1831.] Spanish Highways and Byways. 273 



upwards of three leagues in extent, celebrated for the discomfiture of 

 the Cantabrians by the Romans, under Augustus,, and in our times, for 

 the total defeat of Joseph Buonaparte by the British force commanded 

 by the Duke of Wellington. This discomfiture was the death-blow to 

 the French ascendancy in Spain. At the posada, in Vittoria, we were 

 shewn the travelling carriage of Joseph Buonaparte, which he was 

 obliged to quit for a swifter conveyance, in consequence of the rapid 

 pursuit of our advanced troops : it is a plain chocolate- coloured chariot, 

 and of a very unpretending appearance. The host of the posada 

 informed me it was the property of the Duke of Wellington, though I 

 question whether his grace is at all aware of the value of his possession 

 in Spain. 



I left the coach at Miranda, which divides the Province of Alava 

 from Old Castille, and engaged mules to carry us and our baggage to 

 Escaray, which lies about forty miles from the direct road to Madrid. 

 We crossed the Ebro, and winding round a sterile mountain, descended 

 into a fruitful plain, abounding in corn and vines, along which our 

 route lay, until we halted at the small town of San Domingo de Cal- 

 zada. While the mules were feeding, I sauntered towards the cathe- 

 dral, the antique appearance of which attracted my attention. It is an 

 edifice, built in a very remote age, in the simplest style of Gothic archi- 

 tecture. A pious father of the church, taking compassion on me in my 

 forlorn character of stranger, undertook to explain to me the mysteries 

 of the interior. Upon entering the church, that which more particu- 

 larly raised my curiosity, amongst the numerous objects which set forth 

 their claims to the reverence of the faithful, was a large cage containing 

 a white cock and hen. On approaching these, I doubted not, sacred 

 birds, the father made a low genuflexion, and crossing himself, looked at 

 me as though he expected I should follow his example. The cock 

 thrust forth his beak and clapped his wings, intimating, according to 

 my heretical notions, a desire for something more substantial than devo- 

 tion. My companion, however, corrected my error, by informing me it 

 was merely a way the cock had of expressing his satisfaction at the 

 homage of a believer. Notwithstanding this assurance, I was about to 

 tender my homage to the birds, in the shape of a piece of biscuit, which 

 was however speedily abstracted from my hand by the agitated padre, 

 who declared he would not answer for the consequences, if the birds 

 were scandalized with an offering from the hands of a heretic. He 

 further informed me, in the impressive under-tone of one who commu- 

 nicates a fearful mystery, that they were miraculous poultry, and, 

 according to the records of the cathedral, could be proved to have 

 existed in that church upwards of 400 years ! " How much longer," con- 

 tinued my guide, " I will not take upon myself to say." " There is some 

 doubt then beyond the time you mention ?" I observed. " Yes," 

 returned the unsuspecting padre, " seeing that there is a flaw in our 

 records about that time j but there is every reason to believe they have 

 lived here a thousand years !" I expressed a wish to learn the history 

 of poultry thus marked by the especial care of Providence ; in reply to 

 which my guide informed me, " that in the dark ages of the pagan Goth, 

 before the light of Christianity had illumined the heathen, the spot on 

 which the town of San Domingo now stood, was the site of a palace, which 

 in former ages belonged to one of the Gothic commanders. It happened 

 that a convert to the newly-received faith of Christianity had incurred 

 the resentment ' of the powerful heathen, who, without considering it 



M.M. New Series VOL. XL No. 63. 2 N 



