SPAIN. THE TAGUS. The Tagus, the largest river in Spain, rises from the mountains of Albarim, upwards of 100 miles from the Mediterranean. It passes by Aranjuez, Toledo, Talavera, and Alcantara; enters Portugal, and passes by Abrantes, Santarem, and Lisbon, about eight miles below which it flows into the Atlantic. Its general course is west by south, and its length about 450 miles. The tide flows up above Lisbon; it is navigable only as far as Abrantes. It absorbs the waters collected between two parallel ranges of mountains; and flowing through a mountainous country, its current is much broken by rocks and cataracts. MONTSERRAT. See Plate, No. 45. It is Montserrat, a celebrated mountain in the Spanish province of Catalonia, is 25 miles NW. of Barcelona. about 24 miles in circumference, and 3,937 feet in height. The summit commands an enchanting prospect of the fine plain of Barcelona, extending to the sea, as well as the islands of Majorca and Minorca, 150 miles distant. Montserrat is remarkable for its form and composition, and also for its convent and hermitages. It consists of limestone, sand, and pebbles, cemented together, and forming a kind of brescia. The rich earth on part of these rocks, being dissolved by the action of rain water, has formed crevices full of trees and aromatic plants. This vegetation is the more extraordinary, as there are only one or two springs on the mountain; the streamlets sometimes seen there seem to proceed from reservoirs formed by rain in the crevices, and running in the bed of porous stones, which lie across the middle. Hence the mountain seems to have been split into masses of the most grotesque shapes, in the form of caves, pillars, cones, and rugged fragments, piled upon one another. On account of this singular form it is called, by the Spaniards, Monte Serrado, or the Sawed Mountain. When seen at a distance it has the appearance of being a work of art, com posed of an infinite number of rocks cut into conical forms, and built one upon another to a great height, like a pile of grotto work, or Gothic spires; but on a nearer approach it is seen to be evidently the production of nature, and each cone seems of itself a mountain. Towards Barcelona it presents a bold and rugged front; but on the west, towards Vacarisas, it is almost perpendicular, notwithstanding which, a carriage road winds round to the convent, which is placed in a sheltered recess among the rocks, about half way to the summit. The river Llobregat roars at the bottom; and the rock presents perpendicular walls from the edge of the water; and above the convent the mountain divides into cones, which form its prominent features, and give it a most picturesque effect. The convent, dedicated to our Lady of Montserrat, has long been resorted to by Catholic pilgrims from various parts of Europe. Sometimes, on particular festivals, 7,000 persons have arrived in one day; the poor being fed gratis for three days, and the sick received into the hospital. There are 14 or 15 hermitages, which are scattered over different points, some of them on the very pinnacles of the cones, to which they seem to grow, while others are in cavities hewn out of the loftiest pyramids. The highest of the hermitages is that of St. Jerome, which is approached by means of spiral steps, hewn out in the rock, on account of the steep acclivity; and near it, in the loftiest station of the mountain, is a little chapel, from which is a vast and splendid prospect. The hermits make avow never to quit the mountain; they are clad in brown, and wear their beards long. Captain Carlton, on his visit to Montserrat, found that one of these hermits, to beguile the wearisomeness of his solitude, had contrived so effectually to tame the birds which frequented the groves surrounding his hermitage, that he could draw them together with a whistle, when they perched on his head, breast, and shoulders, taking the food from his mouth. MADRID. Madrid, the metropolis of Spain, is situated on the Manzanares, near the centre of the kingdom, about 200 miles from the sea, and contains nearly 200,000 inhabitants. It is built on several eminences, in a large plain, about 2,000 feet above the level of the sea, and is the most elevated capital in Europe. The country around presents nothing indicative of the proximity of a great city, being destitute of wood, and even of vines, while most of the villages are in hollows, and the prospect is uncommonly dreary, till one draws near the city, in the vicinity of which there are several royal residences. Madrid is six miles in circuit, surrounded by a high earthen wall. The old streets are narrow and crooked; but many others are broad, straight, and handsome. The private houses are uniform, generally low, with grated windows, narrow and awkward entrances, and have little striking in their exterior. The churches are less remarkable than in some other cities in Spain. The city contains two royal palaces, one of which is of a square form, its walls extending each way 404 feet. Its exterior is elegantly ornamented, and it contains spacious apartments and splendid collections of paintings, and other interesting objects. The principal public walk is the Prado, which makes a distinguished figure in the Spanish romances. In In no city in Europe are loungers more numerous. the evening there are regularly large collections of people, first on the public walks, and at a later hour in the public assemblies. Bull-fights are the favourite amuse ments of all ranks. CADIZ. Cadiz, the principal seaport in Spain, is situated in the southwest part of the kingdom, and contains about 70,000 inhabitants. The harbour is commodious, and the bay of Cadiz is one of the finest in Europe; but the want of good water in the city is a great inconvenience. The streets are generally well paved and lighted, but in some parts very narrow; the houses are high with small windows, and of gloomy appearance; and the city cannot be called handsome. Čadiz is the rendezvous of the Spanish navy, and the centre of the Spanish trade with America. SEVILLE. Seville, situated on the Guadalquivir, 45 miles N. of Cadiz, contains nearly 100,000 inhabitants. It is an ancient and celebrated city, formerly distinguished for its trade and manufactures, and is said to have contained 600,000 inhabitants, but it is now greatly decayed from its former importance. The interior is built in the Moorish style, the streets being often so narrow, that a person, by extending his hands, can touch the houses on each side. The houses generally cover a large space, but towards the street they have commonly a mean appearance, the Moors being accustomed to confine their embellishments to the interior. The cathedral of Seville is a fine Gothic edifice, the largest in Spain, and has a celebrated tower 250 feet high. GRENADA. Grenada, an ancient and famous city in the southern part of Spain, contains 66,000 inhabitants. It has an elevated and romantic situation, partly on hills, and partly on a plain surrounded by mountains. It exhibits, to the approaching traveller, the form of a half-moon, its streets rising above each other, with a number of turrets and gilded cupolas, the whole crowned by the Alhambra, a palace of the ancient Moorish kings, and in the back ground the Sierra de Nevada, covered with snow. But on entering it all this grandeur disappears; the streets are found to be narrow and irregular, and the city decayed. The Alhambra, the great ornament of Grenada, though in a state of decay, yet abundantly indicates its ancient splendour, and commands a beautiful prospect. SARAGOSSA. Saragossa, the capital of Aragon, is situated on the Ebro, in about the middle of its course, and contains 55,000 inhabitants. The city is also approached on the east and west by the canal of Aragon, which extends 100 miles nearly parallel with the Ebro. The country around consists of a vast and fertile plain. The street of Cozo is long and wide, the others are narrow and crooked; the houses are of brick, seldom more than three stories high. The city contains a university, a large Gothic cathedral, and the church of our Lady of the Pillar,' remarkable for its supposed miraculous image, which is in great repute. Saragossa is celebrated for its desperate resistance against the French, in two tremendous sieges in 1808 and 1809. Modern warfare scarcely furnishes an example of more unyielding fortitude than was manifested by the inhabitants on these occasions. The batteries were served by both sexes; and one young and beautiful female, 'the Maid of Saragossa,' whose lover was slain in the siege, performed such deeds of valour, as to acquire a celebrity almost equal to that of the Maid of Orleans. She is eulogized in the following glowing stanzas of lord Byron. "Is it for this the Spanish maid, aroused, Her lover sinks-she sheds no ill-timed tear; What maid retrieve when man's flush'd hope is lost? Foil'd by a woman's hand, before a batter'd wall?" THE ESCURIAL PALACE. Spain has several royal palaces, but the pride of the kingdom is the Escurial, situated in a village to which it gives name, surrounded with barren mountains, about 20 miles NW. of Madrid. It is accounted by the Spaniards the eighth wonder of the world, and is said to have cost more than any other palace in Europe. It was begun in 1557, by Philip II. in commemoration of the victory of St. Quintin, which he gained over the French on the day of St. Lorenzo, or St. Lawrence, the Spanish saint. It is properly a monastery, dedicated to St. Lorenzo, and is |