After Proceeding About Six Leagues, We
Reached The North-Eastern Extremity Of The Bay Of Cadiz, And Passed
By Saint Lucar, An Ancient Town Near To The Spot Where The
Guadalquivir Disembogues Itself.
The mist suddenly disappeared,
and the sun of Spain burst forth in full brilliancy, enlivening all
around, and particularly myself, who had till then been lying on
the deck in a dull melancholy stupor.
We entered the mouth of "The
Great River," for that is the English translation of Oued al Kiber,
as the Moors designated the ancient Betis. We came to anchor for a
few minutes at a little village called Bonanca, at the extremity of
the first reach of the river, where we received several passengers,
and again proceeded. There is not much in the appearance of the
Guadalquivir to interest the traveller: the banks are low and
destitute of trees, the adjacent country is flat, and only in the
distance is seen a range of tall blue sierras. The water is turbid
and muddy, and in colour closely resembling the contents of a duck-
pool; the average width of the stream is from a hundred and fifty
to two hundred yards, but it is impossible to move along this river
without remembering that it has borne the Roman, the Vandal, and
the Arab, and has been the witness of deeds which have resounded
through the world and been the themes of immortal songs. I
repeated Latin verses and fragments of old Spanish ballads till we
reached Seville, at about nine o'clock of a lovely moonlight night.
Seville contains ninety thousand inhabitants, and is situated on
the eastern bank of the Guadalquivir, about eighteen leagues from
its mouth; it is surrounded with high Moorish walls, in a good
state of preservation, and built of such durable materials that it
is probable they will for many centuries still bid defiance to the
encroachments of time. The most remarkable edifices are the
cathedral and Alcazar, or palace of the Moorish kings; the tower of
the former, called La Giralda, belongs to the period of the Moors,
and formed part of the grand mosque of Seville: it is computed to
be one hundred ells in height, and is ascended not by stairs or
ladders but by a vaulted pathway, in the manner of an inclined
plane: this path is by no means steep, so that a cavalier might
ride up to the top, a feat which Ferdinand the Seventh is said to
have accomplished. The view from the summit is very extensive, and
on a fine clear day the mountain ridge, called the Sierra de Ronda,
may be discovered, though upwards of twenty leagues distant. The
cathedral itself is a noble Gothic structure, reputed the finest of
the kind in Spain. In the chapels allotted to the various saints
are some of the most magnificent paintings which Spanish art has
produced; indeed the Cathedral of Seville is at the present time
far more rich in splendid paintings than at any former period;
possessing many very recently removed from some of the suppressed
convents, particularly from the Capuchin and San Francisco.
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