ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



959 



ment of Spain as in former pe- 

 riods. This officer informed me 

 that he had commanded the cavalry 

 of the rear-guard of the duke de 

 Infantado's army, when it had 

 been obliged to retreat, and had 

 lost all its artillery. * My men 

 fought desperately,' said he, ' and 

 twice drove back the enemy ; but 

 there was a great fault somewhere, 

 for the whole of the guard under 

 my command, appointed to cover 

 the retreat of the artillery, did not 

 exceed five hundred men.' — ' You 

 are a Frenchman said' I, • and 

 have some means of judging, tell 

 me candidly what is your opinion 

 of the probable issue of the present 

 contest ?' — ' I am certainly of 

 opinion,' replied he, ' that if the 

 Spaniards are supported by Eng- 

 land, they can never be conquer- 

 ed,' Knowing how difficult it is 

 ever to eradicate from the mind of 

 a Frenchman, the idea of the glory 

 of his country, I felt inclined to 

 attach some weight to this opi- 

 nion.'' 



" Having determined to pro- 

 ceed to Granada, and being per- 

 fectly satisfied with the lesson 

 which 1 had received as to travel- 

 ling with carriers, I resumed my 

 favourite method by post, for which 

 purpose 1 procured a licence. 



" On the 26th February, at mid- 

 day, I left Cordoba, my guide, as 

 usual, having my portmanteau fas- 

 tened before him. Instead of cross- 

 ing the Guadalquivir by the bridge, 

 we went above the town, where 

 the banks were pleasantly adorned 

 with trees, and passedoverinalarge 

 boat. From the opposite bank 

 the road begins immediately to 

 ascend, and, for nearly two leagues, 

 leads over a country of open downs, 



sprinkled with fields of corn. In 

 looking back, Cordoba appears 

 far more interesting than when re- 

 viewed from any other point from 

 which I had yet seen it. It ap- 

 pears closer and more compact ; 

 its churches, houses, walls, and 

 towers, are more happily blended ; 

 and from these heights we look 

 down upon it, as if seated in the 

 bottom of a valley, screened by 

 mountains, and by the side of a 

 noble stream. After losing sight 

 of Cordoba, I was struck with the 

 appearance of the surrounding 

 country, which presented rich 

 fields of green corn scattered here 

 and thefe, without the vestige of a 

 human habitation near them, or, 

 indeed, in sight, in any direction ; 

 one might almost have been tempt- 

 ed to regard them as the sponta- 

 neous productions of the ground. 

 At the distance of three leagues 

 from Cordoba, we reached El Cor- 

 tijo del Genovese, or the Genoese 

 Farm, a single miserable hut, some- 

 what removed from the road, with 

 Btables, out of which we were pro- 

 vided with very indifferent horses. 

 " Having proceeded about a 

 league, we crossed the Badajocillo, 

 now a considerable stream, and 

 which we were obliged to pass 

 three times in the space of little 

 more than a league. It flows here 

 through a fertile and extensive 

 fiat, bounded by low hills, and in 

 a tolerably good state of cultiva- 

 tion. At the head of this flat, and 

 three leagues from El Cortijo, 

 stands Castro, of which we have 

 a fine view in our approach, seated 

 on a small rocky height, which ap- 

 pears to block up the valley, and 

 break the bed of the Badajocillo, 

 which flows round its bases. The 

 walls form nearly a regular ob- 

 long. 



