THE BATHS OF MANILBA--A SPECIMEN OF FABULOUS HISTORY--PROPERTIES OF
THE HEDIONDA--SOCIETY OF THE BATHING VILLAGE--REMARKABLE
MOUNTAIN--AN ENGLISH BOTANIST--TOWN OF MANILBA--AN INTRUSIVE
VISITER--RIDE TO ESTEPONA--RETURN BY WAY OF CASARES.
The baths of Manilba lie about seventeen miles N.N.E. of Gibraltar, and
four, inland, from the sea-fort of Savanilla. The town, from which they
take their name, is about midway between them and the coast; and,
standing on a commanding knoll, is a conspicuous object when sailing
along the Mediterranean shore.
The virtues of the sulphureous spring have long been known; but it is
only within the last few years that the increasing reputation of the
medicated source led a company of speculators to build the village which
now stands in its vicinity; the scattered cottages of the _Huerta_
having been found quite incapable of lodging the vast crowd of
valetudinarians, annually drawn to the spot. The same parties have yet
more recently erected a chapel, and also the _Fonda_, mentioned in the
preceding chapter.
The little village is built with the regularity of even Wiesbaden
itself, but nothing can well be more different in other respects than it
is from that, or any other watering-place, which I have ever visited. It
consists of five or six parallel stacks of houses, forming streets which
open at one end upon the bank overhanging the now sulphurated stream,
that flows down from Casares; and which abut, at the other, against the
side of the lofty mountain whence the medicated spring issues. These
streets are covered in with trellis-work, over which vines are trained,
rendering them cool, as well as agreeable to the sight. The houses are
all built on a uniform plan, namely, they have no upper story, and
contain but _one room each_; which room is furnished with the usual
Spanish kitchen-range--that is, with three or four little bricked stoves
built into a kind of dresser. By this arrangement, every room is, of
itself, capable of forming a _complete establishment_; and in most
cases, indeed, it does serve the triple purposes of a kitchen, a
refectory, and a dormitory, to its frugal inmates. When a family is
large, however, an entire lareet must be hired for its accommodation.
The principal speculator in the joint-stock village is a gentleman of
Estepona; and _El Señor Juan_--or _Tio Juan_, as he is familiarly
called by those admitted to his intimacy--is a poor relative, who, for
the slight perquisites of office, readily undertook the charge of the
infant establishment.
The choice of the _Tio_ was, in every respect, a judicious one; for,
having drunk himself off the crutches on which he hobbled down to the
baths, he has become a kind of walking advertisement of the efficacy of
the waters. He is not, however, like the unsightly fellows who
perambulate the streets of London with placards, a silent one; for I
know of no man more thoroughly versed in the art of _viva voce_ puffing
than _Tio Juan_; and then he has stored his memory with such a fund of
useful watering-place information, that he is a perfect guide to the
_Hedionda_ and its environs.
The _Tio_ and I soon became wonderful cronies; I derived great amusement
from his _cuentas_--he, much gratification from my nightly whisky-toddy.
In fact, the two dovetailed into each other in a most remarkable manner;
for, when once the _Tio_ had attached one of his long stories to a
(_pint_) bottle of "poteen," there was no possibility of separating
them--they drew cork and breath together, and together only they came to
a conclusion.
He knew every body that visited the baths, and every thing about them;
could point out those who came for health, and those who were allured
by dissipation; could tell which ladies and gentlemen were looking out
for matrimony, which for intrigue; whether the buxom widow had fruitful
vineyards and olive grounds with her weeds; whether the young ladies had
shining _onzas_ to recommend them as well as sparkling eyes.
Then the Tio knew where every medicinal herb grew that was suited to any
given case--could point out the haunt of every covey of red-legged
partridges in the vicinity--could tell to an hour when a flight of quail
would cross from the parched shores of Africa--when the matchless
_becafigos_ would alight upon the neighbouring fig-trees--and, as the
season advanced, he would mark the time to a nicety when the first
annual visit of the woodcocks might be looked for to the wooded glens
beyond the baths.
As the historian of the wonder-working spring, the _Tio_ was not less
valuable; though, it must be confessed, the terms in which he conveyed
the idea of its vast antiquity were any thing but prepossessing; viz.,
"_Pues! saben ustedes, que esa hedionda es mas vieja que la sarna._"
"Know then, gentlemen, that this fetid spring is older than the itch."
In other respects, however, the information he had collected, besides
being most rare, possessed a freshness that was truly delightful;
"_Siglos hay_,[75]" he would continue, "the spring was _endemoniado_,
for _Carlomagno_, or some other great hero of the most remote antiquity,
drove an evil spirit into the mountain, which said spirit, to be
revenged on mankind, poisoned the source whence the stream flows. Saint
James, however, arriving in the country soon after--having taken Spain
under his especial protection--determined to expel this imp of Satan.
This was done accordingly, and the devil went over into Barbary, (where
he eventually stirred up the Moors against the adopted children of
_Santiago_--the story of _Don Rodrigo_ and _La Cava_ being all a fable,)
leaving nothing but his sulphur behind."
"The good saint, to perpetuate the fame of the miracle he had wrought,
next determined to endue the spring with extraordinary curative
properties; not depriving it, however, of the unusually bad smell left
by the devil, that the marvellous work he was about to perform might be
the more apparent to future generations."
"Some years after this, the baths were visited by '_muchos emperadores
de Roma_;'[76] amongst others, Trajan and Hercules; as also by the
famous Roland; and, '_segun dicen_,' by _un Ingles, llamado Malbrù, y
otra gente muy principal_."[77] "In those days," continued the Tio,
"there were _palathios, posa'a, y to'o_,[78] but then came the Moors
(with the devil in their train), and laid every thing waste. They had
not the power, however, to deprive the stream of its virtues; and great
they are, and most justly celebrated _por todo la España_."[79]
In detailing the wonderful properties of the spring committed to his
charge, _Tio Juan_ would enter with all the minuteness of an Herodotus.
By his account, there was no ailment to which suffering humanity is
exposed that it would not reach. It was a "universal medicine"--a
Hygeian fountain that bestowed perpetual youth--a Styx that rendered
mankind invulnerable. It gave strength to the weak, and ease to those
who were in pain--rendered the barren fruitful, and the splenetic,
good-humoured--made the fat, lean, and the lean, fat. By it the good
liver was freed from gout, and the bad liver from bile. The sores of the
leper were dried up, and the lungs of the asthmatic inflated--it made
the maimed whole, and patched up the broken-hearted. He had known many
instances of its curing consumption, and had seen it act like a charm in
cases of tympany.
"In fact," said old Juan--"_para todo tiene remedio_.--_Mir'
usted_[80]--I, who on my arrival here could not put a foot to the
ground, now, as you may perceive, walk about like a _Jovencito_;[81]
and, under proper directions, I have no doubt it would make a man live
for ever."[82]
Nor did the long list of the water's valuable qualities end here. It was
good for all the common purposes of life--for stewing and for
boiling--for washing and for shaving;--and, to wind up all, as we go on
sinning, until, by constant repetition, crime no longer pricks one's
conscience, so, the _Tio_ declared, one went on drinking this devilish
water until it positively became palatable. "_Jo no bebo otra_," he
concluded, "_nunca bebo otra--guiso y to'o con ella_."[83]
Now, though the Tio painted the yellow spring thus _couleur de rose_,
and his account of its wonderful properties, like his system of
chronology, must be received with caution, yet I must needs confess that
the _Hedionda_ seemed to perform extraordinary cures; and, even in my
own case, I ever fancied that after a few days passed at the baths, I
returned to Gibraltar with invigorated powers of digestion. I could by
no means, however, bring myself to submit to the _Tio's_ discipline, and
he was wont to shake his head very seriously, when, returning from a
hard day's shooting, I used to request him to open a bath for me after
sunset--Hercules, himself, he thought could not have stood that.
That this spring was known to the Romans there can be no manner of
doubt, since the public bath, which still exists, is a work of that
people. The source is very copious, and the water of an equal
temperature throughout the year, viz., 73 to 75 degrees of Fahrenheit's
thermometer.
On analysis it is found to contain large quantities of hydrogen and
carbonic acid gases, and the following proportions of fixed substances
in fifty pounds of water, viz., six grains of muriate of lime; fifty-six
of sulphate of magnesia; thirty-five of sulphate of lime; ten of
magnesia; and four of silica. The quantity of sulphur it holds in
solution is so great, that the vine-dressers in the neighbourhood make
themselves matches, by merely steeping linen rags in the waste water of
the baths.
The use of the bath has been found very efficacious in the cure of all
kinds of cutaneous diseases, ulcers, wounds, and elephantiasis; and
taken inwardly, the water is considered by the faculty as extremely
beneficial in cases of gout, asthma, scrofula, rheumatism, dyspepsia,
and, as the Tio said, in fact, in almost every disorder that human
nature is subject to.
The season for taking the waters is from the beginning of June to the
end of September; and it is astonishing during those four months what
vast crowds of persons, of every grade and calling, are brought
together. Nobles, priests, peasants, and beggars--the gouty,
hypochondriac, lame, and blind--all flock from every part of the kingdom
to the famed Hedionda. It was ever a matter of surprise to me where such
a host can find accommodation.
The same regimen is prescribed at this as at other watering places;
viz., plenty of the spring, moderate exercise, and abstemious diet; and
in this latter item, at least, the injunctions are as generally
disregarded at Manilba as at the Brunnens of Nassau: that is,
comparatively speaking, for it must be borne in mind that a German's
daily food would support a Spaniard for a week.
The principal bath is open to the public, and, being very large and
tolerably deep, is by far the pleasantest, when one can be sure of its
entire possession. Those which have been built by the company of
speculators are too small, though convenient in other respects. The
charge for the use of these is moderate enough, viz., one real and a
half each time of bathing; which includes a trifling gratuity to _Tio
Juan_.
The source from which the drinkers fill their goblets is open to all
comers, and any one may bottle and carry off the precious water _ad
libitum_. A considerable quantity is sent in stone jars to the
neighbouring towns; but Tio Juan maintained--and I believe not without
good reason--that it lost all its properties on the journey "_amen del
mal olor_."[84]
The situation of the new village would have been more agreeable had it
been built somewhat higher up the side of the sierra, instead of on the
immediate bank of the rivulet, where it is excluded from the fine view
it might otherwise command, and is sheltered from every breath of air.
It is not, however, so sultry as might be expected, considering its
confined situation; for the mountain behind screens it from the sun's
rays at an early hour after noon, and the opposite bank of the ravine,
by sloping down gradually to the stream, and being clothed to the
water's edge with vines, fig, and other fruit-trees, throws back no
reflected heat upon the dwellings.
The manner of life of the visiters of the _hedionda_ is not less
different from that of the watering places of other countries, than the
place itself is from Cheltenham or Carlsbad. They rise with the sun;
drink their first glass of water at the spring on their way to chapel; a
second glass, in returning from their devotions; and then take a
_paseito_[85] in the _huerta_: but not until after the third dose do
they venture on their usual breakfast of a cup of chocolate. The bath
and the toilette occupy the rest of the morning. Dinner is taken at one
or two o'clock; the _Siesta_ follows, and before sunset another bath,
perhaps. The _Paseo_ comes next--that is quite indispensable--and the
_Tertulia_ concludes the arrangements for the day.
This, at the baths, is a kind of public assembly held in the open air,
and generally in one of the vine-sheltered streets of the modern
village. A guitar, cards, dancing, and games of forfeit, are the various
resources of the _réunion_; which breaks up at an early hour.
_Tio Juan_, in his shirt-sleeves and slippers, is a constant attendant
at the _Tertulia_, usually looking on at the sports and pastimes with
becoming gravity, but occasionally taking a hand at _Malilla_,[86] or
joining the noisy circle playing at _El Enfermo_;[87] in which, when the
usual question is asked, "What will _you_ give the sick man?" he
invariably answers, "_El Agua--nada mas que el agua--que no hay cosa mas
sano en el mundo_,"[88] puffing away at his paper cigar all the while
with the most imperturbable gravity, and casting a side glance at me, as
much as to say--"not a word of our nightly _symposium_, if you please."
The company on these occasions is, as may be supposed, of a very mixed
kind. Let it not be imagined, however, that because "_Señor Juan_"
presents himself with bare elbows, that it is altogether of a secondary
order--far from it--for such is the caprice of fashion, such the love of
change, that even the noblest of the land are ofttimes inmates of the
little inconvenient hovels that I have described; but _Tio Juan_ is a
privileged person--every body consults him, every one makes him his or
her confidant. And so curiously is Spanish society constituted, that
though considered the proudest people in the world, yet, on occasions
like this, Spaniards lay aside the distinction of rank, and mix together
in the most unceremonious manner. Indeed, no people I have ever seen
treat their inferiors with greater respect than the Spanish Nobles. They
enter familiarly into conversation with the servants standing behind
their chair; and, strange as it may appear, this freedom is never taken
advantage of, nor are they less respected, nor worse served in
consequence.
The custom of kneeling down in common at their places of public worship
may have a tendency to keep up this feeling, warning the rich and
powerful of the earth that, though placed temporarily above the peasant
in the world's estimation, yet that he is their equal in the sight of
the Creator of all; an accountable being like themselves, and deserving
of the treatment of a human being.
The Spanish nobles certainly find their reward in adopting such a line
of conduct, for they are served with extraordinary fidelity; and the
horrors which were perpetrated _through the instrumentality of
servants_, during the French revolution, is little to be apprehended in
this country; perhaps, indeed, this good understanding between master
and man has hitherto saved Spain from its reign of terror.
The chapel of the bathing village is generally thronged with penitents;
for people become very devout when they have, or fancy they have, one
foot in the grave. The little edifice may be considered the repository
of the _archives_ of _the Hedionda_, for countless are the legs, arms,
heads, and bodies, moulded in wax, or carved in wood, and telling of
wondrous cures, that have been offered at the shrine of Our Lady of _Los
Remedios_.
Leaving the good Romanists at their devotions within the crowded chapel,
and _Tio Juan_, with one knee and his pitcher of water on the ground,
and his staff in hand, offering a passing prayer behind the throng
collected outside the open door, we will devote the morning to a
scramble to the summit of the steep mountain that rises at the back of
the baths.
The _Sierra de Utrera_, by which name this rugged ridge is
distinguished, is of very singular formation. Its eastern base (whence
the _hedionda_ issues) is covered with a crumbling mass of schist,
disposed in laminæ, shelving downwards, at an angle of 25 or 30 degrees
with the horizon. This sloping bank reaches to about one third the
height of the mountain, when rude rocks of a most peculiar character
shoot up above its general surface, rising pyramidically, but assuming
most fantastic forms, and each pile consisting of a series of huge
blocks (sometimes fourteen or fifteen in number), resting loosely one
upon another, and seemingly so much off the centre of gravity as to lead
to the belief that a slight push would lay them prostrate.
At first these detached pinnacles rise only to the height of fifteen or
twenty feet, but, on drawing near the crest of the ridge, they attain
nearly twice that elevation. The general surface of the mountain, above
which these piles of rocking stones rise, is rent by deep chasms, as if
the whole mass of rock had, at some distant period, been shaken to its
very foundation by an earthquake. In these rents, soil has been
gradually collected, and vegetation been the consequence; but the
general character of the mountain is arid and sterile.
The ascent becomes very difficult as one proceeds, and, in fact, it
requires some little agility to reach the crest of the singular ridge.
Its summit presents a very rough, though nearly horizontal surface,
varying in width from 300 to 400 yards; and, looking from its western
side, the spectator fancies himself elevated on the walls of some vast
castle, so precipitously does the rocky ledge fall in that direction, so
level and smiling is the cultivated country spread out but a couple of
hundred feet below him.
This rocky plateau appears to have been covered, in former days, with
the same singularly formed pyramids that protrude from the eastern
acclivity of the mountain; but they have probably been hewn into mill
stones, as many of the rough blocks strewed about its surface are now in
process of becoming. The plateau extends nearly two miles in a parallel
direction to the rock of Gibraltar, that is, nearly due north and south
by compass; and, when on its summit, the ridge appears continuous; but,
on proceeding to examine the southern portion of the plateau, I found
myself suddenly on the brink of a chasm, upwards of a hundred feet
deep, which, traversing the mountain from east to west, cuts it
completely in two. This cleft varies in width from 50 to 100 feet; and
in winter brings down a copious stream, being the drain of a
considerable extent of country on the western side of the ridge. It is
partially clothed with shrubs and wild olive-trees, and a rude pathway
leads down the dark dell to the _hedionda_, which issues from the base
of the mountain, about 200 yards to the north of the opening of the
chasm.
This remarkable gap, though not distinguishable from the baths situated
immediately below it, is so well defined, and has so peculiar an
appearance at a distance, that it is an important landmark for the
coasting vessels.
The southern portion of the Sierra is far less accessible than that
which has been described; in fact, access to its summit can be gained
only by means of a ramped road, which, piercing the rocky precipice on
its western side, has been made to facilitate the transport of the
millstones prepared there. In other respects, this part of the plateau
is of the same character as the other.
Wonderful are the tales of fairies, devils, and evil spirits, told by
the goatherds and others who frequent this singular mountain; and _Tio
Juan_, who never would suffer himself to be outdone in the marvellous,
told us that "_un Ingles_," who, about two years before, had been on a
visit to the baths, had disappeared there in a most mysterious way. A
goatherd of his acquaintance had seen him descend into a cleft in search
of some herb, but out of it he had never returned. "_Se dicen_," he
concluded, "_que era uno de esos Lores, de que hay tantos en
Inglaterra_;[89] but I can hardly believe, if he had possessed such
'_montones de oro_'[90] as was represented, that he would have been
going about like a pedlar, with a basket slung to his back, picking up
all sorts of herbs, and drying them with great care every day when he
returned home, spreading them out between the leaves of a large book.
'_A me mi parece_,'[91] that he was gathering them to make tea with; but
I know an herb which grows on that Sierra, which is worth all the
medicines[92] in the world: ay! and in some cases it is yet quicker,
though not more effectual, in its cure, than even the waters of the
_hedionda_; and some day, _Don Carlos_, I will walk up and show you the
cleft wherein it grows."
The _Tio's_ occupations were, however, too constant to allow of his
accompanying me in search of this wonderful plant, and, consequently,
my curiosity concerning it was never gratified.
The district of Manilba is celebrated for the productiveness of its
vineyards, and the undulated country between the baths and the southern
foot of the _Sierra Bermeja_ is almost exclusively devoted to the
culture of the grape. That most esteemed is a large purple kind. It is
highly flavoured, and makes a strong-bodied and very palatable wine,
though, in nine cases out of ten, the wine is spoilt by some defect of
the skin in which it has been carried.
The husks of the Manilba grape, after the juice has been expressed,
enjoy a reputation for the cure of rheumatism, scarcely less than that
of the sulphureous spring itself. The sufferer is immersed up to the
neck in a vat full of the fermenting skins, and, after remaining therein
a whole morning, comes forth as purple as a printer's devil. I have met
with persons who declared they had received great benefit from this
vinous bath; but I question whether interment in hot sand (a mode of
treatment, by the way, which has been tried with great success) would
not have been found more efficacious, without subjecting the patient to
this unpleasant discoloration.
Several interesting mornings' excursions may be made from the baths. The
village of Manilba (about two miles distant) is situated on a high, but
narrow ridge, that protrudes from the south-eastern extremity of the
Sierra de Utrera. It is a compactly built place, and commands fine
views: towards the mountains on one side, and over the Mediterranean on
the other. The population amounts to about 3000 souls, principally
vinedressers and husbandmen.
On one occasion--having found all the lodging-houses at the _hedionda_
occupied, I established myself for a few days at the posada at Manilba,
where a singular adventure befel me. Mine host entered my room on the
evening of my arrival, and very mysteriously informed me, that a certain
person--a friend of his--a Spanish officer "_por fin_," who had
distinguished himself greatly under the constitutional government, and
was a _caballero de toda confianza_,[93] wished very much to have the
honour of paying me a visit, if I were agreeable, which, hearing I was
alone, he thought it possible I might be; and, before I had time fully
to explain that I was quite tired from a long day's shooting, and must
beg to be excused, the _Lismahago_ himself walked in--as vulgar,
off-handed, free-and-easy a gentleman as I ever came across.
Having expressed unbounded love for the English nation, and stated his
conviction--drawn from his intimate knowledge of the character of
British officers--that they were, one and all, well disposed to assist
in the grand work of regenerating Spain, he proceeded to state, that the
"friends of liberty," in various towns of that part of the Peninsula,
had entered into a plot to subvert the existing government of the
country, and having many friends in Gibraltar, wished, through the
medium of an officer of that garrison, to communicate with them; that,
understanding I was, &c. &c. &c.
I had merely acknowledged that I comprehended what he was saying, by
bowing severally to the numerous panegyrics on liberty, and compliments
to myself and nation, with which he interlarded his discourse--for the
above is but the skimmed milk of his eloquent harangue; but, finding
that he had at length concluded, I expressed the deep regret I felt at
not being able to meet his friendly proposal in the way he wished, from
the circumstance of my time being fully occupied in preparing a
deep-laid plot against my own government--nothing less, in fact, than to
give up the important fortress of Gibraltar to the Emperor of Morocco,
until we had established a republic in England. When this grand project
was accomplished, I added, I should be quite at leisure, and would most
willingly enter into any treasonable designs against any other
government; but, at present, he must see it was quite out of the
question.
My visiter gazed on me "with the eyes of astonishment," but I kept my
countenance. He rose from his seat--I did the same.
"Are you serious?" asked he.
"Perfectly so," I replied; "but, of course, I reckon on your maintaining
the strictest secrecy in the matter I have just communicated," I added
earnestly.
"You may rely in perfect confidence upon me."
"Do you smoke? Pray accept of a Gibraltar cigar. I regret that I cannot
ask you to remain with me, but I have letters of the utmost importance
to write, which must be sent off by daybreak." He accepted my proffered
cigar, begged I would command his services on all occasions, and walked
off.
I made sure he was a government spy, and in a towering rage sent for the
innkeeper. He protested such was not the case, adding, "but, to confess
the truth," he was a poor harmless fellow,--a reduced officer of the
constitutional army,--who was very fond of the English, not less so of
wine; talked a great deal of nonsense, which nobody minded; and hoped I
would take no notice of it.
I reminded mine host, that he had said he was a "_distinguished
officer_," and had called him "_his friend_."--"_Si, señor, es
verdad_;[94] but the fact is, he followed me up stairs, and I knew he
was at the door, listening to what I might say."
I very much doubted the truth of his asseverations, and my doubts were
confirmed by my never afterwards seeing the constitutional officer about
the premises; but, to prevent a repetition of such introductions, I
begged to be allowed the privilege of choosing my own associates,
telling him, indeed, that my further stay at his house would depend upon
it. I still, however, continued to look upon the fellow as a spy, until
the mad attempt made by Torrijos to bring about a revolution, not very
long afterwards, led me to think that my visiter's overture might really
have been seriously intended.
Manilba is distant about seven miles from Estepona. The first part of
the road thither lies through productive vineyards; the latter along the
sea-shore, on reaching which it falls into the road from Gibraltar to
Malaga.
Not many years since Estepona was a mere fishing village, built under
the protection of one of the _casa fuertes_ that guard the coast; but
the fort stands now in the midst of a thriving town, containing 6000
inhabitants.
The fish taken here finds a ready sale in the Serranía, whither it is
conveyed in a half-salted state, on the backs of mules or asses. The
_Sardina_ frequents this coast in great numbers; it is a delicious
fish, of the herring kind, but more delicately flavoured.
The environs of Estepona are very fruitful; and oranges and lemons are
exported thence to a large amount--the greater portion to England. The
place is distant twenty-five miles from Gibraltar (by the road), and
sixteen from Marbella. To the latter the road is very good.
A most delightful ride offers itself to return from hence to the baths
of Manilba, by way of Casares. The road, for the first few miles, keeps
under the deeply seamed and pine-clad side of the _Sierra Bermeja_, and
then, leaving the mountain-path to Gaucin (mentioned in a preceding
chapter) to the right, enters an intersected country, winding along the
edge of several deep ravines, shaded by groves of chesnut-trees, and
reaches Casares very unexpectedly; leaving a large convent, situated on
the side of a steep bank, on the left, just before entering the narrow,
rock-bound town.
The road from Casares to the baths has already been described, but two
other routes offer themselves from that town to reach Manilba. The more
direct of these keeps the fissure in which the _hedionda_ is situated on
the right; the other makes a wide circuit round the _Sierra de Utrera_,
and leaves the baths on the left. By the former the distance is five and
a half, by the latter seven miles.