SOCIETY OF SEVILLE--SPANISH WOMEN--FAULTS OF EDUCATION--EVILS OF
EARLY MARRIAGES, AND MARRIAGES DE CONVENANCE--ENVIRONS OF
SEVILLE--TRIANA--SAN JUAN DE ALFARACHE--SANTI PONCE--RUINS OF
ITALICA--ITALICA NOT SO ANCIENT A CITY AS HISPALIS--YOUNG PIGS AND
THE MUSES--DEPARTURE FROM SEVILLE--THE MARQUES DE LAS
AMARILLAS--WEAKNESS, DECEIT, AND INJUSTICE OF THE LATE KING OF
SPAIN--ALCALA DE GUADAIRA--UTRERA--OBSERVATIONS ON THE STRATEGICAL
IMPORTANCE OF THIS TOWN--MORON--MILITARY OPERATIONS OF
RIEGO--APATHY OF THE SERRANOS DURING THE CIVIL WAR--OLBERA--REMARKS
ON THE ITINERARY OF ANTONINUS.
The society of Seville is divided into nearly as many circles as there
are degrees in the Mohammedans paradise. In former days, the bounds of
each were marked with _heraldic_ precision, and those of the innermost
were guarded as jealously from trespass as the precincts of a royal
forest, but of late years politics have materially injured the fences.
The fine edged bridge of _Sirat_ is no longer difficult of passage, and
a foreigner, in especial, provided some mufti of the Aristocracy but
holds out his hand to him, may reach the seventh heaven without the
slightest chance of stumbling over his pedigree.
The English, above all other foreigners, are favourably received at
Seville, for the nobles of the South of Spain, not being so much under
court influence as those of the provinces lying nearer the capital, are
by no means distinguished for their love of _absolutism_. With some few,
indeed, the want of courtly sunshine has engendered excessive
liberalism; but the nobles of Andalusia generally may be considered as
favourably disposed towards a limited monarchy--that is, are of
moderate, or what they term _English_, politics.
Of persons of such a political bias is the first circle of the society
of Seville composed, and it is, perhaps, in every respect, the best in
the kingdom. It is adorned by many men of highly cultivated talents, and
much theoretical information, who, with a sincere love of country at
their hearts, are yet not arrogantly blind to the faults of its former
and present institutions; and who, removed to a certain extent from the
baneful influence of a corrupt court, are proportionably free from the
demoralising vices which distinguish the society of the upper classes in
the capital.
The ladies of the _exclusive_ circle are, it must needs be confessed,
deficient in education: but they possess great natural abilities, a
wonderful flow of language, and--excepting that they will pitch their
voices so high--peculiarly fascinating manners.
The morals of Spanish women have usually been commented upon with
unsparing severity; it strikes me, however, that the moral _principle_
is as strong in them as in the natives of any other country or climate.
The constancy of Spanish women, when once their affections have been
placed on any object, is, indeed, proverbial, and if they are but too
frequently faithless to the marriage vow, the source of corruption may
be traced, _first_, to the lamentable religious education they
receive--since the demoralizing doctrines of the efficacy of penance and
absolution in the remission of sins furnish them at all times with a
ready palliative; and, _secondly_, to the habit of contracting early
marriages, and, especially, _marriages de convenance_, by which, in
their anxiety to see their daughters well established, parents--and
above all Spanish parents--are apt to sacrifice, not only their
children's happiness, but their honour.
Of all the evils under which Spanish society labours, this last is the
most serious as well as most apparent. A marriage of this kind, in nine
cases out of ten, tends to demorality. It is followed by immediate
neglect on the part of the husband, whose affections were already placed
elsewhere when he gave his hand at the altar; and is soon regarded by
the wife merely as a civil compact, to which the usages of society
oblige her to subscribe. With _her_, however, this state of things had
not been anticipated. The innate, all-powerful feeling, _love_, had, up
to this period, lain dormant within her breast--for in Spain, if the
extremely early age at which females marry did not of itself warrant
this supposition, the little intercourse which, under any circumstances,
an unmarried woman (of the upper classes of society) has with the world,
naturally leads to the conclusion that her affections had not previously
been engaged; she expects, therefore, to receive from her husband the
same boundless affection that her inexperienced heart is disposed to
bestow on him;--and what is the inevitable consequence? Disappointed in
her cherished hope of occupying the first place in her husband's
affections, her innocence is tarnished at the very outset, by thus
acquiring the knowledge of his turpitude; she turns from him with
disgust; and her better feelings, seared by jealousy and wounded pride,
seeks out some other object on whom to bestow the love slighted by him,
who pledged himself to cherish it.
Thrown thus at an early age upon the world, without the least experience
in its ways, with strong passions to lead, and evil examples to seduce
her, is it surprising that a Spanish wife should wander from the path of
virtue, and that she should hold constancy to her lover more sacred than
fidelity to a husband who quietly submits to see another possess her
affections?
The understanding once established, however, that jealousy is not to
disturb the ménage, the parties live together with all the outward
appearances of mutual esteem, and inflict the history of their private
bickerings only upon their favoured friends.
The Spaniards of all classes have great conversational powers, but even
those of the upper are sadly deficient in general information. Their
knowledge of other nations is picked up entirely from books, and those
books mostly old ones; for few works are now written in their own
language, and still fewer are translated from those of other countries;
so that what little knowledge of mankind they possess is of the last
century.
Cards help out the conversation at the Tertulias of the first circle.
Dancing, forfeits, and other puerile games, are the resources of the
rest. Balls and suppers are _funciones_ reserved for great occasions,
and dinner parties are of equally rare occurrence.
In the entertainments of the nobility, the French style prevails even to
the wines, but the national dish, the _olla_, generally serves as a
prelude, and may be considered the "_piece de resistance_" of the
interminable dinner. Toothpicks (!!) and coffee are handed round, and
the party breaks up, to seek in the _siesta_ renewed powers of
digestion.
To those, however, who think exercise more conducive to health, the
environs of Seville hold out plenty of attractions; and, if the weather
be too hot for either walking or riding, the city contains hackney
coaches and _calesas_ without number, by means of which (most of the
roads in the vicinity being level) the various interesting points may be
reached without difficulty or inconvenience.
The places most deserving of a visit in the immediate environs of
Seville, are the villages of _San Juan de Alfarache_ and _Santi Ponce_;
near the latter of which are the ruins of Italica.
Both these places are situated on the right bank of the Guadalquivír;
the former, about three miles below Seville, the latter a little more
distant, up the stream. The road to both traverses the long town of
Triana, which contains nothing worthy of observation but a sombre gothic
edifice, where the high altar of Popish bigotry, the Inquisition, was
first raised in the Spanish dominions. It has long, however, been
converted to another purpose, never, let us hope, to be again applied to
that which for so many ages disgraced Christianity.
By many Triana is supposed to be the Osset of Pliny, but I think without
sufficient reason, as it does not seem probable that a place merely
divided from Seville by a narrow river should have been distinguished by
him as a distinct city. The words of Pliny, "_ex adverso oppidum
Osset_," imply certainly that Osset stood on the opposite bank of the
river to Hispalis, but not that it was situated _immediately opposite_,
as some authors have translated it. It is yet more evident that Alcalà
de Guadaira cannot be Osset, as supposed by Harduin, since that town is
on the _same_ side of the Guadalquivír as Seville.
Florez imagines Osset to have been where San Juan de Alfarache now
stands,[53] near which village traces of an ancient city have been
discovered; and the position occupied by an old Moorish castle, on the
edge of a high cliff, impending over the river, and commanding its
navigation, seems clearly to indicate the site of a Roman station, since
the Saracens usually erected their castles upon the foundations of the
dilapidated fortresses of their predecessors. The village of San Juan de
Alfarache stands at the foot of the before-mentioned cliff, compressed
between it and the Guadalquivír; which river, making a wide sweep to the
north on leaving Seville, here first reaches the roots of the chain of
hills bounding the extensive plain through which it winds its way to the
sea, and is by them turned back into its original direction.
Of the Moorish fortress little now remains but the foundation walls; the
stones of the superstructure having probably been used to build the
church and convent that now occupy the plateau of the hill. The view
from thence is quite enchanting, embracing a long perspective of the
meandering Guadalquivír and its verdant plain, the whole extent of the
shining city, and the distant blue outline of the Ronda mountains.
The hills rising at the back of the convent are thickly covered with
olive trees, the fruit of which is the most esteemed of all Spain: and,
indeed, those who have eaten them on the spot, if they like the flavour
of olive rather than of salt and water, would say they are the best in
the world. The fruit is suffered to hang upon the tree until it has
attained its full size, and consequently will not bear a long journey.
For the same reason, it will not keep any length of time, as the salt in
which it is preserved cannot penetrate to a sufficient depth in its oily
flesh to secure it from decay. Let no one say, however, that he dislikes
_olives_, until he has been to San Juan de Alfarache.
Retracing our steps some way towards Seville, we reach the great road
leading from that city into Portugal by way of Badajoz; and, continuing
along the plain for about five miles, we arrive at the priory of Santi
Ponce, situated on the margin of the Guadalquivír, and close to the
ruins of Italica. So complete has been the destruction of this once
celebrated city, the birth-place of three Roman Emperors, that, but for
the vestiges of its spacious amphitheatre, one would be inclined to
doubt whether any town could possibly have stood upon the spot; the more
so as the vicinity of Seville seems, at first sight, to render it
improbable that two such large cities would have been built within so
short a distance of each other.
Opinions on the subject of the relative antiquity of these two cities
are, however, very various; for, whilst some Spaniards are to be found,
who maintain that Hispalis was founded long before Italica, and some
who, declaring, on the other hand, that the two cities never existed
together, insist on calling Italica, _Sevilla la Vieja_;[54] others
there are who suppose that the two cities flourished contemporaneously
for a considerable period, and that Hispalis (the more modern of the
two) eventually caused the other's destruction.
This last hypothesis might readily be received, since, from the
influence of the tide being felt at Seville and not at Santi Ponce, the
situation of the former is so much more favourable for trade than that
of the latter; but that, setting aside the traditionary authority of
Seville having been founded by _Hispalis_, one of the companions of
Hercules, we have the testimony of several writers to prove that
Hispalis was a place of consequence when Italica must have been yet in
its infancy. For the antiquity of this latter is never carried further
back than the 144th Olympiad, i.e. 200 B.C. Now, Hispalis is mentioned
by Hirtius, at no very great period after that date, as a city of great
importance; whereas, Italica is noticed by him (proving it to have been
a _distinct_ place) merely as a walled town in the vicinity.[55]
The two places are again mentioned separately by Pliny; the one,
however, as a large city, giving its name to a vast extent of
country--the _Conventus Hispalensis_--the other as one of the towns
within the limits of that city's jurisdiction.
The foundation of Italica being fixed, therefore, about two hundred
years before the Christian era, and attributed to the veteran soldiers
of P. C. Scipio; that is to say, immediately after the expulsion of the
Carthagenians from the country; it may naturally be concluded that the
Romans, who had not come to Spain merely to drive out their rivals,
would, with their usual foresight, have planted a colony of their own
people to overawe the _principal city_ of a country they intended to
bring under subjection; and hence, that Seville existed long before
Italica was founded.
The amphitheatre, which alone remains to prove the former grandeur of
Italica, is of a wide oval shape. The dimensions of its arena are 270
feet in its greatest diameter, 190 in its least. It rests partly against
a hill, a circumstance that has tended materially to save what little
remains of it from destruction; but, nevertheless, only nine tiers of
seats have offered a successful resistance to the encroachments of the
plough. Few of the vomitorios can be traced, but it would appear that
there were sixteen. Some of the caverns in which the wild beasts were
confined are in tolerable preservation.
From the ruined amphitheatre we were conducted to a kind of pound,
enclosed by a high mud wall, and secured by a stout gate, wherein we
were informed other reliques of Italica were preserved. There was some
little delay in obtaining the key of this _museo_, the _custodio_ being
at his _siesta_; and, hearing the grunting of pigs within, we began to
doubt whether it could contain any thing worth detaining us under a
broiling sun to see. Unwilling, however, to be disappointed, we
clambered with some little difficulty to the top of the wall, and,
_horresco referens!_ beheld an old sow rubbing her back against that of
the Emperor Hadrian, whilst the profane snouts of her young progeny were
grubbing at the tesselated cheeks of Clio and Urania, the only two of
the immortal Nine whose features could be distinctly traced in an
elaborate mosaic pavement that covered the greater part of the court.
Several fragments of statues were strewed about; but all were in too
mutilated a state to excite the least interest. The feeling with which
we contemplated the beautiful, outraged pavement, was one of unmitigated
disgust; for the workmanship of such parts of it as remained intact was
of the most delicate description, the stones not being more than one
fifth of an inch square, and, as far as we could judge, put together so
as to form a picture of great merit. I fear that this valuable specimen
of the art has long since been altogether lost, for, at the time of
which I write, the stones were lying in heaps about the yard, and the
pavement seemed likely to be subjected to a continuance of the mining
operations of the "swinish multitude," as well as to exposure to the
destructive ravages of the elements.
I could not refrain from expostulating with the owner of the piggery
(when he at length made his appearance) at this, in the words of Don
Quijote, _puerco y extraordinario abuso_. He was a wag, however, and
answered my "Why do you keep your pigs here?" precisely in the words
that an Irish peasant replied to a very similar question, viz., "But am
I to have the company of the pig?" put to him by a friend of mine, who
had a billet for a night's lodging on his cabin: to wit, "_No hay toda
comodidad_?" "Isn't there every convey'nance?"
We then attempted to persuade him that the pigs being young and
inexperienced would probably kill themselves by swallowing the little
square stones piled up against the walls, when the supply of Indian corn
failed them. "No, Señor," he replied; "_el Puerco es un animal que tiene
mas sesos que una casa_." "The hog is an animal that has more (sesos)
brains (or bricks) than a house." And, indeed, the discrimination of the
animal is wonderful, for, whilst we were yet arguing the case, one of
the little brutes grubbed up the entire left cheek of Calliope, to get
at a grain of corn that had fallen into one of the numerous crow's feet
with which unsparing Time had furrowed the Muse's animated countenance.
Without further observation, therefore, we abandoned the chaste
daughters of Mnemosyne to their ignominious fate, remounted our horses,
and bent our steps homewards.
The foreigner who visits Seville, under any circumstances, cannot but
find it a most delightful place, and our short sojourn at it was
rendered particularly agreeable by the kindness and hospitality of the
_Marques de las Amarillas_, who, independent of the pleasure it at all
times affords him to show his regard for the English, whom he considers
as his old brothers in arms, was pleased to express peculiar
gratification at having an opportunity of evincing his sense of some
trifling attentions that it had been in my power to pay his only son,
when, as well as himself, driven by political persecution to seek a
refuge within the walls of Gibraltar.
The life of this distinguished nobleman, now Duke of Ahumado, has been
singularly varied by the smiles and frowns of fortune, and furnishes a
melancholy proof of the little that can be effected by talents, however
exalted, and patriotism, however pure, in a country writhing, like
Spain, under the combined torments of religious and political
revolution. For, the more sincere a lover of his country he who puts
himself forward, _having aught to lose_, may be, the more he becomes an
object of distrust and envy to _the many_, who seek in change but their
own aggrandizement. To him who would take the helm of affairs in times
of revolution, an unscrupulous conscience is yet more necessary than the
possession of extraordinary talents.
The Marques de las Amarillas, well known in the "Peninsular War" as
General Giron, was appointed minister at war in the first cabinet formed
by Ferdinand VII. after he had sworn to the Constitution. A sincere
lover of rational liberty, and a strong advocate for a mixed form of
government, the Marques, himself a soldier, saw the danger of permitting
the very existence of the government to be at the mercy of the
undisciplined rabble army, that, seduced by its democratic leaders for
their own private ends, had effected the revolution; and had projected a
plan for its partial reduction and entire reorganization.
The _Exaltados_, however, fearful lest the establishment of a _rational_
form of government should result from a project which certainly would
have had the effect of allaying the existing agitation, accused the
Marques of a plot to subvert the constitution, and restore Ferdinand to
a despotic throne; and he was obliged to save himself from the impending
danger by a rapid flight, and to take refuge within the walls of
Gibraltar. There he remained during the period of misrule that preceded
the invasion of the country by the Duc d'Angoulême in 1823; suffering,
during the feeble struggle that ensued, from the most painfully
conflicting feelings that could possibly enter a patriot's breast. For,
aware that his unhappy country had but the sad alternative of a
continuance in anarchy and misery, or of bending the neck to foreign
dictation, and receiving back the cast-off yoke of a despot, he could
take no active part in a struggle which, end as it would, was fraught
with mischief to his native land.
It ended, as he had always foreseen, in the restoration of the
despicable monarch, who possessed neither the courage to draw the sword
in defence of what he conceived to be his _rights_, nor the virtue to
adhere to the word pledged to his people; who by his contemptible
intrigues exposed, and by his vacillating plans sacrificed, his most
devoted adherents; who with his dying breath bequeathed the scourge of
civil war to his wretched country; whose very existence, in fine, was as
hurtful to Spain, as is the odour of the upas-tree to the incautious
traveller who rests beneath its shade.
The contemptible Ferdinand, restored to his throne, forbade the _Marques
de las Amarillas_ to present himself in the capital--the crime of having
held office in a constitutional cabinet being considered quite
sufficient to warrant the infliction of such a punishment. Some ten
years afterwards, however, he was, through the influence of his
relatives, the Dukes of Baylen and Infantado, appointed captain-general
of Andalusia, and on the death of Ferdinand was called to Madrid, to
form one of the Council of Regency.
He again held a distinguished post in the Torreno administration, and
again fell under the displeasure of the anarchists--his talents had less
influence than the halbert of Serjeant Gomez.
These are not merely "_cosas de España_," however, but have been, and
will be, those of every country where the hydra, democracy, is
cherished. God grant that our own may be preserved from the many-headed
monster!
We quitted Seville only "upon compulsion" (our leave of absence being
limited), making choice of a road which, though, by visiting Moron and
Ronda, it proceeds rather circuitously to Gibraltar, traverses a more
romantic and picturesque portion of the Serranía than any other. The
most direct of the numerous roads that offer themselves between Seville
and the British fortress, is by way of Dos Hermanos, Coronil, Ubrique,
and Ximena.
The first place lying upon the road we selected is Alcalà de Guadaira.
This town is distant about eight miles from Seville (though generally
marked much less on the maps), and is the first post station on the
great road from Seville to Madrid.
For the first five miles from Seville the road traverses a gently
undulated country, that is chiefly planted with corn; but, on drawing
near Alcalà, the features of the ground become more strongly marked, and
are clothed with olive and other trees; and amongst the hills that
encompass the town rise the copious springs which, led into a conduit,
supply Seville with water. Alcalà administers to yet another of the
great city's most material wants, for it almost exclusively furnishes
Seville with bread, whence it has received the agnomen of "_de los
panaderos_" (of the bread-makers), as well as that of "_de Guadaira_,"
which it takes from the river that runs in its vicinity. The numerous
mills situated along the course of this stream, by furnishing easy means
of grinding corn, probably led the inhabitants of Alcalà to engage in
the extensive kneading and baking operations which are carried on there.
The immediate approach to the town is by a narrow gorge between two
steep hills; that on the right, which is the more elevated of the two,
and very rugged and difficult of access, is washed on three sides by the
Guadaira, and crowned with extensive ruins of a Moorish fortress. The
town itself is pent in between these two hills and the river, and, there
can be but little doubt, occupies the site of some Roman city, its
situation being quite such as would have been chosen by that people.
That it is not on the site of Osset is, as I have before observed, quite
evident, and its present name, being completely Moorish, furnishes no
clue whatever to discover that which it formerly bore. Some have
supposed it is Orippo; but inscriptions found at Dos Hermanos determine
that place to be on the ruins of the said Roman town. Possibly--for such
a supposition accords with the order in which the towns of the county
of Hispalis are mentioned by Pliny--Alcalà may be Vergentum.
It is a long dirty town, full of ovens and charcoal, and contains a
population of 3000 souls. The chaussée to Madrid, by Cordoba, here
branches off to the left; whilst that to Xeres and Cadiz, crossing the
Guadaira, is directed far inland upon Utrera, rendering it extremely
circuitous. A more direct road strikes off from it immediately after
crossing the river, proceeding by way of Dos Hermanos.
We still continued to pursue the great road, which, after ascending a
range of hills that rises along the left bank of the Guadaira, traverses
a perfectly flat country, abounding in olives, that extends all the way
to Utrera, a distance of eleven miles.
Utrera thus stands in the midst of a vast plain, that may be considered
the first step from the marshes of the Guadalquivír, towards the Ronda
mountains, which are yet twelve miles distant to the eastward. A slight
mound, that rises in the centre of the town, and is embraced by an
extensive circuit of dilapidated walls, doubtless offered the inducement
to build a town here; and these walls, some parts of which are very
lofty, and in a tolerably perfect state, appear to be Roman, though the
castle and its immediate outworks are Moorish.
What the ancient name of the town was would, without the help of
monuments or inscriptions, be now impossible to determine, but it
certainly did not lie upon either of the routes laid down in the
Itinerary of Antoninus, between Cadiz and Cordoba, though some have
imagined it to be Ilipa.[56] Others have supposed it to be Siarum; but
adopting Harduin's reading of Pliny--"Caura, Siarum," instead of
Caurasiarum--it seems more likely that Utrera was Caura, and that Moron,
or some other town yet more distant from Seville, was Siarum.
By its present name it is well known in Moorish history, its rich
_campiña_ having frequently been ravaged by the Moslems, after they had
been driven from the open country to seek shelter in the neighbouring
mountains.
At the present day, it is celebrated only for its breeds of saints and
bulls, the former ranked amongst the most devout, the latter the most
ferocious, of Andalusia. The town is large, and not walled in; the
streets are wide and clean, and a plentiful stream rises near and
traverses the place--remarkable as being the only running water within a
circuit of several miles. It contains 15,000 inhabitants, mostly
agriculturists, and a very tolerable inn.
Utrera, as has already been observed, is situated on the _arrecife_, or
great road, from Cadiz to Madrid, which _arrecife_ makes two
considerable elbows to visit this place and Alcalà. Now from Utrera
there is a cross-road to Carmona (which town is also situated on the
great route to the capital), that, by avoiding Alcalà, reduces the
distance between the two places from seven to six leagues; and from
Utrera there is also another cross-road (by way of Arajal) to Ecija,
which, by cutting off another angle made by the _arrecife_, effects a
yet greater saving in the distance to that city, and consequently to
Cordoba and Madrid. From these circumstances, Utrera becomes, in
military phrase, an important _strategical_ point; and as such, the
French, when advancing upon Cadiz in 1810, attempted to gain it by the
cross-road from Ecija, ere the Duke of Albuquerque, who had taken post
at Carmona, with the view of covering Seville, could reach it by the
_arrecife_. The duke, however, with great judgment, abandoned Seville to
what he well knew must eventually be its fate, and by a rapid march
saved Cadiz, though not without having to engage in a cavalry skirmish
to cover his retreat.
What important consequences hung upon the decision of that moment; for
how different might have been the result of the war, had the important
fortress of Cadiz fallen into the enemy's hands, and given them 30,000
disposable troops at that critical juncture![57]
On issuing from Utrera, we once more quit the chaussée (which is
henceforth directed very straight upon Xeres), and, taking an easterly
course, proceed towards a lofty mountain, that, seemingly detached from
the serrated mass, juts slightly forward into the plain.
At the distance of six miles from Utrera, the ground, which thus far is
quite flat and very barren, begins to be slightly undulated, and is here
and there dotted with _cortijos_ and corn fields; and, at eight miles
from Utrera, a road crosses from Arajah to Coronil; the first-named town
being distant about two miles on the left, the latter half a league on
the right. For the next league the country is one waving corn-field. At
the end of that distance we reached the steep banks of a rivulet, which
here first issues from the mountains, and is called _El Salado de
Moron_. The road crosses to the right bank of this stream, on gaining
which it immediately turns to the north (keeping parallel to the ridge
of the detached mountain, upon which, as I have already noticed, it had
previously been directed), and ascends very gradually towards Moron. The
country, during this latter portion of the road, is partially wooded.
The total distance from Utrera to Moron is about sixteen miles.
Moron is singularly situated, being nestled in the lap of five distinct
hills, the easternmost and loftiest of which is occupied by an old
castle, a mixed work of the Romans and Moors.
According to La Martinière, Moron is on the site of Arunci; and this
opinion seems to rest on a better foundation than that of other authors,
who maintain that Arcos occupies the position of the above-named ancient
city; for it is natural to suppose that the territory of the _Celtici_
(amongst whose towns _Arunci_ is enumerated by Pliny) did not extend
beyond the intricate belt of mountains known at the present day as the
_Serranía de Ronda_. Now, Moron commands one of the principal entrances
to the Serranía, whereas Arcos is situated far in the plains of the
Guadalete towards Xeres, and would seem rather to have been one of the
cities of the "county of Cadiz."
Moron is a strong post, for though raised but slightly above the great
plain of Utrera, it commands all the ground in its immediate
neighbourhood; and, standing as it does in a mountain gorge, by which
several roads debouch upon Seville from various parts of the _Serranía_,
it occupies a military position of some consequence. The French guarded
it jealously during the war, and placed the castle in a defensible
state. Since those days its walls have again been dismantled; but the
strength of its position tempted Riego (1820) to try the chances of a
battle with the royal army, commanded by General Josef O'Donnel, ere he
finally abandoned the mountains.
In vain, however, Riego pointed out to his men the far distant hill of
_Las Cabezas_, where they had first raised the cry of "Constitution, or
death;" their _exaltacion_ had abandoned them, and they in turn
abandoned their exaltation, leaving their strong position after a very
slight resistance. A few days afterwards, at _Fuente Ovejuna_, they were
entirely dispersed.
The successful general, ready to march either against the insurgents of
the Isla de Leon, or upon the capital, wrote to the king, announcing
that the army of Riego was no more, and requesting to know his commands:
but "_eheu! quam brevibus pereunt ingentia causis!_" a few weeks after
this letter was penned, the victor was a prisoner at Ceuta, and the
vanquished general (without doing any thing in the meanwhile to retrieve
his character) had become the hero of hymns and ballads! The imbecile
Ferdinand, fearful lest, by further delay in accepting the Constitution
he should lose his crown, had despatched orders to those generals who
remained faithful to him, to give up their respective commands, just as
the tide of affairs seemed to be turning in favour of a continuance of
his despotic reign.
The dispersion of the constitutional army proved two things, however;
the first, that Riego was no general; the second, that he and his party
had deceived themselves as to the political feeling of the inhabitants
of the province. In the course of his rambling operations, Algeciras and
Malaga were the only places where Riego was at all well received. In
vain he tried to maintain himself in the latter city; driven out of it
at the point of the bayonet, he attempted to regain Cadiz, the
head-quarters of the revolt; but, closely pressed by the royal army on
his retreat through the Serranía, was obliged, as I have stated, to
receive battle at Moron, where the disorganization of his force was
completed.
Moron contains a population of 8,000 souls, and is a well built town,
with wide streets, and good shops. There is a mountain road from hence
to Grazalema (seven leagues) by way of Zahara. The road from Moron to
Ronda passes by Olbera. The distance between the two places is
thirty-one miles. The country, immediately on leaving Moron, becomes
rough and desolate, and the road, (a mere mule-track,) traverses a
succession of strongly marked ridges, which, though not themselves very
elevated, are bounded on all sides by bare and rocky mountains. The
numerous streams which cross the stony pathway all flow to the south,
uniting their waters with the _Salado de Moron_. On penetrating further
into the recesses of the _Serranía_, the valleys become wider, and are
thickly wooded, and the luxuriant growth of the unpruned trees, the
absence of houses, bridges, and all the other signs of the hand of man,
offer a picture of uncultivated nature that could hardly be surpassed
even in the interior of New Zealand.
At nine miles from Moron is situated the solitary venta of _Zaframagon_,
and, a mile further on, descending by a beautifully wooded ravine, we
reached an isolated rocky mound, under the scarped side of which,
embosomed in groves of orange and pomegranate trees, stands a
picturesque water-mill. From hence to Olbera is seven miles. The country
is of the same wild description as in the preceding portion of the
route, but gradually rises and becomes more bare of trees on drawing
near the little crag-built town. An execrable pavé, which appears to
have remained intact since the days of the Romans, winds for the last
two miles under the chain of hills over whose narrow summit the houses
of Olbera are spread, rising one above another towards an old castle
perched on the pinnacle of a rocky cone.
By some Spanish antiquaries, Olbera has been supposed to be the _Ilipa_
mentioned in the Roman Itinerary, as being on the _second_ route laid
down between Cadiz and Cordoba, passing by Antequera. This route, by the
way, is not a less strange one to lay down between the two cities, than
a post road from London to Dover _by way of Brighton_ would be
considered by us; but the fancy of winding it through the least
practicable part of the mountains of Ronda, from Seville (if, as some
imagine, it first went to that city) to Antequera, is even yet more
strange, since a nearly level tract of country extends between those two
cities in a more direct line.
Considering it, however, merely as a military way, made by the Romans to
connect the principal cities of the province, and serving in case of
need as a communication between Cadiz and Cordoba, _avoiding Seville_; a
much more probable line may be laid down, on which the distances will be
found to agree infinitely better.[58]
Olbera is a wretched place, containing some 3,000 or 4,000 of the rudest
looking, and, if report speak true, of the least scrupulous, inhabitants
of the Serranía. Their lawless character has already been alluded to,
and, in Rocca's Memoirs, a most interesting account is given of their
reception of him, when, with a party of dragoons, he was on the march
from Moron to Ronda.
His description of the rickety old town-house, wherein he saved his life
from an infuriated mob by making a fat priest serve as a shield, is most
correctly given, and, in the present dark, suspicious-looking,
cloak-enveloped inhabitants, one may readily picture to one's-self the
descendants of the men who skinned a dead ass, and gave it to the French
troopers for beef; ever after jeering them by asking "_Quien come carne
de burra en Olbera?_ Who eats asses'-flesh at Olbera?"
Carula (Puebla de Santa Maria) 24
Ilipa (Grazalema) 18
Ostippo[59] (La Torre de Alfaquime) 14
Barba (Almargen) 20
Anticaria (Antequera) 24
Angellas 23
Ipagro 20
Ulia 10
Cordoba 18
----
Total 294[60]
----
The view from the old castle is very commanding; the outline of the
amphitheatre of mountains is bold and varied, and the valleys between
the different masses are richly wooded. To the south may be seen the
rocky little fortress of Zahara, sheltered by the huge _Sierra del
Pinar_; and only about two miles distant from Olbera to the north, is
the old castle of Pruna, similarly situated on a conical hill that
stands detached from a lofty impending mountain.
Olbera is fourteen miles from Ronda. At the distance of rather more than
a mile, a large convent, _N. S. de los Remedios_, stands on the right of
the road, and a little way beyond this, the road descends by a narrow
ravine towards _La Torre de Alfaquime_, and, after winding round the
foot of the cone whereon that little town is perched, reaches and
crosses the Guadalete. This point is about four miles from Olbera. The
stream issues from a dark ravine in the mountains that rise up on the
left of the road, and serves to irrigate a fertile valley, and turn
several mills that here present themselves.
A road to Setenil is conducted through the narrow gorge whence the
little river issues, but that to Ronda, ascending for three quarters of
an hour, reaches the summit of a lofty mountain on whose eastern
acclivity are strewed the extensive ruins of Acinippo.
The view is remarkably fine; to the westward, extending as far as
Cadiz, and in the opposite direction looking down upon a wide, smiling
valley, watered by the numerous sources of the Guadalete, and upon the
little castellated town of Setenil, perched on the rocky bank of the
principal branch of that river. This place was very celebrated in the
days of the Moslems, having resisted every attack of the Christians,[61]
until the persevering "_Reyes Catolicos_" brought artillery to bear upon
its defences.
The road to Ronda descends for two miles, and then keeps for about the
same distance along the banks of the Guadalete, crossing and recrossing
it several times. The surrounding country is one vast corn-field.
Leaving, at length, this rich vale, the road ascends a short but steep
ridge, whence the first view is obtained of the yet more lovely basin of
Ronda, which, clothed with orchards and olive grounds, and surrounded on
all sides by splendid mountains, is justly called the pride of the
Serranía.
A good stone bridge affords a passage across the _Rio Verde_, or of
Arriate, about a mile above its junction with the Guadiaro; and the road
falls in with that from Grazalema on reaching the top of the hill
whereon the town stands.