The most agreeable are the Glori eta, a charming garden, planted with flowers and trees, where a military band plays every evening; the Alameda, at the entrance to the city; the Botanical Garden; and the Queen's Garden, noted for the beauty of its fruits and flowers. Some fine houses round the city possess excellent gardens.

Valencia is a place of commercial importance, and has a fine harbour. Very curious and primitive public vehicles are here used, called tartanas, a kind of covered cart without springs.

Valencia was the first city in Spain where a printing office was established. In 1808 the inhabitants exhibited great spirit in rising against the French. Three hundred French were massacred at the citadel, where they had taken refuge. Marshal Moncey besieged the place, but was compelled to raise the siege.

In 1812 the city was retaken by Marshal Suchet, who was named the Duke of Albufera, from a lake in the neighbourhood. The Valencians signalised themselves in 1835 by an insurrection; in 1836 by a fresh outbreak; in 1838 by a sanguinary tumult. In 1843 Valencia began the military insurrection which restored the kingdom to the Queen-mother, and gave to the chief of the movements General Narvaez, the title of Duke of Valencia,

450 miles; 1st class, 365.60 reals; 2nd, 278.0 reals; 3rd, 169.40 reals.

(For description of route as far as Alcazar de San Juan, see Routes 140-1.)

LCAZAR de San Juan

(92 miles). Here a

line branches off to Alicante and to Valencia. Argamasilla de Alba (108 miles). The village of this name is some distance from the station. The place has received some notoriety from being reported as the spot where Cervantes wrote the first chapters of his celebrated romance. The house was осси pied some years since by a printer of Madrid, M. Ribadeneira, who turned it into a printing-office, and issued from thence a very fine edition of "Don Quixote." We obtain a view of the mountain range of the Sierra Morena as we approach

Manzanares (123 miles), (Hotel: El Parador), population 9,250). This is a pleasant, well, built town, with a modern Gothie stone church. (A branch line turns off to Ciudad Real.)

The country around is very delightful and fruitful. Extensive vineyards will be seen on the approach to Val de Peñas (1344 miles), population 11,500. This town is celebrated for the wine which bears its name.

La Venta de Cardenas (167 miles). This neighbourhood is famed as being the scene of Don Quixote's exploits-where he libe

rated the galley-slaves, and underwent his penance.

Linares (192 miles), population 17,000). The town is eight miles distant from the station. Here are extensive sulphur, lead and copper mines belonging to the state. The population principally consists of those engaged in the mines. It has a fine Roman fountain. The English cemetery was consecrated by the Bishop of Gibraltar, in 1866. Several Roman ruins and some

mutilated sculptures are to be seen in this neighbourhood. Tourists who wish to visit the town and mines should do so from

Baeza (197 miles), population 11,500. The town of Baeza is eight miles distant from the station and two miles from Linares. It is on the site of an old Roman town called Beatia Bacula. The parts worth noting are its old walls and Aliatares tower, the deserted Franciscan convent and the Cathedral. It is said to have been the birthplace of St. Ursula.

Andujar (226 miles), population 12,110. This town is on the River Guadalquivir. Passing several places of no interest we reach

CORDOVA (2761 miles), (Hotels: Suiza, Rizzi), population 43,000. It is situated on the right bank of the Guadalquivir. The walls which still surround the city, flanked with square, round and octagonal towers, are the work of many ages.

This was the nursery and favourite shelter of learning, art and science, when Europe was sunk in darkness and barbarism. Few cities have a more delightful site. It is the chief town of one of the five provinces which form the Captaincy-General of Andalusia, and the see of an archbishop. Its most important build

ing is the MosQUE, as the Cathedral is still called. When the Mohammedans established themselves in Spain, Abd-el-Rahman determined to erect in the capital of his empire a mosque which should surpass in magnificence all former erections, and he chose for the purpose this site, which was originally that of a Roman temple to Janus.

The exterior has the appearance of a vast fortress. The interior contains a great number of columns of various colours and of the most costly description. The space is so large, the columns so numerous, that there are 19 parallel naves from north to south and 36 rows of columns from east to west. The magnificent pulpit is so spacious that it has been converted into a chapel. Out of 1,096 monolithic columns which remain in the mosque, 115 were brought from Nimes and Narbonne in France, 60 from Seville and Tarragona, 140 from Constantinople, and the remainder from Carthage and other cities of Africa. They are of jasper, porphyry, verdantique and other choice marbles.

Cordova possesses two alcazars. The Old Alcazar is now only a mass of Roman and Moorish ruins. The New Alcazar was built by Alphonso VI., who wished to imitate the Moresque style of building. In the middle ages, the latter was the abode of the Inquisition; it is now used as a prison.

Some of the churches deserve a visit. The collegiate church of San Hipolito contains the jasper monuments of the Kings Ferdinand IV. and Alphonso XI. Santa Marina is one of the oldest Gothic churches of Andalusia. San Pedro, more ancient still, was a Christian temple towards the close of the Roman rule and under the Goths.

tiquities there is a beautiful Roman temple. Carmona commands a view of an extensive country covered with olive-trees, and producing abundance of wheat of the best quality.

SEVILLE (356 miles), (Hotels: "HOTEL APPENDIX.") Population 152,000.

see

Admirably situated on the banks of the Guadalquivir, in the midst of a fertile plain, this ancient city is defended by walls more than a league in circumference.

Seville ranked the first of the four Andalusian capitals-the most extensive city in the kingdom; and it was a favourite saying of the old Andalusians, that whoever had not seen the famous city had not seen a wonder.

Under the sway of the Moors, it attained its highest degree of prosperity and power; and the surrounding country had the appearance of one vast garden.

Seville was the chosen residence of one of the first conquerors of the Goths-the celebrated Muza, who laid the foundation of its splendour and prosperity. The modern city is divided into thirty parishes; it has eighty-four convents, and twenty-four hospitals. Seville has retained its ancient character-its narrow, winding streets and fine houses presenting more the appearance of a Moorish town than many others in Spain.

The modern houses, of two or three stories, have a pretty appearance, painted in light blue, pale yellow, pale rose colour, or grey. Most of them have miradores, projecting glazed balconies, ornamented with flowers and elegant drapery.

Many of the habitations have patios, or inner courts, which are generally separated from the street by halls paved with white and black marble, and closed in, from

the halls, by exquisitely-worked iron grilles. All round the patio is a colonnade, above which is a gallery which forms the corridor of the dwelling. A fountain plays in the centre, and across the court an awning is spread, as a protection from the rays of the

sun.

The Gate of Triana is a beautiful structure of the Doric order, with coupled columns. It was the principal entrance to the citythat at which the kings were received when they visited Andalusia.

PLAZAS. The Plaza Nueva, or Plaza de la Infanta Isabel, is a large square parade, where there is scarcely any protection from the sun, except that which is afforded by some orange trees. The Plaza san Francisco, or Plaza de la Constitucion, at the end of the Calle de la Sierpe, is more animated. In the centre is an elegant white marble fountain. On this square, forming an irregular quadrilateral, is the ancient front of the Convent of the Franciscans, the grand building of the Casa de Ciudad, and the Audiencia. The Plaza del Duquenamed after the large and splendid palace of the Duke of Medina Sidonia, which occupies the whole of one side-is a shaded and much

frequented promenade. The Plaza de la Magdalena is planted with trees, surrounded with stone seats. The Plaza de la Encarnacion is n

public market. The Plaza del Triunfo is an irregular space, bounded by the three most remarkable edifices of the city-the Cathedral, the Alcazar, and the Lonja. The cross-way of the Campana, is to Seville what the Puerta del Sol is to Madrid. The city is supplied with water by means of the fine Roman aqueduct, called Los Caños de Carmona, from Alcalà El Guadaira.

The CATHEDRAL is the finest and

largest in Spain. It occupies the site of the successive temples of Astarte, Salambo, and Mahomet. The original mosque, on the site of which (398 ft., east to west, by 291 ft. north to south) it is built, was taken down at the beginning of the 15th century, and the cathedral was completed in 1519. Both externally and internally, it is a museum of fine art, in spite of repeated spoliations-Campana, Murillo, Vargas, the Herreras, and other painters of the Seville school, and Montañes, Roldan, Delgado, and other eminent sculptors, having contributed to adorn it. It consists of five aisles; the two at the sides being railed off for chapels; the centre nave is magnificent, and its height is 145 ft. at the transept dome. There are ninety-three windows in the building, of which the painted ones are among the finest in Europe. At the west end of the centre aisle lies buried Fernando, son of Columbus. One of the most remarkable objects in Seville is the GIRALDA, or great Moorish tower attached to the cathedral, This belfry, unique in Europe, was built in 1196, by command of Abu Jusuf Yacub. The original tower was only 250 ft. high, the additional 100, comprising the rich filigree belfry, was added in 1568, by Fernando Ruiz, and is very elegant. On grand festivals it is lighted up at night. The pinnacle is crowned with El Girandillo, a female bronze figure of Faith, holding the Labaro, or banner of Constantine.

When Seville surrendered to the victorious Christians, the Moslems, dreading to behold the desecration of the most sacred of their edifices, stipulated that the mosque and its tower, the pride of the city, should be razed; but fortunately their request was not

complied with, and the Giralda yet continues the pride and boast of the "Sevillanos." It was from the gallery of this great tower that the muezzins used to summon the faithful to prayers. There are nine doors: that of San Christobal has a colossal fresco of St. Christopher above it. The Coro (choir), is in the middle of the central nave. The high altar is surrounded by a grille of exquisite workmanship. The silleria comprises 127 stalls, in the Gothic style. The organs attract attention by their immense size and elaborate ornamentation.

To the Cathedral is attached a library, containing 20,000 volumes collected by Hernando Columbus, son of the great navigator. The remains of his father were first deposited in the convent of St. Francisco, at Valladolid, where he died; but in the Cathedral is a plain marble slab, which bears the following inscription.

"A CASTELLA YA LEON,

MUNDO NUEVO DIO COLON.

This tablet covered for a while the ashes of the great mariner, during their removal from Valladolid to Havana, where they have since lain,

The Capilla Real is entered under a lofty arch. In it are the monuments of Alphonso X., Queen Beatrix, wife of St. Ferdinand, and that of the celebrated Maria Padilla, favourite of Don Pedro the Cruel. Before the altar is placed, in a shrine, the body of St. Ferdinand. This shrine is a monument of bronze, silver, gold, and crystal. The body is to be seen, clothed in armour and crowned, and is in good state of preservation. The curtains which conceal it are withdrawn three times a "To Castile and to Leon, Columbus gave a new world."