The daily morning journal and courier. [volume] (New Haven, Conn.) 1894-1907, 1901-03-09
LAST HOURS IN SPAIN.
II VJSIT TO THE TOMB or FERDI-
NAND AND ISABELL4.
GcneraIife, or Summer Palace of tn

Princes.
Especial Correspondence of the Journa
and Courier)
Grenada, Feb. 3.-Even without the
ALEXANDRA and it's romantic assoca-
tions, Grenada-though poverty strick-
en-, dirty and degenerate-is one of the
most interesting cities in the world It's
streets are filthy beyond compare and
90 narrow that in most of them two
horsemen cannot ride abreast; and so
crowded are they with gipsies and beg
gars, with the ragged and leprous and
diseased-that during some hours of the
day you can hardly force a passage
through them. Again, when all the
are completely deserted, except by vile
Smells sleeping dogs and swine, YER
min and bacteria. 1t is not the safest
of places to wander in, either in the
way Of catching" things, or of being
caught by thievish hands The Rev.
Samuel Manning relates that when he
visited this place, not long ago, with a
company of friends, they halted near
the cathedral to witness some solemn
procession of ecclesiastical dignitaries
bearing the Holy Host, at sight of
which all the by-standers fell upon
their knees and prayed loudly; yet, in
less than five minutes, there of his par
Nv 1a1 hot, ;oIr ~.
kneeling crowd!
The houses of Grenada though pictur-
esque In the extreme have all woeful-
ly dilapidated appearance, and the in
habitants wear the detected air of
hopeless poverty. Venetian blinds are
suspended over all the balconies, and
Through their interstices you see lus-
trous eyes peering out at you and catch
ElimpSes of swarthy cheeks and Jet
black tresses that betray the Moorish
ancestry of the Granadians. Nearly
every door has at one side of it an al
tar, on which is displayed a plaster
image, arrayed in blue and tinsel, amid
a cloud of ''votos" and paper flowers.
Grenadian dress Is purely Spanish, far
different from that of the western prov
ions are fast supplanting the snowy ma
tional costume. The ladies wear lace
mantillas and embroidered skirts of
light colored silk, and are never seen
without a fan, which no one else on
earth knows so well how to WELD in the
language of coquetry. The men are in
muff1ed to the eyes in a cloak
hot or cold, rain or shine, they hide
themselves behind its voluminous folds,
precisely like the stage villain in dis
guise; except on some grand holiday,
when for a few uneasy hours they per-
ambulate in the splendor of velvet
Jacket and silken sash of crimson or
hasten back at the earliest
to the accustomed shelter of
the dun-colored cloak as a timio rab-
bit to it's burrow. What is the nameless
charm that makes this dirty old town
20 very attractive? 1t is the climate |
fervid African ummer cooled by |
breezes; or the snow clad ST. |
era Nevada, shining overhead like a
white cloud in the blue sky; or the vi
Diets that carpet the country; the
dropping elms-the only ones in Spain;
he romantic traditions that clothe eve
y object as with a garment; or 1t is
III of these combined? That glorious
'ile of mountains is justly the pride and
lelight of Grenada, the source of her
perfect climate and perpetual verdure,
If her gushing fountains and perennial
streams. To the overshadowing Sierra
s due that blending of delights so rare
n southern city-the fresh vegetation
Ind the temperate airs Of a northern
climate with the vivifying ardor of a
ropical sun and the cloudless azure Of
! southern sky. 1t is this aerial treas
Try of snow which, melting in proper
ion to the increase of the summer
eat sends down streams through every
len and gorge, diffusing emerald YER
ure and marvellous fertility through
he chain of valley known as the Vega
though Of Moorish architecture re-
rains in fact to show that the four
zenith century was the Hispano-Ara |
ge of gold. All the countries which
he armies of Islam had over run in
neir wonderful career furnished sug-
estions to the master-buiders in Gre
ada. The huge stone blocks OF it's
ates are copied from the masonry of |
le Romans who built for eternity.
he hanging gardens are the gardens
{ Babylon. The carven animals are
hoenician, the fountain-baeins imi-
tie the brazen 1aver of Solomon, as
entioned in the Koran. The wonder
il stuccowork was invented in Da-
a cus. and the hand of the Persian
fist is seen on the glittering walls.
or did the Moor, ever proud of his or
~ and tenacious of the prejudices Of
! race. though domiciled for centuries
foreign land hundreds of leagues
ON the home of his ancestors, reject
q influence of their traditions in the
ooration of his palaces. The lotus of
yvnt and the palm of Arabia are in
rwoven in the foliage of every fret
4 Nail. the letters of the Cutie alpha
t--s,ngularly adapted to ornamental
the doctrines of Islam
I'm cornice to capital; while the pro-
sion of water and verdure proves that
9 saracen, though surrounded by the
xuriant vegetation of the Vega, be-
III a grove or fountain with the
mo emotion as did the weary camel
iver when. uttering prayer of
to Allah, he hailed with
light the refreshing oasis shining "
lid the gray sands of the desert.
IF the numerous suburban villas that n
ce offered rest and seclusion to the b
uces of Grenada, but one now exists "
he Generalife or Jennatu-l'arif in n