in their hands, were seen wending their steps
towards some hamlet after the day's labor. Arched stone bridges, old and
moss-grown, came into view, spanning small water-courses, on their way
from the mountains to join more pretentious streams. Elevated spots
often showed the ruins of the old stone towers, once a part of some
feudal stronghold, but the eye sought in vain for well-wooded slopes or
thrifty groves; and yet, strange to say, the song-birds which we had
missed further south, in Andalusia and at Granada, put in an appearance
as we came north, cheering us with their soft trilling notes in the
amber sunshine that radiated about the small railroad stations. Some of
these depots were rendered attractive and pretty by nicely arranged
flower-beds and a few trees, imparting a home-like appearance. The
ever-varying scenery kept mind and eyes busy, until by and by Night
dropped her mantle over the face of nature, and with the darkness came a
cool and nipping air. Then followed two hundred miles of tedious night
travel, with no convenience for sleeping, except such as one could
obtain sitting bolt upright, so that when daylight and Madrid arrived
together, we were ready to welcome them both.

Why Charles V. should have made his capital on the spot now occupied by
Madrid it is difficult to understand--though writers suppose a half a
dozen reasons--except that it is the geographical centre of Spain. Eight
or nine hundred years ago it was a fortified outpost of Toledo,
"imperial" Toledo. It is hemmed in on all sides by arid plains, and has
an adjacent river, so-called, but which in America would be known as a
dry gulch. If there is any special benefit to be derived from a
waterless river, we have yet to learn its character. Like the Arno at
Florence, it is troubled with a chronic thirst; in short, the Manzanares
has the form of a river without the circulation. In the days of Charles
II. its dry bed was turned into a sort of race-course and drive-way, but
since the completion of the Prado it has been abandoned for even this
purpose. Though Madrid is situated between two and three thousand feet
above the level of the sea, it does not seem to possess the advantages
usually following such a position, the climate being scorchingly hot in
summer and piercingly cold in winter. Thus, in point of climate and
location, the Spanish capital seems to be a mistake.

As Madrid was built when the age of cathedrals had passed, it has none