e de las Tornarias there used to be a
dilapidated Moorish house with one still handsome room, but it is
doubtful whether this now survives the wreck of time. It was called El
Taller del Moro, because Ambron, the Moorish governor of Huesca, is
said to have invited four hundred of the refractory chiefs of Toledo
to dine here, and to have cut off the head of each as he arrived.
There is a curious mosque in the Calle del Cristo de la Luz, the roof
is supported by four low square pillars, each having a different
capital, from which spring double arches like those at Cordova. The
ceiling is divided into nine compartments with domes.

Madrid has passed through such various fortunes, and has been so much
re-built, that it now contains few traces of the Moors. The only relic
which I saw in 1890 was a large piece of tabia, forming a substantial
wall near to the new cathedral, which might have belonged to the city
wall or only to a fortress. The Museum of the Capital contains a good
collection of Moorish coins. In the Armoury are Moorish guns, swords,
saddles, and leather shields, the last named made of two hides
cemented with a mortar composed of herbs and camel-hair.

In Old Castile the footprints grow rare and faint, although the
name of Valladolid--Blad Walid, "Town of Walid," a Moorish
ameer--sufficiently proclaims its origin, but I am not aware of any
Moorish remains there. In Burgos one old gate near the triumphal arch,
erected by Philip II., still retains its Moorish opening, and on the
opposite hill stands the castle in which was celebrated the bridal
of our Edward I. with Eleanor of Castile. It was then a true Moorish
kasar, but part has since been destroyed by fire. On the road from
Burgos to Vittoria we pass between the mountains of Oca and the
Pyrenean spurs, in which narrow defile the old Spaniards defied the
advancing Moors. Moorish caverns or cisterns are still to be seen.

Turning southward again, we come to Medinaceli, or "the city of
Selim," once the strong frontier hold of a Moor of that name, the
scene of many conflicts among the Moors themselves, and against
the Christians. Here, on August 7, 1002, died the celebrated El
Mansur--"The Victorious"--the "Cid" (Seyyid) of the Moors, and the
most terrible enemy of the Christians. He was born in 938 near
Algeciras, and by a series of intrigues, treacheries and murders, rose
in importance till he became in reality master of the puppet ameer. He
proclaimed a holy