which was pointed out to us
on the previous day as the spot from whence Columbus, quite discouraged
and brokenhearted, was recalled by Isabella, after having been denied
and dismissed, as both supposed, for the last time. It was at this
bridge that the messenger of the relenting queen overtook the great
Pilot, and brought him back to arrange the expedition which resulted in
the discovery of America. We had previously seen in the Alhambra the
Hall of the Ambassadors, where the queen gave audience to Columbus, and
now the jewel-box served more strongly to emphasize the historical
association.

A visit in the environs of the city to a place bearing the Moorish name
of Hinadamar should not be forgotten, nor should any traveler who finds
himself in Granada neglect to go there. Here we were shown through the
convent known as the Cartuja, which has been virtually abandoned since
monastic rule in Spain was deposed. It is now in charge of civil
officers of the government, and one service is held each week in the
chapel. It is really wonderful in the minuteness and splendid finish of
its ornamentation. Here is seen an endless amount of jasper, marble,
ivory, ebony, and tortoise-shell, in the form of carved and inlaid work,
curious beyond description. Most of theses ornamentations, as well as
the paintings, were the work of brothers of the order, who must have
spent half a life-time in their consummation. The cloisters are
surrounded by a wretched series of life-size paintings in fresco of the
mystic type, also the work of brothers attached to the convent,
representing Carthusians tormented by the English in the time of Henry
VIII. But here and there was seen the work of an artistic hand shining
out conspicuously above its surroundings. Apparently hanging high up on
the bare wall of the sacristy is a large wooden cross, of such
statuesque effect, so perfectly foreshortened and shaded, that it was
difficult to believe it to be a painting, however carefully examined
from the floor. The old sacristan told us that it was painted by a
brother of the order named Juan Sanchez Cotan, who certainly had a
painter's genius and a master's skill with the brush. Alonzo Cano has
here one or two remarkable statuettes in marble, though we think of him
rather as a painter than a sculptor. Some of the large pieces of
variegated marble which form the base work, fonts, and tables of the
chapel, are beautiful examples of the natural stone as quarried