1811.] 
are circulated by the Bible Society in 
London, which I dare say you have 
heard of: she seemed to be much please 
ed with the possession of it. We talked 
of religion and politics, and one of her 
companions expressed herself vehemently 
against the French, and, in the name of 
her sex, said, that “if the Patriot Army 
should want assistance, the women of 
Algesiras would join them.” 
Our first attention after we got to an 
inn, was to procure mules for our 
journey ; we had some difficulty in mak- 
ing our bargain, and at lJast agreed to 
“give about a dollar a league from Alge- 
siras to Cadiz, a distance of about sixty 
to seventy miles, besides finding wine 
and provisions for the muleteer. 
As it was almost dark before we 
landed, we could not see much of the 
town; we ascended an exceedingly steep 
hill from the water side, which led into a 
spacious square, in the centre of which 
. isa large marble fountain, the corners 
being ornamented with sculpture. ‘The 
houses are white-limed, and large, but 
poor looking, and very few of the inha- 
bitants were to be seen: we were freely 
accosted by numbers of the female sex, 
_ who paraded in groups about the inn; 
and it was the first time I ever saw 
any of them admitted to such a: place. _ 
I understand however that the prac- 
tice is common in Spain, and that 
the frail-ones unhesitatingly enter the 
coffee-houses, éc.. and take refresh- 
ments. Curiosity led us into a_bil- 
diard-room, where some of the meanest- 
woking fellows were engaged in play ; 
but their appearance, and the stench 
of tobacco, oil, &c. was too forbid- 
ding for us to remain long among 
them ; indeed we scarcely saw a, well- 
aressed person in the place, and. we 
heard many complaints of the want of 
trade, and of the suffering of the town, 
since the Spanish troops, who used to 
be quartered here, were gone off, and 
so many men had been drafted into the 
army: the place, they said, was nearly 
deserted, + aaah 
I slept comfortably on a straw mattress 
and trussel bedstead until break of day, 
when our muleteer awoke us, and, after 
a refreshment of a cup of good coffee, we 
got on our steeds, laughing at each other 
to see how We were mounted. 
About a mile from the town we cross- 
ed a river, where a great number of 
females, with their garinents neatly 
tucked up around them, were standing 
in the midst of the water washing linen, 
. Mowzury Mac, No. 214. . 
* 
Journal of a recent Voyage to Cadiz. 
537. 
which is an operation performed by 
beating the clothes on a flat stone while 
iminersed in the stream. 
Not far from hence we passed bes= 
neath an aqueduct’ of about three hun- 
dred yards in length, of no great height 
or width; it appeared to be very old, but 
without any remarkable beauty in the 
structure, The present system of engi- 
neering would have conveyed this water 
froin one hill to the other with much less 
trouble and expence than by erecting 
such an aqueduct. 
The ruggedness of our forbidding road 
now commenced, over hillocks, water- 
channels, and. fragments of rock, each of 
us making the best of his own way, our 
miuleteer leading the van. We soon be- 
gan to ascend the mountains, the mules 
and horses scrambling along the acclivi- 
ties, among the olive, the cork, and the 
ever-green oak; sometimes our advance 
was facilitated by getting into a gulley, 
which time and the rains had formed into 
a deep path, but so narrow that we could 
anly follow each other singly, while our 
feet-were now and then wrenched by 
hitching in the projecting parts of rock. 
Such tracts as these are called ‘“ Passes,” 
and ‘it is vain to seek for a better road 
where none could be found, it was pera 
fectly an “ Hobson’s choice ;” for, if any 
person mounted had been on the descent 
while we were getting up, cne party or 
the other must have made a retreat, as it 
would -have been impossible for a dog to 
find space to pass us. 
On gaining the summit we were enve= 
loped in rain, and we felt it very cold. 
Our descent was not more agreeable to 
our terrified feelings than we had before 
experienced: the mules would now and 
then slide over and between the protu- 
-berances of the rock, on the edge of a 
precipice, overhanging a romantic valley, 
adorned with a variety of ever-greens, 
heaths, broom, &c. while the sides were 
fringed — with _periwinkles,  jonquilsy 
heaths, &c. in abundance; they are also 
covered with quantities of a lichen, 
which in England is valuable, and is im- 
ported from the north of Europe for the 
purposes of commerce, 
We at length got into a plain about a 
league distant from Algeciras, and found, 
by mere means than one, that we had 
been riding upwards of three hours. It 
was now time to have recourse to our 
alforjas. (bags containing provisions) 
which it is necessary for every one wha 
travels in. Spain, to provide himself with 
previous to beginning a journey, or he 
3Z will 
