e through it, but much more readily defended. The two
castles of San Fernando and San Jose, frowning structures of stone
dominating this entrance, have long since fallen into disuse, but are
still admirably preserved. Beneath the former, and extending far below
the surface of the water, is the old Bastile of the Inquisition,
occasionally pressed into requisition now to house recalcitrant
politicians, and where no great effort of the imagination is required
still to hear the groans of the tortured and the sighs of the
condemned, awaiting in chains and _san benitos_ the approaching _auto
da fe_.

But the greater distance from the present entrance of the harbor to
the city walls affords the visitor a longer period in which to enjoy
the charming panorama which seems to drift slowly out to meet him as
he stands entranced before it. The spell of romance and chivalry is
upon him long ere he disembarks; and once through the great gateway of
the citadel itself, he yields easily to the ineluctable charm which
seems to hover in the balmy air of this once proud city. Everywhere
are evidences of ancient grandeur, mingling with memories of enormous
wealth and violent scenes of strife. The narrow, winding streets,
characteristic of oriental cities; the Moorish architecture displayed
in the grandiose palaces and churches; the grated, unglazed windows,
through which still peep timid _senoritas_, as in the romantic days of
yore; the gaily painted balconies, over which bepowdered _doncellas_
lean to pass the day's gossip in the liquid tongue of Cervantes, all
transport one in thought to the chivalrous past, when this picturesque
survival of Spain's power in America was indeed the very Queen of the
western world and the proud boast of the haughty monarchs of Castile.

Nor was the city more dear to the Spanish King than to the spiritual
Sovereign who sat on Peter's throne. The Holy See strove to make
Cartagena the chief ecclesiastical center of the New World; and
churches, monasteries, colleges, and convents flourished there as
luxuriantly as the tropical vegetation. The city was early elevated to
a bishopric. A magnificent Cathedral was soon erected, followed by
other churches and buildings to house ecclesiastical orders, including
the Jesuit college, the University, the women's seminary, and the
homes for religious orders of both sexes. The same lavish expenditure
of labor and wealth was bestowed upon the religious structures as on
the