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THE NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC MAGAZINE 



SPANISH C]1I1.I)R1{X 



lieve that this stone lace-work is merely 

 a stucco cement, molded and fastened 

 upon wood. Very . beautiful are the 

 dados of enameled tiles, or asulejos, and 

 the folding doors are marvels of Arab 

 carpentry. The horseshoe arcades of 

 the Saloon of the Embassadors are the 

 most graceful and ornate in Spain. 



Granada, long a decaying provincial 

 city, is now alive with trolley cars and 

 electric lights, and tourists are so com- 

 mon here that the small boys have even 

 learned a few English words with which 

 to coax away small coin. But the herds 

 of goats, and an occasional cow — an eco- 

 nomical milk-delivery system — give a 

 pastoral touch to the town. One sees 

 thesame thing at Naples, and the Nea- 

 politan milkman has even discovered a 

 unique way of increasing profits. Under 

 his coat he puts a hot-water bag, with a 

 long rubber tube running down his coat 

 sleeve, and, as he milks, he injects into 

 the_ pail that percentage of aqua pura 

 which milkmen of all ages and peoples 

 have found desirable. 



Granada lies at the point where the 

 Darro and the Xenil, running down from 

 the mountains, unite as they enter the 

 fertile plain of the Vega. Above the 

 city rise the foothills — one crowned by 

 the Alhambra — and beyond them the 

 snow-capped ridges of the Sierra Ne- 



vada, 10,000 feet higher. Gra- 

 nada has, therefore, a singu- 

 larly beautiful situation, and 

 it enjoys a mild and agreeable 

 climate. The romantic inter- 

 est of its history completes 

 the spell. Here was the last 

 Saracen court in western Eu- 

 rope; here Isabella of Castile,, 

 with the money loaned her by 

 a Spanish Jew, financed the 

 Genoese adventurer's fool- 

 hardy quest; here Ferdinand 

 and she, in that same mo- 

 mentous year of 1492, decreed 

 the expulsion of the Jews 

 from Spain ; and here their 

 ashes now repose, in the great 

 Renaissance cathedral which 

 they built in gratitude for 

 their triumph over Islam. 



Strolling first up the Darro Valley,. 

 between lines of whitewashed houses,, 

 glaring in the spring sun, one soon reaches- 

 the gypsy quarter. These nomads, whom. 

 George Borrow sketched so intimately, 

 have settled here in cave-dwellings among 

 the aloes and Indian figs, and issue forth 

 to meet the tourist with guitar and invi- 

 tation to a dance. Beyond lie bare hills, 

 from which a wonderful view may be 

 gained. 



The Alhambra looms up over the val- 

 ley, commanding the city and the nearer 

 plain ; like the Parthenon, its strategic 

 value led to its undoing. But, ruinous- 

 though it is, the Alhambra remains the 

 best western reminder of Saracen culture 

 and magnificence. Its Myrtle Court,, 

 with a sunny pool, leads to the main 

 enclosure, the Lion Court, off which open 

 the gorgeously decorated rooms which 

 Irving has immortalized. Every detail 

 is worth noticing; the dados, with their 

 varied tile designs ; the ornamental 

 friezes, in which verses, often from the 

 Koran, border intricate arabesques; the 

 beautifully fretted arches and the deli- 

 cate Moorish windows. What remains. 

 is so exquisite that one hardly dares- 

 imagine its original grandeur. 



The trip from Granada to Gibraltar is 

 now easily made by railway ; but no one 



