BOOK defend it at least against the natives of the island; for the CXXXIX. latter are so much oppressed by taxes, that finding it im Manners. Costume. Marriages. possible to pay them, they are apt to revolt. The country round the town is marshy but fruitful in cotton; the rest of the island abounds in a sort of pitch obtained from the Aleppo pine (Pinus Alepensis), and which along with the produce of the salt works forms the principal branches of commerce. Ivica contains besides some scattered habitations that have been dignified with the name of villages. If the inhabitants are rude and uncultivated, it should be considered that they have been long degraded by superstition and poverty. Their songs consist of one or two modulations; the monotonous sounds of the flagelet, accompanied with the tambourin and the castanet make up all the music that they use in their wild and ungraceful dances. The costume of the peasants consists of a short coat and tight pantaloons that reach to the middle of the leg; they were a red woollen cap; their spardilles or shoes resemble in form the wooden shoes worn by the French, they are made of matweed, and attached by cords of the same substance. The dress of the women is more elegant, they were a large round hat a little inclined on one side, a handkerchief that covers the neck and descends to the waist, but open behind in order to display their long hair; three necklaces of different sizes are placed above. the handkerchief, to two of them crosses are attached; a narrow but richly embroidered apron contrasts well with a dark petticoat; the spardilles are of the same shape as those worn by the men. The singular manner by which marriages were celebrated in the Balcaric islands in the days of Diodorus Siculus, has been mentioned in the account of the ancient inhabitants. The present custom, which appears to have originated from the ancient, although less immoral, is not less ridiculous. As soon as a villager obtains the consent of his future bride he is considered by her parents as one of the family; but the ceremony does not take place until the end of a year at least; within that period, the young lads in the neighbourhood are permitted to visit the bride on certain days and to remain alone with her; according to a BOOK French traveller, they emulate each other in dissuading CXXXIX. her from her purpose by enumerating the vices and bad qualities of her intended husband; the bride is constrained to hear them without a murmur, and as the lover must leave the room when they enter, he suffers during his absence the same vexation which, in all probability, he has before inflicted on others.* ra. Fromentera or, as the Spaniards call it, Formentera, is Fromenteso near the Ivica, that it might be easy and without doubt useful to unite them. The inhabitants are scattered in several villages; the island has been represented as infested with serpents, wolves and foxes, but the only animals in the woods or meadows are sheep and goats, which from neglect have become wild; the flamingo and other birds of passage abound on the shores. Cabrera, at a short distance from Majorca is inhabited Cabrera. by some shepherds, whose wealth consists in their goats. It is well wooded, and three springs serve to supply the inhabitants with wholesome water. The sufferings which the French prisoners experienced on the island about the end of the last war, must ever be remembered with regret by the friends of humanity; they were allowed to perish. for want of food, and their bones scattered on the island, attest the cruelty of those to whose care they were entrusted.+ The island of Majorca contains sixteen towns, and the Majorca. average population of each may amount to 4500 inhabitants; but Palma or the capital, peopled by 34,000, is the only one worthy of being described. It is encompassed with walls about seven or eight feet thick, with thirteen bastions fifty paces in breadth, and commanded by a castle on the hill of Belver. The houses are built of stone, but the excessive breadth of the balconies darkens and confines the streets. The Lonja that rises above the port, is the only edifice which recalls the former splendour of the town, * M. J. Cambassede Excursions dans les des Baleares. + For the details of these proceedings, disgraceful to a civilized nation, the reader may consult the works of Cambassede. CXXXIX. BOOK The tomb of Jayme II. serves to adorn the cathedral; he was king of Majorca, his father conquered the Moors, and took possession of the island in the year 1229. The town, long the principal mart for the commerce between Europe and the east, carries on at present no more trade than what is necessary to supply the wants of the islanders. The Jews are despised by the other inhabitants; many of them are employed in manufacturing jewellery and trinkets. Dress. Minorca. The Pages or rural inhabitants of Majorca wear a very different dress from the people in Ivica; a round jacket without a collar, sandals, bare legs and loose breeches render their costume not unlike that of the Greek peasants, but they may be distinguished by a broad hat, which serves to shade the visage. The women wear sandals; in other respects their dress differs little from that worn in Ivica. The people may be perhaps more superstitious than those in Spain, but they are also more hospitable; as there are no inns in the island, they never refuse to admit strangers, and to share with them whatever they possess. The people in Minorca resemble those of Majorca in their manners and in their dress, but they are said to be the least superstitious of the Spaniards. Five towns are situated on the island. Jamna, now Civdadela was probably founded by the Carthaginians; with the exception of Mahon or the capital, it is the largest in Minorca. Broad and straight streets, clean and well built houses render Mahon an agreeable residence; the cathedral and townhouse correspond ill with the rest of the city. The boldness of their pirates and the safe retreat afforded by their harbour, enabled the inhabitants to amass considerable wealth during the war against Napoleon. The harbour indeed is one of the finest in the Mediterranean; the celebrated Andrew Doria is said to have been the author of a Spanish proverb, according to which, the only four good ports in that sea, are June, July, August and Portmahon.* It may be about a league in length, and a thousand or twelve hundred yards in breadth; the sides are formed by two steep heights. * Junio, Julio Agosto y puerte Mahon. BOOK The breadth of the entrance is about 300 yards, and vessels can sail in the neighbourhood, without being endan- cxxxIx. gered by rocks. and indus Having endeavoured to describe the principal towns and Commerce islands in Spain, it remains for us to make one or two re- try. marks on the commerce and industry of that fine country. It has been already seen that it abounds in soda, salt, iron and different metals, that it produces oil, fruits and wine, the best wool in the world, and silk that is only surpassed by that of Italy. The value of the wines, which the Spaniards consider the most lucrative of their productions, might be considerably increased, if any thing like an equable system of duties were introduced. It exports at present about twenty-five or thirty thousand casks, and the price obtained for them does not exceed L.625,000. The silk in the province of Arragon, Valencia, Grenada and Murcia, might soon rival any in Italy, if exportation were encouraged, and the mulberry cultivated with care. The mines, although rich in different metals, do not afford all the advantages that might be expected from them. Lastly, could it be believed that the Spaniards, with so great an extent of coast, depended on foreigners for all the dry or salt fish which they consume. A Spanish author calculates that the money given every year for imports, exceeds L.500,000, thus the consumption in the interior nearly counterbalance all the profits it derives from the fecundity of the soil. The insignificance of their foreign trade ought not to be Foreign attributed to the indifference of the Spaniards. Although trade. from their situation, few nations have such facilities in forming a mercantile navy, the Spanish flag is the one which mariners observe very rarely on the sea. The Spaniards hold some intercourse with different ports in the Mediterranean, but with few on the Baltic; if they crossed the Atlantic, it was only on account of their American pos sessions. The taxes with which the products of agriculture and industry are loaded, the diversity of weights, measures and money; the bad state of the roads, the scarcity of canals, for the most useful remain unfinished, may be considered ་ BOOK CXXXIX. Republic the principal causes which have led to the decay of Spanish commerce. But all those evils might be easily remedied, and the country contains within itself the elements of prosperity. The time may come when government, aware of the true interests of Spain, will pursue an opposite course to that which has been hitherto followed. If industry were encouraged, if salutary reforms were introduced, if the real advantages of the country were no longer sacrificed to the imaginary advantages of American possessions, Spain might become the wealthiest and most flourishing region in Europe. It may be necessary to mention a small territory near the of Andorra. confines of France and Spain, nominally neutral and protected by two great states. Although the republic of Andorra is twice as large as that of San Marino in Italy, the former remains unnoticed, while the other is described in most geographical works. It is bounded on the east, the south and the west by the corregidories of Puycerda and Talarn in Catalonia, and on the north by the department of the Arricge. The whole state may be about seven leagues in length by six in breadth; it contains thirty-four villages or hamlets and six burghs; namely, Old Andorra or the capital, Camillo, Encampo, Massana, Ordino and Saint Julian. The thermal springs near the hamlet of Caldes are still frequented, and the iron in the territory furnishes employment to many of the inhabitants. The valley, watered by several streams, of which the three largest are the Balira, the Ordino and the Os, is crowned by inaccessible mountains. Rich in the products of the three natural kingdoms, it contains quarries of fine marble, inexhaustible iron mines and valuable timber, which is transported by the Balira and the Segra to Tortosa, and from thence to the Mediterranean. The forests and the mountains abound with game and different animals, such as wild goats and wild boars, bears and wolves. Part of the land produces excellent tobacco. Origin. Lewis the Debonnaire ceded the sovereignty of Andorra It holds a place, however, in the excellent table, entitled Balance politique du Globe by Ad. Balbi. |