1803.] 
manding eminence; but these works are 
now gone to decay. 
' After rising up from Fraga, the road 
stretches for 2 couple of leagues across a 
tract of dry bare hills, with a few habita- 
tions in the bottoms, to the village of Al- 
caraz, where it descends into a rich and 
beautiful plain, well cultivared, pianted, 
and peopled, extending a great way to the 
northward along the west bank of the ri- 
ver Segre; which river soon reached, 
and travelling for three leagues more in 
this delicious tract arrived at Lerida, dis- 
tant five leagues from Fraga. 
erida is situated oo the slope and 
aJong the foot of asmaii insulated full, 
washed on the east side by the river Segre 
the antient Sicoris, over which isa stoue 
bridge, in length 400 feet, consisting of 
seven unequal arches, having been re- 
paired at various periods. 
The summit of the hill, which, although 
affording very little room, was probably 
the wh le space occupied by the antient 
Mlerda, is still covered with the old cathe- 
dral and other buildings, with fortifica- 
tions of different ages and modes of con- 
struction; aud it corresponds perfectly with 
the description given of it by Lucan in 
his Pharsalia, lib. 4 v. 11. 
Colle tumet modico, lenique excrevit in al- 
tum 
Pingue solum tumulo; super hunc fundata 
vetusta 
Surgit Herda manu: placidis prexlabitur 
undis 
Hesperios inter Sicoris non ultimus amnes, 
Saxeus ingenti quem pons amplectitur arcu, 
Hibernas passurus aquas 
In another passage (lib. 4. vy. 144) the 
poet stiles llerda as lofty in its situation; 
and so it is ii considered with respect to 
the plain extending to the south, west, 
and north, en its own side of the river, 
as well as tu the east on the opposite side: 
for alihough the sammit of the bill may 
not be elevated more than 350 feet above 
the river, yet for several wiles in all di- 
rections there is no ground of an equal 
elevation. 
_ The sides of this hill are on all parts 
steep, and on the northern parts inacces- 
sible; but on the south side the slope is 
the most gentle, so that it is occnpied by 
part of the present town: and from the 
middie of the west side, a spur projects 
into the plain, narrow towards the sum- 
mit of the hill but widening as it goes 
down, and of easier access than the neiph- 
bouring parts on either hand. 
This spar of the. hill is a characteristic 
feature of Uerda, as will appear from a 
e ! 
Account of recent Travels in Spain. 
221 
consideration of the account of Czsar’s 
operations at this place, contained in the 
Coinswentaries af the Civil Wars, begin- 
ning at cap. 37. 
Although the Segre in the neighbour- 
hood of Levida flows in general, as Lucan 
says, with a gentle suweam, because there 
it has extricated itself from the mountains, 
and has space to enlarge. its channel 
through the plain, yet it 1s subject to sud- 
den risings either after rains or the melting 
of the snows in the Pyrenees, where it 
has its sources. When Iwasat Lerida 
in the middle of October, the Segre was 
much swelled by the rains; and it fell 
above two feet perpendicular, in the two 
days I remained on its banks, 
Both above arid below Lerida, the ri- 
ver is divided into severai channels en- 
closing sandy islands, of which some are 
bare and others are covered with giass 
and bushes, but none of them safe trom 
occasional inundation, 
The body of water is much diminished 
inthe present times by drains opened fur 
the purposes of irrigation on each side, 
from the river itself, as well asfrom some 
tributary streams, particularly from one 
which falls into the Segre two leagues 
above Lerida. The drain or canal from 
this stream, the Noguera, is taken up six 
leagues from the town and carried along 
the side of the hills which bound the plaiu 
to the westward, and whichare washed on 
the opposite side by the Cinca already 
mentioned. The canal discharges itself 
into the Segre, tour leagues to the south- 
ward of Lerida: having at different points 
of its course collateral cuts to allow the 
water to go off, in order to be conducted 
round the fields and gardens with which 
the plain of Lerida is covered. 
This plain, or as it is called the huerta 
or garden of Lerida, is in general elevated 
100 feet above the Segre, but varied by 
some flat emimences to the southward of 
Terida. One of these eminences is si- 
tuated about 500 yards from the foot of 
the bill of Lerida, its eastern base having 
probably once been washed by the Segre, 
although at present they are separated by 
a narrow slip of lowland, at times covered 
by the river. This eminence is much 
lower than the summit of the hill, being 
level and of a triangular shape, bounded 
by steep sides on the east and south; but 
the side facing nogth-west, sinks down 
with a gradual slope to the plain. 
About midway between this eminence 
and the hill of Lerida is a semicircular 
promontory of the great plain, advancing 
towards the Segre, but in fact more ele- 
vated 
