nce of Alava. The snows with which,
during the long winter, the upper portion of these mountains had been
covered, had disappeared in the warm rays of the spring sun, and
disclosed peaks of grey rock, and patches of table-land strewn with
flints, producing little besides a few Alpine plants, which, in defiance
of the scanty nourishment they found, and of the keen air that blew over
those elevated summits, boldly expanded their blossoms in the pleasant
sunshine. Lower down, and on that part of the southern side of the
mountain over which the cavalcade now proceeded, masses of forest-trees
sprang out of the more plentiful soil, and overshadowed the rocky path
that rang under the horses' feet; the dusky foliage of the fir-tree, the
brighter green of the oak, and the broad angular leaves of the sycamore,
mingling in rich variety. Now the path lay through some dried-up
water-course, half filled with loose stones, whose elevated sides, over
the edges of which the tendrils of innumerable creeping plants dangled
and swung, bounded the view on either hand; whilst overhead the
interwoven branches afforded, through their thick leafage, but scanty
glimpses of the bright blue sky. Presently, emerging from the ravine,
the road, if such it might be called, ran along the shelf of a
precipice, below which successive ranges of luxuriant foliage, varied
here and there by a projecting crag, or enlivened by the dash and
sparkle of a waterfall, continued to the level below. From the foot of
the mountains, an extensive plain stretched out to a distance of several
leagues, its smiling and fertile fields thickly sprinkled with villages
and farm-houses. To the left front rose the old Moorish castle of
Guevara; and at a greater distance, more to the westward, and near the
centre of the plain, were seen the imperfect fortifications and lofty
church-towers of the city of Vittoria.

The foremost of the horsemen, who, on the day referred to, were thus
scrambling, to the great discomfort of their steeds, down the steep and
rugged sides of the sierra, avoiding, for reasons of safety, the
high-road from Salinas to Vittoria, which lay at a league or two on
their right, was a man of middle age and tawny complexion, mounted on a
lean and uncomely, but surefooted horse, whose long tail, which, if
allowed to flow at will, would have swept the ground, was doubled up
into a sort of club, about a foot long, and tightly bound with worsted
ribands of bright and v