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body of his yeomen, armed in like manner, and by a band of archers with bows made of the tough English yew-tree. The earl turned to his troops and addressed them briefly and bluntly, according to the manner of his country. Remember, my merry men all,' said he, 'the eyes of strangers are upon you; you are in a foreign land, fighting for the glory of God, and the honor of merry old England.' The earl waved his battle-ax over his head: 'St. George for England!' cried he; and to the inspiring sound of this old English war-cry, he and his followers rushed down to the battle with manly and courageous hearts. They soon made their way into the midst of the enemy; but when engaged in the hottest of the fight they made no shout or outcries. They pressed steadily forward, dealing their blows to the right and left, hewing down the Moors, and cutting their way with their battle-axes, like woodmen in a forest; while the archers, pressing into the opening they had made, plied their bows vigorously, and spread death on every side." Lord Rivers was the first to penetrate into the suburbs, though Ponce de Leon, and others of Castile's warlike chivalry contended with him for the distinction. He was struck in the face by a stone from the battlements, and was deprived of his two front teeth-a loss, however, of but temporary importance, because, not long afterward, our friend Richard III. took off the head which had contained them.

I had procured a copy of Irving's "Conquest of Grenada," and "Tales of the Alhambra," at Malaga; and while we were waiting at Loja for breakfast and change of animals, I turned to his siege of Loja, from which I have made the preceding extracts. It is something to read of gallant exploits in language that becomes them, and upon the very spot they illustrate. You feel a

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personal interest in the results, as you fancy yourself an actor in the scene.

It was at Loja too that Gonzalvo de Cordova, el Gran capitan, whose deeds romance has scarcely been able to exaggerate, sought for awhile retirement from the envy of Ferdinand, who, like other mean spirits, could never forgive the services he was unwilling to recompense. Posterity, more just than kings, has awarded Gonzalvo merited honors; and with the Cid he divides the homage and the heart of the country he served and aggrandized.

One great feature of natural beauty wanting to what I had seen of Andalusia is trees. There are scattered trees, it is true, but no forests of majestic oaks, lofty pines or tall cedars; no clumps decorating the brow of hills; no groves shading the fountains. The dryness of the climate may have partially produced this destitution, but, I was told, it is mainly owing to the prejudice of the population, who look upon trees as a shelter to the pilfering birds. From the appearance of the neg lected condition of the soil on this route, I could easily have supposed it was the intention of the inhabitants to starve out these depredators—so uncultivated and barren every thing looked around me. The earth exposed to the heat of a powerful sun, with no trees to temper its scorching rays, or invite humidity, looks burned and sapless, empty ravines and dried-up streams attesting the sources of a former fertility. In matter of artistic beauty the earth without trees is like a hairless human; however handsome the features otherwise, the face of the earth as the face of man unsurmounted with their natural decoration, seems vapid, arid, inconsequent.

I speak not now of the loftier mountains of Spainwhether of Andalusia, or other parts. They are mostly covered with forests, which furnish wood for char

coal, the principal fuel used in the country, as well as ship timber. Indeed, there is nothing nature has given man, unattainable in some portion of Spain.

Leaving Loja to its historic and natural associations, we proceeded onward to Lachar, stopping at one or two ventas, most wretched in appearance and accommodation. They contained but one room, which served as kitchen, eating-room, bed-room, pigsty and stable -men, mules and hogs, all "cheek by jowl." The fire-place was in the middle of the room, and around it the different denizens had collected. There was not a mouthful of any thing that hardly a hog would eat, to be procured. Every one was, indeed, expected to bring his provisions with him, or to fast. Some people of the neighborhood had come in on our arrival, bringing certain kinds of cake, of which those of our party who had not breakfasted at Loja, or wanted lunch, partook; and loaves of bread, very white, as bread in Spain always is. There was aguardiente and some very poor wine, which those who desired to taste had an opportunity to regret. I was glad not to have encountered such ventas, when agitated by hunger, or in search of a bed. It is easier to endure the absence of things of which we have no present need.

Without accident or incident we reached the village of Cacia, through a deep gorge or funnel of the mountain, at the bottom of which it is situated; and thence from a rising hill we descried the Vega of Grenada, spread out like a green carpet at the feet of the Sierra Nevada.

CHAPTER XXIX.

THE VEGA OF GRENADA-MY ARRIVAL VISIT TO THE ALHAMBRA-"EL NIETO" GRANDSON OF THE ALHAMBRA-THE INFLUENCE OF IRVING UPON ITS PRESENT CONDITION.

WHAT a superb prospect opened on our sight! Here was that glorious Vega of Grenada, whose beauties have been the theme of every tongue-the wonder of every eye!-dotted over with gay villages and scattered habitations, laughing with rivulets and sparkling lakes; covered with the verdure of the orange, the lemon, the fig, almond and pomegranate, which seemed to start spontaneously from the luxuriant carpet beneath, hemmed in by gently swelling hills, whose slopes bore the vine and hardy olive-all glowing in a transparent atmosphere, which lent new charms to objects so lovely in themselves. While peak above peak, and pinnacle above pinnacle, the Sierra Nevada cuts the northern sky-clear and well defined, yet mysteriously distant. What crowds of associations, what throngs of ideas came rushing upon my mind! All that I recollected of Florian, of Chateaubriand, and our greater Irving, rose up before me. Here was the battle-ground of the two faiths! Here Moslem and Christian displayed their equal chivalry, and rivaled each other in courtesy no less than in arms. Here too Moslem contended with Moslem in civil strife, and drenched the soil with fraternal blood. Here the gallant Abencerage-unsus

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picious of his hastening doom-pranced his Arabian steed; and here the treacherous Zegri, distrusting the open field, sought to entrap his unwary brother. Here Ferdinand displayed the banners which had recovered all else of Spain, and which were soon to float over the Alhambra; and here Boabdil, the Unlucky, took his final farewell of a kingdom he had shown so much recklessness in acquiring, and so little capacity to defend. I was treading on classic ground, where every hill had its story, and every pass its legend, which had fertilized the fancy of the poet, the dramatist and the historian, and which-while associated with all that is noble in daring, grand in execution, and rich in fancy-presents features of natural interest no other place can boast.

The fatigue and désagrémens of the journey disappeared with these scenes and the emotions they called up—and I traversed the plain some five miles unconscious of the jolting of the carriage, entering Grenada by the delicious paseo on the banks of the Xenilwhence crossing a stone bridge, built by General Sebastiani while Grenada was occupied by the French, we passed along the Carréra de las Angustias, a grand and spacious street bordered on either side with walks as wide as itself, decorated with trees and flowers, and margined outwardly by lofty, well-built edifices. Deflecting to the right, we reached almost immediately a noble-looking plaza, upon one side of which stood the theater, and at right angles with it the Fonda "Leon de Oro," where I put up.

I had left Malaga at seven in the evening, and it was three P. M. next day when we arrived at Grenada—a journey over a broken and dusty road in a convulsive vehicle of some twenty hours' duration, mostly performed fasting-for my breakfast at Loja had rather stimulated than satisfied my appetite. My first thought,