the mountains to destroy the population of this town, where the air is as pure, perhaps, as in any spot on the globe. It is visited by invalids from all parts of Spain; not solely from the purity of its air, but from some medicinal springs of great celebrity, which are said to cure all diseases. When the Moors possessed this place, the fame of the baths was so great among the surrounding Christians, that a revenue of five hundred thousand ducats is said to have been raised by giving them permission to make use of them. These waters are sulphureous; and one of the springs, which fills a marble bath, is of the heat of 32 degrees of Reaumur, which is tempered by another spring close to it of cold water, resembling that of Harrowgate in taste.

This place has one large church, most extravagantly decorated with expensive, but tasteless ornaments, and three convents, which we did not visit, though hospitably invited by one of the monks, whom we accosted in the street, and who civilly became our Cicepor amor de los Ingleses."

rone

We visited the castle, now in ruins, because it was celebrated as the theatre of many gallant exploits in those wars, between the Moors and Christians, which preceded the final conquest of the kingdom of Granada. Mr. Southey has familiarised Alhama to the English reader, by his two versions of antient ballads, in the notes of his Chronicle of the Cid.

As the capture of this place was so decisive of the fate of the Moorish power, it may be worth relating, that Don Rodrigo Ponce, Marquis of Cadiz, collected two thousand five hundred horse, and four thousand foot, and marched three days among the mountains, without communicating to his followers any intelligence of his

design. On the third night he informed them, that they were within a league of Alhama, the castle of which must be immediately attacked. They marched in silence, and in darkness; a chosen body applied their scaling-ladders, before the garrison was alarmed, and killed the centinels, who were asleep: the gates were then burst open, and the troops gained the fortress. When day broke Rodrigo was master of the castle; but the city was defended by troops more numerous than his army. The Christians, however, rushed into the streets, and both parties fought with all the fury of desperation from morning till night; when at last the Cross prevailed, and the Moors were defeated, and all put to the sword, excepting one, who escaped by flight, to carry the fatal intelligence to the royal residence. Albohacen, the Moorish king, condemned to death the wretched messenger, and afterwards executed the governor, though he was absent with his permission.

When we left Alhama we travelled four hours, by a gradual descent, over rich cornfields, unadorned with trees, and met with but one very small village in the space of twenty miles. We afterwards reached Almaha, a town which, I should suppose, contains two thousand inhabitants: at the end of it is a royal salt manufactory, which supplies the surrounding country with that article. The salt spring rises on the side of a small river, and its contents are spread in pools about nine inches deep, which present a large surface to the rays of the sun, by the of which the evaporation of the water is alone performed.

power

As the process is slow, the

crystals are formed of a large size. The surplus of the spring runs

runs into the river, which, from the salt taste, it in consequence acquires, has the name of El Saladillo.

The quantity of salt produced at these springs depends on the greater or less quantity of rain that falls; and, owing to the recent copious showers, the brine in the pits, at present, is very weak: at no time, however, is it equal in strength to the springs of Droitwich or Northwich. I was told by the superintendant, that salt could be dissolved in it, a proof that the water is not fully saturated. I guessed, from the number of well-dressed officers I observed, and from the houses built for their residence, that, like all royal manufactories, it is conducted upon an extravagant system, and produces much less revenue than it would do in the hands of a private individual.

From a hill which we ascended, after leaving Almaha, we first saw the plain of Granada, but not the city, because some small hills in the centre of that plain intercepted the sight. This plain is of great extent, and includes within its circuit fifty-two towns. Its length is about thirty miles; and its breadth, in the part we crossed it, about sixteen. It is situated about twelve hundred yards, or nearly three quarters of a mile, above the level of the sea; but being in closed by mountains of a stupendous height, with their tops covered with snow, or hid in the clouds, it has the appearance of a delicious valley.

When we reached the top of the small hills, and were within two leagues of the city, that most interesting object, with the whole plain beneath, presented itself to our view: nothing could exceed

the prospect which then opened upon us: the rich and populous country, well supplied with trees, and clear rivulets descending from the mountains, and artificially contrived to intersect it in every part; the splendid city, extending, in a half-moon, from the river, clothing the gradual ascent of a hill; the streets rising above each other; the profusion of turrets and gilded cupolas; the summit crowned with the Alhambra; the back ground composed of the majestic Sierra nevada, with its top covered with snow, completed a scene, to which no description can do justice; a scene, to view which we had ridden on horseback two hundred miles, over the worst roads in the world, and which we, nevertheless, considered as amply repaying us for the fatigue we had endured, and the filth we had encountered. We rode over the remainder of the plain, till we passed the bridge across the Darro, and entered the city.

This place, however, should be viewed at a distance, and not be too nearly inspected; for the splendid poverty visible within destroys the illusion created by a distant view.

LETTER XXXVIII.

SKETCH OF THE MOORISH DOMINION IN SPAIN.

GRANADA, JAN. 1810.

As I think it will increase the interest you will feel in reading my description of what remains of the Moors in this their last possession in Spain, I shall devote a few hours to the giving you a slight sketch of the origin, progress, and final destruction of their power in the Peninsula.

The Visigoths, who overran this province of the Roman Empire,. speedily lost, in the quiet possession of the country, that warlike disposition which had rendered them irresistible. The simple manners of their ancestors were quickly corrupted by the enervating luxuries which an uninterrupted possession of a fruitful soil, under a mild climate, never fails to produce. Nations under such circumstances must always fall an easy prey to the attempts of the first hardy invader and this is an observation that has scarcely ever been more strongly exemplified than in the period of history which I am about

to notice.

The Gothic kings of Spain, like their successors, held possession of the fortress of Ceuta, the quarter whence invasion was most to be