Here A Deep Ravine And
Gully Worn By The Wintry Torrent; Yonder An Eminence Not
Unfrequently Craggy And Savage, At Whose Top Appears The Lone
Solitary Village.
There is little that is blithesome and cheerful,
but much that is melancholy.
A few solitary rustics are
occasionally seen toiling in the fields - fields without limit or
boundary, where the green oak, the elm or the ash are unknown;
where only the sad and desolate pine displays its pyramid-like
form, and where no grass is to be found. And who are the
travellers of these districts? For the most part arrieros, with
their long trains of mules hung with monotonous tinkling bells.
Behold them with their brown faces, brown dresses, and broad
slouched hats; - the arrieros, the true lords of the roads of Spain,
and to whom more respect is paid in these dusty ways than to dukes
and condes; - the arrieros, sullen, proud, and rarely courteous,
whose deep voices may be sometimes heard at the distance of a mile,
either cheering the sluggish animals, or shortening the dreary way
with savage and dissonant songs.
Late in the afternoon, we reached Medina del Campo, formerly one of
the principal cities of Spain, though at present an inconsiderable
place. Immense ruins surround it in every direction, attesting the
former grandeur of this "city of the plain." The great square or
market-place is a remarkable spot, surrounded by a heavy massive
piazza, over which rise black buildings of great antiquity. We
found the town crowded with people awaiting the fair, which was to
be held in a day or two.
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