Valladolid, Spain,May 9, 1853.
Leaving the Escorial I proceeded on horseback, with my guide, across the Guadarama chain of mountains, which divides old and new Castile, a distance of some nine leagues to San Ildefonso, the residence of the Court in the months of July, August, and September, about eighteen leagues from Madrid. We had had rain at the Escorial, which proved to be snow on the mountains. The road was constructed in 1749, by Ferdinand; at its extreme height is a marble lion, five thousand feet above the level of the sea. The view from the summit, with the valleys and villages spread out like a map, was very beautiful, while the tall forest pines with their white mantles among the jagged rocks, and the cascades from the melting snow, were truly Alpine, and reminded me of the Simplon. Here, also, Napoleon crossed on Christmas-eve, in 1808, with great loss from the extreme cold, leading his army in person, and in his impatience leaping from his horse, and walking on the snow, encouraging his troops. During the winter the road is frequently impassable; but notwithstanding that my horse was plunging through snow banks in the narrow passes up to his middle, I felt little inconvenience from the cold under the rays of the mid-day sun, and the highest pinnacles once past, descending rapidly into the valley, a two hours’ ride carried me to the village of La Granja.
In 1722, Philip V., while hunting, discovered this Granja, or farm house, of the Segovian monks, and being of a retiring disposition, bought the site, and commenced building a palace, and laying out the grounds, levelling rocks, forming lakes and fountains, which surpass many in Europe, for there is no want of water here. The gardens are planted in avenues and adorned with marble statues. There are twenty-six great fountains; among the number are the baths of Diana, with twenty femalefigures. The fountain of Fame throws water one hundred and twenty feet high. The mountain rises abruptly here eight thousand feet high; the snow on the craggy, rocky sides and forests, the fresh vegetation of spring in the valley, and the mountain cataracts, produced one of those magnificent sights which are so difficult to describe, and so hard to forget. The season was still backward, as the fruits of spring ripen in autumn: everything was artificial; rocks were levelled and hollowed to admit pipes and roots of trees, and earth brought from the plains. The expenses were so enormous, that this infatuated king died owing forty-five millions of reals. The palace is pleasantly situated, and looks over the royal grounds; the royal apartments are light, airy, and well finished, but not strikingly magnificent. The saloons have some fine paintings and statuary, but many of these works of art have been removed to Madrid. Here, in January, 1724, Philip V., who was a bigot and hypochondriac, abdicated his crown and resumed it the same year, after the death of his son, being urged to become a king again by his wife, who was tired of private life.
Here, Ferdinand VII., in 1832, revoked the decree by which he had abolished the Salic law, and declared his daughter, the present Queen Isabel, heiress to the crown, which act brought upon Spain her civil wars, and the imputed succession of “Don Carlos,” for here were carried on the court intrigues by Christina, who induced her royal husband to sign the document while on a sick bed. Ferdinand died in 1833, and then commenced the civil wars, which distracted the kingdom. In the same palace, in 1835, this same Ex-Queen Christina, in turn, was deprived of her royal privileges, and forced by the soldiery to proclaim the democratical constitution of 1812, after which she was exiled until the present restoration of things took place. A few leagues further on is the old Castillian city of Segovia, with its giant houses and balconies; it resembles Toledo somewhat; the population is reduced from thirty thousand to nine thousand. Its position is cold and bleak, three thousand three hundred feet above the level of the sea, surrounded by picturesque old walls and towers. Here is the most remarkable Roman Aqueduct I have yet seen. The steep banked rivers of the Erisina and Clamores which girdle the city, were difficult of access, and induced the ancients to bring the pure stream of the Rio Trio severalleagues by this aqueduct. It has several angles from two hundred to nine hundred feet, to break the force of the water; the arches rise in proportion as the ground deepens, until they become double; the upper tiers are uniform; the three central ones, which are the most stupendous, being one hundred and two feet in height. This mammoth work is of solid granite blocks, without cement or mortar, of similar form to those in the Campagna of Rome. This immense structure was probably erected by Trajan, but nothing is known of its history. According to some antiquarians, it was built by one Lucinus, but the common people call it the Puente del Diablo, or devil’s bridge, because his Satanic majesty was in love with a fair Segovian, and offered his services for her affections, which she promised him provided he would build an aqueduct in one night, which he did. One stone, however, being found deficient, the church decided the contract void, and Satan was foiled. The lower classes believe the story, and give no credit to other accounts. The aqueduct was respected by the Goths, but broken in part by the Moors of Toledo, in 1071, who destroyed thirty-five arches, which remained in ruin until 1483, when Isabella, Queen of Spain, repaired them. One of the finest old Gothic Cathedrals of Spain is Segina. From its square tower, covered with a cupola three hundred and six feet high, is a beautiful panoramic view of the city with its gardens, convents, aqueduct, and La Granza, lying at the base of the towering mountains.
Valladolid, the city from which I write, has no diligence communication with Segovia. I was therefore, obliged to make a circuit of ninety miles to reach this point, spending a part of a day at San Raphael, the angle of two roads in a miserable Venta, a halting-place for muleteers; it was an open, barn-like barrack, with a stone floor; a huge kitchen, black as night from the smoke of the past twenty years; the ceiling hung with sausages, garlic, bacon, and dried calf skin, while the sides were covered with the whole battery of the cuisine, not forgetting a strolling tinker at work repairing the copper vessels. The huge fireplace in the centre, was some ten feet square, rising conically through the roof, not unlike the smoke-stack of a furnace. The grape-vine fire burned brightly, surrounded by dark-visaged and bearded muleteers in their bandit-appearing costume, singing and cracking their jokes, awaiting the contents of the variouscopper pots distributed upon the embers and suspended over the flames. In manner I was awaiting my puchero, one of the best Spanish dishes, divested of oil and garlic, and composed of beef and vegetables boiled. My appetite was arrested, however, by the bleating cries of a poor calf three weeks old, which was being massacred by the fire-side. It had no effect upon a poor famished soldier, who had entered and ordered a bowl of broth and a morsel of bread, which seemed to restore him until he disclosed his poverty and inability to pay. In vain he solicited relief from those present; the cook took his handkerchief in payment, and drove him away. I interceded and relieved the poor man, to the satisfaction of the guests, but the cook looked daggers, for he had lost his prize. Travelling in the interior of uncivilized Spain is doing penance, but one is amply compensated for it in the enjoyments of the large cities, and in the examination of the monuments and works of art.
Valladolid was, in the sixteenth century, the seat of royalty, and as such was adorned with splendid edifices, under Charles V.; but its beautiful river and fertile country were abandoned for upstart Madrid, situated in a desert plain, to gratify the caprice of a monarch. Its population dwindled from fifty thousand to half the number. Buonaparte made sad work with the convents in 1809, as the relics of art now collected in the museum testify. Some of the finest specimens of woodcarving by Juan de Juani are found here, while exquisite and elaborate façades of convents in marble still exist in perfection. All the public archives of Spain are preserved at Simancas, a town and castle about two leagues from here. The strong castle, surrounded by a moat, was a well selected site when the capital was here; but it is now too far removed from Madrid. There are some thirty rooms filled with state papers, the correspondence of foreign governments and the provinces. The papers of the Inquisition are very numerous; also war orders and original dispatches of the Grand Captain, letters of the different monarchs, the correspondence of Christopher Columbus, the Inventory of Isabella’s jewelry, and her last will and testament besides the title deeds to the Duke of Wellington’s estate. Napoleon ordered the most curious documents to Paris, as he had already plundered Vienna and Rome. Some eight thousand packages and bundles were sent to Paris, but after the battle ofWaterloo most of them were restored. The French soldiers destroyed large numbers, as the strings were useful, and the papers served to make beds, and to light camp fires.
Documents bearing date in the 13th and 14th century are dry and perfectly preserved, as are those of the present day.
There is sufficient of interest to occupy one pleasantly a few days, but having diverged considerably from the main route, I shall proceed to Burgos, celebrated for its Gothic Cathedral, and from thence branch off to the left and visit the Basque provinces of the north. Having strong recommendations here to the husband of the Infanta, or king’s sister, who occupies the palace of Philip III., I was hospitably entertained. It was in this palace that Buonaparte was lodged, and he looked out of the window upon two of the noblest specimens of religious Gothic art in the world; the interior is destined to destruction, but the exterior sculptures of these convents still remain in their purity. Invited to dineen famille, I found myself with a little circle of five persons, the seat of honor being reserved for me beside the Infanta. A sumptuous repast and choice old wines were served by three full-liveried servants, after which the conversation turned upon our beloved country, who found a defender present, and one disposed to portray her beauties and capacities as far as was consistent with his position. The evening closed agreeably at the opera. You will probably hear from me again from Santander or Bilboa, in the north.
San Sebastian, Spain,May 23, 1853.
From Valladolid to Burgos, some seventy miles by diligence, the road was dry and dusty, and the country uninteresting; the villages were poor, and the soil badly cultivated. The land tax, and the conscription for the army, are discouraging to the cultivator of the soil; the youth are liable to be taken and forced to quit their native country, and sent to the Island of Cuba, or the Philippine Islands, as was the case recently while I was in Santander. Some two hundred were sent off in a crowded vessel at this unpropitious season, to arrive in the yellow fever months at Havana.
The city of Burgos was sacked and burnt by the French army in 1808, and its population of fifty thousand dwindled down to twelve thousand; but it is mostly rebuilt, and presents a tolerable appearance. The great attraction for strangers is its Gothic Cathedral, one of the finest in Spain, and of great antiquity, having been commenced in the year 1221. It was respected by the French during the war. This immense edifice has two towers with spires of open stonework, which in the distance appear as light as lace-work, and one wonders how it can endure this blustering climate. The chapels are as large as some churches, and filled with tombs of sculptured marble and stained glass. The white stone of some of the interior walls and buttresses inclosing the choir represents in sculpture the life of Christ, his agony, the supporting of the cross, the crucifixion and ascension; the building, like other edifices of the kind in Spain, is a perfect museum of art, pictures, statuary, and carved wood. The ceremonies of the Ascension were consummated while I was there, in the presence of a vast assemblage from town and country, giving one a good opportunity to observe the variety of character and costume.
From Burgos to Santander, the northern Atlantic shore of Spain, is ninety miles; the first portion is dreary and badly cultivated, and the hills are high and arid; but suddenly some of the most charming valleys appear, and the face of nature as well as the condition of men changes, as we approach a commercial port. Santander is an important trading town of sixteen thousand souls; it has fine stone quarries, and the air of activity of trade. There are large quantities of flour exported to the island of Cuba, which is protected by a heavy duty against our American productions, and should Spain lose this jewel of the crown the blow would fall heavily upon the grain-producing countries of the north. Another eighteen hours’ ride, after leaving Santander, brought me to Bilboa, the capital of Viscaya, situated upon the little river Nervion, which divides the old and new town, and is navigable from its entrance at Portugaleta, a small town, to the city. Bilboa lies in a gorge of hills, and has a damp climate; the vegetation is luxuriant, the country is most romantic and picturesque, and the town has a population of some fourteen thousand. Although still in Spain, appearances have changed, as the Basque provinces of the north, comprising Alava, Viscaya,and Guipuzcoa, forming the mountainous angle of the N. W. of the Spanish Peninsula, are the home of the aboriginal inhabitants who were never subdued or expelled, but were the first to sally forth from the mountains and beat back the invading Moors, a feat from which they derived their nobility, which afterwards extended throughout Spain; they consequently enjoy certain privileges not granted to any other portions of the country. They are free from conscription, or, as the Spaniards say, blood-tax, and are exempt from land-tax, stamps, and a variety of imposts, to which other parts of the empire are subjected. They regulate their church matters, and construct their own roads; hence the great and striking difference discernible in the manners, agriculture, manufacture, and general well-being of the people.
Tobacco is the great government monopoly in Spain, but here it is free, cheaper, and of better quality than elsewhere, which affords a great opportunity for the contraband trade. It is a great annoyance in Spain to have your luggage searched in every town you arrive at; mine has already been examined some fifteen times, without leaving the territory, or having any Spanish property in addition to my own. The Basques are a strong, hardy, and athletic race; they were invaded by sea in the year 879 by the Norwegians, and partly overcome, which accounts for their light complexion and form. The women perform the work of men. Arriving at the diligence office and giving the name of my hotel, as an American I felt mortified on seeing my trunk moved off on the head of a woman; but I soon discovered it was customary, and submitted.
Their holidays are celebrated with song and dance and ball playing. On Sunday the public promenade near the Cathedral was filled with children of all ages, with their nurses, enjoying the dance, while on the opposite banks of the river, within fifty yards of the Basilica, were assembled some one thousand grown persons, male and female, of the middle and lower classes, forming various groups and circles, in their curious costumes, dancing to the sound of tambourines and fifes, until fatigued, taking refreshments, or returning to the church, which, during the month of Maria or May, is a perfect flower garden. Banners were suspended from cords extending from the church to the refreshment hall.
From Bilboa to San Sebastian, is another eighteen hours’ ride, through a most luxuriant, charming and picturesque country. The farms are small, some only five or six acres—just enough for man, wife and family to work with spade or prong fork, which turns up the mould a great depth. The valleys and hill sides are covered with trellised grape vines, and reminded me much of Switzerland; indeed the people resemble the Swiss from their hardy habits and attachment to their country.
A fair was held at Bregada, a town at which I halted; it was a festival day in the villages. It rained, but not sufficient to stop the dance of the peasants, who stood in brogues made of skins, tied with strings, and were cutting it down in the mud, the water oozing out from the openings. The women, with hair in long plaited tresses and heads tied round with handkerchiefs, seemed to enjoy it hugely. The language no one but those bred in the country pretends to understand. Authors differ as to its history. One asserts that Adam spoke Basque, and that it was the language of the angels, and was brought pure into Spain before the confusion of tongues at Babel; another says, that angelic or not, it is so difficult that the devil, who is no fool, studied seven years in the Bilboas, and learned only three words. The use of various tongues in the same empire is a source of great evil, and causes distrust and jealousy, giving despots great advantage. The Basques proper are not understood out of their jurisdiction; the Catalonians are not understood by their neighbors, the Valencians; the Majorcans have a jargon of their own; the Gallicians are in like manner mixed up with the Portuguese. The Andalusians do not speak the true Castillian, consequently it is only in Castile and a part of Aragon that the language is spoken in its purity; quite unlike the enlightened republic of our country, where free education and the liberty of the press, and constant unrestrained communication absorb all other tongues, and make the English language general and intelligible through the land. This is the last important town in Spain before crossing the frontier of France; the distance now to Bayonne is only eleven leagues. San Sebastian is built on an isthmus under a conical hill which rises some four hundred feet above the sea, and is crowned by a castle. The approach is made easy by walks planted with trees, and here are found the graves of many English officers, towhom monuments have been erected, with the inscriptions in their own language. It was the theatre of several sieges between the French, English, and Spaniards, and the town was sacked and destroyed. The new town which is of rectangular form, with its plazas, shops, arcades and tall houses with balconies of uniform appearance and color, looks quite un-Spanish. It has a handsome beach, and is much resorted to in summer for sea-bathing. The greatest difference is observable between these Basque towns and those in the south, for the attractions here are those of Nature and not of Art. The fruits of the north are found here. Fruit is abundant in the mountains, and many valleys and points of view on the road carried me back to the magnificent scenery of the valley of the Schuylkill and Delaware. I find myself far removed from the orange groves, but apples are here in profusion, and the tables are served by the light Chacoli wine and cider of the country. The solid balconied stone manor houses of the wealthy appeared like fortresses, bearing their armorial shields sculptured over the portals, for the Basques pride themselves on being the original nobility of Spain. The law of primogeniture still exists as in England, but with the modification that the inheritor may dispose of one half of the inheritance; and as they are a money-getting and commercial people, the purse is getting the ascendency over title. Having formerly seen the south and west of Spain, and in this journey the east, centre and north, I have had a fine opportunity of judging of this peculiar country, closely bound together under one form of government, but composed of as different materials, in point of language, manners and costume, as of soils and climates, full of provincial prejudices, but loyal to the crown, unanimous in religion, and opposed to foreign innovations. In private life civil and polite to the stranger; warm friends, but implacable enemies. I shall now proceed to Bayonne; thence to Pau, and the famous baths of the Pyrenees, in the south of France; thence I shall return, via Bordeaux, Rochefort, La Rochelle, and Nantes, on my way to Paris.
Paris,June 20, 1853.
From San Sebastian to Irun, the first frontier town on the high road to Madrid, we rode along the coast through a wild, scraggy, shrubby country. At that place I was relieved of my Spanish passport, andviséfor France with an additional charge of two francs. We soon crossed a small stream which separates the two countries; the little bridge was guarded on each side by sentinels, one of whom examined the passport to see if it was properlyviséto leave Spain, the other if it wasen règleto enter France. We were accompanied as far as the frontier by two distinguished refugees from France, who had received a visit from their families at the first town, but dared not cross the line under pain of transportation to Cayenne.
I had previously met with several in different parts of Spain, who had narrowly escaped by crossing the Pyrenees, exposed to hunger, cold, and exhaustion. Over this bridge had passed half a million of French troops during the invasion of Spain under Buonaparte, half of whom never returned alive. The luggage once examined at the frontier custom-house, a few hours carried us to Bayonne, through a rich and cultivated soil, with fine houses dotting the country, so unlike the uncultivated wastes in the interior of Spain. Bayonne is an old, walled, seaport town, of considerable commerce, situated upon both banks of the Duoro, with shady ramparts and pleasant wooded environs. Its citadel was the key of Marshal Soult’s position in 1814, and was the scene of one of the most bloody conflicts between the English and French, which cost the lives of two thousand men. Here the Bayonnais used their knives in the muzzles of their muskets, which gave them the name of bayonets, and introduced that weapon in modern warfare. A few miles from Bayonne is Biaritz, much resorted to for sea-bathing; the shore is high, rocky, and iron-bound, but the bays are sandy, and the village, with its snug cottages and tenements, has somewhat the air of our own Cape May.
From Bayonne I diverged to the east to Oleron, along the base of the Pyrenees, in order to visit Pau, a place much frequentedby foreigners for the mildness of its climate, and to make excursions to the celebrated watering-places. Pau is a lovely and attractive spot; its natural scenery is the admiration of all visitors; the beautiful chateau of Henry IV. is in the centre, upon a very commanding position. It is now undergoing repairs, and preparing for the reception of the French emperor in July.
Les Eaux Bonnes, the favored resort of the Countess Montejo, the present empress, and Les Eaux Chaudes, or hot springs, are situated in the mountain gorges of the towering Pyrenees, where we found excellent hotels, and all the recreations and diversions, and agreeable winding walks which nature and art can contrive, and which induce thousands of fashionables and invalids to resort thither during the hot months of summer.
The bathing establishments are on a stupendous scale. The valleys are teeming with a numerous and industrious population in their simple garb, and we see women and children with their simple utensils of husbandry in hand; the little patches are worked by hand, as the land is divided in small parcels, and frequently women are seen holding the scratching sort of plough, while the husband takes the place of the horse, or vice versa, when the representative of the animal is fatigued. These simple peasantry, who are buried in snow six months of the year, now employ every moment of their time to provide their winter supplies. They look forward with great pleasure to the arrival of the empress in July.
From Pau, in another direction, a distance of forty miles, lies Tarbe, a considerable town in a beautiful valley. I stopped there to visit the Hara, a government establishment which contains one hundred and twenty of the finest horses in France, imported from Europe, Asia, and Africa, for the improvement of the race. Thence I proceeded to the baths of Bagniere de Bigore, a pleasant town, famous for its hot ferruginous baths, and greatly resorted to. The largest marble manufacturing establishment I had ever visited, I found here, employing some one hundred and fifty hands. The great variety of marble found in the Pyrenees enables the stone-cutters to work to great advantage; the execution is on a larger scale than in the mines of Carrara, in Italy, where a large population is employed, but upon smaller work. Here the huge blocks are sawed bywater power, and the work, from heavy altar pieces down to ladies’ ornaments, is skilfully and delicately wrought.
Not unlike our Kentucky farmers, who produce large droves of mules for the Southern States, the mountaineers here derive a handsome profit from the raising of these animals for the Spanish markets. In France horses are almost universally in use, while in Spain the hardy mule endures better the coarse fare of the road. In making my excursions I found myself reduced from a Spanish diligence with eight or ten mules, to a pair of horses and caleche, as the summer lines were not yet established. Another twenty hours’ ride from Pau, brought me to Bordeaux, upon the banks of the Garonne—the city most renowned in France for its wines, and having an extended commerce to all parts of the world. Bordeaux will soon be in direct connexion with Paris, by means of railroad, a distance of some three hundred and fifty miles, in ten to twelve hours. I found that the city had improved extensively since I visited it in 1847. It was then a fatiguing ride by diligence, but it will soon be a pleasant trip from Paris. Instead of returning by the same route, I descended the river by steamer to Blaze, and thence passed through the beautiful grape districts en route to Rochefort, famous for its arsenal; there, as well as at Toulon, the French marine is seen in its perfection. The town is regularly planned, with wide streets, well-paved sidewalks, and large gardens laid out in miniature, in the form of the Tuileries of Paris. The walls or ramparts are planted with shade trees, which have attained an immense size, and form beautiful promenades.
The head-gear of the peasant women is the most peculiar in France. They wear plain white or embroidered caps upon a form suited to the head, rising eighteen inches in height, the top extended like a fan; the elderly women are more moderate in their patterns, but the young girls seem to rival each other in the quantity and quality of the floating material. The next town en route is La Rochelle, in striking contrast to Rochefort for cleanliness and beauty. Its commerce consists chiefly in the exportation of brandies, as the region of country about Cogniac is almost exclusively devoted to and dependent upon the spirit trade.
From La Rochelle I proceeded to Nantes, one of the principal cities of France, situated upon the Loire. I arrived on a Sundaymorning, and large preparations had been made for a church festival and procession from the cathedral. Nantes, like all other towns in France, as well as Spain, has its octroi duties, and every article of consumption pays its tribute at the gates, for the municipal support of the city. The conductor of the mail coach had carefully concealed a leg of mutton and a basket of peas for his festival dinner. His negative reply to the general question, if he had anything to declare, did not satisfy the officer, who, after a diligent search amongst the luggage, brought out the unfortunate treasure, which was put upon the scales, weighed, and taxed, much to the annoyance of its owner, as well as the detention of the passengers and mail. The houses and balconies of several streets were hung with tapestry, and adorned with garlands of natural and artificial flowers, immense altars with gold and silver tinsel ornaments occupying the angles and squares through which the procession passed, with long lines of musicians, the military, the church, and civil officers, followed by a thousand girls in white robes and veils—all got up with French delicacy and taste; it had a happy effect. At Nantes I first availed myself of the railroad, as I had made a long detour along the coast in order to visit the places named, avoiding other cities on the main route which I had formerly visited. It was with no small satisfaction that I took the express train, at the rate of forty miles per hour, for Angers, an antiquated city within, surrounded by a boulevard of noble trees upon the former rampart. It has a famous castle of immense size, built by the Roi d’Augon; it covers a large surface, and has seventeen towers. A fair was held there at the time, which attracted a large concourse of people. My next stopping point was at Amboise, where I visited the chateau which was the property of the Orleans family; it is eligibly and magnificently situated upon the banks of the Loire, and is a perfect fortress in itself. Here was shown the apartments where Abd-el Kader and his suite were confined nearly six years, as his captivity in the chateau of Henry IV., at Pau, was of short duration. The gardens and grounds, upon an elevation more than one hundred feet, are very picturesque, and here he delighted to pass most of his time. In one corner of the grounds which he occupied are seen the mounds of twenty-six out of ninety Arabs who died during their confinement. The country through which I passed wasthe garden of France. It was a continuous village; the cultivation was close, and the small farms abounded in products of every variety; vineyards and fruit were in profusion: cottages and farm-houses were almost within gun-shot of each other. From Amboise I continued by railroad to Tours, which contains one of the finest cathedrals in France. The fast line soon carried me to Blois, to visit its famous chateau, partly restored under the administration of Louis Philippe; the interior wood-work, painting, and gilding, are of the most choice execution. From Blois to the modern and unfinished chateau de Chambord, belonging to Henry V., the present legitimate incumbent to the French throne, is five leagues distant from the main route. I was well repaid for my ride. The structure is gigantic, the style of architecture is of varied character, and is a souvenir of monuments of different European ages, as well as Oriental styles. The buildings were never finished, but appropriations have been made by government to continue the work. The grounds inclosed occupy about eight miles square, with several villages of tenantry. Orleans, the next large city en route, has one of those mammoth Gothic cathedrals so much bepraised; but I have spoken so frequently of the works of art, that the subject must have become tiresome to you. The city was full to overflowing, and with much difficulty I procured quarters; the agricultural and horticultural fair and cattle-show produced such multitudes as we see in our own State. Finally, I was not a little rejoiced to return to Paris, after the fatigue of a somewhat protracted voyage. I might have gone into detailed accounts and filled several sheets since I last wrote you, but I desisted, as my eyes have not recovered their full force since I left the glare and dust of Madrid. I expect to leave Paris the early part of July, on my way home.