or porch of the gate, is formed by an immense
Arabian arch of the horseshoe form, which springs to half the height of
the tower. On the keystone of this arch is engraven a gigantic hand.
Within the vestibule, on the keystone of the portal, is engraven, in
like manner, a gigantic key. Those who pretend to some knowledge of
Mohammedan symbols affirm that the hand is the emblem of doctrine, and
the key of faith; the latter, they add, was emblazoned on the standard
of the Moslems when they subdued Andalusia, in opposition to the
Christian emblem of the cross.

It was a tradition handed down from the oldest inhabitants, and which
our informant had from his grandfather, that the hand and key were
magical devices on which the fate of the Alhambra depended. The Moorish
king who built it was a great magician, and, as some believed, had sold
himself to the devil, and had laid the whole fortress under a magic
spell. By this means it had remained standing for several hundred years,
in defiance of storms and earthquakes, while almost all the other
buildings of the Moors had fallen to ruin and disappeared. The spell,
the tradition went on to say, would last until the hand on the outer
arch should reach down and grasp the key, when the whole pile would
tumble to pieces, and all the treasures buried beneath it by the Moors
would be revealed.

After passing through the barbican we ascended a narrow lane, winding
between walls, and came on an open esplanade within the fortress, called
the Plaza de los Algibes, or Place of the Cisterns, from great
reservoirs which undermine it, cut in the living rock by the Moors, for
the supply of the fortress. Here, also, is a well of immense depth,
furnishing the purest and coldest of water, another monument of the
delicate taste of the Moors, who were indefatigable in their exertions
to obtain that element in its crystal purity.

In front of the esplanade is the splendid pile commenced by Charles V,
intended, it is said, to eclipse the residence of the Moslem kings. With
all its grandeur and architectural merit, it appeared to us like an
arrogant intrusion, and passing by it we entered a simple,
unostentatious portal, opening into the interior of the Moorish palace.

The transition was almost magical; it seemed as if we were at once
transported into other times and another realm, and were treading the
scenes of Arabian story. We found ourselves in a great court paved with
white marble and decorate