handed over the whole kingdom to the conqueror. They
were not, of course, peculiar in this respect. The sentiment of
nationality and physical courage are characteristic far more of the
modern than of the ancient world. We have only to compare the resistance
of the Anglo-Saxons to the Normans with that of the Boers to the
British, of the French in the Hundred Years' War with that of their
descendants in 1871, to realize how much more of manliness and endurance
we possess than did our ancestors. We must go back to the days of
Leonidas and Regulus to find parallels for the exploits of our own
Indian army; to Numantia and Saguntum for parallels to Saragossa and
Gerona. National and individual self-respect withered under feudalism,
and revived only on the introduction of free institutions.
Valencia to-day, as befits the capital of a rich, prosperous province,
is a handsome, modern progressive city. There is little or nothing about
to remind one of its erstwhile masters, the Moors, and it has not
retained more monuments of its past than most other cities. Interesting
it is not from the sightseer's point of view, nor convenient from a
stranger's, since indications of the names of the streets are few and
far between. New avenues are being formed, and in these magnificent
houses are arising, all happily in different styles, original and
individual, forming a contrast to the dull uniformity of most
Continental town perspectives. At two points the town is entered by
massive gates of the castellated type--the Torres de Serranos and de
Cuarte. The former date from the fourteenth century, and have two
octagonal towers with heavy machicolations at two-thirds of their
height; the machicolation is continued across the connecting storey,
which is richly panelled above the narrow archway. The Torres de Cuarte
are drum towers, similarly flanking a gateway; in this case the parapet
is itself borne on corbels and machicolated. The work dates from the
fifteenth century. These towers add much to the picturesqueness of their
respective quarters. The Citadel, in another part of the town, replaces
the old temple built in 1238 by the Knights Templars on the spot where
the Aragonese planted their cross on entering Valencia. It contains the
chapel where St. Vicente Ferrer, "the Angel of the Judgment," took the
habit of St. Dominic.
[Illustration: MALAGA--A PICADOR]
A glance at the Cathedral and the Lonja, and we shall have "done"
Valencia in the tourist's sense. The former building was founded in the
year 1262 on the site of the principal mosque. In it the Kings of
Aragon took the oath as Kings of Valencia. Repeatedly restored, and
"modernized" in 1750, it presents a dreadful jumble of styles, and is
far behind the cathedrals of Andalusia in beauty and interest. The
Micalet Tower, however, rising at the end of the Calle de Zaragoza,
presents a striking appearance. It is the great landmark of the
district, and the Valencians refer to exile as "losing sight of the
Micalet." The view from the summit is very fine. The main entrance to
the Cathedral is poor, but the north door, called the Puerta de los
Apostoles, richly sculptured and delicately moulded, exhibits the skill
and imagery of the fourteenth century at its best.
Above the interesting semicircular Puerta del Palau are seen on
medallions the heads of seven men and seven women--these representing
the seven knights of the Conquest and the seven ladies (some say of
Valencia, and others of Lerida) whom they married. From these alliances
sprang the nobility of the province. This doorway was evidently
constructed by the architect who designed the Puerta dels Infants at
Lerida.
The interior has also suffered by restoration. The pointed arches have
been rounded, the Gothic columns almost concealed by Corinthian
pilasters, the walls covered with marbles. The effect is rich ("La Rica"
is the surname which particularly distinguishes this Cathedral), but
much of the religious antique air of the place has gone for ever. The
plan is, as usual with Spanish churches, cruciform. The chancel was
reconstructed in 1682, but the altar was melted down by the French in
1809. Fortunately the fine panel-shutters made for its protection in the
sixteenth century have been preserved. They were carved by a carpenter
named Carles, and are painted with scenes from the lives of Christ and
the Virgin. These works are ascribed by some to Francisco Pagano and
Pablo de San Leocadio, by others to Leonardo da Vinci himself. Hanging
to one of the pillars on the Gospel side may be seen the spurs and
bridle of Jaime lo Conqueridor, presented by him, on the day he took the
city, to his master of the horse, Juan de Perthusa.
Over the crossing rises the fine octagonal lantern, built in 1404 and
restored in 1731. The trophies which once adorned it have long since
been carried off, among them the flags taken from the Genoese by Ramon
Corveran, a famous sea-dog of Valencia.
The pulpit, over which is displayed a picture of St. Vicente Ferrer, was
the one from which that zealous missionary actually preached. It can,
however, hardly be regarded as a curiosity, as the saint must have
preached in nearly every church in the Peninsula, France, and Flanders.
[Illustration: VALENCIA--SANTA CATALINA]
The choir is modern, except the rear portion or "trascoro," which dates
from the end of the fifteenth century; and the chapels contain little
that is of interest. Tomás de Villanueva, the holy Archbishop of
Valencia, is entombed in the chapel dedicated to him. The chapel of
another Valencian saint, St. Francis Borgia, is remarkable for a curious
picture representing his conversion of a dying man. The penitent is
depicted almost nude, and attended by comically fantastic monsters.
Another painting shows the saint, as Duke of Gandía, taking leave of his
relatives when about to embrace the religious state.
Leaving the Cathedral, we visit the noble Gothic Lonja, or Silk
Exchange, built between the years 1482 and 1498 by Pedro Compte. Though
not in the purest style, the result is imposing and dignified. A French
writer (M. Paul Jousset), not addicted to laudatory language, admits
that this building is worth a visit to Valencia to see. Its square
tower, its crenellated chimneys, open galleries, and high windows,
recall the palace-like châteaux of the Loire. Within is a noble hall
divided into three by rows of spirally-fluted columns. The roof is
studded with stars, and round the frieze runs the inscription: "He only
that shall not have deceived nor done usury, shall be worthy of eternal
life." For the commercial integrity of Valencia it is to be hoped that
the business men frequenting this exchange keep their eyes fixed on the
text. Another public building worthy of attention is the Audiencia, in
good Renaissance style, with grand halls adorned by portraits of eminent
natives of the province. In the Salon de Cortes, the old provincial
States assembled till the middle of the eighteenth century.
The minor churches of Valencia are hardly worth a visit--the less so
that in this climate the stranger is generally well content to "laze"
his time away. He may do this very pleasantly on the Paseo de la
Glorieta or Plaza Principe Alfonso, two charming shady spots, where
numerous trees are reflected in the waters of the cool basins. Further
off, across the parched Turia, you reach the Alameda, a leafy avenue
where fountains diffuse a refreshing dew. And if you should chance to
doze on one of the benches, you need not fear interruption. This
charming promenade, for some occult reason, is neglected by the
citizens.
The picture gallery of Valencia is important. It contains fine specimens
of contemporary Spanish art, including works by Sorolla and Benlliure.
Ribalta may be studied here, and also the less-known masters of the
Valencian school, such as Orrente, March, Espinosa, and Juanes. There
used to be several fine private collections in Valencia, but these have
all been dispersed.
The country round Valencia is far more interesting than the city. In no
other part of Spain, says Mr. Brunhés, has man more successfully
combated and reduced natural aridity by irrigation and cultivation; so
successfully indeed, that from Gandía to Valencia, for instance, a
stretch of 100 kilometres, the gardens succeed each other so closely
that it is easy to forget--in spite of the naked slopes on the
horizon--that these oases occupy a naturally arid soil. This is, in
short, the best cultivated province in the kingdom.
[Illustration: AN ANDALUSIAN DANCE]
The numberless canals and watercourses which intersect the land in all
directions are fed for the most part by the Jucár and Turia--the latter
the local stream of Valencia--but every possible source is turned to
account. Here the water supply, comprised in the Canal of Moncada and
the Seven Canals, belongs to the community, by whom is indirectly
elected the famous tribunal which meets every Thursday morning at the
Apostles' Gate of the Cathedral.
The sittings of this singular court are the most interesting sight in
Valencia. In the plaza a crowd of countryfolk are collected, furiously
discussing their affairs and pleading their cases in advance, after the
manner of litigants all the world over. Meanwhile the alguazil of the
tribunal has disposed an ancient sofa in the shadow of the great Gothic
portal and marked off a space before it with a railing. Presently the
seven judges arrive--one for each canal. They have the air of well-to-do
peasants, and such they are--grave, stoutly-built men, with tanned faces
and close-cropped hair. They wear black, the colour beloved by the
comfortably-situated working man all the world over; but they have not
discarded the native handkerchief round their polished brows or the
_espadrilla_, or Valencian shoe. Each is known by the name of the canal
which he represents--Mislata, Cuarte, and so forth. These
peasant-magistrates having taken their seats, the oldest pronounces the
words "Se obri el tribunal" (The tribunal is open). For a moment
absolute silence reigns. Then those who have the right to be heard first
are introduced within the railing and plead their cause bare-headed
before the court. Woe to the insolent wight that dare stand covered in
its presence! The alguazil will tear the handkerchief off his head, and
he will be mulcted, moreover, in a fine. Anyone who speaks before his
turn is fined. The discipline is severe. Each must wait till the
president indicates with his foot that it is his turn to be heard.
Notwithstanding, the fiery Valencians find it hard to restrain their
feelings. At every moment there is an explosion of wrath or indignation,
a heated expostulation from one or the other of the parties. The fines
thus accumulated must represent a considerable sum. The procedure is
entirely verbal; even the judgments are not recorded. But no court
exercises more absolute power than the Tribunal de las Aguas of
Valencia.
Life in the fertile huerta of Valencia is beautifully described by the
great novelist, Blasco Ibañez, a native of the city. The following
roughly translated passages, though they convey little idea of the
forceful and elegant style of the original, will at least enable the
reader to picture a summer in the South:
"When the vast plain awakes in the bluish light of dawn, the last of the
nightingales that have sang through the night breaks off abruptly in his
final trill, as though he had been stricken by the steely shaft of day.
Sparrows in whole coveys burst forth from the thatched roofs, and
beneath this aerial rabble preening their wings, the trees shake and
nod.
"One by one the murmurs of the night subside--the trickling of
watercourses, the sighing of the reeds, the barking of the watchful
dogs. Other sounds belonging to the day grow louder and fill the huerta.
The crow of the cock is heard from every farm; the village bells re-echo
the call to prayer borne across from the towers of Valencia, which are
yet misty in the distance; from the farmyards arises a discordant animal
concert--the neighing of horses, the bellowing of oxen, the clucking of
hens, the bleating of lambs, the grunting of swine--the sounds produced
by beasts that scent the keen odour of vegetation in the morning breeze
and are hungry for the fields.
"The sky is suffused with light, and with light, life inundates the
plain and penetrates to the interior of human and animal abodes. Doors
open creaking. In the porches white figures appear, their hands clasped
behind their necks, scanning the horizon. From the stables issue towards
the city, milch cows, flocks of goats, manure carts. Bells tinkle
between the dwarf trees bordering the high road, and every now and again
is heard the sharp '_Arre, Aca!_' of the drivers.
"On the thresholds of the cottages those bound for the town exchange
greetings with those that stay in the fields: '_Bon dia nos done Deu!_'
(May God give us a good day!) '_Bon dia._'
"Immense is the energy, the explosion of life, at midsummer, the best
season of the year, the time of harvest and abundance. Space throbs with
light and heat. The African sun rains torrents of fire on the land
already cracked and wrinkled by its burning caresses, and its golden
beams pierce the dense foliage, beneath which are hidden the canals and
trenches to save them from the all-powerful vivifying heat.
"The branches of the trees are heavy with fruit. They bend beneath the
weight of yellow grapes covered with glazed leaves. Like the pink cheeks
of a child glow the apricots amid the verdure. Children greedily eye the
luscious burden of the fig trees. From the gardens is wafted the scent
of the jasmin, and the magnolias dispense their incense in the burning
air laden with the perfume of the cereals.
"The gleaming scythe has already sheared the land, levelling the golden
fields of wheat and the tall corn stalks, which bowed beneath their
heavy load of life. The hay forms yellow hills which reflect the colour
of the sun. The wheat is winnowed in a whirlwind of dust; in the naked
fields among the stubble, sparrows hop from spot to spot in search of
stray gleanings. Everywhere are happiness and joyous labour. Waggons go
groaning down the road; children frolic in the fields and among the
sheaves, thinking of the wheaten cakes in prospect and of the lazy,
pleasant life which begins for the farmer when his barn is filled. Even
the old horses stride along more gaily, cheered by the smell of the
golden grain which will flow steadily into their mangers as the year
rolls on.
[Illustration: COURTING]
"When the harvest has levelled the panorama and cleared the great
stretches of wheat sprinkled with poppies, the plain seems vast, almost
illimitable. Farther than the eye can reach stretch its great squares of
red soil marked off by paths and trenches. The Sunday's rest is
rigorously observed over the whole countryside. Not a man is seen
toiling in the fields, not a beast at work on the road. Down the paths
pass old women with their mantillas drawn over their eyes and their
little chairs hanging to their arms. In the distance resound, like the
tearing of linen, the shots fired at the swallows, which fly hither and
thither in circles. A noise seems to be produced by their wings ruffling
the crystal firmament. From the canals rises the murmur of clouds of
almost invisible flies. In a farm all painted blue under an ancient
arbour there is a whirlwind of gaily coloured shawls and petticoats,
while the guitars with their drowsy rhythm and the strident cornets
accompany the measures of the Valencian Jota.
"In the village the little plaza is thronged with the field folk. The
men are in their shirt sleeves, with black sashes and gorgeous
handkerchiefs arranged mitre-like on their heads. The old men lean on
their big Liria sticks. The young men, with sleeves turned up, display
their red nervous arms and carry mere sprigs of ash between their huge
knotted fingers.
"In the afternoon, towards the fountain, along the road bordered with
poplars which shake their silvered foliage, go groups of girls with
their pitchers on their heads. Their rhythmical movements and their
grace recall the Athenian canephoræ. This procession to the well lends
to the huerta of Valencia something of a biblical character. The Fontana
de la Reina is the pride of the huerta, condemned to drink the water of
wells and the red and dirty liquid of the canals. It is esteemed as an
ancient and valuable work. It has a square basin with walls of reddish
stone. The water is below the soil. You reach the bottom by means of six
green and slippery steps. Opposite the steps is a defaced bas-relief,
probably a Virgin attended by angels--no doubt an ex-voto of the time of
the Conquest. Laughter and chatter are not wanting round the well. The
girls cluster round, eager to fill their pitchers but in no hurry to
depart. They jostle each other on the steps, their petticoats gathered
in between their legs, the better to lean forward and to plunge their
vessels into the basin. The surface of the water is unceasingly troubled
by the bubbles rising from the sandy bed, which is covered with weeds
waving in the current."
INDEX
Abades, No. 6, 70
Abbad, Mohammed Ben, 22
Abdallah, Ahmed Ben, 21
Abd-el-Aziz, 19
Abd-ur-Rahman, 89
Abd-ur-Rahman III., 21
Abu-l-Walid, 115
Adra, 168
Ælii, 16
Ahmar, Mohammed al, 27, 113
Alarcos, 26
Albaicin, 148
Alcazaba, 129
Alcazares, 35
Alcazar Genil, 161
Alcoy, 190
Alfonso VI., 24, 25, 98
Alfonso X., 114
Alfonso the Battler, King, 189
Alfonso the Learned, 4, 181
Al Hakem II., 90
Alhama, 121
Alhambra, The, 124
Alicante, 189
Al Mansûr, 90
Almeria, 168
Almohades, 26, 30, 112
Almoravides, 26, 112, 194
Aragon, Don Jaime of, 179
Arfe, Juan de, 60, 96
Aurariola, 178
Az Zahara, 97
Barbuda, Don Martin de la, 102, 119
Baths, 143
Bekr, Abu, 179
Belludo, 145
Ben Hud, 27, 113
Biblioteca Colombina, 35
Boabdil, 121
Cadiz, 1
Cadiz, Marquis of, 121
Cæsar, Julius, 16
Campaña--_See_ Kempener
Campillo, 160
Cano, Alonso, 66, 75, 155, 165
Caños de Carmona, 81
Capilla Real, 152
Cartagena, 182
Carthaginians, 3, 14, 15
Cartuja, 84, 158
Casa de Bustos Tavera, 70
Casa del Carbon, 147
Casa de los Tiros, 160
Casa de Pilatos, 66
Cathedral, 50, 151, 155, 165, 196
Cespedes, Pablo de, 75, 103
Charles V., 95
Cid Campeador, Ruy Diaz de Bivar, 112, 193
Colon, Fernando, 57
Columbus, Christopher, 56, 160
Cordova, 86
Cornejo, Duque, 95, 96
Coronel, Doña Maria, 38
Cortes, Hernando, 83
Court of the Lions, 137
Cuarto de Santo Domingo, 160
Dance of the Seises, 81
Dávalos, Leonor, 38
Delicias Gardens, 77
Dios, San Juan de, 156
Drake, Sir Francis, 4
Elche, 187
El Greco, 60
Enrique III., 119
Ermengild, 18, 193
Ermita de San Sebastian, 160
"Esperandola del Cielo," 149
Essex, Earl of, 5
Exilona, 19
Fadrique, Don, 46
Fair of Seville, 79
Ferdinand and Isabella, 121
Fernandez, Alejo, 85
Fernando el Magno, 24
Ferrer, St. Vincent, 35
Frutet, 75
Gandía, 190
Gandia, Duke of, 157
Generalife, The, 146
Gibralfaro, 164
Gibraltar, 173
Giordano, Luca, 58
Gipsies, 84
Giralda Tower, 31
Gongora, 95
Goya, 60
Granada, 107
Great Captain, 102, 156
Guadalquivir, The, 9
Guzman el Bueno, 83
Hajjaj, Ibrahim Ibn, 20
Hall of the Two Sisters, 139
Halls of the Abencerrages, 139
Hasan, Mulai, 121
Hernandez (Gonzalo), de Aguilar y de Cordova,
"the Great Captain," 102, 156
Herrera, 58, 61, 66
Herrera, The Older, 75
Illiberis, 111
"Intransigentes," 182
Irrigation, 175, 200
Isidore, St., 19
Ismaïl, Saïd Ben, 121
Italica, 15, 17, 18, 82
Jaime lo Conqueridor, 186, 194, 198
Jativa, 190
Jerez, 10
Juan II., 16
Jucár, 191
Junteron, Don Gil, 181
Kadir, 193
Kempener, Peter, 55, 58, 59
La Caridad, 74
"Las Navas de Tolosa," 26
La Trinidad, 19
Leal, Valdés, 58, 59, 74, 75
Leander, 18
Lebrija, 11
Leovgild, 18
Levi, Simuel Ben, 37
Lonja, 196, 199
Lorca, 175
Lucan, 16
Majus, 21
Malaga, 163
Malecon, 180
Marana, Miguel de, 73
Mena, Juan de, 104
Mezquita, 88
Mihrab, 144
Mirador de "Lindaraja," 142
Mohammed II., 114
Mohammed III., 114
Mohammed IV., 116
Mohammed V., 117, 171
Mohammed VI., 119
Mohammed VII., 121
Mohammed VIII., 121
Mohammedan Paintings, 140
Montañez, 58, 60, 66, 75, 83
Mote'mid, 23
Motril, 168
Munda, 170
Murcia, 174, 179, 180
Murillo, 8, 56, 58, 59, 60, 61, 73, 74, 75, 76
Musa, 19
Museo of Seville, 74
Musset, Alfred de, 7, 12, 71
Mut'adid-billah, Amir, 22
Muwallads, 20
Nasr, Abu-l-Juyyush Muley, 115
Northmen, 21
Omnium Sanctorum, 65
Oratory, 144
Orihuela, 178, 186
Osorio, Doña Urraca, 38
Padilla, Maria de, 46
Palace of Charles V., 131
Palace of St. Telmo, 76
Palacio de las Dueñas, 70
Palomino, 95
Paredes, Doña Maria de Guzman, 95
Patio de Daraxa, 142
Patio de la Alberca, 135
Patio de las Arrayanes, 135
Patio de las Muñecas, 45
Patio de los Naranjos, 34
Patio "del Mexuar," 134
Pedro the Cruel, 36
Phœnicians, The, 2, 14
Pineda, Doña Mariana, 157
Plaza de Bibarrambla, 151
Poore, Lawrence, 28
Puerta de Hierro, 144
Puerta de la Justicia, 128
Puerta del Lagarto, 53
Puerta del Perdon, 34
Puerta del Vino, 130
Puerto Santa Maria, 10
Pulgar, Fernando del, Lord of El Salar, 152
Ramon Bonifaz, 27
Recchiarus, 17
Ribera, 190
Robles, Joao de, 156
Roelas, Juan de las, 58, 65, 75
Roldán, Pedro, 61
Romanticists, 6, 7
Ronda, 170
Rueda, Lope de, 95
Sacromonte, 158
Saïd, Abu, 37, 118, 171
St. Ferdinand, 27, 55, 95
St. Isidore, 24
St. Justa, 84
St. Rufina, 84
St. Vicente Ferrer, 196, 198
Sala de la Justicia, 140
Sala de los Embajadores, 136
Salambo, 15, 84
Salon de los Embajadores, 44
San Geronimo, 156
Santa Ana, 85
Santa Paula, 64
Santo Domingo, 160
Scipio, 15
Seneca, 16
Seville, 12
Siloe, Diego de, 156, 165
Suevi, 17
Talavera, Archbishop de, 123
Tarik, 19
Tarshish, 3
Tendilla, Count of, 123
Theodomir, 178
Theudis, 17
Theudisel, 17
Tocador de la Reina, 143
Todmir, 179
Torre de Cuarte, 196
Torre de Serranos, 196
Torre del Agua, 145
Torre del Homenage, 130
"Torre del Oro," 29
Torre de la Cautiva, 145
Torre de la Vela, 129
Torre de las Damas, 144
Torre de las Infantas, 145
Torre de los Picos, 144
Torre de los Siete Suelos, 145
Torres Bermejas, 127
Tower of Comares, 136
Triana, 84
Tribunal de las Aguas, 201
Turdetani, 14
University Church, Seville, 65
Utrera, 11
Valdes, 75
Valencia, 192, 195
Vandals, 16
Vargas, Luis de, 34, 58, 59, 75
Velazquez, 75
Velez Chapel, 182
Vermilion Towers, 125
Vigarni, 153
Visigoths, 17
Yusuf I., 117
Yusuf II., 119
Yusuf III., 120
Yusuf IV., 121
Zacatin, 150
Zaghal, 122
Zahara, 121, 171
Zayda, 25
Zegri, Hamet el, 164
Ziryab, 101
Zurbaran, 58, 60, 75
[Illustration: MAP ACCOMPANYING "SOUTHERN SPAIN" BY TREVOR HADDEN AND A.
F. CALVERT. (A. & C. BLACK)]