Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1892-02-28

4 ".
| If you are simply sight-seer there is much
to do and see within the little sea-girt spot
| The vineyards Of Binisalsm and Felantix
are as interesting as those about Oporto in
| Spain. The Orange groves of that most
1 transcendant Of all Maiorcan valleys, the
Soller, are wondrously beautiful, and their
| doors are sometimes waited over the entire
islands. The gardens of FL Real at La
| Grange rival those Of the Cinque Cento at
| Seville. Along the north coast is found
some of the grandess scenery of rthe
! Mediterranean; and as 1 stood by the de-
seated atalyas or watch-towers of old. from
| which were flashed the signals of the ap-
| proach OF Berber pirates or Christian
| crusades, the majestic round towers of the
| Irish coast seemed to re-appear in all their
! mysticism and utter loneliness.
The alquerias. or country mansions, near
| Albano and at Bunola and ESporlas. with
| their splendid avenues. gardens and rich
vestiges of Moorish architectural remains,
are far more interesting than similar es-
Establishments have at any time come upon
in Spain. The wonderful roadway from
Palma to Soller IS grander than any road
| way in Italy, and half the distance winds
| along and upon masses Of mountainside
masonry Of tremendous thickness and
height. Over near the eastern shore is
Menacor. the second largest city of the
| island. A little distance TO the northeast
is Arta and here, entered by natural arch
way 140 feet high are doubtless the most
wonderful grottoes of the world, and at
Alcudia is one Of the most famous fisheries
of the Mediterranean.
But if none of these are seen, q visit to
Valdemusa and its once famous monastery
| is worth a special trip to the island. With
| as magnificent surroundings as those of
| Vallombrosa In Italy, mountain chasm is
| bridged by the ancient pile IN so eXtraordi-
| nary and picturesque way as to seem at q
| distance like gray old cloud-hissed nest
| that has for ages defed decay and the bat
ting of the aerial tempests there. But the
| gray OF real decay is upon all things at Val
| demusa; in the gray old church and endless
| cells and cloisters: in the gray old houses
| that nestle along the mountain side beneath
| it, aud in the gray old folk that haunt the
| spot like wraiths of those who once were
there.
An indescribable sadness fingers about
| this splendid Majorcan relic of monkish
times and days, The rich of Palma come
here in summer and live gay mock con-
ventual life. George Sand half century
| ago passed the most dolorous winter of her
| life within these walls. With her was
Chopin. Perhaps in these very cloisters
was born the wild and inexpressible mel
encholy of the melodic creations of the
masters later life To me Valdemusa will
remain more memory of these two strange
sad souls than merely q crumbling, de-
serted and majestic monastic relic upon the
island mountains.
But best of all in Majorca you will love
the peasant folk of the island and the sunny
setting in which you will everywhere find
them. The three classes in Majorcan pro-
vincial life are the titled landholders, the
farmers who rent their land from the no.
blllty, and the common peasant laborers
who toll in the fields forests and vineyards.
The Souses of the nobility are very fine and
beautiful and large humber of servants
are retained. Many of the middle-class
farms each contain from 500 to 1000 acres
of land Such as these possess farmstead-
lngs spread over acres of ground, all sur
rounded by viRe-covered walls, and all pos
sessing first the quaint court into which all
the living rooms of the family enter, and
behind this the greater court from which
all the outbuildings and granaries are
reached. Many of these structures which
formerly housed the country aristocracy,
contain private chapels, or Father chapels
into which latticed gallery extends from
the upper gallery Of the court.
The structural semblance to the ancient
Moorish form of habitation is preserved
even among the cabins of the peaSantry.
However humble the household, all its
members and belongings, even to the
donkeys, goats and fowls are found within
or radiating from this sunny open court
To strangers eye the high, apertureleSs
outer walls would present a cherries as
pect, were they not covered with vines and
blossoms, and if the pleasant and often
picturesque interiors were not meanwhile
in thought and mind. These cabins are
seldom isolated. Two or three, and often
half dozen will nestle together in pleasant
irregularity, and, with gnarled and ancient
olive trees, clumps Of fg-trees, copses of
almond, and tiny groves of orange with
which they are all surrounded, form the
most charming countryside pictures of any
Southern land
In my trampings about the island I Sc
cured entrance TO many peasants and
farmers homes. From this 1 found that
all methods of agriculture and homeside
labor were of the most primitive sort, and
that there were no idle folk in Majorca.
Outdoor labor of some kind is continuous
the year round. ALI the women spin, knit
or weave, and have heyer entered peas
ants cabin where mothers and daughters
were not in some such manner employed.
Hospitality is charming, naive and whole
hearted. The plate of figs basin of almonds
or basket of oranges with the wholesome
wines of the country are ever ready for the
friend or strangers coming. [ thought l
had partaken of that drink of the gods,
horchata, in Cuba. 1t is simply the pull
verified kernels of almonds to which water
and sugar is added.
Here where the almond grows in the
SICdJCSb pCA1CIl1OA CNClS LlOuoONAlC PAS-
serve huge jars of the finest nuts for
horchata. The old mortar and pestle are
here for their grinding. The shells and
brown husks are removed and quarts of
the snowy powder are literally 'qeached,"
the creamy liquid filtering slowly through. 4
Then sonora or senorita adds spice of
flavor, tamarind or pomegranite, or per-
haps dash of wine, with her own fair
hand. 1t is food and drink And it is no
wonder that in Majorca the entire peas
antry live sumptuously on daily wages
averaging less than 20 cents day for men
and 10 cents for women, the year through,
when every manner of natures most royal
food is at every door for the taking, and in
such bounteousness that where it ripens it
is valueless and without price.
Somehow there grows upon one the win
some notion that you have known all these
lewly folk before; that you have seen their
festas and known their songs in the sunny
wales of Cuba, over in the glowing valley of
Gliines; that you have come upon their
brightness and cleanliness among the Alps
of Switzerland; that their generosity and
hospitality were met in Connemara and
Donegal; that their thrift and frugality
have their congener among the Pennsyl-
vania Dutch; and that their love of home
and simple village ways carry you to the
pleasant mountain yales among the shining
English lakes. Surely they are an idyllic
people in an idyllic land. Want is unknown;
crime is unheard Of There are no politics
in Maiorca, and but one religion. AL this
in time may change. But as know it and