Chapter III: Part 3

Most of those who have seen the image are not favourably impressed, so it is worth while to quote another opinion than the present writer’s. “I cannot conceive [writes Mr. Herbert Vivian] that any one who has been privileged to behold it can deny the imposing majesty of its expression. It inspires awe rather than the sympathy and compassion which we are accustomed to associate with Our Blessed Lady. Indeed, those who change its vestments on holy days, say that it fills them with fear, that they do not dare to look it in the face. In the Virgin’s right hand is a globe, from which springs a fleur-de-lis. The crowns worn by her and the infant Christ are of prodigious valve, being of pure gold and containing no fewer than 3500 precious stones, many of them of exceeding size and purity. Like everything else at Montserrat, they are of modern origin, all the old valuables having been carried off by French troopers in 1811. In front of the image are two little staircases of walnut-wood by which those who wish to kiss its hand may ascend and descend.”

As buildings, the church and monastery of Montserrat are wholly destitute of interest. But they have their memories. Ignatius Loyola, during the process of conversion, passed long hours at the feet of the Virgin of Montserrat; Don John of Austria, before the altar of the Immaculate Conception, swore to maintain the doctrine of the Virgin’s freedom from original sin, against all and sundry, at the sword’s point, and the victory of Lepanto was gained perhaps in fulfilment of that vow.

There is a monastic seminary on the mountain, also an extremely ancient and aristocratic foundation. The boys have some curious customs. On the feast of St. Nicholas, the patron of youth, they elect one of their number Bishop, who entertains them all to dinner and heads the visits which they pay to all the monks in turn.

But if as a shrine Montserrat has little to attract the curious, as a mountain it is without rival for picturesque and strange grandeur. So fantastic is the conformation that in all ages it has been regarded with a certain superstitious awe. The caves with which it is honeycombed are full of mystery and fascination. They extend and ramify in all directions, constituting a veritable subterranean city. At all times they have served as asylums to the natives of the surrounding country when threatened by invaders. On one occasion the French discovered a party of peasants in such a retreat and would have attacked them had not one of the Catalans told them that a single explosion would bring all the surrounding rocks upon their heads. Whether this was true or false the soldiers did not care to prove, and they hastily withdrew.

There are plenty of people in Cataluña still who believe in the wonder-working properties of the Virgin of Montserrat, and newly married couples come up by the funicular railway to spend a night on the mountain, in the hope of thereby assuring themselves of a numerous family.

We may trace the footprints of St. Ignatius to Manresa, a name dear to the Jesuit in all lands, and borne by the Manchester of Cataluña. It is a lively, picturesque town, built on an amphitheatre of hills on the left bank of the Cardoner. High over the factories towers the Collegiate Church begun in 1328 and finished, probably, a hundred years later. It is one of those wide-naved churches characteristic of the principality, its span of nave is, in fact, greater than that of any cathedral with aisles, except Palma. An interesting peculiarity is the flying buttresses built partly in and partly outside the church. Over the first roof rises an impressive bell tower. The interior is disappointing. The side chapels are Gothic. There is some good glass in the clerestory windows, and the organ displays one of those Saracens’ heads we so often find in Catalan churches. In the archives are some interesting pictures by local artists, reminding one of Byzantine work, and there also is preserved that altar frontal which excited the fervent admiration of Street. In a vault beneath the presbytery are treasured the relics of St. Agnes and St. Maurice, translated here from Vienne on the Rhône in the time of Berenguer III.

The fine old church of the Carmen commemorated a miracle reputed to have occurred in the year 1345. The town having been laid under an interdict by the Bishop of Vich, the innocence of the townsfolk was demonstrated by a light which penetrated through the windows of the church, filling it with radiance. But these mediæval traditions are obscured by the glory of St. Ignatius, whose name the citizens delight to honour. In the church of Santo Domingo was formerly shown a black cross which the saint used to bear on his shoulder while he prostrated himself before the altars in turn. The church of the Cueva--an odius _baroque_ work--is raised over the cave wherein during ten months he underwent the dolorous process of his spiritual regeneration. In the Jesuit College you may see one of his fingers, his books, and the bricks that served him as a pillow. There is not a spot nor a house in Manresa that the citizens will not fail to point out as in some way, however slight, associated with the immortal founder of the Society of Jesus.

Not far from Manresa is the flourishing town of Tarrassa, which occupies the site of the old episcopal city of Egara. The primitive _arx_ or citadel gave place in Christian times to a cathedral which was destroyed by Al Mansûr, and the site is now occupied by the three interesting Romanesque churches of San Miguel, Santa Maria, and San Pedro.

The oldest of these is undoubtedly San Miguel, which is distinguished from other Catalan churches by many peculiarities. The plan is rectangular, over the centre of the roof rises a lantern, resting on a quadrangle of columns. The capitals of these columns are evidently part of an older and different structure. Beneath the church is a crypt which is believed to have been the baptistery of the old Roman cathedral.

Santa Maria was consecrated in 1112 by Raimundo Guillen, Bishop of Barcelona, and was served by Augustine canons down to 1592. It is contemporary with the church of San Pedro and both present an aspect of extreme antiquity accentuated by the Roman tablets and fragments incorporated with the structure. Close by are the ruins of a fortress and a chapel attributed by tradition to the Templars. On the other side of the prettily named Rio Vallparadis are to be seen the fragments of a tower and castle.

About six miles from Manresa, on the banks of the Llobregat, is a little monastery of San Benito de Bages, now a private residence. “All here,” says Piferrer, “invites man to lift his eyes to God, and to banish the frivolous recollections of this world. The building’s antiquity, the modesty and simplicity of its plan alike contribute to still the voice of passions and to excite more tranquil thoughts.”

The thoughts of the former occupants, however, were evidently not always tranquil, for the little apses opening into the transepts have been squared off, apparently for defensive reasons, and the tower looks as if it had been constructed for the same object. The church is dark and sombre, like a vault, and the cloister has the same funereal aspect, only slightly relieved by the interesting carvings of courtiers and warriors on the rude capitals.

Piferrer states that the chapel was built in the middle of the tenth century and that it was consecrated in 972 in presence of Count Borrell and his Court by the Bishop of Vich. In the year 1067 it was incorporated with the Abbey of San Ponce de Tomeras near Narbonne; the foundation received women, who were subject, like the monks, to the rule of St. Benedict. At the end of the sixteenth century the community was united to that of Montserrat.

CARDONA

Cardona is a picturesque walled town on the road from Manresa to Solsona. It is crowned by a strong castle built by the Cordona family, which traces its descent from Foulques, the ancestor of the Plantagenets. Within the castle is the collegiate church of San Vicente, dedicated in the eleventh century. It is a fine example of the Romanesque. Its aisles are marked off from the nave by square pillars; the nave is broad, the aisles narrow, without chapels. A very low lantern rises above the crossing and the presbytery is raised by a few steps above the level of the nave. There is not a single moulding in the whole church, or any curve other than a semicircle. Of the sepulchres of the mighty lords of the castle only two remain. Within this fortress died St. Ramon Nonnat in the year 1240. The chapel dedicated to his memory dates from 1682.

TORTOSA

Tortosa, on the banks of the Ebro, close to its mouth, is the southernmost of the cities of Cataluña. It is an ancient place where Roman and Visigothic coins were struck. It fell into the hands of the Saracens in 716 and was reconquered in 1147 and consecrated in 1441. Among the architects were the two Xulbes, whose opinion was taken on the question of the nave at Gerona. Though disfigured by a classical façade the church produces a good effect. Its aisles are separated from the nave by twenty columns, which sweep round the east end in a graceful semicircle so as to form a double apse. To the nine Gothic arches of the chancel correspond as many apsidal chapels, whose windows overlook the high altar. The reredos dates from 1351. There are five chapels in each of the aisles. The windows are filled with transparent marble instead of glass.

The Collegio Real of Tortosa is in the best Plateresque style. The cloister is formed by three tiers of galleries, the columns and balconies being adorned with medallions and escutcheons. The original building belonged till the year 1528 to the Dominicans and was then reconstructed by order of Carlos I. with a view to serving as a seminary for Moorish converts. The College is now a barracks.

The Convent of Santa Clara, dating from the thirteenth century and restored by order of Jaime II. of Aragon, is another precious memorial of Tortosa’s more prosperous days.

THE BALEARIC ISLANDS

The Balearic archipelago no longer deserves the name of the Forgotten Isles bestowed upon it a dozen years ago by a French traveller. Much has since been written about the islands in our own and other languages, and yachtsmen often put in at what the Genoese Admiral classed with June, July and August, as one of the four best harbours in the Mediterranean. But the influx of tourists has not been large, and the isles run no immediate risk of losing their marked local characteristics. The remote past keeps a firm grip on Mallorca and Menorca; as in Egypt, you never cease to feel dead stony eyes are staring at you across thousand-year-long vistas. In the aisles the monuments of antiquity belong to the very dawn of human history, appearing almost the works of nature, even as those who reared them seem hardly to have emerged into full manhood. At every turn, as in Sardinia, you are met by the rude handiwork of that primitive Mediterranean race, which passed away in the struggle between Latins, Greeks and Semites. Every one knows now that the word Balearic is derived from a Greek word meaning _to throw_, and that it refers to the extraordinary dexterity of the natives in the use of the sling. This was their national weapon, their sole means of attack and defence. In summer, as their only clothing, each man wore three slings--one round his head, one round his loins, and one at his wrist. To train their children in its use, the mothers, we are told, would not let them have their bread or meat till they had brought it down from a bough or ledge by means of the sling.

Of all their dexterity they had need when strange men with black curling beards and dark stern faces--men that they had never seen--came sailing into their harbours and tempted them down from their perches with a display of bright rare stuffs and gewgaws. Poor simple white savages, it is likely enough that they had thought themselves till then the only men in the world. Then came the attempts of the Phœnicians to enslave and to subdue them, and wildly the islanders fought for their freedom, knowing as little as the creatures of the jungle do of the forces arrayed against them. The wild birds were netted at last. In the sixth century before Christ, the Carthaginians were masters of the archipelago, and dragged the slingers off to serve in their armies. Mago, a Punic leader, gave his name to Puerto Mahon. Then came a time when the natives felt the grasp of the Semites relax. Their power had been crushed by the Romans and the islands enjoyed a brief interval of liberty. But in the year 123 _B.C._, the conquerors of Carthage remembered their neglected heritage, and sent Cecilius Metellas to take possession. He founded the cities of Palma and Pollensa, which still retain their Latin names, and brought with him some thousands of Italian and Spanish colonists, who soon tamed the wildness of the aborigines. Thence onward for centuries the archipelago prospered quietly, safe beneath the outspread wings of the Roman eagle. Upon the break-up of the empire it passed through various hands to the Visigoths, to be wrested from them in the eighth century by the Arabs. Under this new dominion the islands became a nest of pirates, who ultimately founded a kingdom embracing parts of the Spanish mainland and of Sardinia. The depredations of the Balearic Moors excited the anger of Christendom, and Pope Pascual II. preached a crusade against them. Constituting themselves the ministers of Europe’s vengeance, the Pisans and Catalans inflicted a severe punishment on the Pirates and sacked the rich city of Palma. Over a hundred years later, in 1227, Don Jaime I. of Aragon reduced the whole group of islands in a memorable campaign, and annexed them finally to Christendom. The conqueror constituted his new possessions into a kingdom for his second son and namesake, from whose grandson, Jaime II., they were taken by Pedro IV. in the year 1347 and incorporated with the kingdom of Aragon.

But history had not yet done with the islands. The old rancour between the peasantry and the nobles came to a head at the beginning of the sixteenth century, in the war of the Germania or brotherhood. The viceroy took refuge in the Citadel of Ibiza, while the nobles defended themselves in the castle of Alcadia against the desperate attacks of the peasantry led by Juan Colom. The arrival of a royal squadron commanded by Don Juan de Valesco led to the extinction of the revolt. Ruled by Carthaginians, Romans, and Moors, the islands excited the cupidity of another race of conquerors. Seized by the English in 1708, Menorca remained in their possession till 1781, when it was retaken by the French and Spaniards. The failure to relieve the garrison cost Admiral Byng his life. We again took possession of the island in 1793 to surrender it finally to Spain at the peace of Amiens nine years later.

Mallorca (it is as easy to call it by its proper name as by its variant Majorca) is the largest and most beautiful of the islands. Towards the north and south-west it presents an iron-bound wall of rock to the turbulent waters of the Catalan seas; on the south the plain stretches to the shore, and here we find the little harbour of Santa Ponza, at which the conqueror Jaime I. disembarked his army on September 10, 1229.

Hard by is the estate of Ben Dinat, so named, it is averred, because the conqueror expressed in those two words his satisfaction with a meal of bread and garlic served him at this spot. It is more probable that the name is that of some long-forgotten Moor. Then comes the little harbour and tower of Portopi and round the next promontory the lovely bay of Palma, with the capital of the Balearics smiling a welcome to the stranger. The walls that once surrounded the city have been demolished: the turrets that rise above the house-tops are those of the Cathedral and the Exchange (Lonja). We enter the town through the Water Gate, a building not without majesty, and crowned by a statue of the Blessed Virgin. The streets, as in most Spanish towns, are narrow and shady, often rewarding the curiosity of the passer-by with glimpses of Renaissance patios, graceful balconies, and turret windows. Among the most interesting houses of the Butifarras (big sausages), as the nobility of the island used to be called, are the Casa de Vivot and the palace of the Counts of Montenegro. But Palma is a living city, and side by side with these dignified memories of the past we find handsome modern buildings such as the Bank of Spain and the Hall of Provincial Deputation. Nor does Palma want for wide breathing-spaces and promenades. It has the fine Paseo del Borne and the Boulevards constructed round the bay and on the site of the old fortifications. Close to the landing-stage the new-comer’s attention is first attracted by the Exchange or Lonja. Charles V. on visiting the island for the first time hastened at once to see it, eagerly demanding if it belonged to the Church or to the State, and was visibly relieved on hearing that it was a civil edifice. The Lonja is a quadrangular building, surmounted by a crenellated balustrade and flanked at each angle with an octagonal tower of six stages, one of these rising above the balustrade. The walls are strengthened with graceful pilasters, and pierced in their lower story by ogival windows with good traceries. The door is square and enclosed within an ogival arch. The interior forms a single great hall, the roof of which is supported by only four slender fluted columns, from which the arches spring like palm branches. This interesting building was designed and begun by Antonio Sagrera in the year 1426. Like the numerous other Spanish Lonjas, it has long been deserted by the mercantile community.

The cathedral towers above the whole city and is one of the most important churches in the kingdom. The name of the architect is unknown, but the foundations were laid by order of Jaime the Conqueror soon after he had annexed the island. The plan is rectangular, the walls supported by massive flying buttresses, surmounted with pinnacles and turrets. The south front is the finest and is pierced by the beautiful Puerta del Mirador, in florid Gothic style, the work of Pedro Morey, who died in 1394. The west porch is an elaborate work, finished in 1601. On the north side is the noble square bell-tower.

The interior is remarkable for the enormous span of the nave, the widest in Spain. It rises to a height of 147 feet and is sustained by relatively slender columns. The nave terminates in the beautiful Capilla Real, founded in 1282, wherein is the modest tomb of the last King of Mallorca. The wooden gallery running round the wall is strongly suggestive of Saracenic influence. Opening into this chapel are the Capillas de Santa Eulalia, containing a Gothic altar and the tomb of a Bishop of Palma, and San Mateo, in which ends one of the aisles. In the chapel of St. Jerome is the fine tomb of the Marques de la Romana, who did such good service to Spain by bringing from Denmark the Spanish troops in Napoleon’s service. Another notable sepulchre is that of Bishop Gil Sancho Munoz, successor elect to Pope Benedict XIII. (1447). The choir is in decadent Gothic style, but the carving is very good and reveals imagination and fertility of resource on the part of the artist. The statues of St. Bruno and St. John were brought here from the chapter-house of Valledemosa. The old Moorish palace of Almudaina, adjacent to the cathedral, is the residence of the Captain-General and seat of the High Court. It is provided with a chapel built by Jaime II.

The only other church worthy of mention at Palma is that of San Francisco de Asis, remarkably like the cathedral for the span of its nave and for the tomb of the famous Raymond Lull, Mallorca’s most illustrious son. This famous philosopher was born in 1235 and is said to have been converted from evil courses in his youth by finding that his mistress was devoured by cancer--such reasons for a change of life being frequent in the Middle Ages. He imagined himself called upon to overthrow the religion of Mohammed not by the old methods, but by a “great art” of logic which he devised. Like some liberal Catholics of later days, he held that the dogmas of his Church could and should be demonstrated by reason, and not by mere exhortations to believe. To combat Islam he rightly considered necessary that missionaries should understand the language of their adversaries. His exertions induced the Pope to found one or two chairs of Arabic and Syriac, and his philosophy, strange to say, met with no censure from ecclesiastical authorities. Lull was credited with immense and preternatural wisdom by his generation, and was popularly believed to have discovered the Philosopher’s Stone. He undertook several journeys to Northern Africa in his zeal for souls, and on the last of these visits received such severe injuries from a Moslem mob that he succumbed on board ship within sight of his native isle (1315).

A picture of his funeral may be seen at the Town Hall, which is a rather imposing Renaissance building adorned by one of those heavy projecting eaves, carved and once painted, that one sees at Granada. Another house that should be noticed is the Casa Bonapart, said to have been founded by an ancestor of the Imperial family in 1411.

In the suburbs of Palma is the fine old castle of Bellver, founded by the last King of Mallorca. It is composed of a vast keep, strengthened by bastions and surrounded by a moat. Connected with this stronghold by a bridge of two tiers is the massive Torre del Homenage. The castle has received many distinguished and involuntary guests. Here was confined Jovellanas, the able Minister of Carlos IV., and here was shot General Lacy for conspiring against the tyrant Fernando VII. Arago the Astronomer took refuge here, when the mob, suspecting that he was signalling to the French when he was simply making observations, sought his life.

Seven miles from Palma is Raxa, the seat of the Conde de Montenegro, who has an exceedingly valuable collection of antiquities. Here may be seen a curious chart of the world, drawn in 1439, according to the instructions of Amerigo Vespucci. It is partly obliterated by the ink spilt over it when it was being spread out for examination by George Sand.

That gifted Frenchwoman slayed at the suppressed Carthusian monastery of Valldemosa, and there she wrote the romance “Spiridion,” at which Mr. Titmarsh poked his fun. It is a beautiful, decayed old place, once a royal palace, and decorated with frescoes illustrating its history.

We again come to the traces of Raymond Lull at Miramar, the beautiful seat of the Archduke Ludwig Salvator, who kindly placed a hospice at the disposal of travellers. This was originally the college established by the philosopher for the study of Oriental tongues. The ill-fated Maximilian of Mexico borrowed the name of his palace near Triente from this enchanting spot.

In addition to the capital, Mallorca contains three or four towns of importance, such as Manacor, Alcudia, and Pollensa, but these present few features of interest. The scenery in the vale of Soller is radiant and smiling, the soil being of amazing fertility, such as the Barranco and Gorch Blau, or Blue Gorge. Between Pollensa and Soller in the heart of the hills is the sanctuary of Our Lady of Lluch, the origin of which is accounted for by a legend similar to that of Lourdes. To accommodate the pilgrims who flocked to the spot, a hospice was built, which in course of time was converted into a school of religious music. Here as at Miramar every stranger can have three days’ free lodging, including fire, light, and the indispensable oil and olives.

On the other side of the island are the caves of Anta, rivalling those of Han and Adelsberg. “The most fantastic part of this subterranean region,” says Mr. Vuillier, “goes by the significant name of L’Infierno. It is a nightmare in stone. Tongues of petrified flame seem to lick the walls. An enormous lion squats in one corner, staring at unhewn tombs overhung by rigid cypresses. Strange forms of antediluvian monsters lurk half-seen in the obscurity. Many of the stalactites when rapped sharply with a stick emit musical notes, some like the vibration of a harp-string, others like the deep resonance of a church bell. These are in an immense hall as vast as a cathedral nave.... In silence and darkness, the forces of nature have for centuries been hewing and shaping an architecture more sublime than ever was conceived in the wildest dream of the Gothic craftsman.”

Menorca, the second largest of the islands, is bare and bleak and flat round the coast, though at one point in the interior it rises to a height of nearly 6000 feet. Here and there are picturesque spots, notably the Barranco of Algendar; but speaking generally the island is the Holland of the Mediterranean. Cleanliness, well-being, industry and good conduct are the characteristics of the inhabitants, who live farther outside the world of romance even than most Latin people. We flatter ourselves of course that they learned their good qualities from our ancestors, when they ruled the island, and certainly there are frequent reminders of our influence to be traced in the daily life of Menorca. “Ashes to Ashes,” though seldom heard now, was in Ford’s time an oath or exclamation often on the lips of the natives, and children use English words when playing marbles, a game that we taught them among other perhaps less useful arts. We sent to the island a Governor Kasie, who made roads and built market-halls, and did all that a worthy and unimaginative English gentleman might feel it is his duty to do in such a position; but the natives do not sigh once more to be under our dominion, as they are sometimes polite enough to tell English folk they do, and a Spanish writer actually refers to our paternal government as the Babylonish captivity.

Puerto Mahon was founded, as we have said, by the Carthaginians, and was appropriately enough occupied by us, the Carthaginians of later days. Its harbour is one of the best in the Mediterranean, and is very strongly fortified. Except for the forts, the town contains no public monuments of interest. The streets are very clean and rather quiet, and you remark the absence of the running water in the gutters characteristic of so many European towns. The streets are well paved, often with tombstones from the English cemetery; the dustman goes his rounds as he does in London, and many of the houses have English windows. The domestic life is held in high honour at Mahon, and the chief occupation and delight of the women is cleaning their houses. “It is an amusing spectacle” says M. Vuillier, “to see them armed with brooms of dwarf palm and immense pails of lime-water, gossiping along the walls from early morning, while they scrub and wash as if their lives depended upon it, fastening their brooms to long poles the better to reach the higher parts of the wall. Should a death occur in a house the walls are not whitened for a week, a fortnight or even a month, according to the closeness of the relationship or the degree of grief felt for the deceased. In rare cases the walls are not touched for six months.” The traveller comments on the absence of the tribe of unwelcome bedfellows, so persistent in their attentions in other parts of Spain.

This does not sound very interesting. Mahon is not, however, wholly devoid of the picturesque element. The old gate of Barbarossa is named after that famous pirate, by whom the city was surprised and sacked in 1536, and the fortifications still bear traces of the siege of 1781. Ciudadela, the old capital, at the opposite end of the island, is more suggestive of old times and memories. The streets are quaint and arcaded, and lined with fine old mansions: and there is an old palace, and a vast dim cathedral, which no one has ever properly explored. Ten minutes will be enough in which to exhaust the sights of Ciudadela, and you may then go and look at the Buffador, a blow-hole like those to be seen at Sark.

The people of Menorca have long since abandoned their native dress--presuming that they ever had one; but M. Vuillier remarked the continuance of the old custom, observable in other countries, of strewing the path of a bridal party with obstacles and building a wall before the house of the bride and bridegroom, the morning after their marriage. We see one of the innumerable survivals here of marriage by capture. The people are strangely fond of the practice of vaccination, and will perform it on each other with the least possible excuse. In blood-letting they also entertain an ineradicable belief.

Speaking of Alazor, a large village, Ford says: “It is worth the traveller’s while to go into any of the peasants’ houses and convince himself that in no other part of the world do the lower (_i.e._, working) classes live in greater comfort and even luxury. A man who has only a franc and a half a day as wages, and a little bit of garden, has a large and commodious house, well furnished, exquisitely clean, and always with a spare bed for the stranger. The character of the people is in exact harmony with their surroundings. They are polite and hospitable, crime is unknown, and their hygienic condition being so favourable they are healthy and long-lived. If is difficult to write of them without exaggeration and using too many terms of admiration for the good and wholesome life they lead.”

To the economist, then, the island of Menorca must be of interest, but it is infinitely more so to the archæologist. From end to end it is strewn with the works of prehistoric man, whose record in stone is hard to read. These megalithic remains present a strong resemblance to the mirage of Sardinia and Malta, but have also local characteristics which have puzzled and delighted the learned. M. Cartailhac has traced the sites of many ancient villages. The most considerable may be seen at Torre d’ea Galines, south of Alazor. There, on the summit of a slight eminence, a vast pile of stones is all that remains of the “city” to which the naked aborigines fled wildly the instant a sail rose above the horizon. In the constant and arduous struggle waged by the present inhabitants with the stones and the rock, the limits of the stronghold have, ages ago, disappeared, and if it had an outer wall it can no longer be traced. The dwellings were grouped together so closely that no streets can be distinguished. No chariot or beast of burden could have been known to the citizens. They communicated with each other by corridors leading from cabin to cabin. Here and there the doorways remain intact and uphold a heavy lintel of stone.

In each of these villages is to be found a single huge monument, composed of two blocks of stone, arranged =T=-shape. It is surrounded by a semicircular wall of unhewn stones, which probably once rose higher and higher and supported a roof of flat stones. These monuments are termed altars by the people of Menorca, and such they may, in fact, have been, but nothing definite can be said on this point.

Equally uncertain are the nature and purpose of the monuments called talayots, a word allied to the Arabic term for watch-tower. These are structures of uncemented blocks of stone in the form of a tower, slightly conical or cylindrical, sometimes square at the base. None of them is wholly intact. Whether the summit was a dome or a platform we have no means of knowing. “I observed, however, at Torranba de Salort,” says M. Cartailhac, “a detail which throws some light on this point. The tower is among the highest at the summit and at two steps from the centre lies a great stone more than a metre in diameter, in the shape of a thick mushroom, almost circular, flat on one side and with a protuberance on the other. It is possible that this block once crowned the culminating-point of the edifice.”

Among the largest talayots are those of Torre Ilafuda. They measure sixteen metres across the base and fourteen at the summit. The stones are laid horizontally and are carefully adjusted. The walls are three or four metres thick, and skilfully constructed. The interior usually forms a single chamber, and where this was large the roof was supported by a column formed of huge blocks of stone. The wall itself is often threaded by a passage to the roof or upper chamber, so narrow that it could only have been ascended by crawling. The entrance to the talayot is through a square opening large enough to permit a short man to walk through upright. All sorts of theories and guesses have been made as to what these towers originally were. Near every =T=-shaped altar one or two are to be found; there was always one at least on every town site. Perhaps, suggests our authority, they existed before all the other structures and were used as centres by a later population. Though they are often placed on eminences, it has been established that they were not fortresses; it can be proved more or less satisfactorily that they were not dwelling-places, storehouses, or tombs.

The boat-shaped piles, called navetas or naves, on the other hand had clearly a sepulchral character. The front or prow is slightly concave. The entrance measures about half a metre across and three-quarters of a metre in height, the edges are grooved as though to admit some sort of door. Inside, the passage widens and conducts you to a second opening as narrow as the first, through which you penetrate into the mortuary chamber itself. Filled now with rubbish, filth and carrion, these are the tombs of the fathers of the Mediterranean races, whose bones are brought to light each time the Menorcan ploughs his stubborn soil.

Stones must always have been a plague to the people of the island, and this, besides accounting for their selection of the sling as their peculiar weapon, may partially explain, as Ford reasonably remarks, the abundance of these monuments. “The erection of a large tumulus was not a piece of barbaric extravagance. It provided an unperishable monument for the person it was intended to honour (?) and it got rid of an immense mass of loose stone which greatly impeded agriculture.”

“One fact,” adds this lively writer, “is very curious. The Menorcans, even now, are in the habit of constructing just such tumuli as the talayots for the use of their cattle, though of smaller stones. In the distance they present an appearance not at all unlike the older structures.”

* * * * *

Ibiza, the third largest island of the group, is one of those spots which can afford no sort of justification for its existence. It is a mere backwater, a stagnant pool of humanity, interesting, though, as a place buried beneath prejudices and customs hundreds of years old. How should they be blown away in so out-of-the-way an island? The town stands on a fine harbour and reminds one rather of Guernsey. The collegiate church, formerly a cathedral, was founded by the Archbishop of Tarragona, in the thirteenth century, at the time the island was granted to him by Jaime the Conqueror. It is uninteresting, except for the view from the belfry. Better worth a visit is the fortified church of San Antonio at the other end of the island, wherein the people took refuge at the approach of the Corsairs. It is flanked with two massive towers and the apse has a parapet pierced with embrasures for guns. The walls are nearly eight feet thick, and the doorway is protected by a machicolation.

There is little else to be seen at Ibiza during the short time the traveller will be disposed to stay there, but M. Vuillier, who lingered there longer than he had intended, is able to tell us much that is interesting about the people and their customs. The islanders are a savage primitive stock. The recognised form of salutation between man and maid is for the former to hurry after the latter and without any warning discharge his gun into the ground at her feet. After spending the evening at her house, he fires at the ceiling, so that it should be easy to tell at a glance on going into a house for the first time if the daughters have been much sought after. The men do not confine their shooting to this sort of practice, however; duels, assassinations, and vendettas are frequent, and the feuds partake of the mysterious brutal character of those of Kentucky and Tennessee. In such a country animals fare badly, and one is not surprised to learn that throwing stones at a live cock is one of the favourite pastimes. When the youths come a-courting, each sits with the girl for a few minutes in turn and if he overstays the allotted period is punished by the others with the knife or pistol. Abduction is the rule rather than the exception; but for all the anxiety shown to possess them, the women have a wretched time, being hardly allowed to stir out of their dingy poverty-stricken cabins. Altogether it must be as difficult to make yourself happy at Ibiza as at any spot on or off the planet.

Of the remaining islands of the group, only one deserves mention and that only for its sad memories. This is Cabrera. It is little better than a bare rock, incapable of affording subsistence to more perhaps than two or three score of men, yet here during the Peninsular War the Spaniards were thoughtless enough to confine 5500 French soldiers, the victims of Dupont’s surrender at Bailen. Their sufferings were more severe than those of many a shipwrecked mariner. Each man was allowed only 24 ounces of bread and a few beans every four days. There was but one spring in the island and the thirst-maddened men would fight each other desperately to get a drink from this. Murder was common, and in one instance a man was detected in the act of preparing a meal from the remains of a comrade. It is touching to relate that for many months the men made a pet of a donkey they found wandering on the island, and it was not till the boat which brought them their miserable ration was long overdue that the poor famished wretches could find it in their hearts to kill and eat their only four-footed companion. As time went on, the captives made some attempt to cultivate their island, and their lot greatly improved, as the Spaniards continued to send the same rations, though their number was now reduced by two-fifths. Finally, in 1814, the last survivors were taken off by a French transport. The bones of those who died on the island were interred by the crew of a French warship and a monument was erected over their remains.

GENERAL VIEW OF BARCELONA]

GENERAL VIEW OF BARCELONA]

BARCELONA: VIEW FROM THE FUNICULAR RAILWAY STATION]

BARCELONA: PANORAMA FROM MONJUICH]

BARCELONA: PANORAMA FROM MONJUICH]

BARCELONA: PANORAMA FROM MONJUICH]

BARCELONA: THE DOCKS]

BARCELONA: GENERAL VIEW OF THE PORT]

BARCELONA: DETAIL OF THE PORT]

BARCELONA: VIEW FROM MIRAMAR]

BARCELONA: RAMBLA DEL CENTRO]

BARCELONA: RAMBLA DEL CENTRO]

BARCELONA: RAMBLA DE LAS FLÓRES]

BARCELONA: RAMBLA DE LAS FLÓRES]

BARCELONA: PASEO DE COLÓN]

BARCELONA: PASEO DE COLÓN AND HOTEL]

BARCELONA: PASEO DE COLÓN AND STATUE OF LÓPEZ]

BARCELONA: RAMBLA DE LOS ESTUDIANTES]

BARCELONA: PASEO DE GRACIA]

BARCELONA: PASEO DE GRACIA]

BARCELONA: RAMBLA DE CATALUÑA]

BARCELONA: PLAZA DE CATALUÑA]

BARCELONA: RAMBLA DE SANTA MONICA AND THE BANK]

BARCELONA: LA GRAN VIA AND STATUE OF GÜELL Y FERRER]

BARCELONA: PLAZA DE CATALUÑA]

BARCELONA: PLAZA DE CATALUÑA]

BARCELONA: PLAZA DE LA PAZ]

BARCELONA: PLAZA DEL PALACIO]

BARCELONA: PLAZA DEL PALACIO]

BARCELONA: PLAZA REAL]

BARCELONA: PLAZA DEL REY]

BARCELONA: PLAZA ANTONIO LOPEZ]

BARCELONA: CALLE DE FERDINAND VII.]

BARCELONA: CALLE DE BALMES]

BARCELONA: CALLE DE ARAGÓN]

BARCELONA: GÜELL PARK]

BARCELONA: ENTRANCE TO THE GÜELL PARK]

BARCELONA: ENTRANCE TO THE PARK]

BARCELONA: LAKE IN THE PARK]

BARCELONA: THE LAKE IN THE PARK]

BARCELONA: THE “CASCADA” IN THE PARK]

BARCELONA PARK: DETAILS OF THE “CASCADA”]

BARCELONA: FOUNTAIN IN THE PARK]

BARCELONA: THE CATHEDRAL]

BARCELONA: THE CATHEDRAL]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: PRINCIPAL ENTRANCE]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: RIGHT-HAND SIDE DOOR]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: DOOR OF THE PIEDAD]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: DOOR OF SANTA EULALIA]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: EXTERIOR DOOR OF SANTA LUCIA]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: INTERIOR DOOR OF SANTA LUCIA AND SEPULCHRE OF MOSSEN BORRA]

BARCELONA: INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL]

BARCELONA: INTERIOR OF THE CATHEDRAL]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: DETAIL OF THE CHOIR]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: THE HIGH ALTAR]

BARCELONA: THE ARCHIVE OF THE CATHEDRAL]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: CLOISTERS AND PRINCIPAL INTERIOR DOOR]

BARCELONA: CHAPEL IN THE CLOISTER OF THE CATHEDRAL]

BARCELONA: CLOISTERS OF THE CATHEDRAL]

BARCELONA: CLOISTERS AND DOOR OF THE CATHEDRAL]

BARCELONA: CLOISTERS OF THE CATHEDRAL]

BARCELONA: CLOISTERS OF THE CATHEDRAL]

BARCELONA: CHAPEL IN THE CLOISTERS OF THE CATHEDRAL]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: FOUNTAIN IN THE CLOISTERS]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: FOUNTAIN IN THE CLOISTERS]

BARCELONA: FOUNTAIN IN THE CLOISTERS OF THE CATHEDRAL]

BARCELONA: FOUNTAIN IN THE CLOISTERS OF THE CATHEDRAL]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: DOOR IN THE CLOISTERS]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: IRON GRATING IN THE CLOISTERS]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: GRATING IN THE CLOISTERS]

BARCELONA CATHEDRAL: DOOR IN THE CLOISTERS]

BARCELONA: SANTA MARIA DEL MAR]

BARCELONA: CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DEL MAR]

BARCELONA: CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DEL MAR. GATE OF THE IMMACULADA]

BARCELONA: CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DEL MAR. DETAIL OF LEFT DOOR]

BARCELONA: DETAIL OF THE DOOR OF THE CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DEL MAR]

BARCELONA: CHURCH OF SANTA MARIA DEL PINO]

BARCELONA: BYZANTINE DOORWAY IN THE CHURCH OF SAN PABLO]

BARCELONA: CLOISTERS OF SAN PABLO]

BARCELONA: CLOISTERS OF SAN PABLO]

BARCELONA: FAÇADE OF THE CHURCH OF SANTA ANA]

BARCELONA: CLOISTERS OF THE CHURCH OF SANTA ANA]

BARCELONA: CLOISTERS OF THE CHURCH OF SANTA ANA]

BARCELONA: CHURCH OF THE SAGRADA FAMILIA]

BARCELONA: CHURCH OF LAS SALESAS]

BARCELONA: CHURCH OF LAS SALESAS]

BARCELONA: CHURCH OF THE CONCEPTION]

BARCELONA: CHURCH OF SANTA AGUEDA]

BARCELONA: THE TOWN HALL]

BARCELONA: THE TOWN HALL]

BARCELONA: OLD FAÇADE OF THE TOWN HALL]

BARCELONA: EXTERIOR DETAIL OF THE TOWN HALL]

BARCELONA: CHAPEL OF SAN JORGE IN THE TOWN HALL]

BARCELONA: COURTYARD OF THE TOWN HALL]

BARCELONA: ENTRANCE TO THE COURTYARD OF THE AUDIENCIA]

BARCELONA: UPPER PART OF THE COURTYARD OF THE TOWN HALL]

BARCELONA: THE UNIVERSITY]

BARCELONA: CLOISTERS OF THE UNIVERSITY]

BARCELONA: CLOISTERS OF THE UNIVERSITY, UPPER PART]

BARCELONA: PALACIO DE JUSTICIA]

BARCELONA: DIPUTACION PROVINCIAL]

BARCELONA: DIPUTACION PROVINCIAL]

BARCELONA: THE EXCHANGE]

BARCELONA: THE CUSTOM HOUSE]

BARCELONA: CLINICAL HOSPITAL]

BARCELONA: MUNICIPAL SCHOOL OF MUSIC]

BARCELONA: CATALANA DEL GAS]

BARCELONA: LA MAISON DORÉE]

BARCELONA: CASA DE LA CANONGIA]

BARCELONA: PRIVATE HOUSE OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY]

BARCELONA: A SHOP IN THE CALLE FERNANDO]

BARCELONA: NEW BUILDING IN THE PASEO DE GRACIA]

BARCELONA: HOUSE OF THE SHOEMAKERS]

BARCELONA: HOUSE IN THE CALLE DE CASPE]

BARCELONA: ARCO DE TRIUNFO]

BARCELONA: TEATRO PRINCIPAL]

BARCELONA: OLD TOWERS IN THE PLAZA NUEVA]

BARCELONA: TOWER OF SANTA AGUEDA]

BARCELONA: CONVENT OF SANTA CLARA. OLD PALACE OF THE KINGS OF ARAGON]

BARCELONA: APEADERO DE LA CALLE DE ARAGON]

BARCELONA: HOTEL COLÓN]

BARCELONA: STAIRCASE IN A PRIVATE HOUSE IN THE CALLE DE MONCADA]

BARCELONA: STAIRCASE IN A PRIVATE HOUSE IN THE CALLE DE MONCADA]

BARCELONA: FRONTÓN]

BARCELONA: THE BULL-RING]

BARCELONA: MONUMENT TO COLUMBUS]

BARCELONA: MONUMENT TO COLUMBUS]

BARCELONA: DETAIL OF THE MONUMENT TO COLUMBUS]

BARCELONA: MONUMENT TO COLUMBUS]

BARCELONA: MONUMENT TO GÜELL]

BARCELONA: FOUNTAIN IN THE PLAZA DE PALACIO]

BARCELONA: STATUE OF GENERAL PRIM]

BARCELONA: RAMBLA DE CATALUÑA, MONUMENT TO CLAVÉ]

BARCELONA: STATUE OF LOPEZ, AND PASEO DE COLÓN]

BARCELONA: PLAZA DEL DUQUE DE MEDINACELLI]

BARCELONA: MONUMENT TO RUIS AND TOULET]

BARCELONA: VIEW OF TIBIDABO]

BARCELONA: FUNICULAR RAILWAY STATION, TIBIDABO]

BARCELONA: TIBIDABO STATION AND CASA ARNUS]

BARCELONA: THE DEVIL’S BRIDGE AT MARTORELL]

BARCELONA: INTERIOR COURT OF THE CONVENT OF MONTESION]

BARCELONA: EXTERIOR OF THE CONVENT OF MONTESION]

BARCELONA: CONVENT OF MONTESION CLOISTERS]

MONASTERY OF PEDRALVES, NEAR BARCELONA]

BARCELONA: RAMBLA DE CANALETAS DURING THE FÊTES OF 1888]

BARCELONA: THE FÊTES OF 1888. INAUGURATION OF THE MONUMENT TO COLUMBUS]

BARCELONA: EXHIBITION OF 1888. H.M. THE QUEEN LEAVING THE EXHIBITION]

BARCELONA: EXHIBITION OF 1888. PALACE OF BEAUX-ARTS]

GENERAL VIEW OF TARRAGONA]

TARRAGONA: GENERAL VIEW FROM THE CATHEDRAL, LOOKING SOUTH]

TARRAGONA: GENERAL VIEW FROM THE CATHEDRAL, LOOKING EAST]

TARRAGONA: GENERAL VIEW]

TARRAGONA: GENERAL VIEW FROM THE PIER]

TARRAGONA: PANORAMIC VIEW]

TARRAGONA: VIEW OF THE PORT]

TARRAGONA: VIEW OF THE HARBOUR FROM THE TOWN]

TARRAGONA: GENERAL VIEW OF THE CATHEDRAL]

TARRAGONA: FAÇADE OF THE CATHEDRAL]

TARRAGONA: FAÇADE OF THE CATHEDRAL]

TARRAGONA: TOWER AND SIDE OF THE CATHEDRAL]

TARRAGONA: FAÇADE OF THE CATHEDRAL]

TARRAGONA CATHEDRAL: CENTRE OF THE PORTAL]

TARRAGONA: LEFT-HAND SIDE DOOR OF THE CATHEDRAL]

TARRAGONA CATHEDRAL: STATUES OF THE PORTICO]

TARRAGONA CATHEDRAL: DETAIL OF THE PORTICO]

TARRAGONA: BYZANTINE DOOR OF THE CATHEDRAL]

TARRAGONA: RIGHT-HAND SIDE DOOR OF THE CATHEDRAL]

TARRAGONA CATHEDRAL: THE PRINCIPAL NAVE]

TARRAGONA CATHEDRAL: TOMB OF JAIME DE ARAGON]

TARRAGONA: CLOISTERS OF THE CATHEDRAL]

TARRAGONA: DOOR OF THE CHAPEL OF SAN PABLO]

TARRAGONA: LA MURALLA CICLOPEA]

TARRAGONA: PUERTA DE SAN ANTONIO AND ROMAN WALLS]

TARRAGONA: ROMAN WALLS AND TOWER]

TARRAGONA: TOWER OF THE SCIPIONES]

TARRAGONA: GATE OF SAN ANTONIO AND THE ROMAN WALL]

TARRAGONA: PALACE OF PILATOS, NOW THE PRISON]

TARRAGONA: LA PORTELLA, A CYCLOPEAN DOORWAY]

TARRAGONA: A CYCLOPEAN DOORWAY]

TARRAGONA: A ROMAN HOUSE]

TARRAGONA: ARCO DE BARÁ]

TARRAGONA: THE ROMAN AQUEDUCT]

TARRAGONA: THE ROMAN AQUEDUCT]

TARRAGONA: THE SEMINARY]

TARRAGONA: CROSS OF SAN ANTONIO

(SIXTEENTH CENTURY)]

TARRAGONA: ANCIENT ROMAN CONVENT]

POBLET (TARRAGONA): GENERAL VIEW OF THE MONASTERY]

POBLET (TARRAGONA): CHURCH OF THE MONASTERY]

POBLET (TARRAGONA): DOOR OF THE MONASTERY]

POBLET (TARRAGONA): CHAPEL OF SAN JORGE]

POBLET (TARRAGONA): TEMPLE IN THE CLOISTERS]

POBLET (TARRAGONA): CLOISTERS AND PALACE OF KING MARTIN]

POBLET (TARRAGONA): INTERIOR VIEW OF THE CLOISTERS]

POBLET (TARRAGONA): INTERIOR VIEW OF THE CLOISTERS]

SANTA CREUS (TARRAGONA): GENERAL VIEW OF THE CHURCH OF THE MONASTERY]

SANTA CREUS (TARRAGONA): DOOR OF THE CLOISTERS]

SANTA CREUS (TARRAGONA): INTERIOR OF THE CLOISTERS]

SANTA CREUS (TARRAGONA): INTERIOR SIDE VIEW OF THE CLOISTERS]

MONTSERRAT: VIEW OF THE MONASTERY]

MONASTERY OF MONTSERRAT]

VIEW OF THE MONASTERY OF MONTSERRAT, TAKEN FROM ST. MICHAEL]

MONTSERRAT: GENERAL VIEW OF MONASTERY FROM THE SOUTH]

MONTSERRAT: VIEW OF THE MONASTERY FROM THE SOUTH]

MONTSERRAT: GENERAL VIEW]

MONTSERRAT: VIEW OF THE MONASTERY FROM THE WEST]

MONTSERRAT: THE MONASTERY]

MONTSERRAT: GROTTO OF THE VIRGIN]

MONTSERRAT: THE VIRGIN’S CAVE]

MONTSERRAT: VIEW FROM THE GROTTO OF THE VIRGIN]

MONTSERRAT: THE CAVE OF JUAN GUARIN THE HERMIT]

MONTSERRAT: REMAINS OF THE ANCIENT MONASTERY]

MONTSERRAT: DOOR OF THE CHURCH]

MONTSERRAT: INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH]

MONTSERRAT: VIEW OF THE PEAKS]

MONTSERRAT: THE DEVIL’S ROCK]

MONTSERRAT: MIRANDA PEAK]

VIEW OF MONTSERRAT, TAKEN FROM MONISTOL STATION]

VIEW OF MONISTOL, TAKEN FROM MONTSERRAT]

TORTOSA: GENERAL VIEW]

TORTOSA: COURTYARD IN THE INSTITUTE]

THE COURT, SAN FRANCISCO, PALMA, MALLORCA

GRAN HOTEL, PALMA, MALLORCA]

PALACE OF THE ALMUDAINA, PALMA, MALLORCA]

WINDMILL AND ELECTRICAL WORKS, PALMA, MALLORCA]

VIEW OF THE “REAL CLUB DE REGATAS,” PALMA, MALLORCA]

MARKET AND CHURCH OF SAN NICOLAS, PALMA, MALLORCA

SAN FRANCISCO, PALMA, MALLORCA]

VIEW FROM THE HARBOUR, PALMA, MALLORCA]

VIEW OF THE BAY, PALMA, MALLORCA]

THE ALMUDAINA AND CATHEDRAL, PALMA, MALLORCA]

PUERTA DE SANTA MARGARITA, PALMA, MALLORCA

THE CATHEDRAL, PALMA, MALLORCA]

PASEO DEL BORNE, PALMA, MALLORCA

ARABIAN BATHS, PALMA, MALLORCA]

VIEW OF THE GORCH BLAU, MALLORCA

THE GORCH BLAU, MALLORCA]

INTERIOR OF SAN FRANCISCO, PALMA, MALLORCA]

ARAB BATHS, PALMA, MALLORCA]

THE QUAY, PALMA, MALLORCA]

MILLS, PALMA, MALLORCA]

THE RIVER, SOLLER, MALLORCA]

GENERAL VIEW OF ALCUDIA, MALLORCA]

THE CATHEDRAL, PALMA, MALLORCA

THE CHURCH OF THE MONASTERY, LLUCH, MALLORCA]

LA CARTUJA, VALLDEMOSA, MALLORCA

PUERTA DEL MUELLE, ALCUDIA, MALLORCA]

INTERIOR OF THE CHURCH, LLUCH, MALLORCA]

TRANSPORT OF MUSTS, BALEARIC ISLANDS]

GENERAL VIEW OF DEYA, MALLORCA]

CASTLE OF BELLVER, MALLORCA]

GENERAL VIEW OF SAN ANTONIO (PITYUSAE ISLES)]

RUINS OF THE TORRE D’EA GALINES, ALAZOR, MENORCA]

VILLA CARLOS, MAHON, MENORCA

VIEW OF THE PORT, MAHON, MENORCA]

THE HARBOUR, MAHON, MENORCA

A VIEW IN THE TOWN, MAHON, MENORCA]

THE QUAY, MAHON, MENORCA]

PASEO DEL home, CIUDADELA, MENORCA]

VIEW OF THE PORT, MAHON, MENORCA]

THE PORT AND TOWN, CIUDADELA, MENORCA]

THRESHING, SAN ANTONIO (PITYUSAE ISLES)

A STREET IN ALGENDAR, FERRERIAS, MENORCA]

A VIEW SHOWING THE ARABIAN TOWERS, IBIZA (PITYUSAE ISLES)]

RIVER PAREYS]

PORTAL OF D’ALT OR D’EN SERVERA, MAHON, MENORCA]

MONUMENT TO THE FRENCH PRISONERS WHO DIED IN 1808, ISLAND OF CABRERA, MENORCA]