17 NOVEMBER 1849, Page 15

41'1'1"h" P BOOKS.

• AtIVISIt-Alf'S ANDALIIrIA.* SIB Slibject of these l spirited and characteristic volumes is a sojourn in indalucia and a pretty thorough exploration of the province from the frontiers'of Portugal tO the boundaries of La Mancha and Murcia. Of course the celebrities of the province were visited,—Cadiz, Seville, Gra- nada, and Cordova, as well as some other towns ; but these do not form the most attractive part of Mr. Murray's tour. That consists of his rambles through the less frequented parts of the province, his journey- jugs over the Sierras, his occasional residence in the smaller towns, and his adventures among the 'roadside yentas the substitute for hotels in Spain. On the great main roads "bad is the best " way; while the car- riages that traverse them resemble those of the seventeenth century. The majority of the oross-roads are impassable for wheel-carriages ; even where they can be used, they are so rare that Mr. Murray's mule started so violently at the sight or one, that he, sitting carelessly, was thrown. What Spain was in tbe- days of Don Quixote and Gil Bias, such she is now. The traveller mak-es his way on horseback or muleback ; he puts up at the oldfitshioned hostel; he encounters the company be meets in the old novels; on the road the wayfarer is joined by any casual passenger be overtakes, or who overtakes him, just as was done in the days of Gil Bias. Mr. Murray doubts about the alleged danger from robbers in Spain, with proper precaution and courage; but, though he escaped him- self, he gives several particulars of the robberies of others, which prove that the brigand element still exists to throw the charm of risk and ro-- mance over travelling in Spain. The great change is ecclesiastical : the confiscation of the property of the convents has banished those once dis- tinctive features of Spanish life, and the Inquisition no longer has its officials. The priest exists, but scarcely the nun ; the ghostly power has altogether departed. A prejudice against heretics remains, but it is as much a prejudice against the foreigner as against his creed. The govern- ment has changed but little ; if anything, it is for the worse—there is more cruelty, and even less energy.

In such a country there is no lack of fresh topics, or of daily occur- ring characters and adventures for a traveller who can make use of them; and Mr. Murray is well fitted for the task. He is acquainted with the language, familiar with the character and usages of the people; he tra- velled as one of themselves, in the national costume; and he seems to have visited Spain before his present excursion, during the busy times of the war between the Carlists and Christinos. Without such qualifica- tions as Mr. Murray possessed, the traveller in Spain must miss the most interesting portions of his journey, those which relate to the character and manners of the people. He may see, but he cannot understand ; nor indeed could he well make his way through the districts traversed by Mr. Murray without an interpreter. The Spaniard is seldom master of any tongue but his own.

Mr. Murray is well qualified for presenting his materials, as well as for collecting them. He has a quick eye for the peculiarities of landscape or external objects, some taste in art, and a lively, agreeable, dramatic style,—which, were it employed on triter subjects, might perhaps degene- rate into writing, but being occupied on topics so fresh as those which form the staple of his volumes, only produces a slightly artistical effect.

Although Mr. Murray's descriptions of scenery convey a lively and accurate idea of the reality, we shall take our extracts from parts de- scriptive of life or adventure.

On the Western or right bank of the Guadalquiver lies a woody, track called the Coto of San Lucar, in which game is preserved, and deer-shoot- ing takes place,—or, if we may judge from the Spanish practice when Mr. Murray was present, where deer are shot at. Our traveller and a keen sporting friend were invited to join a party of Spanish sportsmen ; who proceeded in the fashion occasionally practised in the Highlands as a treat to our Prince Albert, beaters driving the game towards the hunters. There is some novelty in the scenery and concomitants ; but Spanish sporting seems a tame affair, and not productive of results. Mr. Murray also made a pilgrimage to Palos and the convent of La Rabida, memorable in the history of Columbus, and in the company of the descendant of Martin Alonzo Pinzon, one of the great navigator's companions. The convent where Columbus was sheltered is now in a fair way of demolition; possibly

by this time destroyed, after having stood, little damaged, for nearly four centuries.

"Passing forward, a cloister is entered, in which an inscription bears witness that it was repaired and restored in 1804: a vain memorial, for since the expul- sion of the monks, and the confiscation of their convent by the Government, there are no traces here but those of neglect and pillage. It was a scene of sordid de- etrnetion. Since the Government had taken no care of it, the whole neighbour- hood had assumed the right to remove and abstract whatever might repay their trouble: the very roofs were torn down, and the floors gone, for the sake of the beams that supported the tiles; and even without that excuse the hand of wanton dilapidation was everywhere visible. On the right hand of the patio, facing the entrance, lies the way to the chapel; which is an edifice of modern construction. The choir was destroyed, and a marble slab at the foot of the altar had been torn up by sacrilegious hands, in the hope of finding treasure hidden beneath. Their act disclosed a vault, in which, probably, reposed the dust of the pious founder, before it was scattered by unhallowed curiosity; for on descending into it,and grop- ing about, we led our handirupon the mouldering fragments of a coffin. From the chapel we made our way into another cloister, and, ascending a staircase, dan- gerous from the damage it had received, gained the corridors into which opened the cells of the monks. Among them is shown one in which Columbus ie said to have slept during his visits to the convent. If the tradition be true, then had the fathers consulted well the feelings of the wanderer. "Its windows look out upon the ocean—that wide ocean so full of mystery and dread to the common minds that understood him not, and a trackless waste to the contented knowledge of his day ; but across which the daring eye of kiis genius be- held a path as straight and bright as that east upon the waves by the sun sinking in the West. This must have been his chamber; and tradition must be right in appropriating the next one to his faithful and influential friend, Fray Juan Perez

* nm cities and Wilds of Andalucia. By the LionourableB. Dundas Murray. In two volumes. Published by Bentley.

de Marchena. The floors of this, as weR as of many eels adjoining, had vanished before the Vandalism of which we saw so many traces."

Mr. Murray wintered in San Lucar ; and his sojourn enabled him to see more of the manners of the people than a passing traveller. This is his account of the exclusives of that provincial place ; but, muttito no- mine, as munh exclusiveness might be matched at home, without the " blue blood."

'At the house of Don J— P—, a testae was held every ermine at which the greater part of the aangre azul in San Lucas never failed to aasetnfile. They of the sangre azul, or ' blue blood,' are the aristocracy of the place; o4by virtue of the ancient tide that flows in their veins, assume a tone and superiority that is, of course, highly distasteful to those whose blood is not so blue as that of the ' Cristianos viejos y raucices.' Accordingly, society is divided into a -higher and lower circle, toe • eta categoria' and the • beim categeria': the former are the exclusive of the place, few in numbers, but of noble descent, and thoughts- playing leas hauteur than most men in their position, the cause of dare heart- burnings and jealousies among the ' baxa categoria,' which embraces every shade of the vulgar rich. The two circles seldom come into contact, except at enter- tainments giveu by the former: such festive meetings, however, are rare, and even were they more frequent, would have little effects in narrowing the distauoe by which the divisions are separated; the tertulia still exists to iuterpose an ef- fectual barrier against intimacy. "Few, I imagine, need be informed that a tertulia is a conversazione of a kind peculiar to Spain: in the metropolis and the larger towns it embraces a uumerous assemblage of acquaintances as well as friends; but in the smaller provincial towns it is open only to the latter and the members and relatives of the family at whose house it takes place. It is not every family that holds a tertulia; in San Lucar there were only two who received their friends in this trimmer: neither is it given every evening, although this is frequently done•' but genenil:y on etated nights of the week—sometimes only once in that period of time. Oa these oc- casions it is expected that he who has the entrée should present himself, if only for a few minutes. To absent himself without cause, would give umbrage to me family, as it would imply that their society had lest its attractions; but by a visit, however short, he is understood to express his sense of its agreeability, and at the same time need plead no excuse fur its brevity, that being always ascribed mother engagements for the evening. "These remarks being premised, let me ask the reader to picture to himself a spacious saloon, whose lofty roof of dark wood is dimly seen by the light of a couple of' lamps. The walls are simply whitewashed, (this being done for the sake of coolness in summer,) and display neither ornament nor painting, except one at the upper end of the ruom—a crucifixion by Zurbarau, that master of dark colouring crossed by broad gleams of light. For reasons which will be appre- ciated in a warm climate, the furniture is of the simplest description, and judged by our standards of cemfint, scanty and incomplete: a cabinet, an antique table or two, with a host of modern chairs of the lightest materials, standing up against the walls, scarcely if at all encroach upon the dimensions of the apartment; the aspect of which at a first glance is somewhat cold and cheerless. The Boor of brick at this season is bidden by matting, and in the centre is placed a brazier of glowing charcoal; round this runs a ledge of wood, upon which, after having drawn in our chairs, we place our feet, and literally sit round the tire. As each tertuliano enters, he bows to the lady of the house, addressing her and her female friends with the salutation of • A los pies de usted,' (At your feet.) The shaking of hands is unknown in Spain, and even among friends is never seen, except on extraordinary occasions, such as the meeting after a long separation, or on the departure for a distant journey. Ou quittieg the room the visitor says with a loud voice, • Sefiores y sefioras, clue lo pasen hien,' (Gentlemen and ladies, fare- well); or perhaps, 'May you remain with God"; to which they respond, Vaya ustea con thus,' (May you go with God.) " The narrative has many little adventures, that need nothing but con- nexion with a continuous story, and the exercise of some influence on the fortunes of the dramatis personm, to serve for a novel of adventure as they stand. The following dispute only wants the artistica' treatment we speak of' to make a capital "scene" in a novel. "Mine host of the posada in Baena was the possessor of a big and burly frame, a loud voice, and bloated features, expressive of a dogged and brutal nature. His portrait, unattractive as it is, occasionally rises before my memory; for it came to pans that between the original and myself there occurred a dispute, which, commencing, like those of Homer's heroes, with a war of words, terminated at last in an appeal to arms on both sides. The cause of the fray was the very matter-of fact occurrence of an exorbitant bill. Ou all OCCasionsl had satisfied the demands of innkeepers without a murmur, and I would recommend travel' its in Spain to do likewise: slier all, their extortion generally amounts to a few pesetas only, the saving of which is more than counterbalanced by the expendi- ture of time and temper, inseparable from the half-hour's wrangling and vocifera- tion necessary to recover them. Mine host of Baena, however, most needs add to his bill an insolent manner and a bullying tone, which were far harder to di- gest than his outrageous charges. Had he but indulged in a little of the suaviter in raodo, one might have submitted peaceably to the fortiter in re; but when a man confronts you with brows as black as thunder and enforces his demands with a swagger and strange oaths, he looks so like the robber who cries 'Stand and deliver!' that you speedily get into the best possible humour for knockiug him down, or being knocked down yourself. Accordingly, no Parliamentary guardian of the nation's interests ever cut down a Ohmmeter s budget more ruthleeslytban I did the items of the • cuenta 'submitted to me; during which process' my mires, by a stroke of generalship worthy of his namesake Gonsalvo de Cordova, euc- ceeded in withdrawing with bag and baggage, so that I was left unencumbered to cover the retreat.

Well,' said the impatient host, lashing himself into a fury, as he foresaw a storm brewing; • are you not done?'

" • There,' I replied, tendering him exactly one half of his demand, which yet was a sum at which a native traveller would have shrugged his shoulders. A frightful change came over the man's countenance as I did this. Without a word, he struck my hand from below, causing the silver to fly in all directions, and then rushing to the doorway, planted himself there. While ins features were convulsed with passion, he swore with horribly blasphemous oaths, that my blood should stain the navaja in his hand before I departed without rendering him the last farthing of his just demands. On hearing his voice, now raised to the loudest pitch, there jumped from a aide-door a sort of clerk employed in the house; whose red eyes' unterniehed with lashes, gave him disgusting air of dissipation. This worthy also drew his navaja, and ituitated, as well as he amid, the furious gestures of his master. Fur myself, I merely put my hands into the pockets of my jacket, and, stepping up to the two, said as quietly as I could to mine host, • Amigo, I must pass; and if you will not suffer me, 1 elan be then obliged to gammon my friend& •••• What-friends?' said the other, with a scornful laugh, and a Sourish id' 'big blade befoseroy eyee.- --

-

, " • Tlaelie; I re,pticd, taithdrawing aland from each pocket., and abowing to his stonished gaze'fhat each grasped a pocketspistol. -"Now', 'there' i something Particularly unpleasant in seeing a loaded pistol pinned at iindlepetion Withho friendly intent; and I could -understand, therefore, how .such's,sight *ought upon any host's feelings a magical alteration: he lortketiiagtntst.,:ltie,braggart- air vanished, and lastly his navaja found newsy

back to the folds ofeltrie.girdle. His confederate did not take a second look at the little implements, but bolted into the escribauia as quickly as he had emerged, and began to scribble away as if his life depended upon the rapidity of Lis pen's moven ents.

' "Vamos, vamos,' said his master; get 'us drop this jest, it-has lasted long .tenough.'. .4,," )Belt so,' I replied; 'and now, I presume, you are satiefied2' '1,!.

feed t This brawl is still more dramatic and various ; the (Infertile:Oa pted for capital tableaux on the stage' the more active part'ffir a' "situation." Properly followed up, it would make a good opening to a drama. "I found the, place filled with a throng of country-people; principally young folks, and all, both-men and women, arrayed in holyday attire, On the earthen .fioor, three or four soldiers, and as many dark-eyed partners, were dancing the fandango and rattling their castanets to the strains of a guitar, which the per- former accompanied with his voice. Making my way through the crowd, I peeeed into an inner chamber: here sat the seniors of the assemblage, on benches ranged round Hie' well. As it was a festive occasion, the wine-cup did not pats untested, and the consequences were observable in a manifest increase Of '..Andalueian lo- anacity.and gesticulation. I blessed the good fortune which had thrown a fair in my way: for, in anticipation of the concourse to be assembled here, the veleta,: had laid ma store of viands; and, for once, I could procure sornethieg better than the everlasting bacalao. Bread, eggs grapes, and wine were placed on a table about the size of a chess-board, and of theheight of an ordinary chair: seated be- fore this, upon a stool proportionably low, I proceeded to make my repast in the corner allotted tome.

"The mozo of the yenta was a tall youth, whose office, as cup-bearer to the gathering, had brought his lips into frequent contact with the generous fluid he dispensed: the consequences were apparent in his rolling eye .flushed cheeks, and the air of consummate self-importance with which he itischa;ged his duties. One of the guests called him to fulfil some order to which he paid no attention; the summons was repeated in an angrier tone,' for the speaker was himself excited by the libations he had swallowed, and accompanied-his order with•a threat. "'Who dares to threaten me?' cried our move, as be stood rather-pietairesquely in the middle of the floor, his-arms raised above his head to their fuel stretch, in +support of ajar that might.contain about a gallon of wine, sod had the top of his heated cranium for an unsteady pedestal

" Ye!' thundered the other is reply.

"The word was hardly littered ere the jar was launched at the head of the speaker; who, fortunately for its safety, ducked, arid escaped the missile, which emote the wall behind him with a great crash, and poured a deluge of blood-red liquid over his neck, shouldem, and white vestments. In a trice he sprang up, a gory figure instead (gall clean and trim little man; and, rushing upon the mozo with a howl of rage, the twain grappled together in the true worrying style. The rest of the company as quickly jumped to their feet, and, throwing themselves upon the pair, endeavouredto part them: but in trying to effect-this, -they only impeded each other's efforts; and for the next two minutes a mass ot' tenor twelve human beings might be been tugging, hauling, and straining at each other's throats, apparently for no conceivable object, and all the while reeling about the room. To complete the effect of the scene, the terrified hostess revolved round the struggling group with a sort of dancing step, uttering doleful 'Ayes de ml!' and putting up many a prayer to the Virgin. Ail-this watt, highly diverting to me, until the mass surged into my corner, and, upsetting the-table, scattered my breakfast on the floor: then, indeed, the whale affair aesumed.quite a different aspect, and I thought it shameful that people could not meet in a yenta without engaging iu unseemly brawls, and, what was worse, depriving me of my repast. At last the fray was brought to a close: the originators of it, -being drawn abender - by two or three peacemakers, acre held apart at a few paces from each other, and stood breathing hard from their exertions, and with countenances less wrath-

fed than before. - "' Are you friends?' was the inquiry made them by some of the bystanders, in the way in which that question is put to children who have squabbled and fought with each other= Are you friends now ?'

,Seatora said he, seizing my hand, meal shaking it In a vary frieedly way: giye you this ,advice, Sailor. yon are g,uing 'mean::: beware of keepers there; they are the greatest, roaties in all the neighboarhoode en patting me on the shoulder, suffered the to depart.'"'

- "The pair intimated their assent; and then being released, rushed once niece into each other's arms, not to renew the combat, but to embrace as brothers.

" Mahe per el I' (I will die for him,) shouted the little man, as he caughe up his tall antagonist, and swung him round and round in a fit of ardent .affeetion: then the company resumed their seats, and peace was reestablished. "As we wended our way from the yenta, I questioned say muleteer as to what be would have done had the brawlers used their navajas, and the life of one beee'

• taken.

" would have made off as quickly as 'possible,' said he; 'and the same would._ all the others have done.'

" And would you have left the man weltering in his blood?' " Without doubt,' he replied.

"There was reason in this According to the old law of Spain, be who was found in the vicinity of a murdered roan was liable to be considered 88 the guilty person, and had to prove his innocence ere he recovered his liberty. From this at followed, that as as soon as a man fell wounded in some broil, everybody fled front the spot—the innocent bystanders as well as the murderer—lest the justicla should bear them to prison: even these who might have wished to act the part of good Samaritans were deterred by like apprehensions front drawing-nigh ; MI that the stricken wretch not unfrequently perished from want of .timely assistance. I am not aware if this law has been altered, but the feeling- it engendered yet ex- ists, and people arc rather shy of meddling with the bleeding work of assassins or brawlers."