and plundering everything; a trade he had learned under Massena in the flight from Santarem. He was sent to his last account by a bullet at Moskowa, Sept. 7, 1812.

del Union and el Leon de Oro. Alicante, a purely mercantile place, is much addicted to smuggling, especially on the wild coast near Benidorme; hence the secret of its many patriotic pronunciamientos. The moment liberty is

public till is robbed, the authorities dispossessed, and vast quantities of prohibited goods introduced : the steamers, French and Spanish, which touch here, are said to do business in this line. It takes about 12 hours to pass in them between Valencia and Alicante.

At the Fuente de la Higuera, which is an important strategic point, Jour-proclaimed, license is the rule; the dan, Soult, and Suchet, after the rout of Salamanca, met with their retreating forces, and held a council of how best to escape into France; when Ballesteros, by refusing to obey the Duke's a foreign generalissimo's-orders, opened the way for them to Madrid (Disp. Nov. 1, 1812), a feat blinked now-a-days by his countrymen. From this place the road branches off to the 1.; it leads over the Puerto Almansa to the high road to Madrid (see Rte. 6), while to the 1. another runs to Xativa by Moxente. Montesa lies to the 1.; this was the chief residence of the commander of the order of this name, founded in 1319 by Jaime I., and into which the Templars, persecuted by Philippe le Bel and Clement V., were received. The magnificent castle was injured by an earthquake, March 23, 1748. For the history of this order consult Montesa Ilustrada,' Hippolyto de Samper, 2 vols. folio, Valencia, 1669.

ROUTE 37.-ELCHE TO ALICANTE.

--

The plain, about half way, is divided by a ridge, and the pass el Portichon; Alicante -Lucentum Hala, Arabicè transparent lies under its rockcrowned castle, and is not seen till closely approached. It is defended by a strong outwork, el Castillo de Fernando, which was built in 1810 by the advice of the English, who paid for it, like the Cortadura of Cadiz; and like Cadiz, Alicante being also defended by our fleet and men, never was taken by the French. Gen. Montbrun came up to the crumbling Moorish walls, received a few English shots, and skulked back again. Now, Madoz (ii. 670), blinking this, claims the glory for the Spaniards!

The best inn is el Vapor; then Posada

Alicante is the residence of the English consul, Captain Barrie, an obliging, intelligent gentleman. Many English merchants live here, who import salt fish, bacalao, and export wine, almonds, coarse raisins—the lexias of Denia -and potash for the linens of Ireland. The wines, rich, with a rough taste combined with sweetness, are used to doctor thin clarets for the British market. The celebrated Aloque, the best of them, ought to be made from the Monastrel grape: however, the Forcallada Blanquet and Parrell are used indiscriminately, and hence it is said arises the name Aloque—“A lo que saldra." The fertile Huerta is best seen from the tower at Augues. The olives, especially the grosal, are fine; the carob-trees numerous and productive. The farms are very Moorish, fenced with hedges of canes-arundo donaxor tied up with the esparto: that of the Marquis de Peñacerrada is worth visiting. The Huerta is irrigated from the artificial Pantano de Tibi, 4 L., to which every one should go; and to the E. by the Azuds of San Juan and Muchiamiel. This work, as the word sudd denotes, is purely Arabic; the compuertas, or hatches, are ingenious. Here the succession of crops never ceases. There is no winter; one continual summer reigns in this paradise of Ceres and Pomona; but the immediate environs are arid and unproductive; and the swampy coast towards Cartagena breeds plagues of flies, fevers, and dysenteries, which the immoderate use of the Sandia or water-melon, encourages.

Alicante itself is a dry healthy spot,

66

Alicante, in March, 1844, was the theatre of Don Pantaleon Boné's abortive insurrection; this caricature of Boney' was shot in the back, with 23 officers, without even the form of a trial, by Roncali, who soon rose in consequence to be made Count of Alcoy and war minister.

ROUTE 38.-ALICANTE TO XATIVA.

with a mild, equable, and warm cli- mayor, has a gallery of some 1000 mate, where high winds and wintry pictures, all warranted originals: casi colds are all but unknown. The sum- todos originales, says Madoz (ii. 654): mer heats are increased from the radia-sed caveat emptor. Consult, for local histion caused by the white limestone tory, Lucentum, ó la Ciudad de Alicante, rock which shelters the N. and N.E. of A. Valcarcel, 4to. Val. 1780. the town; the mean annual temperature is 63 7°, and of the winters 52.1°. The many English merchants long settled here, have improved Alicante as a residence for our invalids; the place contains about 19,000 souls; has a circulo, or club, and a fine new theatre, and a poor Museo: its trade is no longer what it was. This key of Valencia rose in consequence of its castle, which protected it from the Algerine pirates: Philip II. added works, employing the Italian engineer Cristobal Antonelli. The rock is friable; the black chasm was blown asunder by the French in 1707, after Almansa, when General Richards and his garrison were destroyed by the mine. The castle is in poor order, and not worth seeing. The city bears for its arms this castle on waves, with the 4 bars of Catalonia. The under town is clean and well built; the port is a roadstead rather than a harbour; it lies between the Capes La Huerta and San Pablo. The view from the molehead is pretty; a fixed light is placed there 95 feet high, which may be seen at a distance of 15 miles. The Colegiata is dedicated to San Nicolas. Our "Old Nick," the patron of Alicante, is or was the portioner of poor virgins, and a model of fasters; for, according to Ribadeneyra (iii. 28), when a baby this good child never, during Lent, sucked before the evening, and only once on Wednesdays and Fridays.

The first stone of his church was laid in 1616 by Augustin Bernardino: the fine white material came from the Sierra de San Julian: the noble dark portal was built in 1627. If this church were not blocked up by the Coro, it would be a superb specimen of the Herrera style. The houses of the bishop, of the Calle de Altamira, and del Ayuntamiento with its façade and miradores, may be looked at. The Marquis del Angolfa, in the calle

The high road to Madrid passes through Monforte and Yecla: a coastroad is contemplated to Valencia by Denia. There are 2 routes to Alcoy, and thence to Xativa, 18 L.: that to the r. passes Busot, with its excellent mineral baths and wretched accommodations, and 2 L. on reaches Xijona; built like an amphitheatre on a shelving hill, with a fine old ruined castle. It contains 4800 souls, and has 2 good streets looking over its gardens. The honey is delicious, and much used in making the celebrated mazapanes, marchpanes, turrones de Alicante (Tvgos), the almond - cakes or cheeses - the French nourgat. The Spanish women, as those in the East, are great consumers of dulces or sweetmeats, to the detriment of their teeth, stomachs, and complexions; they are the solace of the fair whether imprisoned in convent or harem-sweets to the sweet: but the goddess of beauty herself, Aphrodite, had a liquorish tooth, and piled honey and sweet wine on her rugov (Ody. r. 68): cheese-cakes, therefore, are a classical cosmetic. The road to the l., however, is to be preferred, and must be ridden after 2 L. the mountain passes are entered, whence amid almond-groves to the Pantano de Tibi, a magnificent dyke, made in 1594, which dams up the torrents of the gorge of the hills Mos del Bou y Cresta. The traveller should walk on the top

of this vast wall or breakwater, 150 | them on horseback and covered them feet high and 66 feet thick: above ex- with flattery, ribbons, and titular rank, pands the lake-like reservoir, below which cost, and were worth, nothing. bold masses of warm rock, with here These rambling missionaries, being and there elegant stone pines. Hence, selected from almost subalterns, thus amid rocks of reddish marbles to the found themselves by the sport of forstraggling Tibi, which hangs with a tune converted into generals and amMoorish castle on an arid hill to the bassadors, and the heads of these noI. lies Castalla, in its pleasant Hoya. bodies became turned with new and Here, July 21, 1812, while the Duke unused honours; they caught the nawas defeating the French at Sala- tional infection, and their reports bemanca, did General de Lort, with 1500 came inflated with the local exaggeramen, utterly put to rout 10,000 Spa- tion and common nonsense. They niards under José O'Donnell, who, not were not altogether uninterested in choosing to wait for the arrival of the keeping up a delusion which secured Anglo-Sicilian army, formed the usual the continuance of their employment, plan of surrounding the French, in and prevented their relapse into prisorder to catch them in a net; he, as tine insignificance; and their rhapsousual, was caught by these Tartars, dies became the sources of information for De Lort opened the ball by order- on which Frere, the English ambassaing a few bold dragoons to charge the dor, relied; and like him, our poor bridge of Biar, where the Spanish cabinet turned an inattentive ear to the artillery were strongly posted, and prophetic doubts, and stern, unpalatable overwhelmed them instantly. Their truths of Moore and Wellington, who whole army ran away; then, had not saw through the flimsy veil of docuColonel Roche, with a handful of Eng-mentos and professions, and knew the lish, manfully checked Mesclop at Ibi, Alicante itself must have been lost.

Roche entered that city and was received with almost divine honours. Maldonado (iii. 277) ranks this saving San Roque with Paulus Emilius and the heroes of the classics, which indeed he was, when compared to the Blakes, Cuestas, and Nosotros, who, in the words of the Duke, "were the most incapable of useful exertion of all the nations that I have known, the most vain, and at the same time the most ignorant of military affairs, and above all, of military affairs in their own country" (Disp., Aug. 18, 1812).

This Boeotian nook of Spain was the favoured resort of another sort of nondescripts, the military agents sent to Spanish juntas by the British Government, the Greens, Doyles, &c., fortemque Gyam, fortemque Cloanthum. While the names of Hill and Picton are unknown, the Murcian echoes heavily repeated those of Don Carlos and Don Felipe, and others who here played the first fiddle; being the distributors of English gold and iron, these worthies were worshipped by the recipient Spaniards, who soon discovering their weak side, set

real weakness and utter incapability of self-defence. The Duke placed small reliance on these missions, and was anxious that they should be discontinued, or at least put under his orders (Disp., May 3rd, 1812), as he well knew that they did more harm than good, by fostering foolish hopes and absurd expectations both in Spain and in England.

At Castalla, April 13th, 1813, another battle took place between Suchet and Sir John Murray, in which neither commander evinced a particle of talent; both were inclined to retreat, which fortunately Suchet did first, as Soult did at Albuera, and thus Murray, like Beresford, remained master of the field. The French now claim this " affaire" as their victory, while the Spaniards call the triumph theirs, omitting all mention of the English (Paez, ii. 87). Ibi is a red, warm-looking hamlet, nested amid its olives, and overlooked by a castle. Alcoy lies 2 L. up the valley. This day's ride is full of Italian scenery, stone pines, cypresses, and figs in autumn drying on reed stretchers, amid terraced groves of almond-trees. Alcoy-Parador de las

Diligencias-is built in a funnel of the 13 L. to Xativa (Jativa, for the former hills, on a tongue of land hemmed in name is now restored). by 2 streams, with bridges and arched viaducts. The N.E. side is Prout-like and picturesque, as the houses hang over the terraced gardens and ravines. This town, of some 25,000 souls, is busy, commercial, and filled with coarse woollen dyeing and paper manufactories. Here is made the papel de hilo, the book Librito de fumar, which forms the entire demi-duodecimo library of nine-tenths of Spaniards, and with which they make their papelitos, or economical little paper cigars. The peladillas de Alcoy, or sugar-plums made of almonds, are excellent. Alcoy, being in the centre of many roads, is well placed for trade and military strategies. Suchet held it as the key of the district. The medicinal botany is very rich, and Moorish herbalists come here even to this day. Alcoy is filled with new manufacturing buildings, a novelty seldom seen in inland Spanish towns, where, as in the East, decay is the rule, and repairs the exception; the lower classes have an air of sullen unwashed operative misery; they wear | also "shocking bad" round hats, which give them a pauper look; nor are the courtesies and salutations of high-bred Spain so frequent-so much for the civilization of the "Mill and Beaver." The grand day to be at Alcoy is April 23, the festival of St. George, the city patron, who appeared here in 1257 battling against the Moors. Sham fights en costume are celebrated. On the 24th the Alarde, or Review, takes place, when the discomfiture of the infidel is completed-few sights in Spain are more national, mediæval, and Moorish. A longish L. more, skirting a pleasant river, leads to Concentayna, Pop. about 8500, another industrious picturesque town, walled, and with a grand square Moorish tower called el Castillo. Notice the weeping willows, and Capuchin convent. Some pictures by Juliano are much admired here, and the rich tomb of Diego Benavides. Beyond, the Sierras de Mariola and Muro rise above a plain studded with villages. Crossing the ridge to the 1. is Adsaneta, and thence

The Posada de las Diligencias is very good, so are the baths, and refreshing after the long ride; while the reader of Ariosto may fancy himself in the identical hotel where the fair Fiametta, its Maritornes, played her prank on Giocondo and his companion after they had quitted Valencia "ad albergare a Zattiva" (xxviii. 64). Xativa, or San Felipe, was the Roman Setabis, celebrated for its castle and linen. The fine handkerchiefs so praised by Pliny and Martial, and all the fashion at Rome, were considered equal to those of Tyre, from whence the art was introduced. An ancient inscription records this Phoenician foundation: "Sætabis Herculeâ condita diva manu." Bochart (Can. i. 35) derives the name from the Punic setibuts tela byssi, "the web of fine flax.” It was also called Valeria Augusta by the Romans, and Xativa by the Moors, from whom it was taken in 1224 by Jaime I. He termed it one of the eyes of Valencia, being the key to the S., as Murviedro was to the N. Don Pedro, in 1347, made it a city, and gave it for arms a castle with his band gules and the four bars of Catalonia: for the old coinage, see Florez M.' ii. 555. Xativa, in the War of Succession, was stormed by the French, under Asfeld, with overwhelming forces. Defended by the people and "only 600 English," it afforded a type to Zaragoza, every house was defended with "unrivalled bravery and firmness." After 23 days' struggle the last holds surrendered; then Asfeld proceeded to butcher," the priests and trees were not sufficient for his victims." Berwick next ordered the city to be razed, " in order to strike terror into the minds of the people," and as the very name of Xativa grated in his ears, it was changed for San Felipe. The English soldiers continued to hold the castle until starved out; they then surrendered on honourable conditions, every one of which were shamefully violated by the victors" (Mahon, vi.).

Xativa now contains about 13,000

souls. The rivers Albarda and Gua-ling like sails. The health-impairing damar dispense fertility over the cultivation of rice is the only drawHuerta: the climate is delicious, the back. To the rt. extends the lake of plain, a paradise of flower and fruit. Albufera and the blue Mediterranean : The Colegiata, dedicated to San Feliu Valencia glitters in the middle distance, (see Gerona), was built in 1414, and backed by the towers of Murviedro (Sasince doricised, has a fine dome and guntum). an unfinished portal. At the altar of San Gil is blessed, every Sept. 1, the holy hinojo, or fennel, to be carried round to all houses: see 6 Viaje Literario,' i. 10, by Villanueva, Mad., 1803; a useful volume as regards the ecclesiastical antiquities of Xativa. The Reja de la Coro, in black and gold, and the pink marble Baldaquino of the altar, deserve notice. - [N.B. The marbles of Xativa are rich and infinite; visit the quarries at Buixcarro, in the Serra Grosa, 3 L. N.E.]-Observe Nuestra Señora de la Armada, a singular virgin of great antiquity; also Nuestra Señora de Agosto, rising from a sarcophagus supported by gilt lions. The Gothic façade of the Hospital is very rich and remarkable: in the Calle de Moncada observe the palace of that family, and the ajimez or window divided by thin, lofty marble shafts, which is quite Valencian. The Alameda, with its palm-trees, is shady and Oriental. The Ovalo with its fountain is delicious; water indeed abounds, being brought in by two aqueducts. A new Plaza de Toros has been raised on the ruins of the Carmen convent. In the suburbs ascend the zigzag cypressplanted terraces of the Monte Calvario: the view is ravishing; the grand castle is here seen to the best advantage. Next ascend to this castle, taking the Campo Santo in the way, and the hermitage, San Feliu, said, under the Moors, to have been a Mosarabic temple: observe the horseshoe arches, the ancient pillars and jaspars, inside and outside, and the Roman inscription, near the font, "Fulvio L. F." Near the convent El Mont Sant is a Moorish cistern. The castle is of a vast size; the Torre de la Campana at the summit commands the panorama of the garden of Valencia, which, with all its glories, lies below. The fertile plain, green as the sea, is whitened with quintas spark

In this castle were confined the Infantes de la Cerda, the rightful heirs to the crown, but dispossessed by their uncle, Sancho el Bravo, about 1284. The Duke of Medina Celi is their lineal descendant. Here also did Fernando el Catolico imprison the Duke of Calabria, the rightful heir of the crown of Naples. That ill-fated prince surrendered to Gonzalo de Cordova, who swore on his honour, and on the sacrament, that his liberty should be guaranteed. No sooner did the prisoner touch Spain than every pledge was broken. This is one of the three deeds of which Gonzalo repented on his deathbed: but Ferdinand was the real culprit; for, in the implicit obedience of the old Spanish knight, the order of the king was paramount to every consideration, even in the case of friendship and love (see the beautiful play of Sancho Ortiz'). This code of obedience has passed into a proverb-Mas pesa el Rey, que la sangre: and even if blood were shed, the royal pardon absolved all the guilt-Mata, que el Rey perdona. The king, as the fountain of all honour, could salve over dishonour. The Lealdad of the old hidalgo was like the Avay of the Greek drama, a fatal necessity. Here also was confined the infamous Cæsar Borgia, also a prisoner of Gonzalo's, and to whom also he pledged his honour: the breach of this pledge was his second act of which he repented when too late. The Borjas were an ancient family of Xativa, and here in July, 1427, was born Rodrigo, afterwards Alexander VI. The Borgias long monopolized the simple see of Valencia, and when Alonso de Borja became its bishop, in 1429, it was raised to be an archbishopric by Innocent III., and Rodrigo was named by his uncle, Calixtus III., the first primate: when he too became pope, July 9, 1492, he appointed (Aug. 31) his