e again the cathedral forms the principal attraction to
travellers. Though very plain and with little architectural merit, still
it is very old, gray and crumbling, plainly telling the story of its
age. The city has considerable commerce by the river, both in steam and
sailing vessels, and exports a very respectable amount of domestic
produce. Here we see the palace where Catharine de Medici and the Duke
of Alva planned the terrible massacre of the Huguenots of France. A
large, well-arranged public garden begins just at the city gate and
extends along the left bank of the Adour, and there are many pleasant
drives in the environs.

From here we take the cars for Bordeaux, France, a distance of over a
hundred miles, the road running mostly through what seems to be an
interminable pine forest.

In leaving Spain we pause for a moment to contrast her past and her
present. In the sixteenth century she was the most powerful nation in
the world. In art she held the foremost position. Murillo, Velasquez,
and Ribiera were her honored sons; in literature she was represented by
Cervantes, Lope de Vega, and Calderon; while of discoverers and
conquerors she sent forth Columbus, Cortez, and Pizarro. The banners of
Castile and Aragon floated alike on the Pacific and the Indian oceans.
Her warriors were brave and adventurous, her soldiers inherited the
gallantry of the followers of Charles V. She was the court of Europe,
the acknowledged leader of chivalry. How rapid has been her decadence!
As in the plenitude of her power she was ambitious, cruel, and
perfidious, so has the measure which she meted to others been in turn
accorded to herself, until to-day there are none so lowly as to do her
homage.

Bordeaux is reckoned the third city in France as to its commercial
importance. The form of the town is that of a crescent extending along
the shore of the Garonne, which here forms a broad and navigable harbor,
always well filled with foreign and domestic shipping, though it is
sixty miles from the sea. There are many interesting Roman antiquities
and monuments to be seen in and about the city, venerable with the wear
and tear of eighteen centuries. The public buildings are commanding in
their architectural effect, and are many of them adorned with sculpture.
The most ancient part of the town, like nearly all others we visit in
Europe, has narrow and crooked streets, but the modern portion is open,
airy, and well arranged for business and