SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN, _May 23, 1853_.
From Valladolid to Burgos, some seventy miles by diligence, the road
was dry and dusty, and the country uninteresting; the villages were
poor, and the soil badly cultivated. The land tax, and the conscription
for the army, are discouraging to the cultivator of the soil; the youth
are liable to be taken and forced to quit their native country, and
sent to the Island of Cuba, or the Philippine Islands, as was the case
recently while I was in Santander. Some two hundred were sent off in
a crowded vessel at this unpropitious season, to arrive in the yellow
fever months at Havana.
The city of Burgos was sacked and burnt by the French army in 1808, and
its population of fifty thousand dwindled down to twelve thousand; but
it is mostly rebuilt, and presents a tolerable appearance. The great
attraction for strangers is its Gothic Cathedral, one of the finest in
Spain, and of great antiquity, having been commenced in the year 1221.
It was respected by the French during the war. This immense edifice
has two towers with spires of open stonework, which in the distance
appear as light as lace-work, and one wonders how it can endure this
blustering climate. The chapels are as large as some churches, and
filled with tombs of sculptured marble and stained glass. The white
stone of some of the interior walls and buttresses inclosing the choir
represents in sculpture the life of Christ, his agony, the supporting
of the cross, the crucifixion and ascension; the building, like other
edifices of the kind in Spain, is a perfect museum of art, pictures,
statuary, and carved wood. The ceremonies of the Ascension were
consummated while I was there, in the presence of a vast assemblage
from town and country, giving one a good opportunity to observe the
variety of character and costume.
From Burgos to Santander, the northern Atlantic shore of Spain, is
ninety miles; the first portion is dreary and badly cultivated, and
the hills are high and arid; but suddenly some of the most charming
valleys appear, and the face of nature as well as the condition of men
changes, as we approach a commercial port. Santander is an important
trading town of sixteen thousand souls; it has fine stone quarries,
and the air of activity of trade. There are large quantities of flour
exported to the island of Cuba, which is protected by a heavy duty
against our American productions, and should Spain lose this jewel
of the crown the blow would fall heavily upon the grain-producing
countries of the north. Another eighteen hours’ ride, after leaving
Santander, brought me to Bilboa, the capital of Viscaya, situated upon
the little river Nervion, which divides the old and new town, and is
navigable from its entrance at Portugaleta, a small town, to the city.
Bilboa lies in a gorge of hills, and has a damp climate; the vegetation
is luxuriant, the country is most romantic and picturesque, and the
town has a population of some fourteen thousand. Although still in
Spain, appearances have changed, as the Basque provinces of the north,
comprising Alava, Viscaya, and Guipuzcoa, forming the mountainous
angle of the N. W. of the Spanish Peninsula, are the home of the
aboriginal inhabitants who were never subdued or expelled, but were
the first to sally forth from the mountains and beat back the invading
Moors, a feat from which they derived their nobility, which afterwards
extended throughout Spain; they consequently enjoy certain privileges
not granted to any other portions of the country. They are free from
conscription, or, as the Spaniards say, blood-tax, and are exempt from
land-tax, stamps, and a variety of imposts, to which other parts of the
empire are subjected. They regulate their church matters, and construct
their own roads; hence the great and striking difference discernible in
the manners, agriculture, manufacture, and general well-being of the
people.
Tobacco is the great government monopoly in Spain, but here it is
free, cheaper, and of better quality than elsewhere, which affords a
great opportunity for the contraband trade. It is a great annoyance
in Spain to have your luggage searched in every town you arrive at;
mine has already been examined some fifteen times, without leaving
the territory, or having any Spanish property in addition to my own.
The Basques are a strong, hardy, and athletic race; they were invaded
by sea in the year 879 by the Norwegians, and partly overcome, which
accounts for their light complexion and form. The women perform the
work of men. Arriving at the diligence office and giving the name of
my hotel, as an American I felt mortified on seeing my trunk moved off
on the head of a woman; but I soon discovered it was customary, and
submitted.
Their holidays are celebrated with song and dance and ball playing.
On Sunday the public promenade near the Cathedral was filled with
children of all ages, with their nurses, enjoying the dance, while on
the opposite banks of the river, within fifty yards of the Basilica,
were assembled some one thousand grown persons, male and female, of
the middle and lower classes, forming various groups and circles, in
their curious costumes, dancing to the sound of tambourines and fifes,
until fatigued, taking refreshments, or returning to the church, which,
during the month of Maria or May, is a perfect flower garden. Banners
were suspended from cords extending from the church to the refreshment
hall.
From Bilboa to San Sebastian, is another eighteen hours’ ride, through
a most luxuriant, charming and picturesque country. The farms are
small, some only five or six acres--just enough for man, wife and
family to work with spade or prong fork, which turns up the mould a
great depth. The valleys and hill sides are covered with trellised
grape vines, and reminded me much of Switzerland; indeed the people
resemble the Swiss from their hardy habits and attachment to their
country.
A fair was held at Bregada, a town at which I halted; it was a festival
day in the villages. It rained, but not sufficient to stop the dance of
the peasants, who stood in brogues made of skins, tied with strings,
and were cutting it down in the mud, the water oozing out from the
openings. The women, with hair in long plaited tresses and heads tied
round with handkerchiefs, seemed to enjoy it hugely. The language no
one but those bred in the country pretends to understand. Authors
differ as to its history. One asserts that Adam spoke Basque, and
that it was the language of the angels, and was brought pure into
Spain before the confusion of tongues at Babel; another says, that
angelic or not, it is so difficult that the devil, who is no fool,
studied seven years in the Bilboas, and learned only three words. The
use of various tongues in the same empire is a source of great evil,
and causes distrust and jealousy, giving despots great advantage.
The Basques proper are not understood out of their jurisdiction; the
Catalonians are not understood by their neighbors, the Valencians;
the Majorcans have a jargon of their own; the Gallicians are in like
manner mixed up with the Portuguese. The Andalusians do not speak
the true Castillian, consequently it is only in Castile and a part
of Aragon that the language is spoken in its purity; quite unlike
the enlightened republic of our country, where free education and
the liberty of the press, and constant unrestrained communication
absorb all other tongues, and make the English language general and
intelligible through the land. This is the last important town in Spain
before crossing the frontier of France; the distance now to Bayonne
is only eleven leagues. San Sebastian is built on an isthmus under a
conical hill which rises some four hundred feet above the sea, and is
crowned by a castle. The approach is made easy by walks planted with
trees, and here are found the graves of many English officers, to
whom monuments have been erected, with the inscriptions in their own
language. It was the theatre of several sieges between the French,
English, and Spaniards, and the town was sacked and destroyed. The new
town which is of rectangular form, with its plazas, shops, arcades and
tall houses with balconies of uniform appearance and color, looks quite
un-Spanish. It has a handsome beach, and is much resorted to in summer
for sea-bathing. The greatest difference is observable between these
Basque towns and those in the south, for the attractions here are those
of Nature and not of Art. The fruits of the north are found here. Fruit
is abundant in the mountains, and many valleys and points of view on
the road carried me back to the magnificent scenery of the valley of
the Schuylkill and Delaware. I find myself far removed from the orange
groves, but apples are here in profusion, and the tables are served by
the light Chacoli wine and cider of the country. The solid balconied
stone manor houses of the wealthy appeared like fortresses, bearing
their armorial shields sculptured over the portals, for the Basques
pride themselves on being the original nobility of Spain. The law of
primogeniture still exists as in England, but with the modification
that the inheritor may dispose of one half of the inheritance; and as
they are a money-getting and commercial people, the purse is getting
the ascendency over title. Having formerly seen the south and west of
Spain, and in this journey the east, centre and north, I have had a
fine opportunity of judging of this peculiar country, closely bound
together under one form of government, but composed of as different
materials, in point of language, manners and costume, as of soils
and climates, full of provincial prejudices, but loyal to the crown,
unanimous in religion, and opposed to foreign innovations. In private
life civil and polite to the stranger; warm friends, but implacable
enemies. I shall now proceed to Bayonne; thence to Pau, and the famous
baths of the Pyrenees, in the south of France; thence I shall return,
via Bordeaux, Rochefort, La Rochelle, and Nantes, on my way to Paris.