A PROVERB NOT TO BE LOST SIGHT OF WHILST TRAVELLING IN SPAIN--ROAD
TO MONDA--SECLUDED VALLEY OF OJEN--- MONDA--DISCREPANCY OF OPINION
RESPECTING THE SITE OF THE ROMAN CITY OF MUNDA--IDEAS OF MR. CARTER
ON THE SUBJECT--REASONS ADDUCED FOR CONCLUDING THAT MODERN MONDA
OCCUPIES THE SITE OF THE ANCIENT CITY--ASSUMED POSITIONS OF THE
CONTENDING ARMIES OF CNEIUS POMPEY AND CÆSAR, IN THE VICINITY OF
THE TOWN--ROAD TO MALAGA--TOWNS OF COIN AND ALHAURIN--BRIDGE OVER
THE GUADALJORCE--RETURN TO GIBRALTAR--NOTABLE INSTANCE OF THE
ABSURDITY OF QUARANTINE REGULATIONS.
"_Mas vale paxaro en mano, que buytre volando_"--_Anglicè_, a bird in
the hand is worth more than a vulture flying--is a proverb that cannot
be too strongly impressed upon the minds of travellers in Spain; and,
acting up to the spirit of this wise saw, we did not leave our
comfortable quarters at the _Posada de la Corona_ until after having
made sure of a breakfast. For, deeming even a cup of milk at Marbella
worth more than a herd of goats up the sierra, there appeared yet more
reason to think that no venta on the unfrequented mountain track by
which we purposed returning to Malaga could furnish anything half so
estimable as the _café au lait_ promised overnight, and placed before us
soon after daybreak.
We commenced ascending the steep side of the _Sierra de Juanal_
immediately on leaving Marbella, and, in something under an hour,
reached a pass, on the summit of a ridge, whence a lovely view opens to
the north. The little town of Ojen lies far down below, embosomed in a
thicket of walnut, chesnut, and orange trees; whilst all around rise
lofty sierras, clothed, like the valley, with impervious woods, though
with foliage of a darker hue, their forest covering consisting
principally of cork and ilex. Numerous torrents, (whose foaming streams
can only occasionally be seen dashing from rock to rock amidst the dense
foliage) furrow the sides of the impending ridges, directing their
course towards the little village, threatening, seemingly, to overwhelm
it by their united strength; but, wasting their force against the
cragged knoll on which it stands, they collect in one body at its foot,
and, as if exhausted by the struggle, flow thenceforth tranquilly
towards the Mediterranean, meandering through rich vineyards, and under
verdant groves of arbutus, orange, and oleander.
Excepting by this outlet, along the precipitous edge of which our road
was practised, there seemed to be no possibility of leaving the sylvan
valley, so completely is it hemmed in by wood and mountain. The descent
from the pass occupied nearly as much time as had been employed in
clambering up to it from the sea-coast, but the road is better.
The situation of the little town, on the summit of a scarped rock,
clustered over with ivy and wild vines, and moistened by the spray of
the torrents that rush down on either side, is most romantic; the place,
however, is miserable in the extreme, containing some two hundred
wretched hovels, mostly mud-built, and huddled together as if for mutual
support.
An ill-conditioned _pavé_ zigzags up to it, and proceeds onwards along
the edge of a deep ravine towards Monda. The woods, rocks, and water
afford ever-varying and enchanting vistas, but, from the vile state of
the road, it is somewhat dangerous to pay much attention to the beauties
of nature.
In something more than an hour from Ojen, we reached a pass in the
northern part of the mountain-belt that girts it in, whence we took a
last lingering look at the lovely valley, compared to which the country
now lying before us appeared tame and arid.
The fall of the mountain on the western side is much more gradual than
towards the Mediterranean, and the road--which does not however improve
in due proportion--descends by an easy slope towards the little river
Seco. The valley, at first, is wide, open, and uncultivated; but, at the
end of about a mile, it contracts to an inconsiderable breadth, and the
steep hills that border it give signs of the husbandman's toils, being
every where planted with vines and olive trees.
Arriving now at the margin of the _Seco_, the road crosses and recrosses
the rivulet repeatedly, in consequence of the rugged nature of its
banks, and, at length, quitting the pebbly bed of the stream, and
crossing over a lofty mountain ridge that overlooks it to the east, the
stony track brings us to Monda, which is nestled in a deep ravine on the
opposite side of the mountain, and commanded by an old castle situated
on a rocky knoll to the north-west.
The view from the summit of this mountain is very extensive, embracing
the greater portion of the _Hoya_ de Malaga, the distant sea-bound city,
and yet more remote sierras of Antequera, Alhama, and Granada. The
descent to Monda is extremely bad, though by no means rapid. The
distance of this place from Marbella is stated in the Spanish
Itineraries to be three leagues, but the incessant windings of the road
make it fourteen miles, at least. The houses of Monda are mostly poor,
though some of the streets are wide and good. The population is
estimated at 2,000 souls.
It is to this day a mooted question amongst Spanish antiquaries whether
Monda, or Ronda _la Vieja_, (as some of them call the ruins of
Acinippo), or any other of several supposed places, be the Roman
_Munda_, where Cneius Scipio gave battle to the Carthaginian generals,
Mago and Asdrubal, B.C. 211, and near whose walls Julius Cæsar concluded
his wonderful career of victory by the defeat of Cneius Pompey the
younger, B.C. 42.
From this discrepancy of opinion, and the inaccuracy of the Spanish
maps, I am induced to offer the following observations (the result of a
careful examination of the country), touching the site of this once
celebrated spot. And, first, with respect to Ronda and Ronda _la Vieja_,
I may repeat what I have already stated in a former chapter, that
neither the situation of those places, nor the nature of the ground in
their vicinity, agrees in any one respect with the description of Munda
and its battle-field, as given by Hirtius;[181] nor, from discoveries
that have recently been made, does there appear to be any ground left
for doubting that those places occupy the sites of Arunda and Acinippo.
Of the other positions which have been assigned to _Munda_, that most
insisted upon is a spot "three leagues to the _west_ of the present town
of Monda,"[182] and here Carter, adopting the opinion of Don Diego
Mendoza, confidently places it, stating that bones of men and horses
had, in former days, been dug up there; that the peasants called the
spot _Monda la Vieja_, and averred they sometimes saw squadrons of
apparitions fighting in the air with cries and shouts!
Such a host of circumstantial and phantasmagorical evidence our
countryman considered irresistible, and concluded, accordingly, that
this spot could be no other than that whereon the two mighty Roman
armies contended for empire. He admits, however, that, even in the days
of his precursor, Don Diego, "scarcely any ruins were to be found, the
_whole_ having by degrees been transplanted to modern Monda and other
places." Why they should have been carried three leagues across some of
the loftiest mountains in the country, to be used merely as building
stones, he does not attempt to explain, but, believing such to be the
case, one wonders it never struck him as being somewhat extraordinary
that these pugnacious ghosts should continue fighting for a town of
which not a stone remains.
But, leaving Mr. Carter for the present, I will retrace my steps to
modern Monda, where it must be acknowledged some little difficulty is
experienced in fitting the Roman city to the spot allotted to it on the
maps, as well as in placing the contending armies upon the ground in its
neighbourhood, so as to agree with the order in which they were arrayed
on the authority of Hirtius. Still, with certain admissions, which
admissions I do not consider it by any means unreasonable to beg, all
apparent discrepancies may be reconciled and difficulties overcome; and,
on the other hand, unless these points be granted, Ronda, Gaucin, or
Gibraltar agree just as well with the Munda of the Roman historian as
the little town of Monda I am about to describe.
It will be necessary, however, for the perfect understanding of the
subject,--and, I trust, my endeavour to establish the site of Cæsar's
last battle-field will be considered one of sufficient interest to
warrant a little prolixity,--to take a glance at the country in the
vicinity of Monda, ere proceeding to describe the actual ground whereon,
according to my idea, the contending armies were drawn up; as it is only
from a knowledge of the country, and of the communications that
intersected it, that the reasons can be gathered for such a spot having
been selected for a field of battle.
The old castle of Monda, under the walls of which we must suppose--for
this is one of the premised admissions--the town to have been clustered,
instead of being, as at present, sunk in a ravine, stands on the eastern
side of a rocky ridge, projected in a northerly direction from the lofty
and wide-spreading mountain-range, that borders the Mediterranean
between Malaga and Estepona. This range is itself a ramification of the
great mountain-chain that encircles the basin of Ronda, from which it
branches off in a southerly direction, and under the names of Sierras of
Tolox, Blanca, Arboto, and Juanal, presents an almost impassable barrier
between the valley of the Rio Verde (which falls into the Mediterranean,
three miles west of Marbella), and the fertile plains bordering the
Guadaljorce.
This steep and difficult ridge terminates precipitously about Marbella;
but another branch of the range, sweeping round the little town of Ojen,
turns back for some miles to the north, rises in two lofty peaks above
Monda, and then, taking an easterly direction, juts into the
Mediterranean at Torre Molinos. The towns of Coin and Alhaurin are
situated, like Monda, on rocky projections from the north side of this
range, overhanging the vale of Malaga; and the solitary town of Mijas
stands upon its southern acclivity, looking towards the sea.
The rugged ramification on which Monda is situated stretches north about
two miles from the double-peaked sierra above mentioned; and though
completely overlooked by that mountain, yet, in every other direction,
it commands all the ground in its immediate neighbourhood, and, without
being very elevated, is every where steep, and difficult of access. The
summit of the ridge is indented by various rounded eminences, and,
consequently, is of very unequal breadth, as well as height. The castle
of Monda stands on one of these knolls, but quite on the eastern side of
the hill, the breadth of which, in this place, scarcely exceeds 400
yards. At its furthest extremity, however, the ridge, which extends
northward, _nearly a mile_, beyond the town, sends out a spur to the
east, following the course of, and falling abruptly to the Rio Seco; and
the breadth of the hill may here be said to be increased to nearly two
miles.
Between the river Seco and the Rio Grande (a more considerable stream,
which runs nearly parallel to, and about seven miles from the Seco), the
country, though rudely moulded, is by no means lofty; but round the
sources of the latter river, and along its left bank, rise the huge
sierras of Junquera, Alozaina, and Casarabonela, closing the view from
Monda to the north.
From the description here given it will be apparent, that the
communications across so mountainous a country must not only be few, but
very bad. Such, indeed, is the asperity of the sierras west of Monda,
that no road whatever leads through them; and, to the south, but one
tolerable road presents itself to cross the lateral ridge, bordering the
Mediterranean, between Marbella and Torre Molinos, viz., that by which
we had traversed it.
Even on the other half circle round Monda, where the country is of a
more practicable nature, only two roads afford the means of access to
that town, viz., one from Guaro, where the different routes from Ronda
(by Junquera), El Burgo, Alozaina, and Casarabonela, unite; the other
from Coin, upon which place, from an equal necessity, those from Alora,
Antequera, and Malaga, are first directed.
Monda thus becomes the point of concentration of all the roads
proceeding from the inland towns to Marbella; the pass of Ojen, in its
rear, offering the only passage through the mountains to reach that
city.
The road from this pass, as has already been described, approaches Monda
by the valley watered by the river Seco; which stream, directed in the
early part of its course by the Sierra de Monda on its right, flows
nearly due north for about a mile and a half beyond where the road to
Monda leaves its bank, receiving in its progress several tributary
streams that rise in the mountains on its left. On gaining the northern
extremity of the ridge of Monda, the rivulet winds round to the
eastward, still washing the base of that mountain, but leaving the hilly
country on its left bank, along which a plain thenceforth stretches for
several miles. The stream again, however, becomes entangled in some
broken and intricate country, ere reaching the wide plain of the
Guadaljorce, into which river it finally empties itself.
The situation of Monda, with reference to the surrounding country,
having now been fully described, it is necessary, ere proceeding to shew
that the ground in its neighbourhood answers perfectly the account given
of it by Hirtius, to offer some remarks on the causes that may be
supposed to have led to a collision between the hostile Roman armies on
such a spot, since the present unimportant position of Monda seems to
render such an event very improbable.
Cæsar, it would appear, after the fall of Ategua, proceeded to lay siege
to Ventisponte and Carruca--two places, whose positions have baffled the
researches of the most learned antiquaries to determine--his object,
evidently, having been to induce Pompey to come to their relief. His
adversary, however, was neither to be forced nor tempted to depart from
his politic plan of "drawing the war out into length;" but, retiring
into the mountains, compelled Cæsar, whose interest it was, on the other
hand, to bring the contest to as speedy an issue as possible, to follow
him into a more defensible country.
With this view, leaving the wide plain watered by the Genil and
Guadaljorce on the northern side of the mountains, Pompey, we may
imagine, retired towards the Mediterranean, and stationed himself at
Monda; a post that not only afforded him a formidable defensive
position, but that gave him the means of resuming hostilities at
pleasure, since it commanded the roads from Cartama to Hispalis
(Seville), by way of Ronda, and from Malaca, along the Mediterranean
shore, to Carteía,[183] where his fleet lay; and, should his adversary
not follow him, the situation thus fixed upon was admirably adapted for
carrying the war into the country in arms against him, the two opulent
cities of Cartama and Malaca (which there is every reason to conclude
were attached to the cause of Cæsar), being within a day's march of
Monda.
Here, therefore, Pompey occupied a strategical point of great
importance; and Cæsar, fully aware of the advantage its possession gave
his opponent, determined to attack him at all risks.
The hostile armies were separated from each other by a plain five miles
in extent.[184] That of Cæsar was drawn up in this plain, his cavalry
posted on the left; whilst the army of Pompey, whose cavalry was
stationed on _both_ wings, occupied a strong position on a range of
mountains, protected on one side by the town of Munda, "_situated on an
eminence_;" on the other, by the nature of the ground, "_for across this
valley_" (i.e. that divided the two armies), "_ran a rivulet, which
rendered the approach to the mountain extremely difficult, because it
formed a morass on the right_."
Now although the town of Munda is here described as protecting Pompey's
army on one side, yet from what follows it must be inferred that it was
some distance in the rear of his position, since, not only is it stated
that "_Pompey's army was at length obliged to give ground and retire
towards the town_," but it may be taken for granted that, had either
flank rested upon the town, the cavalry would _not_ have been posted on
"_both wings_."
Moreover, it is stated that "_Cæsar made no doubt but that the enemy
would descend to the plain and come to battle_," the superiority of
cavalry being greatly on Pompey's side--"_but_," Hirtius proceeds to
say, "_they durst not advance a mile from the town_," and, in spite of
the advantageous opportunity offered them, "_still kept their post on
the mountain in the neighbourhood of the town_."
It may therefore be fairly concluded, that Pompey's position was on the
edge of a range of hills, some little distance in advance of the town of
Munda, having a stream running in a deep valley along its front, and a
morass on one flank. Now the question is, Can the ground about Monda be
made to agree with these various premises? Certainly not, if, as is
generally assumed, the battle was fought on the eastern side of the
town; for Pompey's position must, in that case, have extended along the
ridge, so as to have the peaked Sierra, above Monda, on its right, and
the river Seco on its left, whilst Monda itself would have been an
advanced post of the line; and so far from there being a plain "_five
miles_" in extent in front, the country to the east of Monda--though for
some way but slightly marked--is, at the distance of _two_ miles, so
abruptly broken as to render the drawing up of a Roman army impossible.
In addition to these objections it will be obvious that the half of
Pompey's cavalry on the right, would have been posted on a high
mountain, where it could not possibly act, whilst the whole of Cæsar's
(on his left), would have been paralyzed by having to manoeuvre on the
acclivity of a steep mountain and against a fortified town, instead of
being kept in the valley of the river Seco, ready to fall upon the weak
part of the enemy's line as soon as it should be broken.
What, however, seems to me to be fatal to the supposition that this was
the side of the town on which the battle was fought is, that Cæsar's
army would have occupied the road by which alone the small portion of
Pompey's army, that escaped, could have retired upon Cordoba.
Against the supposition that the battle took place on the _western_ side
of the ridge on which Monda is situated, the objections, though not so
numerous, are equally insurmountable; since there is nothing like a
plain whereon Cæsar's army could have been drawn up; the valley of the
river Seco being so circumscribed that, for Pompey's army to have
"_advanced a mile from Monda_," it must not only have crossed the
stream, but mounted the rough hills that there border its left bank;
whereas Cæsar's army is stated to have been posted in a plain that
extended five miles from Monda. The half of Pompey's cavalry on the
_left_ would, in this case also, have been uselessly posted on an
eminence. In other respects the supposition is admissible enough, since
Monda would have been in the rear of the left of Pompey's position, but
still a support to the line, and the whole front would have been
"_difficult of approach_," and along the course of a rivulet.
We will now examine the ground to the north of the town, to which it
strikes me no insuperable objections can be raised.
We may suppose that Pompey took post with his army fronting Toloz and
Guaro, the only direction in which his enemy could be looked for, and
where the ground is so little broken, as certainly to allow of its being
called _a plain_, as compared with the rugged country that encompasses
it on all sides; and his position would naturally have been taken up
along the edge of the last ramification of the ridge of Monda, which
extends about two miles from west to east along the right bank of the
river Seco.
The town would then have been half a mile or so _in rear_ of the left
centre of Pompey's position; _a rivulet_, "_rendering the approach of
the mountain difficult_," would have run along its front. His cavalry
would naturally have been disposed on _both flanks_, where, the hills
terminating, it would be most at hand either to act offensively, or for
the security of the position; and the cavalry of Cæsar, on the contrary,
would _all_ have been posted on _his_ left, where the access to Pompey's
position was easiest, and where, in case of his enemy's defeat, its
presence would have produced the most important results.
We may readily conceive, also, that in times past _a morass_ bordered
the Seco where it first enters the plain, since several mountain streams
there join it, whose previously rapid currents must have experienced a
check on reaching this more level country. The industrious Moslems,
probably, by bringing this fertile plain into cultivation, drained the
morass so that no traces of it are now perceptible, but twenty years
hence there may possibly be another.
Every condition required, therefore, to make the ground agree with the
description given of it by Hirtius, is here fulfilled; and, occupying
such a position, the army of Pompey seemed likely to obtain the ends
which we cannot but suppose its general had in view.
The objections of Mr. Carter to modern Monda being the site of the Roman
city are, first, the want of space in its vicinity for two such vast
hosts to be drawn up in battle array; and, secondly, the little distance
of the existing town from the river Sigila and city of Cártama, which,
according to an ancient inscription, referring to the repairs of a road
from Munda to Cártama, he states was twenty miles.
In consequence of these imaginary discrepancies, he suffered himself to
be persuaded that the spot where the apparitions are fighting "three
leagues to the westward of the modern town," is the site of the Roman
_Munda_. In which case it must have been situated in a _narrow valley_,
bounded on all sides by lofty mountains, and _twenty-eight_ Roman miles,
at least, from the city of Cártama!
With respect to his first objections, however, it may be observed, that
the _want of space_ can only apply to the army posted on the mountain,
for, on the level country between its base and the village of Guaro, an
army of any amount might be drawn up. And as regards the mountain, as I
have already stated, its north front offers a strong position, nearly
two miles in extent, and one in depth. Now, considering the compact
order in which Roman armies were formed; the number of lines in which
they were in the habit of being drawn up; and making due allowance for
exaggeration[185] in the number of the contending hosts; such a space, I
should say, was more than sufficient for Pompey's army.
In reply to the second objection urged by Mr. Carter, I may, in the
first place, observe, that the inscription whereon it is grounded--
* * * * *
A MVNDA ET FLVVIO SIGILA
AD CERTIMAM VSQVE XX M.P.P.S. RESTITVIT.[186]--
seems to have no reference to the actual distance between Munda and
Cártama, since, by attaching any such meaning to it--coupled as Munda
is with the river Sigila--the inscription, to one acquainted with the
country, becomes quite unintelligible.
Thus, if translated: "From Munda and the river Sigila, he (i. e. the
Emperor Hadrian) restored the twenty miles of road to Cártama," any one
would naturally conclude that Munda was upon the Sigila, and Cártama at
a distance of twenty miles from it; whereas, whatever may have been the
situation of Munda, Cártama certainly stood upon the very bank of the
river.
It must, therefore, either have been intended to imply that the Emperor
restored twenty miles of a road which from Munda and the sources,[187]
or upper part of the course of the Sigila, led to Cártama, and various
traces of such a Roman road exist to this day on the road to Ronda by
Junquera; or, that the road from Munda was conducted along part of the
course of the Sigila ere it reached Cártama: and such, from the nature
of the ground, undoubtedly was the case, since Cártama stood at the
eastern foot of a steep mountain, the northern extremity of which must
(in military parlance) have been turned, to reach it from Monda, and the
road, in making this détour, would first reach the river Guadaljorce, or
Sigila.
In this case it must be admitted that the _twenty miles_ refer to the
actual distance between the two towns, and this tends only more firmly
to establish modern Monda on the site of the Roman town, since the
distance from thence to Cártama, measured with _a pair of compasses_ on
a _correct_ map,[188] is fourteen English miles, which are equal to
fifteen Roman of seventy-five to a degree, or seventeen of eighty-three
and one third to a degree; and considering the hilly nature of the
country which the road must unavoidably have traversed, the distance
would have been fully increased to twenty miles, either by the ascents
and descents if carried in a straight line from place to place, or by
describing a very circuitous course if taken along the valley of the Rio
Seco.
Carter further remarked upon the foregoing inscription that "it seems to
place" Munda to the _west_ of the river Sigila, which ran _between_ that
town and Cártama; but this, he said, does not agree with the situation
of modern Monda, which is on the same side the river as Cártama.
I suppose for _west_ he meant to say _east_, but, in either case, his
assumed site for Munda, "three leagues to the west of the present town,"
is open to this very same objection, and to the yet graver one, of
being--even allowing that he meant English leagues--_twenty-three
English miles_ in a _direct_ line from the town of Cártama, and in a
contracted and secluded valley, to the possession of which, no military
importance could possibly have been attached.
On the whole, therefore, I see no reason to doubt what, for so many
years was looked upon as certain, viz., that the modern town of Monda is
on the site of the ancient city. I must nevertheless own that in
following strictly the text of Hirtius, an objection presents itself to
this spot with reference to the relative position of Ursao; that is, if
Osuna be Ursao; since, in allusion to Pompey's resolve to receive battle
at Munda, he says that Ursao "served as a sure resource _behind_
him."[189]
This objection holds equally good with the position Carter assigns to
Munda; but that there is some error respecting Ursao is evident, for, if
Osuna be Ursao, then Hirtius described it most incorrectly by saying it
was exceedingly strong by nature, and eight miles distant from any
rivulet.[190] And, on the other hand, it is clear that Ursao did _not_
serve as a _sure_ resource to Pompey, since no part of his defeated army
found refuge there.
We must read this passage, therefore, as implying rather that Pompey
_calculated_ on Orsao as a place of refuge, but that, by the able
manoeuvres of his adversary, he was cut off from it. Now a town
placed high up in the mountains like Alozaina, or Junquera, and like
them distant from any stream but that which rises within their walls,
answers the description of Orsao, much better than Osuna;[191] and,
supposing one of these, or any other town in the vicinity, similarly
situated, to have been Orsao, Pompey might have flattered himself that
he could fall back upon it in the event of being defeated at Monda.
Cæsar, however, by moving along the valley of the Seco, and, taking post
in the plain to the north of Pompey's position, effectually deprived him
of this resource.
The modern town of Monda contains numerous fragments of monuments,
inscriptions, &c., which, though none of them actually prove it to be on
the site of the ancient place of the same name, satisfactorily shew that
it stands near some old Roman town, and that, therefore, to call it
_new_ Monda, in contradistinction to _Monda la vieja_, is absurd.
The road to Coin traverses a succession of tongues, which, protruding
from the side of the steep Sierra de Monda on the right, fall gradually
towards the Rio Seco, which flows about a mile off on the left. For the
first three miles the undulations are very gentle, and the face of the
country is covered with corn, but, on arriving at the Peyrela, a rapid
stream that rushes down from the mountains in a deep rocky gully, the
ground becomes much more broken, and the hills on both sides are thickly
wooded. The road, nevertheless, continues very good, and in about two
miles more reaches Coin.
The approach to this town is very beautiful. It is situated some way up
the northern acclivity of a high wooded hill, and commands a splendid
view of the valley of the Guadaljorce.
Coin is supposed to be of Moorish origin, and, from the amenity of its
situation, abundance of crystal springs and fruitfulness of its
orchards, was, no doubt, a favourite place of retreat with the turbaned
conquerors of Spain. Nor are its merits altogether lost upon the present
less contemplative race of inhabitants, for they flee to its pure
atmosphere whenever any endemic disease frightens them from the close
and crowded streets of filthy Malaga.
During the last few years that the divided Moslems yet endeavoured to
struggle against the fate that too clearly awaited them, the fields of
Coin were doomed to repeated devastations, though the city itself still
set the Christian hosts at defiance; but at length the artillery of
Ferdinand and Isabella reduced it to submission, A.D. 1485.
The population of Coin is estimated by the Spanish authorities at 9000
souls, but I should say it is considerably less. The houses are good,
streets well paved, and the place altogether is clean and wholesome.
The posada, except in outward appearance, is not in keeping with the
town. It is a large white-washed building, with great pretensions and
small comfort. We left it at daybreak without the least regret, carrying
our breakfast with us to enjoy _al fresco_.
At the foot of the hill two roads to Malaga offer themselves, one by way
of Cártama (distant ten miles), which turns the Sierra Gibalgalía to the
north, the other by Alhaurin, which crosses the neck of land connecting
that mountain with the more lofty sierras to the south. The distance is
pretty nearly the same by both, and is reckoned five leagues, but the
_leguas_ are any thing but _regulares_, and may be taken at an average
of four miles and a half each. The first named is a carriage road, and
the country flat nearly all the way; we therefore chose the latter, as
likely to be more picturesque.
In about an hour from Coin, we reached a clear stream, which, confined
in a deep gulley, singularly scooped out of the solid rock, winds round
at the back of Alhaurin, and tumbles over a precipice on the side of the
impending mountain. The crystal clearness of the water and beauty of
the spot, tempted us to halt and spread the contents of our alforjas on
the green bank of the rivulet, though the white houses of Alhaurin,
situated immediately above, peeped out from amidst trelissed vines and
perfumed orange groves, seeming to beckon us on. But appearances are
proverbially deceitful all over the world, and more especially in
Spanish towns, as we had recently experienced at Coin.
Our repast finished, we remounted our horses, and ascended the steep
acclivity, on the lap of which the town stands. The environs are
beautifully wooded, and the place contains many tasteful houses and
gardens, wide, clean, and well-paved streets, abundance of refreshing
fountains, and groves of orange and other fruit trees, and, in fact, is
a most delightful place of abode. The view from it is yet finer than
from Coin, embracing, besides the fine chain of wooded sierras above
Alozaina and Casarabonela, the lower portion of the vale of Malaga, and
the splendid mountains that stretch into the Mediterranean beyond that
city. Nevertheless, in spite of these advantages, the scared
_Malagueños_ consider Coin a more secure retreat from the dreaded yellow
fever than Alhaurin, perhaps because from the former even the view of
their abandoned city is intercepted.
Alhaurin contains, probably, 5000 inhabitants. The road from thence to
Malaga is _carriageable_ throughout. It winds along the side of the
mountain, continuing nearly on a dead level from the town to the summit
of the pass that connects the Sierra Gibalgalía with the mountains of
Mijas; thence it descends gradually, by a long and rather confined
ravine, into the vale of Malaga.
Arrived in the plain, it leaves the little village of Alhaurinejo about
half a mile off on the right, and at thirteen miles from Alhaurin
reaches a bridge over the Guadaljorce. This bridge, commenced on a
magnificent scale by one of the bishops of Malaga, was to have been
built entirely of stone; but, before the work was half completed, either
the worthy dignitary of the church came to the last of his days, or to
the bottom of his purse, and it is left to be completed, "_con el
tiempo_"--a very celebrated Spanish bridge-maker.
Forty-four solid stone piers remain, however, to bear witness to the
good and liberal intentions of the bishop; and the weight of a rotten
wooden platform, which has since been laid down, to afford a passage
across the stream when swollen by the winter torrents, for at most other
times it is fordable.
A road to the Retiro and Churriana continues down the right bank of the
river; but that to Malaga crosses the bridge, and on gaining the left
bank of the river is joined by the roads from Casarabonda and Cártama.
From hence to Malaga is about five miles.
On arriving at Malaga we found the dread of cholera had attained such a
height during our short absence, that the _Xebeque_, for Ceuta, had
sailed, whilst clean bills of health were yet issued. We also thought it
advisable to save our passports from being tainted, and, without further
loss of time, departed for Gibraltar by land. Our haste, however, booted
us but little; for, amongst the absurdities of quarantine be it
recorded, on reaching the British fortress, on the morning of the third
day from Malaga, admittance was refused, until we had undergone a three
days' purification at San Roque. Thither we repaired, therefore; and
there we remained during the prescribed period, shaking hands daily with
our friends from the garrison, until the dreaded _virus_ was supposed to
have parted with all its infectious properties. Our _decorated_
attendant had left us on reaching Malaga, promising to take the earliest
opportunity of acquainting us with the result of an ordeal, to which the
little blind God, in one of his most capricious moods, had been pleased
to subject two of his votaries.
The circumstances attending this trial of _true love_, will be found
related in the following chapter, which contains also a sketch of the
previous history of the hero of the tale, the knight of San Fernando.