POBLET 425

RUINS OF POBLET 427, 441

CLOISTERS OF POBLET 431

POBLET, FROM THE VINEYARD 435

ANCIENT GATEWAY: VALENCIA 459

A STREET IN VALENCIA 461

RENAISSANCE TOWER: VALENCIA 469

MARKET PLACE, VALENCIA 473

LONJA DE SEDA: VALENCIA 475

SALON DE CORTES: AUDIENCIA 477

RUINS OF SAGUNTUM 487

BARCELONA 491

COURTYARD OF AUDIENCIA: BARCELONA 495

Know ye the land of the cedar and vine,
Where the flowers ever blossom, the beams ever shine;
Where the light wings of Zephyr, oppress'd with perfume,
Wax faint o'er the gardens of Gul[A] in her bloom;
Where the citron and olive are fairest of fruit,
And the voice of the nightingale never is mute;
Where the tints of the earth, and the hues of the sky,
In colour though varied, in beauty may vie,
And the purple of ocean is deepest in dye;
Where the virgins are soft as the roses they twine,
And all, save the spirit of man, is divine?

BYRON.

GLORIES OF SPAIN.

CHAPTER I.

AT THE GARE D'ORLEANS.

On Calais quay--At the Custom-house--A lady of the past--Ungallant
examiner--Better to reign than serve--Paris--Vanity Fair--Sowing
and reaping--Laughing through life--At the Hotel Chatham--A
pleasant picture--In maiden meditation--M. Pascal is wise in his
generation--The secrets of the Seine--Notre Dame--Ile St. Louis--A
mediaeval atmosphere--Victor Hugo--Ghosts of the Hotel Lambert--H.
C. again--His little comedy--M. the Inspector--Outraged ladies--"En
voiture, messieurs!"--Mystery not cleared--The Orleanais--La
Vendee--Garden of France--A dilemma--Polite Chef de Gare--Crossing
the Garonne--Land of corn and wine.

The Channel waters were calm and placid as the blue sky above them.
Though late autumn the temperature was that of mid-summer. At Calais
every one landed as jauntily as though they had just gone through the
pleasure of a short yachting trip. As usual there were all sorts and
conditions of men and women, and again the curious, the grotesque, the
impossible predominated. They st