Observations on a Journey Through Spain and Italy to Naples: And Thence to Smyrna and Constantinople; Comprising a Description of the Principal Places in that Route, and Remarks on the Present Natural and Political State of Those Countries, Volume 1C. and R. Baldwin, 1807 |
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Observations on a Journey Through Spain and Italy to Naples: And Thence to ... Robert Semple No preview available - 2019 |
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Algeciras ancient Andalusia appearance approach aqueduct Aranjuez arches arrived ascend Badajoz banks batteries bay of Cadiz Bay of Gibraltar behold boat bridge built Cadiz carried church coast cross dark distance Elvas England English Espartinas Estremoz Europe excellent flat four leagues French frigate Guadalquiver Guadiana half leagues height hills horseback horses houses inhabitants journey la Venta Lisbon Madrid manners Manzanares Martello tower Merida miles miserable Montemor Moorish mountains Mudela night observe pass perhaps plains portmanteau Portugal posada post-house postillion prado present rain reach ride rise river road rock round San Ildefonso sandy seat seen Segovia shew ship shore side Sierra Morena situated small stream small town Spain Spaniards Spanish Spanish dollars stands steep stone stranger streets summit Tagus tain tance three leagues tion Toledo torrent tower travelling trees Truxillo valley Venta vessel village walk whilst whole wind wine worthy
Popular passages
Page 8 - And ever against eating cares, Lap me in soft Lydian airs, Married to immortal verse, Such as the meeting soul may pierce In notes, with many a winding bout Of linked sweetness long drawn out, With wanton heed, and giddy cunning, The melting voice through mazes running; Untwisting all the chains that tie The hidden soul of harmony: That Orpheus...
Page 140 - The wounded were carried away to the hospitals in every shape of human misery, whilst crowds of Spaniards either assisted or looked on with signs of horror. Meanwhile, their companions, who had escaped unhurt, walked up and down with folded arms and downcast eyes, whilst women sat upon heaps of arms, broken furniture, and baggage, with their heads bent between their knees.
Page 141 - I mounted on the cross-trees of a mast which had been thrown ashore, and, casting my eyes over the ocean, beheld at a great distance several masts and portions of wreck still floating about. As the sea was now almost calm, with a slight swell, the effect produced by these objects had in it something of a sublime melancholy, and touched the soul with a remembrance of the sad vicissitudes of human affairs.
Page 140 - ... furniture, and baggage, with their heads bent between their knees. I had no inclination to follow the litters of the wounded; yet I learned that every hospital in Cadiz was already full, and that convents and churches were forced to be appropriated to the reception of the remainder. If, leaving the harbour, I passed through the town to the Point, I still beheld the terrible effects of the battle.
Page 16 - To the sound of this rery ancient instrument, two or three of them together dance a kind of reel, or if the tune be slow and solemn, the piper walks backward and forward amidst a silent and attentive crowd. In their lively dances they raise their hands above the head and keep time with their castanets. The Scottish highlar»ders observe exactly the same practice, and I am fully persuaded that their strong snapping of the fingers is in imitation of the sound of the castanet.
Page 57 - In opposition to them, water carriers, with their porous, earthen vases and goblets vend the cool water of the neighbouring fountains ; and the various cries of fire, fire, and fresh water, water, are heard above the buzz of the mingled crowd.
Page 138 - When by the carelessness of the boatmen, and the surging of the sea, the boats struck ag;n'nst the stone piers, a horrid cry which pierced the soul arose from the mangled wretches on board. Many of the Spanish gentry assisted in bringing them ashore, with symptoms of much compassion ; yet as they were finely dressed it had something of the appearance of ostentation.
Page 58 - Englishman forget for a moment that they are greatly inferior in point of real beauty to the women of his own country. There is one custom which pleased me much, and which no where produces so striking an effect as on the Prado. Exactly at sunset the bells of the churches and convents give the signal for repeating the evening prayer to the Virgin. In an instant the busy multitude is hushed and arrested, as if by magic. The carriages stop, the women veil their faces with their fans ; the men take...
Page 133 - ... approached so near the shore, that we plainly discerned two dead bodies, which the sea had thrown up. Presently one of a number of men on horseback, who for this sole purpose patroled the beach, came up, and having observed the bodies, made a signal to others on foot among the bushes. Several of them came down, and immediately began to dig a hole in the sand, into which they dragged the dead.
Page 140 - I srill beheld the terrible effects of the battle. As far as the eye could reach, the sandy side of the isthmus bordering on the Atlantic was covered with masts and yards, the wrecks of ships, and here and there the bodies of the dead. Among others I noticed a topmast marked with the name of the Swiftsure, and the broad arrow of England, which only increased my anxiety to know how far the English had suffered, the Spaniards still continuing to affirm that they (the English) had lost their chief admiral,...