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A LIFT FOR COBBLERS.

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convents, still retaining their latticed windows, as when the nuns inhabited them. The palaces are many of them ornamented with fine carving and frescoes, but the possessors are very poor. The nobility of Valencia are said to be the poorest in Spain; their pride and their poverty have become a by-word and proverb. Here, as at Barcelona, we noticed the barber's sign, a huge brass basin hung out on each side of the door; such as we read of in Don Quixotte, as serving the attendant of the dolorous knight, for a helmet in a case of need. Our cicerone, the young officer, tells us, that in all parts of Spain a shoemaker is looked down upon, and considered the lowest of human-kind, while the cobbler is a man of consequence, and looked up to by all classes; though the first has a shop well filled with the results of his industry, the other only a seat near a wall in the street; but being a great gossip and newsmonger, he no doubt acquires a knowledge that is power. The hats of the Spanish priests differ from those of other countries; they are what are called shovel hats, with low crowns, and very broad brims, fastened on the top of the crown, one side lapping over the other. Our cicerone was a very kind and obliging one, but he only knew of the exterior of the city, and could tell us nothing of what was best worth seeing within its many churches and other buildings, so that I have no doubt there were many things lost to us only for want of proper di

rection.

The captain having lost so much time at Barcelona, was determined to lose none here; so by six o'clock, P. M., we were again afloat. A number of laborers were busily employed in clearing the mud from a part of the harbor, that her Majesty might more easily effect a landing on her arrival. Our young officer paid his respects to his former general at Valencia, who told him that in ten day's they would bombard Alicant, now in the possession of the insur

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gents, and blockaded by sea and land. They will bring all their artillery to bear upon it, and bring the town down about their ears, if there be no other way of forcing them to terms. One of the steamers was, not long since, detained here some time, then proceeding as far as Barcelona, she was taken possession of by the other party, the Royalists, who filled her with troops, and sent her back to Valencia ; after which she was permitted to go on her way rejoicing. A short time since the royalists did a high-handed thing in seizing upon the mails at Madrid, and taking possession of the letters, which of course will do injury to the merchants and men of business, cause disappointments to those expecting letters from friends afar, and, what is far worse, bring death to many who are but suspected now.

The next day, in passing Alicant, the captain was careful to keep out of sight, though our course, with the exception of this and Carthagena, was close in shore, within almost a stone's throw of the land. We had delightful weather, the moon was at its full, and shone bright and beautiful; the air was so soft and warm, that we could sit upon deck at evening, listening to the light guitar, which nearly all on board could play, and very many seemed to possess the talent of improvising, these gathered round the player, singing stanzas indiscriminately; the captain, as much a boy as any, sang and played in his turn.

Early on the morning of the fifth, we passed Carthagena, but at too great a distance to see much of the place; we could distinguish a Spanish vessel of war, and two smaller ones of the felucca kind, belonging to the insurgents. We had now reached the Andalusian coast, (next to Catalonia, the richest in Spain,) and looked upon a lovely scene. The whole coast had hitherto been bold, high, and rapid; here the mountains were not steep, but had a gradual slope to the sea. The surface was broken, and beautifully undulat

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ing, being made up of mounds and declivities, dotted all over with trees, and pretty white houses, villas and countryseats, each one having a little knoll to itself, and the whole carpeted with a verdure of every shade of green, and enveloped in a dreamy atmosphere, and a coloring so soft, rich and varied, as to seem almost prismatic. Along the whole coast, at short intervals, sometimes on a hillock, overlooking the sea, or on the shore washed by its waves, was a Moorish tower or fortress, and there

"On yon long, level plain, at distance crowned

With crags, whereon those Moorish turrets rest,
Wide scattered hoof-marks dint the wounded ground;
And scathed by fire, the green-sward's darkened vest,
Tells that the foe was Andalusia's guest."

The scene continued, if possible, increasing in loveliness, till Malaga broke upon our view, the most striking features of the town looming up while we were yet afar off. These were its large and magnificent Cathedral, that may vie in beauty and grandeur with any in Europe; its tall light-house, standing like a sentinel at the extremity of one of the fine moles of its pretty port, where the vessels are all ranged in rows, one behind the other, like a company of soldiers; the high mountains on the north, covered by an ancient and extensive Moorish fortress, from which a wall leads down the sides of the mountain, to a mass of ruins, formerly towers and fortifications, but now mingled with the houses of the town, and formed into habitations for many a poor family.

We landed on the mole opposite to that on which the lighthouse stands (for the harbor has a mole on either side). It was a lively and busy scene, filled with boatmen, ready to ply their numerous little craft, and peasantry, busy in their out-of-door traffic. Here, too, was a sight that would have gladdened the eyes of some little-folk, I trow; great piles of oranges, in cart-loads on the ground, the largest a penny a

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piece, and the small ones a penny a dozen. Stacks of sugar-cane, too, so sweet, fresh, and juicy, I cannot partake of them without wishing to share them with those I love. We have here, too, a currency to which we have been accustomed at home, and this is pleasant, as is anything of home. But I am tired now; in my next you shall have more of Malaga. Adieu.

MALAGA.

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LETTER XXXIII.

THE GHIBELFARO-ALAMEDA-BEAUTIFUL WOMEN-CATHEDRAL-ENVIRONS OF MALAGA-MODE OF IRRIGATION.

Malaga, Spain, March.

WE have now been here a sufficient time to enable me to give you some account of this delightful city. Its appearance from the water, I have already described. It has a good port, but at present not very well filled with shipping. On one of the points of its crescent, is a fine, large lighthouse; the other point has a good mole or landing, constantly filled with a busy, trafficking people. Along the bend of the crescent is a fine street, lined with stores and dwellings, not very high, but uniform, plain, and neat, with balconies looking upon the water, and having a bright and cheerful sun lighting their fronts.

On a height, at the north end of the town, is an old fortress-the Ghibelfaro-apparently in a state of ruin, but in reality it is at present in good repair. From this fortress, a wall runs along the side of the hill down to the old part of the town, which seems mingled with old fortifications and towers, built long ago by the Moors. Turning, and following this street south, you enter the Alameda, or public promenade. This is a broad gravel walk, shaded by orange trees and laurel. It is ornamented also, at short intervals, with handsome marble pillars, surmounted with busts, and at each end by a marble fountain. On either side is a carriage road, and elegant mansions front on both sides: one long range of these handsome dwellings, was built by

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