VALENCIA, SPAIN, _March 22, 1858_.
I am in the ancient city of Valencia, surrounded by many antique
buildings and relics of Moorish architecture peculiar to the south of
Spain. The city contains a population of sixty thousand, and has a
fine old cathedral, from the tower of which is seen to advantage the
verdure of the valley in the extreme distance, irrigated by water drawn
from a mountain torrent which passes near the city, and which at this
season presents little but a gravelly bed. The mulberry is cultivated
largely, and the production of silk and velvet is the most important
branch of industry. There are many churches adorned with fine old
paintings by the Spanish masters. The ceilings of two large saloons
in the _Casa de la Ciudad_, or City Hall, are of heavy timbers, about
a foot apart, and ornamented with an infinity of carved allegorical
figures of most exquisite workmanship, in a high state of preservation;
they belong to the thirteenth century, and differ from anything I have
ever seen before. Notwithstanding the foreign and civil wars, the code
of laws of that period, written on parchment and illuminated with
the most precious designs and colors, is almost as perfect as when
written. The city library, of four thousand volumes, has also some
of these gems of antiquity, the labor of a lifetime, executed in the
calm and quiet cloister of the monk, free from the cares and anxieties
of the world. Aside from museums, churches, paintings, statues, and
Moorish architecture, my time has been employed in visiting the public
institutions of the city, and the manufacturing establishments peculiar
to the country.
The Presidio, or state prison, which has two thousand convicts, each
of whom has his occupation in the different departments, reminded me
of Sing Sing, with this exception: that here almost all branches of
industry are prosecuted, and often to the detriment of the poor free
mechanic, which is not the case with us. The most interesting portion
of their employments is the weaving of velvets of rich colors. The
manufacture of our staple cotton enters largely into the production of
common cloth; basket-work, shoe-making, blacksmithing, and the making
of chairs and furniture are important branches, also. The kitchen
department, and the extreme cleanliness of the whole institution,
refute the charge of filthiness, so frequently alleged against the
Spanish race. Not a soldier is employed; the prisoners stand sentinel
over each other. No cells are used; the mattresses are rolled up and
suspended according to number, to be spread in large airy halls. The
obstreperous and unruly wear chains; they seem to be easily governed,
although many hard subjects are found among them. The hospital is an
immense establishment, covering a large extent of surface; it comprises
three departments, for the infirm, the reception of new-born infants,
and the lunatic asylum, and contains in all some six hundred persons
of both sexes. The sick are in charge of sisters of charity, whose
devotion is well known. I can scarcely say what is most painful in
this establishment--the groans of the sick and suffering, the pitiful
cries of the new-born and abandoned infants, or the wild ravings of
the maniacs. Certainly sympathy is excited, and our moral nature
is exercised, but we experience a sensible relief in escaping the
inclosure of so much concentrated misery. The same system is practised
here as was until recently in Paris; the poor or culpable mother puts
her charge upon the revolving wheel, which places it in the hands of
the nurses, for whom there is one large apartment; there are forty of
these nurses, each one in charge of three suspended cradles rocking
upon a pivot from the walls. The arrangements are perfect, but the
pitiful cries of one hundred and twenty infants of tender ages induced
me to pass hastily to the apartment of the larger children; I saw
groups of them at table, of the ages of two years and upwards; they
appeared happy and joyous.
The insane were classed according to their malady, in different
departments; there were some fifty at dinner when we entered, who
behaved well. In the next apartment, containing about twenty, we were
addressed by one who had in hand a bowl of pottage, and who, in the
most eloquent and appealing language, complained loudly of barbarous
and despotic treatment, and want of nourishment; the keeper replied
in reproachful terms, when a combat commenced between them which
threatened to compromise our safety, as the maniac got the advantage
of our guide, who escaped with the blood trickling down his scratched
figure. We pacified the surrounding group with presents of cigars,
which they sought for eagerly; in the next department they were the
most violent, and were placed in chains, with their arms strapped
and rendered powerless; they begged lamentably to be released from
captivity. Iron cages still exist in the prison, but the use of them is
now abandoned; not so in Egypt, where I saw the poor maniacs in cells
like wild beasts, in a state of nudity, with collars about their necks,
attached by a chain, and climbing the iron bars.
The article of tobacco in Spain is a government monopoly, and various
manufacturers of cigars and snuff are found in the principal cities;
the _estancos_, or shops for their sale, are appointed throughout the
kingdom, producing a net revenue, under the best administration of
affairs, of nine millions of dollars per annum. The establishment here
is an immense solid stone structure, resembling a palace, three stories
high, and employing three thousand eight hundred female operatives in
making cigars, and two hundred men in cutting smoking tobacco. The
director informed me that they had orders ahead to the value of sixty
thousand dollars, and had not hands sufficient to supply them. Every
department of the upper stories is occupied with females, there being
from six to eight at each table; these tables are placed in double
rows on each side of halls some three hundred feet in length, of a
quadrangular form; the centre of the edifice is an open court. They
commence at seven A.M., and leave at six P.M., bringing their simple
repast with them in the morning. The basement is occupied as store
rooms, in which are found all the different qualities of Havana and
Philippine tobacco, not forgetting eleven mammoth hogsheads of one
thousand pounds each, which I recognised readily as the staple of
Kentucky and Virginia. I once visited the factory at Seville, where
eighteen hundred females are employed, and thought it an extraordinary
sight; but I was astonished to see such masses of the tender sex as
were here, and the amount of work they performed.
The entire process of the silk manufacture, from the opening of the
cocoon to the making of stuffs for ladies’ robes, is an interesting
study. One large and well regulated factory that I visited employs from
two hundred and fifty to three hundred females. In the upper story of
this building are seen one hundred and twenty girls, placed in rooms
sixty feet long, with a permanently set kettle in brick-work, and
pipes of hot and cold water supplied by the engine pumps. The cocoons
are put into the warm water and circulated with small brush brooms; the
silk attaches itself to the fibres, and by motive power is drawn off on
reeling machines. The worm is dislodged from the cocoon, and the silk
completely drawn off; it then passes into the hands of the spinners,
and thence to the weavers, and finally appears as the choice fabric of
Valencia.
The manufacture of porcelain of various designs and colors, is curious
for one not familiar with the method. The preparation is made from
ground clay, moulded as in our brick and pottery works, then kiln-dried
for fifteen hours, then passed through a composition of liquids, which
is immediately absorbed, and which whitens it; it then goes into the
hands of the artist, who designs with a brush the different figures and
colors; it is then dried in kilns with faggots, for sixty hours. The
principal trade is in squares for floors and staircases. Tiles for the
domes of churches are also made of different colors. Valencia has a
miserable harbor, which is now undergoing reconstruction; the roadstead
is bad and dangerous, and it is at times impossible to land or embark,
on account of the breakers. On landing from the steamer, which came
from Barcelona, and which lay a mile distant from the shore, escaping
from the surf on one side, we were beset by a clamorous horde of
tartana drivers, each determined to have his portion of the spoils. The
luggage has to be carried and examined at the custom-house, and thence
transported from the village of Groan to Valencia, a distance of three
miles.
The tartana is an odd-looking and hard riding vehicle; it is the
carriage of the country for all classes. I can only compare it to a
butcher’s cart without springs; it has a baggage-wagon top, seats
suspended lengthwise, slightly raised from the axle, with heavy netting
for the bottom, and steps in the rear; the driver has his seat on the
shafts. The wealthy manage to fit them up with springs, and have them
cushioned inside, with glass windows fore and aft, and tastefully
painted; they are large enough for a family, and the captivating
glances from the flashing eyes of the dark-browed senoritas, peeping
from the openings, compensated in some degree for the ill-looking
conveyance.