The Alhambra 



She raised her hand up to her head of long, black, glossy hair, 

 And from its folds undid the rose which Andaluzas wear ! 

 She held the two in either hand — she seemed in doubt to be — 

 She kept the violets herself, and gave the rose to me. 

 I stuck it in my button-hole, she twined them in her hair — 

 There was some room for sentiment, but I have none to spare. 

 Indeed, I could not help but think, upon my homeward way, 

 Were she aware of this affair, what would my say ? " 



But now I must set seriously to work to tell you some- 

 thing about the Alhambra. As we went up into it the first 

 time, I said to Harry that it reminded me of Windsor 

 Castle. He said, " That may be very true, but it won't do 

 to say in our book, at least as an original remark, for Ford 

 has said the same." Indeed, Ford's description of the 

 Alhambra, which I read for the first time after Harry's 

 remark, is so perfect that it leaves little to be said. There- 

 fore, if you want to know about the Alhambra, read Ford's 

 account. 



But, as so minute a description necessarily travels over this 

 massive pile like a telescopic field of vision, creeping bit by 

 bit along the surface, I may as well give you a sketch in 

 coarse outline, that you may catch a rude general idea more 

 easily. 



The Alhambra stands on two toes of the foot of the Sierra 

 del Sol. There is a long mound (about 300 feet above 

 the level of the town), cut off from the mountain by a 

 rocky ravine, and towards the town, forked into the two toes 

 above-mentioned. On the great-toe end stands the Torre 

 de la Vela, backed by all the principal buildings of the 

 Alhambra. On the little-toe end are the Torres Bermejas 

 (something like Windsor Castle's crump end), backed by 

 straggling battlement-towers. 



Between these toes there is a deep corry, full of tall, thin- 



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