Publisher's Synopsis
This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1897 edition. Excerpt: ... CHAPTER XI. TAR1FA--OCEAN-WASHED CADIZ--PEONES CAMINEROS--ALCALA DE LA GUADAIRA--FAMED SEVILLA OF THE GUADALQUIVIR. I TvOM Algeciras we rode over the hills to Tarifa, A which, like a white seagull, clings to the rocks of the southernmost point of Europe, and looks as if the next gale might sweep it into the boiling straits that half encircle it. It is a romantic old town, with its well-preserved walls and Alcazar, one of the towers of which marks the place where the son of Guzman el Bueno was murdered--el Bueno dear to Spanish hearts because he preferred the sacrifice of his son to opening the gates to the Moorish enemy. According to history, Tarifa on its rock-bound peninsula has withstood gallantly many an attack; but to-day in its indolent southern apathy it is but a picturesque shadow of the substance of the past. From the short reach of beach below the ramparts the last five kilometres into Cadiz to the music of the foaming surf. Cadiz has been inaptly compared in situation with Venice, the only point common to the two being that they are practically surrounded by water. Cadiz is not built upon a mud flat, it is not approached by lagunes, and the wild Atlantic storms, that beat upon the rock-bound peninsula on which it stands, would soon sweep Venice from its foundations into the Adriatic. Perhaps the most noticeable feature of Cadiz is the extreme neatness and cleanliness everywhere seen. It is decidedly the best-kept city we saw in Spain, and the same remark would not be untrue of regions beyond the Pyrenees. The impression is heightened by the ever-ready brush of the whitewasher, which keeps the houses and walls in the most immaculate condition. Such care is the more remarkable because the city is evidently in a state of...