S28 Foreign Notices ; — Spai7i. 



cottages, the size bearing a perfect proportion to the parent building, and 

 mounted on pyramidal stones, in the same manner as slacks are placed in 

 some parts of England to prevent vermin climbing up. In these are kept their 

 stores and provisions, I observed many of them by the road side unlocked, 

 bearing silent testimony to the honesty of this rude people." (vol. i. p. 79 — 81.) 



" The Country around Seville is nearly uncultivated, with the exception of a 

 few gardens immediately at the gates, and some beautifully situated convents, 

 with extensive orange groves. On the right of the Guadalquivir is a beautiful 

 line of height, in the manner of Hampstead, aiFording the most lovely sites for 

 country houses, of which there are very few at present. At a greater distance, 

 on the opposite side of the river, is a tract of the same description, rising above 

 the Guadaira, which flows into the "great river" a little below the city. 

 There are cortijos scattered over the plain around, in beautiful situations ; but 

 at present they are considered by the people to be uninhabitable, from the 

 .attacks of robbers, who render any detached building untenable. To the east 

 there is a partial cultivation, in ascending the Guadalquivir ; but the numerous 

 villages which once existed along the banks are rapidly hastening to decay, 

 from the usual effects of the present system on the agricultural districts, 

 aggravated by the malaria, which is very prevalent on both sides the river. An 

 extensive scheme, impracticable from its enormous expense, has been set on 

 foot for making a canal to Cordova. A part of it, however, is likely to be 

 made, to connect the city with a place higher up, and to supply water for 

 irrigation, Vv^hich will be of great value for the cultivation of the plain to the 

 east of the city. 



" A few families repair to the Sierra Morena during the summer, where the 

 heat is less oppressive, and the air delicious. This plan would be much more 

 general if the roads were better. At present, Cazalla, Constantina, and Ara- 

 cena, which are the principal places, and are quite in the heart of the Sierra, 

 can only be approached on horseback, and even then with difficulty. The 

 remedy is of extreme facility ; no kind of difficulty existing to the making good 

 roads to every part of this neglected country. Game is found in prodigious 

 and almost incredible quantities. The malaria extends some distance from the 

 river into the Sierra ; but when you approach the centre it ceases. Nothing 

 can be more beautiful, or more fertile, than the country in the heart of the 

 Sierra, which is now in a state of utter neglect and despoblado. The soil is a 

 rich mould, capable of producing anything. The townships have large tracts 

 of common land, which are waste, and unproductive ; whilst, from the want of 

 management, the proprietors, who ought to be wealthy without any other 

 possessions, are starving." (vol. i. p. 136 — 138.) 



Agiiculture. — The soil on the great river of Malaga lies under the level of 

 the river. It is exactly like the Campagna of Rome. It seems particularly 

 suited for the growth of tobacco, from which it is said samples have been pro- 

 duced equal to that of the Havannah. 



" After crossing the dreary plains of La Mancha, I descended by the Puerto 

 de Almanza to the Venta del Conde, a new and spacious posada, recently 

 built, like many others, for the purpose of improving the accommodation on 

 the great roads. I hired a mule, and proceeded by a lovely tract, cultivated 

 like the Val d'Arno, to San Felipe, or Xativa of the Moors. The castle, 

 which is one of the finest ruins in Spain, crowns the straggling summits of the 

 last eminences of the great range, which suddenly breaks oflfto the west of the 

 Xucar, and is succeeded by the beautiful huerta, or garden, of Valencia." 

 (vol.i. p. 28.) 



The District of Alicante " is cursed with an aridity which prevents its being 

 one of the most productive spots in Europe. An establishment, to the east 

 of the city, which t visited, and where an individual had introduced some of 

 the Valencian modes of culture, irrigation and artificial grasses, exhibited 

 lucerne, which yielded, they assured me, twelve cuttings in the year. This 

 plant was certainly known, and most probably introduced, by the Moors." 

 (vol.i. p. 31.) 



